Taurasi/Hartley/Phoenix Mercury Update

[CamrnCrz1974]

COO Vince Kozar, GM Jim Pittman, Coach Sandy Brondello, and Diana Taurasi held a phone conference tonight (April 16, 2020) for season ticket holders and fans. They provided a lot of insight and commentary, as well as taking some questions in advance.

Here are my notes from the call - and apologies for blending the comments together (some of there were said by one or more speakers, but I did not remember specifically who said every single comment):

BONNER

• Bonner decided she wanted to play somewhere else.
• She was an UFA, could have gone anywhere.
• Worked with her; got good value in return.

GRINER

• Last year was a difficult year for Griner.
• But Griner is committed to being in Phoenix for her entire career.

DIGGINS

• Why target Skylar Diggins? Needed another playmaker; needed another scorer; needed another competitor with an incredible drive to win.
• Diggins is a huge Taurasi fan, and she wanted to play with Griner.
• Diggins is about family. Mercury was the first time to have babysitting at the arena. Franchise has a history of players who were parents.

HARTLEY

• Best years of Bria Hartley are still to come.
• Qualified for Olympics on French National Team.
• Was an elite player in Turkey, one of the better leagues.
• She provides another playmaker around Griner.

VAUGHN

• Kia Vaughn is a player whom everyone loves.
• You want to be on the same team with her. Kia checks a lot of boxes – drama free, good teammate, good locker room presence, comes in and does her work every day.
• Diana says she knows Kia well; they share an agent.

LEILANI

• Discussion of fan favorite Leilani Mitchell
• She was a great Mercury player. Washington had a lot of money to spend, after Kristi Toliver signed with LA.
• Needed to get younger and more athletic. Did not have the money that she would command after we made our free agent moves.

TAURASI

• Recovery from injury took a longer than she thought it would.
• But says she is as healthy as she has been in years.
• Talked about the importance of her family (Penny and Leo), especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

[bballnut90]

COO Vince Kozar, GM Jim Pittman, Coach Sandy Brondello, and Diana Taurasi held a phone conference tonight (April 16, 2020) for season ticket holders and fans. They provided a lot of insight and commentary, as well as taking some questions in advance.

Here are my notes from the call - and apologies for blending the comments together (some of there were said by one or more speakers, but I did not remember specifically who said every single comment):

BONNER

• Bonner decided she wanted to play somewhere else.
• She was an UFA, could have gone anywhere.
• Worked with her; got good value in return.

GRINER

• Last year was a difficult year for Griner.
• But Griner is committed to being in Phoenix for her entire career.

DIGGINS

• Why target Skylar Diggins? Needed another playmaker; needed another scorer; needed another competitor with an incredible drive to win.
• Diggins is a huge Taurasi fan, and she wanted to play with Griner.
• Diggins is about family. Mercury was the first time to have babysitting at the arena. Franchise has a history of players who were parents.

HARTLEY

• Best years of Bria Hartley are still to come.
• Qualified for Olympics on French National Team.
• Was an elite player in Turkey, one of the better leagues.
• She provides another playmaker around Griner.

VAUGHN

• Kia Vaughn is a player whom everyone loves.
• You want to be on the same team with her. Kia checks a lot of boxes – drama free, good teammate, good locker room presence, comes in and does her work every day.
• Diana says she knows Kia well; they share an agent.

LEILANI

• Discussion of fan favorite Leilani Mitchell
• She was a great Mercury player. Washington had a lot of money to spend, after Kristi Toliver signed with LA.
• Needed to get younger and more athletic. Did not have the money that she would command after we made our free agent moves.

TAURASI

• Recovery from injury took a longer than she thought it would.
• But says she is as healthy as she has been in years.
• Talked about the importance of her family (Penny and Leo), especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Glad to see Vaughn is back in the league. She's carved out a nice career for herself that I dont think a ton of people expected coming out of college.