JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
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The Sun held an open practice at Mohegan Sun yesterday afternoon (6/4) which I attended along with hundreds of others, presumably season ticket holders and their families. It was at least as well attended as the UConn open practices that I have been to.
Alyssa Thomas was present but was held out of the practice because of her injury last week at Los Angeles. It's not clear if she will play (or how many minutes) in Thursday night's return match against LA.
So there were 11 players participating in the practice. They formed two "teams", and there were enough male practice players present (who seemed quite skilled) to form a third "team". Each "team" got a set of three "possessions" (two at the offensive end and one at the defensive end, or vice versa) during 5-on-5 scrimmages before sitting out while the other two teams played. The male players were clearly trying to simulate the LA Sparks' offense and defense, to prepare for Thursday night's game.
There was an infant child being passed around from one female lap to another on the Sun's bench during the practice. I assume that is Bria Holmes's newborn, and that is his/her day care arrangement.
Here are some basketball-related observations:
1. I focused particularly on Kristine Anigwe because of the discussions here about her abilities and attitude. I thought she played very competently and athletically in practice, and I saw absolutely no trace of any attitude issues. She interacted cooperatively with her teammates, and appeared to be fully "into it" at all times. She certainly runs the floor better than Brionna Jones, but as of now, she doesn't have the same rebounding strength as Brionna. I can understand why she is playing behind Brionna now, but I still think her athletic ability and potential is greater.
2. Morgan Tuck is a very strong rebounder (as she was at UConn, lest we forget) even against taller competition. However, she is having a serious problem with the accuracy of her jump shot. She took quite a few during the practice, and I don't recall her making any. That is why she has to play behind Shekinna Stricklen, whose jump shot is (like Jonquel Jones's) among the most accurate in the WNBA. Hopefully Morgan will get that fixed, because the rest of her game is ready to handle many more minutes than she is getting.
3. During the part of the practice where they were not doing 5-on-5 scrimmaging, the players were divided into guards and posts, and the "post" category appeared to include only 4's and 5's. So, without Alyssa Thomas participating, the only posts in yesterday's practice were JJ, Morgan, Brionna, and Kristine. Somewhat to my surprise, Stricklen, Bridget Carleton, and Bria Holmes were grouped with the guards even though they occupied a wing ("3") position in the sets. Stricklen and Carleton appeared to focus on getting open for 3-point shot, while Holmes focused on penetration and short jumpers. So the Sun definitely have two different kinds of wing play depending who is on the floor.
4. I thought Bridget Carleton looked a bit out of place at the practice -- younger and less athletic than almost anyone else, it seemed. She reminded me a bit of Molly Bent, although she is a few inches taller and has more than a few additional pounds on her frame. She always had a smile on her face, but that made me think that she didn't quite have the intensity that is expected and required. I guess the reason why the Sun chose to keep her instead of Hiedeman (the Marquette guard) was that they thought they already had enough fast guards and wanted a backup in Stricken's 3-point shooting role on the wing.
5. The Sun usually start their half-court offense in a way that I haven't seen from other teams, including UConn. They quickly move the ball to one of the fast guards on one side of the court, and that guard immediately starts a drive on her defender. Almost always (because Jasmine Thomas, Courtney Williams, and Layshia Clarendon are very quick and athletic), they beat their initial defender and force a double-team. As soon as it comes, they kick the ball back to a 3-point shooter in the middle of the court. That shooter is almost always open because the defense has already been distorted, but if she isn't, she can move the ball quickly to the weak side. This procedure gives them the ability to run offense from both sides of the court despite the efforts of most defenses to confine them to one side.
It seems to work well. I wasn't aware that the Sun were tied for first place in total points per game last year, despite not having any offensive superstar. When you think about combinations that other teams had last year (Parker / Nneka, Griner/ DT, Stewie/Bird), it's really surprising that the Sun could outscore them over a full season.
Alyssa Thomas was present but was held out of the practice because of her injury last week at Los Angeles. It's not clear if she will play (or how many minutes) in Thursday night's return match against LA.
So there were 11 players participating in the practice. They formed two "teams", and there were enough male practice players present (who seemed quite skilled) to form a third "team". Each "team" got a set of three "possessions" (two at the offensive end and one at the defensive end, or vice versa) during 5-on-5 scrimmages before sitting out while the other two teams played. The male players were clearly trying to simulate the LA Sparks' offense and defense, to prepare for Thursday night's game.
There was an infant child being passed around from one female lap to another on the Sun's bench during the practice. I assume that is Bria Holmes's newborn, and that is his/her day care arrangement.
Here are some basketball-related observations:
1. I focused particularly on Kristine Anigwe because of the discussions here about her abilities and attitude. I thought she played very competently and athletically in practice, and I saw absolutely no trace of any attitude issues. She interacted cooperatively with her teammates, and appeared to be fully "into it" at all times. She certainly runs the floor better than Brionna Jones, but as of now, she doesn't have the same rebounding strength as Brionna. I can understand why she is playing behind Brionna now, but I still think her athletic ability and potential is greater.
2. Morgan Tuck is a very strong rebounder (as she was at UConn, lest we forget) even against taller competition. However, she is having a serious problem with the accuracy of her jump shot. She took quite a few during the practice, and I don't recall her making any. That is why she has to play behind Shekinna Stricklen, whose jump shot is (like Jonquel Jones's) among the most accurate in the WNBA. Hopefully Morgan will get that fixed, because the rest of her game is ready to handle many more minutes than she is getting.
3. During the part of the practice where they were not doing 5-on-5 scrimmaging, the players were divided into guards and posts, and the "post" category appeared to include only 4's and 5's. So, without Alyssa Thomas participating, the only posts in yesterday's practice were JJ, Morgan, Brionna, and Kristine. Somewhat to my surprise, Stricklen, Bridget Carleton, and Bria Holmes were grouped with the guards even though they occupied a wing ("3") position in the sets. Stricklen and Carleton appeared to focus on getting open for 3-point shot, while Holmes focused on penetration and short jumpers. So the Sun definitely have two different kinds of wing play depending who is on the floor.
4. I thought Bridget Carleton looked a bit out of place at the practice -- younger and less athletic than almost anyone else, it seemed. She reminded me a bit of Molly Bent, although she is a few inches taller and has more than a few additional pounds on her frame. She always had a smile on her face, but that made me think that she didn't quite have the intensity that is expected and required. I guess the reason why the Sun chose to keep her instead of Hiedeman (the Marquette guard) was that they thought they already had enough fast guards and wanted a backup in Stricken's 3-point shooting role on the wing.
5. The Sun usually start their half-court offense in a way that I haven't seen from other teams, including UConn. They quickly move the ball to one of the fast guards on one side of the court, and that guard immediately starts a drive on her defender. Almost always (because Jasmine Thomas, Courtney Williams, and Layshia Clarendon are very quick and athletic), they beat their initial defender and force a double-team. As soon as it comes, they kick the ball back to a 3-point shooter in the middle of the court. That shooter is almost always open because the defense has already been distorted, but if she isn't, she can move the ball quickly to the weak side. This procedure gives them the ability to run offense from both sides of the court despite the efforts of most defenses to confine them to one side.
It seems to work well. I wasn't aware that the Sun were tied for first place in total points per game last year, despite not having any offensive superstar. When you think about combinations that other teams had last year (Parker / Nneka, Griner/ DT, Stewie/Bird), it's really surprising that the Sun could outscore them over a full season.
