Are Geno's coaching methods outdated?

[IChoops]

OMG!!! I am amazed how quickly SPOILED UCONN FANS have come out with daggers after ONE LOSS. WE have a group of talented YOUNG women and the GREATEST BB Coach EVER and you bail on them. Shame on the spoiled fans who I will assure you have a LOT less knowledge about the game than both our women and GENO.

I'm not 'bailing' on anyone. I'm just expressing my concern. Nobody can deny that in parts of the games this year (especially Georgia Tech) none of the players have looked like they have any motivation other than Paige and in some parts Nika. Aaliyah looks like she doesn't even want to be playing half of the time, Christyn looks disinterested the second things aren't going there way and everyone else just looks lacklustre. With previous years, Geno was able to motivate his team even in bad scenarios but with these players they just don't seem to react to him in the same way others have.

 

[IChoops]

I think there is some truth to this, but it doesn't explain GA Tech. Geno has been forthright about how it's harder to coach today's players. Yet, most of his recruits say they choose UConn because he'll push them to be their best. I love Nika Muhl's attitude, but I'm not sure all the players on the team match her intensity or effort. I also think Azzi would have made a big difference. If UConn hit a few consecutive threes, it may have turned the team and game around, especially at the start of the 4th Q.

For sure, Paige always has a good attitude and Nika has definitely showed glimpses but when I was watching the GA Tech game I realised how good Nika's attitude actually was. Even when they were down by 10 with 30 seconds to go and UCONN were turning the ball over, she was still shouting and motivating the players to get back on defence. I definitely think Geno does want to push players to be the best they can be but I just don't think the majority of this group of players are reacting well to his particular coaching style.

 

[IChoops]

I don't know about all of this. Would General Patton be the great General today that he was then. No. Not in this day and age and the politics wrapped around that. But, he was a great General. After the war, peace killed him.

So what is it with UConn. Geno. Don't think so. I think that this team wants to succeed so bad that it has paralyze itself. The team has lost it's mind and Geno and the staff need to re-assemble and re-group in order to deal with this.

This team is filled with 2 superstars and a wealth of above average star players. They need to shake off this game and start playing the game for fun and having a good time like they did before UConn. The mystique of UConn has gotten in their blood to harden their arteries and has prevented them from performing the way they should. They need confidence and they need to be tough. Geno needs to be tough and encouraging.

Too bad Brianna, Sue and Diana could'nt come back and help practice with these kids.

Nah it's the kids. Geno will say in public that "he's got to find a way" or something something, but Geno's methods seemed to work fine on recent grads KLS, Napheesa, Crystal, and even Kyla, the last group of recruits that seemed to get it no matter their talent level. Geno's methods still work, but you need a specific type of person, and I think that has always been the case.

Geno's methods have worked perfectly before, with all of his previous classes the majority of players have reacted really well to his coaching styles which is why I think there were no 'red flags' raised. The problem now is I think that rather than the majority reacting well to his coaching and just a few players not reacting so well, its switched to the majority not reacting well and only a couple of players really developing due to his coaching. Even in games that they have won, most of the players seemed disinterested most of the time.

 

[IChoops]

Wow you just proved how much you don’t know about coaching.

Would you like to elaborate?

I am not referring to his basketball coaching ability I'm referring to the mental aspect of it. You can not tell me you have genuinely thought that all of the players have seemed motivated throughout the games this year. The only people that have shown genuine motivation on a consistent basis are Nika and Paige. Christyn isn't interested until she's hitting shots, Aaliyah looks like she doesn't even want to be on the court, Liv is consistently taking the same shots that she keeps missing. The freshman have shown some motivation when they've been on the court but not nearly enough needed to have a real impact.

Of course I am aware that they are missing key players, but I would've thought that Geno would be able to get a bit of effort out of the girls but clearly whatever he's doing to motivate them isn't working because most of the time they don't even look like they want to be on the court.

 

[VaConnFan11]

At times, to me it looks like the offense is too scripted and when the script doesn't produce the expected result, everyone looks lost. Is that on the coach or on the players?

In all the games so far this season, there have been numerous forced passes to players that weren't open leading to turnovers.

Sometimes you just have to let players play.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Would you like to elaborate?

I am not referring to his basketball coaching ability I'm referring to the mental aspect of it. You can not tell me you have genuinely thought that all of the players have seemed motivated throughout the games this year. The only people that have shown genuine motivation on a consistent basis are Nika and Paige. Christyn isn't interested until she's hitting shots, Aaliyah looks like she doesn't even want to be on the court, Liv is consistently taking the same shots that she keeps missing. The freshman have shown some motivation when they've been on the court but not nearly enough needed to have a real impact.

Of course I am aware that they are missing key players, but I would've thought that Geno would be able to get a bit of effort out of the girls but clearly whatever he's doing to motivate them isn't working because most of the time they don't even look like they want to be on the court.

'Of course I am aware that they are missing key players,'
are u? sure don't seem like it.

 

[IChoops]

Ah yes, the man who coached a roster with 6 freshmen to a Final Four last year is suddenly outdated. I think you're forgetting that just about every UConn team for the past decade has gotten better throughout the course of the season. Remember how bad the defense was early in the year last season?

Does this team currently have a lot of flaws? Yes. Will they be a lot better come March? Yes. To suggest Geno's coaching is no longer effective after one game is laughable.

I don't think his basketball coaching ability is the problem, I just don't think he can seems to motivate them the way he has with previous years. The only players that I have seen consistently motivated and trying to motivate the team so far are Nika and Paige. 2 kids on your team being motivated (bearing in mind neither of them are playing right now) isn't going to help you win games.

 

[tchalla1]

I think in respect to Geno it is a combination of factors. Geno is a systems coach who's system used to produce very good professional players. That reputation worked to get players who had professional aspirations to buy into his system. A few thngs have changed since then. Players come to college with very little developmental upside left. They have spent most of their years since middle school working year round with individual trainers and playing on both HIgh School and AAU teams. Many are close aready to burn out and are not that enthused about being in high pressure program like Geno runs. They also see the recent WNBA success rate of non UConn players increasing. Stewart is the last really high impact WNBA player who came out of UConn.

There is also the "chicken and the egg" question surrounding the UConn system. How much of the UConn players success is because of the program and how much is it because the program started with the cream of the recruiting crop?

What made the UConn system effective was because the players bought into it 100%. They had a desire to get better and if they trusted the program it would happen. Stevens was an example of the new type of player coming out of High School. This really surprised Geno. He expected her to give the program one more year to develop her post skill set. I think her leaving was a long term mistake on her part, but she was satisfied with her level. I think their are more and more players coming out of high school with that attitude.

The do not see a reason to submit to a challenging program like UConn and instead choose other programs. The level of individual development players used to get in college programs they already have. Basically, exept for post players most have little upside left. What they learn in college is not " How" but "When". Ironically that is what players used to learn in high school, but now they have individual skills but can not integrate them in to a team concept, so that is what college coaches try to focus on.

It has been AAU programs that have created that problem. They are basiclly pickup teams of talented players that do not get enough time together to practice team concepts. Unfortunately AAU has replaced high school teams as the new model for players. It makes things harder for college coaches that want to teach team concepts. And the team concept is the the foundation for the UConn system. The new products of AAU ball do not really buy into the concept.

Very astute observations of contemporary athletes and the change agency that has occurred, principally with AAU programs...

 

[LarryLegend]

I think in respect to Geno it is a combination of factors. Geno is a systems coach who's system used to produce very good professional players. That reputation worked to get players who had professional aspirations to buy into his system. A few thngs have changed since then. Players come to college with very little developmental upside left. They have spent most of their years since middle school working year round with individual trainers and playing on both HIgh School and AAU teams. Many are close aready to burn out and are not that enthused about being in high pressure program like Geno runs. They also see the recent WNBA success rate of non UConn players increasing. Stewart is the last really high impact WNBA player who came out of UConn.

There is also the "chicken and the egg" question surrounding the UConn system. How much of the UConn players success is because of the program and how much is it because the program started with the cream of the recruiting crop?

What made the UConn system effective was because the players bought into it 100%. They had a desire to get better and if they trusted the program it would happen. Stevens was an example of the new type of player coming out of High School. This really surprised Geno. He expected her to give the program one more year to develop her post skill set. I think her leaving was a long term mistake on her part, but she was satisfied with her level. I think their are more and more players coming out of high school with that attitude.

The do not see a reason to submit to a challenging program like UConn and instead choose other programs. The level of individual development players used to get in college programs they already have. Basically, exept for post players most have little upside left. What they learn in college is not " How" but "When". Ironically that is what players used to learn in high school, but now they have individual skills but can not integrate them in to a team concept, so that is what college coaches try to focus on.

It has been AAU programs that have created that problem. They are basiclly pickup teams of talented players that do not get enough time together to practice team concepts. Unfortunately AAU has replaced high school teams as the new model for players. It makes things harder for college coaches that want to teach team concepts. And the team concept is the the foundation for the UConn system. The new products of AAU ball do not really buy into the concept.

witness the stupid “recruiting “ threads posted elsewhere on this board. Video compilations of 7th graders who dominate in games against greatly inferior kids. Who are the adults that have time to produce them. And who are these services that assign ratings to them.

 

[Watchdog]

OK, let's get to the real heart of the problem. The team has looked awful since Morgan Valley was hired..........seems to fit with all the criticism based on conjecture.

I have no inside information, but CD is still on the bench, so it doesn't seem likely that there is great angst among the players about Geno's coaching style that isn't being addressed by CD, and she has proven very effective for 35 years.

There has been only one comment in the two or three threads I've looked at that mentions NIL. It may be a reach to blame NIL's influence, but think about it.

The players reportedly think the best of Paige, are supportive of her deals (and Fudd's) but, psychologically, in the backs of their minds, when the publicity surrounding these deals gets added to Geno saying we can only be good when Paige is on the floor, could that have a material effect on attitudes and motivation?

Could the subconscious minds be thinking: I was also a HS player of the year; I was also lead guard on a nationally known program; I was on a National Team, etc. so let Paige get it done?

It is difficult to understand how CW went from HS player of the year to an inconsistent senior, how EW hasn't taken charge right away when Paige went out (but give her a couple games please) and why others aren't playing much (NM until recently, but maybe there was an injury issue), but the biggest surprise is AE. How could she have regressed so markedly since last year?

 

[uconnfan68]

I am aware of all of these things, I'm just saying that if you look at previous years, Geno's coaching style got a positive reaction out of the majority (if not all of the players) but this year especially and in glimpses last year, the only person who seems to react positively to his 'harsh' coaching methods is Paige. So when she's not on the court and they're in a slump, if he is harsh on them and coaches the way he is known for coaching, he's not going to get a positive reaction.

Most, not all, of his players come here for exactly that style of coaching. Some leave, but most that stay want to be better, and work hard at it. Sometimes you hit situations where they’ll play no matter how they’re doing. That’s when Geno is at a loss. Unfortunately, there are a couple now that are in that position.

 

[CocoHusky]

witness the stupid “recruiting “ threads posted elsewhere on this board. Video compilations of 7th graders who dominate in games against greatly inferior kids. Who are the adults that have time to produce them. And who are these services that assign ratings to them.

The recruiting threads are not stupid and like every other thread on this board it is voluntary. There is a very good reason why I and others participate and that is this: We get to enjoy these young ladies longer and earlier than those that do not participate. For example participants in that thread discovered Paige as an 8th grader when she was playing on the HS varsity which was 5 years before she set foot on the UCONN campus.

 

[BBallF]

I'm in the camp of those who don't like this offense for this team. I was saying it last year as well. Last year's Baylor men's team ran a 3-2 offense with their two bigs starting on the low blocks and coming up for a high post pick. When that happens the other big clears so that the lane is clear. I like clear outs and one on ones for CW and Evina and Liv and Dorka receiving the ball on the low block. When Liv and AE wind up with the ball on the high post it is confusion, bewilderment and poor outside shots with zero chance of an offensive board.

I also do not see AE starting now and I didn't see her starting in the beginning of the season. She has actually regressed. I hope he plays more players regularly, gives players rests, and is mindful of durability issues.

Finally, I think this team is very tired and exhausted looking. That's why you need regular substitutions so that when you get into the fourth quarter there is some gas in the tank. 8 points in the fourth quarter total in the two games they lost tells it all. I also think these kids are playing all year round in leagues and something has to give. I think there may be a correlation there with the injuries.

 

[tower1]

Damn this is a great article and right on cue. You broke it down to a tee !

 

[Sakibomb25]

I don’t think my eyes could roll any further and then I read this thread… I suspect people have no idea just how difficult it is to plug and play a player of Bueckers’ caliber into the line-up and expect things to run normally. Give the Huskies a week or two and sure, fine… but a few days after? C’mon… give me a break. You are telling me you want your team running on all cylinders after their top player is out on an injury? Talk about severe expectations.

Does it happen, where a pivotal player is injured and the team responds? Of course… but it’s the exception, not the norm. This responds me of when Stanford lost to Harvard back in 1998 after losing Nygaard and Folkl within days of the NCAA. You just don’t create that team cohesion in a few days.

Give the Huskies two weeks to a month to adjust and then let’s see how they play. Until then… just stop.

 

[D J B]

I have noticed that there are no orange wedges being passed around during breaks and time outs.

That's all on the coach.

 

[ABCDFE]

In my opinion, I don't think Geno's methods are outdated. Can he be better, sure, but there are many other coaches out there that are even on the same level as him as a coach and motivator. I mean just listen to him speak. In reality, I think there have been a string of years of some very bad luck and maybe some missteps in recruiting (as Geno has admitted). Not having Azura for two playing years hurt and a decision here or there could've changed the landscape of the discussion.

For example, Pheesa played poorly against Miss. St. If she makes just one more free throw, we probably win the game. The games against ND, we probably got a lot of calls that perhaps could've changed the outcome of the game, and certainly not having a fully healthy KLS. There are numerous other things that I can go back to but in reality we were right there for another 1-2 championships. Of course a lot of "ifs, would've, couldve's".

I mean Tara V at Stanford didn't win a National Championship until last year and that took how many decades. Don't think she's changed her coaching methods. Muffet and ND went twenty years between championships. It's hard to be at the top for so long and Geno has been there and produced. It's just the last 6 years we haven't won the trophy.

I go to Football and maybe shouldn't but Nick Saban and Bill B have been amazing at what they do and for so long. Their methods and intelligence are time tested. We should really trust in Geno. I mean Geno has been recruiting hard and we're seeing great classes. Lets hope that we start hitting on some more players.

Sorry for long winded post.

 

[CocoHusky]

At times, to me it looks like the offense is too scripted and when the script doesn't produce the expected result, everyone looks lost. Is that on the coach or on the players?In all the games so far this season, there have been numerous forced passes to players that weren't open leading to turnovers.
Sometimes you just have to let players play.

This one falls squarely on the coaches IMO because the plays/sets being run are called from the sideline and the players are not involved in developing the scout (game plans). Unlike past squads these recent UCONN teams are not taking that first swing required to put other teams back on their heals and make the other team adjust to you as opposed to you having to adjust to them. The offensive struggles is a fundamental one: UCONN does not have an adequate 4 or 5 to be an offensive threat in the horn/elbo sets that UCONN is running. The UCONN 4 and 5 are not good shooters from mid range or deep nor are they good enough ball handlers to put the ball on the floor and take it to the rim. This result is large ares of the floor where the defense know they don't have to cover because there is no offensive threat coming from those players that are in those particular portions of the floor. so logically the defense doubles down on other areas of the floor. Many people are wondering what happened to the 4 guard line ups from last season. To underscore my point in those 4 guard line ups Evina Westbrook was essentially the 4 and she was certainly productive from those spots on the floor. Before Evina Anna Makurat was the 4 and was even more of an offensive threat from those spots on the floor because of her passing ability. Before Anna Megan Walker had an AA season from that position. There was a string of AA in that position before Megan and to be clear I'm not saying you have to have AA play from that position I"m saying we need better than we have been getting if we are to continue with this offense.

 

[CocoHusky]

I don’t think my eyes could roll any further and then I read this thread… I suspect people have no idea just how difficult it is to plug and play a player of Bueckers’ caliber into the line-up and expect things to run normally. Give the Huskies a week or two and sure, fine… but a few days after? C’mon… give me a break. You are telling me you want your team running on all cylinders after their top player is out on an injury? Talk about severe expectations.
Does it happen, where a pivotal player is injured and the team responds? Of course… but it’s the exception, not the norm. This responds me of when Stanford lost to Harvard back in 1998 after losing Nygaard and Folkl within days of the NCAA. You just don’t create that team cohesion in a few days.
Give the Huskies two weeks to a month to adjust and then let’s see how they play. Until then… just stop.

No... we were certainly not expecting the team to continue to run on all cylinders after Paige was hurt-that would be silly. Our expectation was that this team had enough remaining cylinders on which to run sufficient enough to beat GT. Those were not "severe expectations" they were very realistic of OUR team. Please stay in you own lane and mange your cylinders/expectations.

 

[Gus Mahler]

All due respect to the OP, but I'm not going to bother reading this thread. About five and a half years ago UConn was bad for basketball. Then all they did is stretch a winning streak to 111, with a team devoid of all-americans coming in. They lost consecutive national semis on buzzer-beating shots in OT. Then a streak of bad breaks/luck/outcomes with bigs.

In my view, last year's team over-achieved. It's hard to win any game when you find yourself suddenly down five players, including the reigning NPOY.

But now with the torches and pitchforks? Spare me.

 

[D J B]

In my opinion, I don't think Geno's methods are outdated. Can he be better, sure, but there are many other coaches out there that are even on the same level as him as a coach and motivator. I mean just listen to him speak. In reality, I think there have been a string of years of some very bad luck and maybe some missteps in recruiting (as Geno has admitted). Not having Azura for two playing years hurt and a decision here or there could've changed the landscape of the discussion.

For example, Pheesa played poorly against Miss. St. If she makes just one more free throw, we probably win the game. The games against ND, we probably got a lot of calls that perhaps could've changed the outcome of the game, and certainly not having a fully healthy KLS. There are numerous other things that I can go back to but in reality we were right there for another 1-2 championships. Of course a lot of "ifs, would've, couldve's".

I mean Tara V at Stanford didn't win a National Championship until last year and that took how many decades. Don't think she's changed her coaching methods. Muffet and ND went twenty years between championships. It's hard to be at the top for so long and Geno has been there and produced. It's just the last 6 years we haven't won the trophy.

I go to Football and maybe shouldn't but Nick Saban and Bill B have been amazing at what they do and for so long. Their methods and intelligence are time tested. We should really trust in Geno. I mean Geno has been recruiting hard and we're seeing great classes. Lets hope that we start hitting on some more players.

Sorry for long winded post.

Great post. Just one thing that I noticed. Tara VanDerveer has won three national championships.

 

[the Q]

Good post MANY things have changed not all positive

Most of them aren’t.

It’s a disaster out there.

 

[ABCDFE]

Great post. Just one thing that I noticed. Tara VanDerveer has won three national championships.

You are correct and I knew that. I meant to write another championship

 

[D J B]

You are correct and I knew that. I meant to write another championship

We're all good. Benefit of doubt and all that.

 

[Sakibomb25]

No... we were certainly not expecting the team to continue to run on all cylinders after Paige was hurt-that would be silly. Our expectation was that this team had enough remaining cylinders on which to run sufficient enough to beat GT. Those were not "severe expectations" they were very realistic of OUR team. Please stay in you own lane and mange your cylinders/expectations.

Again, you are underestimating the impact Paige has on the team. Right now, Paige is UConn basketball and the Huskie offense, for better or worse. Look how many minutes she plays and her stat line. Everything ran through her. The team is completely different and the expectations a lot of the fans is that they would figure it out in a few days against a team that is 7-2 and was ranked at the beginning of the season.

If you want to have unrealistic expectations for your team, that's your prerogative. Staying in my lane? I don't really care what happens to the Huskies (though I do like them), but I am going to call out posters for having unrealistic expectations against a decent team.

 

[IChoops]

I don’t think my eyes could roll any further and then I read this thread… I suspect people have no idea just how difficult it is to plug and play a player of Bueckers’ caliber into the line-up and expect things to run normally. Give the Huskies a week or two and sure, fine… but a few days after? C’mon… give me a break. You are telling me you want your team running on all cylinders after their top player is out on an injury? Talk about severe expectations.

Does it happen, where a pivotal player is injured and the team responds? Of course… but it’s the exception, not the norm. This responds me of when Stanford lost to Harvard back in 1998 after losing Nygaard and Folkl within days of the NCAA. You just don’t create that team cohesion in a few days.

Give the Huskies two weeks to a month to adjust and then let’s see how they play. Until then… just stop.

Again, I'm not complaining about nobody filling Paige's shoes, I'm saying this whole season they have looked like they have no motivation (even with Paige on the court) and that is a problem. Literally if you look at any player at any point in the games this year (other than Paige and Nika) they always look disinterested. Aaliyah looks like she doesn't want to be playing, Liv is taking shots for the sake of it and has no effort to recover when she inevitably misses and Christyn only shows any interest when she's putting up shots.

 

[hoophuskee]

Again, I'm not complaining about nobody filling Paige's shoes, I'm saying this whole season they have looked like they have no motivation (even with Paige on the court) and that is a problem. Literally if you look at any player at any point in the games this year (other than Paige and Nika) they always look disinterested. Aaliyah looks like she doesn't want to be playing, Liv is taking shots for the sake of it and has no effort to recover when she inevitably misses and Christyn only shows any interest when she's putting up shots.

Nothing I agree with here.

 

[IChoops]

Nothing I agree with here.

Surely you can't think the team has looked motivated this year. They're missing shots and just jogging back to defence, when they win the ball defensively there's no urgency to get a transition bucket (other than from Paige) and nobody looks interested at all. The most energetic person in the Georgia Tech game was Nika and she wasn't even playing...when they were giving up easy turnovers and then just huffing and puffing rather than getting back on defence, she was the one shouting for them to get up and encouraging them, nobody else. Not any of the other players on the court, not the players on the bench, none of the coaches. She was genuinely the only player that looked interested in what was happening in the game.

 

[hoophuskee]

Surely you can't think the team has looked motivated this year.

At this point I stopped. Just as when you started this thread I disagreed with everything you said. I think your imagination has gotten the better of you just like your points of Genos' coaching methods while completely disregarding getting to FF's.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Ah yes, the man who coached a roster with 6 freshmen to a Final Four last year is suddenly outdated. I think you're forgetting that just about every UConn team for the past decade has gotten better throughout the course of the season. Remember how bad the defense was early in the year last season?

Does this team currently have a lot of flaws? Yes. Will they be a lot better come March? Yes. To suggest Geno's coaching is no longer effective after one game is laughable.

Which 6 freshman actually got meaningful minutes Muhl, Paige and Edwards? Now as sophomores 2 of the 3 didn’t play and third actually could’ve sat as well lol