Jones, Shook Teleconference today -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

WNBA DRAFT HOPEFULS TELECONFERENCE AT 2 P.M.

The WNBA Draft occurs Friday night. It'll be at 7 p.m. and shown on ESPN.

This 2020 Draft is going to be quite a bit different that what we've seen over the years, because of the CoronaVirus, it'll be a virtual draft. No players, media or attendees will be in seats waiting to hear the names called and teams assigned. 

When the WNBA will actually start playing games is unknown as well as we go into this draft. Once again, COVID-19 is making this unpredictable. Drafted players will take part remotely, via teleconference. No "war room" for team officials to strike deals, trades and negotiate on picks. 

Two University of Louisville seniors, Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones, are expected to be taken by one of the 12 WNBA franchises. Just where they'll go as been a matter of speculation. This is a very unpredictable draft this year, especially after you get past the first couple of selections. 

Many organizations are posting their draft pick suggestions and predictions. For Jones and Shook, the majority of these publications have both Jones and Shook going in the third round. The New York Liberty seems to be the "wise guy" pick for Shook. For Jones, it's the Connecticut Sun.

We won't know, obviously, until the selections start rolling in. When we interviewed Jazmine Jones last week, she told us she hadn't really been following the talks and speculations -- concentrating instead on her strength and conditioning.  And, that's probably the wisest thing to do. It's like trying to pick the order of finish in the Kentucky Derby. 

On a personal level, I think the third round is a bit low for both Jones and Shook, and I am disappointed that no media speculation or listing is mentioned for two other very good graduating Cardinals -- Yacine Diop and Bionca Dunham. All this love for four Oregon players, and three of them (Hebard, Ionescu and Sabally) in the first round. Did I just imagine, or have a dream that the UofL women's basketball team BEAT Oregon in the Virgin Islands early in the 2019-20 season? I truly do not get all the Oregon 'superstar' hype. 

A lot of the media looks for "darlings" and strives to be trendy and go with a "hey, look at me" mode of operation and a attention-seeking bent. I'll say this:

Give me Jones, Shook, Diop and Dunham and, if the pandemic wasn't an issue, let's play a little "four on four" against Ionescu, Sabally, Hebard and Minyon Moore. And let me put a wager on who w-ll win. I'll clean up, probably at good odds, on the UofL WBB four. Oh, you say we need to add a fifth player? Sure, no problem. I'll choose Dana Evans for Louisville. Who do you want, Ducks? 

(I never was a trendy or fashionable kind-of-guy, though.) 

We'll listen in to the teleconference, record it and have it here for you at the site later today. Jared Anderson will have observations and his thoughts on the teleconference tomorrow and maybe a better version of it than mine. 

Note: Kylee was unable to join the teleconference, so we have Jazmine Jones' portion of it below for you listening pleasure. 



LINK:   JAZZ TELECONFERENCE. 



LINE OF THE DAY? 

Heard this one on the radio this morning, in regards to the government sending out checks to everyone and moving the tax filing deadline: 

"Not only can our government stimulate you, but they can also extend you." 

Oh, my...

Stay well and, remember....to quote our Governor Andy Beshear...we are all in this. We are all in this together. 


paulie
xxxxx