Sun rise

Admit it, you had flashbacks to June 1 when the Sun got off to a slow start Monday night at the Barclays Center. Connecticut was offering little resistance, giving up layups every time down the floor it seemed and it was soon 27-10 with a decent amount of time left in the first quarter. In the end, the Sun fell to the healthier Liberty 81-79, but even in defeat, it showed just how far this team has come, and for that, we can definitely keep our collective chins held high. There is a long way to go: the Sun rookies still have a way to go offensively (although the moments of brilliance at that end are growing every game), there are still questions about certain positions (like shooting guard and center), but there is certainly the makings of a contender with a couple more pieces in the next few years. New York was still missing Natasha Cloud, a big loss, the Liberty gave up the No. 7 pick (Aneesah Morrow) in the 2025 Draft for her in that messy offseason that we can almost forget about ...

I write a lot about betting lines on the blog, maybe too much for your liking, but it’s not really about gambling, even though the Sun literally play in a casino which has a huge sportsbook (a pretty cool place to watch sports, actually, although it’s not exactly your typical WNBA clientele there). And it’s not because betting on WNBA games - and the assorted grimy things that come with it - are at an all-time high in 2025 . No, it’s mostly to get a read on what people are thinking. Early in the season, we saw mostly double-digit spreads against the sun (including an even 20 at Minnesota) and it was hard to argue with most of them, the Sun absorbed a trio of 35-point losses, the worst one coming on June 1 when they were beaten 100-52 in Brooklyn by the Liberty in a game that was, somewhat unbelievably, not nearly that close. But almost since that date, those lines have slowly but surely gone down, accelerated once Leila Lacan got up to speed, to the point where the Sun (despite being...

You’ve probably seen by now that Chicago coach Tyler Marsh completely lost it (or crashed out in the modern parlance) in the second quarter of his team’s 94-84 loss to Connecticut Saturday afternoon. I’ll give him that Elizabeth Williams was fouled by Aaliyah Edwards leading up to it. I’ll even concede that Rebecca Allen was also hit by Bria Hartley in the previous meeting between the two teams, which led to a fracas and three ejections. But you can’t do that. He charged directly at a WNBA official on the court in an angry manner , and - as frustrated as he was, and as shaky as the WNBA officials have seemed at times this season - that’s not the kind of thing that should acceptable toward employees. He could have argued and gotten a technical, even gotten ejected by walking around the floor, but you can’t get in the face “It’s been egregious all year,” Marsh said . “The breaking point was, you guys saw it, it was clear as day. I think when stuff like that goes uncalled, things happen l...

No one wants to finish in last place, although for much of this season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion for the Sun, who were just worried about trying to keep things together and losing games by less than 20 points . But then things began to fall apart for the Chicago Sky, who had high hopes with Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso - the Skyscrapers - leading the way, but then Courtney Vandersloot tore her ACL, Angel Reese got hurt, and things weren’t going very well before either of those things happened. After? It’s been pretty much an unmitigated disaster, a stretch of 13 losses in 14 games that included 10 by double digits and a couple of 30-burger defeats in there, too. All the while, their numbers and Connecticut’s have been a collision course as the Sun have slowly found their way and morphed into a respectable WNBA team in the final few weeks of the campaign. The last meeting between Chicago and Connecticut had three ejections. (Sean D. Elliott / Getty Images) But just as Con...

Winning is fun, after all, but it’s such a joy to watch this Connecticut Sun team the last couple of weeks (with the notable exception of the fourth quarter and overtime Sunday against Indiana, of course). Perhaps it’s Saniya Rivers and her endless positivity rubbing off on everyone , maybe it’s great leadership from Tina Charles, or just Leila Lacan changing things with her defense. Most likely, it’s a combination of all of them, but what we know for sure, is this team is having fun. It was never more evident than it was Thursday in a 67-56 win over Washington over Mohegan Sun Arena where you had Saniya Rivers and Aneesah Morrow dancing on the bench, Aaliyah Edwards sticking her tongue out multiple times, and Tina Charles doing random celebrations after hitting shots, then leading the crowd in some dances postgame. It’s not something you often get from an 8-27 team playing out the string, but it has turned potentially one of the worst statistical campaigns in WNBA history into a promi...