Chicago Sky Offseason Update #4: Alanna Smith & Elizabeth Williams Continue Strong Starts
Our weekly check in on the Chicago Sky players in Europe sees E-Will’s quiet impact getting loud and Big Lan dominating the stat sheet.
The WNBA season is in the books (congrats to both Vegas — deserved champions — and NY), but the weeks ahead are still packed full of basketball for all eight of the Sky players contracted overseas. With no further delay, let’s get right into the updates:
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
Mabrey and Williams endured their first Turkish league loss since joining Mersin against Nesibe on Saturday. Mersin weren’t outplayed by a great margin, and the almost identical stat lines for both sides reflect that. In the end, Nesibe’s extra dose of aggressiveness (8 additional free throws made) ruled the day. I talked about my desire to see Mabrey shoot her way through the bad stretches in my end of season review, and she faced one of those afternoons on Saturday (4/17, 1/8 from 3). Williams, on the other hand, was sharp from the field and made 8 of her 11 field goals en route to a game high 20 points. She once again complemented her strong scoring night with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and a steal. It’s early but Mersin (3–3) sit outside the playoff line in the Turkish league with their next match against 13th place Tarsus serving as a chance to get back on track.
In EuroLeague play, however, Mersin picked up another key win as they continue to reestablish their position in Group B following their opening loss. The final scoreline (69–60) reflects a relatively tight game and there was points where French side Villeneuve had a real chance to steal this one late, but Mersin were pretty clearly the better team throughout. Williams, again, delivered in a big way with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. Crucially, she delivered 8 points and an assist in the final quarter — frequently delivering the baskets that kept her team in front as Villeneuve pulled as close as 3. Mabrey, on the other hand, endured another frustrating shooting night (5/14 FG, 0/3 FT) and battled with foul trouble in the final period. After picking up her fifth, there was obvious frustration as she went to the bench — though it was difficult to tell whether it was with herself or her coach’s decision. In any case, Mabrey isn’t forcing shots and the ones she’s taking are good looks; so, I’d expect we’ll start to see more go in soon. From a team perspective, Mabrey — like Williams— is contributing with effort on D and Mersin — at their best — look like one of the top sides in Europe. Coach Roberto Iniguez is using a lot of the pick and roll and handoff actions that Emre used — meaning we should continue to see Elizabeth and Marina get in positions that feel comfortable all season.
Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)
Despite taking the court Monday in league play, Smith and Emlak were not immune to the weekend malaise that seemed to fall over many of the Sky players. Emlak slumped to a second successive defeat — this time by 17 points — and never really managed to get Smith into the game. After averaging more than 19 shots a game in her first few weeks in Turkey, Smith attempted just 6 shots against a Kayseri side whose swarming pressure on the perimeter and quick double-teams in the block made it difficult to service the Aussie. Any team that can clog up passing lanes and bring doubles as efficiently as Kayseri did will likely have a chance to frustrate Smith unless the team’s shooters get rolling.
Any frustration built up in Monday’s loss was quickly alleviated by a dominant win over Roche on Thursday where Smith (19 pts, 10 rebs, 5 assist, 4 steals, 3 blocks) delivered a stat line which — for most any other player — would be extraordinary. So early in the season and with Roche 2–2 in France, it’s hard to quantify how big an upset this win is, but the fashion Emlak won in (86–48) certainly tells a story all on its own. Alanna obviously did a lot of things well in this game, but her dominance on the glass felt most impactful. 10 boards is plenty but you’d struggle not to feel like the statkeeper shortchanged her after watching her performance. If there was a defensive rebound to be had and Smith was on the floor (only 27 mins because of the score), she came down with it and she frequently turned fast-break quarterback with her smart distribution. Emlak will want to balance the highs and lows of these two games better, but it’s hard not to love just how dominant Smith has looked overall in Turkey.
Dana Evans (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
After a weekend off domestically, Beşiktaş traveled to Mechelen where they dropped a tight game to the Belgian leaders. Despite enduring a below average shooting night (8/23), Dana still chipped in with buckets at the right time (13 pts in the second half) to help give her side a fighting chance. The issue for Beşiktaş, in what was very much a game of runs, was that Mechelen ended the game on the upswing — leading to a 9 point gap in the final score that wasn’t really reflected in the flow of the game. With her usual partner in crime, Jovana Nogić, also having an off night (2–10), Dana’s game management skills really shone through. With the outside shots not falling, Dana put her bigs — especially Tijana Krivačević in great spots to be successful. Krivačević, consequently, had her best scoring night of the season — scoring 21 on 10/14 shooting from the floor (and it should’ve probably been more with some glaring fouls not called). The more Evans can do to set up those around her, the better Beşiktaş will be as she’s bound to get 20 or more on her own every time out.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
Saturday’s derby win over Girona may not live long in Sika’s memory (1–5, 2 pts, 6 rebounds in 12 minutes) from a statistical perspective, but the entire Avenida side will have to be thoroughly satisfied with the performance they delivered in such a high profile match. After trailing for long stretches of the first, Avenida delivered a brilliant second quarter (23–6) which saw them put the game beyond reach for Girona. Thursday’s EuroLeague game, against another top side Virtus Bologna, proved to be a valuable learning experience for Koné. After a first half where she was targeted in the pick and roll (similar to against Mersin last month) and saw limited minutes, Koné was forced in to action after Maria Fasoula’s devastating leg injury.
To her credit, Koné performed admirably in the second half (8 pts (4/6), 6 reb, 1 block, 1 steal) though she was still caught over enthusiastically helping on a couple of occasions. The way I see it, Sika has probably been the best, quickest and strongest player on the floor every single game for most of her life to this point. Consequently, leaving her matchup to help a teammate has probably led to a block, steal or other favorable outcome on a lot of occasions. In the W or against the best teams in the EuroLeague, those tendencies will be found out pretty quickly. As long as she keeps bringing the energy and has a willingness to learn, it won’t be difficult to eliminate these lapses long term as 1v1 she’s already a very solid defender. Should Fasoula miss significant time, Sika will be the player who inherits a lot of those minutes — consequently, Avenida’s hopes may follow in line with her performances.
Morgan Bertsch (Spar Girona — Spain)
Bertsch’s difficult shooting night (2–7) certainly didn’t help her team’s chances of cutting the deficit after their flat second quarter against Avenida, but her strong defensive effort at least left Girona with some chance to stay in touching distance. Aside from her 2 blocks (both of which came on Kone in the same possession), Bertsch continues to defend well in ways that generally don’t make the statsheet (she added 3 more blocks Thursday) meaning her large role for Girona won’t change anytime soon.
Thursday’s EuroCup win away in Poland may serve as something of an early season turning point for Girona as they continued to battle and ultimately prevailed after a clutch 4-point play by Kelsey Mitchell in the final minute. Berstch wasn’t an offensive force (5 pts), but her role as a stretch forward in the offense is key to what coach Laura Antoja is doing with her side. Girona spent much of this game with four shooters on the perimeter and creative screen actions inside the arc freeing up opportunities inside. One positive outcome of this system for Bertsch is that she can showcase her passing ability (4 assists) from the perimeter. From a team perspective, I think the system opens the door for Girona to score a lot of points with Mitchell’s aggressiveness perfectly fit for the well-spaced paint area. The more Mitchell scores in the paint, the more chances Bertsch and others will get to score from three on kick outs.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
Another Sky player who, in large part, endured a frustrating match in league play last weekend. Parks’ slow start shooting the ball in the league continued (25% FG, 17% 3PT); however, she grabbed a couple of decisive rebounds late in the game and was still right on the heels of the team leaders in minutes played. Because she’s shooting the ball more efficiently (35% 3PT) in the EuroLeague, the mini-slump in the league won’t register as more than a blip and should correct itself before too long. In spite of Parks’ relatively quiet offensive night, Schio still managed to bounce back from last week’s loss with a win over Campobasso that moves them back into the top four in Italy before their visit to slow starters Sassari next weekend.
Wednesday evening in the EuroLeague, just about everything went against Schio in their loss to Hungarian side Miskolic. They made unforced turnovers on simple passes and hand-offs, missed open shots, and struggled to find any offensive rhythm as a result. Parks finished with 10 points — making her one of only two Schio players to reach double figures in the low-scoring (59–55) affair. The looks she got — especially from three (2–8) — were good enough that she could’ve easily scored 20 (or more) with some more favorable bounces. In any case, her defending was (predictably) faultless with her positioning consistently giving her the opportunity to disrupt her matchup (4 reb, 2 stl, a block). As a unit, Schio produced one of their better defensive games of the season (in my opinion) — meaning this game should serve as a reminder that they can compete on the EuroLeague level even when they’re not at their best offensively.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
By virtue of the Italian league’s unconventional 13-team format and San Martino’s lack of European basketball, Soule had a clean week on the calendar. Her side return to action Sunday against San Giovanni.
Check back again next Friday when we’ll recap all of the games below (all central time) including domestic action as well as EuroLeague (round 4) and EuroCup (round 3) play. You can tap in live by finding the best site to stream the different leagues in this article I wrote earlier in the season.
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams: CBK Mersin
Saturday 10/21 @ 10:00 AM: Turkish League vs. Tarsus
Wednesday 10/25 @ 11:00 AM: EuroLeague vs. Polkowice
Alanna Smith: Emlak Konut
Sunday 10/22 @ 6:00 AM: Turkish League @ Hatay
Thursday 10/26 @ 12:30 PM: EuroCup vs. Arka Gdynia
Dana Evans: Beşiktaş
Sunday 10/22 @ 9:00 AM: Turkish League @ Ormanspor
Thursday 10/26 @ 10:30 AM: EuroCup @ Panathinaikos
Sika Koné: Perfumerias Avenida
Saturday 10/21 @ 12:15 PM: Spanish League @ Ensino
Wednesday 10/25 @ 1:30 PM: EuroLeague vs. USK Prague
Morgan Bertsch: Spar Girona
Sunday 10/22 @ 11:15 AM: Spanish League vs. Gipuzkoa
Wednesday 10/25 @ 11:00 AM: EuroCup @ Piestanske Cajky
Robyn Parks: PF Schio
Saturday 10/21 @ 1:00 PM: Italian League @ Sassari
Wednesday 10/25 @ 11:00 AM: EuroLeague @ Fenerbahçe
Taylor Soule: San Martino
Sunday 10/22 @ 11:00 AM: Italian League @ San Giovanni
For TV listings on all games, check out this post I wrote earlier this season.
