Uncommon Knowledge
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The Connecticut Sun were living on a razor-thin margin during their 9-0 start to the season with five wins by single digits, and a close game eventually fell the other way in an 82-75 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday.
The Sun’s problems against New York were largely the same ones they have faced in every other game: A sluggish start especially on the defensive end, poor 3-point shooting, and a third quarter lead that turned into a fourth-quarter deficit. Connecticut has managed to dig itself out of first-quarter holes and hold off late comebacks time and time again during its undefeated streak, but the Liberty exposed how unsustainable that scenario can be against the most talented teams in the league.
“We’ve been talking the same stuff about our starts and it bites you in the butt a lot, but certainly against a good team who can make you pay,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “They just took advantage of every miscue that we had … and you just don’t have the opportunity against great teams to have those lulls on either side of the floor, those breakdowns.”
The Liberty were missing starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot, out for personal reasons, but the change to forward Kayla Thornton in the lineup presented a difficult look for the Sun. Star shooter Sabrina Ionescu was shifted into a matchup offensively with Connecticut’s Tyasha Harris at point guard rather than against the Sun’s go-to perimeter defender DiJonai Carrington. Despite going 0-for-8 from the field through the second and third quarter, Ionescu hit every look she got when her hand was hot and went a perfect 8-for-8 combined in the first and fourth quarters.
“This is a different New York lineup without Sloot on the floor. They’re bigger,” White said. “They did some things on the offensive end using their size with some of our smaller guards. They did some different things on the defensive end that … probably forced us to go a little bit deeper into our reads than we’ve had to do … so that’s just a natural progression. We haven’t had to do that in a live-game situation, so now we can go to film and watch it.”
The biggest long-term question for the Sun is size, especially after the team waived forward Queen Egbo this week to sign point guard Veronica Burton. Center Brionna Jones, who is supposed to be under a minutes restriction, saw the floor for a season-high 35 minutes against the Liberty to give Connecticut a chance to contend defensively with the 7-foot wingspans of Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart. Olivia Nelson-Ododa has come a long way as a role player for the Sun, but the third-year center isn’t in a place to contribute significant minutes yet against two former league MVPs, and Astou Ndour-Fall didn’t even see the floor against New York.
“We didn’t go to our bench as much tonight, but certainly when you look at the lineup New York has on the floor, you want to try and match it, and they didn’t go to their bench a lot either,” White said. “Their length causes us some problems … Where we typically are able to use our physicality to score, when you have teams that have that extra length it makes it a little bit tougher. They can change up how they defend, guarding really two through five they can switch everything … and they slow us down because of that.”
Connecticut Sun’s season-starting win streak comes to an end in 82-75 loss to New York Liberty
The Indiana Fever are an ideal opponent for the Sun to recover from their first loss of 2024, especially with only a single day of turnaround before the matchup at Mohegan Sun Arena on Monday. Connecticut has already seen the Fever twice this season and come out with two victories, first a 92-71 rout at home on May 14 then a closer 88-84 win in Indiana six days later.
Indiana is coming off the high of an 85-83 win over the Washington Mystics on Friday, where No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark had the best game of her young career. She logged 30 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals, also shooting a season-best 8-for-15. But Connecticut has a strong formula for containing the rookie, spearheaded by the relentless effort from Carrington. Clark gave up a combined 15 turnovers across two games against the Sun, and she struggled to find her signature long-range 3-pointers especially in the first meeting.
The Fever are also without Temi Fagbenle due to a foot injury, and she was electric off the bench in the second game against Connecticut with 11 points shooting 5-for-6. Jones was able to play under 25 minutes in both previous matchups with Indiana, and less forward depth for the Fever means the Sun can also turn to their guard-heavy bench rotation earlier and more often.
“This is a veteran group, so they understand the ebbs and flows of this league,” White said. “We have to continue to stack days. If we had a three or four minute lull in this game, it’s got to be two or three minutes in the next game. … We understand that we’re not playing perfect basketball at this point in the season, but we’ve got to minimize when those things happen.
Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
Team records: Sun 9-1; Fever 3-9
Time: 7 p.m., Monday
Last meeting: 88-84, Dallas; Aug. 18, 2023 at Mohegan Sun Arena
TV: NBC Sports Boston (local)
Streaming: WNBA League Pass
You might want to ‘Compromise Elsewhere’, Boar’s Head deli meat fans. Numerous grocery store chains are temporarily shutting down their deli departments for a deep-cleaning following a reported multi-state outbreak of listeria.
Big Y has announced that their deli’s will be temporarily closed after Boar’s Head Provisions Co recalled all of their liverwurst product. Boar’s Head has also more of their deli meats that may have been produced on the same production line. According to Big Y, the USDA has recommended a deep-cleaning/sanitization of all surfaces, and to discard any open meats and cheeses in the deli. The other Boar’s Head meats that have been recalled are:
All of the Boar’s Head deli meats have sell-by dates of “AUG 10”, and the Heat & Eat Bacon has a sell-by date of “AUG 15”.
Big Y did not offer Boar’s Head deli meats in their Connecticut markets for the longest time, I recall that it’s only been a year or two that I’ve been able to buy my favorite – Boar’s head low-sodium ham, at the Big Y – Torrington and New Milford locations.
Stop & Shop supermarkets around Connecticut will also temporarily close their deli’s for a deep cleaning according to nbcconnecticut.com. The good news is that if your local deli does not carry Boar’s Head deli meat, there should be a pile of clean, shaved beef waiting for you.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are underway, and while watching the opening ceremonies, I started imagining what kind of games, celebrities, and venues our state would present as our finest. What would an Olympics look like if the games were held in Connecticut?
Gallery Credit: Getty Images/Google
Gallery Credit: Ethan Carey
Amid rising bear encounters in the state, an adult black bear and its cub were found trapped inside a car outside a home in Winsted, Connecticut, on July 15, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).
DEEP environmental conservation officers were called by the vehicle owner in the northwestern town. Upon arrival, officers opened the car door, releasing the two bears. The bears reportedly ran off with a third bear that had been running around in distress while the two were trapped.
State officials believe that the bears opened the car door themselves to enter the vehicle.
AP Photo
Newsweek reached out to DEEP’s communications team for comment via email on Friday.
The car’s interior was completely torn apart from the bears thrashing. The bears appeared to blare the horn and play the radio.
The northwestern part of the state has the highest concentration of black bears, according to DEEP. Last year, bears were found in all but three cities and towns across the state, with sightings in 165 of 169 municipalities. This past week, there have been three publicly reported bear-related incidents.
The black bear population is growing in the state, and based on data published in DEEP’s 2024 State of the Bears, there are an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 bears in the state, adding that “the population has a high potential for growth,” given their habitat and food sources.
In June 2023, a state law passed that allows individuals to seek permits to kill a bear if it is damaging livestock and agriculture, as well as establishing the right to use deadly force in defense of an attack.
A year after the law was passed, this June, a Connecticut resident shot and killed a 450-pound adult male black bear, claiming it was in self-defense.
This past week, three bear-related incidents were publicly reported, including a bear being killed after being hit by cars and another euthanized after reportedly biting a woman.
DEEP requests residents to report bear sightings on its website. So far this year, there have been 7,674 reported bear sightings, with 2,255 “bear conflicts” in the state, according to the state’s wildlife sighting public viewer.
In February 2023, DEEP launched it’s “Be Bear Aware” public campaign to raise awareness and lower the total human-bear conflicts in the state through education programs and conflict management advice.
In an email to CT Insider regarding the July 15 incident, DEEP Senior Advisor Ethan H. Van Ness said: “DEEP would like to remind residents to remain bear aware. Always lock your car doors, particularly if you live in areas with regular bear activity.”
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
CONNECTICUT — Since 1940, the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance (formerly the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance) has presented Gold Keys to deserving individuals who had made a considerable impact on the state’s sports landscape. In addition to the Gold Keys, other awards are meted out in various categories, and the CSMA has named the final nine recipients who will be honored at the 82nd annual dinner this fall.
Receiving accolades at the dinner will be:
Gold Key Award recipients for 2024, announced in the spring, are former Daniel Hand High School and Yale University football coach Larry Ciotti, longtime Windham High School wrestling and football coach Brian Crudden, retired Pomperaug High School field hockey coach Linda Dirga, award-winning sportscaster George Grande and Wesleyan University women’s basketball coach Kate Mullen.
Proceeds support the Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Media Scholarship, a $3,000 annual award named in memory of the noted high school sports editor of the Hartford Courant and past CSMA president, who passed away in 2003 at age 49.
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