The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Connecticut Sun’s Miller balancing life and basketball
Miller walks thin line between life and basketball
Connecticut Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller figured this offseason would be more hectic than most, and that was before the coronavirus pandemic sent the world into chaos.
There were a lot of unknowns surrounding not just the Sun, who planned to be big players in free agency, but the WNBA itself during negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
“This was already a very different type of offseason — a very busy offseason, a very, very stressful offseason. And then as the coronavirus became a big part, it took on a whole different meaning for everybody,” Miller said Friday by phone.
As more cases of COVID-19 were discovered across the U.S. earlier this month, setting off panic and sending most residents into lockdown, Miller, 51, rushed to Florida to make sure his parents were squared away. But for the most part, he’s been hunkered down in Bloomington,
Ind. One of his twin boys is a senior at the University of Indiana, where Miller used to coach.
All of this is a departure from what Miller normally would be doing right now.
“He’ll graduate,” Miller said, “but it won’t be the type of graduation we had all thought it was going to be, like everybody’s dealing with around the country. …
Crazy times.”
Miller’s chief focus as it pertains to basketball has been getting his players back from overseas. Despite travel restrictions all 14 are now home. Jonquel Jones (Bahamas) and Valeriane Ayayi (Serbia) are the only ones living outside the U.S.
“That was a big, big part of my communications with
players, agents, staff trying to get everybody home safe,” Miller said. “I took a deep breath on Sunday when we finally got our final player home.”
Even better, they all seem healthy, Miller said. That includes forward Theresa Plaisance, 27, who returned home in January after battling an unknown virus while playing in China, where the outbreak originated.
“Looking back on it now and everything that happened, we also suspect that she maybe had the coronavirus before the world really knew about it,” Miller said.
The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc worldwide, including in Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont reported 1,291 cases and 27 deaths as of Friday. With no end in sight, pro sports leagues have suspended or canceled their seasons.
The WNBA said it will keep its draft on April 17, but without players, fans or media in attendance. Commissioner
Cathy Engelbert plans to announce the picks from a remote location. All three rounds will be broadcast by ESPN.
Training camps are scheduled to start on April 16. The regular season is supposed to tip off on May 15. But at the moment both are uncertain.
“It’s a very fluid situation,” Miller said. “I think our league is obviously working really hard behind the scenes on contingency plans and looking at it from every angle. You have consistent communication with the Board of Governors, with the COOs, and then they circle the GMs and the head coaches into those conversations when appropriate. Certainly, they’re always welcoming phone calls.
“You’ve just got to continue to be flexible. Certainly, first and foremost right now is the health and wellbeing of everybody.”
Normally at this time, Miller and his assistants would be getting their final looks at prospects at the NCAA tournament, but that too was wiped out, along with the combine. Fortunately, the Sun did
plenty of work earlier this offseason.
“Our staff did a really good job of getting out during non-conference, including Thanksgiving and Christmas tournaments, where you see more bang for your buck and you’re seeing multiple teams at a singular location,” Miller said. “We were very active out scouting in person during non-conference play. Even when you’re not at a game in person, you’re typically in the evening, at 7, starting to settle down to watch games on your different devices.”
The Sun won’t pick until 23rd overall in the second round. They sent the Nos. 7 and 10 selections in this year’s draft, along with a first-round pick in 2021, to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for All-Star forward DeWanna Bonner in February.
“We were willing to give up some late first-round draft picks in order to secure what we believed could be a missing piece to a championship run,” Miller said.
Then, later that month, they continued wheeling and dealing by shipping
fan-favorite Courtney Williams to the Atlanta Dream in a three-way deal that netted the Sun veteran guard Briann January, along with a 2021 secondrounder.
Miller, who’s entering his fifth season in Connecticut, believes both additions make the Sun a better team, one that’s capable of making it back to the Finals.
“Disappointing that we weren’t able to re-sign Courtney,” Miller said. “We certainly felt negotiations weren’t going to go in our direction. Unfortunately, in a very short window, an initial offer which we felt was very strong, they desired something more. We quickly moved to that number, but at that point negotiations had broken down in a very short period of time. At that point, we certainly realized Courtney’s desire to play in front of family in Atlanta was very, very strong. … Briann brings a winning mentality, a winning maturity to our locker room that we’re excited about.”