Caleb Daniels emerging for the Skyforce

Being a G League team means you have to always be ready to deal with change. At any moment, your best players can be poached, and you are left to find a way to fill the void. This is exactly what the Skyforce are going through right now. Justin Champagnie was signed by the Wizards and Alondes Williams received a 2-way so he will be with the Skyforce less. Then on top of these two players signing deals, Josh Christopher has been dealing with an ankle injury and has been missing time. This has left the Skyforce desperately needing players to step up and produce at a higher clip than they have before. 

Though several players have answered the call no one has answered it better than Caleb Daniels. Daniels has been playing his best basketball of the season. He has skyrocketed his production in recent games, becoming one of the Skyforce’s best players. Daniels has consistently been one of the leading scorers on the team recently and has been doing in it a variety of ways. He is a capable three-point shooter who always makes the open ones, then once he gets going can branch out into contested threes.

The thing I like most about his offensive game is his physicality. Daniels is never afraid of contact and will consistently drive to the rim. The willingness to drive has been a large reason for his success. He never feels the need to force shots, he simply just makes the right basketball play. For example, if someone closes out too hard, he will put the ball on the floor and penetrate the defense. If there is a lazy closeout he will not hesitate and let the three fly. His decisiveness and willingness to take either option has been a massive advantage. When asked about his recent improvement in play Daniels stated “I attribute it to just playing basketball the right way and trusting that the ball will come back to me…. All of the hard work with developing my craft, and IQ, and watching film to correct my mistakes from past games has been helping along the way as well.” Daniels plays the game the right way and trusts

that the process will lead to positive results. He puts in the work and watches film; this lets him be better prepared for his opportunities. This has been evident as he is consistently making the right plays and putting himself in good positions to succeed. 

With all of the changes, the Skyforce is not the same team that started the season. They have to grind out more games and try to find ways to win, rather than just relying on talent to beat teams. The Skyforce have been battling as of late, and even in the losses they have done a respectable job of fighting undermanned to keep the game close. No one is in for moral victories, but it does show the fight and desire this team has to do something special. Daniels is quick to mention the mentality of his team stating “We have a team full of guys that have a “don’t quit” mentality. We are a very resilient team as we have shown all year……

What stands out the most is how hard we play from top to bottom. Our expectation as a team is to play hard for each other and have each other’s back.” No matter the circumstance you can always count on the Skyforce to give their maximum effort down to the end. They take a sense of pride in their mentality. There are no excuses on the Skyforce, players show up and work, not only for themselves but for each other.

Daniels alludes to this, “I think it is all of us holding each other accountable behind the scenes. We all want to see each other at our best, which ultimately helps the team. So, we push each other and hold each other to that standard every time we are out there together.” This accountability has certainly helped Daniels and the Skyforce as a whole. The improvement of individuals on the roster cannot go unnoticed. As for the team and getting back to the results they desire, they still have work to do to figure out how to fill the void left by players leaving and injuries. As far as getting back to the standard, Daniels is not worried, “As long as we continue to push each other individually and as a team, we will be able to be the best team that we can be by the end of the year.”