Bad for basketball -- too early? | The Boneyard

Bad for basketball -- too early?

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oldphart

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I have nominees: UConn and Vanderbilt. Both bad for womens basketball. Hmm -- do they have anything in common?
 
"Bad for basketball -- too early?"

Yes, and bad mojo too. I get that you are probably trying to be cheeky, as both are coached by UConn legends but...

UConn has not faced any of the other big 3. We barely escaped Michigan, a team with numerous losses to other teams now. While I feel very good about this team, comments about being invincible, bad for basketball, etc. rub me the wrong way. Let's revisit all this AFTER the NC game and see where we stand...
 
How is Vanderbilt bad for basketball? Do you mean they have a great team this year? “Bad for basketball” as relates to UConn means they are dominating and might turn off interest for the casual fan who might think why bother watching as they are going to win again.
 
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Another subject that some choose to be willfully ignorant about.

The argument was always that constant blowouts are not good viewing, and folks won't watch. That is such a basic, obvious statement. And empirically true.

No it wasnt UConn's fault that no one else could come close for awhile. Did casual fans find it interesting? Generally no. Both things can be true.
 
Vowelguy said:
Another subject that some choose to be willfully ignorant about.

The argument was always that constant blowouts are not good viewing, and folks won't watch. That is such a basic, obvious statement. And empirically true.

No it wasnt UConn's fault that no one else could come close for awhile. Did casual fans find it interesting? Generally no. Both things can be true.
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As Geno said (paraphrasing), we're not going to lower our standards, so everyone else needs to catch up.
 
2025/26 Vanderbilt season is a feel good story for sure, which makes them good for women's college basketball. The bad for women's basketball skit is old and annoying and not representative of where women's college basketball sits currently.
 
First, I am NOT accusing UConn of weak scheduling,

Second, I am accusing many of the top teams of scheduling weak ( And I mean really poor non conference ) teams. To me
that is what is bad for Women’s college basketball . Too many 50 point blow outs Time to separate out a D- 1 B with elevation and relegation.

More to come in the off season
 
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visitingcock said:
Time to separs out a D- 1 B with elevation and relehation
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Promotion and relegation like in soccer (sorry, football) would make things more exciting. I'd like to see it in MLB too, but neither the players nor the owners would stand for it.
 
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Superbad mojo. I'm with Eric on this one. It would be all to easy for UConn to cruise through the season, the BE tournament and the first two rounds of the NCAAs. Then they run into
-- A hot LSU
-- A hot Vanderbilt
-- a hot Michigan
and let's say they get through all that and then they face
-- A hot SC or
-- A hot TX or
--A hot UCLA.
If their three-pointers are off or they go into one of those passing funks that we've seen in a couple of games, things could get very rough.

My hope is that something(other than a loss) serves as a catalyst -- much as the Tennessee game did -- and everyone comes together as they did last year. They are a wonderful team. It would be a shame to go all the way to almost-the-end and miss out.
 
OldSchooler said:
Irony: Of #7 Michigan's three losses, two were to 19-0 UConn and 19-0 Vanderbilt by identical scores of 72-69! Geno spent a portion of his post-game presser yesterday raving about the job Shea has done at Vandy, earning his vote for COY.
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Not looking for hate mail here and not one to challenge Geno. But like himself Shea has one heck of an assistant. That should be recognized, Shea calls timeout and her assistant head coach Tom Garrick draws up the play or defense needed. I only saw the last quarter but when timeouts were called by either team Shea stood outside the huddle with players surrounding Garrick drawing things up.
 
fomalhaut said:
Promotion and relegation like in soccer (sorry, football) would make things more exciting. I'd like to see it in MLB too, but neither the players nor the owners would stand for it.
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Woof 101 said:
Not looking for hate mail here and not one to challenge Geno. But like himself Shea has one heck of an assistant. That should be recognized, Shea calls timeout and her assistant head coach Tom Garrick draws up the play or defense needed. I only saw the last quarter but when timeouts were called by either team Shea stood outside the huddle with players surrounding Garrick drawing things up.
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During Monday’s game there was a quick look at CD emphatically coaching K9 during the 2nd quarter about something
Kayleigh’s play in the 2nd half was markedly better
Coincidence?
 
I’ve heard the “ bad for women’s basketball “. Found it fun to bounce around because I thought it silly. The UConn level of excellent play is what caused me to stop turning the TV dial and watch. Over the years I became more consistent in finding them on TV.

The fact that the UConn Wbb program plays the game as it should be played is why I watch. A coach teaching if you’re where you’re supposed to be doing what you’re supposed to be doing you won’t get called for a foul. Da!

It’s probably because I have daughters and granddaughters that it irritates me that poor execution is acceptable if it’s women playing.

I’ll climb down off my soap box now. 🫲😎🫱
 
Inthepaint said:
During Monday’s game there was a quick look at CD emphatically coaching K9 during the 2nd quarter about something
Kayleigh’s play in the 2nd half was markedly better
Coincidence?
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Geno made a postgame comment that K9 tends to spend her initial time getting a feel for the game. And that she always plays much better in her 2nd and subsequent stints when she’s settled down and comfortable.
 
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For those who don’t understand the “bad for basketball “ reference (the original article is behind a paywall)

IMG_4692.jpeg
 
No one ever said Nebraska was bad for women's volleyball when they were dominating the sport. The people who thought like that were probably men who rarely, if ever, watched women's basketball.
 
I like “UConn is bad for WBB” as a running joke which I happily use whenever the occasion allows. Having said that, if UConn was really bad for WBB why do the Huskies sellout wherever they play and draw some of the highest tv ratings of any team?

The answer is simple. People love to watch an enterprise that is consistently excellent, comprised of wonderful young ladies who play the game as well as anyone ever has. UConn is bad for WBB like the NY Philharmonic Orchestra is bad for music.
 
oldude said:
I like “UConn is bad for WBB” as a running joke which I happily use whenever the occasion allows. Having said that, if UConn was really bad for WBB why do the Huskies sellout wherever they play and draw some of the highest tv ratings of any team?

The answer is simple. People love to watch an enterprise that is consistently excellent, comprised of wonderful young ladies who play the game as well as anyone ever has. UConn is bad for WBB like the NY Philharmonic Orchestra is bad for music.
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oldude that was the best answer i have heard about " bad for Women's basketball ". I also like Geno's remark " don't watch if you complain ". I, myself personally LOVE the blowouts as rewards to the players talent and team play. There is only ONE team that the other teams wished they were the same and that is Uconn. After the games at the pressers the opposition coaches always give credit to Uconn's defense and shooting ability and well deserved, I want MORE!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!!!
 
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Woof 101 said:
Not looking for hate mail here and not one to challenge Geno. But like himself Shea has one heck of an assistant. That should be recognized, Shea calls timeout and her assistant head coach Tom Garrick draws up the play or defense needed. I only saw the last quarter but when timeouts were called by either team Shea stood outside the huddle with players surrounding Garrick drawing things up.
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I believe each of her assistants ran the sideline huddles.
 
Woof 101 said:
Not looking for hate mail here and not one to challenge Geno. But like himself Shea has one heck of an assistant. That should be recognized, Shea calls timeout and her assistant head coach Tom Garrick draws up the play or defense needed. I only saw the last quarter but when timeouts were called by either team Shea stood outside the huddle with players surrounding Garrick drawing things up.
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That's your opinion and I respect that and no one is saying or should feel that Garrick or any assistant for that matter is not integral to a team's success. Who exactly hired him? The HC is the CEO and can delegate play-calling to an assistant (happens all the time for example in DI and pro football where the OC and DC call plays into the players.) So the asst HC is the one who brought Vandy back into a top 10 team? Come on. It takes leadership that starts with developing a standard and recruiting players who will be motivated to play up to that standard. That is exactly what Shea has done. Even if one of the assistants may draw up a play in a huddle during a timeout do you think that Shea did not know what it was and approve of it? The players know who the HC is and whether a play is drawn up on the white board by an assistant or the HC it is what the players will listen to and try to perform that is important. Look at any game Vandy plays. Who is the one kneeling on the sideline directing her players into positions she knows ae needed? Shea and only Shea. She is the HC in one of the best ways and knows how to delegate. She has obviously chosen her assistants wisely and gives them repsonsibility and I'm sure holds them accountable. That is what leaders do.
 
Sifaka said:
Back in '16 somebody—maybe Geno?—asked if Dan Shaughnessy had ever been to a live WBB game.
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In 2015 or 2016, for every person who said they wouldn't watch a UConn game, I talked to at least one person who said they ONLY watched if UConn was playing. Stewie was almost always mentioned.
 
Regarding the effect of the 2015 and 2016 teams on the sport, I think that a very recent quote from Caroline Ducharme is pertinent. About a week ago, commenting on the gathering of players from those teams, she said that at that time she was a "little girl" (probably meaning middle-school age), she would always watch UConn games, and (roughly quoting) "no one could bother me when UConn was on TV -- I had to watch every minute, and if I missed something I re-winded it". (Caroline, the correct form of that verb is "rewound" ...). No doubt she was representative of a whole class of aspiring girls' basketball players. A few years later, Paige and Caitlin clearly had the same effect.

No doubt the effect of a great team playing the game "the right way" is different for kids who want to grow up to do that than it is for adults who want to be entertained by TV sports. Shaughnessy probably had a point concerning the latter group. But, at least if you believe Rebecca, the TV ratings of women's basketball when UConn plays have always been healthy enough to make the TV networks want to broadcast at least their more competitive games as often as possible, so the net effect of their winning seasons has been positive for the health and popularity of the game.

But the nine-year NC drought followed by a championship (and possibly a repeat) is a great WBB story in itself, so maybe it's not a bad thing that it happened.
 
Woof 101 said:
Not looking for hate mail here and not one to challenge Geno. But like himself Shea has one heck of an assistant. That should be recognized, Shea calls timeout and her assistant head coach Tom Garrick draws up the play or defense needed. I only saw the last quarter but when timeouts were called by either team Shea stood outside the huddle with players surrounding Garrick drawing things up.
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And this, IMHO, is the sign of a good coach - knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and encouraging your assistants to do what they do well. If there's a significant skill of some asst coaches with out of bounds plays, etc, then let them do it. Many years ago, I coached youth soccer in CT. I organized and ran the practices, and my asst coach (hubby), he designed the starting lineups and sub patterns. Why? Because I was better at prepping them for the games, and he was better putting the puzzle pieces together. I tried to do the lineups one time, and and halftime, looked at him and said, ok, you fix this because you are better at it. LOL
 
BRS24 said:
And this, IMHO, is the sign of a good coach - knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and encouraging your assistants to do what they do well. If there's a significant skill of some asst coaches with out of bounds plays, etc, then let them do it. Many years ago, I coached youth soccer in CT. I organized and ran the practices, and my asst coach (hubby), he designed the starting lineups and sub patterns. Why? Because I was better at prepping them for the games, and he was better putting the puzzle pieces together. I tried to do the lineups one time, and and halftime, looked at him and said, ok, you fix this because you are better at it. LOL
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Well said. I saw something ten years or so ago, probably in the business section of the paper, saying that in employee evaluations, the characteristic most highly valued was enjoying the success of coworkers. In other words, if you have a group member who's better than you at something, by all means, give that coworker that task. That person might get a bigger attaboy, but your bosses will still recognize your group's success.
 
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