Chicago Sky Offseason Update #13: Survive & Advance

Mo, Li and Dana move on in the EuroCup while the rest of Skytown struggles on the continent.

Find me on Twitter. (author’s image)

Courtney Williams (Shaanxi — China)

In another off-air game, Courtney dropped 23 points (9/27 FG) with 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a block as Shaanxi fell 75–63 to Inner Mongolia last Friday. After I persistently asked for Shaanxi to be on TV, they may as well not have been in Sunday’s 77–60 loss to Sichuan. Courtney struggled to get going from the floor and finished with just 4 points (2/13 FG), 6 rebounds and 6 assists as Shaanxi suffered their eighth straight defeat. Given she’s scored in single digits only one other time in 18 games in China, I think it’s fair to chalk that performance up as an off night with no deeper analysis needed. Shaanxi were back to anonymity with no TV coverage on Wednesday, but they can’t seem to shake their current losing streak under any conditions. In their 71–55 loss, Courtney put up 12 pt, 4 reb, 2 stl and 1 ast in 18 minutes of action.

Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)

Another game, another fantastic showing from both Elizabeth and Marina as Mersin (2nd) beat Galatasaray (T-3rd) 83–74. Despite battling some early foul trouble, Williams still managed to deliver her third double-double in four games with 14 points and 11 boards. Interestingly, Williams has also taken a slightly bigger role scoring the basketball in recent weeks— with this marking her eighth straight game in all competitions reaching double figures. Mabrey, no stranger to double figures, cleared 10 for the 15th time in 16 games while also passing 20 for the 10th time with 27 points. Her free throw shooting (7/7) and defending also stood out — with her aggressiveness clearly keeping the Galatasaray perimeter players off balance. Marina also continued her string of strong showings on the glass — grabbing 8 boards to push her league average to 6.1 (as compared to 3.7 per game in the W).

Despite a spectacular defensive performance where Mabrey and Williams combined for 4 blocks and 3 steals, Mersin’s ice-cold team shooting in the second half cost them any chance of beating Villeneuve Wednesday. Some credit, of course, must go to the strong defense the French side played, but Mersin struggled even when their looks were open after the intermission (8/27 FG). Mabrey, in spite of the team’s struggles, scored efficiently with 26 on 10/19 shooting from the field and 4/11 (a so-so 36%) from behind the arc. The Sky duo were also key to the team’s efforts on the glass as Williams (9) and Mabrey (7) led the team in rebounding. While no loss is ideal, I can’t imagine this 70–54 loss where Mersin’s typical offensive production (71.7 PPG in EL) would’ve been enough to win will be of great concern for coach Olcay Orak moving forward.

Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)

Emlak looked on the brink of snapping their 5-game skid before Tarsus closed the door defensively to finish the game on a 12–2 run. The key, for Tarsus, was limiting Alanna — who scored just 2 points in the final quarter after tallying 29 in the opening three. With Smith attacking the basket (and draining the three ball consistently), the floor was well spaced — with the Aussie once again showcasing her ability to exploit doubles when they came her way. Unfortunately, Baylor grad Khadijiah Cave (and in truth the entire Tarsus team) stepped up their 1–1 defensive performance in the final 5 minutes and limited Lan & Emlak’s ability to get to the rim. Dream guard Danielle Robinson, who starred offensively with 24 for Tarsus, provided the penetration Emlak were lacking in the final period and had a couple of key stops when switched onto Smith.

Dana Evans (Beşiktaş — Turkey)

Dana’s 26-point outing in Sunday’s win over Nesibe has to go down as one of her finest in weeks. From an efficiency perspective, her 10/23 shooting in the boxscore seems good not great, but the eye test tells a different story. As is often the case in Chicago, Dana’s detractors miss just how important and necessary her field goal attempts are for the offense — even when they don’t go in. You can run back the tape on any number of possessions in this game where Evans could have fired a mid-range floater but instead made the right read and found an open shooter or fed Li Yueru in the post. In this game, a lot of the great passes she made (5 ast) didn’t lead to a score, but she could easily have had a double-double many other days. Long story short, missed field goals — while never the plan — can (and do) still serve a purpose in helping teammates get open. Of course, it’s also much easier to say all this when Evans shoots a sharp 4/7 from behind the arc.

From a shooting standpoint, the script was flipped in Thursday’s massive 78–58 EuroCup win for Beşiktaş. This time, Evans’ play inside the arc (7/11) spoke to the breakneck pace she injected into the team while her three-point shot (3/14) went cold after a 3/4 start. In any case, Evans’ presence at the point of attack on the defensive end was what turned the tide for Beşiktaş after they scored just 15 points in the first quarter. The team’s energy over the final three quarters mirrored that of its star with everyone on the team living in the Brno passing lanes — generating 14 steals and forcing 22 turnovers. Yueru was also key to the team’s high-energy performance — grabbing 5 of the team’s 15 offensive rebounds (Brno had just 5 as a team) — and generally dominating down low with 15 points and 10 trips to the foul line. For Evans, this type of performance is reflective of the fact that — outside of scoring— everything else she brings to the table gives her the chance to be a game-changing player every night.

Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)

Sika and Avenida dropped a third straight match on Saturday — this time against Zaragoza, 78–74. New signing Chantel Horvat provided quick value with 9 points in just 15 minutes, but Avenida still looked a side bogged down with fatigue even as they rallied from 12 behind in the third. Sika, who’s been juggling a couple of injuries, seems impacted not just by tired legs but by slight physical limitations as well. She’s still giving it her all (9 pt, 7 reb), but you just can’t expect a player to get the ball in the post every possession and drive through contact when they’re dealing with a shoulder and ankle injury. Consequently, the team has had to direct its offense elsewhere — worsening its production and that of Koné. If nothing else, Avenida do not lack character. With a few details altered, they may still have won this match against one of Europe’s most in form sides.

Sika and Avenida suffered another gut-wrenching defeat on Wednesday in the EuroLeague — this time against Bologna. Despite still being impeded by her myriad of injuries, Sika delivered a fantastic performance with 14 points on 6/8 shooting to go with 8 rebounds, one assist and one steal. Her work rate at both ends of the court was exceptional, and her defensive performance showcased her continued growth when it comes to reading the game. Moving forward, Avenida must hope that their latest signing Bernadett Határ, paired with Horvat, can provide coach Pepe Vásquez with the chance to rest Sika and get her back to full health. As long as she continues to play through injuries, Avenida’s odds of winning matches against opponents of this caliber will continue to be somewhat compromised.

Morgan Bertsch & Rebekah Gardner (Debut: TBD) (Spar Girona — Spain)

Bertsch and Girona continued doing many of the positive things they had been doing during their six-game win streak in their 18-point loss to Estudiantes on Saturday, but a rough night shooting the three ball proved the difference in the game. After trading baskets for much of the game’s early phases, Girona (3/19 3PT) simply couldn’t keep up when their opponents (11/24) started to cash in from long range midway through the second quarter. Even when Girona did score, their 2-point makes were being bested by threes that gradually pushed them out of the game — with Estudiantes making 8 threes to Girona’s 2 (an 18 point edge) in the second and third quarters (which Girona lost by 17). Elsewhere, Bertsch (0/3 3PT) was typically reliable with 8 pt (4/7 2PT), 3 reb and 1 stl — despite snapping her own streak of four straight with at least one three made.

With an interim coach and a twelve-point first leg advantage, the name of the game for Girona on Wednesday was simply to survive and advance to the next round of the EuroCup. There was a lot of uninspiring offensive basketball from both teams (35 total turnovers), but Girona’s exceptional defense after halftime (13 total points allowed) helped them to put another 12 points into their aggregate lead — sealing their spot in the last 16. Girona again struggled to make shots from deep (3/22) with Berstch missing both of her attempts. While Gardner’s arrival should help somewhat in this area, the collective will have to shoot better to progress past fellow Catalan side Cadí La Seu (who they meet in league play on 12/30) in the next round. Individually, Bertsch totaled 8 points on 3/7 FG alongside a game-high 7 rebounds.

Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)

Parks barely had to get out of neutral in Saturday’s win over Battipaglia, but she still managed 14 points on just 7 shots in only 15 minutes of action. After a tight first quarter, you never would’ve predicted that Parks would get to rest the entire second half, but a 27–7 advantage in the second frame meant Parks’ four successful free throws in the final minute of the first wound up as her final shot attempts. Given the overall context of the game, it’s hard to glean too much from this performance, but Parks’ shot still looked in great rhythm (60/63/89 shooting over the previous three games) and Schio can be elated with their comfortable win in the absence of two key starters (Arella Guirantes & Jasmine Keys).

That red-hot shooting stretch came back to Earth somewhat in Schio’s EuroLeague loss away to DVTK of Hungary on Wednesday. With Keys out again and Guirantes out of the starting lineup (presumably on a minutes restriction), the offense for Schio flowed through Parks — but her shots weren’t falling early. After the Italian side started to slip out of the game, five quick points from Parks in the fourth fueled a hot streak where Schio got as close as 2, but they could never manage to get over the hump and take the lead. Beyond her 10 points, Parks’ most notable impact on the game was on the glass where she corralled a season-high 8 boards which, in the absence of Keys, were crucial to Schio staying in the game as long as they did. Despite the loss, Schio remain in position to progress to the knockout round with their next match a tough one at home against reigning champions Fenerbahçe on January 11th.

Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)

Soule missed San Martino’s league match on Sunday against Campobasso due to illness. In her absence, San Martino performed admirably at the defensive end but missed her scoring contributions in a tight 49–46 defeat.

Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s domestic action. 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.