The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Thomas hitting her stride with Sun
UNCASVILLE » The scouting report on Jasmine Thomas after a brilliant career at Duke and in the early stages of her WNBA career went something like this: great teammate, impressive work ethic, speed to burn, limited range on her jump shot, prone to careless turnovers.
Perhaps it is time to rewrite the book on the Connecticut Sun All-Star point guard.
Thomas exudes positivity, draws raves from her coaches both past and present for her team-first approach all while refining her game and become a more complete player.
Thomas has not only played for three WNBA teams but played overseas in the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey and Israel. When she was not on the court for her teams, she was getting shots up, so many shots that she couldn’t even try to guess how many have been launched towards the basket since her professional career began.
Thomas entered her seventh WNBA season shooting less than 30 percent from 3-point range. During games she saw opponents practically begging her to fire at will from beyond the arc.
When Thomas was 5 of 7 from 3-point range against mighty Minnesota in the second game of the year, there was probably a feeling that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. When Thomas hit four 3-pointers four times in a five-game stretch against 2016 playoff teams, it was clear that the days of leaving Thomas open from the perimeter had come to an end.
Thomas ranks third in the WNBA with a 45.3 mark from 3-point range, and among players to make at least one trey per game, only former college and professional teammate Chelsea Gray has a better percentage. If she maintains her current pace, she would set a franchise record for best 3-point percentage among players with at least 30 3-pointers in a season. Jamie Carey currently owns the record with a 45.1 3-point percentage during
age during the 2007 season. Naturally, Thomas is one of five contestants in the 3-point contest at halftime of Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game.
“It’s just the confidence,” Thomas said. “A lot of shots I am taking now are shots I have been taking or had the opportunity to take them and I am making them. My teammates believe in me, the way we play together as a team you really can’t lose confidence.
“It not even just the shots, if a play needs to be made or something needs to be executed, I don’t mind being in that role. I’ll do whatever I can to take that stress or worry off of others. There have been plenty of people to step up and make big plays at the end of games so that takes the pressure off of me. It really is a team game we are playing here and it is extremely enjoyable.”
Thomas’ work as the Sun’s floor general has also shown remarkable growth. The list of players in team history with at least 100 assists in a season and with twice as many assists and turnovers includes three players. Lindsay Whalen accomplished the feat on four different occasions, Kara Lawson did it twice and Thomas joined that select company last season. She is currently averaging 2.02 assists for every turnover this season so she could make the cut once again. Since the start of the 2016 season, the only player with more assists than Thomas’ 269 is future Hall of Famer Sue Bird.
Thomas is a major reason why a Connecticut Sun team that has missed the playoffs in each of the last four seasons will head into the short All-Star break tied for first in the Eastern Conference and currently third in the playoff standings.
Thomas and teammate Jonquel Jones will both start for the Eastern Conference in Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game (3:30 p.m., ABC), while Alyssa Thomas gives the Sun three first-time AllStars.
Six of the players named All-Star starters have played with just one team in their careers, while three others forced their way out of the city where they began their WNBA careers as either the No. 1 or 2 overall picks. Then there is the road Thomas took to becoming a firsttime All-Star.
Thomas was selected by Seattle with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft. Less than three weeks later she landed in Washington as part of a three-team trade. After two seasons in Washington, she was traded to Atlanta. After averaging 27.5 minutes during her first season in Atlanta, she played just 17.5 minutes and averaged a career low 4.8 points per game. Another trade was a definite possibility and on the night of the 2015 WNBA Draft came one rather lopsided deal as Thomas was traded in exchange for the draft rights to second-round pick Brittany Hrynko. Hrynko was cut after two days of training camp in 2015 while Thomas has started in all 88 games she has played for Connecticut. She already ranks eighth in franchise history with 401 career assists and is 33 points shy of becoming the 11th players to hit the 1,000-point plateau with the Sun.
“Seven seasons and three teams later, to finally be myself and be comfortable in my game and to be recognized for it, that means a lot and it is all about timing,” Thomas said. “It is not just me growing into my game, it is a lot of us blossoming and growing into ourselves. Alyssa (Thomas), Courtney (Williams) she had a great rookie year and is playing even better this year. JJ (Jones), she suffered through the ups and downs she had as a rookie and for her to be emerging this way is amazing, Strick (Shekinna Stricklen), I feel like I could go on and on with the way everybody has grown in the last year.”
Thomas’ statistics are worthy of being an AllStar. She is averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game, but her role goes much further than any numbers on a stat sheet. Along with fellow co-captain Alyssa Thomas, no relation, she has provided invaluable leadership on a team featuring five players in either their first or second WNBA seasons.