Jocelyn Penn has been learning about the realities of professional sports more quickly than she had hoped. The first lesson was uncertainty, which she experienced after being cut by the Charlotte Sting scarcely more than a month after being chosen with the ninth overall pick of the WNBA draft. Her latest pleasant surprise was scoring 12 points in 12 minutes for her new team, the Washington Mystics, on Tuesday night after just one full practice.
"She knew three plays, so we ran them after she came on the court," said point guard Annie Burgess, referring to a debut by Penn that helped the Mystics snap a three-game losing streak. "She was aggressive, just played her game and was relaxed. She's fit in very well, very easily."
Jocelyn Penn was picked ninth in WNBA draft out of South Carolina. Cut by Sting, she had 12 points in 12 minutes of her Mystics debut.
(File Photo/Bruce L. Flashnick -- AP)
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_____2003 Preview_____
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A team-by-team look at how the 2003 WNBA season breaks down.
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As Coach Marianne Stanley was walking Penn through one of the plays the Mystics plan to use to attack zone offenses yesterday during a practice before back-to-back games -- the team plays tonight against the Sun in Connecticut and hosts Detroit on Saturday -- Stanley was startled that Penn was cut so quickly by the Sting. Stanley initially thought Penn would contribute most on defense, but was pleasantly surprised with Penn's scoring outburst.
"She has the foot speed to defend quick wings, and did have a steal and defended well," Stanley said. "The extra benefit was offense, although I expect her to contribute there."
Penn still is not sure why the Sting released her. One of the reasons, according to Mystics assistant Linda Hill-McDonald, who as an assistant coached Penn at the University of South Carolina, was the Sting trying to force her into playing power forward when, at 6 feet and 170 pounds, she clearly is undersized for the position.
"She has to be a [shooting guard-small forward] at this level," Hill-McDonald said, adding about Penn's quick turnaround from the embarrassment of being cut: "I'm proud of her."
The connection with Hill-McDonald was part of the reason Penn, 23, who grew up in Georgia, was pleased to sign with the Mystics.
"I came flying," she said.
Penn said it helped that the first three plays she learned with the Mystics were very similar to ones Hill-McDonald uses at South Carolina.
Also, Penn let her basketball instincts kick in "and my teammates talked me through some stuff." The immediate problem for the Mystics (2-3) is the Sun's combination of point guard Shannon Johnson and guard-forward Nykesha Sales. Johnson is second in the league in scoring (19.2) and assists (6.4). Sales's 18.4-point average is sixth in the WNBA. The Sun (3-2) is not lacking for complementary players, with Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Rebecca Lobo in the front court, but has been outrebounded by an average of nine.
With no early flight out of Hartford on Saturday, the Mystics will arrive in Washington early in the afternoon, no more than five hours before the 6 p.m. game vs. Detroit. That frustrates Stanley, although she said the Mystics would be able to sleep longer in Connecticut.
"The whole thing makes the mental aspect of toughness and focus greater," Stanley said. "And with the physical part, there's not much recovery time. Depth becomes even more of a factor."
