Sports: Sun face No. 1 Las Vegas today in Game 1 of WNBA semifinal series
No. 7 Connecticut faces top-seeded Las Vegas in Game 1 of semis today
Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller has talked to his team about being a "mini-Vegas," referencing how the Las Vegas Aces play their offense through inside the paint.
Connecticut gets to deal with the real Las Vegas today. And it's going to be rough.
The seventh-seeded Sun play the top-seeded Aces in Game 1 of a WNBA best-of-five semifinal playoff series (1 p.m., ESPN) at IMG Academy in Bradenton,
Fla.
"We have to play with a toughness that is really important," Miller said, "because, if not, the brand of basketball that Vegas is playing right now can almost bully teams.
"We can't get bullied. We've got to come in here and be just as tough, if not the tougher team."
The Sun are just the third team in league history to start the season 0-5 and make the playoffs. They're the first team that started 0-5 to make the semifinals.
One of the reasons Connecticut hired Miller in December 2015 was the offensive system that helped him rebuild two Division I college programs. His system is predicated on using spacing with the 3-pointer being a big part of it.
The Sun have had to change things up this season. They were the second-worst 3-point shooting team during the regular season (31.3 percent) and tied the Atlanta Dream for the fewest a made a game (5.9).
Connecticut adapted by working inside-out. Its starting frontcourt of forwards DeWanna Bonner (19.7 ppg) and Alyssa Thomas (15.5) and center Brionna Jones (11.1) are not only its three leading scorers — they have
combined to average 56.2 percent of their team's points.
One of the trademarks of Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer has been playing through the posts. Big, tough and physical posts.
A'ja Wilson (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) has powered Las Vegas this season. The third-year power forward has averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and two blocks and was the overwhelming winner of this season's WNBA MVP award, earning 43 of 48 first-place votes.
Carolyn Swords (6-6, 215), who played two seasons for Laimbeer with the New York Liberty, starts at center. Power forward Dearica Hamby (6-3, 189), a shoe-in to win her second straight Sixth Woman of the Year honor, averages 13 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.68 steals.
Sharpshooter Kayla McBride made 9 of 10 field goals for a season-high 25 points in a 99-78 win over the Sun on Aug. 20.
The Aces also acquired one of biggest tormentors in Connecticut history during the offseason — wing Angel McCoughtry. She scored 30-or-more against the Sun seven times when she played for Atlanta, far more than any other Sun opponent. She's averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 rebounds with her new team.
"They've been terrific down here in the bubble," Miller said. "They're number one in pace (a metric that measures the number of possessions per game). They're number one in points scored (88.7 ppg). They're number one in points in the paint (42.7). They're number one at getting to the foul line (23.4 attempts per game). They've just had a terrific offensive season and they just play a physical brand of basketball that wears you down. They try to frankly bully you a little bit.
"They're record-setting bench is really important . ... Dearica Hamby, Danielle Robinson, certainly Jackie Young, those top eight (Aces players) are so, so talented."
Connecticut has its share of tough players led by forward Alyssa Thomas, one of the league's most relentless players.
Guard Jasmine Thomas has been playing through the pain of plantar fasciitis in her right foot and rolled her left ankle late in the season. Fellow guard Briann January is playing with a dislocated finger in her right hand.
"If you change your physicality after the game has started, that's noticed by the officials, and that's why you find yourself in even more foul trouble," Miller said. "You've got to start physical from the beginning. Build that mindset; that toughness." n.griffen@theday.com