Are Geno's coaching methods outdated?

[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In my opinion, I don't think Geno's methods are outdated.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

 

[DaddyChoc]

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.

Stanford and Notre Dame hasn’t been getting #1 recruits… which I think is overrated (the rating/ranking system)

 

[Skeets]

As far as Geno's coaching methods are concerned, you will recall last year he yanked Nika out of a game, and I don't know what he said to her, but she was practically in tears on the bench. Nika then went on to start the next 15 games and played very well. So, Geno's methods do work, at least with Nika.

 

[Bald Husky]

After that episode on the bench with Nika, Geno actually put her back in the game. So you are right Skeets, his methods do work. We only know for sure what we see, so even though that exchange upset me at the time, it motivated Nika to become an important part of our team last year. Her mental toughness is what this team needs, and her return cannot be overstated.

 

[UConnCat]

Yes

Bad weather fan.

 

[visitingcock]

Stanford and Notre Dame hasn’t been getting #1 recruits… which I think is overrated (the rating/ranking system)

#1 recruits is not a factor that I consider all THAT much. Are they really the best of their class? For one thing, the ranking is made before a player even starts her senior season. To me, top 5 recruit status is what matters. That’s where the number 1 WNBA draft choice usually comes from.

Paige has proven herself worthy of number 1 status. Will Azzi? We didn’t get to see her play much in high school. She can shoot but there’s more to it than that. She appeared slow and hesitant before her injury ( though she may have already been injured). Jury is still out.

But, # 1 prospects should be very good even if they don’t prove to be the best of their class. Is Christyn really better than Charli Collier?. Is Haley Jones better than Boston?

 

[DaddyChoc]

Bad weather fan.

Ok and...

 

[IChoops]

#1 recruits is not a factor that I consider all THAT much. Are they really the best of their class? For one thing, the ranking is made before a player even starts her senior season. To me, top 5 recruit status is what matters. That’s where the number 1 WNBA draft choice usually comes from.

Paige has proven herself worthy of number 1 status. Will Azzi? We didn’t get to see her play much in high school. She can shoot but there’s more to it than that. She appeared slow and hesitant before her injury ( though she may have already been injured). Jury is still out.

But, # 1 prospects should be very good even if they don’t prove to be the best of their class. Is Christyn really better than Charli Collier?. Is Haley Jones better than Boston?

I definately don't think #1 recruits is a factor. After all, who's rankings would you base that off? there's so many different ranking with different people and they're definitely not always accurate. NaLyssa Smith was ranked 13th in her class and she's being put in the 'player of the year' conversations and Rhyne Howard was 32nd and she's projected to be the #1 pick in the draft this year.

 

[hoophuskee]

Ok and...

Why does there need to be an "and?"

Don't need to add anything more than Cat said.

 

[huskeynut]

iChoops - Guess Geno can still coach and teach as can his staff.

Looks like he relates real well to the team.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

This is something I have thought about for quite a while now. One of the main things that Geno and former players have admitted is that his coaching strategies (being hard on players to get the best out of them) is one of the things that has made UCONN alum so successful when going pro. However over time, the way that players have been raised when they're younger is different, players are a lot 'softer' now and most people can't handle that kind of coaching method.

Simon Sinek did a great talk about it that you can find on YouTube if you search 'Simon Sinek millennials' (it's about 15-16 minutes long), now although that talk was about CEO's of companies not knowing how to treat young employees, I feel the message is very similar. The way that this generation has been raised is very different to previous generations, so throwing them into a completely new environment with a coach that is hard on them just is not going to work for most kids. Although Geno has proved himself to be one of best coaches to ever coach women's basketball, I can't help but feel like over time, the way that kids need to be coached has evolved but Geno's coaching style has not.

He makes millions of dollars a year doing what he does... how much do you make? Let him worry about coaching and you keep hiding behind your screen name. I am sure you would not have the nerve to make a comment like this if people actually knew who you were.

Remember Geno has 11 titles... the most anyone else has in the women's game is 8... then 3...
Remember Geno has the 2nd most wins only behind Tara.
Remember there are over 300 teams who would kill to have season records like UCONN has.