Jones deserves USA place but so far, doesn’t get it

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's London Calling) - The EuroLeague Women Final Eight in Istanbul wasn’t short of star power.

Spanish outfits Ros Casares and Rivas Ecopolis, Russian UMMC Ekaterinburg and Sparta&K Moscow Region, Turkish teams Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, Italians Beretta-Famila Schio and Poles Wisla Can Pack Krakow all played in the end-of-season showpiece event at the Abdi Ipekci.

The United States, the number one national team in the FIBA World Rankings, had several leading international players dazzling the fans.

Both Russia and Australia, who share the number two ranking, had their share of stars in Turkey.

There were also leading international players from the Czech Republic, France, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Poland, Belarus, Israel, Slovenia, Latvia and Belgium.

The best of them all was American Asjha Jones.

A forward at the University of Connecticut under Geno Auriemma during her college days, Jones is now 31.

She has played in the WNBA for 10 seasons, the last eight with the Connecticut Sun.

Jones has also performed at the highest level in Europe with clubs like UMMC Ekaterinburg of Russia and this season, Rivas Ecopolis of Spain.

With Madrid outfit Rivas, a relative newcomer to international basketball and a team that had not advanced beyond the first round of the play-offs the previous two years, Jones enjoyed maybe her finest year in Europe.

In the EuroLeague, she was a Player of the Week on one occasion and ended up averaging 17.9 points and nine rebounds.

At the Final Eight, for underdogs Rivas, she scored 19, 28 and 20 points in wins over Galatasaray, Beretta-Famila Schio and Fenerbahce.

She also rebounded well, hauling in 13, 12 and 11 boards in those three wins.

Then, in a championship game that no one expected Rivas to reach, against Ros Casares on Sunday, she had 14 points and seven boards.

Ros Casares trailed for much of the game but pulled away in the dying minutes for a 65-52 victory.

On the day that Jones led Rivas past Fenerbahce, USA Basketball announced the names of 11 of the 12 players that will compete at the Olympics and Jones, a world champion with the national team in 2010, was not among them.

Jones, who had played on a USA tour of Europe at the start of the season for coach Auriemma before entering the EuroLeague Women wars with Rivas Ecopolis, had been told in the build-up to the Final Eight that she was not going to have her name called.

Despite seeing her dream of playing at the Olympics for the first time fade, Jones turned in great performances in Turkey and was named MVP of the Final Eight.

After receiving her trophy, Jones stopped and talked about the Olympics.

"It's tough," she said.

"You're choosing from the best players in the world and sometimes, you're not going to make the cut.

"And for me, that was the case this time."

Jones still has a chance to travel to London because there is one place up for grabs.

She is silky-smooth on offense but can be physical when needed.

Jones has a feathery touch up to 20 feet and passes extremely well.

Defensively, she stands her ground in the low post and uses her powerful body to keep tough opponents away from the basket.

When it comes to the Olympic announcement, Jones was unlucky.

She would not only play, but be one of the best players for any other country playing at the Olympics.

But Jones is an American, and there are a lot of great players.

And there are only 12 places in the Olympic team.

Great ones often miss out for the United States and there’s a pretty good chance that this time, Jones will miss out.

She still has a chance to prove she belongs in the USA squad.

There are games coming up with Rivas Ecopolis in the Spanish league play-offs and this summer, she’ll return to the WNBA.

But Jones said: "I don't play to prove things to other people.”

That shooting touch, that winning mentality, that all-round game?

Jones has it all.

But the best part of Jones is her attitude.

"I play for myself and my team,” she said.

“So, whether or not they were going to pick me, I was going to play in the same way this tournament (Final Eight)."

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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