Sun - shine wore off early.

[EricSD]

At the end of the day they are still 0-2. Up 16 at one point, up 6 with 1:30 to go, and up 2 with :10 to go and the ball does not make the loss easier to take. We will see how they react in the next game. Kelly Faris having 0 minutes in a game where she could hae guarded everyone on the other team except McCarville speaks volumes for what AD thinks about her ability.

I'm with you on this. Was no fan of the Sun after the Tina Charles thing, and I'm less of a fan of them now. Renee with 5 minutes, Kelly with 0? Of course they aren't obligated to play UCONN players, but it has an impact on who I root for, that's for sure...

 

[VAUConnFan]

Maya had a 15 second sequence at the end of the third period, 2 free throws, rebound on the defensive end, brings the ball up the court, scores from the elbow, CT takes a quick shot misses, they find Maya from 3 in transition, BINGO!

 

[VAUConnFan]

Ok it was 42 seconds.

 

[Icebear]

The Sun seem to have achieved the fatal irrelevance of dead franchises. It is great to be loved, it is ok to be hated, but the Sun have achieved the fatal station of , "Meh, who cares."

 

[VAUConnFan]

You've just go to check out Maya in the 4th quarter from 7:39 until about he 7:00 minute mark. Two free throws, a steal, layup at the other end, a steal, an assist on the break at the other end. Maya like I have never seen her at any point in her basketball career, and we have seen a ton of greatness over the years. Worth every dime of WNBA Live Access.

 

[nan linds]

ICEBEAR is correct. We are near the "who cares" point as many followed because of the UConn link. I know i did.

 

[psconn]

The Sun played well. They did not execute on the final two possessions and Whalen got hot in the overtime.
What has happened to Renee? Who would have ever believed that Hightower would take her minutes? Certainly not I.

You mean All-Star guard Allison Hightower? I imagine Renee's minutes were so limited in this game because she is not a strong defender and the Lynx are crazy-good on offense. Allison probably did not take Renee's minutes anyway... she always plays a ton of minutes. Looks like the increased role of Alyssa Thomas took minutes from Renee and Alex Bentley because that moves KT to the backcourt.

 

[psconn]

At the end of the day they are still 0-2. Up 16 at one point, up 6 with 1:30 to go, and up 2 with :10 to go and the ball does not make the loss easier to take. We will see how they react in the next game. Kelly Faris having 0 minutes in a game where she could hae guarded everyone on the other team except McCarville speaks volumes for what AD thinks about her ability.

If you mean successfully guarded, I disagree. None of the Lynx big three would have their games heavily altered by Kelly, and she contributes very little on offense. I love Kelly and want to see her succeed, but the reality is she has not upped her game to this level as yet.

 

[psconn]

ICEBEAR is correct. We are near the "who cares" point as many followed because of the UConn link. I know i did.

Those who follow the team only because of the UConn connection are not WNBA fans. If lesser players have to get minutes to keep the fan base happy, that is a shame and the franchise has a serious problem. I know there are many fans of the Sun team, who would be happy if the team was winning with or without any UConn players, I just hope there are enough of us to keep this thing going. As Seinfeld pointed out, in professional sports it's all about the laundry.

If UConn's starting 5 transferred to Tennessee, and their players came to UConn, would you become Tennessee fans? Doubt it. It's all about the laundry. I'm sure you would watch our former players with interest, but would never root for Tennessee.

 

[psconn]

The Sun seem to have achieved the fatal irrelevance of dead franchises. It is great to be loved, it is ok to be hated, but the Sun have achieved the fatal station of , "Meh, who cares."

Icebear you have stated your disinterest in the WNBA several times here, so your disinterest now hardly represents any change. The Sun drew 6000 last game, admittedly a little low, and that concerns me, but that's 6000 folks who are not saying "meh".

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

boontonbomber-
Well done, Connecticut , even with the loss. Pretty impressive, with 2 rookies playing so many minutes, and playing well. Might be that the usually positive, and patient, boneyard has buried them a bit too soon.


Boontonbomber- - Before you congrat the CT Sun, look who DIDN'T play for MN! Rebekkah Brunson out with knee surgery/Devereaux Peters out with knee surgery/Tricia Liston coaches dec./ Monica Wright out with knee surgery, you're talking approx. 40+ points didn't play! The 3 that didn't play for CT, Pedersen, Cain, and Kelly Faris would have scored maybe about 8 to 10 points, and that's being generous! And I love Kelly Faris' game! R. Brunson is one of the WNBA elite PF's and would have helped immeasureably on Off. & Def. vs Chiney!

Boontonbomber, on another note- are you from Boonton, NJ? I had a great college buddy back in 1965 to 1970 at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO who recently passed away, Bill Lucas from Boonton, NJ would you know of him or his family?

 

[Icebear]

Icebear you have stated your disinterest in the WNBA several times here, so your disinterest now hardly represents any change. The Sun drew 6000 last game, admittedly a little low, and that concerns me, but that's 6000 folks who are not saying "meh".

Actually, I was beginning to come around to the WNBA, mostly in the playoffs. I enjoyed the Lynx the last two years as the season wore on. Having Tina at the Sun and Kaleena. But mostly Cheryl Reeve's coaching and the quality of team play improving among some teams helps. I'll check out The Liberty and Mystics but there is little to nothing of interest at now the Sun. But you are correct overall I have not been a WNBA fan but I am a UCONN fan and was willing to watch the WNBA through those eyes. That it what most college fans probably do at this point, especially, those of successful programs.

 

[DICKG]

Does anyone else wonder why so many players have asked to be traded from The Sun? We have a long list and they played well for other teams. Gruda is playing 20 minutes a game for LA. It cannot be just the location of the team.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Ok it was 42 seconds.

When I unpack things, I'll look for my DVD of Maya's tourney games in Seattle her senior year of high school. She did exactly that against St. Elizabeth's, but that was a high school team, not a pro team. She had 35 points in a 16-minute half.

Here's a sequence: Maya 3-pointer. Inbounds pass stolen by Maya. Layup by Maya and one. Next inbounds pass stolen by Maya. She turns and drains a three. Nine points in about nine seconds. She can score a point per minute. In this stretch she was scoring about a point per SECOND. It was the most devastating combination of offense and defense. St. E's was ranked about 10th in the country and featured Khadijah Rushdan, so they were a very good team.

In the earlier game against Winter Haven and Tiffany Hayes, the team was jet lagged after winning the Nike TOC in Phoenix. Maya's jumper was not working, but she got the key steal, block, and rebound in the closing minute to grab a come-from-behind win. She simply does whatever it takes to win. We saw that against DePaul when she was a frosh. You saw that yesterday too.

 

[bruinbball]

If you mean successfully guarded, I disagree. None of the Lynx big three would have their games heavily altered by Kelly, and she contributes very little on offense. I love Kelly and want to see her succeed, but the reality is she has not upped her game to this level as yet.

Have you looked at the offensive totals for all of the ones playing in the first two games? Not that great. As a team, one back court player is shooting 40% from the field - Hightower. The next closest is 37.5% and that is Renee who is 3/8. The team is shooting 6/31 3FG for under 20% while the opponents are shooting 43%. Kelly could have an impact but has not been given the chance, but could she do worse than what has already been done?

 

[psconn]

I don't know if you saw any of the preseason action but Kelly is struggling. Uncharacteristic turnovers, and an inability to get her shot going. She is currently the 11th or 12th best player on the team and the least effective guard. Please believe me when I say that I wish that was not the case.

By the way, Kelly didn't have a great overseas season either. She remarked that it was not what she hoped for. I think she was kept on the roster becase the staff sees more upside in her than they saw with Kalana.

 

[bruinbball]

I don't know if you saw any of the preseason action but Kelly is struggling. Uncharacteristic turnovers, and an inability to get her shot going. She is currently the 11th or 12th best player on the team and the least effective guard. Please believe me when I say that I wish that was not the case.

By the way, Kelly didn't have a great overseas season either. She remarked that it was not what she hoped for. I think she was kept on the roster becase the staff sees more upside in her than they saw with Kalana.

Unfortunately, no I did not. Live Access wasn't available until after the two Sun's preseason games. I saw the numbers. I kept a close eye on her games and watched some of her Turkey games. I think she may have been better off (for her WNBA career- and possible future overseas) to have stayed home and worked on the offensive game. As she said, she did not get the opportunity to work on the aspects of her game she wanted to while overseas.

I think people tend to forget that Kelly is an excellent athlete. Geno called her the most athletic player on his roster while Maya Moore was a member of the Huskies. I get that players are bigger, faster and stronger at this level. All I know is that in the three games Kelly started prior to getting hurt at the end of last season she shot 60% FG, 50% 3FG, 5.6 rebounds, 5.3 pts over those three games in 26 minutes/games. She can help this team, but not while she is on the bench.

 

[DishNSwish]

Cain and Pedersen didn't play either as she shortened the bench.

I think it was a great move; they are new to each other, you gotta ride the horses and let them learn each other's games.

Chiney was great, Hightower ran the point well I thought.

Before we focus on the "up 6 with 1:30 to go," the LA Sparks were outscored 13-3 in the final 2 minutes to lose their game on their home court.

 

[boontonbomber]

boontonbomber-
Well done, Connecticut , even with the loss. Pretty impressive, with 2 rookies playing so many minutes, and playing well. Might be that the usually positive, and patient, boneyard has buried them a bit too soon.


Boontonbomber- - Before you congrat the CT Sun, look who DIDN'T play for MN! Rebekkah Brunson out with knee surgery/Devereaux Peters out with knee surgery/Tricia Liston coaches dec./ Monica Wright out with knee surgery, you're talking approx. 40+ points didn't play! The 3 that didn't play for CT, Pedersen, Cain, and Kelly Faris would have scored maybe about 8 to 10 points, and that's being generous! And I love Kelly Faris' game! R. Brunson is one of the WNBA elite PF's and would have helped immeasureably on Off. & Def. vs Chiney!

Boontonbomber, on another note- are you from Boonton, NJ? I had a great college buddy back in 1965 to 1970 at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO who recently passed away, Bill Lucas from Boonton, NJ would you know of him or his family?

They are most definitely deserving of congrats. Yes, the Lynx had players missing, but they had 3 first team WNBA all stars playing many minutes, and I think that an argument can be made now that Maya is the best player in the world. The Brazilian Dantas looks like a star in the making. How did the Lynx ever get hold of her? Don't know that Brunson would have done a whole lot better than 10 points and 9 rebounds. With Connecticut starting only 2 players from last season, along with 2 rookies, I found it very encouraging.
Re Boonton: yes, I went to Boonton H.S. , home of "Butch Cassidy", also known as Jim Kiick. I expect your friend spoke of him, since they were there at the same time. I graduated in 1959, but taught at Boonton in 1964-65, which would have been your friend's senior year, according to my alumni directory. But the name is not familiar to me. The school population was large in those days, and I grew up in a different town.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Thanks boontonbomber for the Boonton, Bill Lucas info yery interesting! It is truly a small world!

I had never heard of the girl from Brazil, Dantas, but she seems to be the real deal!

Brunson had been avg. close to a high double double in pts. & rb's for most of her career she is one of the world's best power forwards and if healthy would have dominated the inside game vs the Sun! She has been a WNBA all-star! And in 2011 tied a WNBA record with 6 consecutive double doubles!

 

[boontonbomber]

Thanks boontonbomber for the Boonton, Bill Lucas info yery interesting! It is truly a small world!

I had never heard of the girl from Brazil, Dantas, but she seems to be the real deal!

Brunson had been avg. close to a high double double in pts. & rb's for most of her career she is one of the world's best power forwards and if healthy would have dominated the inside game vs the Sun! She has been a WNBA all-star! And in 2011 tied a WNBA record with 6 consecutive double doubles!

of course you're right about Brunson, and she may have made a considerable difference. my enthusiasm really had to do with how well I thought the Sun played against a pretty good team, a team that would win most of their games even without Brunson. admittedly, that enthusiasm partly was stirred by the way that this team and coach have been treated on the boneyard. because of what happened with Tina, because Faris and Montgomery are not playing, and because of a real dislike for Donovan, I actually think that there are a few boneyarders who are hoping that the Sun have little success this season. though I'm not a fan of Donovan, that starting 5 is a group of hardnosed competitors, and they're talented, and I will find it easy to root for them to do well. as I did, and they did last night.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I had never heard of the girl from Brazil, Dantas, but she seems to be the real deal!

Brunson had been avg. close to a high double double in pts. & rb's for most of her career she is one of the world's best power forwards and if healthy would have dominated the inside game vs the Sun! She has been a WNBA all-star! And in 2011 tied a WNBA record with 6 consecutive double doubles!

Agreed! Ms Dantas is likely to come in second in the ROY voting.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

of course you're right about Brunson, and she may have made a considerable difference. my enthusiasm really had to do with how well I thought the Sun played against a pretty good team, a team that would win most of their games even without Brunson. admittedly, that enthusiasm partly was stirred by the way that this team and coach have been treated on the boneyard. because of what happened with Tina, because Faris and Montgomery are not playing, and because of a real dislike for Donovan, I actually think that there are a few boneyarders who are hoping that the Sun have little success this season. though I'm not a fan of Donovan, that starting 5 is a group of hardnosed competitors, and they're talented, and I will find it easy to root for them to do well. as I did, and they did last night.

boontonbomber- - I love the players and wish them the best but if you're going to fire one of the top 3 coaches in the WNBA you don't replace him with Anne Donovan! It's an insult to SUN players & fans intelligence that she is the BEST you can get!

 

[Striper69]

of course you're right about Brunson, and she may have made a considerable difference. my enthusiasm really had to do with how well I thought the Sun played against a pretty good team, a team that would win most of their games even without Brunson. admittedly, that enthusiasm partly was stirred by the way that this team and coach have been treated on the boneyard. because of what happened with Tina, because Faris and Montgomery are not playing, and because of a real dislike for Donovan, I actually think that there are a few boneyarders who are hoping that the Sun have little success this season. though I'm not a fan of Donovan, that starting 5 is a group of hardnosed competitors, and they're talented, and I will find it easy to root for them to do well. as I did, and they did last night.

If I lived in the area I would have no problem going to every Sun game this season. I don't care about which person is coaching. I like Chiney and Alyssa Thomas A LOT!

I may come up there again to watch the Sun play Tulsa and Phoenix this year.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I had an e-mail back from Chris Sienko of the SUN today in relation to my latest 6 page fax vs Donovan and he just continued with the company line! I sent him copies of the comments here how the BONEYARD felt about Donovan. And he basically said it didn't matter what was said!
I was upset how Donovan and Sienko made Tina Charles out to be the "wicked witch of the west"! "She didn't want to work, she didn't want to win, she forced our hand in the trade!"
How about Tina thought M. Thibault was a great coach and Tina didn't like the 3+ hour practices AD puts the team through and that AD wasn't capable to improve her play & career so she had to get out of Dodge! I give her credit for doing the tough thing as she really liked CT and her teammates!
You have noticed that Donovan has gotten rid of ALL the UCONN alumni except Kelly Faris and Renee Montgomery and neither one of them has played over 10 minutes in the 2 games so far! Can their release or trade be a done deal?

 

[TRest]

I had an e-mail back from Chris Sienko of the SUN today in relation to my latest 6 page fax vs Donovan and he just continued with the company line! I sent him copies of the comments here how the BONEYARD felt about Donovan. And he basically said it didn't matter what was said!
I was upset how Donovan and Sienko made Tina Charles out to be the "wicked witch of the west"! "She didn't want to work, she didn't want to win, she forced our hand in the trade!"
How about Tina thought M. Thibault was a great coach and Tina didn't like the 3+ hour practices AD puts the team through and that AD wasn't capable to improve her play & career so she had to get out of Dodge! I give her credit for doing the tough thing as she really liked CT and her teammates!
You have noticed that Donovan has gotten rid of ALL the UCONN alumni except Kelly Faris and Renee Montgomery and neither one of them has played over 10 minutes in the 2 games so far! Can their release or trade be a done deal?

A 6 page fax? Whoah.