Keep it clean, people.
Of all of the players that have come through the program, no two players have caused as much dissension among us Internet warriors as Jerome Dyson and Christian Vital.
Dyson will always be remembered as the guy who got injured at tourni time in 09, which ended with UConn losing in the FF to Michigan State. The next year, Dyson was thrust into the role of team leader and, statistically, anyway, regressed and finished poorly. Many (not me) argue that the injury to Dyson cost the team a championship. Others believe that Dyson, while a fierce defender and a non-stop worker, made too many mistakes on the court, often killing momentum with reckless turnovers, dead end drives, and missed shots.
Vital, whose final chapter is currently being written, will always be remembered as the guy who could do it all, which, unfortunately, includes turning the ball over at an alarming rate, playing hero ball at inopportune times, and generally giving and taking away at the same time.
I haven't, as I write this, analyzed the numbers. My guess is that Vital will be numerically far superior to Dyson. Whether he is or is not, however, one aspect of the analysis that should be well remembered is that Dyson played on teams that were loaded to the gills with talent. That talent included future lottery pick Hasheem Thabeet, who was the most dominant center in college basketball in 09, Jeff Adrien, who played spot minutes in the NBA, Stanley Robinson, who had alien-level athleticism, a freshman Kemba Walker, future four-time NBA all star, and AJ Price, who played multiple seasons in the NBA.
Vital? The best player on his 2019 team was Jalen Adams, who is currently trying to make an NBA roster. Adams was also the best player on Vital's 2018 team, which included the likes of Amida Brimah (undrafted, no NBA games), Rodney Purvis (undrafted, played a few games in the NBA), Kentan Facey (undrafted, no NBA games), and transfers Eric Cobb and Antoine Anderson (not NBA talent). The previous year included Terry Larrier (undrafted, no NBA games), Vance Jackson (unlikely to play in NBA), and Steven Enoch (projected late first/second round).
Plainly, Jerome Dyson played on vintage powerhouse UConn teams with multiple NBA level players during what was, arguably, the crescendo of the Jim Calhoun Era (JCE).
Vital? Played for a coach that had mentally checked out on teams with barely a sniff of NBA talent that played perfunctorily and without emotion.
So on to the statistics. I'm going to choose to compare Junior year Dyson with Junior year Vital, as the last full, complete seasons, and also because Dyson's 4th year, while perhaps arguable the year that should be used to compare to Vital, when Dyson did not have as much talent around him on the team, was aberrant compared to his first 3 years (e.g. Dyson shot 29% from 3 his last year, when he did not have AJ Price and Kemba was only a sophomore).
Dyson, per 40 minutes:
40.8% FG%, 43% from 2, 34.8% from 3, 72.4% from the line
5.6RBS, 4.3ASS, 2.5STLS, 0.5BLKS, 2.8TOS, 18 Points
Vital, per 40 minutes
45.3% FG%, 51.4% from 2, 40.9% from 3, 81.3% from the line
7.4RBS, 3.2ASS, 2.1STLS, 0.0 BLKS, 3.1 TOs, 18.9 Points.
As I expected, it's not close. Christian Vital, playing for a team in year 1 of rebuilding after several years of programmatic disarray with very little talent around him, amassed respectable numbers with the one glaring exception of averaging 3.1 TOs per 40 minutes while having relatively few (3.2) assists per 40 for a guy who had the ball in his hands a lot.
Dyson? Solid numbers, but not tremendous considering the overwhelming talent with which he was surrounded.
The most obvious differences?
Vital, 5% higher overall FG%. Vital, 6% higher 3PT%, Vital 9% higher from the line, Vital, 2 more boards per 40. Dyson, 1 more assist per game, and, statistically, a slightly better defender, but, in actuality, Dyson had Thabeet and Stanley Robinson behind him that year, which, no doubt, improved his numbers.
What was the point of writing this? Certainly not to attack Dyson - the guy left his teeth on the court for the team. He gave it his all every minute he was on the court. Was his talent overrated? Likely. Was he a momentum killer at times? Definitely. But he was a key part of a team that had an historically dominant season, including a glorious evisceration of a stunned Loisville team.
The point of this post is to point out that Christian Vital is, currently, one of the most undervalued Uconn Huskies in the history of the program. Why is that?
Christian Vital came along at the exact time when the interregnum coach had bottomed out the program. He played on losing teams with losing mentalities and very little talent. Many fans, unfortunately, instead of remarking on the singularity of his constant effort and production notwithstanding the direness of his circumstance, chose to focus on his shortcomings. He was, in effect, scapegoated for the transgressions of the prior coach.
Among the various attack-dog comments that I have seen posted about Vital, the most venomous claim that Vital would be "a sixth man, at best, on any good UConn team." That sort of vitriol has been vomited regularly over the course of young Christian's career at UConn. This is the young man who, virtually, single-handedly carried this program's banner through the dark ages from which we have just emerged. His reward? A blanket of insults from detractors who have projected their discontent with the interregnum coach upon him.
The numbers do not fib to us here today. How good is Christian Vital? Well, if you swapped Junior Year Vital in for Junior Year Dyson, that 2009 team gets better. Both had great motors. Both had tenacious defense. Dyson, however, was a subpar shooter. Vital? Notwithstanding having to play outside of his comfort zone and handle the ball more than he should have ever have had to do, and create his own shot when he was not a shot creator, Vital shot excellently, and with very little offensive talent around to take the defensive pressure off of him. Corroboration of this point is lent by Dyson's senior year, during which he was asked to take on a much greater part of the offense than that to which he was accustomed. The result? He shot 3s at less than 30%. Dyson took many spot up jumpers, and, like Vital, did not have the handle to break a guy down and pull up from 3.
Christian Vital should be recognized as a UConn great. He will likely end up with over 1,700 career points, and that is without having played a single NCAA or NIT tournament game over the course of 124 total games. What is the perspective? 1,700 would put him between Ryan Boatright (121 games) and Kemba Walker (111 games) at number 9 on the all-time list.
Again, this is playing on several of the worst teams in the modern history of the program.
Many thanks to Christian Vital for championing our program during the last few years.
One last thought - in anticipation of the argument that "The OBE was tougher than the AAC," that is true, but Dyson's numbers were particularly skewed by his high shooting performances against the cupcakes. I ran the numbers a few years back, and, as I recall, Dyson shot close to 32% from 3 in the OBE during conference games, which I have no doubt CV hould have managed if he had the offensive help that that 09 team provided.
Of all of the players that have come through the program, no two players have caused as much dissension among us Internet warriors as Jerome Dyson and Christian Vital.
Dyson will always be remembered as the guy who got injured at tourni time in 09, which ended with UConn losing in the FF to Michigan State. The next year, Dyson was thrust into the role of team leader and, statistically, anyway, regressed and finished poorly. Many (not me) argue that the injury to Dyson cost the team a championship. Others believe that Dyson, while a fierce defender and a non-stop worker, made too many mistakes on the court, often killing momentum with reckless turnovers, dead end drives, and missed shots.
Vital, whose final chapter is currently being written, will always be remembered as the guy who could do it all, which, unfortunately, includes turning the ball over at an alarming rate, playing hero ball at inopportune times, and generally giving and taking away at the same time.
I haven't, as I write this, analyzed the numbers. My guess is that Vital will be numerically far superior to Dyson. Whether he is or is not, however, one aspect of the analysis that should be well remembered is that Dyson played on teams that were loaded to the gills with talent. That talent included future lottery pick Hasheem Thabeet, who was the most dominant center in college basketball in 09, Jeff Adrien, who played spot minutes in the NBA, Stanley Robinson, who had alien-level athleticism, a freshman Kemba Walker, future four-time NBA all star, and AJ Price, who played multiple seasons in the NBA.
Vital? The best player on his 2019 team was Jalen Adams, who is currently trying to make an NBA roster. Adams was also the best player on Vital's 2018 team, which included the likes of Amida Brimah (undrafted, no NBA games), Rodney Purvis (undrafted, played a few games in the NBA), Kentan Facey (undrafted, no NBA games), and transfers Eric Cobb and Antoine Anderson (not NBA talent). The previous year included Terry Larrier (undrafted, no NBA games), Vance Jackson (unlikely to play in NBA), and Steven Enoch (projected late first/second round).
Plainly, Jerome Dyson played on vintage powerhouse UConn teams with multiple NBA level players during what was, arguably, the crescendo of the Jim Calhoun Era (JCE).
Vital? Played for a coach that had mentally checked out on teams with barely a sniff of NBA talent that played perfunctorily and without emotion.
So on to the statistics. I'm going to choose to compare Junior year Dyson with Junior year Vital, as the last full, complete seasons, and also because Dyson's 4th year, while perhaps arguable the year that should be used to compare to Vital, when Dyson did not have as much talent around him on the team, was aberrant compared to his first 3 years (e.g. Dyson shot 29% from 3 his last year, when he did not have AJ Price and Kemba was only a sophomore).
Dyson, per 40 minutes:
40.8% FG%, 43% from 2, 34.8% from 3, 72.4% from the line
5.6RBS, 4.3ASS, 2.5STLS, 0.5BLKS, 2.8TOS, 18 Points
Vital, per 40 minutes
45.3% FG%, 51.4% from 2, 40.9% from 3, 81.3% from the line
7.4RBS, 3.2ASS, 2.1STLS, 0.0 BLKS, 3.1 TOs, 18.9 Points.
As I expected, it's not close. Christian Vital, playing for a team in year 1 of rebuilding after several years of programmatic disarray with very little talent around him, amassed respectable numbers with the one glaring exception of averaging 3.1 TOs per 40 minutes while having relatively few (3.2) assists per 40 for a guy who had the ball in his hands a lot.
Dyson? Solid numbers, but not tremendous considering the overwhelming talent with which he was surrounded.
The most obvious differences?
Vital, 5% higher overall FG%. Vital, 6% higher 3PT%, Vital 9% higher from the line, Vital, 2 more boards per 40. Dyson, 1 more assist per game, and, statistically, a slightly better defender, but, in actuality, Dyson had Thabeet and Stanley Robinson behind him that year, which, no doubt, improved his numbers.
What was the point of writing this? Certainly not to attack Dyson - the guy left his teeth on the court for the team. He gave it his all every minute he was on the court. Was his talent overrated? Likely. Was he a momentum killer at times? Definitely. But he was a key part of a team that had an historically dominant season, including a glorious evisceration of a stunned Loisville team.
The point of this post is to point out that Christian Vital is, currently, one of the most undervalued Uconn Huskies in the history of the program. Why is that?
Christian Vital came along at the exact time when the interregnum coach had bottomed out the program. He played on losing teams with losing mentalities and very little talent. Many fans, unfortunately, instead of remarking on the singularity of his constant effort and production notwithstanding the direness of his circumstance, chose to focus on his shortcomings. He was, in effect, scapegoated for the transgressions of the prior coach.
Among the various attack-dog comments that I have seen posted about Vital, the most venomous claim that Vital would be "a sixth man, at best, on any good UConn team." That sort of vitriol has been vomited regularly over the course of young Christian's career at UConn. This is the young man who, virtually, single-handedly carried this program's banner through the dark ages from which we have just emerged. His reward? A blanket of insults from detractors who have projected their discontent with the interregnum coach upon him.
The numbers do not fib to us here today. How good is Christian Vital? Well, if you swapped Junior Year Vital in for Junior Year Dyson, that 2009 team gets better. Both had great motors. Both had tenacious defense. Dyson, however, was a subpar shooter. Vital? Notwithstanding having to play outside of his comfort zone and handle the ball more than he should have ever have had to do, and create his own shot when he was not a shot creator, Vital shot excellently, and with very little offensive talent around to take the defensive pressure off of him. Corroboration of this point is lent by Dyson's senior year, during which he was asked to take on a much greater part of the offense than that to which he was accustomed. The result? He shot 3s at less than 30%. Dyson took many spot up jumpers, and, like Vital, did not have the handle to break a guy down and pull up from 3.
Christian Vital should be recognized as a UConn great. He will likely end up with over 1,700 career points, and that is without having played a single NCAA or NIT tournament game over the course of 124 total games. What is the perspective? 1,700 would put him between Ryan Boatright (121 games) and Kemba Walker (111 games) at number 9 on the all-time list.
Again, this is playing on several of the worst teams in the modern history of the program.
Many thanks to Christian Vital for championing our program during the last few years.
One last thought - in anticipation of the argument that "The OBE was tougher than the AAC," that is true, but Dyson's numbers were particularly skewed by his high shooting performances against the cupcakes. I ran the numbers a few years back, and, as I recall, Dyson shot close to 32% from 3 in the OBE during conference games, which I have no doubt CV hould have managed if he had the offensive help that that 09 team provided.
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