Sports: Sun, winners of three straight, play Seattle today
The Connecticut Sun said it many times before the WNBA season began. They said it again-and-again during their 0-5 start — that they needed time to come together after so many offseason changes.
The Sun have showed of late the benefits of having more time together to build that much-needed on-court chemistry. They've won three in a row and four of their last five games.
Connecticut plays the league-leading Seattle Storm today (3 p.m., Ch. 8) at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
It was no surprise that the Sun (46) started so slowly this season after losing three starters and having six new players on their 12-player roster,
including two rookies. They also had three players miss most or all of training camp, as well as three players miss games, due to either injuries or COVID-19 (two players tested postive). Training camps were also a mere two weeks.
Connecticut insisted it was seeing progress during its rough start. It can be hard (and frustrating) for players (and fans) to believe there's been progress when it doesn't equate to wins.
"There's teaching moments in both wins and losses," head coach Curt Miller said, "but to have that feeling that they won, and not just always learning through losing, is really important for psyche, for momentum, with this young group."
The Sun were able to withstand a late run by the Chicago Sky on Friday night, 77-74, despite shooting under 40 percent (38.2) for the second straight game (Chicago shot 45.9 percent).
Connecticut also missed 10 of 24 free throws. That played a part in Chicago shrinking a 54-38 deficit with 2 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter, to a point on two occasions during the final 1:14 of the game.
The Sun forced two turnovers for four points in the final 49 seconds to
win. DeWanna Bonner had the second steal with 6.6 seconds remaining, was fouled, and made two free throws for the game's final points.
"We can do some really good things," Miller said, "but if you never have success, it's hard to keep telling them (the players) that. So (Friday's win) helps that.
"We can go back and challenge (the team). There's a lot of teaching moments on this (game) film, but we found a way to the finish line. That's a really big (season) split for us. That's a really big win against a really talented team."
Chicago (6-4) is the only team in the league with wins over both the second-place Las Vegas Aces and thirdplace Los Angeles Sparks.
Seattle (9-1) is a much different, and better, than Chicago. It was a unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press' preseason WNBA poll. It also gave the Sun their largest loss of the season, 8774, on Aug. 4.
Historically, the best WNBA players are No. 1 picks, and almost every world champion has had one of them.
The Storm have three in 2018 WNBA MVP (and Finals MVP) Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, and the ageless Sue Bird.
Stewart is making a run for another WNBA MVP honor as she was fourth in scoring (18.9 ppg), tied for ninth in rebounding (7.8 rpg), tied for fifth with teammate Jordin Canada in steals (1.8 spg), and fifth in blocks (1.3) prior to Saturday's games.
Loyd is shooting 42.3 percent from the 3-point line (third in the league among players averaging at least five attempts a game) and is averaging 13.9 points. Bird averages 9.6 points, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals.
Not even a five-game absence by Bird due to a bone bruise in her left knee stopped Seattle, which went 5-0 in her absence. n.griffen@theday.com