UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT - Connecticut Sun forward Wendy Palmer-Daniel's offseason conditioning paid off and former Georgia star Kelly Miller kept pace with her twin sister.<br>
<br>
Both were named the WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Monday for their turnarounds that began in the offseason.<br>
<br>
Palmer-Daniel, 30, returned to the team fitter and faster this year and scored in double figures in 14 games. Her resurgence helped propel the Sun to the Eastern Conference title. She is averaging 9 points and 5.5 rebounds, up from 4.7 points and 3.3 boards last season.<br>
<br>
Last season was one Palmer-Daniel would just as soon forget for what happened off the court. She was trying to deal with the 2002 murder of her favorite aunt, a cab driver shot during an armed robbery. She was also mourning the loss of her best friend, a childhood pal, who died from surgical complications.<br>
<br>
``Last year, I can't really explain it. That wasn't the Wendy Palmer that most of us had seen,'' Palmer-Daniel said. ``I just wanted to get away from it and play hard.''<br>
<br>
She played in Europe in the offseason, a move she said helped with her fitness and focus.<br>
<br>
``I was going to get back to the top of my game and I was going to help the Connecticut Sun anyway I could,'' she said.<br>
<br>
A 1996 Virginia graduate, Palmer-Daniel is the team's second leading rebounder and nearly doubled her assist output and steals per game. She's also a newlywed, having married her fiance, Victor Daniel, during the Olympic break in August.<br>
<br>
Miller, traded in the offseason from Charlotte to Indiana, had career highs in points (10.2), rebounds (3.2) and assists (3.1).<br>
<br>
``I think (Indiana) was good place for me to go,'' Miller said. ``I was playing behind a lot of great veteran players in Charlotte. Indiana has a little younger team and it gave me an opportunity to play more.''<br>
<br>
Her twin, Coco, a guard for the Washington Mystics, won the same award in 2002. Both were drafted out of Georgia in the first round of the WNBA draft.<br>
<br>
``We're really supportive of each other,'' Kelly Miller said. ``Coco was probably even happier than I was when she heard I won the award.''<br>
<br>
Coco Miller was around to share the award with her twin Monday as her team prepared to take on Connecticut in the second game of a best-of-three-game playoff series. Washington won the first game Saturday.<br>
<br>
``I think it's special that she's here with me tonight to share this moment,'' Kelly Miller said.
