Liberty 87, Sun 78: The road back to the top will be long and hard

Whereas Friday’s game against the New York Liberty was a sign that the future can be very bright for the Connecticut Sun, Sunday proved just how hard it might be to get there.

There were far more frustrating defeats this season than the one they took Sunday afternoon, 87-78, at Mohegan Sun Arena. But it’s still a loss to the shorthanded Liberty, who will obviously get a lot better once Breanna Stewart returns and Emma Meesseman gets up to speed. 

The defense wasn’t as perfect as it was Friday night, but even with Sabrina Ionescu’s heroics, it wasn’t terrible, checking in at 1.024 points per possession, well below their season average. The Sun forced 20 more turnovers (seven from Ionescu) and were at least average in the other categories. 

Ionescu was largely the difference, scoring 36 points with 11 rebounds and making big plays every time New York needed one. As the broadcast pointed out, it did take Ionescu some time to adjust to the WNBA, with 2020 being a mess for her with the Wubble and an ankle injury.

She averaged only 11.7 points per game and shot only 37.9% from the field in her sophomore WNBA campaign, but the last four years have seen Ionescu become the superstar everyone figured she would be as the first pick in the 2020 draft. Her performance Sunday moved her to fourth in the WNBA in scoring and if New York can get the ship straight, she will get some MVP buzz (although Napheesa Collier, if healthy, all but has that locked up these days).

Can the Sun find an Ionescu among their rookies? The short answer is probably not, Ionescu was tracking as a top pick before she ever showed up at Oregon and has offensive skills that will take a lot of improvement for Saniya Rivers, Leila Lacan, or Aneesah Morrow. 

But collectively, they can certainly be as effective. People overlook defense in evaluating players, but all three of the Sun’s rookies are really good defenders. I’ve talked about the Sun trying to find an identity and I think long term, that’s it. For 2025 and 2026, at least (without a high draft pick or an ability to recruit free agents), they won’t be able to add much to the picture. 

Long-term, however, it will be fun to watch the Sun build a contender. No matter where that is.

What else did we learn Sunday as the Sun embark on another four-game west coast trip?:

 

1. Defense was still pretty good  - I mentioned the 1.024 ppp the Sun allowed (their average was about 1.095 ppp coming in), and a lot of that is forcing turnovers. Their recent spurt of being turnover hounds has bumped them up to fifth in the WNBA, 15.4% of possessions entering Sunday, and it will go up with the 23.5% they got Sunday in the loss. It should be noted that the rest of the top six in creating turnovers are all teams with winning records: Atlanta, Seattle, Minnesota, Indiana, and New York. There will be other numbers that need improvement, but that’s definitely one to keep an eye on in the games and seasons to come. The rub, of course, is fouling, and the Sun are worst in the league in defensive free throw rate (.271), so we’ll keep looking at that as well.

2. Rotations and personnel - The Sun played eight Friday, but it went up to 10 Sunday, and there were some weird rotations again that included Lindsay Allen and Migna Toure (who did a decent job defensively). But it meant Leila Lacan got only 16 minutes and Olivia Nelson-Ododa 19, the two most effective Sun players in Friday night’s win. Saniya Rivers also got 21 minutes. With the trade deadline coming up, it would behoove Connecticut to move Marina Mabrey or Bria Hartley if they can get a good offer (a first-round draft pick or someone like Aaliyah Edwards from Washington), but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. 

3. Tough road coming up -  The Sun have prevailed in just one road game this season and now goes out west to play four solid teams: Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Golden State, so it will be a big test for their new defensive confidence, especially with the games coming in a short period of time. What would you consider a successful road trip? 1-3?.

Player of the game:  Aneesah Morrow - Morrow finished with 16 points and nine rebounds and has looked much more comfortable defensively in recent games. She was 0-for-3 from behind the arc, but I didn’t mind the looks she got, if teams are going to leave her wide open, she’s going to have to knock those shots down, and I think she will eventually.

Inside the numbers : 35.8%, 27.9% -  Marina Mabrey’s overall field goal shooting and shooting from three-point range, respectively. Yes, she is constantly being hounded by opposing defenses, but the Sun could really use better. Again, she has been rumored to be traded, and I think the Sun would do it if they can get a first-round pick back, but I’m not sure they can. 

Under the radar: Bria Hartley picked up another flagrant foul and probably can’t have too many complaints as the contact to Emma Meesseman was a bit excessive. And it came right after Hartley committed a hard foul on Ionescu where Hartley stormed off but got the benefit of the doubt that she was never going to get the first time. Rachid Meziane sat Hartley for the rest of the third quarter, and it didn’t hurt the team as much as when she got ejected against Los Angeles a couple weeks ago, but just unacceptable.

Quotable:  “They call this Basketball Country here in Connecticut. If the sale does go through, I guess I’ll be thankful it’s still in the New England area. A new fanbase, but hopefully fans here would be able to get there when their schedule allows. But I am looking forward to the players having the resources, walk into a facility that reflects what we deserve and what we should have, what our male counterparts have. Kudos to the person who wants to invest and grow the game and keep it in New England.” - Tina Charles

Next up: Tuesday at Phoenix, 10 p.m. EDT