Marina Mabrey has had an All-Star level start to 2024 for the Chicago Sky ... Can she keep it going?

Marina Mabrey is entering season two of her tenure with the Chicago Sky, and she’s having the biggest offensive outbreak of her career in the WNBA.

In seasons past she’s shared the backcourt with players who commanded just as much, if not more, attention than she does.

For the first time in her career, however, no other player garners more attention on the perimeter than she does.

In fact, apart.from Kamilla Cardoso’s post touches, no other player on the Chicago Sky garners as much attention as she does, in general.

Whether it’s her being top-locked on any variation of pin downs they feature her in, drawing two to the ball ad nauseam in pick-and-roll, heavy gap presences she sees on her touches when either initiating offense or on catches on the perimeter, late help and switches on drives, or the loading up in support on her post touches — all of which to disrupt her rhythm and shrink the floor.

To preface a few of the things we’ll be speaking about, I’ll post my exit interview session from the close of 2023 with Mabrey, as she was very candid and detailed in her intentions during her overseas season.

With those things as a template in gauging all below, let’s take a look at her numbers through eight games, and then we’ll get to some film.

Through nine games, Mabrey is averaging career-highs in points (16.0 PPG – ranking 15th), 2.9 three-point makes (2.7 – ranking 5th) and three-point attempts per game (7.0 – ranking 6th), free throw attempts per game (2.7), rebounds per game (6.3 – ranking 18th), assists per game (4.4 – ranking 13th), steals per game (1.7 – ranking 13th).

Her three-point shooting efficiency is not at a career-high, but factoring in the career-high 7.0 attempts she’s at per game, her 38.1% clip speaks greatly to the space she’s in, there.

Add to that that more of her attempts are coming off the dribble than via catch-and-shoot, and you see that her efficiency is remarkable — she’s a marksman.

Of the six high-volume three-point shooters in the W this season (averaging north of seven attempts from deep), her clip in efficiency reigns supreme.

The style of attempts she takes, much more so off the dribble in self-creation from pick-and-roll, isolation, or in transition, has a weight to it considering the team is not generating many independent of her (they’re averaging a league-low 15.3 attempts from deep).

Add to that, regarding their shot profile, her 2.7 3PM’s per game serve as more than half of the team makes, of 4.4 on average (also a league low) – the reliance is astronomical.

Her usage percentage this season is presently at 21.4% and while this isn’t close to her highest mark, it’s the diversity of her usage that makes it hit differently for me.

She’s not just spotting up or working off-ball in movement as she did earlier in her W career. Nor is she just doing those things + running some pick-and-roll as she’s done more recently.

She’s expanded upon that base, being used more as a screener on and off-ball – for guards and frontcourt teammates, initiating offense at times, intentionally seeking out those aforementioned post-ups, as well as being featured as the premier spacing piece — for her gravity — to allow actions to flow better.

Her processing of the game, composure, and feel have all ascended, and she’s now in a space of playing with great control.

The shift she’s seen in attention garnered from opponents has upped the responsibility for her in speed of her processing + decision-making, and playing advantage basketball more as a fire starter, now, than playing off the advantages others create for her.

She has taken the ample reps compiled with CBK Mersin, and expedited her growth all with an attention to detail and a sense of urgency.

We saw plenty of flashes of the growth, particularly with a high volume of pick-and-roll reps from her, overseas. In that, she has improved her processing of the styles of help in the direct screen for her, as well as the help around her, and also improved her general pace in that context.

She’s also better understood how to “stretch” the defense, when they try to flatten her out in pick-and-roll, to manipulate space. In that, she’s also been great with keeping her dribble.

Defensively, the aforementioned 1.7 SPG and 6.3 RPG speak greatly to her buying into Weatherspoon’s system, but also (and even more) to the urgency she’s playing with on that end of the floor.

Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon spoke with me earlier this season about Mabrey’s defense and the conversations they had regarding increased effort:

“Sitting and speaking with Marina, talking about how important it was going to be for her to really step it up on the defensive side of the ball — something that she wanted to be better at — she’s done an incredible job of wanting to take on the challenge, take on the task. She knows she can do it. Being a leader, leaders lead. She’s doing that.”

Her attention to detail and compilation of multiple effort moments has been fun to track on that end of the floor and speaks as loudly as any regarding the new space she’s operating in — an all-encompassing impact.

Whether she’s on-ball at the point-of-attack (where she’s been as often as any other point in her career, this season), defending in a gap as the next layer of protection for the shell at the nail or on the baseline, or even as the lowman, she’s compiled some a handful of active moments.

On the season, the Sky are 14.2 points per 100 possessions better with her on the floor defensively, than they are when she rests (per PBPstats). Now, that number isn’t something she’s solely responsible for, but she certainly has played a hefty hand in explaining why that number is so effective- far more than in seasons past.

Let’s take a look at some film, to detail further the efforts Mabrey has put forth early in this season, as well as assess stemming from the aforementioned Exit Interview session we had.

Only five players are averaging 16+ PPG and 4+ APG:

• Marina Mabrey
• Kelsey Plum
• Arike Ogunbowale
• Jackie Young
• Sabrina Ionescu

Mabrey stands alone with averages of that, in addition to shooting north of 35% from deep, and also grabbing 6+ rebounds a night.

She’s comprehensively having a career-best season, while also organically assuming and being held to account for a role in leadership.

It’s those intangible growths that have combined with continued skill development, to create the all-star-level space she’s operating in.

She’s a player who publicly has spoken about her game and desire for more from herself as a player and teammate and has shown in multiple moments in 2024 that the work has been done with undeniable improvements, and more still to come.

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