JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
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- Aug 30, 2011
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The Connecticut Sun won this afternoon, lifting their record to 3-10. Two of their three victories have been against Moriah Jefferson's San Antonio Stars team -- probably the only team in the league against whom they have a pretty clear talent advantage.
The Sun led most of the way, although San Antoniio had a 12-point lead in the third quarter. The final score was 93-90.
With a record like that, the main interest in watching Sun games is to follow ex-Huskies both on the Sun and on other teams. In this game, Moriah played over 30 minutes and had a typical Moriah-like game, not very different from what she did at UConn except that she had no Stewie to pass to, and Morgan was on the other team.
Morgan started out strongly, scoring 7 points in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer and 2 slithery drives to the basket. She looked good in previous games also. She is having trouble defending WNBA forwards, but recently they are having trouble defending her also. Whoever said she isn't athletic enough to play in the W is being proven wrong every game lately. But unfortunately, today Morgan played poorly at the beginning of the third quarter and was benched for the rest of the game. She and Camille Little had a Keystone Kops episode on a couple of plays that caused them both to come to the bench for the rest of the game.
But the big story, not only today but in other recent games, is the emergence of Kelly Faris as a player whom the coach and the team rely on greatly. Today, she played 24 minutes, had 10 points on 5-7 shooting (2-4 from 3-point range), 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. She also had 5 fouls, after fouling out of the game against New York earlier in the week. That's what happens when energetic defense encounters superior offensive athleticism in her opponents. Her plus/minus was +10, the highest on the team. She came in early in the second half (replacing Morgan) and played the remainder of the half, including both offense and defense in the final minute with the game on the line.
One of the most surprising things (in my mind) is that she was often on the floor at the 3 position, playing with both Jasmine Thomas and Alex Bentley. In other words, she was playing as a forward rather than as a guard for much of her time on the floor. That tells me that the coach really wanted her on the floor even when both of his starting guards were also in the game.
The most successful lineup today seemed to be Jasmine / Alex / Kelly / Chiney / Jonquel Jones. In other games, Morgan has played well. (Alyssa Thomas has been injured with concussion symptoms for the last few games, so she was not available.). But a common theme has been that Kelsey Bone has started and has shown an ability to score and rebound, but has made enough mistakes that she is being relied on less and less as Kelly, Morgan, and Jonquel Jones have emerged. Camille Little also starts but is seeing fewer minutes.
Jonquel Jones played very well today and is the "real thing". Rachel Banham did not get a single second on the court today. (May I say I told you so?)
Since the Sun don't currently have a #1 draft pick next year, the only way that they can get better is by developing the younger players on the current roster. They can try to trade Bone and/or Banham to get someone else's so #1 pick, if any stupid GM will go for that deal. The only real basis for optimism is for Kelly / Chiney (recovering from injury) / Jonquel / Morgan to get much better by next year. I think all of them have a ceiling that they have not yet reached, so that should be possible.
The Sun led most of the way, although San Antoniio had a 12-point lead in the third quarter. The final score was 93-90.
With a record like that, the main interest in watching Sun games is to follow ex-Huskies both on the Sun and on other teams. In this game, Moriah played over 30 minutes and had a typical Moriah-like game, not very different from what she did at UConn except that she had no Stewie to pass to, and Morgan was on the other team.
Morgan started out strongly, scoring 7 points in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer and 2 slithery drives to the basket. She looked good in previous games also. She is having trouble defending WNBA forwards, but recently they are having trouble defending her also. Whoever said she isn't athletic enough to play in the W is being proven wrong every game lately. But unfortunately, today Morgan played poorly at the beginning of the third quarter and was benched for the rest of the game. She and Camille Little had a Keystone Kops episode on a couple of plays that caused them both to come to the bench for the rest of the game.
But the big story, not only today but in other recent games, is the emergence of Kelly Faris as a player whom the coach and the team rely on greatly. Today, she played 24 minutes, had 10 points on 5-7 shooting (2-4 from 3-point range), 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. She also had 5 fouls, after fouling out of the game against New York earlier in the week. That's what happens when energetic defense encounters superior offensive athleticism in her opponents. Her plus/minus was +10, the highest on the team. She came in early in the second half (replacing Morgan) and played the remainder of the half, including both offense and defense in the final minute with the game on the line.
One of the most surprising things (in my mind) is that she was often on the floor at the 3 position, playing with both Jasmine Thomas and Alex Bentley. In other words, she was playing as a forward rather than as a guard for much of her time on the floor. That tells me that the coach really wanted her on the floor even when both of his starting guards were also in the game.
The most successful lineup today seemed to be Jasmine / Alex / Kelly / Chiney / Jonquel Jones. In other games, Morgan has played well. (Alyssa Thomas has been injured with concussion symptoms for the last few games, so she was not available.). But a common theme has been that Kelsey Bone has started and has shown an ability to score and rebound, but has made enough mistakes that she is being relied on less and less as Kelly, Morgan, and Jonquel Jones have emerged. Camille Little also starts but is seeing fewer minutes.
Jonquel Jones played very well today and is the "real thing". Rachel Banham did not get a single second on the court today. (May I say I told you so?)
Since the Sun don't currently have a #1 draft pick next year, the only way that they can get better is by developing the younger players on the current roster. They can try to trade Bone and/or Banham to get someone else's so #1 pick, if any stupid GM will go for that deal. The only real basis for optimism is for Kelly / Chiney (recovering from injury) / Jonquel / Morgan to get much better by next year. I think all of them have a ceiling that they have not yet reached, so that should be possible.
