Before her season in Turkey, she spent two years in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever, where she shot 46.2% from three across 47 games. This took a downtick in Turkey, at 32.7%, but this was on low volume. Berger was deadly from the free throw line for Ormanspor, connecting on 60 of her 70 attempts. She has assembled an eclectic game that can be unpredictable to guard, while being a historically good three-point shooter which extends back to her final year at college.
“She’s a fine [ball] handler and has an outstanding mid-range game which is different in today’s basketball,” Flames head coach Guy Malloy told The Next. “Grace is a highly creative player who will add high skill to our offense.”
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Her addition covers a hole the Flames believed they had last season at the one position. Victoria Denholm was part of the Flames ownership group in the season past and shared her thoughts on the matter on an episode of The W Basketball Show. “There are points in time where it just seems hard for us to get the ball over the half court because we don’t have a natural point guard.”
Sydney is bringing Berger in as a playmaker and she’s eager to take on this responsibility, telling The Next: “I am a competitive player who wants to put the team first and do whatever I can to help us win a lot of games. I have grown a lot in my time as a professional and feel ready to lead a team to compete for a championship at the point guard position.”
Berger also sees the fit with Lauren Nicholson and Shaneice Swain, who signed with the Flames earlier this offseason.
“I am very excited to be able to play with them,” she said. “I know that they are both extremely talented players and more importantly great people. As the point guard, my hope is to do anything that I can to allow them to excel on the court and use their skills to best help our team.”
Berger continued, “Lauren and Shaneice both seem to be great teammates who want what is best for the team, so I believe it will be very easy and fun to play with them on the perimeter. Also, they both have a lot of experience with the WNBL and I am looking forward to leaning on them to guide me in my transition to the league.”
Berger isn’t idle at the moment, either. She signed with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA on a hardship deal, playing 16 minutes on Tuesday night against the Golden State Valkyries.
“My trainer said, stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,” Berger told The Next on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. “I was confident that my name would be called at some point. I didn’t know when that would be. I was hoping sooner rather than later. But I love the game, so it’s easy to stay in the gym.”
The WNBL recently announced a new CBA that sees a massive jump in wages and salary cap. This has already been felt across the league as it has attracted more talent in the early stages of free agency as compared to most years at this juncture. Whether it be Shyla Heal joining Jaz Shelley at Geelong United, Jade Melbourne being backed up by deadly prospects at the Canberra Capitals or the Townsville Fire’s perennial god squad, it feels like having strong perimeter play is going to be imperative in the upcoming season.
At this stage of free agency, Sydney also has a toolsy big in Agnes Emma-Nnopu, a Sydney stalwart in Emma Clarke and a Future Flame in Carla Pitman. In how she can grow with this unit, Berger said: “I know that the Flames’ organization has taken a lot of steps in the right direction over recent years, so my hope is together as a team we will take that next step and compete for a championship this year.”
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As for individual growth, it’s all proximate, according to Berger: “The WNBL will be a new experience for me as I have never played in Australia, so I am excited to grow my game and learn from great players and coaches.”
Berger has a clear team-first attitude which she is looking to enhance in symbiosis with the Flames. Her selflessness and ability to make plays across the board is going to be a handful and her game doesn’t rely on scoring. With the firepower in Nicholson and Swain, a player like Berger will thrive between the margins and Sydney’s roster construction is hitting every ability necessary to be a great basketball team.
Molloy spoke on the character of his diverse roster, telling The Next: “I feel very excited about the coachability and workrate of the players we’ve assembled and trust we can turn them into an excellent team.”
On this next chapter, Berger summed it up well: “I have always been aware of the WNBL from afar and kept up with it. I’ve played with a lot of players from Australia throughout the past couple years and have been able to hear great things about the league and country through them. I’ve also been able to watch many games throughout the past few years and have always been impressed with the talent and competitiveness of the players and teams.”
She brings more talent and competitiveness. Molloy attests to this and is very happy with his organisation’s start to free agency. The Sydney Flames have assembled a starting lineup that could be the best in the WNBL. With firepower, shooting and defense on the wings to go with a Swiss army knife at the five, it naturally makes way for a table-setter. Grace Berger is walking into the point guard position of the WNBL champions.
Cameron Ruby contributed reporting to this story.
