Chicago Sky Season in Review: Morgan Bertsch
Often under appreciated, Bertsch played an essential role for Chicago in 2023.
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.
With all the ups and downs of the Sky season, almost everyone would’ve been effected but few would’ve felt more of the emotional swings than Bertsch. Another of the Sky’s veteran rookies, Bertsch arrived in Chicago and was able to nail down a starting spot in the early going. A brief injury early in the season appeared inconsequential to her place but ended up opening the door for Alanna Smith’s breakout. As Smith solidified her place in the team, Bertsch’s role became inconsistent, but she still managed to assert herself as a reliable part of the Sky rotation. Let’s take a look at the successes that made that possible:
1.Attitude
After waiting a few years for a chance in the W, Bertsch grabbed it eagerly out of the gate only to watch it slip away shortly after. Yet, she proved to be a key piece for the Sky as the season went along because she was always available (following that initial injury) and brought a great attitude. Coaches always want players that will give their best whether in 4 minutes or 40, and Bertsch was just that throughout the season. She was supportive of her teammates from the bench when minutes weren’t available, and she had the right mindset to be productive when called upon.
This was exemplified by her late season start on the road at Los Angeles with the Sky chasing the Sparks for the final playoff spot. Bertsch saw her highest volume of minutes all season and, in the process, proved vital in a win that defined the Sky’s late season surge. Her efficient scoring (5/9 FG) gave the Sky just the shot in the arm offensively they needed in Smith’s absence and maintained the spacing (2/3 3PT) the team often relied on from the Aussie. Her defense was predictably reliable with 2 steals underlining a side of her game that often shines outside of the box score statistics. That she could ease back into a bench role while supporting Smith and the rest of the team in the games that followed speaks to the professionalism she carried herself with throughout the campaign. In this respect, the Sky were fortunate to have a collective that — almost without fail — were willing to put ego aside, but Bertsch was certainly amongst the most team-oriented individuals in the squad.
2. Defensive Consistency
The Sky had a number of exceptional defenders in 2023, but Bertsch was amongst the best when it comes to technique and reading of the game. Aside from her slight limitation when it comes to strength, there’s few ways to easily exploit Morgan at the defensive end. Positionally, she’s always exactly where you would want her to be when it comes to her match-up, and her judgement when acting as a help-defender is top-notch. You hardly, if ever, see her chasing back across the court to the player she was guarding because she doesn’t jump to help until the ball handler is nearing the point of no return. In the event the player in possession is able to spot a pass to Bertsch’s defensive assignment, her length means the odds favor her deflecting (or at the very least affecting) the pass.
As a defender, it’s very important to understand your strengths and limitations physically, and Berstch is skilled at making the most of her profile. She doesn’t have the strength to out muscle a 4 like A’ja Wilson, but she has other ways to get more physical bigs out of their rhythm. She primarily uses her length to effect shots at the rim — crucially without fouling. She’s also a pretty brave defender — meaning she’s not afraid to stand on her position and absorb contact if an opponent is going to drop the shoulder to get to the basket. When you put that whole package together, Bertsch has all of the attributes that you’d add to a player’s game to make them a top defender. Her ability to call on those elements of her game each and every night regardless of playing time is what makes her such an asset at the defensive end.
3. Willingness to do the Dirty Work
If you’ve got a player that’s a great technical defender and brings a fantastic attitude every day, it should come as no huge surprise that they’re willing to get their hands dirty to help the team win. I talked above about her willingness to take contact in hopes of drawing a charge, and that attitude permeates to every area of Bertsch’s game. She’s not a dominant rebounder in any sense, but she’s always in the right areas — meaning she will grab a key rebound on occasion. Likewise, Morgan has a knack for crashing the offensive glass and extending possessions. She’s not afraid to hit the floor, tussle for a rebound or absorb contact if it means helping her team win games. That sounds very basic and is much more of an expectation of all players in the WNBA (only 144 roster spots) as opposed to the MNBA (450 spots) but not everyone is willing to do it in the same fashion as Morgan.
What I’m Looking for From Morgan Next Season:
Bertsch’s game is a bit jack of all trades master of none. If you look across the board at all of the advanced metrics most experts (and I use this term loosely) analyze, it’s hard to see where Bertsch stands out from a numbers perspective. Watching Bertsch play regularly for the Sky and now in Spain, I feel that there’s a lot of areas defensively where she excels, but much of this falls outside of anything statistics can track. Simply put, Bertsch is probably something of a statistical outlier because of how well rounded her game is. As she continues to pursue a roster spot (and, ultimately, a bigger role) in the W, I think Morgan will have a critical decision to make. She’ll either need to continue on her current path (where she can help in all categories) and look to improve 5–10% at everything or hone in on 2–3 skills where she wants to really make her name and look to take more significant jumps in those areas.
Take for instance, her physical profile. Right now, Bertsch has a good blend of physical traits, but I’ve outlined above where more physical players can move her around at times. She’s not a weak player by any stretch; her leaner frame just means that bigs who weigh more will inevitably have some success backing her down. To combat that, she could forget all about strength and work only on lateral quickness to try and tire those bigs out on the offensive end. Conversely, she could try adding bulk to her frame — sacrificing a little bit of quickness. Or she could find a middle ground and do a little of both — trying to find a perfect blend between strength and speed. If we extrapolate this decision making process out to every other skill in the game, it becomes pretty complicated to decide where to focus your off-season training program. Add in the fact that your ‘off-season’ is taking place in live game action in Europe, and it’s understandably quite a headache to decide how and when to progress your game as a women’s professional in 2023.
All that said, I see versatility as Bertsch’s greatest asset. Thus, I think pursuing gradual improvement in all areas is her best path to carving out a consistent WNBA role. By doing so, she can bring enough skill in all areas to elevate her role from ‘nice-to-have’ rotational option to a player who demands regular minutes. Leaning into a couple of areas like rebounding or shot-blocking (where she excels in Europe) would take her defensive presence to the next level, but I think it might inadvertently sacrifice some of the across-the-board skillset that makes Bertsch so unique. If nothing else, I feel Bertsch has the all-around game (and all-world attitude) to warrant a WNBA roster spot in 2024 — preferably with Chicago.