The Morning After: Aces vs Sun

The Morning After: Aces vs Sun

A quick recap of the Aces vs Sun game on May 20.

A quick recap of the Aces vs Sun game on May 20.

Las Vegas Aces vs. Connecticut Sun 05-20-18 (Connecticut won, 101-65)

That Escalated Quickly

Despite a 9-0 run to open up the game and another 9-0 run to close the lead a bit in the second half, the Aces couldn't withstand the heat of the Sun (see what I did there?) and got rolled by 36 points. Bless.

Updo Funk

Nia Coffey and Tamera Young, who both rocked fun and functional updos for game day, helped set the tone for this relatively young team. Young demonstrated her patented pull-up jumper and ability to drive to the basket and score. Coffey was key from mid-range and may be more of a primary option under the Laimbeer regime. Both were relentless until the final buzzer, which is what the youth movement needed to see. Young ended the game with 23 points and four rebounds as the Aces' scoring leader. Coffey had 11 points and 6 rebounds.

Getting Rooked

A'ja Wilson's much-heralded regular-season debut went as well as could be expected (14 points, 10 rebounds) but may have been underwhelming to some, given her preseason performance (one of those preseason games was an exhibition against the Chinese national team, which wasn' t much competition). Ji-Su Park, Jaime Nared, and Raigyne Louis got some burn as well. It's clear that all of the rooks will need to put in some extra work and elevate their games in order to compete against the exceptional and seasoned talent of the league, especially since the scoring onus is no longer on them.

@jisupark_twt ?? @_ajawilson22#LVAces pic.twitter.com/etZRZQfnF1

This One's Free

The Aces made 34 trips to the free throw line and converted those trips to 28 points, which was the only thing that helped keep them somewhat in the game.

The Bakery Was Open

After a strong start, the Aces were plagued with turnovers in the latter part of the first half and allowed Connecticut to heat up and open up a double-digit lead by the beginning of the second half--one that never went away. The turnovers (18 total) continued en route to the team's shellacking.

The San Antonio Way

Bill Laimbeer may be the Gregg Popovich of the WNBA, given his penchant not only to stack his team with larger players but also to take another team's trash (hi, Lindsay Allen and Shoni Schimmel) and turn it into treasure. He is also Pop-like in his stated preference for his size-laden team to not rely on three-pointers in an increasingly three-point-driven league. Time will tell if this is the best approach for this team, but ask Pop how that worked out for him and the Spurs. (FYI: the Sun took 22 three-point shots and made eleven of them; the Aces only took seven and made one.)

 See you on Tuesday, when the Aces visit the Washington Mystics. #ALLIN

Las Vegas Aces vs. Connecticut Sun 05-20-18 (Connecticut won, 101-65)

That Escalated Quickly

Despite a 9-0 run to open up the game and another 9-0 run to close the lead a bit in the second half, the Aces couldn't withstand the heat of the Sun (see what I did there?) and got rolled by 36 points. Bless.

Updo Funk

Nia Coffey and Tamera Young, who both rocked fun and functional updos for game day, helped set the tone for this relatively young team. Young demonstrated her patented pull-up jumper and ability to drive to the basket and score. Coffey was key from mid-range and may be more of a primary option under the Laimbeer regime. Both were relentless until the final buzzer, which is what the youth movement needed to see. Young ended the game with 23 points and four rebounds as the Aces' scoring leader. Coffey had 11 points and 6 rebounds.

Getting Rooked

A'ja Wilson's much-heralded regular-season debut went as well as could be expected (14 points, 10 rebounds) but may have been underwhelming to some, given her preseason performance (one of those preseason games was an exhibition against the Chinese national team, which wasn' t much competition). Ji-Su Park, Jaime Nared, and Raigyne Louis got some burn as well. It's clear that all of the rooks will need to put in some extra work and elevate their games in order to compete against the exceptional and seasoned talent of the league, especially since the scoring onus is no longer on them.

@jisupark_twt ?? @_ajawilson22#LVAces pic.twitter.com/etZRZQfnF1

This One's Free

The Aces made 34 trips to the free throw line and converted those trips to 28 points, which was the only thing that helped keep them somewhat in the game.

The Bakery Was Open

After a strong start, the Aces were plagued with turnovers in the latter part of the first half and allowed Connecticut to heat up and open up a double-digit lead by the beginning of the second half--one that never went away. The turnovers (18 total) continued en route to the team's shellacking.

The San Antonio Way

Bill Laimbeer may be the Gregg Popovich of the WNBA, given his penchant not only to stack his team with larger players but also to take another team's trash (hi, Lindsay Allen and Shoni Schimmel) and turn it into treasure. He is also Pop-like in his stated preference for his size-laden team to not rely on three-pointers in an increasingly three-point-driven league. Time will tell if this is the best approach for this team, but ask Pop how that worked out for him and the Spurs. (FYI: the Sun took 22 three-point shots and made eleven of them; the Aces only took seven and made one.)

 See you on Tuesday, when the Aces visit the Washington Mystics. #ALLIN

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