{"id":31194,"date":"2025-07-02T00:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T00:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/31194\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T00:21:10","slug":"why-cant-the-connecticut-sun-play-like-the-valkyries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/31194\/","title":{"rendered":"Why can’t the Connecticut Sun play like the Valkyries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think your role changes night to night,\u201d Sun center Tina Charles<\/a> told reporters after the team\u2019s recent loss to the Dallas Wings. \u201cBut just the sacrifice it\u2019s going to take, that it\u2019s not about yourself and what things may look like every single game, but it\u2019s just the little things. And that\u2019s why the Valkyries\u00a0are successful. Because, they are players that on other teams, they\u2019ve been the ones coming off the bench, having to bring the energy, having to keep the effort and everything up, and changing the pace of the game, changing the complexion of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s selflessness, and that\u2019s what makes a great team,\u201d Charles continued. \u201cSo as people are shocked in the sense, because they [Golden State Valkyries] don\u2019t have previous all-stars or all-team WNBA, but they\u2019re selfless individuals, and they just care about winning, and that\u2019s what matters in buying in, is just caring about winning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The last time Connecticut lost as many as seven games in a row was in August 2015. They have now surpassed that with nine straight losses, a franchise record. Additionally, when the Sun\u2019s record reached 2-13, it was the worst through any 15-game stretch in franchise history, per Emily Adams<\/a> of the Hartford Courant. Progress, so far, has been in short supply.<\/p>\n

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Young and energetic talent<\/p>\n

There are reasons for this, of course, along with cause for hope. The team\u00a0is adjusting to a new head coach, figuring out how to integrate new teammates, and managing injuries, but that doesn\u2019t mean they lack the hunger, or the potential, to win.<\/p>\n

The 2025 WNBA draft also brought in energetic new talent, like forward Aneesah Morrow<\/a> and guard Saniya Rivers<\/a>. These rookies are the future for the franchise, but Morrow missed most of training camp<\/a> with a right knee injury which set her back, and Rivers encountered an illness<\/a> which caused her to\u00a0miss a few games. They both seem to be struggling with consistency and finding their roles on the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this young duo shows great sparks of success, with Morrow\u2019s strong rebounding and Rivers\u2019 pure athleticism. If they are able to find consistency and start to step up in crucial moments, they could unlock the win combination the Sun are searching for.<\/p>\n

Sun guard Marina Mabrey<\/a> sustained a left knee injury against the Dallas wings on June 20, and is expected to be unavailable for two to four weeks. Without Mabrey on the floor, it will be even more important for other players to take on larger roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rebounding<\/p>\n

The Sun have multiple players that have a strong ability on the boards. Charles, Morrow and Sun center Olivia Nelson-Ododa should be a core of inside players who can limit second opportunities for opponents. But Connecticut, so far, is last in the league in defensive rebounding percentage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On June 25, during their game against the Las Vegas Aces, the Sun struggled to put the ball in the hoop missing their first 11 field goal attempts of the game, leading to the Aces\u2019 19-0 run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shots aren\u2019t necessarily always going to fall but when possessions end with one shot and no Sun players boxing out or grabbing offensive rebounds, the ability to compete disappears. On June 25, the Sun finished the game with just seven total offensive rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you look at the past nine games that they lost, their rebound total is usually significantly less than their opponent. Even in close games, it is a difference-maker: in a three-point loss to Dallas, the Wings outrebounded the Sun, 42-29. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope you just get tired of losing and you just become more competitive,\u201d Charles said of her team. \u201cAnd hopefully these losses as we\u2019re heading to the airport tonight, hopefully, my message was clear and everybody\u2019s thinking about what less they can do, what more they can do to build up the person next to them, to think less of themselves and what\u2019s best for this possession.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just individual, that\u2019s just character, just how you handle adversity so God willing, we\u00a0can turn it around. And you know what? It may not look like a win versus [the] Valkyries or Vegas or Seattle, but it\u2019s just how we\u2019re losing.\u00a0I can handle losses. I\u2019ve had a bunch in my career, but it\u2019s just how it\u2019s happening and the effort that\u2019s needed because to lose by three, that\u2019s just making a choice to not play hard on defense or on offense, or taking it more personal, to just lose by three to a team that we match up well with, in my opinion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles\u2019 critique of the Sun was echoed by her head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost too many battles, to give us a chance to bring a win, to win this game. We gave them 17 offensive rebounds. Like I said before the game, we were supposed to do a better job on our one-on-one defense. And we figured out we didn\u2019t do this job to increase our chance to win,\u201d Meziane told reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2018We have good flashes\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

Consistency has been a factor for the Sun and Meziane has emphasized the importance of this for his team. They have great runs and show spurts of success throughout the game but they are yet to play 40 minutes of consistent basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They tend to get off to slow starts and then struggle to come back from deficits. Against the Golden State Valkyries on June 22, they started to come back too late making a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 19 points but there was only 2:53 left in the game. \u00a0<\/p>\n

They also have quarters where they are playing strong defensively, getting stops and changing the pace of the game but then that seems to go away from quarter to quarter. Layups have been a huge problem this season for the Sun, missing easy layups in the paint and failing to finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[One problem we had is our] consistency, how we handle certain situations during the game. But I think that\u00a0it\u2019s our problem since the beginning, because we were capable of fight[ing] against Minnesota, against Phoenix, and so we have good flashes on how good we can play but [we need to] find our consistency and whoever is on the court because we win and we lose together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we need to find this consistency and keep trusting in ourselves, trust in each other \u2026 I said to my team, \u2018we are very resilient\u2019, because it\u2019s not easy what we are going through. So [we need to] keep fighting and\u00a0work hard and increase our chance to win the next game. The season is long. I\u2019m not going to tell you in September that the season is long, but now we have a lot of games in front of us to try to improve,\u201d Meziane said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sun are one of the younger teams in the league but so are the Valkyries. The Valkyries have only three double-digit losses all season, only one by more than 20 points. Eleven of the Sun losses are double-digit margins so far this season, eight by 20-plus points.<\/p>\n

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Defensive rotations and communication<\/p>\n

Meziane likes when the Sun play with consistent effort \u2014 it\u2019s where they have found success in their two wins of the season, a diagnosis echoed by his players.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when our energy is good, I think we make each other better, and I think that\u2019s when we like to play. We like to play with pace and transition like getting\u00a0stops,\u201d Jacy Sheldon told reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But even when the team plays spirited ball, miscommunications on the defensive end with switching and getting over screens can throw the whole defensive possession off. <\/p>\n

\u201c[We made] some mistakes on defense. We overhelp\u00a0on certain actions, so we give them some too easy shots. I think that for me [these are]\u00a0easy fixes,\u201d Meziane said postgame after their loss to the Phoenix Mercury on June 18. \u201cI think that we overhelp. And on some, spread outs, we failed to make our close outs. And they took 12 offensive rebounds but how they took these offensive rebounds for me is a problem, because we didn\u2019t fight [for the ball] when it was a 50\/50 war. We need to do a better job in this area, finish the play, but Phoenix\u00a0play[ed] a great game, they scored an important basket, and they deserve their win. But our beginning defensively, we were a little bit soft.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defensive energy fuels their offense<\/p>\n

Turnovers leading to easy buckets are critical to a Sun turnaround in 2025. The Sun are last by more than two full points in transition points per game, per Synergy<\/a>, but that is because only 8 percent of their offensive possessions come on the run. They are a respectable eighth in the WNBA in converting a fast break into points. They just need to do it more often.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for us, when we get stops and get into transition, I think that\u2019s what we like to do, and that\u2019s what was working for us in the first half. So our key was just [to] try to continue to get stops and against a really good team like this, that\u2019s a hard thing to do, and we had a couple stretches there where we were able to do that and get going in transition and make the extra pass and make really good passes. So I think that like I said, that\u2019ll be our focus moving forward,\u201d Sheldon told reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even before Mabrey got injured, the Sun were struggling at times to get her open enough to shoot and make threes. But Mabrey averages more than a point per possession in transition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think trying to get her in space, trying to keep her moving, keep players moving, and just keep her confidence up,\u201d Sun guard Lindsay Allen told reporters.\u00a0\u201cShe knows that, with her and Tina, they\u2019re going to get the majority of the shots, they\u2019re going to be the focal point on offense \u2026 Set good screens for her. Keep talking to her about, \u00a0what she may have, because teams are trapping her off ball screens and really trying to crowd the paint and crowd her vision. So just letting her know that she can get off of it, she\u2019s gonna get it back. We just gotta keep her in space a little bit and share the ball as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

In progress\u2026<\/p>\n

The Sun fell to the Seattle Storm for their first matchup of the season, but there were a lot of positives that game out of their performance despite the loss, according to the Sun players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s [on-court chemistry] growing,\u201d Sun guard Bria Hartley told reporters after their loss to the Storm. \u201cI think in spurts,\u00a0people are building their confidence,\u00a0especially our rookies in this league. I think even me, just my first season back in a few years, we\u2019re working on building our confidence, so we want to keep building on that. We still need to come together and be better collectively, so that we\u2019re all on the same page. I think you see moments where one player is playing really well another game, and other players [another game], we just needed to all be in the same game. So if we can get that to happen, I think we\u2019ll be alright.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sun shot better against Seattle than they have in most of their games. They shot 47.6% from the field and 53.8% from beyond the three-point line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After showing some optimistic signs of future success for the Sun against the Storm, they then struggled greatly\u00a0against the Minnesota Lynx, falling 102-63. Consistency, again, eluded Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe missed effort, we missed solidarity, we missed communication \u2026 Tough loss again,\u201d Meziane said postgame. \u201cWe have to come back stronger mentally and physically because the highest level demands physicality \u2026 It was very hard to develop our offense and defensively, physically we were too soft. We have to learn from this kind of game when you are playing the highest team in the league. We have one week to prepare for our next game against Las Vegas, we played them three days ago so hopefully we can show some improvement against Las Vegas on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrow has pulled in a double-double the last two games, starting to build toward that consistency the Sun need from her. The Sun struggled with the same problems repeatedly during their road trip but now they have some time to get to work and fix some of the mistakes they continue to make.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And for all their youth, the Sun know the task is possible: the Valkyries have shown that already. The math is daunting, but there is plenty of season left.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We have to] just get back in the gym,\u201d Sheldon said. \u201cI think we proved that we can compete with the best teams in this league. And when we don\u2019t show up, we obviously, like tonight, have to go back to the drawing board and get better and learn from it. Trying to eliminate those ups and downs and when it is going poorly for us, just trying to keep our composure and fight through those times. And I think as this team continues to play together, you\u2019ll see that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI think your role changes night to night,\u201d Sun center Tina Charles told reporters after the team\u2019s recent…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2476,2472,16093,26410,21825,21827,8199,62,2475,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-31194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-aneesah-morrow","9":"tag-connecticut-sun","10":"tag-jacy-sheldon","11":"tag-lindsay-allen","12":"tag-marina-mabrey","13":"tag-rachid-meziane","14":"tag-saniya-rivers","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-tina-charles","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114780784803752401","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}