League patsies a year ago-- and not quite champions still- the Chicago Sky have lately become a lot of fun to watch. Part of it is the fans (not the numbers, but the enthusiasm). Part of it is the Chicago public TV crew who do the announcing-- the duo remind me of UConn's CPTV team: unapologetic homers who call the Sky's starters by their first names, they're also unafraid to view replays and pronounce accurate calls against their team.

Part of it is the way they share the ball and yet don't mind taking things one-on-one. And much of it is the emergence of Jia Perkins: last night she scored 27, leading her team as they beat the Stars in OT. On the last, decisive play, Perkins found herself double-teamed by Riley, then found Dominique Canty in a corner for a game-winning three.

"We beat the No. 1 team in the East [Indiana, and] the No. 1 team in the West, so our confidence is high," Perkins said. Hers should be-- she's had a stunning month: 22, 17, 24, 17 and 27 points in her last five games, plus that 39-point statement in L.A. Those are Taurasi, Augustus, Beard-esque numbers: even if Jia can't keep it up (and she may not: defenses adjust to scorers) they show that a good team can build an offense around her.

But Beard (for example) was obviously going to be a big scorer out of college, and she was a #2 draft pick. Perkins was a second-rounder, and took four years to emerge: why?

One answer, of course, is that Charlotte made everyone except Tan Smith look terrible (and made Tan Smith look like a shot hog, which she kinda is). Janel McCarville is making a similar, though less surprising, emergence.

But the real answer may be pregnancy. Before she quit the Red Raiders in the middle of her senior year, Perkins was leading the team in scoring; Tech hasn't been half as good since. "I was pregnant when I got drafted," Perkins joked with reporters last year, "so I'm not even supposed to be in this league." She's a single mom now.

In other words, Perkins emerged as a pro at the same time as she rehabbed from her pregnancy, got rescued from a terrible team, and figured out her adult life. Some players never quite make it all the way back. Others-- some teen moms, but also McWilliams-Franklin-- have their best season two or three years after parturition.

Add that uncertainty to the question marks that always surround a collegiate draft pick, then add in the non- or anti-player-development that took place in Charlotte, and you have a mystery that has lasted years. It's great for Sky fans to see that mystery solved.