The Connecticut Sun need to change some stuff up if they want to avoid handing the Washington Mystics the WNBA championship come Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.
But don’t worry, the team’s well-aware of this. And it hasn’t lost confidence, either.
“We’re still in it,” Sun captain Jasmine Thomas said Monday, per the WNBA. “It’s a series for a reason. We’re bouncing back. We’re going to use everything that we saw, from video to just how everyone was feeling about things that we were doing on the court, and make those adjustments and bring them into Game 4.”
One of those adjustments will be finding more ways for Courtney Williams and Jonquel Jones, who largely were shut down by the Mystics in the Sun’s Game 3 loss Sunday, to produce. But Thomas isn’t entirely concerned.
“They’re confident, they’re motivated. I feel like they were being guarded more physically, and that’s something that maybe we weren’t expecting,” Thomas said. “So for them, it’s just making that adjustment. We still got Courtney to her spots in a lot of ways — it’s just, you know, sometimes they don’t go in.
“So, you, know, her just finding a way to still stay a part of the game, still stay engaged, still be in the flow of the game, and I feel like she’s absolutely ready for that challenge,” Thomas added. “She knows it’s not going to be easy, and we definitely need her and JJ to be productive, but there are other things they do on the floor besides score.”
There are other pieces to the Sun’s roster that Connecticut also can utilize to its advantage in Game 4. Bria Holmes, for instance, has been a bright spot on the Sun’s bench, something Thomas hopes to harness more for Tuesday’s contest.
“She’s been productive for us all season, so we know what she does for us,” Thomas said. “And maybe in this series, we need that more. So, I feel like that’s just her being ready for the moment, and we’ll look to use that more in Game 4.”
🗣 @ConnecticutSun guard @jaszthomas talks about the adjustments and team morale heading into Game 4 of the #WNBAFinals pic.twitter.com/kGbCCYTQVf
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 7, 2019
Tip-off for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Tuesday is slated for 8 p.m. ET.