We Don’t Hang Conference Banners
Future Hall of Famer Candace Parker had some choice words for Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller Thursday night. Photo by jcoydenreports
You could feel it coming. It was a statement that deserved a response; Chicago style. And Candace Parker brought it. In the postgame press conference after his team defeated the Sky 72-63 to advance to the WNBA Finals, Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller said he wanted the media to report that his team had knocked Candace Parker out of the playoffs three out of the last four years. The comment raised the eyebrows of media members in attendance and you could feel the anticipation in the room. Minutes later a dejected but dignified Candace Parker was told of Miller’s comments and responded in kind:
“Here's the thing, we have a standard we uphold. We won a championship last year. We don't hang conference banners.”
Ouch. The response was GOLDEN, coming from a woman who has won a title on every level that she has played on. Cannot say that for Miller, who has been a head coach at Bowling Green and Indiana University not exactly women’s basketball royalty and certainly not championship contenders. Parker acknowledged her team didn’t perform during critical stretches late in the game.
“Slowly but surely, we stopped playing beautiful basketball,” Parker stated.
The rapid ball movement and players cutting in the halfcourt offense we’ve come to expect from this Sky team was nonexistent in the fourth quarter when the Sky blew an 11-point lead and were eliminated one game short of reaching the WNBA Finals for the second straight season. James Wade took much of the responsibility for the loss.
“I just couldn’t find a way to get us a bucket,” he repeated several times.
But Allie Quigley, who struggled mightily in this series, stuck up for her coach.
“We win as a team and we lose as a team.”
Quigley finished the game with three points on 1 of 12 shooting, including 0 from 5 from behind the arc, her specialty. Without the threat of Quigley from the outside to open up the cutting lanes in the halfcourt set, the Sky struggled at times in the series to score. With Kahleah Copper (22 points) becoming at times the only threat to score off the dribble, the Sun’s defense clamped down on everyone else and outscored the Sky in the 4th quarter 24 to 5 in Thursday’s loss at Wintrust Arena in from of a crowd of nearly 9,000.
Sky G.M. and Head Coach James Wade along with Kahleah Copper at last year’s championship celebration in Grant Park. Photo by jcoyden
The question now is what is next for the Sky? With the core aging and five current free agents on the roster, Wade will now have to put on his G.M. hat and get to work. He said this loss to the Sun is going to stick with him for a while however.
“I told my team I thought we deserved better this season than how it ended. I think we represented ourselves, the organization and the WNBA very well as champions,” Wade said.
Yes, the Sky did. And Candace Parker will always do the same for Chicago, especially when it’s coming from a coach who hasn’t won anything himself yet in Miller.