Candace Parker/Olympic team thread (merged threads)

[HuskyNan]

Apparently the "1 person" that Tina Thompson mentioned as keeping Parker off the Olympic team wasn't Geno. Check out the last tweet linked below - apparently the Captain isn't as all-knowing as she thinks.

Tina ThompsonVerified account‏@IamTinaThompson

My face when I found out Candace Parker isn't on the USA Team! Smh...unbelievable how 1 person can diminish decades of work! #teamCP

7:25 AM - 26 Apr 2016

1. 1. Don Guido ‏@palimonykid2006 Apr 27
      @iamtinathompson Have the courage to put Geno's name to it.Low blow without any knowledge.Get the facts first.
      
      
   2. 
      Tina Thompson ‏@IamTinaThompson Apr 27
      @palimonykid2006 have intelligence to not make assumptions you have no idea whom I'm referring to! So unless you have please don't respond
      
      0 retweets3 likes
      
   3. 
      Don Guido ‏@palimonykid2006 Apr 27
      @iamtinathompson We all know Candace should be on team.Your words matter as a 4 time champ.You set it off with your statement.Who then?
      
      Don Guido‏@palimonykid2006
      @CoachKarenA Tina accusing Geno of keeping Parker off Olympic team not a good look for an aspiring college coach.
      1. 1. 
            Tina Thompson ‏@IamTinaThompson 5h5 hours ago
            @palimonykid2006 *correction* college coach, not aspiring!
            
            
            
            
            
         2. Don Guido ‏@palimonykid2006 5h5 hours ago
            @iamtinathompson I defend Geno to the max.SB nation used your tweet in their column.Your words matter as a 4 time champ.
            
            
            
         3. Don Guido ‏@palimonykid2006 5h5 hours ago
            @iamtinathompson Everyone talking about your tweet and most agree with you,but as a college coach of a great program not a good look.
      2. 1. 
            Tina Thompson ‏@IamTinaThompson 5h5 hours ago
            @palimonykid2006 Again, did I mention anyone's name? Practice what you preach, don't make assumptions not having all the information!
            1. 
               Tina Thompson ‏@IamTinaThompson 5h5 hours ago
               @swishappeal it would have been nice for you all to have contacted me and use my own words before you assumed what they actually mean. Smh
               
               2 retweets4 likes

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Frankly, this is not a new wrinkle so much as a coy use of words that may play to an audience, but count me out. Name it or shut up TT.

 

[MikeR01950]

It's funny if u go on Candace Parker Instragram look what she posted... #TBT... Throw back Thursday...its when she dunked on UCONN at the civic center. Makes u wonder??? A dig at geno??

 

[Mdoggie]

Oh Mikey

 

[j66kicker]

It's funny if u go on Candace Parker Instragram look what she posted... #TBT... Throw back Thursday...its when she dunked on UCONN at the civic center. Makes u wonder??? A dig at geno??

Ya think?

 

[Vowelguy]

Apparently the "1 person" that she mentioned as keeping Parker off the Olympic team wasn't Geno.

Sorry Nan, but all she said was "I didn't give a name." She neither confirmed nor denied it was Geno.

 

[HuskyNan]

Sorry Nan, but all she said was "I didn't give a name." She neither confirmed nor denied it was Geno.

I thought her comments about making assumptions seemed pretty straightforward.

Tina Thompson ‏@IamTinaThompson 5h5 hours ago
@swishappeal it would have been nice for you all to have contacted me and use my own words before you assumed what they actually mean. Smh

 

[Vowelguy]

I thought her comments about making assumptions seemed pretty straightforward.

Tina Thompson ‏@IamTinaThompson 5h5 hours ago
@swishappeal it would have been nice for you all to have contacted me and use my own words before you assumed what they actually mean. Smh

Again, she's not denying any names.

 

[UConnCat]

Again, she's not denying any names.

Yeah, looks to me like she was called out on her tweet and decided denial was the best course. Who else could she be talking about? Carol Callan?

 

[Blueconn]

Guido gets castigated for making assumptions "not having all the information" which only she can provide. But she won't give that information when Guido asks for it with a simple question "Who then ?"

She then scolds Swish Appeal for not contacting her to "use her own words" before using her other own words. Wonder how long she can string this out ?

Notice that she didn't tell Guido that the "one person" wasn't Geno. She might have said it was someone else and that in the interest of moving forward she would not be naming the "one person". And her part in this whole sorry mess might well have begun to diminish. Or she might have ignored Guido's tweets to begin with. But she did neither of those things and so the impression gets stronger that she is accusing Geno, wants others to accuse Geno, or both.

Echoes of "Go ask Geno, he knows". You do or say something that you know, or should know, will get reaction and generate legitimate questions. When the questions come you first try to upend the person asking. But if that fails you look to other places/people to take away the heat.

 

[Plebe]

Sun's Kelsey Bone uses the floor to speak about Olympic 'slight' of Candace Parker

 

[j66kicker]

Sun's Kelsey Bone uses the floor to speak about Olympic 'slight' of Candace Parker

She's really bent about this. But not making a lot of sense. Getting 'personality conflict' confused with 'who you know.' In the real world getting along with people - especially your boss and those influential in your career - is at least as important as your technical ability.

 

[DaddyChoc]

cant read the "pay per view" article

 

[Plebe]

cant read the "pay per view" article

You get a certain number of free views before you hit the paywall. You might try opening the link in a different browser.

It's a fairly long article, but here is a key excerpt:

"Women's basketball and life in general is political. It's about who you know. I get it. Great. Fine. Dandy," Bone was saying Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena. "But when you are talking about a player like Candace Parker and what she's done for women's basketball, the attention she's brought to the game and the resume she has, you'd be hard pressed to find a reason not to put her on the Olympic team."

Here's my $.02: Parker has a pric*kly personality that has run afoul of UConn coach and Olympic coach Geno Auriemma, who didn't appear to have the time of his life at the last Olympics. Parker was among the reasons. Her omission is the result of a personality conflict. Nothing more, nothing less.

"There is a personality conflict," Bone said. "But they are there for a month. They're not going be together for a whole season. (Auriemma) isn't going to coach her for the next 10 years of her career. We're trying to win a gold medal for a couple of weeks. But, yes, I do think there's a personality conflict."​

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

Given Kelsey Bone's level of experience, and her well documented history of "...personality conflict..."s with coaches, I discount her statements nearly 100%. She's certainly not one who should be stepping into that arena, especially given that one of the targets of her "...personality conflict..."s is on the Team USA staff.

 

[DaddyChoc]

She's wrong... should move on, and whoever the reporter baited her and she fell for it.
I dont think she's that close enough to those 2 to know about a "personality conflict".

If she wants to talk about "talent" on the court fine... but whats in each of their heads is totally over the top

CT Sun Media Day should be about CT Sun Basketball for the upcoming season

 

[Lynx23]

I can't access the article and don't what to misinterpret something I can't read because I don't have context, but if by "personality conflict" Bone means a player is oppositional then so be it. The tension that creates is certainly going to have an impact on the coaching staff and the rest of the team. That would certainly be a valid reason for keeping any player off the team, no matter how great. Having said that, once again an individual (Bone) is placing the blame on Geno when in fact Parker has not laid the blame squarely on his shoulders although it might be implied. People need to get over themselves. we all face disappointments in life and there are never any guarantees. There is no privilege; sometimes the things we want the most have to be earned. Sometimes that means putting your ego aside and accepting authority.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Kelsey is right that Candace did have problems in London. Candace wasn't on the 2014 World Championship team, and I can't recall if she was injured or had other issues. If there were any thoughts by USA BB that they were not going to select Candace for the team, she should not have been used in promoting Rio Olympics. Still think Candace should be on the team even if it meant that Stewart was not selected. Also as I've said a younger guard should be on the team as well.

 

[tennparker3]

Kelsey is right that Candace did have problems in London. Candace wasn't on the 2014 World Championship team, and I can't recall if she was injured or had other issues. If there were any thoughts by USA BB that they were not going to select Candace for the team, she should not have been used in promoting Rio Olympics. Still think Candace should be on the team even if it meant that Stewart was not selected. Also as I've said a younger guard should be on the team as well.

I think this is a completely false narrative. From what I've heard Parker and Whalen were buddies and spent a lot of time together and Candace also had a lot of her off time spent with her child. Parker constantly gets labeled as a diva and I have yet to hear strong evidence to support that. Diana and Parker have very similar personalities and both of them seem to get the same labels from opposing fan views. The one thing they also have in common... their teammates always come to their defense and always speak of them being the most talented yet still the most driven and hardest workers.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Word out in twitter world the vote was 3-2 to keep Parker off the team. I'm presuming that's what Thompson is saying when one person kept Parker off team.

 

[johnnyc]

When (Auriemma) has had his issues with other coaches, he has said 'we don't have to all be friends.

Big difference between getting along with other coaches and trying to put a team together. Looking forward to when Bone becomes a coach and her best player puts up 30 shots with no assists.

 

[Tonyc]

All these threads on CP not making the team and opinions and thoughts why. A lot of the blame is on Geno...Why...he doesn't make the decisions or the rules for the team. I will repeat what Ive said before. This could be personal, there could be a problem and we don't know anything...those in charge and associated with the team and organization do and when theyre ready they just might let everybody know why. Until then stop placing blame, because you don't have the facts, the decision makers do.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I think this is a completely false narrative. From what I've heard Parker and Whalen were buddies and spent a lot of time together and Candace also had a lot of her off time spent with her child. Parker constantly gets labeled as a diva and I have yet to hear strong evidence to support that. Diana and Parker have very similar personalities and both of them seem to get the same labels from opposing fan views. The one thing they also have in common... their teammates always come to their defense and always speak of them being the most talented yet still the most driven and hardest workers.

There is one big difference between diva Parker and diva Taurasi. Taurasi is the ultimate team player, while Parker is the poster child for a "me" player.

 

[bschwartz]

My bone of contention with this article is that it assumes the "personality problem" is with Auriemma. Maybe she is just a bad teammate (I don't know this to be true, I am just saying there is at least two sides to every story and Mike only covered one of them).

 

[msf22b]

The most important quote in that article was not from Kelsey Bone (who is easy to malign)
but by Brian Agler who despite having a predisposition (as her coach) to be something less than evenhanded
has nevertheless been quite respected on this board and throughout the community. His comment as recounted in this piece:

"you don't use a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time WNBA MVP to promote and market ... and then cut her."