Back in the groove
UConn icon Taurasi is thrilled to return to court
The last time Diana Taurasi slipped on a WNBA uniform, the whole experience was one that she wanted to forget. It appears that she has done exactly that.
The former UConn star and the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer told a group of media over video conference call that she missed the last two seasons. The reality, however, is that the future Hall of Famer and a player most certainly to be included on the Mount Rushmore of women’s basketball, did manage to get into six games for the Phoenix Mercury during the 2019 season.
While Taurasi had plenty of things to consider before agreeing to suit up in a season played exclusively at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., her love of basketball brought her back into the fold.
“I’m 38 and I haven’t played in two years. If I opted out I would probably be retired to tell you the truth,” Taurasi said. “To me, it was all the hard work I put in the last two years to get back on the court.”
Taurasi said she was feeling better than she had in quite some time in early March when the sports world shut down due to COVID-19. Even though she couldn’t step onto a basketball court for quite some time, she was not willing to bid her career adieu just yet.
“Phoenix means a lot to me, they’ve had my back in the last 16 years and it is a relationship that I take very seriously,” Taurasi said. “I saw the type of roster that we put together with Skylar [DigginsSmith], Bria Hartley and I decided to play because I wanted to play basketball. Now I am here. It is not ideal but we are making it work. We have a tight-knit group.”
It is certainly a much different team with four of the top-six scor
ers from 2019 now with different franchises.
Diggins-Smith will team with Brittney Griner and Taurasi to give the Mercury one of the top trios in the league and potentially as dynamic of a Big 3 as the WNBA has seen in a while. Former UConn star Bria Hartley has also joined the team.
“The new Big 3, I am definitely liking it,” Griner said. “The chemistry on the court is there. I know Skylar’s game, Skylar knows our game very well, we’ve been going against each other, me and Skylar for a very long time so I am glad to be on the other end now.
“I think us three in action is going to be hard to guard, I don’t know what I would do. You take away one and you still have two others, you take away two and you still have another one, you can’t take away all three options. I feel like it is going to be trouble on the court. It is going to be very, very exciting.”
Taurasi already owns the WNBA career records in points scored, field goals made as well as 3-pointers made and attempted. She needs nine more attempted field goals to set that mark as well. However, she is not returning to pad her stats.
“We get to play basketball,” Taurasi said. “We get to play the thing that we love to do the most and especially right now when there is so much going on, there are so many people in difficult positions in life, COVID and social justice, we get to play basketball. We are trying to make this the safest possible environment to do it.”
Phoenix opens the season against Los Angeles on July 25 at 3 p.m.
DANGERFIELD DEBUT
Nobody would have blamed Crystal Dangerfield if she walked away from the game for a day, a week or even longer after the coronavirus brought a premature end to her time at UConn.
However, with a professional career to prepare for, she wasn’t willing to turn her back on her passion even for a minute.
“After the college season ended, I don’t think I really took any time or anything like that,” Dangerfield said. “It didn’t seem real to me just like now being here doesn’t seem real. We are in a bubble and it just seems so isolated so it had to be a quick, mental turnaround. I think I am doing OK, I do wish the college season had ended different, but now I am living my dream of being a pro.”
Dangerfield was selected by the Minnesota Lynx in the second round. She is reunited with former UConn teammate Napheesa Collier. She is also going from playing for a coach in Geno Auriemma who has more NCAA Division I national titles than any other coach and is now playing for Cheryl Reeve, who has won four WNBA titles and has the highest winning percentage in WNBA history. She believes playing for one demanding coach in college will help her while trying to meet the expectations that Reeve has for her and the Minnesota team.
“So far I think it has done me well as far as intensity in practice, attention to detail and really understanding what Coach [Reeve] wants for the most part,” Dangerfield said.
“There are differences as far as specific things on offense and play wise but attention to detail, intensity, coaching styles I think I am used to for the most part.”
Dangerfield, who is expected to make her pro debut with the Lynx play the Connecticut Sun on July 26 at noon, will need to be patient as is the case with so many rookies.
“I have watched Crystal a lot throughout her college career, have talked to the UConn staff quite a bit about Crystal,” Reee said. “At minimum, she will be a steady point guard, a steady backup point guard at minimum. I have to get in the trenches a little further with her to truly understand where the growth is necessary. Sometimes she might be the best point guard that we have on our team but it is not going to matter because we are going to be playing the players who are ahead of her.
“We know we want Crystal Dangerfield in the Minnesota Lynx franchise, you just may not see the affinity we have for her right away translating into minutes.”