Chicago Sky Offseason Update #19: Survive and Advancé
Sika delivers for Avenida in the clutch and Robyn returns to her old stomping grounds while the Sky's Turkish contingent faces some adversity.
With Alanna Smith agreeing to a deal with Minnesota and Courtney Williams leaving her team in China, this week’s overseas update is not only early but also shorter than in weeks gone by. Fear not, the weeks ahead will still feature plenty of Sky players in offseason action with Olympic qualifying (check out my full preview) taking center stage next week and Athletes Unlimited—where Isabelle Harrison and Ruthy Hebard are scheduled to participate—kicking off later in the month of February. Until then, let’s check in on how the eight players in action this week fared:
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
Mersin found themselves in another “tougher than expected” league match against a team much further down the table and—for the second week in a row—they couldn’t escape with a victory. You can point fingers a lot of ways after their third loss in four league matches in 2024 (non-existent defensive rebounding—for instance—crushed their late comeback charge), but it’s hard not to wonder whether Mersin remain a scorer short. In a match where Mabrey scored 23 with above average efficiency (9/16 FG, 4/8 3PT), you’d like to fancy your chances, but the team’s absence of an alternative when trailing in the fourth quarter forced her into taking some low percentage shots in key moments. Hungarian forward Virag Kiss (17 p) and Williams (14 p) are doing their best to supplement Mabrey’s scoring and while others, relative to expectation, have stepped up well—the odds are that, as currently constructed, this team will struggle against top rivals like Fenerbahçe in the postseason. That’s not to say they can’t score (they still totaled 76 points) or, even, win titles—just that things look a lot tougher without any further signings to strengthen the team.
Tuesday’s EuroLeague finale—at home against group winners Praha—served as a prime example of how an elite defensive team (2nd in point allowed in EL) can limit Mabrey and severely hamper Mersin’s chances to win. Praha were very intentional about the way they defended Marina, and the result was a limited scoring night (7 pts). The Czech side threw all manner of defensive coverages—including doubles and aggressive hedges on screens— her way, and even a great passer (9 ast) can only do so much to overcome that type of pressure. In fact, Mersin probably looked marginally better on offense when Mabrey was off the floor—simply because Praha had no focal point to center their blitz around. With a 2nd place finish in Group B, Mersin can still be satisfied with their EuroLeague group stage efforts, but it’s tough to see how they’ll win a three game series in the quarterfinals unless opponents Zaragoza (the only team allowing fewer points than Praha) fail to defend Mabrey similarly or Elizabeth Williams (who, to her credit, scored 13 on 5/8 FG) can inspire a couple of defensive masterclasses.
Dana Evans & Li Yueru (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
A back-and-forth encounter Saturday eventually went the way of visitors Ormanspor when Beşiktaş couldn’t buy a basket in the final quarter. Of the 7 points they did score in the fourth, the majority came from offensive rebounds and it seemed like there was nothing Dana and company could do to get their first look to fall. Some of those shots were early in the shot clock and low in quality but others were a result of great offensive actions—with shooters simply unable to hit open looks. Evans finished with 25 points on 8/25 FG and fell victim to misses on looks both good and bad, but her shot selection—especially from behind the three-point line (2/11 3PT)—is usually much better. Because of her role and position, Yueru’s shots are almost always guaranteed to be of a better quality, but she too struggled with efficiency issues (7 p, 3/11 FG). Despite the defeat, Beşiktaş remain fourth in the Turkish league before next week’s visit to Mabrey, Williams and Mersin.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
To call Avenida’s win over Celta on Saturday a blowout might be too generous to the visitors who trailed 23-6 after the opening quarter. A 76-44 final scoreline is more than satisfactory for coach Nacho Martinez, but the team’s obscene shot making in the first half suggested they could’ve scored a lot more if they didn’t have a EuroLeague elimination game coming in the midweek. While a lot of their shots were going in, Sika was instrumental in helping Avenida extend possessions even when they did miss—grabbing 3 offensive rebounds and tipping a couple of other misses into the path of a teammate. As she has done so often this season, Koné was also efficient with the shots she took on her way to a 13 point outing on 6/8 FG. The 75% night from the floor moves her to 60.3% shooting in the Spanish league and 58.1% in all competitions. Doing all that on offense while operating as a plus defender and averaging 7.9 rebounds per game shouldn’t go unnoticed by Spoon as she makes plans for 2024.
Sika and company’s long journey to clinch their place in the knockout stages finished with a crescendo as they beat Győr at home on Tuesday to secure a spot in the final eight. In a match where Avenida were unremarkable at the offensive end (36% FG, 13% 3PT), their defensive intensity and, especially, their work on the glass (42-32 rebounding edge) carried them across the line to secure their fourth knockout stage appearance in as many seasons. Unsurprisingly, Koné was a key piece of that effort as she collected 12 boards and looked completely in control of the glass during a couple of key stretches for her team—particularly as they went on an 18-3 run in the second quarter that blew the game open. On offense, Sika’s ability to score and draw fouls underneath was also critical—especially since her team struggled to score from outside. The Malian finished second amongst all scorers with 16 points—including a solid 6/8 night at the free throw line. After an impressive group stage (12.9 p and 7.4 r per game), Sika and company will face a stern test against reigning champions Fenerbahçe in the quarterfinals.
Morgan Bertsch & Rebekah Gardner (Spar Girona — Spain)
Girona are still coming together under Roberto Íñiguez, but the coach’s post match comments pointed to the fact that things are starting to come together and the on court performance reflected that—especially in the first half (41-24). A slight bobble in the third let mid-table Ferrol back into the contest, but Girona put things away with a 13-0 run over the opening six-and-a-half minutes of the fourth. Gardner’s continued rebound towards her top level will, presumably, help Girona achieve more consistency, and a season-high in minutes (21:44) speaks to her all-around game’s progress even as her offensive game (9 p, 3/9 FG) has yet to heat up. Bertsch, despite a below average shooting night (4/11 FG), showcased her unique value by recording two blocks and two three-point makes to move her season totals to an impressive 25 blocks and 22 3PM (37%) in 28 games.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
Parks and Schio didn’t make it easy on themselves, but they ultimately turned the forward’s return to Campobasso on Saturday (where she excelled in 2022-23) into a victorious one. Off the back of their midweek qualification to the next round of the EuroLeague, a letdown would’ve been somewhat natural, and it looked like Schio might slip up when the hosts pulled within one with 16 seconds left. Instead, after Parks split the ensuing free throws, a strong defensive trip forced a turnover and allowed Schio to survive and grab a key road win over a side that entered the game with the same record (11-4). Parks—just like for Campobasso last year—was an offensive force on her way to a 16-point night that led all scorers. Key to her scoring—and to that of guard Costanza Verona (16 p)—is the growing chemistry between the two players. Throughout the season, both have run the floor well in transition and their continued growth in understanding the spots the other wants to get to helps Schio create a lot of easy offense on the break.
It’s always nice to tie together a well thought out, analytical narrative of why a game goes wrong but sometimes you just get hit in the mouth by a motivated opponent and can’t recover. With Valencia needing a win to have any chance to progress to the EuroLeague quarterfinals, Schio fell victim to such a knockout punch early (24-9 extended run to end the first quarter) which they could never recover from in Tuesday’s 87-60 loss. One key difference in the game: Schio F Jasmine Keys’ absence. She appeared to be set for a night off before entering the game for the first time directly after half-time as part of a bid for a miraculous turnaround. The damage, however, was already done as Valencia’s Nadia Fingall had scored 20 in 10 first half minutes in Keys’ absence, and Schio coach Georgios Dikaioulakos eventually pulled his star after Schio failed to cut the deficit for the first three minutes of the second half. On a forgettable night for her team, Parks finished with just 2 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, steal and block each. Schio will face Praha—winners of the opposite group—in the quarterfinals.
Taylor Soule (San Martino — Italy)
San Martino had a bye in the Italian league and will return to action on Saturday (2/3) against San Giovanni. Unsurprisingly, Soule used the time off to keep tabs on alma-mater Virginia Tech’s win over Georgia Tech.
Check back again on Sunday (special early release!) when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s domestic action before the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments tip off on Thursday, February 8th. 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.