The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Sun ready to rise over Phoenix
UNCASVILLE — No two seasons are exactly alike, but sometimes basketball circumstance is.
The Sun finished 21-13 in 2017. They had the fourth WNBA playoff seed. They had a home game. They had Phoenix. They had to stare into Diana’s eyes, deep into the fire.
Ditto 2018.
“There are very few ‘doovers’ in sports,” Sun coach Curt Miller said Wednesday as his team prepared for the Taurasi Monster on Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. “It’s not often that you get second chances. We’re going to try to take advantage of it.”
While the duplicate scenario may make for interesting conversation, what it does best is serve as a measuring stick for the growth of a franchise that has yet to win an WNBA title since arriving at the casino in 2003. Or even win a playoff game since 2012, squandering a 17-point second-quarter lead last year in an 88-83 loss to the Mercury.
Miller has done a terrific job since taking over three years ago. His teams play with great energy and creativity on offense. Without a player on either the first or second Associated Press WNBA All-Star team, the Sun led the WNBA in scoring with a franchise-record 87.6 points per game.
They battled through a slew of injuries and won nine of their final 10 games. They are young. They are talented. They are winners. Since Miller took over this beleaguered franchise three years
ago, only Los Angeles, Minnesota and Seattle have won more games. After starting 3-13 in his first season, Miller is 53-33 (.616) and only the Lynx and Sparks — who won the past three WNBA titles — have been better.
In breaking at least eight franchise offensive records, the Sun became the only team in the league this year to have five players average double figures. They became the only team in league history to have nine players score at least 20 points in a game.
Yet there is a difference between being a big winner and a champion. Mike Thibault, a terrific coach, found that out after he won 25 of 34 games in 2012 and was fired following a second-round playoff loss to Indiana. After a decade of Thibault, expectations were that high. The casino powers decided they needed another answer. They did not find it in three years with Anne Donovan.
“We wanted to bring an exciting style offensively during my era here,” Miller said. “Leading the league in scoring shows we are accomplishing that. One of the negatives is we’ve yet to coach a 30-year-old in my three years here. We don’t have a truly veteran team here.
“The benefit of having a young and hungry team is you can play faster, more up-tempo. In order to be a championship team, the other end of the court is where we’ve really got to come along. If we have a good playoff run, it’ll be because we are defensively locked in and rebounding. We’re excited about our brand of offense, but it’s the growth on the other side that’s ultimately going to determine our fate.”
Can the Sun take that next vital step? Can Miller, who built winners at Bowling Green and Indiana, push the Sun there, starting with a one-game playoff against the Mercury?
“I would be much more confident if it was a series,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, that’s not how the playoffs are in the first couple rounds. For us to take the next step we’ve got to knock off one of those monster teams in the playoffs.
“When you play superstars, when you play a Diana, Brittney Griner, DeWanna Bonner, you realize those three can combine for 70-75 points in a one-game single elimination and how dangerous they are.”
Miller wasn’t exaggerating. Bonner (29), Taurasi (26 and 12 assists) and Griner (17) combined for 72 of the Mercury’s 101 points in an 18-point elimination victory Tuesday against Dallas.
Of course, Jasmine Thomas watched. Asked what struck her?
“Diana being Diana,” she answered. “She absolutely runs that team.”
“There are teams that you’ve got to match yourself up with if you’re going to take the next step as a franchise,” Miller said. “In the growth of a young team it belongs with steps. We’ve swept Minnesota this year. We’ve swept LA.
“We know Seattle had a great year. Atlanta had a great year. Washington finished above us. Still, to talk about championships you always go back to Minnesota, LA and Phoenix, teams with great veterans. We’ve conquered two, 6-0 against them. Our next step is to beat a very talented Phoenix team in the playoffs. That would do wonders for the next phase of this franchise.”
The Sun lost twice in Phoenix, once without Chiney Ogwumike and Alyssa Thomas, the second time without Alyssa Thomas and Courtney Williams. The game the Sun were healthy, they won by four at home.
“I think it’s a pick ’em game,” Miller said. “We’ve equaled the best home record in the league this year. We’re very confident. We’ve had success when we were fully healthy, 18-5 when Alyssa Thomas was in the lineup for a whole game.”
Miller said his team may not have superstars, but who else has five players averaging in double figures? He said his young team is a year older and wiser and is going to run fresh bodies at Taurasi and the Mercuy all night long.
“There’s a lot to be confident in,” Miller said.
“Exact same situation as last year,” Jasmine Thomas said. “I think you’ll see a different team than last year, for sure.”
The next step. It’s everything for the Sun.