Chicago Sky Offseason Update #9: The Sika Koné for MVP Blog
Dana Evans and Marina Mabrey stay hot, Elizabeth Williams is an all-around force and Sika Koné is the best player in Spain?
Courtney Williams (Shaanxi — China)
Williams and Shaanxi returned to TV last Thursday, but it unfortunately came as her side slumped to a fourth straight defeat and Courtney endured a frustrating shooting night (4–14 FG) while looking out of sync with her teammates at times. If nothing else, Williams and Imani McGee-Stafford remained productive in the pick-and-roll when given the chance to play together (42–34 second half score). Returning to the anonymity of a non-televised match on Sunday, Shaanxi got back in the win column just in time for a rare six-day break. Courtney narrowly missed a triple double but packed the stat sheet with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals. Williams continues to come off the bench, but her season-high 33 minutes presumably led to more involvement early as Shaanxi delivered a rare first quarter edge (27–13) — which opponents Hebei could never overcome. A continuation of this larger minute share moving forward could help her team claw back into the playoff picture.
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
Mersin’s weekend league doubleheader produced a pair of victories but in very different fashion. Thursday’s win over Kayseri wasn’t easy, but Mersin never truly got out of second or third gear. Marina Mabrey’s shot stayed hot over the international break as her 16 first-half points keyed a fifteen-point halftime lead that put the game comfortably beyond reach. In total, she managed 20 on 7–13 shooting with 6 rebounds complementing her scoring output. Elizabeth Williams, despite playing just 24 minutes in the blowout, scored a tidy eight points on 4–5 shooting with 6 rebounds, a steal and a block filling out her stat line.
Williams was similarly efficient (12 pts, 5–7 FG, 7 rebounds, 4 assists plus another block and steal) in Sunday’s 95–92 win where she came off the bench for the first time this season. Her absence in the starting five appeared nothing more than an opportunity for reserve Quanitra Hollingsworth to get some extended run, and Mabrey remained in the starting lineup and cleared the twenty-point barrier again with 21 including 3 makes on 4 attempts from behind the arc. Opponents Çankaya, who entered the game second bottom of the Turkish league at 2–7, traded buckets with CBK for large stretches of the opening half but were only able to keep the final scoreline close with an impressive surge after the Mersin starters went to the bench with a 14-point lead after three quarters.
In the EuroLeague on Wednesday, Marina managed to lead all scorers with 20 points in just 23 minutes of action. Her shot is in such a good rhythm at the moment (4/5 3PT) that even the misses are often just rattling out, and her defensive work rate (3 steals) remains high. When Mabrey is playing like this, she’s a genuine world class player, and I don’t see a drop off coming anytime soon. Elizabeth was also stellar in this game with 14 points on 6/11 shooting to finish as the game’s second leading scorer. Her passing (4 assists) also stood out in the win. As we saw so often in Chicago this season, Williams is a brilliant decision maker when she gets the ball at the elbow and that skillset was on full display in this game. Defensively, she remains one of the EuroLeague’s best and added two more blocks in Mersin’s 75–63 win.
Alanna Smith (Emlak Konut — Turkey)
Emlak won their lone league match of the week comfortably over Bursa 91–71. Smith, once again, saw a decreased volume of shots, but the result continues to be a more fluid Emlak offense. Because of Smith’s gifted offensive game, opposing defenses still respect her ability to score at all three levels, and her presence on the floor creates great spacing which allows others to go one-v-one or get free for shots on the perimeter. When the chances on the perimeter aren’t there, Smith is always available as an option in the post and her efficiency (4/8, 10 pts) isn’t suffering greatly because of the lower volume. Even without huge offensive numbers, Alanna is still having a considerable impact on the game defensively and her hustle stats (8 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk in just 21 minutes) reflect that.
Wednesday’s EuroCup game saw Smith’s offensive output return closer to its pre-injury levels (17 pts), but the defeat Emlak suffered leaves them very much on the brink heading into the final fixture of Group L next week. The loss wasn’t for lack of effort as Alanna and Emlak scrapped their way to within single digits several times late in the game, but a difficult shooting night (30.2% FG) and a few lapses on the glass (33–49 rebound deficit) were just too much to overcome. Smith, predictably, threw her body on the floor several times trying to gather every loose ball to help her team win and packed the box score (8 reb, 3 stl, 4 blk) once again. There’s some chance for Emlak to progress even with a defeat away to Polish side Gdynia next week, but a win should push them through to the next round.
Dana Evans (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
Playing against Fenerbahçe is difficult for pretty much everyone in Europe, and there was no exceptions made for Evans and Beşiktaş last Thursday. In fairness, Evans’ side hung close early and won the third (21–15) to claw back within ten at the start of the fourth. But, a quiet fourth (7 points) ended any chance of a challenge with Evans’ (5 pts, 1/9 shooting) rare off night making the climb even more steep for her side. As if the frustrating offensive night and defeat weren’t bad enough, Evans also left the game for a short period in the second half with an apparent calf injury which later kept her out of the squad’s 69–60 league loss to Izmit on Sunday. The oft-mentioend Jovana Nogić led Beşiktaş in scoring in both of the league losses with 27 and 20 respectively.
With Evans back in the line-up, Beşiktaş took a huge step towards the EuroCup quarterfinals by overturning their previous away defeat in Belgium and beating Mechelen 93–79. Evans’ game showed no indication of injury, fatigue or other impediment as she put together 28, 8 and 8 while accounting for over half (47) of Beşiktaş’ points. Defensively, coach Aziz Akkaya decided to put the Belgian side under full-court pressure throughout the match with Evans applying her usual brand of defense and forcing several key turnovers in the process. By moving to 4–1 in group play, Beşiktaş now control their own destiny in next week’s home match again Panathinaikos who they already beat in Greece last month.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
Thursday’s highly-anticipated clash with defending Spanish champions Valencia turned out to be arguably the performance of the European season so far with Avenida winning by 15. Sika was at the center of it all with 23 points, 8 rebounds, a block and a steal. She remains monstrous from an efficiency perspective (8–9 FG, 7–7 FT), and her defensive presence at the rim empowered the Avenida guards to press up and limit Valencia to 21% shooting from behind the arc. On Sunday against mid-table Ferrol, Avenida coasted to victory in what could’ve easily been a trap game after their huge win Thursday. Koné’s offensive output was far less noticeable (7 pts on just 4 shots), but she’s now far more involved in Avenida’s free-flowing offense. Instead of a sequence of ball movement almost alyways ending with the Malian taking a shot in the post, we’re now seeing Sika make the extra pass and find shooters on the perimeter.
Despite Koné missing minutes for foul trouble and a minor injury, Avenida were able to snap their three game losing streak in the EuroLeague and get back to .500 with Wednesday’s win over Polkowice. Koné nearly identically matched her scoring output from the Valencia win with 21 points (8/9 FG, 5/5 FT) and has now made 16 straight free throws to boost her success rate to 83%. In addition to her free throws and production around the rim, we also saw Sika step out and hit a shot from the mid-range in this contest — which could be another wrinkle of the Avenida pick-and-roll to look out for moving forward. Avenida’s team defense in the final period — where they held Polkowice to just 9 points — was brilliant as they allowed just 6 two-point field goal attempts and 8% shooting on 12 three-point tries.
Morgan Bertsch (Spar Girona — Spain)
Girona’s Thursday win over Ensino pushed their win streak to seven-games in all competitions with Bertsch delivering arguably her most impressive offensive performance of the European season. Statistically, her numbers don’t look outrageous (12 pts, 5–9 FG), but she came up with a bucket at all the right moments. Her movement in the post was exceptional, and she rewarded the teammates that continued to feed her with a number of brilliant post moves to finish around the basket. Defensively, she performed in line with her usual high standard — contributing a steal and a block on the stat sheet. The win streak, however, came to an abrupt halt with Sunday’s loss to 13th place Araski. After hitting shots at all the right times on Thursday, neither Girona nor Bertsch got the key shots to fall and the 21 turnovers they committed muted any chances of overcoming those misses to win.
When Bertsch entered Wednesday’s EuroCup game against Gorzow, Girona were off to a slow start and looked like their perfect EuroCup record might be in jeopardy. Instead, Bertsch and, in large part, Kelsey Mitchell helped turn the tide with Girona ending the first half on a 36–19 run to take a four-point lead. By the time Bertsch made her first appearance of the third, Girona’s starters (in collaboration with Mitchell’s 24 pts) had stretched the lead to 18 — with the Spanish side eventually winning by 26. Mitchell set the tone, but Bertsch again delivered a strong showing offensively with 18 pts on 5/9 shooting. We’ll see if Mitchell is a part of the team moving forward, but the chemistry between the two Americans is increasingly evident.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
Parks returned from the international break in some style with 16 points on just 9 shots. After hitting three triples in the first quarter, Parks was well positioned to have a huge scoring night, but Schio’s control of the game kept her on the bench for the entirey of the final period. In any case, Parks still led all scorers and her efficiency from three (4/6) made her a popular target in the corners for teammates. As is so often the case, Parks’ one-v-one defending was also of great value as Schio ramped up the pressure to overcome an early 13–5 deficit and hold Faenza to just 33% shooting from the floor. At 5–1, Schio are just one game back of league leaders Venezia and remain very much in the mix for the Italian title.
Sometimes, you can try and try to come up with nuanced analysis for a game, and it’s just as simple as not making shots. Wednesday’s EuroLeague loss against Zaragoza — where Schio led 21–4 early — could be filed under that category. Both teams defended well enough to force tough shots, neither could really buy a bucket, and the even final period (11–11) was reflective of the balanced, low scoring nature of the game. Parks was not immune to the rough shooting night and, having made two of her first three attempts, finished with just four points. As a team, I think it’s safe for Schio to chalk this poor shooting night (25/20/54) up as a one-off and move forward with knowledge that they’ll have a chance to claw back their one point deficit to Zaragoza when the two sides meet in the return fixture in Italy on January 24th.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
Soule and San Martino simply outclassed winless Battipaglia on Sunday — winning comfortably after maintaining a 20+ point buffer throughout most of the second half. Once again, the name of the game for San Martino was energy. Head coach Giuseppe Piazza made the bold decision to press throughout the match, and Soule was instrumental as the central player in what often amounted to a box of four teammates around her. As probably the strongest, quickest, and longest player on the court, Soule was the perfect ‘free-safety’ and adequately disrupted play in the press and the half court. Soule appears to be taking on a more vocal role in organizing the defense (something she excelled at in college), and the result is an increasingly active and impressive defensive unit that seems to have a knack for getting into the opponent’s passing lanes. On the offensive end, Soule’s off ball movement was fantastic — with the Virginia Tech grad frequently finding the pockets in the defense on her way to a professional best 15 points on 6/7 shooting from inside the arc.
Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s games including domestic action, EuroLeague (round 7) play and the decisive round of EuroCup (round 6) group stage fixtures. 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.