Sun ready to do battle with Aces
Alyssa Thomas is the prototypical Curt Miller player, and to understand why is to understand how Thomas is wired.
She hates to come off the floor. Not even two bum shoulders that require surgery have slowed her.
“Alyssa Thomas is literally our engine, our energy,” head coach Curt Miller said.
Only four WNBA players averaged more minutes during the regular season than the 29-year old Thomas (32.8), and she’s only logged more work during the first two rounds of the playoffs — wins over Chicago and Los Angeles.
Thomas embodies what Miller looks for in players, especially veterans, because they generally set the tone for the rest of the roster. To him, intangibles are just as important as statistics.
“We have veterans that, their calling card is playing hard,” Miller said. “Jasmine Thomas has played herself into an upper-echelon point guard in this league. Briann January’s effort and toughness at the defensive end has allowed her to have an unbelievably successful career. DeWanna Bonner lived in the shadows (with the Phoenix Mercury) of some of the greatest players to ever play, but it’s her energy, her motor, her ability to stay healthy through the years.”
“We’re drawn to energy,” he continued. “We were drawn to Courtney Williams’ energy in the past, Chiney Ogwumike’s energy in the past. We love highmotor players. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of high-motor players come through our franchise.”
In many ways, the Las Vegas Aces — whom Connecticut will face in the best-of-five semifinals in Florida — is of the same mold. They rebound, they defend, and they play hard — really, really hard. It’s no wonder they’re coached by former Detroit Piston “Bad Boy” Bill Laimbeer.
“They’re the benchmark for toughness in the bubble,” Miller said.
The Aces shared the WNBA’s best record (18-4)
with Seattle, earning a double-bye and a six-day layoff. As a result, they’ll come into Sunday’s Game 1 healthy and rested.
While the Sun (12-12) won’t have that same luxury, they did get 24 hours to recharge following a gritty second-round victory over Los Angeles. Such opportunities have been rare, and Miller didn’t want to extend his players too much with a physical series on tap.
“A little bit of the preparation’s been rushed with the team, but ultimately we had to make the call on what we thought was best in their recovery,” Miller said on Saturday, a day reserved for film study and a light practice for the Sun. “Giving them a day off mentally was really important.
“You’ve got to make those calls as a coaching staff at times throughout the season, and you’ve got to trust your players, trust your veterans that we’re going to be locked into the game plan despite it being a little bit shorter than it could have been. I trust that the veterans are going to be ready. Now it’s about execution on gameday, it’s about toughness, it’s about physicality.”
Against Las Vegas, rarely is it about anything else. The Aces, anchored by MVP A’ja Wilson, led the league in scoring (88.7) and rebounding (37.4) during the truncated regular season
But, this much is known: Connecticut has the toughness — not to mention the attitude — to match.
“We mean business,” Thomas said. “And, you know, we’re a scary team to play in the playoffs. We’re just ready to play Vegas.”