Sun 84, Sparks 81: The band is finally together (almost)

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 like the exciting team we saw at the end of last season: very aggressive defense, driving to the rim, trying to get by with energy. We even had Rachid Meziane fired up enough to get a technical foul (and seemingly rightfully so at a couple of the calls in the third quarter).


Leila Lacan obviously makes a lot of the difference, but I think Meziane started to hone in on a lineup that might be able to be their best: Lacan, Saniya Rivers, Kennedy Burke, Aneesah Morrow, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (Brittany Griner was injured in the first half). It’s relatively small, but obviously has athleticism and some experience.


Again, will it win a title? No. But it could be competitive. And we’ll take that for the final 34 games.


What else did we learn an 84-81 win over Los Angeles in Leila Lacan’s return Saturday night?:


 

  1. Aneesah Morrow is the new leader?  - Morrow posted another double-double, but also led the team in minutes again, and it’s hard to argue with it. She’s tough to guard when she’s shooting well and you can see her confidence slowly growing. That doesn’t mean that things will be smooth every game, and Meziane kind of addressed what happened 10 days ago when she was benched after Saturday’s game, saying Morrow “took more pride in different areas of her game and respected her role, doing what the coaching staff expected from her.” 

  2. Wish Lacan could have been here - Despite a couple of ugly blowouts, there were a couple of games on the west coast that the Sun were close to winning and Lacan (and Griner, who was out) could have made a big difference. Then you’re looking at a 4-6 team instead of a 2-8 one, and who knows? It will be interesting to see how that goes in Houston next season and whether Lacan misses 20% of the WNBA regular season again, especially with an expanded schedule.

  3. Shrinking the rotation -  The biggest reduction in minutes was Charlisse Leger-Walker, who got just 13 (and had 3 turnovers), which makes total sense. Gianna Kneepkens got only 6 minutes and did hit a massive three-pointer at the end of the first half. Reagan Beers did not attempt a shot in 11 minutes, but did find a way to get 5 fouls and 7 rebounds. Nell Angloma also played 11 minutes. Lacan’s foul trouble limited her to 21 minutes, while Griner played only 15 before getting hurt, and Aaliyah Edwards is still in concussion protocol, so there’s still decisions to be made for the Sun staff.


Player of the game:  Aneesah Morrow - The fifth time she’s been here in 10 games, and she again led the team in both points and rebounds. She’s now averaging a double-double (12.0 points and 10.1 rebounds) this season, and is making her way up the scouting report for opponents, so we’ll see what that does. Her outside shot will be key, she’s 10-for-36 (27.8%) behind the arc, if she can get that up just a bit, she’ll be more dangerous.


Inside the numbers : 34.7% -  Offensive rebounding percentage for the Sun, which is second in the WNBA behind Minnesota, and that’s without Aaliyah Edwards for the last few. Between that and causing turnovers, if they can just shoot the ball a little better, it could pay big dividends.


Under the radar: Ten of the Sparks 16 turnovers came in the first quarter as Lacan and the Sun came out flying, with five of them coming from Cameron Brink. That doesn’t mean the defense was terrible the rest of the way, although there was a spurt in the second and third quarter where a run forced Meziane to call a time out. It will be important for the young team to limit those runs.


Lacan hit her first three shots and first three-pointer, but was just 2-for-11 (and 0-for-5 from behind the arc) after that, so as big as she’s going to be, the Sun are still going to need offensive sources, which we saw a little of from Kennedy Burke and Morrow. But defensively, there’s no reason they can’t be in the top half of the league.


Quotable:  “I want to bring energy, defense, and try to make quick decisions on offense to put them in positions they like. And I want to shoot better." - Leila Lacan


Next up: Tuesday at Atlanta, 6 p.m.



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