Sky 88, Sun 64: More questions than answers on this night

Well, I said I was going to write a recap of all 44 games this season, so here we are, but this might be the toughest one of the bunch to try to put any positive spin on, a pretty embarrassing 88-64 loss in Chicago in a game that should have seen at least a little urgency with the season coming to an end.

Instead (and injuries played a little part), but we got the same old, same old problems that have plagued the Sun all season long: very little defense in the paint, allowing the Sky to jump out to a 15-point lead by attempting just two (count ‘em, two) three-pointers in the entire first half. Connecticut has never fixed this problem and has some tough offseason choices to make because of it.


Marina Mabrey was scoreless and 0-for-8 from the field (and -20 on top of it), and I think it’s safe to say that, for the most part, the Sun have been better off without her this season, the advanced metrics sure say so. And then Rachid Meziane waved an early white flag in the third quarter, throwing the likes of Haley Peters and Rayah Marshall out there for extended minutes. Now we decide to sit Tina Charles and Mabrey? With two days off coming up and three games left in the entire season? 


Granted, Aneesah Morrow was out for the night and the Sun might not have been coming back, but you have Phoenix and Atlanta twice left. This was the one you should have been up for, and Meziane’s team fell flat once again. We’ll have plenty of time to see what the Sun want to do in the offseason, but it won’t be easy after the rookies on what they want to do.


What else did we learn on an ugly Wednesday night?:


 

  1. Olivia Nelson-Ododa is very important - I think it’s safe to say Nelson-Ododa was mishandled this season, not because of the recent injury, but the advanced metrics say she’s the Sun’s most valuable player by a decent margin ahead of Charles and Laila Lacan, and she’s averaging only 17 minutes per game. The last couple of games have shown how important she is to the operation, and I think you have to keep her in the expansion draft and find a way to make her a regular starter next season, even if it hurts you a little offensively. Unless you get a replacement, but I don’t think that’s forthcoming. 

  2. No depth - I give Lindsay Allen credit for hanging in there this season, but her numbers just haven’t been good and she’s able to create turnovers like Leila Lacan and Saniya Rivers, so it just hurts the Sun. Haley Peters tries, but she hasn’t been able to come close to keeping up with the likes of Angel Reese and crew, so why haven’t the Sun at least tried to find a younger player or two to take their place? Other teams have and found some decent players, but the Sun refused. 

  3. Rayah Marshall is still a project -  I think she can keep up defensively, but we’ll have to see how things shake out in the offseason to see if she’s back for 2026. But it’s good to give her a run in the last few games and see. She had four rebounds in 12 minutes and was the only Sun player to finish with a + in the +/- column.


Player of the game:  Saniya Rivers - Rivers was 4-for-6 from three-point range, while the rest of the team was 1-for-11, and if you would have said at the beginning of the season she would be a more reliable shooter than Marina Mabrey, you would have laughed at, but here we are.


Inside the numbers : 10 -  Turnovers for the Sky in this game, which just isn’t going to get it done, the Sun tried to turn up the pressure early in the second half, but just couldn’t find the intensity to do it. 


Under the radar: Angel Reese’s eighth technical of the season will earn her a suspension against Indiana, and it may have been a make-up call for not getting one when she made contact with Lacan in the last meeting.


Morrow’s injury did not seem serious, but she played just five minutes and if she can’t play this weekend, the Sun will be incredibly thin for the final two games.


Quotable: “I am very vocal about what we need and what I want. I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me. But while I am here, I’m going to try to stay open-minded about what I have here and maximize that as much as I can.” - Angel Reese, and of course she got taken to task for it, even though she's correct.


Next up: Saturday vs. Phoenix, 1 p.m. EDT

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