Mystics @ Sun - 7/08/17

[psconn]

Major sour grapes from Mystics coach Mike Thibault as quoted in AP article

Sun overcomes 22-point deficit to beat Mystics 96-92

''The game changed in the third quarter when they were allowed to hold and grab and get away with a lot of that stuff,'' Washington coach Mike Thibault said.

How could the sun be holding when they were too busy running all over the Mystics

Of course the players take more responsibility than the coach.

''Unfortunately, we hoped to learn in L.A. and move forward and not have it happen again,'' Elena Delle Donne said. ''It was the same downfall and crumble. We have to learn from it.''

EDD played very well but had foul trouble in final quarter.

Yeah, I was a little put off by that also, but Coach T has always been vocal about refereeing. I respect him as a coach, but the right thing to do is give credit to the opponent, admit your own errors and commit to correct them, and move on. Again, I like the guy and was not happy when he was fired from here, but even back in the Sun days I sometimes felt he obsessed too much on the refs and not enough on the task at hand. Washington has elite talent, far more than the Sun... excuses are embarrassing. The flip side of every huge comeback is an epic collapse... own it and fix it. EDD sees it.

 

[psconn]

A quick stroll through the stats illustrates and confirms what I saw in the arena... the Mystics shot better, especially the 3-ball; the Mystics rebounded better; they had more assists and more blocked shots. The Sun got fouled more, got more steals and had fewer turnovers. The stats reflect the aggression the Sun showed especially in the 2nd half. They attacked relentlessly and got the Mystics to blink when it counted the most. One of the Sun's biggest weapons, the 3-ball, wasn't dropping but no one was hanging their head about it in the 2nd half. Lead by AT and Stricklen they harnessed the emotion, dialed up the intensity and attacked the Mystics on both ends. WIN! Sun showed serious grit in this one and just refused to accept what seemed inevitable in the 3rd quarter.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Kudos to Alyssa for playing with the flu ... but did she barf in a bucket behind the bench?