On July 17, the Connecticut Solar traded for Marina Mabrey, receiving her from the Chicago Sky in alternate for Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson and a future second-round decide.
Practically one month later, the Solar lastly obtained to see how Mabrey—acquired for her talents as a shooter, isolation scorer and playmaker—would amplify Connecticut’s current core of their chase for the franchise’s first championship. As basic supervisor Darius Taylor mentioned upon Mabrey’s arrival:
We’re extraordinarily excited to welcome Marina Mabrey to the Connecticut Solar. She is a participant that we really feel will give us the additional edge to compete for a championship this yr. She brings a aggressive spirit and scorer’s mentality together with a capability to make huge performs. I imagine Stephanie and her workers will have the ability to make the most of Marina in some ways as we begin the second half of our season and proceed our quest for our first title.
So, 5 video games in, how is the Mabrey period understanding for the Solar?
Uneven experimentation with the Solar’s new prime six
Mabrey’s Connecticut debut, which got here in opposition to certainly one of her former groups within the Dallas Wings, almost flawlessly fulfilled the staff’s imaginative and prescient. She scored an environment friendly 17 factors as a starter, highlighted by a 3-for-5 effort from 3. She additionally added 4 assists because the Solar poured in a season-high 109 factors.
Subsequent video games, nonetheless, urged Mabrey’s integration wouldn’t be as seamless. On account of DiJonai Carrington lacking the Dallas sport, head coach Stephanie White might go together with the a transparent first 5, beginning Mabrey alongside Ty Harris, DeWanna Bonner, Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones. The return of Carrington, the staff’s greatest perimeter defender who has a case because the league’s Most Improved Participant, despatched Harris to the bench for the Solar’s second post-break sport in opposition to the Atlanta Dream. It was an inauspicious begin, with White quickly sending Harris, the staff’s conventional level guard, into the sport for Bonner.
Mabrey additionally launched Solar followers to the opposite facet of the Mabrey expertise. As a streaky shooter who’s unafraid to maintain firing away, inefficient outings are a part of the Mabrey package deal; she will be able to shoot you into video games, however, when the shot just isn’t falling, she will be able to preserve you out of them. In Atlanta, she was 4-for-17 total and 2-for-10 from 3, scoring 11 factors in a team-high 36 minutes as Connecticut, after comfortably crossing the century mark in Dallas, managed simply 70 factors, tied for his or her fourth-lowest output of the season, within the loss.
Forward of the Solar’s highly-anticipated sport at TD Backyard in Boston, DeWanna Bonner volunteered to come back off the bench, a sign that the gamers acknowledged that totally different mixtures have been wanted to optimize everybody’s abilities. Though a lot pomp and circumstance surrounded the Solar’s victory over the Los Angeles Sparks, offense—the facet of the ball that Mabrey’s addition was supposed to enhance—once more was a difficulty for Connecticut, as they scored simply 69 factors in opposition to a staff that’s not precisely centered on profitable each sport. Mabrey performed 25 minutes, scoring 5 factors on simply six shot makes an attempt.
The Solar’s tremendous sixth participant
The Solar’s lineup shuffling thus continued, with Mabrey slotted into the sixth participant function in her first sport in opposition to the Sky. Whether or not it was the function, revenge or one thing else, Mabrey turned within the sort of efficiency Solar devoted hope to see within the postseason. She scored a season-high 24 factors in 25 minutes, together with going 5-for-7 from behind the arc. Within the two-point win, the Solar outscored the Sky by a team-best 10 factors when Mabrey was on the ground.
The following night time, White caught with the identical rotation, bringing Mabrey off the bench in opposition to the league-leading New York Liberty, a staff Connecticut had not defeated since July 2022. Regardless of being on a back-to-back, the Solar broke the streak of seven-straight losses, with Mabrey once more enjoying a crucial function. Her 15 factors led the staff, with the Solar outpacing the Liberty by a team-leading 18 factors throughout her 26 minutes.
That Connecticut is profitable Mabrey’s minutes is the surest signal that she is having the specified impression, along with her dynamic offensive play buoying the Solar’s assault. On the opposite finish of the ground, she has match inside Connecticut’s league-best protection. Though not famend for her defensive chops, she brings irritating aggressiveness with a facet of snarl and sass, traits that definitely are a part of the Solar’s defensive ethos.
Whereas a five-game pattern measurement is small, how the Solar have tinkered with their rotations throughout Mabrey’s tenure earlier than seemingly discovering the right combination is encouraging, Issues ought to solely enhance as she additional acclimates to the sixth participant function, along with persevering with to construct chemistry along with her teammates. Fairly presumably, Mabrey’s arrival in Uncasville might grow to be one of many extra impactful in-season trades in WNBA historical past.
