Wings 86, Sun 83: Another one that got away, but a great atmosphere

There were two competing thoughts going through my head Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, and they fought each other for supremacy.

First, what a wonderful atmosphere it was, a sold-out competitive contest with an engaged audience. It was what we always hoped the WNBA could be, where a random regular season game could be packed and loud. Obviously, we in Connecticut had seen it with the UConn women’s team for decades, but professional women’s leagues have come and gone, and many thought the WNBA would meet the same fate eventually.


It’s now clear that, no matter what the Sun’s final destination will be, the league is here to stay, and its growth will continue.


But, in the short-term, that was a pretty brutal 86-83 loss to a disjointed and wounded Dallas team with a four-game road trip coming up and the reality of a pretty long season staring us in the face. 


I think deep down we always knew that, but you always hope something different will happen, and there’s still time. But the silly mistakes, missed layups, little things like the inability to inbound the ball have not gone away yet, and as Tina Charles knows (she quote below), Connecticut should have won Friday and did not.


What else did we learn from another Sun loss in a game they could have prevailed?:




 

  1. Some questions for Rachid Meziane  - First, Haley Peters got the start over Olivia Nelson-Ododa. Then, Nelson-Ododa doesn’t play at all down the stretch (and neither does Saniya Rivers for some reason). Three different times (twice out of time outs), the Sun threw the ball away on sideline out-of-bounds plays, which is ridiculous. Finally, the Sun seemed reluctant to foul quickly when they had no choice, the last time just letting six seconds run off the clock after Rivers made it a three-point game. To be fair, Dallas looked almost as lost, if you hadn’t seen another WNBA game this season, it wouldn’t surprise you those teams had the worst two records in the league.

  2. The 17 offensive rebounds were a killer - The Sun had actually been decent in defensive rebounding, which made it even more maddening to witness. DiJonai Carrington had seven offensive rebounds alone, and giving up 48.6% on the offensive glass at this level is ridiculous, and the Sun have no one to blame but themselves, especially in a three-point loss. It’s a shame because it was such a better effort defensively than the 109-87 loss last month, but they couldn’t get a rebound.

  3. Jacy Sheldon took a backseat. Ish -  It was not Sheldon on Paige Bueckers, but mostly Saniya Rivers with a little of Bria Hartley (and Bueckers took full advantage when Hartley was on her). It’s hard to say it was a complete failure because Sheldon was on Arike Ogunbowale instead, and Ogunbowale finished with just seven points in 34 minutes, but Bueckers owned the first half before Rivers did a much better job in the second half until she was sent to the bench.


Player of the game:  Tina Charles - I still would like Charles to reduce the number of 18-20 footers she takes, but she was dominant for stretches against an inexperienced Dallas frontline, finishing with a game-high 26 points after a rough game Wednesday.


Inside the numbers : 48.6% -  The 17 offensive rebounds are bad enough, but when you consider Connecticut had only 18 defensive rebounds total, it’s more eye-popping. It was so bad that the Sun dropped to 69.9% for the season (giving up 30.1%), dead last in the WNBA now

Under the radar: Three quick things that made me smile: 1) Paige Bueckers being consoled by Marina Mabrey and Sheldon (who got hurt just before halftime and was never really the same) after getting her first career technical, a huge contrast from the shenanigans against Indiana earlier in the week. 2) A Chappell Roan tribute band at halftime on PRIDE Night, which led to the youth in the crowd singing along and standing and much of the older crowd in the expensive seats just looking on baffled. 3) Rivers taking three tries, but refusing to quit in getting Hartley’s “wedgie” just got stuck in the backboard off the rim, coming back smiling to the cheering crowd.


Quotable:  ““I just hope we just get tired of losing and just become more competitive,” Charles said. “As we’re heading to the airport tonight, hopefully my message was loud and clear and everybody’s thinking about what else they can do, what more they can do to build up the person next to them. I can handle losses. I’ve had a lot in my career, but it’s just how it’s happening and the effort that’s needed. To lose by three, that’s just making a choice not play hard on defense or on offense or taking it more personal to just lose by three to a team we match up well with.”.” - Tina Charles


Next up: Sunday at Golden State, 8:30 p.m. EDT

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