How Veronica Burton’s breakout impacts Connecticut Sun entering must-win rematch with Atlanta Dream

When Veronica Burton was waived by the Dallas Wings just 55 days ago, the third-year WNBA point guard never stopped preparing for her next opportunity. It came quickly when she was picked up by the Connecticut Sun three weeks into the season on June 8, and 26 days later Burton stepped into the team’s starting lineup for the first time against the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday.Every other Sun starter has been with the team for at least a full season, and superstars Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner have a combined 24 years of experience in the WNBA. But Sun coach Stephanie White had no doubts about how Burton would handle her new responsibility after usual point guard Tyasha Harris was ruled out with an illness against the Lynx.“She’s not somebody that you really worry about, because she’s so solid,” White said. “A lot was riding on her that game and she played a lot of heavy minutes. You can see some fatigue at points, but I thought she did an outstanding job and did exactly what we needed to do … She’s a high-IQ player. She studies the game, so it didn’t take her long at all to pick up things and really understand what we were trying to get on both ends.”Burton logged nine points, three assists, a team-best four steals and two rebound playing a season-high 29 minutes in the 78-73 victory over Minnesota. But her real turning point came three games earlier, in a 94-91 overtime win at the Washington Mystics on June 27.
Starting Squad 💪 #BringTheHeat // @PostUniversity pic.twitter.com/b7EaPqUGE4
— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) July 4, 2024Burton averaged less than a point in four minutes per game across her first seven appearances for the Sun, then exploded against the Mystics with nine points in 22 minutes, plus five assists and two steals. The point guard hasn’t slowed down since. She has seen the court for at least 17 minutes in each of the last four games and scored a season-best 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point range against the Phoenix Mercury on Monday. Since her playing time increased, she is averaging 8.3 points, four assists, two rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.“It’s definitely a goal of mine to stay ready physically and conditioning-wise, so I’ve been working a lot with our strength and conditioning coach Analisse (Rios) just doing the extra conditioning to be ready,” Burton said. “I knew it was going to be challenging to go from something I was so used to to a completely different one.“But from a system standpoint I knew that my style of play really could fit well here. It definitely still took me some time, but I think it’s just a testament to the people here helping me out.”Washington was juggling a limited roster against the Sun amid a slew of injuries, which allowed Connecticut to utilize a two point guard lineup with Burton in alongside Harris to move the starter more off-ball. Harris is one of the Sun’s more consistent scorers averaging 11.6 points per game on 43% shooting from the field and 38.6% from 3-point range, so White said she likes adding Burton as a primary ball-handler to give Harris more opportunities to focus on other areas of the offense.“When you’re a really good shooter and you’re playing the point guard position, your mind gets kind of locked up into getting everybody involved in what we need to do offensively,” White said. “I feel like it frees up Ty’s mind a little bit to knock down shots. We can’t do that against everybody because they’ve got to have small guards on the floor … but I liked that lineup and what options that gives us, so based on matchups we’ll look to see some more of that.”But Burton herself has been no slouch as a scorer, currently averaging significant career highs both from the field and on 3-pointers. She hit only 29.4% of her field goals with the Wings in 2023 but is currently making 57.9%, and she’s jumped from 27% outside shooting in her first two seasons to 50% with Connecticut. Building confidence was critical for the former Northwestern star when she joined the Sun, and Burton said seeing her shots fall consistently has made it easier to settle in.“I think the Washington game was the first time I felt like, ‘Okay, I know where my teammates are and I know what they want,’” Burton said. “Getting that opportunity was huge from a confidence standpoint, and my shooting numbers, too. Just seeing the ball go in is the biggest thing. When you see it go in early and have people around you encouraging you to keep shooting, that’s big for me and I really feed off of that.”The Sun likely won’t be able to use the small guard lineups as much in their next matchup with the Atlanta Dream on Sunday (1 p.m., NBC Sports Boston) at Mohegan Sun Arena, especially after the 7-12 Dream upset Connecticut at home just eight days ago, 78-74. Atlanta boasts elite size headlined by UConn legend Tina Charles, who became the No. 3 scorer in WNBA history on Friday, and star guard Allisha Gray led the Dream with 17 points in their win over the Sun.“I felt like we did a lot of uncharacteristic things, so we’ve got to make sure we’re getting back to basics, which we spent the last two games doing,” White said. “They’re different because they’re so athletic in the way that get to the rim and playing through Tina on the interior. They’re in constant motion too … so it’s just making sure our attention to detail is high and making sure we’re locked in and ready to go.”

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