Connecticut Sun forward Diamond Miller got brutally honest after the team’s ugly performance against the New York Liberty in its 2026 opener Friday night.
Growing pains were expected for the Sun’s overwhelmingly inexperienced roster early in the season, but Miller felt that Friday’s 106-75 blowout was a reality check on their mental toughness and focus. Youth doesn’t excuse the sluggish start that put the Sun in a 23-point hole after the first quarter, and the third-year forward repeatedly called the team’s effort unacceptable.
“We are a young team, however, nobody cares. It sucks to say that, but nobody cares,” Miller said. “This is a learning experience for us, but we also need to pick it up more, because these teams don’t care. They don’t. In fact, they’re probably like, ‘Yippee, the young cats are here.’ We don’t want to have that mentality going into games. We want people to fear us, and I don’t think they feared us today.”
Connecticut’s biggest issue was on the defensive end, where it allowed New York to dictate almost the entire game. The Liberty dominated in transition, outscoring the Sun 19-1 on fast break opportunities, and they shot 52% from the field with 42 points in the paint. Connecticut was far more disruptive in the second half, forcing 14 turnovers after creating just four in the first, but the team only finished with five steals. It also couldn’t create much advantage on New York’s lost possessions while also turning the ball over 17 times.
“Our defensive transition coverage was terribly probably because we lost too many balls and because we took too many bad shots,” Sun coach Rachid Meziane said. “We were late in a lot of situations and scenarios. I told the players, I don’t know many solutions, only work. But they’re receptive and they want to work, so I cannot say I’m positive, but I’m sure that we’re going to show a different face soon.”
Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane directs his team during a WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty in New York on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
The Sun don’t need to panic after a single game against a veteran-laden Liberty team projected to be one of the best in the league this year, but there’s an urgency to address the issues with energy and effort that doomed them from the beginning New York. That pressure is especially high as the team heads into its home opener Sunday against the Seattle Storm, which will officially kick off the team’s last season playing at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Connecticut’s players and staff spoke openly throughout preseason about the importance of giving its fanbase something to celebrate this year as they say farewell to the franchise. The Mohegan Tribe agreed in March to sell the Sun to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, and the team will relocate to Houston for the 2027 season.
No one wants to see a repeat of the Sun’s disastrous 2025 campaign, which ended on the lowest winning percentage in franchise history. Connecticut began last season on five consecutive losses, so picking up its first win in its final Uncasville home opener would be a step in the right direction.
“Last year was a tough season, and I don’t control the future, so I cannot say this one will be better, but we are trying to make this season better and just take some joy (in it),” Meziane said. “We want to give our best to our fans, give the best memories to our fans, and also take some pride in being part of this (history).”
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The matchup against Seattle will provide a better measuring stick for the Sun, because the Storm are almost as young and inexperienced. The team starts three players with less than two seasons of WNBA experience including rookie first-round pick Flau’jae Johnson, and only three of Seattle’s active players have been in the league longer than four years. The Storm also have a first-year head coach in in former Liberty assistant Sonia Raman, and they saw major roster turnover during the offseason with just five members of the 2025 team returning.
Meziane’s primary goal for the Sun against Seattle is to find more offensive flow and make better decisions when it comes to shot selection and sharing the ball. He also wants the team to take a more aggressive approach on the defensive end, especially at the start of the game to prevent the Storm getting into the same kind of rhythm that they allowed against New York.
“That’s something we need to do more if we want to be an effective team, starting by our defense and creating more transition opportunities,” Meziane said Friday. “Today we found only 50% of our shots were open shots, and that’s not enough. We cannot beat a team if we don’t score more points, so sharing the ball more and more transition points from our defense will be a good first step for us for Sunday.”
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How to watch Connecticut Sun vs. Seattle Storm
Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
Time/date: 1 p.m., Sunday
Team records: Connecticut 0-1, Seattle 0-1
Last meeting: Seattle 101, Connecticut 85; July 28, 2025 in Uncasville
TV: NBC Sports Boston
Streaming: WNBA LeaguePass