Even with first loss, Sun off to hot start
UNCASVILLE — A little over a week ago, Stephanie White was on a plane headed to Indianapolis for her first game as head coach of the Connecticut Sun, a matchup with the Indiana Fever.
Now boasting a 3-1 record and tied for second place in the WNBA following their first loss of the year on Saturday, the Sun will once again face the same Fever squad (1-2) Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“There’s no doubt we’re better (than that first game on May 19),” White told The Courant after practice Monday. “We’re better on both ends of the floor. We’ll continue to get better. We’re fine tuning, we’ve added some things. I think the biggest thing is just still continuing to work on our spacing, the pace with which we want to play and being able to make decisions in that case without taking away our space.”
Spacing and pace are two of the biggest adjustments under White’s new system this season. Wing Dewanna Bonner, who leads the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game, has had a lot of fun trying to figure out the new style of play so far.
“It opens up the floor for everybody,” Bonner said of the free-flowing offense. “You can cut, get to the basket. You’re spread out a lot. Anybody can get to any different place. Just so much versatility.”
Former Uconn star Tiffany Hayes, who joined the Sun via a trade with the Atlanta Dream over the offseason, has helped add to that offense as the only new member of the starting lineup from a season ago. She’s averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
“Just adding another dynamic guard that can get to the rim and shoot the three and the pull up, so just bringing a whole new, another scorer for all three levels,” Brionna Jones said. “And then defensively, she’s active on defense. So just having a player playing on both sides has been great and I’ve loved playing with her so far.”
Alyssa Thomas, also known as “the engine,” is Connecticut’s leading rebounder on the young season, averaging 11.3 per game while also adding 14.8 points, 4.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Jones, the reigning WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, is third on the team in scoring, averaging 13.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists per game.
The Sun carried an edge into this season, looking to prove to still be a championship contender after offseason moves saw them lose former MVP Jonquel Jones to form a super team with the New York Liberty and veteran point guard Jasmine Thomas joined former head coach and general manager Curt Miller on the Los Angeles Sparks.
Connecticut jumped out to three straight wins to open the season, first with a 70-61 victory over the Fever followed by back-toback wins over the Washington Mystics, considered by many as the third-best team in the league behind the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces, who added star Candace Parker to form the WNBA’S other super team, and the Liberty.
“There’s definitely a couple of super teams out there that everybody was talking about, chatting about, saying that they were gonna dominate, but I mean, we’re here too,” Hayes said. “I joined a team that definitely had a chip on their shoulder from the last two years and I’ve taken on that chip as well because I’m part of the team now. So we’re all just here to trying to work hard together to get as far as we can go.”
The Sun suffered their first loss of the year Saturday on the road to the Liberty, 81-65. Connecticut led 38-32 at halftime but was outscored 49-27 in the second half. The defeat was a reminder of how slim the margin for error is in the WNBA and gave the Sun some areas to focus on improving.
“Offensively, it’s execution, space, understanding what we’re trying to get, you know, not relying too heavily on on-ball screen stuff,” White said. “We really didn’t run anything in that New York game. Getting back to what are we looking to run, how are we looking to find our advantages and then making sure we get there. Defensively, we were not dictating at all. We were reacting, were a step or two late in everything that we were doing, we didn’t execute correct coverages.”
Now the Sun turn the page to Tuesday night against the Fever, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Boston.
“The keys are gonna be being disciplined defensively, really making sure that we know personnel, making sure that we execute our coverages, making sure that we make life for Kelsey Mitchell difficult and we finish every play with a rebound,” White said. “Offensively, it’s going to be maintaining our spacing, getting into our actions, getting into our sets, recognizing where we are in our sets and who we can get the ball to when and how, and that’s going to be the key for us offensively. And staying disciplined and setting the easy screens.”