Dawn: "They're tight, we're flawed"

[Teacherdeb]

Dawn goes on to say that she likes coaching a flawed team... Having watched SC this year, I agree. Tremendous talent, perhaps better than CT. But CT's "tightness" will prevail. Discipline, confidence, practice, the attitude that team matters over individual.... That's what wins championships. This isn't Geno's first rodeo.

 

[Drumguy]

Dawn goes on to say that she likes coaching a flawed team... Having watched SC this year, I agree. Tremendous talent, perhaps better than CT. But CT's "tightness" will prevail. Discipline, confidence, practice, the attitude that team matters over individual.... That's what wins championships. This isn't Geno's first rodeo.

I'm not sure where you get the ""better than CT" talent wise. Just a dumb statement. BS #1 in her class, MJ, #2 in her class, MT and GW all served time at the top of their high school classes as well - we're loaded including the starting point guard on a national team. So just stop it. If we don't kick serious cock tonight there is just no excuse. Don't get me wrong, we could lose, but it will mean we played very poorly like the Stamford game where they just out physicaled us.

 

[mysticmajor]

I remember an early season clip of one of DS practice sessions. She was clearly saying that they need to learn to get things done quickly and efficiently in practice to improve. I think that this is a master skill of Geno's that Dawn recognized when she worked as an assistant this summer. The mental sharpness of UConn player's is amazing when placed side by side with many other teams. They practice and play at warp speed.

 

[CL82]

Mmm, I'm not underestimating SC at all. They have a lot pieces and I respect Staley as a coach. They may be a year away from being able to win in this environment though. We'll see soon enough.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I remember an early season clip of one of DS practice sessions. She was clearly saying that they need to learn to get things done quickly and efficiently in practice to improve. I think that this is a master skill of Geno's that Dawn recognized when she worked as an assistant this summer. The mental sharpness of UConn player's is amazing when placed side by side with many other teams. They practice and play at warp speed.

Coach Staley has had a long, stellar career as a player, coached at Temple for eight years, is in her seventh year at South Carolina, and has coached a number of international teams. Are you suggesting that in all those years as a player and coach, her college coach being Coach Auriemma's former boss, that it took her this long to pick this fundamental coaching skill about practicing to improve?

 

[chrissaran]

I believe they'll have less of a chance next year. Breanna, Moriah and Morgan form the nucleus, with Kia, Gabby, Saniya and Courtney. Mix in Natalie Butler, Katie Lou Samuelson, Napheesa Collier and De'Janae Boykin and by the end of the 2015-2016 season, UConn will be better than this year's team. The depth will be overwhelming. Wave after wave of Huskies coming at the opponent.

 

[scrooster]

This isn't Geno's first rodeo.

Nor is it Staley's ... she's played on the #1 team, played WNBA, played on three Gold Medal Olympic teams and captained two of them, coached with Geno, is the only female in history to have a Nike shoe named after her and she is already a member of the Hall of Fame.

But y'all have six Micky D's AAs and we only have four. It's at your place. There's the refs. And this is what it looks like getting there right now ....

 

[mysticmajor]

I'm saying that in her own words, DS mentioned the difficulty of running a practice session in such a way as to improve as much as possible in the limited time available. I'm sure Ms. Staley knows that you need to practice to improve. The search for better ways to run a practice in order to get more done is an ongoing activity. I'm not sure how that demeans Dawn Staley's ability. The opposite would actually be true.

 

[j66kicker]

Nor is it Staley's ... she's played on the #1 team, played WNBA, played on three Gold Medal Olympic teams and captained two of them, coached with Geno, is the only female in history to have a Nike shoe named after her and she is already a member of the Hall of Fame.

Diana Taurasi's "DT3" Nike logo: