Category: WNBA

Jones Posts Double In Foxes’ Victory

Jonquel Jones

Jonquel Jones

friday, December 4, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#FOLLOWING a break in competition for national team play at the FIBA Eurobasket 2021 Qualifiers, Jonquel Jones and her UMMC Ekaterinburg Foxes began FIBA Euroleague play this week and continued their dominance in the region.

#Jones’ double double led Ekaterinburg to a 94-67 win over Spar Girona of the Euroleague Group C league play in Girona, Spain. She finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds on 8-12 shooting from the field and 5-7 on three-point attempts.

#Ekaterinburg opened Euroleague play with an 83-61 win over Beretta Familia Schio on Monday.

#Jones finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 8-10 from the field, and made her only three-point attempt.

#Group D also includes TTTRiga (0-2) who the Foxes will face tomorrow to complete the first round of group stage play.

#UMMC has won five Euroleague titles (2003, 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019) and are perennial Final Four competitors.

#Last season, Jones’ first with the club, Ekaterinburg captured their second consecutive and fifth EuroLeague title with a 91-67 win over Dynamo Kursk in Sopron, Hungary. She appeared in eight games averaging 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

#Back in the Russian Premier League, the Foxes remain in second place at 7-0, one half game behind undefeated Dynamo at 8-0. She has averaged 22 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

#At the national team level Jones has led Bosnia and Herzegovina to the brink of FIBA EuroBasket 2021 qualification after another pair of dominant performances in the latest window.

Jones And Sun Could Return To Action Soon

Jonquel Jones in action.

Jonquel Jones in action.

As of Monday, June 8, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#JONQUEL Jones and her Connecticut Sun could return to action soon as the WNBA has a tentative proposal in place for its delayed 2020 season due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

#According to ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel, the league has proposed a 22-game regular season, hosted at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Opening day is set for July 24 and the playoffs would conclude in October. Players have yet to approve the proposal and playoff details have yet to be revealed.

#IMG Academy’s basketball complex has four state-of-the-art courts, according to the facility’s website. The WNBA has 12 teams with a maximum roster size of 12 players each.

#The WNBA regularly hosts a 36-game regular season from May to September, with the playoffs concluding in October. This season, the league intended to introduce a midseason tournament, the Commissioner’s Cup, however, the amended season halted those plans.

#Jones signed a multi-year contract with the Sun in February as the league’s free agency period commenced.

#“We are pumped to have JJ sign a multi-year contract to stay in Connecticut,” head coach and general manager Curt Miller said. “She has proven to be one of the most dominant and versatile players in the world. She continues to be one of the elite rebounders in the game and took a huge step on the defensive side of the ball in 2019. She is just scratching the surface and we look forward to her continued growth and leadership in 2020.”

#The Sun fell one game short in their historic run toward a WNBA Championship last season, but the fourth-year forward has established herself as one of the premier players in the league with her standout season.

#Jones was named to the All-WNBA Second Team, the WNBA All-Defensive Team for the first time, finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting, was a WNBA All-Star and was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week four times.

#She finished the regular season with starts in all 34 appearances, averaged 14.6 points and posted career highs in steals (1.5 per game) and minutes played (28.8 per game). She also won her second rebounding title in four seasons. Jones led the league in rebounds with 9.7 boards and blocked shots at a career high 2.0 per game. She also finished fourth in defensive rebounds with 6.4 per game. She grabbed 10 or more rebounds 16 times, including a season high 22 rebounds on May 31. In the offseason, Jones was a member of UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League.

Jones, WNBA could return in July

Connecticut Sun’s Jonquel Jones

.June 10, 2020

Simba French

0337 Views

It looks like Bahamian women’s professional basketball player Jonquel “JJ” Jones, the starting center of the Connecticut Sun in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), will be back on the court in short order. A proposal has the season getting underway on July 24, according to ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel.

An article surfaced late last week, also stating that games will be played at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, according to multiple sources.

The season was scheduled to get underway on May 15. A 36-game regular season schedule was on the table, but it was pushed back indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the proposal, the league is allegedly suggesting a 22-game schedule.

Jones is riding out the pandemic at home on Grand Bahama. She and the Sun are on a mission to get back to work as they were one game shy of winning the WNBA championship last season. It was the Sun’s first WNBA Finals appearance since 2005, and they are still looking for their first title. The Sun fell in a fierce five-game series to a tough Washington Mystics team, losing three games to two.

There are no details about the playoffs which traditionally ends in October.

As for what it means for players’ salaries, Voepel wrote that a part of the

proposal include players possibly only receiving 60 percent of their normal salaries.

Executive Director of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) Terri Jackson said that she has been talking to players.

“No decisions have been made,” Jackson told ESPN. “Players are considering all their options.”

This proposal came on the heels of the NBA Board of Governors approving a proposal on Thursday to restart their season on July 31. They will be in Orlando, Florida, at Walt Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. An eight-game schedule for each of the 22 teams is on the table. There could be a play-in tournament as well, and then the traditional playoffs will get underway and is set to end by October 12.

The IMG Academy Gymnasium has four state-of-the-art courts. Also, the Legacy Hotel is nearby.

Jones was phenomenal last season. Back in February she signed a multi-year contract to return to the Sun.

In 2019, the 6’6” Grand Bahamian was just shy of averaging a double-double in a healthy regular season where she played and started all 34 games. She finished the regular season averaging 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. She added two blocks per game. Jones led the league in rebounding and was tied with Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner for the league lead in blocks.

Jones’s stunning regular season numbers didn’t go unnoticed. She was named as an all-star and a member of the All-WNBA Second Team for the second time in her career. Jones was also named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team.

For her rebounding efforts, the 2016 sixth overall pick in the WNBA Draft won the 2019 WNBA Peak Performer Award in that category for the second time in her career. She also won that award in 2017 when she inked her name in the history books by recording a WNBA record 403 rebounds in a season, averaging 11.9 per contest. She was named as the WNBA Most Improved Player that year.

During the team’s postseason run last year, Jones took her play up a notch, averaging 17.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.

Signing Jones to a new deal was just one move the Sun prioritized in the offseason. They also snatched veteran guard/forward DeWanna Bonner from the Mercury. Bonner averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. The Sun is now expected to feature a starting frontline of Jones, Bonner and Alyssa Thomas.

This is set to be the league’s 24th year since its inaugural season in 1997. Though no agreement has come to fruition as yet, the proposal is a great sign that there are some efforts to get the season underway.

Hield’S Kings, Ayton’S Suns In Proposed Nba Restart

Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield. (AP)

Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield. (AP)

As of Thursday, June 4, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#THE NBA has proposed a format to complete the 2020 season with a limited number of participating teams which will include both Buddy Hield’s Sacramento Kings and Deandre Ayton’s Phoenix Suns.

#According to ESPN Senior NBA Insider, Adrian Wojnarowski, the league’s board of governors will vote on a proposal for the league to resume play in Orlando, Florida, featuring the 16 teams currently in playoff position, teams currently within six games of eighth place in the two conferences.

#The Kings are 28-36, No.10 in the Western Conference and 3.5 games behind the No.8 Memphis Grizzlies (32-33) while the Suns are 26-39, six games behind the Grizzlies.

#Other non-playoff Western Conference teams invited to participate in Orlando include the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and San Antonio Spurs while the Washington Wizards will be the lone addition from the East. All games will be hosted at the Walt Disney World Resort.

#The plan will feature teams completing eight regular season games and a possible play in tournament for the final eighth and final seed.

#If the No.9 seed is more than four games behind the No.8 seed, No. 8 will make the playoffs. If they are fewer than games behind the teams will complete in a play-in tournament.

#Teams will officially begin training at team sites in July and will advance to full training camps in Orlando prior.

#The NBA has suspended its season since March 11, when Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert was the league’s first player to test positive for COVID-19.

#Players and staff will be mandated to adhere to social distancing and the league is set to have “uniform, daily testing for the coronavirus within the Disney campus environment,” said ESPN.

#Should a player test positive, the plan calls for them to be individually quarantined and treated and continue to test other players.

#Through 64 games this season, Hield is averaging 19.8 points per game and is shooting 40 per cent from beyond the arc, making 3.8 three-point field goals in about 10 attempts per game. Hield also added 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

#Hield started 44 of those games and was moved to the bench on January 24 and has continued his production post-All-Star break after he won the Mtn Dew 3-Point Contest at NBA All-Star weekend last February.

#This season, Hield has 244 three-point field goals thus far, and was on track to surpass last year’s total of 278 and possibly become just the third player in NBA history to make 300 in a single season.

#In his second NBA season, Ayton averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 54 per cent from the field in 30 games.

#According to Basketball Reference, his player efficiency is ranked at No.35 in the league at 20.5.

#Ayton has missed time this season with a 25-game suspension due to violating the NBA’s substance abuse policy. He also missed seven games this season due to an injured ankle, including a withdrawal from the 2020 NBA Rising Stars game at NBA All-Star Weekend.

Kai Jones No.30 On Top Prospects List For 2021 NBA Draft

As of Thursday, June 4, 2020

photo

Kai Jones

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#DESPITE a freshman season where he received inconsistent playing time from the Texas Longhorns coaching staff, Kai Jones has been listed as a highly coveted prospect for the 2021 NBA Draft by Sports Illustrated.

#The publication listed Jones, the 19-year-old, 6’11” 215 pound Longhorns forward, at No.30 among the top prospects for next year’s draft.

#“Admittedly, Jones is still pretty much a wild card, but NBA teams are well aware of what he brings to the table athletically, and he showed signs of figuring things out toward the end of this season. He should figure more prominently into the rotation as a sophomore, but will still have to compete for minutes with a host of other bigs,” SI’s Jeremy Woo said. “Jones has to add strength, but he’s wiry and explosive and has shown flashes of skill development from a face-up standpoint that hints at some future versatility. But he’s yet to take the next step and, until he does, he’ll remain more of an idea in the eyes of the NBA.”

#Jones concluded the season with a career high night in the regular season finale when he scored a career-high 20 points in Texas’ 81-59 loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

#Jones converted a career-best 8-12 field goals, including 2-5 on three-pointers. He also added seven rebounds (one shy of his career high) and two steals in 32 minutes.

#The Longhorns ended the season 19-12 (9-9 in the Big 12).

#At the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament in March, Jones and the Longhorns were going through pre-game warmups with the Texas Tech Red Raiders when news broke that the Power Five conferences all cancelled their basketball tournaments due to the threats of further spread of the coronavirus.

#For the season, Jones averaged 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

#The season finale was his second career high outing against the Cowboys on the year after he posted a team-leading five blocked shots in just 16 minutes of the Longhorns’ 76-64 win in January.

#Earlier in the season, Texas head coach Shaka Smart lauded Jones’ effort following a win over the Central Michigan Chippewas.

#“One thing about Kai, he has the best work ethic of any 6’11 player I have ever coached. That really is going to serve him well moving forward. A lot of guys 6’0, 6’2” they get in the gym and work on their game, but he really works,” Smart said. “He works like a guard, most bigs don’t work great at that age. They’re still learning to work. All those guys that we’ve had at that position developed so much better work ethic during their time here and beyond. But Kai came in with a work ethic and drive to get better and he has big goals, so that says a lot about him.”

#Jones entered Texas as one of the top 50 Prep Basketball recruits in America. He was listed at No. 49 in the final ranking of the ESPN Top 100 for the Class of 2019 following his standout season at Brewster Prep Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

#A consensus four-star recruit, Jones earned a scout grade of 88 overall and was ranked No.13 among all centres, No.12 in his region and No.1 in the state of New Hampshire.