Season over, but not hope
Team’s future looks bright after strong playoff showing
Three games into the WNBAseason, the Connecticut Sun’s DeWanna Bonner assured fans that this group of players had more in store than their winless start indicated.
“The wins will come,” Bonner said July 30 after Connecticut fell to 0-3 with a loss to Los Angeles.
“This year, next year, whenever. I promise you that. Connecticut, stay with us. Just sit back and watch. We’re all right.”
It would take a few more games until the Sun earned their first victory. But by the time they left the WNBA bubble this week, they were oneofthree teamsremaining, having overcome a 0-5 start and sub-.500 regular-season record to position themselves one shot away from advancing to the WNBA Finals before losing to the Las Vegas Aces 66-63 in the WNBAbubbleinBradenton, Fla., on Tuesday night.
When Bonner made her plea to fans in July, she and the rest of the teamwere confident they had the right pieces to make a run. As the rest of the season would make clear, it just took some time to come together.
Thegrowingpains the Sun faced to begin the summer were not all that surprising. The franchise had found success up to that point by building chemistry among a group of younger players, but that approach was overhauled bybringing in Bonner, and Courtney Williams’ and Shekinna Stricklen’s departures for Atlanta.
All-Star center Jonquel Jones’ decision to opt out left the Sun with just as many returnees as newcomers and nine players in all with less than two seasons of experience on the team. Connecticut also had some bad luck upon departing for the bubble, with Natisha HiedemanandBriannJanuaryheld back after testing positive for COVID-19 and Theresa Plaisance’s return to the court delayed due to lingering back issues. With wins hard to come by early on, this Sun group — now more veteran-heavy and experienced following the additions of Bonner, January, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Essence Carson — focused on continuing to improve and securing a playoff berth. Along the waytheSun finally got their full roster back, January in particular providing a massive boost.
Though their offense was inconsistent, much to the dismay of offensive-minded coach Curt Miller, the Sun ultimately becameoneof the best defensive teams in the bubble. In the final 10 games of the regular season, coinciding with January’s insertion into the starting lineup, the Sun had the best defensive rating in the league. In the postseason, that unit’s growth was on full display, especially in howit impacted the No. 1 Las Vegas offense.
As much as the team’s progress on the court was apparent, with Alyssa Thomas and Bonner leading the way, their off-court chemistry developed rapidly behind the scenes.
Bonner, who spent the first 10 years of her career in Phoenix, said multiple times she’s never felt as close to a team as she did with this season’s Sun. Jasmine Thomassuspects the growth the grouphadinthat area will make the transition much easier going into next season.
“Change is rough sometimes and I feel like for us it wasamatter of just playing it out,” Jasmine Thomas said. “We have a lot of talented players, a lot of smart players, that really just needed to play together and get experience together in order to get better. I feel like playing every other day in this fast-paced season helped us do that faster.”
“Their togetherness, their toughness, their leadership,” Miller said of what he was most proud of his team accomplishing. “What is even more special, what you guys don’t get to see, is how close they got off the court. ... Watching howclose they got is pretty remarkable, and I’m proud of them.”
After s t eamrolling through the single-elimination rounds and looking in control across the first three semifinal games, the Sun faltered in the second half of a winner-take-all Game 5. In reality, a handful moremakes on the offensive end could have been all they needed to advance.
“All of us are pretty proud of what we’ve done,” Bonner said. “From being here in this bubble away from our families, away from everybody, the real world, the way we competed, the way we started 0-5 [and rebounded], everybody was just proud of the season.
“Unfortunately we came upshort in the semifinals. But everybody was pretty proud.
“A couple of tears were shed [after the game], but I think that was just more so the initial shock and hurt of us losing. Everybody walked out with their head pretty high.”
Bringing back soon-to-be unrestricted free agents Alyssa Thomas and Jasmine Thomas remains a priority this offseason. But even Tuesday night, it was hard not to be optimistic about what this Sun team could look like should it return the major pieces of this year’s team — and Jonquel Jones. How much more lethal can the defense be with Jones’ ability to protect the paint and dominate the glass? How much can their offense openuponcetheyaddJones, an interior force as well as a stretch-five who can space the floor?
A lot can happen between now and May, and the WNBA landscape figures to be competitive when stars such as Elena Delle Donne, Liz Cambage, Kristi Toliver and more return after sitting this year out. But for a squad that before last season hadn’t notched a postseason win since 2012 or finals appearance since 2005, the Sun have positioned themselves to make good on Bonner’s promise: that the wins will keep rolling in come 2021, and maybe a title along with them.
“We are right there,” Jasmine Thomas said. “We are really close, almost put ourselves back in the Finals with a very different looking team. We’re going to win a championship for [Sunfans], for sure.”