How Mabrey Can Break a Cycle with Meziane and the Sun » Winsidr

If you needed one word to describe the last two-and-a-half years of Marina Mabrey’s career, turbulent would be a strong contender. After three seasons with the Dallas Wings, she was dealt to the Chicago Sky in a blockbuster trade ahead of the 2023 season—only to be moved again to Connecticut midway through her second year with the Sky. But while the changes in city have been jarring, the shifts in role have been even more frequent—and arguably more significant—for the former Notre Dame guard.

Upon her arrival in Chicago, Mabrey became part of a lead-scoring triad alongside Courtney Williams and Kahleah Copper—each free to take over games when in rhythm. When both players left before the 2024 season, Mabrey was quickly elevated into a primary scoring role on a Sky team that, without Copper, had been thrust into a rebuild. Just a few months later, a midseason move to Connecticut placed her in a more complementary role, brought in as the piece the Sun hoped could finally push them to an elusive WNBA title. Fast forward to 2025, and—following Connecticut’s playoff failures last year—the roster has been gutted. Once again, like in Chicago last season, Mabrey is shouldering a heavy scoring burden and drawing increased defensive attention as a focal point of the offense.

In recent seasons, that inconsistency in Mabrey’s role has, predictably, produced inconsistent results. In 2023, she navigated hot-and-cold stretches but still produced her second-most efficient long-range shooting season as a pro (39.0 percent), thanks to increased volume (5.8 three-point attempts per game) and the ability to defer to Copper and Williams when struggling. In 2024, her volume continued to rise (6.7 attempts per game) amid a roster with fewer shooters, but the lack of spacing negatively impacted her efficiency, dropping to 34.8 percent from three. A midseason move to Connecticut, where she played a more focused role on arguably the most talented roster of her career, revitalized her numbers in the season’s second half (42.4 percent on 6.2 attempts per game). However, with the loss of the entire starting five from that roster, Mabrey now finds herself in a position similar to the one she struggled with before joining the Sun. So, what can Mabrey and new Connecticut head coach Rachid Meziane do to maximize her usage despite increased defensive attention? To understand how she can thrive in this latest phase of her career, it helps to revisit both the constraints and freedoms of her recent past.

While you might expect Mabrey’s 2024 production differences to be explained by a handful of obvious factors, her challenging first half with Chicago isn’t quite so simple to pin down. Take, for example, the types of shots she took over the course of the season. In a ball-dominant, first-option role with the Sky, you’d probably expect an increase in the share of Mabrey’s three-point attempts that are self-created pull-ups. A player with her ball-handling and stepback skills will always create more off-the-dribble threes compared to catch-and-shoot specialists—but with the perimeter offense flowing through her, that number should be even higher, right? Conversely, the move to Connecticut would presumably lead to more catch-and-shoot threes. You might also assume Mabrey’s improved efficiency with the Sun is due mainly to a higher volume of catch-and-shoot opportunities. Instead, the numbers tell a very different story:

As the data shows, Mabrey’s overall efficiency didn’t differ drastically based on the types of shots her changing roles would naturally lead to. Instead, her shot profile with both the Sky and the Sun was remarkably similar—pull-ups surprisingly made up a slightly larger share of her three-point attempts and makes in Connecticut. On one hand, this highlights Mabrey’s skills as a shot-creator and microwave scorer; a veteran team like the Sun would typically prompt a midseason arrival to adjust their playstyle to fit into a complementary role. Yet, it also suggests that Mabrey wasn’t lacking catch-and-shoot opportunities in Chicago, even though she handled the ball frequently and the Sky’s offense—rightly criticized for stagnation under head coach Teresa Weatherspoon—often struggled to create consistent movement. In fact, a higher percentage of her threes were assisted in Chicago (65.0 percent) than in Connecticut (60.4 percent), further underlining that she wasn’t as starved for off-ball chances as it often felt. Ultimately, this data underscores that Mabrey was simply more efficient—regardless of shot type—with the Sun, meaning other factors must have been driving the difference.

One of which is the difference in the quality of defensive matchups Mabrey naturally faced. In Chicago, she encountered a two-fold challenge: the Sky’s roster meant she was more often matched up against the opponent’s best defender, and Weatherspoon’s frequent use of three-guard lineups made it even easier for opposing coaches to use longer wing players on Mabrey. For any shooter, a longer defender is a disadvantage, but Mabrey—thanks to her shot-creation skills, especially her stepback—likely feels the impact even more. While a shooter relying mainly on standard pull-ups can focus strictly on shooting over their defender, Mabrey and other stepback specialists use the move to create both space and rhythm. The extra wingspan of defenders accustomed to guarding similarly-sized threes lets them close the gap faster, cutting off space and often disrupting the shooter’s rhythm altogether.

Another less tangible, but arguably more important, factor is the disruption that multiple Hall-of-Famers with years of WNBA experience—both as individuals and as a cohesive unit—can create, along with the confusion that causes opposing defenses. It’s no secret that multi-time All-Stars with dynamic skill sets like Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, at a high level, space the floor better, but they also force defenses into uncomfortable, lose-lose decisions that create high-quality opportunities for a quick-fire shooter like Mabrey throughout the game. Add in the oversight of a veteran head coach like Stephanie White—positioning the Sun to exploit those defensive breakdowns more consistently—and it’s easy to see why this was a productive offensive ecosystem for Mabrey.

These clips highlight how defenses are likely to keep constant eyes on a scorer of Bonner’s caliber—notice the multiple defenders fixated on her even amid an awkward offensive collision—and how Mabrey can capitalize on that attention. Likewise, the multi-dimensional threat Thomas poses from the elbow creates a hypersensitive defense where over-eager help and Thomas’s slick passing lead to a wide-open, spot-up three from the corner. Whether you view these plays as brilliant offensive execution, defensive miscommunication, or a blend of both, they were a hallmark of last season’s Sun—and with the winter roster overhaul, such opportunities have already started to become less frequent.

So, with a role and supporting cast that in several ways resemble the bleak early days of her 2024 season in Chicago more than the strong finish in Connecticut, it’s fair to ask: how can Mabrey flip the script? While her early numbers this year may not reflect it just yet—she’s shooting just 25.0 percent from three over her first four games—the offensive environment already looks like a healthier one. And given how heavily context has shaped Mabrey’s past performance, even subtle differences could prove significant.

One of the most immediately noticeable differences is on the sidelines. While Meziane, like Weatherspoon in Chicago, begins the season without prior experience coaching in the league, the Frenchman brings a deep résumé from his home country that suggests he can help a team become more than the sum of its parts. Under his leadership, Villeneuve-d’Ascq completed its rise through the French and European ranks by reaching the EuroLeague Final Four in 2024—with a roster that had talent but lacked the financial firepower of continental giants like Fenerbahçe and Çukurova. And simply by adhering to traditional European principles, Meziane brings to Connecticut a system that prioritizes team basketball, anchored in continuous motion and sharp ball movement.

That system, unsurprisingly, suits a player with Mabrey’s skill set—particularly because, when executed properly, it tends to generate open looks from the perimeter. Sun point guard Lindsay Allen emphasized the team’s growth in that area at Connecticut’s media day, noting that the group had improved at staying mindful of the need to “keep moving,” as the offense is built on “player movement and ball movement.” Adjusting to that structure takes time—especially for those without overseas experience—but Allen also credited Meziane and new GM Morgan Tuck for assembling a group of “highly intelligent players and experienced players around the world.” That intelligence will be key, as Meziane leans on the experienced nucleus of Allen, Mabrey, and Tina Charles—along with overseas vets like Haley Peters and Robyn Parks—to consistently execute and sustain the offense’s structure.

But while all of that sounds great on paper, how does it help Mabrey in-game? How can a few well-designed sets or a principled offense replicate the value that a Thomas or Bonner brings through sheer talent and presence? The answer, in short, is that the structure of Meziane’s Euro-style offense provides a framework that can manufacture the kind of defensive confusion an elite individual can create on their own. Systems like Meziane’s thrive with high-IQ players—not because they’re overly complex, but because they demand smart, reactive decisions within simple frameworks. Take one of European basketball’s most foundational concepts: the pick-and-roll. There’s nothing inherently complicated about its setup; the complexity emerges in execution, as the ball-handler, screener, and surrounding players must all read and respond in real-time. Already this season, we’ve seen Meziane implement actions that, like the pick-and-roll, give Mabrey and others room for layered decision-making—sets with multiple possible outcomes depending on how the defense reacts.

These four plays, while not identical in setup, all stem from a variation of the same foundational look—yet the shot selection at the end of each varies dramatically based on the options the action creates for Mabrey and the Sun. The first clip, against the Mystics, shows the play in its most basic form. A high screen from Kariata Diaby frees Mabrey from one of the league’s top perimeter defenders, Brittney Sykes, and a looped skip pass from Allen finds her open for a rhythm three on the left wing—one of her favored shooting spots. This is the action’s ideal outcome—akin to a straightforward pick-and-roll dump-off—and it’s one Meziane will gladly take every time the defense offers it.

Yet the reality is that defenses adapt, and you simply can’t expect to keep getting Mabrey such open looks. Thus, the real value of these sets comes in the clips that follow. The second play shows the importance of intentionality from everyone on the court in a European system, as Bria Hartley’s quick vacating of the corner allows Mabrey to approach Diaby’s screen with more velocity—forcing the Aces into a switch. With the corner empty and a big guarding her, Mabrey has the freedom to reach deep into her bag of tricks.

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In the third clip, with Saniya Rivers filling the corner Mabrey hopes to shoot from, she uses the defender’s momentum against her and cuts back in court. At its core, this play illustrates the principle that movement-centric systems are built around: when shared freely, the ball moves faster than the defense. As the skip pass is in the air, Mabrey can evaluate the defense while Bridget Carleton scrambles—using the IQ that Tuck and Meziane built their roster around to make a strong read on the fly.

And even when the skip pass isn’t there—as shown in the fourth clip—the Sun find another way to build off the high screen set for Mabrey by a big. With Charles screening for Allen, Vegas’ bigs are pulled to the perimeter, and an intermediate pass to Olivia Nelson-Ododa—Mabrey’s screener—sets up a well-timed cut into the paint, resulting in an easy lay-in. The foundation these four plays share isn’t highly complex, but it provides the kind of structure that was visibly lacking for Mabrey and Chicago in 2024. That streamlined initial organization—and the high basketball IQ Mabrey and her teammates bring—allows for variety in the offense and creates opportunities to confuse opposing defenses. Whether these actions lead directly to three-point attempts or not, the ultimate result is an improved offensive environment that naturally opens up the floor for shooters—particularly as the precision of these carefully timed sets sharpens with increased familiarity across this newly assembled roster.

In addition to having a coach with a clearer, more consistent offensive vision, the Sun also have a pair of veterans—Charles and Hartley—who bring a combination of skills and experience that Mabrey’s teammates lacked last season. While Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, at their peaks, will likely offer a similar post threat, it’s simply unrealistic to expect rookies to match the savvy and consistency of Charles, now in her 14th WNBA season. With Charles, both Mabrey and Meziane benefit from a player who is not only one of the game’s premier post technicians but also an unselfish, veteran presence. If opponents don’t send a double team her way, Connecticut usually gets a high-quality look; when they do, Charles is smart and willing to find open teammates. Whether Mabrey or someone else is that open option, the opportunity for a clean three-point shot usually comes if the ball keeps moving after the initial kickout.

In the case of Hartley, Mabrey has the perfect type of player to complement her in the backcourt. While Allen and Chennedy Carter were willing creators for Mabrey last season in Chicago, neither was a reliable three-point threat. Accordingly, defenses countered them differently than they can Hartley, whose recent track record in the W (40.6 percent from three in 36 games since 2020) justifiably warrants tighter coverage. If she continues to hit at that rate as her role expands following a late arrival to Connecticut’s training camp, expect to see more reluctant doubles when Hartley and Mabrey are both stationed at the perimeter. Hartley, like Carter last season, is also a willing slasher, and both players—even in short stints with Mabrey—have shown they can create high-quality looks for her when attacking the defense off the bounce.

In total, there’s a strong case that Mabrey will have a healthier offensive environment this season in Connecticut—even if many high-level indicators suggest a setting similar to where her efficiency dipped last year in Chicago. And while her early-season numbers haven’t yet met expectations, there’s reason to believe they will improve. Despite a decline in her overall percentage, Mabrey’s efficiency on catch-and-shoot looks (41.7 percent) closely mirrors the 43.1 percent she posted in 16 highly successful games after being traded to Connecticut last season. It’s her pull-up three-point shooting that has taken a significant hit—currently sitting at just 15.8 percent through four games. Given the quality of looks she’s generating, progression toward her combined 36.3 percent mark on pull-ups from last season seems likely sooner rather than later.

Even with that expected progression, it’s unavoidable that Mabrey will face tougher defensive coverage than she did in the second half of last season with the Sun. Whether Meziane can create a more favorable context or not, there’s nothing he can do to completely offset the impact of losing Thomas and Bonner and regularly facing the opposition’s best perimeter defender. That said, that doesn’t mean Meziane won’t try. After Connecticut’s season-opening loss, he stressed that Mabrey—who shot just 5-for-21 from the floor against Washington—needed to “learn to be patient” amid the intense defensive attention from the Mystics. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of the team collectively helping her find “good opportunities to score,” given her role as one of the Sun’s leaders. As Mabrey navigates the personal and professional challenges of reprising a starring role, early signs suggest this team provides the platform needed for her to make this opportunity as a lead star more fruitful than her last.

All stats as of May 25th. Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of Basketball Reference and WNBA.com.