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lynxmania
Joined: 18 Feb 2011
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 Posted: 09/10/17 12:52 pm ::: Jonquel Jones named Most Improved Player |
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Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones Named 2017 WNBA Most Improved Player
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Connecticut Sun forward/center Jonquel Jones, who produced a record-setting rebounding season, has been named the 2017 WNBA Most Improved Player, the WNBA announced today. The second-year pro is the third Sun player to earn the honor since it was first presented in 2000.
Jones received 32 of 40 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Los Angeles Sparks guard Chelsea Gray finished second with three votes. San Antonio Stars center Isabelle Harrison and Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley tied for third with two votes each. Washington Mystics center Krystal Thomas received one vote. |
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cthskzfn
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
Posts: 12851
Location: In a world where a PSYCHOpath like Trump isn't potus.
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| Posted: 09/10/17 2:25 pm ::: |
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| She is the MVP as well, imo.
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myrtle
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: 09/10/17 5:01 pm ::: |
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| well deserved. congrats to JJ and to UConn for managing to 'get' her from LA. One of the few trades that really really helped both teams.
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hangtyme24
Joined: 21 May 2006
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| Posted: 09/10/17 5:07 pm ::: |
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| myrtle wrote: |
| well deserved. congrats to JJ and to UConn for managing to 'get' her from LA. One of the few trades that really really helped both teams. |
Congrats JJ. In hindsight I wished LA would've traded Lavender instead lol. Already JJ is tougher and a better rebounder. I love Lavender but she seems to have gotten softer over the years.
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Shades
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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| Posted: 09/10/17 5:11 pm ::: |
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| hangtyme24 wrote: |
| I love Lavender but she seems to have gotten softer over the years. |
It's easy to get "soft" when you don't get to play. Lavender led the league in minutes in 2015.
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hangtyme24
Joined: 21 May 2006
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| Posted: 09/10/17 5:38 pm ::: |
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| Shades wrote: |
| hangtyme24 wrote: |
| I love Lavender but she seems to have gotten softer over the years. |
It's easy to get "soft" when you don't get to play. Lavender led the league in minutes in 2015. |
Not a good enough excuse for me Shades. Lack of PT should make one more aggressive when they're in the game. Rebounding was one of her specialties coming out of OSU. I know her rebounding is down because she floats around for her long twos, but it's like she's so soft on defense.
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Brinx
Joined: 03 Oct 2013
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| Posted: 09/10/17 6:16 pm ::: |
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| She earned it! Look forward to seeing her next season.
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blaase22
Joined: 28 Mar 2011
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| Posted: 09/10/17 6:18 pm ::: |
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| I hate when second year players win this.
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hangtyme24
Joined: 21 May 2006
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| Posted: 09/10/17 6:20 pm ::: |
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| blaase22 wrote: |
| I hate when second year players win this. |
Who would you pick instead? One of the Thomas'? Quigley?
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Aladyyn
Joined: 23 Jul 2017
Posts: 1560
Location: Czech Republic
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| Posted: 09/10/17 6:23 pm ::: |
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| hangtyme24 wrote: |
| blaase22 wrote: |
| I hate when second year players win this. |
Who would you pick instead? One of the Thomas'? Quigley? |
Griner could also be a candidate
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sigur3
Joined: 18 Jun 2013
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| Posted: 09/10/17 6:38 pm ::: |
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| Chelsea Gray...
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jap
Joined: 01 Apr 2007
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| Posted: 09/11/17 3:57 am ::: |
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| sigur3 wrote: |
| Chelsea Gray... |
At least this announcement provides Chelsea with motivation to ball out for the rest of the post-season. Even Odyssey might sport an "I was robbed!!!" attitude, although her play was very spotty as she struggled recovering from injury and adapting to Brian bball for much of the season.
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SpaceJunkie
Joined: 10 Sep 2012
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| Posted: 09/11/17 8:54 am ::: |
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| jap wrote: |
| sigur3 wrote: |
| Chelsea Gray... |
At least this announcement provides Chelsea with motivation to ball out for the rest of the post-season. Even Odyssey might sport an "I was robbed!!!" attitude, although her play was very spotty as she struggled recovering from injury and adapting to Brian bball for much of the season. |
Gray was already good at the end of the last season though.
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jap
Joined: 01 Apr 2007
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| Posted: 09/11/17 9:49 am ::: |
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| SpaceJunkie wrote: |
| jap wrote: |
| sigur3 wrote: |
| Chelsea Gray... |
At least this announcement provides Chelsea with motivation to ball out for the rest of the post-season. Even Odyssey might sport an "I was robbed!!!" attitude, although her play was very spotty as she struggled recovering from injury and adapting to Brian bball for much of the season. |
Gray was already good at the end of the last season though. |
First of all, it doesn't bother me in the least that Jonquel won: she was very deserving. I was only suggesting that Chelsea employs it as an excuse to lift her game if she needs to do something like that to get fully motivated.
Chelsea was very good last year because Chelsea is just flat out damn talented. However, her game from beyond the arc regressed last year from her collegiate days, and she needed to reclaim it, and reclaim it she did in spades!
Odyssey was used to feeding a certain 6'9" giantess at Baylor until the big girl graduated and moved on to Phoenix, and Sims had to take over the leadership mantel her senior year. She got into the habit of playing heroine ball and carried that attitude with her into the pros where it clashed with the team ball Fred was trying to establish at Tulsa/Dallas. Besides dealing with injury issues this season, it has been mostly a rehabilitation program run by Brian to get Odyssey and Riquna back to playing a team game in harmony with the teammates who have embraced them so well. It is not surprising that Odyssey is the earliest beneficiary of that program since, as a PG, she is supposed to be playing team ball anyway---as she has been gently and, at times, maybe not so gently reminded this season. 
Riquna has been coming along more slowly, and I would truly love! to see her harness all her natural gifts in a unified team effort. However, the sprained knee got her soon after she sunk two wide open jumpers in her last game. Even Syd the Kid has clearly been coming along, and the way Alana was proudly spanking Syd's behind in motherly-esque congratulations at the end of the last Atlanta game (Sep 1), there is no question who has been the veteran player responsible for overseeing Syd's tutelage more than the other ladies.
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Last edited by jap on 09/14/17 10:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Shades
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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| Posted: 09/11/17 10:51 am ::: |
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| blaase22 wrote: |
| I hate when second year players win this. |
It's the trend... 3 out if the 4 last years.
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
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| Posted: 09/11/17 11:02 am ::: |
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| blaase22 wrote: |
| I hate when second year players win this. |
Doesn't bother me. It's for most improved player, not comeback player.
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scrappy
Joined: 18 May 2006
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| Posted: 09/11/17 4:45 pm ::: |
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she's 1 2nd year player.
i'd like to rename the award as: 11 gm's dropped the ball award recipient.
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scrappy
Joined: 18 May 2006
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| Posted: 09/11/17 4:46 pm ::: |
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| scrappy wrote: |
she's 1 2nd year player.
i'd like to rename the award as: 11 gm's dropped the ball award recipient. |
in this case, i'll make it 10 since stewie turns out alright for being the #1 pick.
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She's blonde, she can block. She is 6 foot five, she can deny. Though she is tall, she definitely can score. ya'al think she is quite nice, but on the court she can put up a fight.
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Michelle89
Joined: 17 Nov 2010
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| Posted: 09/12/17 2:56 am ::: |
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| If a player goes from being decent in her first year to MVP candidate the next then i think she is deserving of the Most Improved Award.
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Shades
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
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| Posted: 09/12/17 8:51 am ::: |
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| scrappy wrote: |
| scrappy wrote: |
she's 1 2nd year player.
i'd like to rename the award as: 11 gm's dropped the ball award recipient. |
in this case, I'll make it 10 since stewie turns out alright for being the #1 pick. |
She was drafted #6, so if you give SEA a pass for drafting Stewart and I assume you'd give a pass to SAN for drafting Jefferson, then it comes down to the Executive of the Year dropping the ball by not drafting Jones himself instead of trading away future WNBA champion Chelsea Gray to get her. It's hard to argue Gray didn't contribute to the championship.
If you don't give pass to DAL for drafting Powers, I suppose there's that. But this is all hindsight anyway, since it's doubtful anyone had Jones rated quite this high. She was a Clemson player who transferred to Washington and was a first round dropout at the NCAA tournament (although she put up good numbers herself). I suppose this would be a case of where really getting to know the player during the scouting process really helps, so you can find out if she has a good head on her shoulders and such. Plus Jones says she greatly improved by playing in Korea (where AThomas and JThomas also greatly improved). So that's another bit of luck for Miller.
It's not exactly the best award to win. Doesn't it have a bit of a curse to it? 2014 winner came down with a torn ACL the next season
2015 winner gets traded the next season and subsequently disappears from WNBA
2016 winner, nothing so drastic but seems to have taken a step back
2017 winner ????
I guess Miller better keep Chiney as an emergency backup.
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StevenHW
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 10983
Location: Sacramento, California
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| Posted: 09/12/17 5:46 pm ::: |
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| ArtBest23 wrote: |
| blaase22 wrote: |
| I hate when second year players win this. |
Doesn't bother me. It's for most improved player, not comeback player. |
Come to think of it...I have often wondered why the WNBA does not have a "Comeback Player Of The Year" Award, which is not quite exactly the same as "Most Improved Player".
Since WNBA players face more career interruptions than most NBA players, mainly because of maternity leave. So, in this case, a WNBA "comeback" could go to a WNBA player who previously played before, then took time off for an entire season for whatever reason --- pregnancy, family reasons, medical reasons, etc. --- and come back full-time the following season. An example would be when Taurasi took the 2015 season off.
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Luuuc
#NATC
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 09/12/17 6:28 pm ::: |
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| StevenHW wrote: |
| ArtBest23 wrote: |
| blaase22 wrote: |
| I hate when second year players win this. |
Doesn't bother me. It's for most improved player, not comeback player. |
Come to think of it...I have often wondered why the WNBA does not have a "Comeback Player Of The Year" Award, which is not quite exactly the same as "Most Improved Player".
Since WNBA players face more career interruptions than most NBA players, mainly because of maternity leave. So, in this case, a WNBA "comeback" could go to a WNBA player who previously played before, then took time off for an entire season for whatever reason --- pregnancy, family reasons, medical reasons, etc. --- and come back full-time the following season. An example would be when Taurasi took the 2015 season off. |
For some reason I don't picture the WNBA wanting to give Diana an award for sitting out for a season.
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