Chicago Sky Offseason Update #16: Down Go the Champions!
RP & Schio get a famous W, Dana & Li pull off a stunning comeback and Rebekah returns from her injury hiatus.
Courtney Williams (Shaanxi — China)
As part of the Chinese national team’s preparation for the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournaments (2/8-11—keep an eye out for my preview coming soon), the Chinese league is on an extended winter break until February 17th.
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
After Mersin played three games in four nights, Mabrey sat the fourth in six—at home against Botaş on Sunday. With no obvious number one scoring option, an offense by committee approach was needed and 6 players scored 8 or more points—with Williams contributing 15 of her own. Unfortunately, none of those scorers—beyond guard Asena Yalçın—was overly efficient, and the result was Mersin playing catch up for much of the game. Early on, Botaş repeatedly hit difficult shots over strong defensive coverage to cut Mersin’s runs short. By the time the game reached the final minutes, Mersin weren’t able to offer quite the same defensive intensity and gave up too many easy baskets as a result. Even then, Williams gave it her best effort with a pair of tough buckets in the final minutes of what wound up an 83-79 loss.
Wednesday’s EuroLeague match against Polkowice was another epic match in Mersin’s 2023-24 catalogue. Mabrey and Williams got things rolling by scoring or assisting on all 24 points their side scored in the first quarter, and their impact was just as apparent throughout. Mabrey scored 25 on a respectable 11/23 shooting, but her playmaking (9 a) really stole the show. Her ability to draw defenders in on a drive and then find open teammates made all the difference in unlocking the Polish side’s stout defense. Williams (14 p), too, made some great passes (4 a), but her screens for Mabrey were even more critical as they gave the former Notre Dame guard just enough time to assess the floor as she turned downhill. To their credit, Polkowice kept things close but Mersin—fueled by Olivia Epoupa’s fantastic perimeter defending—held the Polish side to just three points in the final 6:12 to seal the victory.
Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)
An 8-0 run in the final two minutes of the first quarter gave Emlak a lead they eventually converted into a win Sunday against Antalya. On a personal note, a number of very questionable refereeing decisions went against Smith and had the effect of knocking her out of the flow of the game after a very bright start. Even then, she seemed on course for a big night statistically when she left the game with what appeared to be a left leg injury (the same area Smith injured in late October) in the second quarter. From there onwards, Emlak showed great resiliency—maintaining their lead for a long stretch and producing a strong rally when Antalya briefly took the lead in the fourth quarter. Smith’s final stats in her 15 minutes of action were 10 pt, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk and 1 stl. Though no immediate injury update was shared by Emlak, the Aussie looked in good spirits post game.
Dana Evans & Li Yueru (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
Sometimes an offense can be so explosive that any efforts by the opponent to stop it are futile. In Monday’s win over Kayseri, Beşiktaş played that type of offense in the final quarter. Strangely, it was the fourth foul by Li (14 p, 5 r)—which forced Aziz Akkaya to play with a more versatile line-up—that seemed to fuel their victory. The slightly smaller group continued to dominate on the glass (42-29 edge) and was first to every loose ball with Elif Bayram (10 r) standing out for her hustle. Evans, unsurprisingly, was also fantastic with a very efficient 30-point outing (11/20 FG, 5/7 3PT) alongside 6 ast and 4 reb. The fourth quarter in particular—where Evans scored/assisted on 51% of Beşiktaş’ points—once again showcased her ability to manage the game as she hit threes, stayed aggressive with drives to the basket and found open teammates when defenders gravitated to her in possession.
Thursday’s EuroCup first leg showed just how good Beşiktaş can be at both ends of the court at their best. Down 14 with just a few minutes left in the third, the Turkish side finished the game on a 36-13 run behind some brilliant shot-making from Jovana Nogić. A slow start meant that this wasn’t Evans’ most dazzling night from an efficiency standpoint (9/22 FG), but the shots she did make were timely ones—especially the threes that kept her side in the game down 19 in the first half. And while Evans or Nogić have often dominated the stat sheet, the tertiary scorers on the team—Bayram (15 p) and Tijana Krivačević (14 p)—also played, perhaps, their best games of the season so far. All of that offensive output—coupled with a stark change in energy at the defensive end after a lackadaisical start—allowed Akkaya’s side to produce a performance that gives them an impressive 9-point gap as they had to France for the second leg next week. Yueru (6 p, 1/2 FG), not to be forgotten, was somewhat sized off the court by Bourges’ line-ups but played admirable defense against the French side’s ‘small ball’ five.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
There’s inevitably still some knock-on effects from the myriad of injuries that limited Koné’s explosiveness in the month of December, but they were far less apparent in Sunday’s win over IDK Euskotren. Koné looked as fresh as she has for some time and another outing of just over 20 minutes ensured that she can aim to continue in this type of form in the games ahead. Even when IDK threw double or triple teams her way in the post, there was just nothing their front line could due to stop the Malian. In just those 20 minutes, she still managed to drop in 18 on 6/8 shooting with 7 rebounds while her activity levels at the defensive end—3 steals on the afternoon—also seemed to be marginally higher in light of her ability to exert her physical tools more easily. As if all that weren’t enough, Sika also hit all 6 of her foul shots—moving her season mark to 80.2%. Avenida’s win—their third league win in a week—keeps them just a game behind leaders Valencia.
After a stretch where they had regained some confidence domestically, Avenida were stunned by an early Praha surge in Wednesday’s return to EuroLeague play and never recovered. Credit, first, must go to Praha who—at the moment—look to be one of the two best sides in Europe even on a day where I’d say they weren’t quite at their best. That said, Avenida, can—if nothing else—be proud of the way they stuck in the game. After trailing by 11 after 1 and 18 at the half, they could’ve packed it in, but a strong second half saw them close the final deficit to 14 and get as close as 11 at one point. With just three games to go in the group stage, the time for moral victories is running out, but Avenida can stay hopeful given that two of those final three games are against the bottom two teams in their group. Koné, like her team, improved after a slow start—making 3 of her final 5 shots to finish with 8 points and 4 rebounds.
Morgan Bertsch & Rebekah Gardner (Spar Girona — Spain)
Roberto Íñiguez was left scratching his head once again as Girona saw their 18-point first quarter lead evaporate over the final three quarters of Sunday’s loss away to Araski. They protected the basketball better than in their midweek loss to Valencia, but they’re still not shooting well enough to punish other teams. For the sixth game in a row, Girona failed to break 30% from behind the arc—though they still took 28 threes. Meanwhile, they made just 3 of 8 free throws—while their opponents blitzed their volume and efficiency in that area by going 14/15. Even after all that, Girona still pulled as close as 64-62 with 2:51 remaining but couldn’t get much of anything to fall as Araski ended the game on an 8-3 run. For Bertsch, it was a very so-so night as she scored 9 on just 4/11 FG and had 6 turnovers but also managed 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a positive plus-minus.
Gardner returned to action after a 229-day lay-off in Wednesday’s EuroCup first leg away to La Seu and looked in fine form. After missing her first shot, she hit her final three attempts (plus 6 FT) to finish the game with 12 points in just 18 minutes of action. Her cuts to the basket were impressive (and gave Girona an added dynamic offensively), but her fitness levels probably deserve the most attention. While it wasn’t major minutes, Gardner looked in exceptional shape for a player who—in theory—should have 8 months of competitive rust to knock off. Girona still didn’t shoot well (7/22 3PT) and have plenty to improve on to seriously contend for either this trophy or the Spanish league, but Gardner’s arrival in the lineup already seems to be paying dividends. With more rhythm and more minutes from Gardner, Girona are closer to achieving more results like this key 68-52 win that, essentially, put this tie beyond reach. Bertsch struggled from the field (5 p, 2/8 FG) but chipped in across the board with multiple assists, rebounds, and steals.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
Parks extended her strong December form into the new year with a fantastic showing in Schio’s first match of 2024. She hit a solid 50% of all field goals but was particularly impressive from long range—where she matched her overall clip with a 4/8 shooting night. Confidence is critical for any shooter, and it was pretty apparent early on that Parks’ shot was dialed in. From then on, it was simply a matter of getting to the right spots, and a number of unselfish plays by teammates—especially Costanza Verona (7 ast)—made that task relatively straightforward as well. Despite a strong fourth quarter by Roma—much of which occurred without Parks on the floor, this game was not as close as the final scoreline (81-72) suggests. Schio dominated for long stretches largely because of their fantastic ball movement (assists on 24 of 29 FG) and clinched a Coppa Italia semifinal spot.
If you read these blogs often enough, you’ll know that Fenerbahçe have given just about everyone in Europe fits this season. But on Thursday, Schio and Parks delivered one of the season’s most impressive displays to hand the reigning European champions their second loss in 29 games this season. The trio that has so often made the difference for Schio—Parks (11 p), Arella Guirantes (21 p) and Jasmine Keys (10 p)—were critical once again while veteran Giorgia Sottana (14 p) lived up to her role as team captain by delivering the clutch buckets late. Schio established a valuable edge in a number of key categories like rebounding (41-34), converting turnovers into points (22-17) and bench scoring (20-4) which, all together, made a big difference in the game. To close it out, Schio’s collective showed incredible mental strength and concentration—with a handful of key turnovers or potentially backbreaking Fener makes failing to knock them off course. The result: one of the season’s most impressive results and a big step towards reaching the EuroLeague quarter-final.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
After Thursday’s loss to Roma saw San Martino bow out of the Italian Cup, they had a free weekend. Their next match is Sunday (1/14) at Milan in league play.
Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s domestic action, the latest round of EuroLeague action (12 of 14) and the EuroCup knockout round second legs. You can find the best site to stream the different leagues live and the full schedule of games over the coming week in this article I update on a regular basis.