With full roster nearly back in fold, decisions looming
Through the first two games of the WNBA season, the Connecticut Sun were without two vital pieces of their rotation. Guard Courtney Williams was on a two-game suspension, and Dewanna Bonner was wrapping up competition overseas in Turkey.
The Sun (1-1) will have both of those players back on Tuesday night in a rematch with the New York Liberty (1-3) at Barclays Center. The game starts at 7 p.m. and will stream on NESN+.
Connecticut lost its season opener against the same team in the same venue, 81-79, but it was without Williams and Bonner, who were both WNBA All-star selections last season. Williams’ suspension is up, so her return is a given. Bonner got back to the United States from Turkey late Friday night/early Saturday morning, sat on the bench in street clothes for Saturday’s game and was set to undergo medical testing on Monday.
Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller said he feels like he can take a breath knowing that Bonner is back, but there’s also no denying the challenge that now lies ahead, both in terms of her adjusting back into a groove with the team and with how the Sun’s rotation will shape out.
“It’s a tough ask just to jump in and have chemistry and not have practiced at all,” Miller said. “So we will be tinkering for a long time until we feel good that we’ve been able to practice and get it together. So everybody’s got to [have] a little bit of patience with us this year.”
Now that Miller has both Bonner and Williams available, he’ll have to make some important lineup decisions. He’s never had the six All-star players of Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones, Jasmine Thomas, Bonner and Williams all at his disposal.
Last season, Miller played a starting five of Jasmine Thomas, Briann January (now with Seattle Storm), Bonner, Jonquel Jones and Brionna Jones. Williams was on the Atlanta Dream for the past two years, while Alyssa Thomas was out the majority of the season with a torn Achilles tendon and then came off the bench once she did return for two regular-season games and the playoffs.
A year before that, Jonquel Jones opted out of the “wubble” COVID-19 season. And in 2019, when Williams was with the team, Bonner wasn’t and Brionna Jones, the league’s reigning most improved player, was nowhere near the caliber of player that she is now — she only played 8.4 minutes per
game off the bench, averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds.
So now, who is part of the starting five and who comes off the bench? These are things Miller will be trying to figure out moving forward.
Miller was able to run practices in training camp with a top lineup of guards Jasmine Thomas (5-9) and Williams (5-8) alongside forwards Alyssa Thomas (6-2), Brionna Jones (6-3) and Jonquel Jones (6-6). Spacing with those forwards was a big focus for Miller throughout preseason. He’s often stated the importance of getting them significant minutes together as three of the most talented players on the roster.
Now Bonner is in the mix, too. One possibility Miller brought up over the preseason is playing an extremely tall lineup of those three forwards with the 6-4 Bonner, who has typically played at the wing spot.
“A bunch of vets that kind of know the game, so if we can just play and be free, that’s the main thing,” Bonner told The Courant of the possibility of playing alongside Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and Jonquel Jones. “We’re a big lineup.
It’s going to be hard to see over us. We can do a lot of different things. I think I like the versatility of our offense and our defense.”
If those four were on the floor together, Miller would likely have to choose between Williams and Jasmine Thomas as the primary ball-handler. As he’s repeatedly said, there will be a lot of tinkering with rotations to find what works best.
Regardless of who starts, Miller feels confident that he’ll get more scoring from his bench than he did a season ago. Dijonai Carrington got experience as a starter over the past two games, averaging 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while Natisha Hiedeman and Nia Clouden have proven to be offensive sparks. With everyone back in the fold, now it’s just a matter of putting it all together.
“We focused on what we had in our locker room, which is a lot of talent, a lot of people that gained a lot of experience early in these first two games,” Alyssa Thomas said. “But we’re a dangerous team. And now we’re adding two huge pieces, definitely a team to watch out for.”