The search for another win continues for Sun, Wings

Another double dose of Commissioner’s Cup games are on deck on Friday night.

In the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Dream travel to Connecticut to take on the Sun at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the Western Conference will see the Los Angeles Sparks visit the Dallas Wings at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast on ION.

For the Sun and Wings, the games’ Cup stakes matter little. Both struggling squads are desperate for any kind of win. Here’s more on the issues in Connecticut and Dallas, and whether anything might change on Friday night.

The Dream and the nightmare

Head coach Rachid Meziane and Marina Mabrey.

Photo by Ellen Schmidt/Getty Images

One of the best scoring teams of the league meets one of the worst defending teams in the W. The outcome of this one seems certain.

In Europe, head coach Rachid Meziane was a paragon of versatility, as he was able to build successful teams around bigs (Emma Meesseman in Belgium) and explosive wings (Kamiah Smalls in Lille). Now, he seems to be way over his head in Connecticut. The over reliance on 3-point shooting is a high-risk, low-reward strategy. The Sun are making 29 percent of their 3s and are getting outrebounded by approximately four boards per game. Then there’s the defense. In the first seven games, their rivals made 40 percent of their long-range shots and 52 percent of their two-point attempts.

This state of affairs, again, brings us back to the roster decisions prior to the season. An experienced point guard like Yvonne Anderson is no stranger to taking over games for Serbia, while big bodies like the 6-foot-7 Kamila Borkowska and 6-foot-1 Caitlin Bickle could handle the interior. But for some reason, all three were cut before the season. Tina Charles, who was replaced on the Dream by Britney Griner, is the sole bright spot under the boards.

Atlanta, in contrast, has succeeded in constructing a roster around Rhyne Howard. A number of players, including Maya Caldwell, who was barely playing on the Fever two years ago and is now averaging 19 minutes per game, are making contributions that go beyond the stat sheet.

The Dream have the right mixture of players, the Sun may be looking for a trade soon in order to find it.

Will the Wings finally take off?

Dallas Wings v Connecticut Sun — Kaila Charles and Chris Koclanes.

The Sun are heading to the bottom, while the Wings were supposed to be bouncing back after last year’s struggles. Yet, both teams find themselves in similar positions.

On paper, the Wings seem a year or two away from being a playoff contender. DiJonai Carrington is one of the best wing defenders in the league, NaLyssa Smith has tons of potential that remains untapped, Arike Ogunbowale has been a perennial All-Star and Paige Bueckers (who will miss a third-game on Friday due to concussion protocols) is one of the most efficient rookies in recent memory. So, why are the Wings the worst team in the W?

As the fifth-best scoring team in the league, you’d think the Wings would be able to edge out a couple more wins than a total of one. Furthermore, the Wings are second in pace, which is understandable considering the Bueckers-Ogunbowale-Carrington trio on the fastbreak.

Yet, the Wings have one win because of their defensive struggles.

The Golden State Valkyries, who lack the star power of the Wings, are playing zone defense and doing it well, while the isolation defense preferred by Dallas head coach Chris Koclanes just doesn’t work. As pointed out by our Edwin Garcia, Bueckers’ growing pains and Ogunbowale’s inconsistency also explain Wings’ struggles. Lack of adjustments are an issue as well, and if things don’t improve, Koclanes may become the early scapegoat for the Wings’ problems.