Brionna Jones’ Injury Puts Spotlight On Angel Reese
Brionna Jones suffered a torn meniscus on February 6 while playing in Europe. It was announced that she would miss the remainder of her season with USK Praha and would return to the U.S. the following weekend to undergo surgery. ESPN also reported that she was expected to return in time for the WNBA season.
The situation remained quiet until today. The Atlanta Dream announced that Jones underwent a successful knee surgery and that there is no timetable for her return yet. While it is unclear when the surgery actually took place, Jones will either miss some time early in the season or will be working her way back to 100%, which isn’t easy after a knee surgery.
That’s a big blow for a Dream team hoping to establish itself as a title contender early on. It also increases the pressure on newly-acquired Angel Reese to prove that she can help lead a winning team at the WNBA level.
Angel Reese may have to lead the charge in the frontcourt
Reese and Jones make for a very intriguing frontcourt combination and a rebounding machine. If Jones misses some time, Reese will likely share the starting frontcourt with Naz Hillmon. They will also share a lot of time on the court together if Jones is on a minutes restriction to start the season.
Hillmon took massive strides last season and added a 3-point shot to her arsenal. She is not the kind of All-Star big that Jones is, though. So, Reese will have to hold down the fort and provide All-Star-level play in the frontcourt while Jones recovers or works her way back to her usual self.
Reese has wanted to be a star on a contending team ever since she made it to the W. This is her chance to do just that. Taking on a big role like that on a new team as a young player in the W isn’t easy, though, so there may be some growing pains in the beginning.
First-round draft pick Madina Okot should also get her chance to log WNBA minutes if Jones misses some time.
Hillmon and Reese make for a versatile frontcourt duo
Having Jones miss any time would be a tough blow, but there is a silver lining to it. A Hillmon-Reese frontcourt is arguably more versatile than a Jones-Reese duo.
The spacing would be much better, as Reese would be surrounded by 3-point shooters instead of sharing the court with a traditional big once again. She would have plenty of space to score around the basket, thrive in pick-and-rolls with the guards, or catch defenses off guard as a cutter.
It will be interesting to see how Karl Smesko balances the frontcourt rotation when everyone is healthy. He started Jones next to Brittney Griner at the beginning of last season, but then moved Hillmon into the starting lineup to improve the spacing. Reese is much more versatile than Griner, but the two-big experiment hasn’t always worked with her in the mix.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.