Unbelievable article. My favorite blurbs
1) A little insight for recruits
Taking in practice this day is veteran WNBA coach Dan Hughes, who has just been hired to coach a Seattle Storm team that includes three former Auriemma players: Stewart, Sue Bird, and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.
People who see Auriemma only as an acerbic coach who pushes his players’ buttons overlook the fact that he is “a master teacher,” says Hughes.
“When you build a team, you try to get players to give energy rather than take it,” says Hughes. “UConn players give you energy. I wish I had 10 of them.”
Hughes points to the Huskies’ silent attentiveness as Auriemma speaks.
“He’s like a musician. He uses the pauses and silence in the music.”
2) A little insight into how Geno view's his way of pushing his players
“My expectations have not changed, but I think the way I go about it has changed,” he says. Fifteen years ago, he could demand that his players practice a defensive drill over and over until he got tired of watching. “Today, in the world they live in, I don’t know that I could do that and keep their attention.” He picks up his cellphone. “The circle of who they interact with is bigger. For instance, I can’t get my guys to hate the other team, because they’re all friends…. It’s a different world. I see it in their faces whenever I get really mad at them and explode—they get scared. They feel like there’s a part of me that thinks that I don’t like them … they have a difficult time discerning the difference between I don’t approve of what you just did and I don’t approve of you.”
3) Why UConn is about more than winning and why there is such passion in our fans.
“Do you think the person driving up from Danbury or Fairfield is driving to Gampel and the conversation is, ‘So, whaddya think—are our girls gonna win tonight?’ No. The conversation they’re having is, ‘I can’t wait to see them play.’ Guess what? I’m the same way. With our best teams, I go to practice and games saying, ‘I can’t wait to see what they’re gonna do.’ We have to play in a way that inspires people and makes them appreciate the game itself.’’
