The Sky has a message for rookie Sylvia Fowles: Don’t change. Let the referees change.
Fowles’ problem Saturday night in the Sky’s season-opening loss at Seattle was foul trouble. The Sky’s top draft pick fouled out after only 15 minutes.
“When Shaquille O’Neal came in [to the NBA], referees had never seen anything like this, all this athleticism, all this height, all this strength, all this ability,” Sky coach Steve Key said. “For [officials], they’re not sure how to call it yet.
“We told her, ‘Keep playing the basketball you’ve been taught and what we’ve been teaching you. Make them make the adjustment. Don’t soften up and become a less aggressive person. That’s not Sylvia Fowles. That’s not who we drafted.’ “
Fowles, a 6-foot-6 center who was the No. 2 selection overall, does not intend to undergo an extreme softy makeover, especially not before Thursday night’s home opener at the UIC Pavilion against the Sacramento Monarchs.
If the Sky needed a sign that Fowles was not backing off, it came in practice Wednesday when an elbow to the face caused her nose to bleed. “I didn’t even know it was bleeding,” she said. “I can take a beating.”
The Sky talks optimistically about making the playoffs this season and starting out on the right foot. That means having Fowles’ feet on the court.
Fowles is not forgetting her short WNBA debut.
“Unfortunately for Sac, she’s still a little upset about that,” Sky veteran Chasity Melvin said. “That’s the good news for us.”
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THE FOWLES FILE
– Nickname is “Big Syl”
– Middle name is Shaqueria, which, along with her imposing post presence and LSU ties, earned her another nickname — Baby Shaq
– Shows off her dunking skills in a new Sky TV commercial airing on NBC and posted on YouTube
– Is friends with fellow former LSU players Quianna Chaney, a fellow Sky rookie, and Tyrus Thomas of the Bulls
— Tribune, SKY contributed
