Dawn is not Happy

[Wbbfan1]

http://www.thestate.com/sports/coll...na/usc-womens-basketball/article45421650.html

If I'm Dawn, I'm showing my players the UConn/Ohio State game.

 

[Intpseeker]

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what the problem was.

Well...ok...I guess...

 

[WiseOne]

Lmao! U can't look like a national championship team if you're not! Duhhhhhhhh Dawn! You would have to find the best makeup artist out there in order to pull it off! # gamecocks ain't ready

 

[CTyankee]

Priceless...

Wilson might be sitting a tad. 3-10 fg and 1-4 ft, 5 rebounds and 3 pf, only 21 minutes on the floor.

No wonder the Roosters ain't crowing....

Nor are they a doodling in our barn.

 

[WestCoastFan]

Poor Dawn. Great player, super recruiter of talent, solid coach; but she just doesn't seem to get it. You gotta have some players who will "grind" every game. Stop falling in love with all the "athletes"...get yourself a couple of ladies who will police your team. They don't need to be able to "run fast/jump high." You need leadership on the court.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Sorry, but when you have to play games against punching bags like last year's #183 rated Clemson that went 1-15 in the ACC, it's tough to get motivation for a lot of teams, UConn excluded since Geno has them playing against perfection. I realize that it's a touted intrastate rivalry and the Clemson football team is having a banner year, but when top 5 teams play bottom half teams early in the season, motivation can be an issue. That's why a) you shouldn't play them, b) Clemson should be ashamed to be such a terrible P5 team.

 

[alexrgct]

If she's not Happy, is she one of the other six, or is she Fairest of them All?

 

[BIGMAC]

I have 'DOPEY & SLEEPY' pretty much covered. She is definitely not 'BASHFUL' , so my money is on ' GRUMPY". Of course that is nothing to 'sneeze' at.

 

[BroadwayVa]

http://www.thestate.com/sports/coll...na/usc-womens-basketball/article45421650.html

If I'm Dawn, I'm showing my players the UConn/Ohio State game.

Before we CROW too loudly. We need to Cock our brains and not call a Hen a
Rooster. Remember this Hen House lasts until APRIL when the Capons and Chicks become the run of the roost Just be wary of the Dog that's been chained until then.]\\
Who will let that dog OUT??

 

[BroadwayVa]

Poor Dawn. Great player, super recruiter of talent, solid coach; but she just doesn't seem to get it. You gotta have some players who will "grind" every game. Stop falling in love with all the "athletes"...get yourself a couple of ladies who will police your team. They don't need to be able to "run fast/jump high." You need leadership on the court.

How can any one spend all the USA coaching time with Geno and not GET IT"?? Osmosis --says you just have to stand next to the source while it is emitting and the good stuff will pass thru to you. Was she standing too far away?? Let us not count Dawn out just yet.

 

[Ron and Vida]

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what the problem was.

Well...ok...I guess...

Seems like in the men's college game that some of the most gifted athletes are lackadaisical early in the season but "turn on " in March.

 

[PhillyCoach]

Poor Dawn. Great player, super recruiter of talent, solid coach; but she just doesn't seem to get it. You gotta have some players who will "grind" every game. Stop falling in love with all the "athletes"...get yourself a couple of ladies who will police your team. They don't need to be able to "run fast/jump high." You need leadership on the court.

Yo West - Totally agree. You Hit it out of the park with "falling in love with the athletes" cause that's a common belief among most coaches and fans. Another key point/attribute, IMHO, is the players who will "grind" every game. I believe in the cliché--you can't teach height, you can't teach speed (you can improve though) and you can't teach grind. It is in you. Quick experience - -I was coaching a soccer game and a talented player who wasn't a grinder was performing at a routine level (or worse) --his mother came up to me and asked me what could I do to light a fire under the kid. I can't remember if I said it out loud to her or just to myself, but I said, "You can't teach HUNGRY." Think Maya & the other greats---determined, relentless, focused, intense.
Side note- Staley spent years at Temple and looked up to John Chaney. Early on she adopted much of his philosophy. Working with Geno is just a part time thing. Staley recruits by talent, talent, talent. Geno recruits by talent, personality, team fit, & intensity. Look how quick he offered Bent when he immediately recognized those attributes. And we have heard lots of moaning about not offering certain top players. Geno noticed something he wasn't sure of and didn't take a bite.

 

[CTyankee]

Before we CROW too loudly. We need to rooster our brains and not call a Hen a
Rooster. Remember this Hen House lasts until APRIL when the Capons and Chicks become the run of the roost Just be wary of the Dog that's been chained until then.]\\
Who will let that dog OUT??

Let's not cry foul too quickly.

 

[Bgillon]

Let's not cry foul too quickly.

Well put. Remember how we all felt last year both before the Stanford game and after. Stokes was going to replace most of Stef's points and Chong would replace Bria very nicely. Then all heck broke loose and many people were in shock. My point is Staley is a very competent coach and she will have her team ready for us Feb 8th and in April.

 

[geneticrex]

I refuse to crow until the fat lady sings..................in April.

 

[iamcbs]

Sometimes we want to act like players aren't human beings, who don't have feelings and opinions and can't read and don't watch TV. These are young people, they knew they were playing the 183rd ranked team in WCBB. Every game isn't for the Natty and the season is a marathon not a sprint. No team in CBB has ever lost a Natty in November. The armchair analysis pf Dawn Staley and her program is hilarious. It's difficult to get your team up for the 183rd ranked team in WCBB, no matter who it is. They won going away and in the final analysis isn't that what matters most. When South Carolina is in the FF, which they inevitably will be along with UConn, ND, and the yearly Cinderella, no one will remember or care that they played a lackluster game against Clemson in November.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Nor are they a doodling in our barn

Oh, what you said...bad, bad! Now, if you really want a hoot click into the video of her presser on the right side of the article page. She's a long way from getting where she wants. Obvious the chicklets are running the barn yard. Wilson is not playing defense and doesn't know what it is to start??? Whose fault is that! Ditto according to coach on Wilson's tag team playmate about defense. They are big, slow and lazy. Who is to blame for that?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

the season is a marathon not a sprint

Actually that is a line handed to Dawn by her half time interviewer in reference to last Feb. 9 beat down in Storrs. More apt in reference to early season than half time in a game. Dawn's team lacks fire, period. She better find a way to build it under them. After all, she has the advantage on Geno, having played b'ball "at the highest level".

 

[pinotbear]

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what the problem was.

Well...ok...I guess...

Actually, I like this response from Dawn - I could easily imagine Geno saying it. First of all, it's honest - it's not BS coachspeak, pretending that everyone is above average and it's a wonderful world. Second, it speaks to the mystery that is coaching a collection of college kids - they aren't all alike, one size doesn't fit all, each team and each year has a different dynamic. It also implies - correctly, in my view - that all the onus isn't on the coaching staff to make things work. Part of the job lies with the players, and, at least early in the season, a veteran coach will give them some rope. Geno has mention, if memory serves, there's been a couple of seasons where he's let this sort of dynamic play out, and then has had to use the "nuclear option" of taking over, and uniting the team in their dislike of his approach. Not his preferred method, and not Dawn's either, I'd guess.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Poor Dawn. Great player, super recruiter of talent, solid coach; but she just doesn't seem to get it. You gotta have some players who will "grind" every game. Stop falling in love with all the "athletes"...get yourself a couple of ladies who will police your team. They don't need to be able to "run fast/jump high." You need leadership on the court.

This is what Ohio State is trying to do. (except the last sentence)

 

[Barkin' Out]

Actually that is a line handed to Dawn by her half time interviewer in reference to last Feb. 9 beat down in Storrs. More apt in reference to early season than half time in a game. Dawn's team lacks fire, period. She better find a way to build it under them. After all, she has the advantage on Geno, having played b'ball "at the highest level".

Makes me wonder if the self selection that takes place now in WCBB is going to become reinforcing of the existing elite teams. where elite teams are able to recruit nationally and the rest of the programs vie for great local talent when it's available. It would seem to me that the kids who want to stay local (for the sake of being local) may have less of a personal commitment to be great. The teams getting great talent from far away have kids totally dialed into hoops. gabby and Kia didn't come here for the weather. Well, maybe Kia did. But they are 100% committed.

I don't doubt that dawn has the fire. But perhaps her kids are not completely bought in yet. I imagine that this will develop has her top talent that has NC aspirations become upperclassmen and sense their opportunities slipping.

 

[rugbymate]

Not sure we should read a whole lot into Dawn's displeasure. She is only doing what is part of coaching by using the press to help get her message out. If she really is unhappy , the practices will get a lot more intense. As a number of posters have noted, SC will improve their game as the season goes on and while its hard to imagine UCONN not winning the game it will probably be closer than last year.
I do think that they haven't filled the leadership void that occurred with the Aleighsa Welch departure. She seemed to be the emotional leader of the team ( and yes,,,some would call her a badass). Am surprised Mitchell hasn't stepped up her leadership.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Sometimes we want to act like players aren't human beings, who don't have feelings and opinions and can't read and don't watch TV. These are young people, they knew they were playing the 183rd ranked team in WCBB. Every game isn't for the Natty and the season is a marathon not a sprint. No team in CBB has ever lost a Natty in November. The armchair analysis pf Dawn Staley and her program is hilarious. It's difficult to get your team up for the 183rd ranked team in WCBB, no matter who it is. They won going away and in the final analysis isn't that what matters most. When South Carolina is in the FF, which they inevitably will be along with UConn, ND, and the yearly Cinderella, no one will remember or care that they played a lackluster game against Clemson in November.

Geno has repeated this forever: November isn't April. The team on the floor is rarely the same as the team in April (same people, different approach, talent improves, )

 

[BroadwayVa]

Not sure we should read a whole lot into Dawn's displeasure. She is only doing what is part of coaching by using the press to help get her message out. If she really is unhappy , the practices will get a lot more intense. As a number of posters have noted, SC will improve their game as the season goes on and while its hard to imagine UCONN not winning the game it will probably be closer than last year.
I do think that they haven't filled the leadership void that occurred with the Aleighsa Welch departure. She seemed to be the emotional leader of the team ( and yes,,,some would call her a badass). Am surprised Mitchell hasn't stepped up her leadership.

I would doubt that Dawn would be thrilled with any lackluster game by her team---she follows the Cheney/Geno tough determined play--never let up. Geno plays against the game itself not the score or the opponent. I'm pretty sure he passed that along to Dawn.
Coaches try to protect their teams from the public/press. But in private it's a different thing.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Actually that is a line handed to Dawn by her half time interviewer in reference to last Feb. 9 beat down in Storrs. More apt in reference to early season than half time in a game. Dawn's team lacks fire, period. She better find a way to build it under them. After all, she has the advantage on Geno, having played b'ball "at the highest level".

When a team plays at the "highest level" you know they played Uconn. OSU played against the highest level, recently.