The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Chemistry gaining Sun attention
UNCASVILLE » About an hour before what proved to be a rather entertaining showdown between the two youngest teams in the WNBA, Taj McWilliams-Franklin sat on the visiting bench in a nearly empty Mohegan Sun Arena and took a trip down memory lane.
McWilliams-Franklin was one of the cornerstones of the early Connecticut Sun teams, the ones that set the franchise mark with 26 victories during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
The Sun played in the WNBA Championship Series twice in her four seasons with the team, and eight of the 14 regular-season sellouts in team history took place during her time in Connecticut.
She knows how much the fans appreciate unselfish basketball, how they love to witness a winning style of basketball. McWilliams-Franklin can only imagine how much the Connecticut fans are reveling in the Sun’s return to prominence.
“I was part of this organization from Orlando to here,” said McWilliams-Franklin, in her first season as an assistant coach with the Dallas Wings. “You can’t stop remembering and thinking about what you want from a team that is giving you so much as well. I am really happy, even when I coached in New York, or I am here and playing against them, still inside you think about, ‘this is going to be awesome.’ For me to see them back up, it makes me happy.”
McWilliams-Franklin played on Sun teams featuring multiple scoring options. McWilliams-Franklin is the third all-time leading scorer in franchise history, including her four seasons when the team played in Orlando. The other players ranking in the top five were teammates of McWilliams-Franklin. Nykesha Sales, Asjha Jones, Katie Douglas and Lindsay Whalen helped the franchise win 83 games from 200406, including playoff victories.
Now a young Sun team has clinched its first playoff berth since 2012 and is guaranteed the first winning season since Mike Thibault’s successful run at the helm ended with a 25-9 record in 2012.
McWilliams-Franklin is among those who are impressed with the way a team starting two secondyear players and playing all season without the injured Chiney Ogwumike is currently third in the play-
off standings.
“They are totally different from all the other Connecticut Sun teams, and that is a plus,” McWilliams-Franklin said. “A lot of times people like to compare, the Golden State Warriors would they defeat the Bulls? I think the Sun, they have their own identity. They went through some tough times, obviously, but they came out with something that works better than it did before because you can handle adversity and overcome it.
“I like the fact that they have players who really like each other and they have players who are happy when they do well. Sometimes in the pros, you have teams when people aren’t happy when another player does well, and it shows, or you are trying to take shots from somebody else. I like the fact that this team is willing to give up one good shot for a great shot, not just an assist, but a hockey assist. We need to add that as a (stat). They are very young, but very mature as well.”
Kayla Pedersen was a part of Sun teams which finished 10-24 during the 2013 season and posted a 13-21 record the following year. When she returned after not playing in the WNBA a season ago, she was instantly struck by the difference in the locker room.
“Totally different,” Pedersen said. “This is probably my favorite WNBA year that I’ve had. We have a team that goes out there, works hard and all they think about is winning. It is nice to have an unselfish (group), play together for our coaches.”
Second-year coach Curt Miller, who added general manager duties this year, made moves to rid the Sun locker room of the negative vibes that existed since Thibault’s ouster after the 2012 season.
“They buy into it, we have the culture right,” Miller said. “They really believe in each other, on and off the court. They care for each other on and off the court. There is something special in team sports, especially women’s basketball. When you get your locker room right, a lot of good things can happen.
“They have a swagger, I love coaching players with a swagger. It is really fun to coach this group right now.”
When the Sun host New York on Friday night, the franchise will be looking for its fifth winning streak of at least seven games since moving to Connecticut in 2003. A victory would be the ninth straight at home, one shy of the franchise record set in 2015.
Connecticut leads the WNBA in scoring offense, averaging 87.5 points per game, and in assist/turnover ratio. They are on pace to set franchise records for points, field goals, field-goal percentage, 3-pointers and could set the mark for assists as well.
“Sometimes you can tell when a team has good chemistry, and you can tell with this Connecticut team,” Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird said. “Just the few times I have been on the floor you can see their chemistry.”