Sun rise

In a vacuum, a single-digit loss to a title contender like New York is probably something to be really proud of. The Sun did battle for 40 minutes and made the Liberty work for almost everything they got, having a sniff of hope in the final minutes before losing. But a deeper look shows a Liberty team without Jonquel Jones (who it was awesome to see honored before the game, well deserved) or Sabrina Ionescu, and with Satou Sabally clearly limited (19 minutes). New York didn’t play or shoot particularly well and still got a road victory against a Sun team that (although without perhaps their two most effective players in 2026 in Aneesah Morrow and Brittany Griner) played fairly well, all things considered? That’s a little discouraging going forward. Leila Lacan does not appear to be near what she was last season, and maybe that’s to be expected. Teams were going to figure out a 20-year old international player her second time around, and her lack of confidence in shooting has made her ...

When you’re at the bottom of the standings, you’re looking for anything that will give you hope and/or confidence, and the Connecticut Sun found it in the first quarter Friday night in Chicago, racing to a double-digit lead and seemingly with a chance to bury the equally hapless Sky before halftime. That, of course, didn’t happen, as offensively challenged Chicago scored 32 points in the second quarter to get back into the game by halftime. After that, the Sun’s equally challenged offense was the more challenged of the two and veterans Skylar Diggins and Natasha Cloud made enough plays down the stretch to break Chicago’s five-game losing streak. Stop me if you’ve heard this before (please don’t stop reading, actually), but it’s another game the Sun could have won, and another one they didn’t. In the big picture, it’s not going to matter, as we’ve said a few times, the more ping pong balls they can get to draft JuJu Watkins, the better. But, especially knowing the team will be gone soon...

There was a moment in the third quarter Tuesday night where you could believe the Connecticut Sun could challenge for a playoff berth, leading by five at Atlanta - a team that may not be the WNBA title favorites, but certainly one of them - late in the third quarter, and making it extremely difficult for the Dream to do anything on the offensive end. There was a good rotation, a set lineup that appeared to be their best that Rachid Meziane went to in big spots. The Sun still weren’t hitting three-pointers, but they didn’t need to, able to get to the rim, even against the largely bigger Dream. But then the offense went away. The Sun scored just 26 points in the second half, including a painful stretch to start the fourth quarter in which they failed to score in 10 straight possessions. Eventually, the resistance was broken and Atlanta won fairly easily in the end (sorry, Sun bettors), leaving another lopsided road loss. In a way, it was a very positive performance. Connecticut showed th...

There is an alternate universe where Saturday night’s game against Los Angeles in Hartford was a celebration of things to come. After all, the WNBA had recently announced that the heritage of Connecticut (“the basketball capital of the world”) and the need for a northeastern franchise led them to keep the Sun in the state and move full-time to Peoples Bank Arena starting in 2027. That’s not the way it went down, of course, the Sun are off to Houston, which will probably sting forever. But that’s in the future, at least. For one night, things were as they should be, kind of. While it wasn’t sold out (attendance for a non-marquee matchup for a lame duck franchise is always going to be tough), the old Hartford Civic Center was loud, the Sun played some exciting basketball, and eventually pulled out its second win of the campaign. Beating a middle of the pack team without its best player (Kelsey Plum) at home is not exactly a fast track to the playoffs, but Connecticut looked a lot more li...

You could probably sum up the 2026 Connecticut Sun in one possession: Trailing 60-57 with under three minutes left Wednesday, Aneesah Morrow could not get a runner to go, but grabbed her own rebound (one of 8 offensive rebounds on the night). When she missed from short range a second time, Olivia Nelson-Ododa snagged the rebound and found a wide open Diamond Miller, who looked to tie the game, but missed from three. But Saniya Rivers swooped in, and kicked to Morrow, who was also wide open from behind the arc, however you know how it ended. The rest was downhill for the Sun, who finished (mercifully) its dreadful offensive road trip by shooting 1-for-21 from behind the arc. They at least battled all the way through and forced 19 turnovers, albeit against an expansion team, but it’s brutal right now on the offensive end, and although they’re been on the road for five games, they have played a favorable schedule and still sit at the bottom of the league. But even with everything going on...

Probably keep this short and sweet to keep from repeating ourselves over and over. The Sun actually got off to a really good offensive start Monday at Golden State which was mildly surprising, but even though Connecticut was in the game early, there was no indication it was going to last. One thing that was striking was how much more organized Golden State was on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Valkyries were completely locked in, speeding the Sun up and forcing them into shots they didn’t want when they weren’t turning it over. At the other end, the Sun tried desperately to chase the Valkyries off the three-point line, only to give up several layups and then get buried from the three-point line anyway. Golden State has an identity, led by Natalie Nakase, who picked up a well-deserved Coach of the Year last season, and now should have the Valkyries as a sleeper for a WNBA title this season, and even if she doesn’t get it in 2026 or 2027, I’m not betting against it coming event...