Sun can clinch WNBA playoff berth with win over Mercury tonight
Connecticut, which began season 0-5, will earn WNBA playoff bid with win tonight
DeWanna Bonner has had a pretty excellent WNBA career.
She has won two WNBA titles with the Phoenix Mercury, has been a 2015 All-WNBA first team pick, and is the only player in league history to win three Sixth Woman of the Year awards (2009-2011).
Bonner has enjoyed her first season with the Connecticut Sun as much as any that she had during her first 10 years with Phoenix.
“I think actually being in the bubble (at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.) with each other all day, every day, nowhere to go, kind of forced us to bond,” Bonner said. “No other team I've been on has been this close. It's been fun. I've been enjoying myself, getting to know everybody.”
It's that bond that has helped put Connecticut in position to qualify for its fourth straight playoff berth after an 0-5 start. The Sun will qualify by defeating the Mercury today in the first of two games between the teams in three days (6 p.m., NESN, CBS Sports Network).
The Sun are 9-10. Phoenix (12-7) has won six in a row.
Only two teams have ever qualified for the WNBA playoffs after losing their first five games. The New York Liberty did that in 2013. The 2015 Los Angeles Sparks lost their first seven games and 10 of their first 12 before qualifying for the postseason.
“There was not a panic when we were 0-5,” Connecticut head coach Curt Miller said.
Injuries, illnesses and unfamiliarity were among the top reasons for Connecticut's rouigh start. It lost three starters during the offseason, and half of its 12-player roster is new, including two rookies.
The Sun acquired veteran guard Briann January during the offseason to start alongside six-year starter Jasmine
Thomas. But January missed all of training camp due to COVID-19 as well as the first eight games.
Reserve guard Natisha Hiedeman also tested positive for the virus and didn't get to camp until the final week. Reserve post Theresa Plaisance also missed the first three games after two offseason back surgeries (the last in June).
“I think we knew we were a talented team,” Sun veteran Alyssa Thomas said. “We have a lot of new players who can play multiple positions who are offensive threats, and a lot of defensive players. It was just about us learning (about) each other, coming together, and playing Connecticut Sun basketball. It took us a little bit, but we figured it out and now we've got it rolling.”
Miller said, “A lot of teams would've separated (at 0-5) and been miserable. This team has through-and-through stuck together and continued to grow closer-and-closer.”
Connecticut is currently managing injuries, just as every team does this late in the season.
Jasmine Thomas has been dealing with plantar fasciitis in her right foot and missed three straight games prior to returning during Saturday's 96-77 win over Indiana.
She played just over 22 minutes and is considered day-to-day.
Alyssa Thomas is dealing with an undisclosed hand injury that forced her to miss last Thursday's loss to the Las Vegas Aces. She also played Saturday.
“I'm pretty used to pushing through some pain,” Thomas said. “Every time I catch the ball, it feels like my bones are hitting together. It's pretty painful, but it is what it is.”