Olympic Controversy Redux

[southbendcane]

I am astonished by the nastiness of these posts. In no other sport would two of the finest players in the country, perhaps the two finest front court players in the country, get left of the Olympic team, and it would not generate controversy.

I think that it is because it implies that, perhaps, the deity that is Geno Auriemma made a decision that might not have been perfect that posters here have lost their collective mind.

That would account for the fury with which posters here have reacted to what would normally be a perfectly rational question, and a perfectly rational issue.

But to those who are not blinded by their worshipful view of UConn's coach, these players just demonstrated by winning the pro league championship that they deserved to be not only on the Olympic team, but probably starters on the Olympic team.

You might raise all sorts of bizarre questions- Parker isn't a team player, she won't play defense; Ogwumike is lacking in some strange, mystical, unspecified way- as to why they were passed over.

But the simple truth is that that decision looks curiouser and curiouser. And it calls into question the judgement of the Olympic committee, and their entire selection process.

Amen.

Your in the wrong place to be asking that question. Do you think on a U Conn board that anyone is going to agree with you when your questioning their God or any of his Disciples?( Been there done that) Good luck. Any real person with knowledge of the game knows these 2 deserved to be on the team just as much as they know Geno would not be coaching the team if he had no say so and it was up to a committee to decide who he had on his team. He is a control freak.That would never fly. That being said there is not a lot of time to get the team to gel and play as a unit. Having coached the former U Conn players and some of the other girls on previous Olympic teams makes the adjustment easier. Even if those 2 are better the difference in talent might not be enough to over take the experience of the other girls who have played for him in the past. Plus he probably felt some of the older players who had been there before had earned their spot and valued their leadership. When i coached baseball coaches did this. There were new kids that were more talented then other kids all ready on the all star team. But coaches would go with the if it ain't broke don't fix it approach and stay with the players they had who knew their system. My son was on a 3 time state title team with a coach who did this. The reality is Geno is the coach and he has had success with his system so its hard to question him. If they lost that's another story. If he is the one coaching he should be able to run the show his way with his players .He is the GOAT of women's basketball.

 

[Bestiarius]

So are you saying that the two players (including the MVP Ogwumke who scored the game-winning basket last night) aren't good enough to make the team? Are they un-coachable by Coach Auriemma?

And don't they deserve an explanation, instead of being denigrated with silence?

I know what you're saying. No one has explained to me why I wasn't selected to run for President of the USA, given what I intend to do over the next six months. Regarding the game winning basket, that was made by the Lynx since it was made before possession time expired.

If the officials did not make a mistake by not reviewing that last shot attempt (as admitted by WNBA officials, this thread would probably have taken an entirely different tack. The Sparks win will forever be asterisked.

 

[Wally East]

[...] girls [...] girls [...]

Women. They are women. Because language and words matter.

Also, if you knew Nneka was going to go from above-average but not quite great to MVP, I'd love to get your thoughts on stocks to buy.

 

[MilfordHusky]

So Nneka was left off the Olympic team because.....? Anyone? Anyone?

Numbers, as far as I can tell. She, Candace Dupree, and Odyssey Sims were on the 2014 team. They were replaced in 2016 by Sylvia, Elena, and Catch. It's a tough call.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I am happy for Parker and the Sparks. Candace is tremendously talented and while she may not be perfect, her game is very complete. I've posted here a couple of times I would have left off Fowles and McCoughtry and added Parker and a young guard such as Sims, Diggins, Loyd, Jefferson, someone who can help carry the national team torch. Parker should have been on the team but whoever decided had their reasons and USA basketball clearly didn't suffer as this was maybe the most talented national team I've seen since the revamp of the process in the mid 90s. All of the Huskies deserved to be on the team and Geno is far and away the best current coach in the game so I have no issues with their selection or his coaching. For now, congratulations to the Sparks, especially Candace.

 

[Bayareahusky]

It is incredible seeing all this backseat driving..... People landed on me for commenting on the Candace snub at the time of Olympic selection.... I am a big Candace fan, and of course she is one of the 12 best... no question...

But, with all due respect to most of us who like to handicap selections like this, who are we to know what happens in the selection room, so to speak..... I would venture to guess that 99.99% of the folks reading this forum do not have a clue what goes on there , or what went on this past summer..... not a clue..... but they can unequivocally state that it is a travesty and injustice that this person is or is not selected.....

I like to think I know a lot about women's hoops, but I am not going to stand in the way of Geno's selections, Pat's selections, Tara's selections or any other coach......

My problem is not in people questioning the selections, no, but in the degree they step on the accelerator......

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

WORST POST EVER.

...well, this week, at least...

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Fairfield - let it go. Parker didn't get selected for the Olympic team and you see it as an injustice. And like everyone else, you entitled to your opinion but it is just that - an opinion. You have no more information on the selection process than the rest of us.

Keep pushing it and you will not have many, if any, friends here. But maybe that's what you want.

You know, lighten up. Yes, this is about opinions. But cut the nastiness. If you don't agree with me, then you don't agree. But lighten up.

 

[msf22b]

I am happy for Parker and the Sparks. Candace is tremendously talented and while she may not be perfect, her game is very complete. I've posted here a couple of times I would have left off Fowles and McCoughtry and added Parker and a young guard such as Sims, Diggins, Loyd, Jefferson, .

Can you imagine, just imagine the hue and cry if the committee (sic) would have picked Moriah to be on the team
Not that her stats for the season are out of line...but of course that's hindsight. Another year or two and there's our next starting point. Of course, we always knew that.

* Moriah had an average points per game higher than Toliver, Diggins, Cappie, Sue, Tamika, Chiney, Penny

* Moriah was 8th in assists ahead of Diana, Odyssey, Lindsay, Kristi, Jewel, Renee, Angei and one place behind
Maya...and remember, there was a paucity of scorers on her team

* Moriah was 11th in 3-point pct, behind Olympians Sue, Elena, Maya, Candace and non- Kristi, Sugar and a few
others.

* Moriah was 3rd in steals, ahead of anyone not named Alana or Tamika

By the way...a shout out to Alana Beard...boy, did she have a great series..If she was not around, Maya would have had 40 a game.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

If the media cared a fig about women's sports, the defeat of a pro team that started four players from the Olympic team in the league championship series by a team without an American Olympic player would be debated 24/7. If ESPN cared about women's sports, it would be the topic du jour on Sports Center. But they don't, and it's not.

You're all right that I have no inside knowledge about how the Olympic committee made their selections. And no one else does. But that's the point: an opaque process resulted in two of the most decorated, and experienced, mid-career, front court players in the country being left off the team. Yet those two players led their team to a five-game victory over a team loaded with Olympic selections.

Let's recall that controversy has followed a couple of the junior teams' selections as well. So one should raise questions as to whether this process won't prove a hindrance in the future. Has the process gone off the rails? And when D, Sue, and other super-stars are no longer there in four years, will that process's weakness be exposed?

Yes, it's my opinion. No, you don't have to comment. If you don't want to comment, don't. But save your venom.

Two all-time great players just showed up a team that included fully a third of all players on the Olympic team, and most of the Olympic starters. That's an embarrassment at least to the selection process. And just because it's not all over Sports Center doesn't mean we can't discuss it.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

The media should now raise the question with the coaches and the selection committee. In hindsight, do they believe they came up with the best roster? Did the Parker and Ogwumike performances surprise them? Was it about the ability to work as a team? If so, did these players' ability to create a championship team prove the committee wrong?

Reporters should ask. Then we'll all know.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Layer one performance on top of another in a different setting should not justify that a colossal egregious mistake was made.....

I think of NFL and trades that were made..... guy was before a scrub and after trade to other team he is a hero.... does that mean the other place he was a scrub he was a miserable player? Of course not... different setting.... it still amazes me that people are so strident that a travesty was done here.... and the degree of offense was mercurial.

It was not.

 

[wallman]

So Nneka was left off the Olympic team because.....? Anyone? Anyone?

Because she didn't make the cut at her position, that simple. And btw I am one of her biggest fans.

 

[lne001]

If the media cared a fig about women's sports, the defeat of a pro team that started four players from the Olympic team in the league championship series by a team without an American Olympic player would be debated 24/7. If ESPN cared about women's sports, it would be the topic du jour on Sports Center. But they don't, and it's not.

The national media would be all over women's professional basketball if anyone (primarily women), gave a damn. They don't. ESPN caters to what its viewers want, and that is not talking about the WNBA/Olympic results after they are long concluded.

As far as Parker, Geno wanted nothing to do with her lousy attitude and there was not one good reason why he had to put up with it.

 

[mkwstar23]

we need to go back to when head coaches rotated for olympics. that is the most fair and honest way to run USA ball. this last team was brilliant but we would win gold playing second or third team level WNBA players. i think everyone should support rotating coaches. the best would make the team and that would include plenty of UCONN players but it wouldn't have the appearance of unfairness.

You have to face the truth that some people don't think Parker is as great as Vols fans do...and if you cry and pout about playing time why would you want to play for the Olympic team and Geno that will not tolerate it...if you leave off Catchings which I could see... that spot goes to Nneka

 

[cbraarj]

we need to go back to when head coaches rotated for olympics. that is the most fair and honest way to run USA ball. this last team was brilliant but we would win gold playing second or third team level WNBA players. i think everyone should support rotating coaches. the best would make the team and that would include plenty of UCONN players but it wouldn't have the appearance of unfairness.

Give them all trophies or medals for participating too!

 

[cbraarj]

You have to face the truth that some people don't think Parker is as great as Vols fans do...and if you cry and pout about playing time why would you want to play for the Olympic team and Geno that will not tolerate it...if you leave off Catchings which I could see... that spot goes to Nneka

Agree with everything but leaving Catching off team. She earned the right to be on this team because of her time with USAB. Just like Edwards and Leslie did. I am saying this now if Bird and Taurasi are still at a high level playing wise. They will be playing in 2020. Both are to competitive not to.

 

[CocoHusky]

Posting this Neka interview also hoping that her words & speaking for Candace will be the last words on this entirely manufactured pretend controversy.

Nneka on what motivated her this season - ESPN Video

 

[VA Huskie]

You have to face the truth that some people don't think Parker is as great as Vols fans do...and if you cry and pout about playing time why would you want to play for the Olympic team and Geno that will not tolerate it...if you leave off Catchings which I could see... that spot goes to Nneka

Parker didn't make 1st or 2nd team All WNBA. So not considered to be in the top 10. Who does that voting?

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Parker didn't make 1st or 2nd team All WNBA. So not considered to be in the top 10. Who does that voting?

Yep, and this is what the New York Times' Seth Berkman had to say:

"But in April, just before the W.N.B.A. season started, Parker was left off the roster for the American team for the Rio Games. There were no reasons supplied for her omission. And after Parker was left off the all-W.N.B.A. teams, the ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo called her absence “absurd” in a Twitter post."

That would be Rebecca Lobo of the University of Connecticut. She called her absence from all-WNBA "absurd."

And "no reason given for her omission."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/s...ngeles-sparks-candace-parker-pat-summitt.html

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Posting this Neka interview also hoping that her words & speaking for Candace will be the last words on this entirely manufactured pretend controversy.

Nneka on what motivated her this season - ESPN Video

On this "manufactured controversy," Ogwumike says that her not being named to the Olympic team "has definitely been a topic of discussion." But on this site, apparently, it is taboo to bring it up.

Dumb.

 

[bags27]

Posting this Neka interview also hoping that her words & speaking for Candace will be the last words on this entirely manufactured pretend controversy.
Nneka on what motivated her this season - ESPN Video

Would that it were, Coco! But we have a troll who's been unmasked and yet shamelessly keeps hacking away at a non-issue. Still, it's better than wondering what a high schooler is tweeting.

Fairfield Fan: But on this site, apparently, it is taboo to bring it up.
Hardly taboo, troll. Just what else can possibly be said? It's been completely done to death....

 

[MilfordHusky]

Parker didn't make 1st or 2nd team All WNBA. So not considered to be in the top 10. Who does that voting?

I believe she was on the 2nd team AP, but not on the "official" 1st or 2nd team. Nneka, Maya, Tina, Stewie, Elena, Angel, Sylvia, Diana, and Sue are all pretty good.

I still don't like Candace's facial expressions or body language, but when she's good, she's very, very good. I think the statement about Geno not letting Diana cheat her talent applies. Unfortunately for her and the benefit of the game, Candace takes plays off or games off. As good as she is, she needs to be more consistent. If she played to her strengths more, played harder, and focused on defense more, she would be part of the core of Team USA.

 

[CocoHusky]

On this "manufactured controversy," Ogwumike says that her not being named to the Olympic team "has definitely been a topic of discussion." But on this site, apparently, it is taboo to bring it up.
Dumb.

Not taboo at all. You should be thankful for the patience & latitude that the moderators of the BY have provided you on this subject.

 

[CocoHusky]

I believe she was on the 2nd team AP, but not on the "official" 1st or 2nd team. Nneka, Maya, Tina, Stewie, Elena, Angel, Sylvia, Diana, and Sue are all pretty good.
I still don't like Candace's facial expressions or body language, but when she's good, she's very, very good. I think the statement about Geno not letting Diana cheat her talent applies. Unfortunately for her and the benefit of the game, Candace takes plays off or games off. As good as she is, she needs to be more consistent. If she played to her strengths more, played harder, and focused on defense more, she would be part of the core of Team USA.

Body language, Diva, team chemistry, bad teammate, inconsistent effort.... is often the code words that some resort to instead of candidly saying: I picked someone else because they had better set of skills for what I think this team can accomplish.