As happy as I am for Paige, Kaitlyn, and Aubrey…

[cohenzone]

To compare Geno to one of his rivals, Dawn got beat badly by Azzi and Ash in their first meeting. She was determined not to let Paige and Sarah beat them back then and suffered an epic defeat. She seems to have made a similar gameplan for the next meeting and suffered a similar defeat. It doesn’t mean she’s a bad coach. It means Geno didn’t give her any openings to exploit against his team.

Geno has built many different kinds of dominating teams and they create and exploit all sorts of matchup problems. Our height and athlete challenged roster rolled into one of the most dominant tournament runs in history. Each roster is a puzzle and nobody sees how to put the pieces together better than Geno.

Exactly. He has won NCs with all sorts of line ups. So far Dawn has been great when she has a truly dominant big. Obviously her team didn’t fall off that much this year, but it will be interesting to see if she can win it all without a dominant center. We all know that the GA era is near an end but what a great treat it has been.

 

[Zarathustra]

The TO he called in Q3 was excellent coaching.

I would like to add the "elevator door" screen that freed up
Azzi for that three pointer (also after a time out). It was
after Azzi had missed 9 in a row. Great faith by Geno,
great shot by Azzi, and it opened the way for her second
half performance in that game and her steals, confidence,
and 24 points in the Championship game.... Great Stuff!!!

 

[Jonathan14]

He had mentioned that KC was exactly what he was looking for; someone that was mature at the point guard position, with a steady calming presence that would be able to carry the team without Nika who he had lost to graduation.

In essence, regardless that he still had Bueckers, he was more concerned with getting a consistent replacement for Nika than Aaliyah. I would have thought that it would be the other way around. That he would be more interested in the loss of his dominant power forward.

Guess it just shows that he’s a great evaluator of what he needs and I’m just a fan who likes to play one on the internet.

Hey, don't sell your evaluation skills short! I'm sure if Geno could have gotten a player in the portal to try to "replace" Aaliyah as well as Kaitlyn ended up filling in for Nika, he would have done so in a heartbeat. (We did have one more roster spot open, and we know UConn made an offer to Beers, so he was definitely looking.)

Happily, it turns out Kaitlyn came up huge for us down the stretch, and we didn't need that other big after all. All's well that ends well.

 

[Boreifs]

He had mentioned that KC was exactly what he was looking for; someone that was mature at the point guard position, with a steady calming presence that would be able to carry the team without Nika who he had lost to graduation.

In essence, regardless that he still had Bueckers, he was more concerned with getting a consistent replacement for Nika than Aaliyah. I would have thought that it would be the other way around. That he would be more interested in the loss of his dominant power forward.

Guess it just shows that he’s a great evaluator of what he needs and I’m just a fan who likes to play one on the internet.

He had Sarah to replace Aaliyah.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Geno's had more cause and opportunity than most to muse on championships. He said yesterday, among many things, that:

• "sure, it's nice to know we can still get it done".
• "I have 12 of these today, I had 11 yesterday. It's not a life changer for me."

I do believe, unreservedly, that seeing Paige get one means more to him than a twelfth for himself. He wears it on his sleeve and I love him for it.

It also strikes me that this is:

• Azzi's one with Paige
• Aubrey and Caroline get rewarded for perseverance
• Ash and KK have one as role players and a blueprint for more
• Sarah Strong's first -- look out Stewie?

Sure, there is a collective "team" legacy, but it means something personal to everyone that had a hand in it; the same for every invested fan that will use this championship to remember a birth, a death, a wedding, a graduation, or even (for the lucky) a weekend trip to Tampa.

 

[BRS24]

It's not often I agree with Steve A -

 

[Huskie837]

The TO he called in Q3 was excellent coaching.

It sure was! Stopped SC momentum and we responded with a pair of 3s and a couple of FTs. Compare that to Dawn who didn't do a thing and appeared to just disappear and curse...

 

[BBallF]

I thought that two years ago, when he got a 6 player team to the Final Four was one of his greatest coaching jobs ever. A constantly changing roster due to injuries meant changing game plans on the fly. It was simply astonishing

I thought that too. This year though he created a masterpiece. This team was simply majestic. A thing of beauty at times. Beating two #1 seeds and also winning the Final Four by a combined 57 points. Not to mention having to beat another #1 seed in the Elite 8 to get there.

 

[ucmiami2]

The coaching job he has done since the 2016 championship has shown no sign of 'aging', or 'slide'. He has taken flawed teams to the FF every year but one. Getting championship wins is the icing and depends on a lot of other factors, especially health, but also the other teams in the FF. I think both UCLA and South Carolina could be said to have more talented rosters, but Uconn had the better team and that is coaching. And even this year injures struck, just not as critically as they had in previous years.

So, yeah, the title is a nice ribbon to wear, but Geno has been masterful in his coaching during the 'drought' - such a funny idea that every one is mentioning this so called drought of 7 tournaments between titles. Really? in the last ten tournaments Dawn and Geno have each won 3, and 4 other teams won 1 each.

In fact, Geno has slowed down, staring with the decade:
1995-2004 Uconn won 5
2005-2014 Uconn won 4
2015-2024 Uconn won 3
Fading fast I guess!

(Pat went 4, 2, 2 in her 3 decades starting with her first in 1987. Dawn needs to win in 2026 to match her predecessors for 4 in her first decade.)

 

[OldAlum]

Geno's coaching job reminds me of the training job Lucien Lauren did for Secretariat. Many people remember Secretariat's Triple Crown and his awesome Belmont win. But few remember that he lost his race before the Kentucky Derby and a couple of races after the Belmont. His trainer had him primed for "the moments" when it most counted!

 

[KCD]

…I’m very happy for Geno. He’s the GOAT (not the nonsensical “one of the GOATs”) and we all know it but it would have broken my heart if the golden years of his career ended in a kind of downward slide. How many times have we seen an athlete or coach try to continue their excellence too long and then sort of slide into mediocrity? Not Geno - he coached a heck of a tournament.

Congrats, Coach. You truly are The Greatest Of All Time.

I would say don't overlook the last 4 injury riddled years. I think these are some of his and CD's best coaching jobs ever. They took these teams of 6-7 players (at times) and went to the final 4 three times and the National Championship game one time. They didn't know at times who they would have from one game to the next. I thought that Geno deserved to get Coach of the year in at least one of these years. Doing what he did with what he had and what he was missing was absolutely amazing coaching. I thought these injury plagued years showed how great he still was, but he was not getting credit for it.

 

[David54]

I don’t watch the Dee and Sue show when UConn is playing but I do record it. They had CC as a guest and she posed the question how long do u think Geno will keep coaching. Sue thought he should give serious thought to retiring now, Clark thought he had a real soft spot for Azzi and would retire after next year , Dee said he loves coaching Sarah so would stay 3 more years. Then Clark said ‘ but there’s going to be another great player coming behind Sarah. So they all agreed he would never retire.

 

[Cuango]

We are truly blessed to have him and CD! He is incomparable as a coach and she is incomparable as a team builder!

 

[BRS24]

I would say don't overlook the last 4 injury riddled years. I think these are some of his and CD's best coaching jobs ever. They took these teams of 6-7 players (at times) and went to the final 4 three times and the National Championship game one time. They didn't know at times who they would have from one game to the next. I thought that Geno deserved to get Coach of the year in at least one of these years. Doing what he did with what he had and what he was missing was absolutely amazing coaching. I thought these injury plagued years showed how great he still was, but he was not getting credit for it.

In a presser during the final four, Geno said that in the last few years, it was a relief that they made it to the FF. This year, it was the normal expectation and when they got there, they were focused and on a mission so to speak.

 

[drweo]

I would say don't overlook the last 4 injury riddled years. I think these are some of his and CD's best coaching jobs ever. They took these teams of 6-7 players (at times) and went to the final 4 three times and the National Championship game one time. They didn't know at times who they would have from one game to the next. I thought that Geno deserved to get Coach of the year in at least one of these years. Doing what he did with what he had and what he was missing was absolutely amazing coaching. I thought these injury plagued years showed how great he still was, but he was not getting credit for it.

Totally agree. I dont wish all those injuries on any other team or coach, but I doubt there is anyone else who could have done what Geno and Chris did with those teams!

 

[Teddie1056]

I don’t watch the Dee and Sue show when UConn is playing but I do record it. They had CC as a guest and she posed the question how long do u think Geno will keep coaching. Sue thought he should give serious thought to retiring now, Clark thought he had a real soft spot for Azzi and would retire after next year , Dee said he loves coaching Sarah so would stay 3 more years. Then Clark said ‘ but there’s going to be another great player coming behind Sarah. So they all agreed he would never retire.

The year is 2089. Storrs is an island as the icecaps have completely melted. UConn is leading the University of Remaining Carolina in the national championship game. With 4 seconds left, his worst player and McDonalds All American from Mars Connie Jumanji nails a 3 pointer to put the Huskies up 500-3. The buzzer sounds. The players celebrate UConn's record 40th championship.

Mecha-Geno sighs as the players celebrate. He yearns to power down and fade into oblivion. But in his core, beyond the programming, he knows he can't. How could he pass up the opportunity to coach future GOAT Sarah Strong III?

 

[OldSchooler]

He's so contemporary, so sharp, so up on everything else going on in the sports world. In his interview with Michael Strahan yesterday morning, he put himself in the same category as Alex Ovechkin ("it's time for us old guys to shine"), and finished up with "Go Birds" (an insider knock on Strahan's Giants who let the Super Bowl MVP get away).

 

[RockyMTblue2]

He's not perfect. Sometimes he says things that can be maddening and it is usually when he strays out of college ball and into the W or politics. But as we were very graphically reminded on Sunday he has a heart big enough for all his kids and always has their backs ... every one.

 

[Barkin Out]

The year is 2089. Storrs is an island as the icecaps have completely melted. UConn is leading the University of Remaining Carolina in the national championship game. With 4 seconds left, his worst player and McDonalds All American from Mars Connie Jumanji nails a 3 pointer to put the Huskies up 500-3. The buzzer sounds. The players celebrate UConn's record 40th championship.

Mecha-Geno sighs as the players celebrate. He yearns to power down and fade into oblivion. But in his core, beyond the programming, he knows he can't. How could he pass up the opportunity to coach future GOAT Sarah Strong III?

A thousand laughs and likes. URC. LOL

 

[ABCDFE]

To compare Geno to one of his rivals, Dawn got beat badly by Azzi and Ash in their first meeting. She was determined not to let Paige and Sarah beat them back then and suffered an epic defeat. She seems to have made a similar gameplan for the next meeting and suffered a similar defeat. It doesn’t mean she’s a bad coach. It means Geno didn’t give her any openings to exploit against his team.

Geno has built many different kinds of dominating teams and they create and exploit all sorts of matchup problems. Our height and athlete challenged roster rolled into one of the most dominant tournament runs in history. Each roster is a puzzle and nobody sees how to put the pieces together better than Geno.

Yeah all great points. When Paige had her post game interviews she mentioned that they have the blueprint to continue the success after she leaves. The blue print is great defense no matter who’s on the floor and three bona fide scorers (one that can score inside) and two that need extra attention. Then you need another guard and this year it was Chen or Shade that got wide open looks or drives for a midrange or floater.

My hope is that KK can really improve her offensive game because if she could be that do it all point guard for us.

Our biggest weakness next year is an experienced offensive minded point guard and a big can score regularly if played one one one by the opposing team.

 

[BBallF]

I thought that two years ago, when he got a 6 player team to the Final Four was one of his greatest coaching jobs ever. A constantly changing roster due to injuries meant changing game plans on the fly. It was simply astonishing

Me too. That was an unbelievable coaching job with Paige playing the 4 and two freshmen starting. How did he do it? This year he was not doing it without enough personnel, he was taking the depth and turning it into an exemplar team for the ages. I really mean that. This team showed the greatness of women's basketball. Those of us old enough to remember, recognized the unique similarity between this team after the Tennessee game and going forward, and the great Celtic and Knick teams of long ago. By the time the FF came around, we were seeing plays and passes that were simply gorgeous. You can take that fast break with the in the air volleyball pass from Paige to KC and put it in a time capsule and call it' Teamwork in basketball" or better yet, "Ballet with a ball".

 

[BBallF]

he's licking his chops with sarah. he knows the end is near, but also still feels energized by what he does.

How can you not want to coach her another 3 years? She got better every game. Imagine her after a summer of strength conditioning, skills, etc. Yikes.