CamrnCrz1974
Good Guy for a Dookie
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Mercury Name Penny Taylor Director of Player Development and Performance - Phoenix Mercury
Best possible news.
Let me tell you about PFT. At 6-1, she did not look like a basketball player. She was relatively slow and unathletic. She did not have a particularly large wingspan or other physical attributes that were savant skills.
What she did have as an unyielding drive to be the best player she could be AND the best possible teammate. At 6-1, she played SG (as needed), SF, and PF, often defending players who were much bigger and quicker than she. She never took plays off. She rarely got calls from the refs, yet she did not complain.
Her career stats do not stand out in terms of jaw dropping numbers (outside of shooting) - 13.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 46.6 percent from the floor, 38.2 percent from three, 86.8 percent from the line.
BUT...
In 2010, she nearly became the first WNBA player to achieve BOTH the 15/5/5 and 50/40/90 milestones for a season, when she averaged 15.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.0 apg while shooting 50.9 percent from the floor, 44.2 percent from three, and 89.3 percent from the line.
And in 2011, she almost did it again - 16.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.7 apg, while shooting 51.1 percent from the floor, 40.2 percent from three, and 87.4 percent from the line!
Taylor was always (considered) second banana to Lauren Jackson, the Pippen to her Jordan, if you will. She was always the beta to Diana Taurasi's alpha.
And yet, this is a player who was the 2006 World Championships MVP, an Olympian, a key cog in three WNBA titles, etc. WNBA All Star (2002, 2007, 2011). All WNBA First Team (2007). All WNBA Second Team (2011).
She did whatever was needed. She made herself better, and she made everyone around her better.
Best possible news.
Let me tell you about PFT. At 6-1, she did not look like a basketball player. She was relatively slow and unathletic. She did not have a particularly large wingspan or other physical attributes that were savant skills.
What she did have as an unyielding drive to be the best player she could be AND the best possible teammate. At 6-1, she played SG (as needed), SF, and PF, often defending players who were much bigger and quicker than she. She never took plays off. She rarely got calls from the refs, yet she did not complain.
Her career stats do not stand out in terms of jaw dropping numbers (outside of shooting) - 13.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 46.6 percent from the floor, 38.2 percent from three, 86.8 percent from the line.
BUT...
In 2010, she nearly became the first WNBA player to achieve BOTH the 15/5/5 and 50/40/90 milestones for a season, when she averaged 15.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.0 apg while shooting 50.9 percent from the floor, 44.2 percent from three, and 89.3 percent from the line.
And in 2011, she almost did it again - 16.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.7 apg, while shooting 51.1 percent from the floor, 40.2 percent from three, and 87.4 percent from the line!
Taylor was always (considered) second banana to Lauren Jackson, the Pippen to her Jordan, if you will. She was always the beta to Diana Taurasi's alpha.
And yet, this is a player who was the 2006 World Championships MVP, an Olympian, a key cog in three WNBA titles, etc. WNBA All Star (2002, 2007, 2011). All WNBA First Team (2007). All WNBA Second Team (2011).
She did whatever was needed. She made herself better, and she made everyone around her better.
