By Jamie Thomas
One of the WBBL’s all-time greats accomplished a major milestone on the weekend as Manchester Mystics floor general Georgia Jones bagged her 2,000th WBBL Championship point.
A key part of the league since its inception in 2014, Jones became only the second player to complete the feat last weekend as she netted 13 against the Sevenoaks Suns to take her past the magic number, and we caught up with the GB international to reflect on her latest landmark.
“The first thing that really comes to mind is how long I’ve been playing in the WBBL. I was excited to be part of the first season, so to still be playing now and having accomplished this milestone feels really good. I’m really happy that I got there and that I’ve not retired yet!
“I saw some pictures of my first season in the WBBL last week and it seems like such a long time ago, to be honest, and it obviously is but it seems even longer ago somehow. To have that flashback, I guess, has been nice because of this achievement, being able to look back on all the teammates I’ve had, the relationships I’ve made and it has been really special.
“Achieving something like this never crossed my mind, because I’ve never believed nor been told that stats should be a focus – this game is all about relationships for me, and winning or losing is much more important than stats. I play basketball because of the chemistry it creates, the thrill of playing good, high-level intellectual basketball, but these milestones are always really nice.”
“We’ve seen glimpses of what we can do.”
In eight Championship outings so far this year, only the undefeated Sevenoaks Suns, Sheffield Hatters and the then-rolling Essex Rebels have bested the Mystics who sit fifth in the standings at this stage of the season.
Despite leading many of their traditional competitors in the standings, Jones feels the season has been a challenging one with lots of room for growth from the team.
“It has been a challenging season, but we’ve done really well in spite of that. We’ve been low on numbers with a short rotation for many of the games, but we’re starting to get people back now and that’s exciting.
“We’ve not reached our full potential, and that’s partly because we’ve not had everybody available yet, but we’ve seen glimpses in games recently of what we can do and although we need to do more than show glimpses, it is really encouraging to see those good moments coming through.
“I think one thing we need to do better is recognise when things are going well or not on the court, in terms of vocally acknowledging to each other that things are going in the right direction or dipping on the court. It is certainly a focus for me, to try and communicate that to players and the coach to continue to develop those good habits more within the team to enable better performances.”
“There are a lot of teams still figuring things out.”
The Mystics aren’t alone in facing the issues Jones described, however, as a core group of teams in the middle of the table could perhaps fit into those categories of dealing with injuries to key players and struggling to find consistent wins for one reason or another as a result.
The veteran point guard spoke of the positives the Mystics have shown in the last few weeks that has seen them lead most of their competitors at this stage of the term.
“Everybody has stepped up at one point or another, which has been great because we’ve really had to have those contributions. We’ve had wins because of those people stepping up too, especially in the case of Rheanne (Bailey) who was going to retire before the season, but she’s been vital as have so many others at times.
“Warrior is the right word, it describes Rheanne in a nutshell. Even if she can’t move, she will fight for the team and has stepped up big time. I wasn’t happy that she was planning to retire, so it was a nice surprise when she changed her mind, but we’ve got so many fighters in this time and that has been huge for us.
“We have smart, talented and experienced players, so when we come together and play well it is uplifting. Teams look quite different this year, and there have been quite a few changes to each roster, so there are a lot of teams still figuring things out and showing glimpses, and that’s what we’re facing but it’ll come good for sure.”
“We need to keep pushing as there is a lot more to come.”
From a fan perspective, the drama and competition across the WBBL this season has been epic, and Jones has enjoyed it as much as anybody else.
A particular highlight for her, however, has been seeing some of her friends and former teammates competing and developing at a high level, as she details in discussing the growth of the league during her time in the WBBL.
“As much as we’re all competitors and when we come up against them I want to beat them, it has been so nice to see so many friends developing across the league this season. I’ve seen the talent of these players day in, day out, when they’ve been on our team, but then for them to go elsewhere and progress it is really good to see, especially with the British players stepping up.
“Ebony (Horton) is doing a really good job at Newcastle, but you can see that as much as anything else she’s really developing as a leader and that’s something we spoke about a lot last year with her. I don’t want to sound belittling and say I’m proud of her, but she’s really stepped up and grabbed her opportunity with both hands.
“The product of the league is really getting better every year, and when you look back from the beginning to now you see that growth even more. It is really positive to see as a player in my position, and I’d like to retire knowing that it is in a much better place than it was at the beginning, but we need to keep pushing as there is a lot more to come.”