Sun anxious to get to work for real on Friday against Indiana
May 18—MOHEGAN — The first impression the 2023 Connecticut Sun made came in their preseason opener against the New York Liberty.
The Sun, whose roster was reshaped during the offseason with a number of noteworthy departures, including head coach Curt Miller and 2021 WNBA Most Valuable Player Jonquel Jones, were nevertheless tough, as usual.
"I'm like, 'Really?'" New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said following the game. "This is Connecticut."
"That's the identity of this team," Sun first-year head coach Stephanie White said this week. "It starts with Alyssa Thomas. That's her personality. It's the identity of this team. We're trying to show what we're about; we're about toughness and grit and getting after you and that's not going to change."
Connecticut, which reached the WNBA Finals last season, falling in four games to the Las Vegas Aces, opens its regular-season at 7 p.m. Friday against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Sun are somewhat under the radar due to the exit of Miller (now the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks) and Jones (playing for the New York Liberty), along with the guard tandem of Jasmine Thomas (Los Angeles) and Courtney Williams (Chicago), even more so with the buzz surrounding so-called "super teams" in Las Vegas and New York.
Connecticut is fine with that label, actually, having made the Finals a year ago as the No. 3 seed, knocking off No. 2 Chicago in the semifinals.
But that's perhaps discounting who the Sun DO have on their roster, including returnees Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Natisha Hiedeman and Brionna Jones, as well as adding another former WNBA all-star to the lineup in Tiffany Hayes, acquired from the Atlanta Dream.
Thomas is the only WNBA player with four career triple-doubles, all achieved last season, and a three-time all-star, while Bonner is a four-time all-star and a two-time WNBA champion while with the Phoenix Mercury.
Hiedeman took over as starting point guard last season when Jasmine Thomas tore her ACL and Jones is a two-time all-star who was named Sixth Player of the Year in 2022.
The Sun have finalized their 11-player roster, including another returnee in DiJonai Carrington and newcomers Rebecca Allen, Leigha Brown, Lauren Cox, Tyasha Harris and UConn grad Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
Connecticut, which led the league in rebounding last season, will run a new fast-paced pro-style offense brought in by White, formerly the head coach of the Indiana Fever and, more recently, at Vanderbilt.
"Our speed," said Bonner, asked where she thought the Sun's strength lies. "Our chemistry on and off the court. There's still a lot of people that have played here for a long time together. Our chemistry is pretty unmatched. I think we've got a lot of chill, laid-back people that just like to be around each other, but we get on the court, we mean business."
To get to know the members of her team, White, who was hired on Nov. 21 while many of the players were overseas, took to texting and video chatting via Zoom.
Bonner, entering her fourth season with the Sun, said she's not always a fan of change, which made her nervous at first.
"That was a lot of change at one time," Bonner said of the offseason. "That was kind of scary. Once the pieces came, I saw what we had, I was just really excited to get started. Meeting our coaching staff, see what they were going to put in, now it's just been a lot of fun."
The Sun were 2-0 in the preseason with wins over New York and Atlanta, not waiting to prove their mettle. Hayes, a 2012 UConn grad who won two national championships with the Huskies, said it's not so much about the other teams in the league but about their own work ethic.
"The preseason is already over, I feel like it happened so fast. It zoomed by," Hayes said. "We gotta hit the ground running. We're not perfect but we did have a pretty good two preseason games so we're definitely ready to test that out."
Friday's game, meanwhile, will be a homecoming for White, who is a native of West Lebanon, Indiana, starring both at the high school level and at Purdue before playing for and coaching the Fever. She will have several family members in attendance for her Sun debut, including her children.
