It’s Marina Mabrey. The Sun guard had been making her way to the other corner of the room for her post-practice media availability when Regan suddenly called her over. With a smile, she invites Mabrey, who has been out with a knee injury she suffered on June 20, to join, and then starts the process by going one by one to each person, engulfing them in a thick cloud of smoke. In Native American traditions, saging, or “smudging,” is a purifying ritual that’s meant to cleanse a person or space of negativity. It’s also sacred, which means that media isn’t allowed to take photographs or video.
“We are all together on that circle of life,” Regan says to the group. For many of them, including Jacy Sheldon, Lindsay Allen and rookie Aneesah Morrow, this is their first time ever experiencing a ritual like this.
“[Beth] talked about [how] our season has been pretty rough so far, losing a lot of games, [and] this is the time where we let that go,” Morrow told The Next during shootaround before the Sun faced the Las Vegas Aces. “Every day, we have to be grateful and come into practice and bring that positive energy for one another. We are going into every battle together, and that’s the most important thing.”
Save 30% when you order “Becoming Caitlin Clark”
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.
It was also a first for head coach Rachid Meziane, who was the last one to join the group. Since being named head coach of the Sun last December, it’s been a season of many firsts for him: his first time coaching in the WNBA and in the United States, having coached in France and with the Belgium National Team, which he led to their first ever FIBA EuroBasket gold medal in 2023.
This is also the first time he’s really experienced losing in his career. The Sun have the worst record in the league right now at 2-16 and haven’t won a game since June 20 when they beat the Atlanta Dream. Most recently, the WNBA announced the official list of All-Star starters and reserves, and not one player on the Sun was selected, either.
As a waft of smoke clears around Meziane, it brings a moment of clarity for the first-year head coach and his entire team. “I think it [was] like a reset for us to try to eliminate your negative thoughts and just take this opportunity to turn the page and start a new one,” Meziane said in the pregame press conference before they faced Las Vegas. “It was cool,” he added with a grin.
A new approach
Last week, the Sun, who had two days off after a week-long, four-game road trip against Golden State, Las Vegas, Seattle and Minnesota, worked on their sense of togetherness in practice. As a team that has almost an entirely new-look squad — Mabrey, Tina Charles and Olivia Nelson-Ododa are the only returners from last season — and a new head coach in Meziane, the Sun have struggled to find their rhythm on both ends of the floor.
While they have shown flashes of their potential, as was on display in wins against the Indiana Fever on May 30 and the Atlanta Dream on June 6, the Sun haven’t been able to consistently bring that same energy. The closest they’ve gotten was against the Wings on June 20, in which Sun took Dallas down to the wire and trailed by just five points with a minute left in the game. However, they ultimately failed to execute on key possessions and get defensive stops.
After the game, Charles told the media that the loss, which at the time marked their fourth in a row, came down to a matter of effort: “God willing, we can turn it around,” Charles said. “And you know what? It may not look like a win versus [the] Valkyries or Vegas or Seattle, but it’s just how we’re losing. I can handle losses. I’ve had a bunch in my career, but it’s just how it’s happening and the effort that’s needed because to lose by three, that’s just making a choice to not play hard on defense or on offense, or taking it more personal.”
Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?
Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.
Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.
What they needed then, and especially now, is an entirely new approach to playing team-first basketball. During media viewing in practice on Thursday, Meziane and his coaching staff dedicated the final 30 minutes to working on ball movement, specifically swinging the ball and finding the open player in the corner for a knockdown three. Then they emphasized their sense of urgency in transition and getting back on defense.
“Every team has its strengths and personalities,” Meziane told The Next after practice. “I feel that for us today to be efficient is to play together, to swing the ball and try to create a bigger advantage and find open teammates. We don’t have a one-on-one player; some can do it, but not with the consistency we want. … We need to be patient [and] maybe try to play differently. Today, we have to think together and play as a team.”
In order to do so, players have to buy in. After practice, Bria Hartley echoed Charles’ sentiment on the team’s overall effort: “We just gotta come with energy and really figure out how to be on the same page and play together,” she told The Next. “We’re working on that, whether it’s offensively, defensively, getting on the same page and being more intentional about what we’re doing. I think it’s the biggest thing.”
The last time the Sun faced the Aces on June 25, they shot 32.4% from the field and went 2-for-13 from beyond the arc. In preparing to face the No. 8-ranked team in the league again, Meziane got on his team about the “little things” this week in practice.
“Ball screens, ball screen angles, plays [we] want to run, specifically against Vegas, to kind of get free and get some scorers, just little things to help us out,” Allen told The Next during shootaround before they faced the Aces. “The game is all about spacing on offense, how you set screens, where you set screens, all that kind of stuff, and making sure that we know where we are on the court and how we can get people open and get our spacing right and easier shots.”
Putting it all into motion
On Sunday, the Sun went into their matchup against Vegas with a fresh perspective and a sense of clarity on what they needed to improve upon. Their effort was apparent right from the start, with Morrow knocking down a 13-foot jumper to give the Sun their first bucket of the game. Nelson-Ododa was snagging boards, and both Hartley and a newly arrived Leila Lacan were getting to the line early.
On every possession, the Sun appeared more and more like a unit playing together, from moving the ball to communicating with each other when to set the screen for where they needed to go to get to their spots. Despite scoring just 12 points in the first quarter and then 16 points in the second, the Sun rallied in the third. Sheldon, specifically, was everywhere on the floor, securing defensive rebounds. She dished a dime to Hartley at the 6:10 minute mark, who then sent one right back to her with 1:48 left in the game for a clutch three that fired up the crowd at Mohegan Sun.
Tune in to Locked On Women’s Basketball
Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.
When the Aces had extended their lead to 20-plus points in the fourth quarter, the Sun didn’t just give up; they played until the very end, especially Saniya Rivers, who finished with 10 points and hit an elite spin move in the fourth. Morrow, who had 12 points, scored a two-pointer that was assisted by Allen on the final possession of the game. Charles added 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.
“I think sometimes we come out and we’re not playing together, and sometimes we have some selfishness going on,” Rivers told the media after the game. “It’s unfortunate, but at the same time, it’s like, we’re losing, just go ahead and go get your bucket, go get a shot, or do whatever. But I think when we play together, it’s beautiful basketball. And I think tonight we showed a lot of sides where we can play together and move the ball. I think when the ball moves from side to side, I think we really look good.
“I think when we also exploit each other’s strengths, that’s when we’re really good. So like, Aneesah, [she] is good at rebounding, Aneesah is going to get a post touch, [so] like, get her the ball. Same with Tina. Or when Marina’s playing, get her three. How can we get Jacy a three? I think just exploiting our individual strengths is a big thing for us. I think [when] we do that more and just play together and really tap into that, I think we could definitely win some more.”
Despite losing to Vegas 86-68, which now marks the Sun’s 10th loss in a row, Meziane told the media that he didn’t think the “entire game was bad,” and pointed out the same positives: “I think that we played a very bad second quarter, but you know, the rest of the game, I think what we competed,” he said.
As the Sun get ready to play against the Seattle Storm on July 9, how exactly will they push through this fog of losing and negativity that’s surrounded them?
“I think we’ve learned a lot from the beginning [of] this season,” Sheldon told The Next on Sunday. “But the good thing about this league is it’s a long season, so I think now it’s just looking ahead.”
The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom
The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
