Tag Archives: Connecticut Sun

WNBA Today, 08/22/2011: Sun, Fever, Sparks win; entire league receives a Boost

A triple-game Sunday for the WNBA yesterday, but due to technical issues only two that anyone could watch unless you happened to be in Tulsa. So you’ll have to make do with two typically detailed reviews, and one summary compiled entirely on the basis of play-by-play details and boxscore numbers. I’ll throw in some bitching about LA’s defense and some criticism of how terrible Tulsa are just to make it feel like I watched it.

The first game up yesterday was a rematch of Friday night’s overtime thriller between Atlanta and Connecticut, with the venue switching to the Mohegan Sun. The Dream pulled off a remarkable victory in the previous game, shutting down Tina Charles for the final 25 minutes and forcing the extra period with an unlikely three-pointer from Sancho Lyttle. They received an assist from the Sun themselves when coach Mike Thibault benched starting point guard Renee Montgomery at the end of the third quarter for what he later described as an ‘internal matter’. Which probably means she said something naughty, and he showed her who’s boss. She was back in the lineup for this game, so presumably they’ve put it behind them. That loss was Connecticut’s second in a row, the first time they’ve lost consecutive games since early July, so they were looking to stop the rot before it could gain any more traction. Losing both halves of a back-to-back in overtime can be waved off as bad luck – drop the next one as well and it starts to look like a losing streak.

For Atlanta, that win over the Sun was their 10th in 13 games, a run of results that has completely turned their season around. With everyone bar backup point guard Shalee Lehning finally healthy, they’re looking up and entertaining the possibility of climbing the standings beyond their current fourth. A win here would’ve brought them within 2.5 games of Connecticut and given the Dream a 2-1 advantage in the season series between the two teams. While they still have to hold off Chicago to ensure their playoff spot, second in the East might’ve started to look somewhat plausible. It’s a far cry from the 3-9 record they opened the season with.

The standard starting fives began the game for both teams once again. Immediately, Tina Charles and Erika de Souza picked up their battle under the basket right where they left off on Friday. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/20/2011: With a Lyttle Bit of Luck

Just one game to look at from Friday night in the WNBA, but first the quick injury report from Saturday – Jackson’s back but Taurasi sat with a bad back. Try saying that five times fast. I’ll have coverage of all four of tonight’s games in tomorrow’s column, including a couple that went right to the wire. For now you’ll have to make do with Connecticut‘s visit to Atlanta, which was no mean contest itself.

The usual starting fives that these teams have settled into took the floor to open the game. After a crushing overtime loss in New York the night before, Connecticut were looking to rebound quickly a get back to winning ways. However, as always in this league, fatigue can be a serious issue in the second half of back-to-backs. After completing a four-game roadtrip on Tuesday in LA, Atlanta were undoubtedly happy to be home, but they hadn’t had much trouble on their travels. 3-1 on that trip, and 9-3 overall in their last 12 games, it’s been a month of progress for the Dream that they were hoping to continue against the Sun.

The first quarter was entertaining, but no one managed to create much of an edge. It took Renee Montgomery barely two minutes to throw two terrible passes into lanes that simply weren’t there, before deciding she’d just start shooting and score instead. That’s a positive way to avoid turnovers. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/19/2011: A New York state of desperation

There were three games in the WNBA yesterday, but one turned out to be the game of the night by some distance. So we’re going to concentrate on the top contest and worry about the others later. After blowing out league-leading Minnesota in their previous game, Connecticut headed into last night on a high. Having won 10 of their last 13, they were looking upwards with hopes of chasing down Indiana, rather than worrying about what was going on behind them. Despite being just one place lower in the Eastern standings, and only 2.5 games behind the Sun, things haven’t been quite so rosy for New York of late. They finally scraped a win over Washington on Tuesday night, but three losses in four prior to that and some tired-looking performances had left them glancing over their shoulders at Atlanta and even Chicago. A win over Connecticut would’ve provided a much needed fillip, and resurrected faint hopes of catching the Sun for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It also had the potential to reassure players and fans alike that they were going to make the postseason in the first place.

The pre-game news for New York wasn’t good. Quanitra Hollingsworth was still in street clothes due to her ankle sprain, limiting the Liberty’s post options for the second straight game. Joining her on the bench was Nicole Powell, out due to a bone bruise or a left-knee contusion, depending on which injury report you wanted to listen to (they’re essentially the same thing, just phrased differently). Powell hasn’t had the greatest of seasons to say the least, but losing your starting small forward rarely increases your chances of victory. Essence Carson replaced her in the starting lineup. The Sun had everyone available, and stuck with the same starting five that they’ve used throughout their 10-3 run.

The first half was nip and tuck all the way, without either team managing to take control. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/17/2011 (extra): You can go home again, but you might not enjoy it

Told you I’d be back with the final game from Tuesday night. Hope no one was holding on with bated breath, because it really wasn’t worth it. With Minnesota heading out to Connecticut, all the talk was about just one person – Maya Moore. Returning to the area where she had so much success in college, the first appearance of the WNBA’s presumptive Rookie of the Year back in Connecticut had helped the Sun sell out the Mohegan Sun Arena for this game. Moore’s team has had a couple of tight contests recently, and even dropped a game in Phoenix, but they’d still won 11 of their last 12 games. Hilariously, they’ve already won more games this year than the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves managed in the entire 2010-11 NBA season. The T-Wolves played 82 games; the Lynx only needed 23 to surpass their win total. However, the Sun won’t have been cowering at the prospect of facing the WNBA’s hottest team. 9-3 themselves in their last 12 games, Connecticut are still chasing after Indiana for the top spot in the East and have only lost twice at home all season. They won’t have wanted to make Moore’s homecoming a pleasant one.

The usual fives took the floor to start the game, without any fresh injuries or absences to report. Moore put a three in the air on her first touch of the ball, but when it rimmed out the stage was set for how the opening minutes were going to play out for her and the Lynx. Many of the fans may have showed up to see Moore, but it was the Sun they’d end up cheering for. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/14/2011: Sun rise; Fever warm; Storm rained on

Okay, before we look at last night’s games, first the really important news. Tomorrow is the WNBA’s trade deadline. After that there’ll be no longer be the possibility for LA to dump their vets, or Kara Braxton to be traded again, or practically every GM in the league to sit around doing nothing whatsoever. Oh wait, they can carry on doing that last one. Outside of free agent pickups, they’ll be stuck with what they’ve got when the clock runs out tomorrow night. Considering Braxton-for-Spencer alone makes this one of the more eventful periods leading up to a deadline in recent seasons, I’m not expecting a flurry of movement in the next 24 hours. But you never know.

I know I say this a lot, but we really are going to skate through yesterday’s games with more speed than usual. I promise. Plus the analysis is going to become briefer as we work our way through the games, because the games became progressively less competitive. First up, Connecticut hosted Washington, which despite featuring second vs. last in the Eastern Conference, was ultimately the closest game all day. The starting fives were the same as usual, and Danielle McCray even managed to open the game well enough to stay on the floor rather than being benched inside the first two minutes, as has often been the case recently.

The entire first half was nip and tuck. Connecticut were cold from outside early on, which allowed Washington to develop a 17-10 lead, but that quickly disappeared once McCray and Tina Charles hit a couple of shots. From there, no one could break away, and the scoreline was repeatedly tied or separated by only a single point. The Mystics were hot from downtown, with Marissa Coleman and Kelly Miller especially firing away and hitting more than they missed. Even power forward Crystal Langhorne knocked down her first triple of the season. Connecticut couldn’t find any consistent offensive rhythm, but created enough turnovers and scrambled enough points to stay right in the contest. In fact, the Sun led 44-43 at halftime, a surprisingly high-scoring game for these teams.

Connecticut came out for the second half with a clear mandate to pound the ball inside with Charles. She wasn’t scoring much, but she was drawing repeated fouls, including Langhorne’s fourth of the game inside the first minute of the third quarter. Whenever you can force the other team’s best player to the bench, something’s going right. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/12/2011: Let there be blowouts

You may have heard me talk in the past of the basketball gods. The supernatural beings who rule over out beloved game. Well last night, they were toying with me. After my complaints about all the defensive slugfests we’ve had to sit through in recent weeks, they decided to show me just how tedious an evening of basketball can be – high-scoring or not – when everything’s a blowout. So we had three games, all involved at least a moderate amount of points, and none of them were particularly engaging. Unless you happened to be a fan of one of the winning sides. I give in, oh creatures of unnatural power; give me a 57-56 defensive duel every night if it’s going to come down to the wire. Enough with the games that are over by halftime.

The night got underway in Connecticut, where if you’d had to bet on one team winning in a landslide, it would’ve been the Sun. Their 9-1 home record has been the bedrock of their season, and until recently it was pretty much the only place they could win (Washington doesn’t count). San Antonio came into town having lost four of their last five, including an ass-kicking in Indiana last time out. Without Danielle Adams they’ve struggled to score against good defensive teams, and over the course of the season that group has included the Sun.

But there’s a reason that they play the games. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/11/2011: Everybody’s Still Playing!

On to the second-half of Tuesday night’s WNBA sextuple-header. Apologies to the fans that had to wait until I got to their team – there are only so many hours in the day, even for me. Plus, y’know, abject laziness tends to play a part too.

Atlanta and Washington went into their game on Tuesday night as technically the bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference, although the Dream only sat behind Chicago on percentage points. The comments to the press from Mystics brass about still making a playoff push were pure PR spin, but if they had even a miniscule belief that it was possible this game was a must win. Chasing down Chicago and Atlanta was only ever going to be possible if they won all their remaining games against the those teams. After blowing out New York on Saturday, the Mystics also should’ve been heading into this game with renewed confidence that they were capable of winning games. Coming off their own overwhelming win over Seattle on Sunday, the Dream were hardly lacking in belief either.

After spraining her ankle in the game against Seattle, Armintie Price was replaced by Coco Miller in Atlanta’s starting lineup. Price was in uniform, but stayed on the bench – for the time being. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/09/2011: Sextuple Tuesday

Yes, six games tonight in the WNBA, as every team in the league takes to the floor. In honour of that (and the fact that there were no games yesterday), WNBAlien brings you some game notes and things to watch out for in all six contests.


Atlanta @ Washington, 7pm ET (ESPN3 in the US, LiveAccess in most other places)

This one could actually be pretty interesting. The Mystics have played some decent stuff lately, finally grabbing their fourth win of the year against New York on Saturday. They also keep claiming that they’re still chasing a playoff spot, and if they honestly believe that then this is one of the games that they have to win – Chicago and Atlanta are the obvious suspects to track down if they were to somehow pull it off.

Crystal Langhorne and Matee Ajavon have been carrying Washington of late, Ajavon especially exploding against New York, but they may struggle against Atlanta’s weapons. The Dream can match up with the Mystics’ speed, although after Armintie Price hurt her ankle in the last game they might be without the most natural option to guard Ajavon. An increasingly healthy Sancho Lyttle could make things difficult for Langhorne inside, but when she’s in the mood Lang can score against anybody. On the opposite side of the ball, Marissa Coleman’s defense may be improved from what it once was, but it’s still hard to see how she’ll keep up with Angel McCoughtry. The Mystics defense will have to be alive and offer Coleman a lot of help to keep McCoughtry quiet.

After two disappointing losses, Atlanta creamed Seattle on Sunday afternoon, and will be looking to carry that momentum on into this game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/08/2011: Lesson One – Turnovers are Bad

A quad-game Sunday in the WNBA this week, and we’re going to start at the very beginning – because apparently it’s a very good place to start. Seattle went into Philips Arena in Atlanta on a three-game win streak, but also with a 4-7 road record for the season that’s a little misleading. Two of the wins were in Tulsa, one in Washington, and only the victory in Phoenix just after the All-Star break really meant anything. This is a team that’s still struggling to perform without the support of the Key Arena crowd. That simultaneously makes winning a few of these games even more vital, because they’re in a three-way battle with San Antonio and Phoenix for second-place in the Western Conference. Which would result in home-court advantage for at least one round of the playoffs. Hopefully Lauren Jackson will be back by then, and perhaps lower the Storm’s reliance on their own floor, but that #2 spot could mean more to them than any of their rivals.

Atlanta are in the midst of their own playoff battle, but in their case it’s a matter of overtaking Chicago to even make the postseason. Losses to New York and Connecticut in their last couple of games haven’t helped, so they needed to get back to winning ways. Head coach Marynell Meadors shook up her starting lineup in the hope that it would reenergise her team, reinserting Angel McCoughtry and Sancho Lyttle as the starting forwards. It’s still unclear exactly why McCoughtry was ever removed, but it makes sense to open the game with your leader and star on the floor. With Lyttle, it was just a matter of waiting until she seemed healthy enough to take her place – she’s clearly the best option at power forward for this team, as long as she’s in one piece.

The opening stages were, unfortunately for the Storm, a microcosm of the entire 40 minutes. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/06/2011: Is it a Bird? Is it a plane? Right the first time.

Regular WNBAlien readers may have noticed that unless there’s a compelling reason not to, I typically look at the games in chronological order. Well, when the opening contest is Tulsa being stuffed for the 527th time this season, it gets relegated to footnote status. There was one game last night worth talking about, and it was Connecticut’s trip up to the Pacific Northwest to face Seattle. So we’re going to start there.

Both teams went with the starting fives that have served them well lately, producing four wins in the last five for Seattle, and seven out of eight for Connecticut. The Sun have even rectified their appalling road form of late, winning their last three outside the Mohegan Sun after starting the year 1-5 away from home. This was an intriguing encounter even for those who aren’t fans of the University of Connecticut, who seem to provide most of the players on display.

The first 15 minutes of the game were all Seattle. Continue reading →