Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The most valuable basketball player at the University of Kansas wears number four. The player in question isn’t Sherron Collins, but Danielle McCray.
The do-it-all junior guard has put the Kansas women’s basketball team on her shoulders and carried it to a 12-4 record this year. McCray is leading the team with 18 points and eight rebounds per game. She’s shooting nearly 38 percent from three-point range and 88 percent from the free-throw line.
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Sturdy and chiseled at 5-foot-11, McCray has built her body into one of the conference’s best. She’s point-guard quick and power-forward strong with a hitch-free jump shot and deep range.
McCray is among the elite players in the Big 12 Conference. Sturdy and chiseled at 5-foot-11, McCray has built her body into one of the conference’s best. She’s point-guard quick and power-forward strong with a hitch-free jump shot and deep range. McCray, and Olathe native, can post up smaller opponents inside and stretch defenses with her three-point shooting.
She’s had her share of great games in Jayhawk victories this season: 27 points and 12 rebounds against St. Louis and 26 and nine versus Houston, specifically.
But it’s when McCray struggles that her true value shows. At UCLA, McCray missed 11 of 14 shots and scored nine points (Kansas lost). Kansas State held her to 2-for-12 shooting and seven points (Kansas lost). Most recently, McCray went 7-for-24 at home against Texas Tech (Kansas lost).
When McCray is on, Kansas is on. When McCray is off, Kansas is off. McCray knows it, Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson knows it, and, unfortunately for Kansas, every team in the Big 12 knows it.
Kansas State threw tall defender after tall defender at McCray. Four days later, Missouri stuck large-and-in-charge power forward Jessra Johnson on McCray, holding her to 12 points in a Kansas victory. Texas Tech put long-armed wing Ashlee Roberson on McCray last weekend. Kansas can be assured each of its final 13 opponents will take note of McCray’s struggles against bigger, more physical defenders.
“It’s faster, and they’re better players,” McCray said of the increased level of play in the Big 12. “I don’t know what I’m going through right now. I’ve been in the gym a lot lately, shooting. I don’t know what it is, I’ve just got to get out of it.”
McCray can’t be blamed for going through a rough stretch. She’s the focus of opposing defenses at all times because Kansas lacks many other viable offensive options. Junior guard Sade Morris is the Jayhawks’ second-leading scorer, but she isn’t a pure shooter (33 percent on three-pointers). Senior point guard Ivana Catic isn’t an offensive entity, attempting barely two shots per game. Posts Krysten Boogaard and Nicollette Smith are capable offensive players, but each has limitations: Boogaard struggles from the free-throw line (50 percent), Smith struggles inside the three-point line (35 percent).
Like Collins, McCray is often her team’s hero and sometimes its scapegoat. Must be the jersey number.
— — Edited by Casey Miles
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