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Even though Yvonne Anderson has spoken to Swish Appeal on a couple of occasions, we had to ask her to chat again, as she’s currently having a standout season for ÇBK Mersin, which remains unbeaten in EuroLeague Women group play.
In this conversation, Anderson took us back to her high school days, discussing unwanted moves and leaky roofs, as well as sharing more about her four years of college ball in Texas.
Anderson then provided insight into her time with the Connecticut Sun, winning EuroLeague Women last year with Fenerbahçe and playing with another ageless wonder at ÇBK Mersin in Natasha Howard. Some highlights from the conversation include:
On what made her the leader that she is now:
I think it’s both being the coach’s kid and knowing that someone has to be the leader. Someone has to take ownership and the worst thing a team can do is fall apart. Everyone fails separate. “Oh, it’s this person’s fault. This person’s fault.” The truth is, it’s your leader’s fault. And on that floor, as your point guard, it’s mine. All the mistakes, the small things. When leadership is proper, people follow that. I had one of my coaches tell me—and people laugh at this one—and a lot of them tell me that too: “Yvonne, it’s not always your fault.” [They don’t understand that] I don’t take losses to heart. It just makes me want to work harder. But I had a coach tell me, “As a point guard, it’s always your fault. Your teammate doesn’t catch the ball? It’s your fault. They don’t play defense? It’s your fault.” I set the tone. They follow me.
On signing with Mersin:
They reached out pretty much as soon as the season ended. And of course, they had kind of done the math. We had all kind of done the math that once Fenerbahçe signed Gabby Williams, it was a good chance I wasn’t going to be back at Fener. She’s a naturalized player, and they’re going to use that. I’m also a naturalized player, and so if they took me, they could only take me as an American. Mersin knew how much I love Turkey and that I want to compete at the highest level.
