In praise of Crystal Dangerfield.... :)

[DavidinNaples]

Remember that Baylor game when UConn's superstar freshman only played 7 minutes, scored 0 points, grabbed 0 rebounds and had 0 assists? Remember, in that same game, when the other UConn superstar played 13 minutes, didn't take a single shot and had 2 turnovers? Well, it was February 18, 2013 and the two freshman were Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jeffferson. Baylor won that game 76-70. It would be hard to argue Stewie and MoJeff didn't bounce back from those freshman lows to make their mark on UConn basketball history...

Crystal Dangerfield has played 13 games for UConn, a total of 292 minutes, scored 81 points and dished out 43 assists. Her play has at times been brilliant, exactly what was expected of one of the top 5 players in the country. Other times, her play has been, well, just like Stewie and Mo in their first season. The big difference is Crystal's lows have been overwhelmed by her accomplishments in those first 13 games. Consider:

1. Crystal's worst game this year was an 8 minute, 3 point, 1 assist and 1 turnover performance vs Nebraska, when Geno benched her for the 2nd half. MoJeff had four games, as a freshman, that were worse. She had two "3 minutes of action" games where she scored 0 points and had 1 combined assist. Mo also had two games where she played 4 and 7 minutes, totaled 0 points and 1 assist. All that occurred in her first 13 games.

2. Crystal has 81 points, 43 assists and 28 turnovers in 13 games. After 13 games, Moriah had 49 points, 22 assists and 16 turnovers. Dangerfield is way ahead of the curve, relative to Mo.

3. Crystal has played an average of 22.5 minutes in her 13 games this season. She missed one game due to a concussion. Saniya Chong, a senior guard who is also battling a concussion, is averaging 22.8 minutes per game. Saniya has fewer assists (35 vs 43), fewer points (65 vs 81), but also fewer turnovers (9 vs 28). Crystal has the edge in steals, 12 to 11.

4. Crystal has made more three points shots (11 vs 7) than Saniya, but taken more tries (33-16). Her accuracy is currently 33% vs 43% for Chong. Crystal is hitting 67% of her free throws (6-9) whereas Saniya is 12-20 or 60%.

5. Baylor on November 17th, Crystal's 2nd game in uniform, 30 minutes, 19 points, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 3 three point baskets. Absolutely brilliant.

Freshman go through a learning process at UConn, especially point guards. They adjust from handling the ball all the time, to handling it less. They adjust from shooting and scoring more than anyone else, to doing that far less. They go from option 1 to option 4 or 5. Most of all, they go from a simpler high school offense, with set plays, to the multi-optional UConn offense where everything depends on what the defense gives you and what your teammates do. Every superstar at UConn went through an adjustment period. One could argue, Crystal is adjusting just fine and her future looks as bright as ever.

Go Huskies..!!
Go Crystal..!!

 

[JoePgh]

Part of the explanation for Crystal's better stats through 13 games as a freshman, in comparison to Moriah, is that Crystal is the first guard off the bench this year, which was not the case in Moriah's freshman year (2012-13). I may be getting my years mixed up, but as I recall, in that year UConn had Bria Hartley, Kelly Faris, and Caroline Doty available as guards, so (as I recall) Moriah was 4th in the depth chart and second off the bench. That's the same spot as Molly is in this year. So you would expect, just based on that, that Crystal would get many more minutes now than Moriah did then, which obviously gives her more chance to be productive. I don't think you can conclude from that comparison that Crystal is now a better basketball player than Moriah was as a freshman.

Regarding your other comment about Breanna Stewart's dismal game against Baylor in her freshman year, and pertinent to Geno's "tough love" coaching methods, I'm not sure it was widely noted (I didn't hear it at the time) that Geno made a comment in his postgame press conference after that loss that he had made a mistake by putting Stewie in the game even for 7 minutes, and that if he hadn't done that, UConn would probably have won. That's a pretty extreme version of tough love, IMHO. Years later, it was reported that Stewie, who was obviously very hurt and upset by the comment, had stayed up with her parents in a hotel room until 3 AM that night trying to get over what Geno had said, but according to her mother, she never once suggested that she wanted to quit or transfer. The rest is history, obviously -- another example of public humiliation of a player that accomplished the intended purpose, as he probably knew it would.

 

[Kaizen]

As a freshman Crystal is just amazing and I expect she will be as good as Moriah in the next 3 years.

 

[huskeynut]

Crystal is going to be just fine. When we least expect it, she is going to explode on some team.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Why is the first post of this thread all in bold letters but not the others?

 

[UcMiami]

Nice post David. I see two issues with Crystal right now:
1. She has no idea when to shoot the ball. Against Baylor she probably had the same issue but all her shots went in so it wasn't an issue!

2. She has struggled defensively - partly because a few teams have taken advantage of a size mismatch, and partly because she just isn't very good defensively yet. With blurry hindsight, I believe Moriah was significantly better defensively from the beginning while Crystal has been significantly better offensively - that may be just 'in contrast' - Crystal's defensive struggles stand out because her offense is so much better, vs. Moriah whose offensive struggles stood out because she was better defensively. But those are my impressions.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Sh

Nice post David. I see two issues with Crystal right now:
1. She has no idea when to shoot the ball. Against Baylor she probably had the same issue but all her shots went in so it wasn't an issue!

2. She has struggled defensively - partly because a few teams have taken advantage of a size mismatch, and partly because she just isn't very good defensively yet. With blurry hindsight, I believe Moriah was significantly better defensively from the beginning while Crystal has been significantly better offensively - that may be just 'in contrast' - Crystal's defensive struggles stand out because her offense is so much better, vs. Moriah whose offensive struggles stood out because she was better defensively. But those are my impressions.

Crystal has struggled defensively, although I've noticed a good deal of improvement in the more recent games, so hopefully she has turned a corner here. No question about Mo being the better defender, though. That's not so much a knock against Chrystal, but Mo's defense was out of this world, as we all know.

My own opinion is that the concussion protocol is what really set Crystal back. I do think that she has fully recovered, but it happened at the worst time after her outstanding performance against Notre Dame, and unfortunately became a triggering event for the freshman wall that they all invariably hit. My hope is that by getting through that phase early, as it now looks like will happen, she'll be on a long upswing going into March.

 

[WiseOne]

Crystal is going to be just fine. When we least expect it, she is going to explode on some team.

Got a feeling it's gonna be against her former teammate!! Hmmmmmm

 

[BroadwayVa]

As a freshman Crystal is just amazing and I expect she will be as good as Moriah in the next 3 years.

Come the NCAA's Geno shall unleash his less than secret weapon!!! The kid is amazing--and still a kid!!