Mohegan - Asjha Jones has watched her Sun teammates come and go over her six seasons with Connecticut.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin wanted to play elsewhere. Katie Douglas wanted to return to her native Indiana. Lindsay Whalen was traded home to Minnesota in January.

Jones isn't going anywhere. She's already home.

"I try to picture myself somewhere else and I can't pick a place," Jones said. "This is where I belong. Just the way we play, our style of play, it fits perfectly. I like going into the game knowing what I have to do, where my shots are going to come from and what's expected of me. I'm extremely comfortable in this situation. We have a great organization. What more can you ask for?"

Jones laughed and added, "It's either here or nowhere else."

Connecticut has drastically changed its roster this offseason, with Jones the only holdover from its 2004 and 2005 Eastern Conference championship teams.

The Sun's moves have included:

• DeMya Walker was acquired in December's Sacramento Monarchs' dispersal draft.

• Lindsay Whalen who, like Jones, came to Connecticut in 2004, was traded in a deal for Renee Montgomery and the top pick in April's draft. The Sun plan on drafting UConn center Tina Charles.

• Veteran guard Kara Lawson, formerly of Sacramento, signed a three-year deal with Connecticut on Tuesday.

That's four new teammates for Jones and over a third of the Sun roster.

"It's been really, 'Wow! Did that really happen?'" Jones said. "I'm excited for coach (Mike Thibault). (The coaches) work so hard. They have all these different scenarios that they want to do, and this year they've actually got the players that they've gone after."

Jones was told that she might want to be excited for herself.

"For me, yeah, it's going to ease a lot of pressure," she smiled.

Jones has become a cornerstone and a face of the Sun franchise. She's gotten better each season and last summer was arguably playing the best basketball of her pro career before she missed the final 11 games with a left Achilles' tendon injury.

Thibault has said Jones is one of his all-time favorite players.

"I think it starts with the best pros are the ones that come to work every day with a purpose to get something done positive," Thibault said. "They understand the big picture. That they are no-excuses persons and always put team stuff ahead of individual stuff, or team goals ahead of individual goals.

"(Jones) has always been consistent with fitting that bill. She's an upbeat person who loves the game, but she's absolutely no-nonsense when it comes to getting the work done and giving us an opportunity to win. And she's been consistent about that. She works on her game and every year she seems to be a little bit better at something."

Jones has enjoyed some rare time off this winter. She played a few months for Russia's UMMC Ekaterinburg and came home before Christmas rather than spend the entire WNBA offseason playing overseas. It's helped to heal her left Achilles', an injury that just required rest.

Asked what she's been doing with her free time, Jones grinned and said, "Nothing. And it's awesome. … (I've been) just hanging out with friends and family. I've never gotten to do that before so I'm just taking the opportunity to reconnect with people.

"I think (the rest) is really going to extend my career. Maybe I'll be able to get it through the summer now. If I didn't take this break, there's no way I would've made it through the first month of the season if I didn't do this. It's necessary."

n.griffen@theday.com