Mercury 83, Sun 75: Can we do moral victories in professional sports?

Can we do moral victories in professional sports? It might not be the last time we have to ask that question this season with regards to the Connecticut Sun.

In the end, it’s an 83-75 home loss to a very good Phoenix team, but probably not one that can battle New York or Minnesota (also Indiana or Atlanta?) for a WNBA title, and the record will say as much for the Sun when 2025 is behind us next winter.


However, if you watched from the time the Sun was down 35-16 in the middle of the second quarter on the end of a back-to-back, you saw everything you could really ask for out of the team again: guts, maximum effort, and a fight that made the Mercury battle until almost the final buzzer (luckily without some of the shenanigans we had to deal with in Indiana on Tuesday).


There were moments where Alyssa Thomas (we miss you, AT) made the Sun look silly no matter who they had guarding her, and it seemed like they tried just about everyone at one point or another. Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper (despite drilling two huge shots in the final minutes) had relatively slow offensive nights and still Connecticut couldn’t find a way to complete the comeback.


But it’s hard to watch Aneesah Morrow take over in the second half, Olivia Nelson-Ododa post a double-double, and Jacy Sheldon finally start looking for her own shot, and feel a sense of dread like we did when the Sun basically didn’t show up against Washington last Sunday. There are still plenty of areas to clean up, and we can hope that in the next 32 games that clean up can happen a little as the Sun look toward 2026 and beyond.


Trust the process someone said once. Not going to be easy, but for one night, we certainly can. 


What else did we learn from AT’s homecoming that saw her smiling like we know she does throughout?:




 

Free Aneesah Morrow  - If you’re a consistent reader, you know I was worried about Morrow and her development, especially being undersized, but the only question after Wednesday’s game is why Rachid Meziane hasn’t been playing her more, especially given the Sun’s situation and record. You could see Morrow’s confidence grow with every passing minute on the floor, and that could be a big step toward the Sun’s future if she can be a regular contributor. At one point, Thomas made Haley Peters and Kariata Diaby just look silly on a couple of straight possessions, and obviously she does that to a lot of people, and the Sun may need Diaby and Peters on occasion, but there’s no reason either should be getting more minutes than Morrow right now, barring injury. 


Alyssa Thomas has changed the league - I mentioned that Angel Reese was doing her best Alyssa Thomas impression on Sunday, and Reese would do well to have a career like AT has had. But as I mentioned in the preview, it took years for Thomas to transform into the quintessential “point forward”, something that was on full display Wednesday, Thomas narrowly missing a triple-double with 14 points, 11 assists (and a couple of others that were missed layups off her passes), and eight rebounds. It was so fun to watch with the Sun on a nightly basis, as it was Wednesday. It will be fun rooting for her this season, except….


Might not have had much choice, but it stinks that we have Phoenix’s pick -  The pick swap for the 2025 draft in the Marina Mabrey trade with Chicago would have worked well had it been Chicago’s natural pick, but it’s not, unfortunately, it’s a pick Chicago picked up from Phoenix, so Connecticut will be picking in Phoenix’s spot in 2025, while Chicago will be selecting in the Sun’s. That doesn’t look great at the moment for Connecticut, who (with the expansion teams also) will be somewhere around 10th or 11th in the best case scenario. We’re in this for the long haul, people, don’t worry, we have our 2027 picks.


Player of the game:  Aneesah Morrow - An easy choice in this one: 16 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and the battler we saw at LSU. If she can develop a consistent outside shot (maybe her and Saniya Rivers can get together in the offseason), she will be a dangerous player for years to come.

 

Inside the numbers : 10 -  Combined points for Tina Charles (2) and Mabrey (8), by far the lowest of the season, and the Sun were still in the contest. Charles played only 15 minutes, which is a bit worrying, but she was in early foul trouble and Morrow was rolling. Hopefully Meziane was just limited her minutes in the back-to-back.


Under the radar: There was a play in the third quarter where it looked like Charles got the best of Thomas and Thomas was forced to take a very tough shot that she ended up banking in, which led to a laugh from Thomas going back down the court as she threw her hands up. As I said in the preview, I hope her jersey hangs from the rafters somewhere after her playing days are done.


Quotable:  “I have to give myself grace and trust my journey and my process. Everybody’s situation is different. I’m just embracing everything, continuing to work, be a good all-around teammate, and never get complacent throughout the process.” - Aneesah Morrow


Next up: Friday vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.



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