The 2020 WNBA Draft last night provided a couple of huge and exciting surprises.
Jazmine Jones was picked in the first round, the twelfth pick, and is headed to New York to play for the Liberty. Right behind her, as the first pick in the second round, Kylee Shook was selected by (you guessed it) the New York Liberty. They'll play in the Barclay Center in Brooklyn with another former teammate in Asia Durr and the #1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu.
Both Jones and Shook went higher than any of the "experts" predicted and to see them together again with Asia Durr is an exciting prospect. The highest projection I saw for Shook was #19 pick and for Jaz the #22 pick
New head coach of the New York Liberty Walt Hopkins drew praise from both Shook and Jones. They spend extensive time talking with him in the days leading up to the draft and both seemed to mesh quite well with Hopkins philosophy, a fast-paced, shooting from multiple spots high gear offense. That philosophy drew some verifiable credence when the Liberty traded "do-everything" post Tina Charles on Wednesday. to Washington in exchange for early draft picks.
New York had the #1 pick already and chose, as all expected, Oregon point guard Sabrina Ionescu. They also had the #9 pick and went with UConn's Megan Walker, a deadly three-point shooter on Geno's squad.
Then the pleasant surprise. First Jones, who was so excited, she reached out to Kylee on the internet. While they were chatting, Shook's name came up as the next pick. Jones saw it first and started screaming to Kylee about her selection also by the Liberty.
The Liberty also drafted Duke star Leonna Odom, a 6'2" forward who also possesses a great three-point accuracy and later traded to get #10 overall pick Jocelyn Willoughby, one of Virginia's key players over the last couple of years and a disciple of UVA head coach Tina Thompson, a 17-year WNBA veteran as well.
I look forward to this "new look" New York Liberty squad.
With the 2020 additions, the Liberty now have 18 roster players, 10 of the guards, so some trimming will have to occur. They have 6'9" center Han Xu, who debuted from China last year and veterans Layshia Clarendon and Amanda Zahui B.
The New York "Cardinals" !
--sonja--
Jazmine Jones was picked in the first round, the twelfth pick, and is headed to New York to play for the Liberty. Right behind her, as the first pick in the second round, Kylee Shook was selected by (you guessed it) the New York Liberty. They'll play in the Barclay Center in Brooklyn with another former teammate in Asia Durr and the #1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu.
Both Jones and Shook went higher than any of the "experts" predicted and to see them together again with Asia Durr is an exciting prospect. The highest projection I saw for Shook was #19 pick and for Jaz the #22 pick
New head coach of the New York Liberty Walt Hopkins drew praise from both Shook and Jones. They spend extensive time talking with him in the days leading up to the draft and both seemed to mesh quite well with Hopkins philosophy, a fast-paced, shooting from multiple spots high gear offense. That philosophy drew some verifiable credence when the Liberty traded "do-everything" post Tina Charles on Wednesday. to Washington in exchange for early draft picks.
New York had the #1 pick already and chose, as all expected, Oregon point guard Sabrina Ionescu. They also had the #9 pick and went with UConn's Megan Walker, a deadly three-point shooter on Geno's squad.
Then the pleasant surprise. First Jones, who was so excited, she reached out to Kylee on the internet. While they were chatting, Shook's name came up as the next pick. Jones saw it first and started screaming to Kylee about her selection also by the Liberty.
The Liberty also drafted Duke star Leonna Odom, a 6'2" forward who also possesses a great three-point accuracy and later traded to get #10 overall pick Jocelyn Willoughby, one of Virginia's key players over the last couple of years and a disciple of UVA head coach Tina Thompson, a 17-year WNBA veteran as well.
I look forward to this "new look" New York Liberty squad.
With the 2020 additions, the Liberty now have 18 roster players, 10 of the guards, so some trimming will have to occur. They have 6'9" center Han Xu, who debuted from China last year and veterans Layshia Clarendon and Amanda Zahui B.
The New York "Cardinals" !
--sonja--
