Chicago Sky Offseason Update #23: Survival of the Fittest
The EuroLeague quarterfinals go down to the wire while Dana progresses in the EuroCup and Brianna Turner and Adelaide finish the season strong.
With just 58 days until WNBA training camps open, the Sky players overseas are starting to reach the crucial point of their season. While the WNBL’s regular season has wrapped and the semifinals are already under way, the Turkish, Spanish and Italian leagues still have a few weeks remaining—meaning now is the crucial time for teams to jockey for playoff position. Meanwhile, the first teams to reach the EuroCup and EuroLeague semi-finals were also determined this week—with one Sky player’s team already punching their ticket. Let’s get into how each Chicago player and their team has gotten on in the last week:
Marina Mabrey & Elizabeth Williams (CBK Mersin — Turkey)
Mersin rolled to a comfortable win in league play on Saturday thanks in large part to a dominant first quarter (26-9) where Mabrey, Williams and Kah were able to get out in transition with regularity and score easy points. From then on, the scoreline was balanced, but it was obvious that Mersin were far from their top gear as they coasted to victory. Williams (21 p, 6 r, 6 a) was the star of the show—picking apart the Çankaya defense with her passing while showcasing solid efficiency (10/18 FG) as well. On defense, she finished with 5 steals and a block and her disruptiveness in the passing lanes created a lot of the transition opportunities that Mersin built their offense (96 points scored) around. By her recent standards, Mabrey had a relatively quiet night (9 p), but her passing (6 a) was still crucial to the team’s high-scoring performance.
It’s no secret that Zaragoza—who pushed the quarterfinal series to a win or go home Game 3 with a win Wednesday—are a great defensive team, but this performance may go down as the standout in a season full of them. With Leonie Fiebich (New York) defending Copper (7/19 FG) brilliantly and Williams out, the Mersin offense fell heavily on the shoulders of Mabrey, and it just so happened that nothing would fall for her on the night (4/14 FG). It started early with a couple of threes going halfway down before rolling out, and she simply couldn’t shake that as the game went on—despite what I’d categorize as solid shot selection. That frustration culminated with her final shot attempt—a relatively open three for the lead with just over a minute left—that missed off the back iron. Even then, Mersin got two more solid looks for the win but couldn’t get those to fall either. For both Mabrey and Mersin, the key will be to reflect on the positives from this loss (only 12 fourth quarter points allowed, for instance) and trust that—even against a great defense—more shots will fall next week.
Dana Evans (Beşiktaş — Turkey)
Hosting an İzmit side fighting for similar seeding (2-4) in the Turkish playoffs, Beşiktaş delivered an impressive come from behind victory Sunday that moves them closer to securing home court in the first round. Having built a slim lead at halftime, a series of untimely turnovers and failed box-outs by Beşiktaş allowed İzmit to build their biggest lead (68-61) with just over six minutes to go. From that point forward, Beşiktaş flipped the script—protecting the basketball, making timely shots and finishing the game on a 23-11 run to grab the victory. Overall, Beşiktaş took a more balanced approach to their offense with others taking on some of Evans’ usual ball-handling duties. The reduced burden on Dana (25 p, 7 a) likely contributed to her leading the surge in the final minutes with eight points, an assist and the free throws that clinched the victory in the final seconds.
With a 14 point lead heading to France for the EuroCup quarterfinal second leg, Beşiktaş knew that a fast start would put the tie beyond reach, and a 43-37 lead at the half proved more than enough for Dana (17 p) and company to coast across the line in the final twenty minutes. Evans’ efficiency (31/19/86) and playmaking numbers (3.5 APG) across the two quarterfinal games weren’t up to the level she has been at through most of the season (40/38/87, 6.3) , but there were no clear changes in her shot selection or focus on going downhill. Thus, we’ll likely see those stats trend back in the right direction if she keeps working to get to the positions where she’s been successful in the earlier phases of the EuroCup. Most importantly, Evans and Beşiktaş are on to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in club history. They’ll face Spanish side Girona with the first leg at home next Thursday (3/7).
Lindsay Allen & Taya Reimer (Botaş — Turkey)
In a crucial game for playoff seeding, Botaş (8th) fell to Nesibe (7th) on Saturday in heartbreaking fashion. After a back and fourth start where Botaş hung in the game on the back of Allen’s 17 first-quarter points, hosts Nesibe were in control for much of the game’s middle stages until a late run from the visitors saw Allen tie the game at the free throw line with 6.1 seconds to go. On the ensuing trip, a marginal (at best) foul call as time expired sent Nesibe to the line where they hit the winning free throw. Despite the loss, Botaş should be happy with the way they battled back when an extended run by Nesibe in the third quarter looked to be a knockout punch. Reimer still looks a little out of rhythm but stepped up to be the team’s secondary scorer (17 p) despite Lyndra Weaver (8 p, 4/12 FG) having a rare off night. Meanwhile, Allen backed up her dominant first quarter to finish with a season-high 39 points (on insane 60/75/85 splits)—regularly punishing Nesibe off of screens in the mid-range and effectively using her hot hand to get others into great shooting positions as well (8 ast). With the three teams behind them in the standings also losing, Botaş stay 8th with just 4 games left.
Michaela Onyenwere (Ormanspor — Turkey)
Onyenwere and Ormanspor had a bye in the Turkish League and will return to action on March 2nd against Emlak Konut. At 17-7, Ormanspor are fourth in the league with a game in hand on each of the three teams ahead of them in the standings.
Chennedy Carter (Bursa — Turkey)
Carter’s stat line (19 p, 9 r, 4 a) in her second game with Bursa looked relatively similar to her first and, crucially, her side won for the first time since her return. Basketball is often a make or miss game and that was definitely the case in this contest as Bursa (49%) outshot Emlak (37%) comfortably and controlled the boards (53-30 edge) when their shots weren’t falling. As has been the case often for Emlak (Alanna Smith’s side), the three ball wasn’t falling (23%) and the volume they took (30 attempts to Bursa’s 18) was reflective of the fact they failed to establish themself inside beyond Smith’s typical production (27 p). To the contrary, Bursa’s perimeter players—Carter (8 FTA) included—were aggressive off the dribble while their interior players were also able to establish themselves down low. Also key to their efficient scoring: ball movement—with four of Bursa’s five starters registering 4 or more assists.
Sika Koné (Perfumerias Avenida — Spain)
In what’s quickly become a trend, Sika played less than twenty minutes for the third consecutive game on Sunday against Zaragoza. With fewer minutes, Koné’s impact is understandably muted and she has attempted just 8 field goals in the last three games combined (after averaging 8.4 per game in 33 prior games with Avenida). Other players returning to health certainly explains the change and on Sunday Avenida picked up a crucial win that moved them up into second place, but it’s still puzzling to see Nacho Martinez slash the role of a player who was on the shortlist of MVP candidates for many just a couple of weeks ago.
Koné didn’t clear the 20-minute barrier when Avenida’s EuroLeague run ended to Fenerbahçe on Wednesday either, but she still found a way to make an impact. Her side started the game brightly and led for much of the first half, but it’s very tough to hold Fener down for long. The Turkish side—who clinched their fourth consecutive trip to the Final Four—blitzed Avenida (22-6 3Q) out of the break and never looked back from there. Sika ended with 12 points on 5/7 FG (with both misses rattling out from close range) as well as 7 rebounds and a steal in just 19 minutes of action. Interestingly, in a game where Avenida lost by 6, she finished with a positive plus-minus (+4)—once again demonstrating that, when on the floor, Koné is impactful. We’ll see how much the Malian can crack Martinez’s (somewhat head-scratching) rotations in the remaining games of the domestic season, but the Sky should be more than pleased with the development Koné has shown in her first EuroLeague season.
Robyn Parks (PF Schio — Italy)
The Italian League rearranged Schio’s weekend match to allow them to fully focus on Wednesday’s EuroLeague game against Praha, and it paid off as the hosts extended the series with a 73-61 victory. You could point to a number of differences from Game 1 last week, but the contrast in three-point shooting fortunes probably stands out most. In Czechia, it was Praha who dominated from long-range (55%-17%) while, this time, Schio flipped the script by shooting 46% to Praha’s 29%. Parks (10 p, 3/6 3PT) was key to that change—with a pair of her makes coming early in the first as Schio kept much closer (4 pts down) after the opening quarter than in Game 1 (17). From then on, Schio’s offense carried them to the start of the final frame—with their total of 48 points in the second and third quarters fueled by 24 points from the three ball alone. Entering the fourth up 13, Schio did exactly what was needed to close the door on Praha’s offense (4/12 FG, 10 pts scored in Q4) with their stifling defensive effort setting up a winner-take-all Game 3 next week.
Brianna Turner (Adelaide Lightning —Australia)
Turner and Adelaide finished the season in style with their fourth straight win—a streak which included a victory over each of the top three teams in the WNBL. While Adelaide getting healthy was a big part of the streak, it’s no secret that Turner’s exceptional play to close the season was also key. In the final four games, Turner registered 3 double-doubles and averaged 15 points, 14.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.3 blocks. Saturday’s win over Southside underlined how, in spite of those impressive numbers, Turner’s biggest impacts often come outside of the boxscore. Matched up against Seattle center Mercedes Russell (who, herself, was averaging 20+ PPG in her last 3), Turner did well to force misses (8 p, 4/9 FG) but was also strong in denying Russell chances to catch and post up in the first place. Limiting Russell’s impact down low was key to Adelaide establishing a 34-20 edge in paint points in a game they wound up winning by the same margin of 14—with Turner’s strong work at the opposite end (20 p, 10-16 FG) proving equally as important to her side’s edge in this department.
Isabelle Harrison (Athletes Unlimited)
Harrison was drafted to Fever guard Lexie Hull’s team for the first week of Athletes Unlimited; however, Harrison was listed as inactive and did not participate in Thursday night’s opening game. Her status for week 2 of the competition—which starts March 7th—is not yet confirmed.
Check back again next Friday when I’ll recap all of the coming week’s domestic action plus two decisive Game 3s in the EuroLeague quarterfinals and the opening leg of the EuroCup semifinal. 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.