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Originally Published: October 1, 2009

Rookies make big impacts at Finals

Forget playing time -- Phoenix's Bonner, Indiana's January are playing for a WNBA title

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By Mechelle Voepel
Special to ESPN.com
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Barry Gossage/Getty ImagesSixth Woman of the Year DeWanna Bonner is averaging 10.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg in the playoffs.

PHOENIX -- This is the way it works for most WNBA rookies: They end their college season, get drafted, race to finish schoolwork, head to training camp, make the team, adjust to everybody being bigger/faster/better than in college and hope they get playing time.

But what usually hasn't happened -- even for the best of rookies -- is getting a chance to play for a WNBA title. What's notable about this season's WNBA Finals is that both teams have a rookie who is a key player. That has never really been the case in any previous Finals.

Phoenix's DeWanna Bonner was named the league's Sixth Woman of the Year, and she has averaged 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds in the playoffs.

Indiana's Briann January, who has averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 assists in the postseason, didn't make the all-rookie team. But she's right there at the top of the class along with Bonner, Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry, Minnesota's Renee Montgomery, Detroit's Shavonte Zellous and Washington's Marissa Coleman.

"It's been an awesome year for rookies," said January, one of two rookies for the Fever, the other being Christina Wirth. "I kind of heard people weren't expecting much from us, but I was confident in the talent that was in our class. And we've come out this year and showed what we had to offer.

"Looking at the all-rookie team, all of them are going to be great players in the future, and even those who aren't on that list are going to make an impact. They're helping the game grow."

When you go back and look at past WNBA Finals series, you not only don't see all that many rookies, period, but you especially don't see one on each team who is an important contributor.

Although Tina Thompson was playing in her first pro season and contributed to the Houston Comets' WNBA title, we won't count 1997. That was the inaugural year of the league, when technically everyone was a WNBA "rookie," and there wasn't a Finals series but rather just one championship game. Nor will we consider American Basketball League veterans as actual "rookies" when they came over to the WNBA in the 1999 season. And virtually all foreign players who don't attend college in the United States compete professionally before they come to the WNBA. So they aren't the kind of rookies we're referring to, either.

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Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesIndiana's Briann January is averaging 9.5 ppg, 3.5 apg and 22.5 mpg in the playoffs.

With those parameters -- true first-year professionals -- which rookies have been legitimate contributors to WNBA championship teams?

Nikki Teasley was a starter for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002. The next year, Cheryl Ford won as a starter in Detroit. Chelsea Newton was a starter and Kristin Haynie a reserve for Sacramento in 2005. And in 2008, Alexis Hornbuckle and Olayinka Sanni were reserves for Detroit.

Among the rookies who have played for teams that lost in the Finals, the top contributors have been starters Lindsay Whalen for Connecticut in 2004 and Tammy Sutton-Brown for Charlotte in 2001.

Sutton-Brown is a veteran for Indiana now, and she's making her first appearance in the Finals since getting there as a rookie, when now-defunct Charlotte lost to L.A.

"It was my first year, and we went all the way to the Finals, and you kind of get spoiled," she said. "After that, it was so hard to get back here. So I think it's definitely more appreciated now."

Bonner was the No. 5 pick in April's draft, and January went at No. 6. Bonner's college career at Auburn ended in a disappointing NCAA tournament second-round loss at Rutgers. Meanwhile, January's Arizona State team couldn't be too disappointed, making the Elite Eight before falling to mighty UConn, the eventual national champion.

When Bonner reached Phoenix, she pretty quickly bonded with the veterans, who reached out to her.

"They came to me and told me I was going to get playing time, so I couldn't act like a rookie," Bonner said. "I had to change my mindset. They gave me a lot of confidence and made me more prepared to play."

Bonner, despite her 6-foot-4 height, played mostly guard in college. As a pro, she has had to learn to guard players at the forward spots more. Teammates Tangela Smith and Le'coe Willingham -- who was a rookie reserve in the 2004 WNBA Finals for Connecticut but did not play a lot -- have been especially helpful with that.

Smith jokingly says she doesn't mind having someone on the team who's even thinner than she is. And Willingham is happy to have a fellow Auburn Tiger.

"I didn't know what I was coming into," Bonner said. "I didn't know anything about Phoenix or even that they had wanted me. Everything was different, but as I went along, I got adjusted to it.

"Tangela really took me under her wing and taught me how to be a thin person dealing with bigger players. I use my quickness. You can't really wrestle with someone who's a lot stronger, so you use your speed."

Smith, who is in her 12th season in the WNBA, has enjoyed tutoring Bonner.

"I love that role because she's not the typical rookie," Smith said. "Most rookies come in and sit back and just watch everything. She's got mad confidence, she's a quick learner and she's got energy out of this world. She just fit in right along with us."

The friendliness the Mercury showed to Bonner is not the universal rookie experience. Freshmen can get the cold shoulder from upper-class players in college who fear losing playing time, of course. But in the pros, the fear is even greater: losing a job.

"Tangela and I have tried to take care of her because she's the baby," Willingham said. "I remember being a rookie, and it wasn't that easy. Not in every situation are people going to welcome you with open arms. Because it is a competition for jobs. But one thing about this team, it's very uplifting and empowering to everyone.

"And I know that felt good for her, to come in and have people who support you and want you to succeed. Everyone here has done that for her."

January also has fit in very well in her role with Indiana, where she has learned from veteran point guard Tully Bevilaqua and has seen her playing time increase during the season.

"I can't even express how much Tully has done for me," said January, who is averaging nearly 23 minutes per game in the playoffs. "She's been the best mentor I could ask for. From the first day of training camp until now, she's given me so much information to help my game grow. I couldn't imagine me going through this process without her -- she's meant that much."

January also credits veteran guard Tamecka Dixon in helping her learn a lot -- including some college history.

"When she started at Kansas, it was still the Big Eight, right?" January said, laughing, about what became the Big 12 in Dixon's senior year of 1996-97. "She knows as much as anybody about this league."

Indiana coach Lin Dunn said January is well on her way to being an elite point guard at the pro level.

"Her ability to penetrate, to pull up and shoot the 3, her defensive intensity -- she's really a multidimensional player," Dunn said. "And we're very fortunate to have her because we think she's the future point guard of this team. Tully is nearing retirement, and Briann is growing every game she plays."

January has impressed veteran teammate Tamika Catchings because she plays with the same kind of passion that Catchings does.

"Tenacity -- she's got that fire in her to be a competitor," Catchings said. "Sometimes I have to send her messages, 'Hey, you're doing a great job; keep it up.' When you have a bad game, sometimes you just need that positive energy, especially if you're a young player."

January has enjoyed being back in the Phoenix area, where she went to college, for the WNBA Finals. But she also has adjusted well to living in Indianapolis.

"The people out there have been so welcoming and taken me in," January said. "It kind of reminds me of Spokane, Wash., where I'm from. I haven't had much trouble adapting out there.

"Playing on this stage is something you dream of. I am lucky to share it with this team because they are a group of amazing people who deserve it. People like Tamika Catchings, Katie Douglas, Tamecka Dixon and Tully -- they have put in so much work to get here."

Rookies such as Bonner and January have shown they will work as hard as the veterans. And one or the other will come away with a WNBA title in her first season. That will be the ultimate rookie experience.

Mechelle Voepel, a regular contributor to ESPN.com, can be reached at mvoepel123@yahoo.com. Read her blog at http://voepel.wordpress.com.