If Jonquel Jones already hadn't made the case for the WNBA's MVP award on the court this season, she's making it in her absence.
The Connecticut Sun have lost their last three games since the star forward left for France and Spain to participate in the 2021 FIBA EuroBasket competition, where she's representing Team Bosnia-Herzegovina.
And in their most recent loss, the Sun were without coach Curt Miller, who missed time ahead of their loss to the to be with his mother who suffered a stroke.
Per the Hartford Courant's Alexa Philippou, Miller said his mother is a "tough cookie" and recovering in the hospital. And as he returned to practice Monday, he shared some perspective he gained by their losing streak.
"When you win games and you're result driven only, you're doing your stuff a disservice," Miller said, via Philippou. "When we were 8-2, we would do ourselves a disservice if we didn't see some of the warts, if we didn't see some of the slippage during those 10 games. And while I come back in as a perfectionist to challenge the team that we need to be better here, here or here in order to really achieve some of the goals that we have set, it's never as good as you think when you win, and it's never as bad as you think when you lose."
Wise words.
Anyway you sugarcoat it, though, the Sun really miss Jones. They've fallen to third in the WNBA's standings after a fantastic 8-2 start, and should her team make it all the way in Europe, the Bahamian-born Bosnian would miss three more games.
In the meantime, everyone else on Connecticut's roster should be using this as an opportunity to step up.
