Chicago Sky Offseason Update #17: Skytown Takes Over Europe
The Sky's stars turn up with a perfect midweek highlighted by Dana, Li, Morgan & Rebekah advancing to the EuroCup quarters.
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)
Despite their record placing them in the bottom four of the Turkish league, hosts Bursa gave Mersin a tough test for two-and-a-half quarters on Saturday. For both teams, the key to the game’s early phases was tight defense and a lot of activity in the passing lanes. However, as is often the case, it is challenging to sustain that type of pressure for forty-minutes against a high-powered offense. As Bursa started to miss more shots, they couldn’t tie together the stops needed to keep the game tight. Marina (24 p, 5/8 3PT) and Elizabeth’s (10 p, 5/7 FG) efficiency helped Mersin drive home their advantage in the final minutes of the third quarter (22-9 edge) and put the game beyond reach. With an 18-point lead, both of the Sky’s stars were able to sit the fourth and get valuable rest. One other continued trend: the duo’s contributions on the glass (5 & 9 r) and as playmakers (4 & 5 a) remain crucial for a Mersin side operating with a short rotation.
With the shorter rotation limiting Mersin’s sources of offense, their defense has come alive in the last three games (58 pts allowed) and was key again as their opponents Bologna failed to break the 20-point barrier in any quarter of Wednesday’s EuroLeague win. Thus, Mersin were able to stick in the game even as they scored just 28 points after half-time with Olivia Epoupa’s efforts on the perimeter once again disruptive and worthy of mention. With no new signings to bolster the squad rumored as of yet, Mersin’s ability to play as a team (23 assists on 21 FG) and get scoring from across the board (8 of 9 players who played serious minutes scored) will remain critical in the games ahead. Equally critical: Mabrey playing at an all-EuroLeague level—something she continues to do with 19 on 7/16 FG and 2/4 3PT plus 9 assists and 7 boards in this game.
Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)
Smith missed Saturday’s league match against Izmit with the lower leg injury she suffered the week prior. In her absence, Emlak fell 91-70 and are slipping closer to the playoff bubble.
Dana Evans & Li Yueru (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
Whereas, many times, Dana has been the main attraction for Beşiktaş, it was Li who stole the show in Sunday’s dominant win over Çankaya. In a match where almost everyone (Evans—9 p, 4/16 FG—included) struggled to shoot, Yueru’s work on the offensive glass (24 r, 10 or) allowed Beşiktaş to build and maintain a lead that let their starters rest for most of the fourth quarter. Because of her size and soft touch around the basket, Yueru turned the majority of her offensive boards into easy put-backs and led all scorers with 25 points. It will be challenging to replicate this level of production at the WNBA level, but this game was a perfect reflection of the physical mismatches Li can provide as part of a W rotation.
Never out of the limelight for long, Evans produced her latest in a long line of ridiculous performances in EuroCup action on Wednesday. The box score shows that Dana scored 31 on 11/20 FG and 4/9 3 PT with 5 assists and 4 rebounds, but she was even more influential than those numbers suggest. In a match where Beşiktaş entered with a 9 point gap, opponents Tango threatened that advantage on multiple occasions. Each time—without fail—Dana scored or created the bucket that stemmed the tide. The most crucial example: after Tango went on a 10-2 run with 4:00 remaining in the fourth to build a 9-point lead with just over a minute left. Beşiktaş—despite staying within 9 for the entire second half—looked ready to fold late until Evans hit an audacious banked three—silencing the French crowd and ensuring her side reached the final 8.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
Avenida fell 67-59 away at La Seu on Saturday in a tightly-contested match where Sika led the team in scoring with 12 points on 6/8 shooting. With star point guard Silvia Domínguez still missing due to injury, there’s a clear absence of playmaking in the Avenida team, and the result is an offense that—despite its many great scorers—misses out on some easy points. For Koné, this is most apparent in the pick-and-roll when Avenida’s other guards—score first players—struggle to find her in obvious scoring positions. This is no fault of those other guards, but it will likely be a continued reality for Avenida offensively as long as Domínguez is out. Defensively, La Seu shot the three (39%) better than Avenida (20%), but the easy baskets the visitors gave up down low much more visibly frustrated coach Pepe Vázquez. With a handful of lay-ins coming as a result of late help, team defense likely would have been high on Vázquez’s priorities in training, but he was relieved of his duties after a slew of losses (7 in 10).
Whatever interim coach Raquel Romo said to his team before Wednesday’s vital EuroLeague match against Landes—it had the needed impact at the defensive end as their fortitude gave them a lot of leeway while they found their shooting rhythm. They conceded 13 or fewer in all four quarters, and—crucially—held Landes to just six points over a 15:32 stretch in the second half where they turned a tight 33-all game into a 64-39 blowout. Offensively, they weren’t efficient early (19% 1Q FG), but some resiliency (55% 2H FG) and a balanced attack (10 FG by 8 different players during a 24-7 third quarter run) allowed them to find their way after halftime. Backed by their brilliant home crowd, Avenida’s energy after the break was also key with Sika (10 p, 6 r) delivering her usual dose of support in that area—grabbing three offensive rebounds. With a new coach and a trio of new signings still settling in, things may come together too late for Avenida, but they kept their slim quarterfinal hopes alive with a huge 69-44 win.
Morgan Bertsch & Rebekah Gardner (Spar Girona — Spain)
With Gardner out of the line-up due to illness, Bertsch chipped in across the board with 11 p, 4 r, 3 a, 1 stl and 1 blk as Girona registered a dominant 74-47 win. Most of Bertsch’s productivity on offense came as a result of her ability to find gaps in the zone both as a passer and as a three-point shooter. Bertsch’s impact—again—isn’t perfectly quantified by the stat sheet, but she continues to stand out in +/- where she led the team at +24. Interestingly, she recorded 7 turnovers after having 6 a week ago—though it’s hard to pinpoint any long-term concern attached to the short-term spike. As Roberto Íñiguez starts to slowly get settled in this job, the turnovers (21 total) remain a concern, but this performance as a whole felt cleaner and more complete. Another key area—Girona’s efficiency (33%) from behind the arc—only improved marginally, but the volume of threes and shot selection were far better than in the last few games.
Girona’s offensive performance—though sluggish in its own right—was nearly irrelevant as they held La Seu to just 39 points and waltzed to the EuroCup quarterfinals by a 136-91 aggregate scoreline on Wednesday. They won’t be able to hold the best sides—in the EuroCup or the Spanish league—to such a low total on a regular basis, but the defensive intensity they offered serves as a great blueprint for the key games ahead. Whether in the form of Bertsch, Gardner or numerous others, Girona have versatile defenders who are capable of holding their own against players at numerous positions—offering Íñiguez a large array of defensive coverages to throw at opponents. In Gardner’s return from illness (and second game back overall), she looked physically brilliant once again and still possesses the potential to be disruptive all on her own. Her arrival aligning with the implementation of a new coach will likely pay dividends long-term as everything Girona builds will already have her unique skillset factored in. While Rebekah (2/6 FG, 0/2 3PT) is still finding her rhythm after her lay-off, Morgan got back to her usual standards for efficiency as she needed just 6 shots to score 13 points—tacking on 3 steals at the defensive end.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
Schio rode a wave of momentum into their Sunday match away to San Giovanni after their big EuroLeague win, and it looked like they would coast to victory when a Parks and-one gave them a 17-point edge early in the third. From there, however, things unraveled with the hosts finishing the game on a 40-18 run to stun Schio 75-70. No loss is ever good, but there’s plenty for coach Georgios Dikaioulakos and his team to learn from this one. Even with the cold finish, there were plenty of moments when it looked like Schio would still find a way to win—including after Robyn hit a key three to stretch the lead to 62-58 with 6 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, Parks got just one more shot attempt after that—despite leading her side with 20 points on 7/11 FG and 4/8 3PT. Making sure that Parks, who has been—with Arella Guirantes—the team’s most reliable offensive player, continues to get shots when she’s scoring so well is key and allows the whole Schio offense to operate more freely—even when things get tight late on. Dikaioulakos has shown a knack for finding creative ways to get the ball in Parks’ hands in the past, and I don’t anticipate we’ll see her frozen out of a game like this again.
Wednesday’s EuroLeague win over Lyon not only served as a stirring response to the weekend’s disappointment, it also pushed Schio closer to the knockout phase of the competition. Once again, it was Parks and company’s mental toughness that really stuck out as they survived a road game where they trailed early and gave away a sizable lead late. Parks hit one of the biggest shots in her career late in the fourth—answering a huge three by Marine Johannes (New York) that gave Lyon the lead with a three of her own that instantly restored Schio’s advantage. From a momentum perspective, the shot was vital as it silenced the awakened French crowd and kick-started a 10-1 Schio run over the final three minutes of the game. In total, Parks—despite a relatively quiet start—finished strong with 13 points—making this her 10th time hitting double-digits in 12 EuroLeague games this season. Often overlooked, her impact on the glass (6 r) was also key as she was able to help close Schio’s strong defensive possessions and even extend a couple of trips with an offensive board.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
San Martino—fueled by 12 from Soule—had (what has to be) the Italian league’s highest scoring first quarter (39) of the season Sunday to build a 19-point gap that Milano never managed to overcome. Because of the huge lead, Soule didn’t score as much as she could have but still finished with 19 points on 7/11 FG and 2/2 3 PT. (Weirdly, Soule [3/9] also missed 6 consecutive FT in the third despite entering the game at 79%.) That said, San Martino can score even without Soule. What they can’t do is play this style of high-pressure defense that repeatedly forces mistakes. If I sound like a broken record so far into the season, it’s because the tune around Soule’s unique impact has not changed. Her length and instincts once again caused havoc (3 stl) for the opponent and allowed San Martino to get a handful of easy, tone-setting baskets in transition. With Soule contributing all of that on defense and hitting multiple threes, it becomes very tricky for opposing coaches to game plan around her.
Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s domestic action plus the penultimate round of EuroLeague group stage 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 update on a regular basis.