Jones, Brionna (1995- )

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    The Sun Get Physical to Stay Alive Against Las Vegas

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    On the brink of elimination, Connecticut locked down Chelsea Gray and got superb performances from Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas.UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Las Vegas Aces were leading the W.N.B.A. finals heading into Thursday largely because of explosive first quarters. They had outscored the Connecticut Sun, 58-32, in the opening period of the first two games, a number that Sun Coach Curt Miller was well aware of. Before Thursday’s Game 3, Miller said he would “love” for the Sun to have an explosive start and force the Aces to take a timeout.It went the other way. An animated and furious Miller sprinted onto the court just over two minutes into the game as the Aces took a quick 9-2 lead.“I was frustrated, but not discouraged,” Miller said. “We’ve been in that situation before. We are in our home building. We just needed to not lose contact with them before the game settled in.”He added: “It’s scary to take a timeout quickly knowing that you have an eight-minute quarter — the rest of the quarter — without a timeout. But it was needed, and we gathered ourselves, and again, the veterans led through that huddle.”The Sun responded to the quick timeout with a 32-10 run, closing the first quarter with 34 points — a W.N.B.A. finals record — and a 19-point lead as their raucous fans were on their feet, swinging white towels.The Sun went on to defeat the Aces, 105-76, and now trail the Aces, two games to one, in the best-of-five series.Jonquel Jones led the way for the Sun with 20 points and 5 rebounds, and Alyssa Thomas added the first triple-double in finals history with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists.Miller said the win showed “toughness,” adding: “You know, a grit, a fight, that we’re not going to go away; that we are going to force Vegas to beat us.”Courtney Williams and the Sun were physical all night, limiting Kelsey Plum and the Aces to 76 points.Joe Buglewicz for The New York TimesThe Sun improved to 4-0 when facing postseason elimination this year. On Thursday, they relied on their height and physicality to dominate the Aces on both sides of the ball. The Sun outscored the Aces, 64-26, in the paint thanks largely to Jones, who won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2021. Jones used her 6-foot-6, 190-pound frame to outmuscle this year’s M.V.P. and Defensive Player of the Year, A’ja Wilson, scoring layup after layup, finishing through contact and drawing fouls.“Jonquel played like Jonquel,” Wilson said. “She’s an M.V.P. She played exactly how she’s supposed to play. I’m not going to take anything away from her. She dominated the game the way that she should.”Jones was dominating with 11 points in the third quarter, but with two minutes left, and the Aces comfortably ahead by 11, Miller removed Jones who had reached four fouls. The Aces quickly went on a 5-0 run, cutting the lead to six. A Brionna Jones layup just before the end of the quarter put the lead back at 8, but Jones stayed on the bench as the fourth quarter began.The absence made an Aces comeback seem inevitable, but the Sun were able to hold thanks to strong play from guard DeWanna Bonner and Thomas. When Jones returned with 7 minutes 35 seconds left in the game, the Sun were up 10. The Aces made a free throw, but Natisha Hiedeman knocked down a 3-pointer that put the Sun up by 12, igniting the crowd.Odyssey Sims, a guard for the Sun, mimicked the “night, night” celebration made famous by Golden State’s Stephen Curry as a way to signal to the crowd that the game was over. Minutes later, the Sun extended the lead to 14, and Aces Coach Becky Hammon began pulling her starters.“This game was about physicality and mental toughness, and they smoked us, period,” Hammon said.Part of the turnaround came from the Sun finally finding an answer for Chelsea Gray, the Aces guard who had stepped up during this postseason. Gray has had numerous crucial moments throughout the Aces’ run, but on Thursday she looked decidedly uncomfortable.The Sun matched the 6-foot-4 Bonner on Gray and aggressively double-teamed her on screens to force someone else to beat them. The strategy resulted in four turnovers from Gray and her struggling to get anything going offensively. In the second quarter, Gray tried to assert herself by pulling up for a few deep 3-pointers, at one point scoring 9 straight points. But that was it for Gray. Her last 3-pointer in the first half was her 11th and final point of the game.“I’m just trying to stay locked in and limit her touches as much as I can, not give her too much room,” Bonner said. “Try to use my length more than anything. I’m a 6-foot-4 guard for a reason, so I just try to use my length, use my speed.”The Aces got 22 points from guard Jackie Young — her highest scoring game of the postseason — and Wilson added 19 points, but just four rebounds. It was the worst defensive game of the postseason for Wilson and, by extension, the rest of the Aces.“We just were not locked in on the defensive end,” Wilson said, adding: “For us to come out and lack that, it was going to be a long game regardless of who we played.” More

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      WNBA Stars to Head Overseas Despite Brittney Griner’s Arrest in Russia

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      Playing for international teams can earn top players more than $1 million. But Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia has complicated the choice to go abroad.As the W.N.B.A. star Jonquel Jones looked ahead to the off-season this year, she couldn’t help but think about her friend Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February after customs officials arrested her at an airport near Moscow.“Her not being with us, her not being with her team and the W.N.B.A., her family not being able to see her,” Jones said. “Just her being over there and understanding that it could have easily been somebody else on our team and just kind of feeling the weight of that.“When you’re so close to that person it’s a little bit different.”Griner, like Jones, had been in Russia during the W.N.B.A. off-season to supplement her relatively modest salary by playing for some of the highest-paying women’s basketball teams in the world. But for the upcoming off-season, Jones, 28, signed with a Turkish team instead.“What would make me feel comfortable about going back to Russia?” Jones said. “B.G. being home, first and foremost. U.S.A. and Russia relations being better. The war in Ukraine being over with.”Griner, left, during the 2021 EuroLeague semifinal. Her detention has essentially removed Russia as a country W.N.B.A. players are considering for their off-season teams. Erdem Sahin/EPA, via ShutterstockPlaying overseas remains extremely popular for W.N.B.A. players seeking to earn more money or gain more pro experience, but several agents and players told The New York Times that, because of Griner’s ordeal and the war, they did not know of anyone who would be playing in Russia this off-season. The W.N.B.A. said it did not have a complete list of players going abroad because its playoffs are underway.The coronavirus pandemic had already winnowed overseas opportunities for W.N.B.A. players in virus-conscious countries like China and South Korea before the war in Ukraine and Griner’s detention made Russia essentially off limits, too. Players are still opting to go places like Turkey, Israel, Spain, Italy and France.“There’s always going to be some risk involved with being in a foreign country, but there’s risks in your own country as well,” said Jones, who has Bahamian and Bosnian citizenship. “We have a very short or small window to make the type of money that we’re making overseas, so we have to make sure we capitalize on that.”This year’s decision about playing overseas is more fraught because of Griner’s detention, but the personal and financial pressures that have pushed players abroad for years persist. There are political and safety concerns in some parts of the world, but some players need the money, and others would find it hard to pass up a payday that can significantly increase their yearly earnings. For others, going overseas provides extra time to hone one’s craft, and playing time that isn’t available in the W.N.B.A., which has just 144 roster slots across 12 teams and a season that lasts only a few months. Some players simply enjoy being able to work abroad.Griner’s situation has changed the stakes of making that choice.One of the W.N.B.A.’s best-known stars, Griner, 31, was recently convicted of drug possession and smuggling in a Russian court and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage. She is appealing her conviction, and U.S. State Department officials maintain that she was wrongfully detained. American and Russian officials have discussed a prisoner swap to bring Griner home, possibly with other detained Americans.“What would make me feel comfortable about going back to Russia?” Jones said. “B.G. being home, first and foremost.”Zsolt Szigetvary/EPA, via ShutterstockWhen she was arrested, Griner was returning to Russia to join Jones on their team, UMMC Yekaterinburg, for the playoffs. Griner has starred for the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury since 2013 and soon after also joined Yekaterinburg, among a handful of clubs owned by oligarchs who pay top salaries for pride and political reasons. Those clubs are not seen as an option right now because of Griner’s detention and the war in Ukraine.“It’s taken some money off the table for some people,” said Mike Cound, an agent who represents dozens of professional women’s basketball players. “It’s lowered the overall average salaries a little bit, but other countries, especially Turkey, have stepped up, upped their money because they realize they can get players they didn’t previously have access to.”What to Know About the Brittney Griner CaseCard 1 of 4What to Know About the Brittney Griner CaseWhat happened? More

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      The Connecticut Sun’s Chemistry Goes Beyond W.N.B.A. Bonds

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      Four Sun players also played college basketball at Maryland, giving them a connection that is proving fruitful on and off the court.They started off 5-0, and even now, at 9-5 entering Sunday, are better than nine of the W.N.B.A.’s dozen teams. The Connecticut Sun also are, somewhat unexpectedly, atop the Eastern Conference standings. They made it to the league semifinals in the IMG Academy bubble last season, but weren’t projected to be a title-contending team in 2021.Part of their sudden success can be attributed to chemistry, some of which has been in the making long before several players arrived in Connecticut.“We played for years together,” the rookie forward Stephanie Jones said. “Like, me and Kaila Charles, we played for years, and then me and my sister for a year, and having the background there, we all know where each other comes from in Maryland.”Jones is in her first year in the league after a college career with Maryland, where she played for four seasons alongside Charles. Her older sister, Brionna Jones, has been with the Sun for five years after playing at Maryland with Stephanie for one season and another with the Suns’ veteran forward Alyssa Thomas.Thomas is out this season with an Achilles’ tendon tear, but she is one of the most notable Terps in the league when healthy. Her presence alone on the Suns’ bench has had an impact this year.“Having a background with A.T., even just her being on the sidelines, like she understands where me and Kaila come from and what we’re doing,” Stephanie Jones said. “She gets what we went through those four years. Her communication with us makes our chemistry great.”Stephanie Jones wasn’t drafted into the W.N.B.A. right after college, but the opportunity to play in the league this season allowed her to team up with her older sister, Brionna.Stew Milne/Associated PressJones didn’t find a roster spot right out of college and wasn’t in the W.N.B.A. last season. The Sun selected Charles in the second round of the 2020 draft with the No. 23 overall pick, and she made an impact right away, averaging 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds over 17.9 minutes per game.At Maryland, Charles was one of six players in the school’s history to crack the top 10 in career points and rebounds. She started all her games at Maryland, tying Thomas’s record of starting 135 games. Charles hasn’t played as much yet this season, with returning players and a deeper roster, but Thomas has still taken notice of her fellow Terps’ development.“I haven’t been able to play with her yet, but watching her grow as a pro, seeing that in Florida, she’s done a good job,” Thomas said. “She’s having a good second year. There’s a lot more room to grow, but she’ll keep getting better each and every year.”While Charles was forging a pro career, Jones was still looking to make a roster, spending her 2020 season in Poland. She signed a training camp contract with the Sun in March and played her way onto the final roster. She has appeared in seven of the Sun’s first 14 games, averaging 2.3 points in seven minutes per game.Part of her comfort level has been playing with her sister.“It’s one thing playing together in college, but in the pros, that was always a dream,” Brionna Jones said. “To get to the league and then play with my sister, that’s really special. I’m always in her ear trying to help her along, do everything I can to make the experience good for her and make sure she’s catching all the little nuances I missed out on my rookie season.”Brionna Jones and Thomas also play overseas for the same team, USK Praha, so their connection has run through a few avenues.“We can’t get rid of each other,” Thomas said. “We love playing with each other. We know each other’s game so well each and every night.”She added: “I just love going out there and playing with her, and even off the court, we hang out all the time. We’ve had years getting to know each other.”Thomas is Maryland’s career leading scorer and rebounder, whose record is unmatched in both the women’s and men’s programs.Her impact on Maryland has almost certainly been one reason Coach Brenda Frese can recruit as well as she does, and Maryland has been a destination program in the last decade.Kaila Charles is still learning the rhythms of the W.N.B.A. in her second season, but she has the support of her fellow Terps, like Alyssa Thomas.Sean D. Elliot/The Day, via Associated PressCharles and Stephanie Jones felt that impact, too.“They’re always going to push you to be your best,” Charles said. “Like, Coach always talked about being comfortable being uncomfortable. And that’s one thing that really sets us up to play at the next level, because just to be able to develop your game, you have to not be comfortable and still be able to be successful.”The Sun have been playing without Jonquel Jones, who could be a candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award and has been competing in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2021 for Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has missed four games but could return soon.The Sun’s first game without her and her 21.6 points per game was a loss to Seattle, the first Sun home loss of the season. Her absence leaves room for one of the young Terps, like Charles or Stephanie Jones, to step up.Last season, it was Brionna Jones who took charge with Jonquel Jones out of the lineup after opting out of the 2020 season. Brionna became one of the Sun’s most consistent players, which has carried over to this season with 13.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game in more than 30 minutes per contest so far.At this point, the group is used to playing without some of its best talent. Last season, the Sun found ways to still succeed; Charles was a part of that, her rookie year, and said she was still learning.“This feels like year two of my rookie year,” she said. “Everything is kind of new still, playing in different arenas, adding the travel component to go with the game, having the fans back in the arena also makes things completely different than last year.”The Sun have already proved they can contend when it’s unexpected, and perhaps the Maryland bond of the Jones sisters, Thomas and Charles is helping.They certainly think so.“As a team we like each other so much, and we get along off the court, too,” Brionna Jones said. “So I think that allows us to have success on the court.”“It’s easy for us to talk to each other,” she continued, “to hold each other accountable, and I think that helped us a lot down the stretch last year. It allows us to be successful now. When you know people and care about them, you trust them. I think that makes it easier to succeed.” More