Chicago Sky Offseason Update #12: Mo Finds Her Groove
Morgan Bertsch capitalizes on her expanded role while Robyn Parks and Marina Mabrey heat up from deep.
Courtney Williams (Shaanxi — China)
Shaanxi can’t seem to buy a TV appearance or a win at the moment — leaving me limited in analyzing Courtney’s performances. Strictly looking at the box score for Saturday’s loss to Zhejiang, Williams narrowly missed a triple-double once again with 19, 9 and 9 plus three steals. In the games that have been televised, Courtney has often played most of her minutes after half time, and Shaanxi ‘won’ the final two quarters of the loss 38–32. Wednesday’s loss to Beijing produced a similar result — though Shaanxi managed to push the capital side to overtime on the back of a clutch shot from Williams at the end of regulation. On the whole, the boxscore shows this as one of Courtney’s shortest outings (14 minutes) — resulting in a muted scoreline (12 pt, 3/9 FG, 4 ast, 2 reb).
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
Mabrey & Williams acted as the perfect tag team as Mersin returned to the win column with a 87–73 win over Emlak on Saturday. Williams got rolling early with 15 first-half points before Mabrey added 14 in the fourth alone to seal the victory. In total, the Duke grad racked up 17 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks while the former Notre Dame guard finished with 25 points and 9 boards on 4/10 shooting from deep. As a team, ball movement (26 assists on 30 made FG) and free-throw shooting (18/21) were key to Mersin’s success — with Williams in particular delivering a couple of handy dimes to Marina in transition.
Mersin’s strong EuroLeague record (6–3) remained intact after the Turkish side beat Landes in a hotly contested game on Wednesday. Mabrey was ejected in the third for, at best, a questionable call, but her play before the ejection was enough to set the table for a win. In the third quarter alone, Mabrey (21 pts) hit four of five threes and helped Mersin recover from a six-point deficit early in the period to build a six-point lead they were able to hold through a tight final frame. Williams, predictably, was exceptional at the defensive end with 10 rebounds and 6 blocks — including 4 rejections in the final period alone. Her offensive contributions were also key as she delivered 12 points on 5/9 shooting from the field in the 72–70 victory.
Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)
Smith & Emlak couldn’t overcome the firepower that Mersin brought, but there should still be a number of positives to take from this match. First, Smith looked more like the player she was pre-injury than she has in any game since returning. The Aussie put up 32 points and looked far more active and aggressive near the basket than in recent games. This threat at the rim opened the court up considerably for Emlak’s offense and, had they got closer to their season average (as opposed to the 3/25 they shot) on threes, they might’ve pushed Mersin deeper into the fourth quarter. In any case, their spirit looked lifted compared to the deflated team of recent weeks as they rallied from a 14-point first quarter deficit to claw within as few as 6 in the fourth. With Smith dominating offensively and contributing across the board once again (10 reb, 2 stl, 1 ast and 1 blk), Emlak just need other players’ shots to start falling to snap their current five-game skid.
Dana Evans (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
Evans’ efficiency (8/25 FG) wasn’t stellar in Friday’s league win over Bursa, but her 16 third quarter points helped build her side’s lead from 11 to 25 — effectively putting the game beyond reach entering the fourth. Evans added 4 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal, but her 5 turnovers were indicative of the fact that this performance looked a little out of sync. Shots she’d normally hit were rattling out while a number of entry passes she’d normally drop on a dime were tipped, mishandled or off the mark entirely. In any case, Beşiktaş were able to ride a hot first half (20 pts) from Jovana Nogić (30 pts, 7/10 3PT) and another strong showing on the block from Li Yueru (23 & 9) to their straight league win that has them sitting comfortably in playoff position at 8–5.
Evans & Beşiktaş fought through their EuroCup first-leg away defeat in Czechia but are left with a deficit of 10 to overcome at home. Opponents Brno led for 39:37 of the game, but Beşiktaş came as close as 3 late in the third quarter before they scored just 7 points in the fourth and doomed their hopes. Individually, Evans scored 28 points, but she failed to get her shot going (7/23 FG) which was reflective of the team’s wider struggle (19/62 FG). On a night where Dana and Nogić (4/16) couldn’t get rolling, Yueru was left on an island (16 pt, 6/9 FG) when it came to producing offense. In any case, Evans & Nogić continued to attack the basket — at least making an effort to collapse the defense a little bit. Coach Aziz Akkaya will need a slight re-think of his game-plan before next week’s second leg, but ten points is not an insurmountable lead.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
Avenida’s perfect start to the league season was always going to end, but it felt for a minute like the team was bulletproof when they rallied from 24 behind to within 5 at the 6 minute mark of the fourth quarter Sunday. A couple of ridiculous buckets by Gernika’s Laia Flores (fun fact — a teammate of Courtney at USF) in the clutch helped her side hold on, but Sika and Avenida can still be very proud of their shorthanded fightback. The Malian was her usual self with a solid 15 points on 5/8 FG and 5/6 FT to go with 7 boards and an assist and steal each. A number of key injuries to Avenida’s squad — particularly long term ones to big Mariella Fasoula and wing Alexis Prince — have left coach Pepe Vazquez scrambling a little to fill out his front court minutes — evidenced by the team’s -9 net rating without Koné.
Avenida announced Thursday that Aussie Chantel Horvat would join to add some size (6'2"), but not before dropping another game away at Villeneuve in EuroLeague play on Wednesday. A 13–0 run across the end of the third and the start of the fourth put the game beyond reach and underlined how heavily Sika and her teammates were flagging after an impressive but physically and mentally taxing run. One of the primary issues was getting the ball to Koné in the post. With so much of their offense built around the Malian, Avenida will always struggle when outscored 46–28 in the paint. As if that weren’t enough, Avenida missed shots they would normally make, committed sloppy turnovers, and looked tired in transition. All that said, I’d still say Sika (16 pt, 13 reb) and Avenida should be happy with where they stand. Horvat’s arrival and the 21-day EuroLeague break after next week’s game should give the team a chance to get their legs back under them.
Morgan Bertsch & Rebekah Gardner (Debut: TBD) (Spar Girona — Spain)
Bertsch finally got the starter’s minutes that her recent play has been justifying as Girona won yet again to climb within two games of Sika’s Avenida at the top of the Spanish league. Offensively, Bertsch’s efficiency was spectacular as she scored 15 on 5/7 FG and 2/2 3PT. Nearly all of Bertsch’s made field goals came on relatively open looks set up by a great pass, a great screen or (usually) both. Likewise, when the ball is in Bertsch’s hands and she’s not shooting, she’s showing the IQ to move it to the right spots (despite relatively low assist totals). Defensively, I always trumpet her consistency, and her game-leading +17 plus-minus in a 9-point win speaks to the comprehensive two-way impact she has — even if the traditional stats don’t always show it.
Girona still have work to do at home next week, but a strong second half performance (43–34) gives them a stable 12-point lead after the away leg of their EuroCup tie. Bertsch followed up her strong weekend showing with a 23-point outing where a lot of her points inside the arc (7/10 2PT) again came on open looks after great ball movement and dribble penetration. For Girona, the amount of high-percentage looks they created around the basket effectively accounted for the difference between the sides. Girona scored 10 additional paint points with their tight defense on the perimeter making it difficult for Szekszárd to get into those areas while Bertsch and the other Girona bigs strongly contested every move that did make it to the rim. On an individual level, Morgan hit multiple threes (2/5) for the fourth time in six games and has now played 30-minutes in consecutive matches for the first time all season.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
The return of Arella Guirantes to the line-up gave Schio a whole new dynamic with the Puerto Rican consistently collapsing the defense and allowing Parks to flourish in Sunday’s win over San Martino. When the threes started to fall early, Parks’ confidence grew and her scoring at the other two levels quickly followed suit. The end result was a 21 point outing on 5–7 three-point shooting with 3 rebounds and a steal complementing the offense. The most impressive aspect of the performance for Parks was the depth of scoring ability she put on display. She scored from a standing catch and shoot, a pull up off of a screen, a pull up off of the dribble, a baseline drive and even a post fadeaway. After a couple of frustrating games shooting the ball, this game served as a great reminder of just how dangerous Parks’ offensive game can be.
Wednesday’s win offered yet another reminder as Parks led all scorers with 22 as Schio moved to 6–3 and remain in solid position to progress to the next round of the EuroLeague. On this night, Robyn consistently found her spots and efficiently hit shots (8/14 FG, 2/5 3PT) when she got there. Schio are also setting her up to be successful: the plays coach Dikaioulakos is calling for her are creating good looks while her teammates are setting screens that turn those good looks into great ones. Guirantes’ return, again, was evident in the less aggressive defensive coverages Sepsi were able to throw at Parks. In totality, we’re really starting to see what the marriage between an in-form Parks and a Schio that pushes resources towards supporting her can look like. Defensively, Parks continues to perform at her usual elite level and scored a transition basket off of each of the two steals she collected.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
I sometimes worry that bias towards the Sky players slants my evaluation of their performance, but it’s hard not to love what Soule is doing right now. Early foul trouble cost us the chance to see if she could’ve carried San Martino past Schio, but she still put up 13 points, 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals in 29 minutes of action. Defensively, she showed the bravery to effectively guard everyone on the court — including both of Schio’s bigs who have 4 inches extra size — even when she was on four fouls throughout the fourth quarter. At the offensive end, her efficiency was decent (5–11 FG), but her aggressiveness going to the basket really made the difference as Schio’s defense had no choice but to respect her finishing abilities. It’s early, but Soule and San Martino look like a nightmare playoff matchup for everyone in Italy.
Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s games including domestic action, EuroLeague (round 10) play and the return leg of the EuroCup Round of 32 ties. 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 wrote earlier in the season.