Awkwardness and Accolades Aside, Rams' Backcourt is Tied to Success
Thurman, Crocker augment Hofschild's skillset
Mike Brohard
The on-the-court part is going well, which they all pretty much expected right from the start. So is the off-the-court, but that, in some ways, is a bit of a surprise.
“She was weird,” Cailyn Crocker said of her roommate, Destiny Thurman. “I literally told my family, ‘oh my gosh.’”
While their first impressions of each other left a bit to be desired, their addition to the Colorado State women’s basketball team have created a lasting one. The Rams (18-10 overall, 11-6 conference) head into Tuesday’s game at Moby Arena with Boise State (6:30 p.m.) with the chance to clinch the third seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas.
They share a backcourt with McKenna Hofschild, a player drawing national acclaim. Monday, Hofschild was named a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, presented annually to the nation’s top point guard. She’s also a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.
She’s not on the list just because she goes to the same school as the award’s namesake. It has everything to do with the mighty-mite’s powerful performance, leading the Mountain West in scoring at 21.0, a number which sits 13th nationally. She also leads the conference with 7.21 assists per game and ranks second nationally with her 3.48 assist-to-turnover ratio.
She’s really good, and she’ll be the first to tell you her new teammates have a lot to do with her success.
“Tenfold. Just the spacing they bring, the versatility they both bring on both ends of the floor, they make my job very easy,” Hofschild said. “Looking at both of them knowing they’re in my backcourt, I have them to lean on and they have me to lean on … Shoot, I don’t think there’s a better backcourt in the conference. I don’t think there are many better backcourts in the country.
“Just having two people who are extremely capable of handling the ball, creating their own shot, creating for others, it just takes a lot of pressure off me and vice versa. They know they have me to look to as well, so it gives us three options which are good options.”
But just one ball to share, which has not been an issue. They are the Rams’ three leading scorers, with Thurman at 13.3 per night, Crocker at 11.1. Hofschild handles most of the distribution (she’s at 202 assists), but they help. Thurman is also the team’s second-best rebounder, averaging 4.7 a night.
It also means Hofschild doesn’t have to have the ball in her hands all the time. There are stretches in games where Thurman runs the point, taking the initial target off her jersey, allowing her to move and create through other channels.
“I mean, Kenna deserves everything. She is a great player,” Crocker said. “We have to guard her every day in practice, so we know she’s a great player. But she also isn’t arrogant. She’s not in the locker room saying all this stuff, not trying to do this stuff off the court. She says we take pressure off of her, but she is giving us some limelight and she is shedding light on us and what we do. I feel appreciated. I think D feels appreciated, too. We know that everything all five of us on the court and all 16 on the team are why we’re here, not just one person.”
Hofschild and Thurman worked together all summer, building a chemistry. Because of Thurman, CSU head coach Ryun Williams immediately dug out a former plan which utilized a pair of natural point guards on the floor at the same time. The early results were nothing but promising.
Crocker didn’t show up until official practices began, so she was trying to figure out where she fit in as workouts started. Thurman didn’t need that much time to devise a theory.
“We first saw it after her first practice. I know me personally, I found exactly where she would fit in with the team,” Thurman said. “She’s our most aggressive driver, and she can score from all three levels and she’s one of our best defenders. After that first practice, I already saw where she would fit in with our team.”
The Rams have been going with three guards ever since, and while offense sells tickets, Williams knew it would require defensive improvement for his squad to take a leap and challenge UNLV, currently No. 22 in the nation and undefeated in conference play – not to mention the Rebels will be playing on their home floor in the tournament.
Colorado State has risen from the bottom half of the defensive metrics to third in field-goal percentage defense. Thurman has had a major hand in the turnaround.
“Destiny, we ask her to do so much defensively. I know she has a smooth offensive game, and we rely on that too, but defensively, what we’ve asked her to do is incredible, and she’s been the best young lady we’ve had at that spot in a long time,” Williams said. “She has to quarterback the defense. She covers a lot of mistakes up. Every team makes mistakes defensively, but she covers up a lot of mistakes by our team.”
I honestly don’t think people pay attention to the scout when it comes to Crock and me because they’re so focused on taking Kenna away. Having Kenna on the floor really creates a lot for us.Destiny Thurman
The topic of Thurman’s defense draws looks from the roommates, as it is something they joke about all the time.
“I get to rest a little bit,” a statement by Thurman which immediately draws a grunt from Crocker and a smirk from the messenger. “Depending on who we’re playing, I’m just standing in the middle of the floor, go double and come back. I get to get a lot of rebounds. Previously, I’ve never been a rebounder; I don’t like to go for rebounds, but being in the role I’m in, it’s actually making me want to go rebound more. If I could on the offensive glass, I would. My defensive position allows me to get a lot of rebounds and I like that.”
At one point, listening to Thurman, Crocker blurts out, ‘She’s got the easy job.’
It is not a statement Thurman rejects, either, but the comment is based on one factor – physical exertion. The mental part of the ask, Crocker gives her roommate major props for her performance.
“So, it’s both. She has the more mental defensive assignment, where you have to really know when to go and when not to go,” Crocker said. “If anybody scores, it’s her fault. Literally. She gets more blame, and she has more pressure mentally to know how to play, so in that sense, she’s really smart. She’s a gem like that. But also, I have to run all around and get over screens and chase people while she gets to go under screens, and we have to jump off to let her through.
“I’m doing this all the time, and that’s what we laugh at each other about. I look at her at times during the game like, ‘girl, just let me through if you’re just going to sit in the middle.’ We joke around about it, but definitely, she’s a key part of our defense for sure.”
The same way Williams says Crocker is an integral part of the team’s fabric. During the game, she is Miss Get It Done.
Her words and actions are uplifting, her smile contagious and her in-game celebrations are the fuel on which the team revs the engine.
“Crock, her passion, just her attitude is so fun. She’s kinda the rah-rah, pump-your-fist … I love her animation,” Williams said. “It’s all positive, and I think our team feeds off that. She’s an aggressive driver, and that’s something we needed to have to improve, and she’s a good finisher at the basket and she gets fouled a lot. She’s a good 3-point shooter who at all three levels is really effective. Her leadership and her voice has really impacted our team.”
Based on their initial meeting, it’s amazing they play off each other in this manner. They had never met each other. They had never spoken on the phone, even, just texted. But they were both looking for a place and landed with each other.
Thurman was there first, ready to greet her new teammate and roommate.
“Our first meeting was awkward,” Thurman said. “It was so awkward.”
And was – they both admit – because of Thurman. Crocker explained.
“It was the interaction. I had just driven 23 hours with my dad, and she didn’t know I was coming so early because I arrived earlier than we thought,” she said. “I said, ‘hey, I’m here, she came out … Destiny is an outgoing person when you get to know her. She has to let you in. I’m kind of the same way. So, she just gave us hugs and then, ‘OK, I’m going to get some food.’
“She left, and I was like, ‘OK.’”
They live together, but very much apart. They still don’t talk a lot, but when they do, they finish each other’s thoughts, even laughs and poke fun constantly at what they say and do.
A positive is they are both are tidy, and as Thurman says, considering the size of their rooms, they need to be. But as close as they’ve become, they still require – as they both put it – alone time.
So, Crocker goes home and cleans, reads and watches movies. If she’s not doing that, she figures she’s taking an Epsom salt bath. She’s a believer in wellness, be it physical or mental.
In the other room, Thurman is likely playing video games. Most of the time, NBA 2K, but as of late, Daylight, a zombie game, could be the choice. Because of this, on the road, Crocker yields the television to her teammate.
When they do get together, the chatter won’t stop.
“We’re very similar people to where we like our alone time as well, so we go do our own thing. Then we have these random days where we sit on the couch and talk for hours,” Crocker said. “It just depends on what we need for each other that day.
“I think we’re very interesting people and we like to learn things about a lot of different topics. We will talk basketball, such as what is your point of view on this, what would you do in this situation, and I think even on the court we give each other different things we see. But we talk about movies and the sky. Everything. We like to understand each other’s view. We’ll both watch a movie individually, then come back to each other and ask what they think about it. We love it. And then we have our alone time.”
Once on the court, it’s all about the we for all of them, especially the three guards who are so vital to the team’s success. One may be getting more attention, but they say that’s for a simple reason.
It’s deserved.
The bottom line is they all need each other, and being able to come together and pull it off is an accomplishment.
“It’s a very good tradeoff. There are games where Kenna is going to get her points no matter what,” Thurman said. “There’s not one team that can really stop her. When she’s having those games where it’s taking her a minute to get going, Crock and I get to go score. I honestly don’t think people pay attention to the scout when it comes to Crock and me because they’re so focused on taking Kenna away. Having Kenna on the floor really creates a lot for us.”
And there’s nothing awkward about it.