As reported on WNBA.com on September 27th - Full story
Mercury guard Diana Taurasi was presented with the 2004 WNBA Rookie-of-the-Year Award in New York on Monday. The former Connecticut star becomes the first Phoenix player to earn the annual honor for the league’s top first-year player.Taurasi sat down with PhoenixMercury.com before heading to the Big Apple and talked about her first professional season of basketball, the crazy past year and her plans for the offseason.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------PhoenixMercury.com: Congratulations. How does it feel to add another honor to your impressive resumé?
WNBA 2004 Rookie-of-the-Year Diana Taurasi: Whenever you get an award, it’s cool. Rookie of the Year, especially in the WNBA where there are so many good players, it means a lot, it really does.
PhoenixMercury.com: How would you evaluate your play this season?
Taurasi: I think I did pretty well. I know I could have done a lot better, done a lot more. I just take that as being my first year and now I know what I need to do for my team next year.
PhoenixMercury.com: What are the areas you feel you need to work on?
Taurasi: Just little things that as a first-year player you really don’t always develop right away. Be a leader and be more vocal, and I think I can do that because I’ve done it with other teams, so I’ll definitely be looking to do it more next year.
PhoenixMercury.com: Because of your success and comfort at Connecticut, did any part of you want to stay in college forever?
Taurasi: I was definitely comfortable in college with my coaching staff and my teammates. But, there comes a point where you have to go outside your comfort zone and try something different, and that’s definitely what the WNBA is.
PhoenixMercury.com: Finally, what are your offseason plans? Any vacation time planned?
Taurasi: I’ve got to wait for this hurricane to go away, but I’ve got some things I’m working on. In January, I go back to school. I’m looking at some places here to buy a home. I’ll spend some time in California with my family this offseason.
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