Last season was a wake-up name for Chicago Sky energy ahead Gabby Williams.
In her first skilled season, Williams didn’t battle with the same old rookie rising pains like adjusting to the fashion of play or tempo of the league. Instead, she needed to face the fact of the place the Sky was when it comes to its rebuild.
After going 148-Three with the University of Connecticut over the past 4 seasons, Williams struggled enjoying for the Sky, who went 13-21 and by no means managed to win greater than three consecutive video games.
“I just wasn’t used to losing that much,” Williams advised the Sun-Times in a telephone interview. “That was kind of tough being in game situations where we’d be down by so much.”
Playing within the WNBA is as mentally taxing as it’s bodily. Williams felt the burden of expectations that got here with being the fourth total choose of the 2018 draft. At occasions, she questioned if the Sky’s poor document was due to her shortcomings.
“[Losing] does get to you a little bit because it’s like they brought me here to do this — to make the team better — am I doing it?” she stated. “And then you start having all these self doubts.”
Overall, nevertheless, Williams had a robust season. Though she was inconsistent on offense, Williams averaged 7.2 factors from 43.2 % capturing and was fourth amongst rookies for rebounds averaging 4.Three per sport final season.
And Williams has seemed even higher abroad this offseason.
After beginning the winter in Italy, Williams has performed the final a number of weeks with Girona in Spain. In 4 EuroCup video games, she’s averaged 14 factors, 5.Three rebounds and three.Three steals in 28.Three minutes.
“My only focus right now is just on basketball, I’m not really doing much of anything else,” Williams stated of her time in Spain.
Williams has at all times trusted her defensive talents. Last season, she was one of many Sky’s greatest defenders and averaged 1.Three steals per sport, which tied her with Sparks ahead Nneka Ogwumike for second within the league.
But Williams hadn’t at all times been as assured on offense. She centered this winter on fine-tuning her capturing so she might play extra freely subsequent season.
“In college and the WNBA, I was always really conscious of how I played and was like more scared to shoot or more scared to be aggressive offensively,” Williams stated. “I’m trying to challenge myself to take the shots that I normally wouldn’t take and I’m trying to have more offensive mindset so I can come into the WNBA with more confidence.”
Playing in Europe has helped Williams on the psychological aspect of the sport, too. She’s extra centered on the duty at hand relatively than successful “to make some kind of statement.”
“That kind of forces you to come back down to earth and it kind of makes you forget about everything else going on,” Williams stated. “Like OK, what do I need to do today to win this game — not oh crap, we lost three games in a row, we have to win this one. You have to forget about the other games.”
With one yr of expertise underneath her belt, Williams stated she’s able to take the following step in her improvement and she or he believes she will be able to thrive in.
“I like that the ideas he has for the team,” she stated. “I’m the type of player who doesn’t like to do only one thing, I like to play freely. I like to play multiple positions and he’s really open to that. And he encourages it, which I really like.”