Chicago Sky Season in Review: Dana Evans

Chicago’s favorite sixth-woman saw an increased role and took her game to new heights in 2023.

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Continuing through December 18th, I’ll have a weekly post reviewing one member of the Sky’s 2023 season each Monday. Each post focuses on three positives from the player’s season and one thing I’d like to see more of from them next year. Think of it like a (highly positive) end of season report card. You can view past reviews here.

Every team has its fan favorites, but Dana Evans seems to be a fan favorite league wide. Based on her high-level of play and increased role in 2023, there’s no reason why that status should change anytime soon. Evans was once a burst of energy off the bench, but she’s now transformed into, arguably, the premier bench player in the league. With just 12 teams in the W and 60 starters, that status alone places Evans at or near the top-50 players in a league full of incredible talents. Let’s explore what makes Evans so unique and valuable to the Sky:

1)Energy

Duh. If you’ve ever seen Evans play basketball, this would be the first thing that jumps out to you. I mentioned the burst she provides above, but her seemingly limitless stamina means that burst lasts as long as she’s on the floor. Physical energy is one thing, but there’s also an aggressiveness that comes along with her game which is so key to making her successful. When the offense is stagnating and the Sky are struggling to find good looks as a result, Evans is always capable (and willing) to go and make offense. She has the confidence to take and make deep threes which can give the team a shot in the arm, but it’s her drives to the basket that prove a more reliable source of instant offense as she’s much more efficient at the basket and can collapse the defense as a result. She’s also a passionate player who is popular with her teammates — meaning her successes have a habit of injecting emotional energy into the team.

That shift in emotional energy can help the Sky surge in the good moments, but it’s far more critical when the team is suffering through a bad patch. There’s no one on the Sky roster who I’d say has a habit of ‘disappearing’ in the difficult moments, but Evans is definitely the player (along with Kah) who steps to the forefront most obviously when the going gets tough. In this respect, it’s her otherworldly confidence that becomes her biggest asset. Evans can miss several threes throughout the course of a game, but she’s still willing to pull the trigger and take the difficult shots when the team is in need. Other players might shy away from that responsibility on a bad night, and it’s understandable given you never want to shoot your team out of a game. But Dana, to the contrary, seems impervious to the potential of doing so and, as a result, provides the team with an ever present offensive fallback.

2) Full-Court Pressure

Generally speaking, I think Evans is an exceptional defender, but it’s her full court pressure that really sets her apart from anyone and everyone in professional basketball (MNBA or WNBA). At its worst, Evans’ full court pressure is a nuisance for the other team. At its best, the pressure she applies has the potential to completely break the opponent mentally to the point where at least one opposing ball-handler (who shall remain nameless) quickly moved to a reserve role after Evans put the clamps on her and forced several turnovers in quick succession. That’s an exception, not the norm, but the norm is still pretty mentally taxing for the opposing ball handler. Being a point guard means making a lot of decisions throughout the course of a game that, quite often, impact whether or not your team wins. The WNBA is, ultimately, a make or miss league, but a point-guard with a good assist-to-turnover ratio can often forgive a couple of their team’s misses with good decision making.With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Evans, in applying full court pressure, is so valuable.

Dana’s presence in the backcourt forces the ball-handler to make dozens of extra decisions that they normally wouldn’t before they even get to set up their half-court offense. Instead of thinking about where to set up and initiate the next play, the ball handler is thinking about protecting their dribble or avoiding a trap between Evans and the sideline. Depending on the experience of the player Evans is guarding, this may not amount to anything statistically, but the additional mental fatigue may result in a forced pass or mistimed shot at another point in the game. The physical fatigue is also likely to pile up for the ball handler who’s forced to accelerate and decelerate more often in an attempt to shake Evans and any bigs who have to chase into the backcourt and set a screen to eliminate Evans from the play. As if all that weren’t enough, some players then try to flip the script and match Evans up full court. While she’ll also suffer some of the additional physical and mental fatigue, Dana generally seems more well prepared to deal with the press because of (1) her own experience creating traps as the defender, (2) her top-end speed for blowing by the press and (3) her elite physical conditioning which drastically reduces the physical impact of the 94-foot pressure.

3) Leadership

It can be difficult to quantify just how impactful an individual is as a leader without being in the locker room or on a road trip with the team but every suggestion is that Dana stepped up in that department in 2023. What is easier to quantify is on-court leadership. For the Sky’s second unit, Dana’s guidance was massive. Evans was— in every sense of the word — a floor general. Because she was such an important source of offense for the Sky’s second unit, we often saw Evans as a score first player, but she also sets the table well for teammates when the situation dictates. When on the floor with the starters, we see more of that side of her game with Evans manipulating the pick and roll brilliantly and showcasing her underrated skills as a passer — both to chest and off the bounce.

She’s also a vocal leader on the floor. Great communication at the defensive end often starts with bigs (given their more comprehensive view of the floor), but a team will struggle to be elite defensively if other voices aren’t contributing to the dialogue. As a pesky on-ball defender who typically matches up with the opponent’s primary ball handler, Dana runs into a lot of screens, and it’s essential that her and the bigs communicate effectively in dealing with those. As a point guard, Dana was also responsible — in some sense — for organizing the defense as coverages changed throughout the course of a game. Again, this is a process that everyone must participate in, but it’s no secret that Dana was crucial to communicating Emre’s scheme changes and arranging the team accordingly. At the offensive end, Evans’ role as a communicator of tactical shifts is even more key with her ability to organize regardless of the changing personnel on the floor around her standing out this season.

What I’m Looking for From Dana Next Season:

The natural next step in Dana’s game is finding a way to blend her overseas game (where she’s a do-it-all first option) with her expanding role at the WNBA level. With her current role, there’s expected difficulties with creating rhythm as a shooter. Consequently, I think we see Evans’ three-point percentage (29% on 4 attempts per game in 2023) dip well below her actual ability as a shooter. I wouldn’t call her streaky, but it seemed obvious to me that, when she got a few threes off in quick succession, her confidence increased. Conversely, when she takes a handful of threes scattered throughout the game, the results were far less consistent. Her 40% (at time of writing) rate in Europe (7 attempts per game) reflects the theory that her game receives a bump from a consistent flow of shots.

With no control over her minutes share, it’s difficult for Evans to change the volume aspect, but there’s a mindset shift (‘green light’) she described in her exit interview that’s illustrative of what can change. An overly-aggressive mindset for a point guard can sometimes result in them getting too wrapped up in creating offense for themself, but Evans has an exceptional ability to compartmentalize and pass the ball off as needed.

She doesn’t lack in confidence either; so, I don’t anticipate her passing up great looks that come her way just to fulfill her prescribed role. As that role (presumably) continues to grow, Evans should see a further increase in shot attempts, and I anticipate Spoon, Kah and others will encourage her to bring that “green light” mentality to the W. Interestingly, more minutes with Kah and the starters would also open the door for Evans to pass up sub-par looks she might need to force as the primary scorer on the second unit. With more players on the floor capable of carrying the scoring burden, Dana can be more selective and only take shots that truly feel in rhythm. Time will tell whether a bump in attempts creates the same increase in three point productivity it does in Europe, and Evans still must be selective with the shots she does take. But, all of the underlying data leads me to believe that, with more opportunity and freedom to be selective, Evans becoming a more productive and efficient offensive player is a matter of when not if.