Dawn Staley uses lots of profanity...

[HuskyNan]

As for your 8 scholarship players: I see a roster of 12 players. I see where 12 players have played SOME sort of minutes this season. Setting aside Ekmark with her injury and understanding that Sadie Edwards is no longer a part of the team, that still leaves 10 available players, unless you are about to come up with some other reasons why players cannot take to the court. We are NOT talking about closely contested games versus top-ranked opponents - we're talking about 30-40-50 point routes versus the cupcakes on UConn's schedule. Are you seriously trying to say that the non-scholarship players on UConn's roster - I guess there are 3 of them - are so inept that they can't play mop-up minutes late in games when UConn is up 30+ points??

Stats are skewed to an average but they don't tell the whole story. take Breanna Stewart for instance.

Minutes played:
#6 Stanford 44 minutes
#2 Notre Dame 38
#25 DePaul 30
#10 Duke 35

Against all other teams, she averages 28 minutes. Breanna is probably a bad example, though, because she went through a bit of a slump and he gave her some extra playing time to get through it.

Here's something else to chew on - it's generally accepted that when the winning team puts in its bench players that the losing team does as well. But that's not usually the case against UConn. Teams often leave their starters in against the benchies so Geno might put a starter back in if too many points are given up or if the less experienced players start to get pushed around too much.

 

[Bgillon]

What a dumb thread. Does USC have a blog site? I would like to read it and see how objective their posters are since the USC posters here have accused UCONN posters of being blind about Blue!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

What a dumb thread. Does USC have a blog site? I would like to read it and see how objective their posters are since the USC posters here have accused UCONN posters of being blind about Blue!

Of course, a number of them. I find many of our "message board fans" to be hyper-critical, actually.

 

[DobbsRover2]

What does this even mean? You're saying that UConn stops playing when their reserves come into games? Then how do they keep scoring? I never heard of any team doing that. I can't think ANY head coach is worth much if he/she tells his/her players to stop playing when the game is out of reach. Pull the starters sure, but let the reserves continue to play. Auriemma does that, you say? Highly skeptical...


Let me fill you in on the Auburn game, since this was obviously just an attempt to disparage USC & Staley, without any actual knowledge of how the game played out:

USC jumped to a sizable lead on Auburn, and led by 17 at the half. Early in the 2nd half, they got the lead up to 20. Then starter Aleighsa Welch suffers a bad fall against the goal stanchion, and hurt her neck. It looked fairly bad, and it apparently stunned the Gamecocks. For the next few minutes, Auburn began to cut away at the USC lead until it was only 8 points by the mid-point of the 2nd half.

From there USC righted itself and regained the 20-point lead, and it stayed there more or less for the rest of the game. This wasn't a case where one team was running away from the other one - it was where one team had a sizable lead, then lost most of the lead, and then had to build that lead back up. UConn however has 30-point leads and is pushing - pressing - to get the lead up to 40 points, and starters are still in the game for them.

One of the reasons USC was able to right the ship when the lead got down to 8 points: Coach Staley put in a 3-gaurd lineup, consisting of BACK-UP Bianca Cuevas, BACK-UP Olivia Gaines, and starter Khadijah Sessions. The tactic spurred some good defense, forced some turnovers, and Gaines hits her first shot in the game to push the score to 50-40, and the lead built up from there. Reserves doing the work, not starters. But Coach Staley isn't going to tell her bench to not play hard because they are up by 15-20 pts on a conference rival: why would she? No other head coach in the business does that, either. And apparently, SOME HCs don't tell their starters - who are in games still - to stop playing hard when they have 30+ pt leads, either....

Just blather. Time to stop.

1.No of course Geno doesn't tell the reserves "not to score," but in general they don't score as much so the the lead stays at the same margin or goes down against the other team's regulars.

2. Sorry about the Welch's fall, but top teams don't get all crushed by a teammate's injury but know they have to soldier on and sort out everything after the game.

3. UConn tries to play at a certain great and effective level, and they do not slack off and say "Time to play like idiots," when the lead gets to that "40 point lead" you are so worked over because USCar only gets it against 300+ rated teams while UConn gets it against top 50 teams. If any UConn player starts slacking off and playing stupid when the teams gets a big lead, they know that they'll get pulled quickly. Dawn probably never has to wrestle with that issue since her teams don't get big leads against good teams, but for UConn players, you do need to be focused and giving it your all, no matter what the score. That's the way its been for 20 years, but I know USCar is new to all this.

4. Again, USCar has played a piddle-poor schedule, so if they get called out for giving Mitchell 24 minutes against #339 NCCU in that really impressive 64 point blowout, maybe you can understand just a little bit.

 

[Sonny44]

She's got nothing on Geno in the profanity department. Clearly, February 9 is in the bag...

Why do you say that? I've never heard anyone else mention it.
Do you mean during practices?

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Just blather. Time to stop.

1.No of course Geno doesn't tell the reserves "not to score," but in general they don't score as much so the the lead stays at the same margin or goes down against the other team's regulars.

2. Sorry about the Welch's fall, but top teams don't get all crushed by a teammate's injury but know they have to soldier on and sort out everything after the game.

3. UConn tries to play at a certain great and effective level, and they do not slack off and say "Time to play like idiots," when the lead gets to that "40 point lead" you are so worked over because USCar only gets it against 300+ rated teams while UConn gets it against top 50 teams. If any UConn player starts slacking off and playing stupid when the teams gets a big lead, they know that they'll get pulled quickly. Dawn probably never has to wrestle with that issue since her teams don't get big leads against good teams, but for UConn players, you do need to be focused and giving it your all, no matter what the score. That's the way its been for 20 years, but I know USCar is new to all this.

4. Again, USCar has played a piddle-poor schedule, so if they get called out for giving Mitchell 24 minutes against #339 NCCU in that really impressive 64 point blowout, maybe you can understand just a little bit.

Honestly, how is our non-conference schedule any different than your conference schedule except that we play 3 ranked non-conference teams?

 

[cferraro04]

I think both teams do a pretty good job dividing up the minutes....However, given the fact that Dawn has 14 players looking for minutes...I think she does a slightly better job of spreading the minutes. Geno's starters definitely play more minutes than Dawn's... Below the tale of the tape:

South Carolina UConn

1. Tiffany Mitchell – 27.2 1. KML - 31.2

2. Alieghsha Welch – 24.3 2. Breanna Stewart - 30.9

3. Khadijah Sessions – 21.6 3. Moriah Jefferson - 27.3

4. Aja Wilson - 21.2 4. Kia Nurse - 25.8

5. Alaina Coates - 20.5 5. Morgan Tuck - 25.4

6. Elean Ibiam – 18.5 6. Saniya Chong - 20.9

7. Asia Dozier - 16.2 7. Kiah Stokes - 19.7

8. Tina Roy – 16.1 8. Gabby Williams - 15.2

9. Bianca Cuevas – 14.1 9. Courtney Ekmark - 14.5*

10. Jatarie White – 12.0 10. Sadie Edwards - 4.8**

11. Oliva Gaines – 8.5 11. Tierney Lawlor - 3.0***

12. Tiffany Davis – 5.7 12. Brianna Pulido - 2.3***

13. Kaydra Duckett - 3.1

14. India Farmer - 2.7***


*Only played in 2 games

**Transferred out of the program after 6 games

 

[triaddukefan]

I bet if Dawn Staley read this thread she would utter lots of profanity

 

[huskiemaniac]

If geno feels that his team or players or combinations of players need to work on things in real games, that's what he does. I don't care who questions it.

 

[huskiemaniac]

I'm sitting 3 rows behind the SC bench and can't wait to listen to DS!

 

[cferraro04]

Couldn't get post to format correctly so....let's try again.

I think both teams do a pretty good job dividing up the minutes....However, given the fact that Dawn has 14 players looking for minutes...I think she does a slightly better job of spreading the minutes. Geno's starters definitely play more minutes than Dawn's... Below the tale of the tape:

South Carolina

1. Tiffany Mitchell – 27.2

2. Alieghsha Welch – 24.3

3. Khadijah Sessions – 21.6

4. Aja Wilson - 21.2

5. Alaina Coates - 20.5

6. Elean Ibiam – 18.5

7. Asia Dozier - 16.2

8. Tina Roy – 16.1

9. Bianca Cuevas – 14.1

10. Jatarie White – 12.0

11. Oliva Gaines – 8.5

12. Tiffany Davis – 5.7

13. Kaydra Duckett - 3.1

14. India Farmer - 2.7***



UConn

1. KML - 31.2

2. Breanna Stewart - 30.9

3. Moriah Jefferson - 27.3

4. Kia Nurse - 25.8

5. Morgan Tuck - 25.4

6. Saniya Chong - 20.9

7. Kiah Stokes - 19.7

8. Gabby Williams - 15.2

9. Courtney Ekmark - 14.5*

10. Sadie Edwards - 4.8**

11. Tierney Lawlor - 3.0***

12. Brianna Pulido - 2.3***



*Only played in 2 games

**Transferred out of the program after 6 games

***Walk-ons

 

[DobbsRover2]

Couldn't get post to format correctly so....let's try again.

I think both teams do a pretty good job dividing up the minutes....However, given the fact that Dawn has 14 players looking for minutes...I think she does a slightly better job of spreading the minutes. Geno's starters definitely play more minutes than Dawn's... Below the tale of the tape:

South Carolina

1. Tiffany Mitchell – 27.2

2. Alieghsha Welch – 24.3

3. Khadijah Sessions – 21.6

4. Aja Wilson - 21.2

5. Alaina Coates - 20.5

6. Elean Ibiam – 18.5

7. Asia Dozier - 16.2

8. Tina Roy – 16.1

9. Bianca Cuevas – 14.1

10. Jatarie White – 12.0

11. Oliva Gaines – 8.5

12. Tiffany Davis – 5.7

13. Kaydra Duckett - 3.1

14. India Farmer - 2.7***



UConn

1. KML - 31.2

2. Breanna Stewart - 30.9

3. Moriah Jefferson - 27.3

4. Kia Nurse - 25.8

5. Morgan Tuck - 25.4

6. Saniya Chong - 20.9

7. Kiah Stokes - 19.7

8. Gabby Williams - 15.2

9. Courtney Ekmark - 14.5*

10. Sadie Edwards - 4.8**

11. Tierney Lawlor - 3.0***

12. Brianna Pulido - 2.3***



*Only played in 2 games

**Transferred out of the program after 6 games

***Walk-ons

Agree that they both do a good job of dividing up the minutes, at least based on the schedules the two teams have played.

But no, Dawn has not done a "better" job at distributing the minutes for the horrible schedule the Gamecocks have played. If USCar had played a schedule resembling UConn's, she would not have had a chance to get her starters' minutes down to those lesser numbers you cite.

USCar has played three decent teams this year, USC, Duke and Syracuse. During those games, the top players have averaged Mitchell: 38.0, Welch 33.0, and Wilson is at 22.7 due to limited freshman minutes in the opener with USC. Mitchell may be at 27.2 because she sits more while playing #337 NCCU and puffs like Savannah State and Central Michigan, but Dawn will also leave her in for the full 40 minutes when the Gamecocks are challenged by a less terrible team like Syracuse.

 

[JellyBean]

Interesting thread. So what if Dawn Staley cusses and throws fits. Coaches have to be who they are. Players either like it or they don't go to the school.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Honestly, how is our non-conference schedule any different than your conference schedule except that we play 3 ranked non-conference teams?

Did you really write that? Would the fans of ND, UTenn, Baylor, Duke, or any other traditional top 10 team be happy to have a team with the #113 SOS on January 4? Sure I know they are ranked #1, but with a schedule that atrocious, they don't really deserve to be even considered among the top 5. I know the SEC teams have really bad OOC ratings because they have that supposedly tough SEC schedule that is really pretty puffy and leads to no teams in the FF in eons, but even in the SEC, USCar has only the 5th best (really worst) SOS at this point, and that's really bad for a team that wants to pretend to be a top team. Can you imagine 10-15 years ago what it would have been like on the Summitt if UConn had a #113 SOS and were ranked #1 instead of the #19 at its worst for UConn (usually it was in the top 5). They would have had a cow, or maybe a cousin.

The discussion was about the schedule to this point, and the OOC is all UConn has control over. But even in AAC play they have a core of three opponents who rate much better than the bottom half of the SEC puffed up turkeys. I guess some posters want to bring the teams not yet played into their imagined stats, but to this point UConn has played one of the very top schedules and the minutes are sorted out as Geno sees fit. USCar has played a really really really bad schedule, and in some games their top player still gets in for 30 minutes against a team like Hampton. Just sad, and even more sad when a Gamecock fan tries to compare the Gamecock's bad OOC schedule with the AAC one UConn's has been handed. You may recall that despite being rated #6 like this year, the AAC teams won 90% of their games in the Tournament last year while the SEC teams as usual screw-drived the mutt. Really nice to be playing Auburn, and LSU, and Ole Miss, and Bama, but at some point the SEC teams have to start showing they belong at the top.

 

[Striper69]

Neither of them have a thing on Cynthia Cooper at USC(maybe it has something to do with the schools being named USC)
Last season there were so many words heard on the Pac12 broadcasts from Galen Center(USC's home arena) that the Pac12 decided to do the last two broadcasts from their studios in Sam Francisco, no announcers were at the arena. The announcers, in the past were located right next to the USC bench. When the Pac12 network did Tuesdays game, UCLA v USC, the announcers were situated about 15 feet further away from the USC bench.

So that's why they do that!

Ha ha!

 

[Striper69]

I haven't been behind the UConn bench, but I sat behind the Temple bench once when Dawn was there. The air was absolutely blue. As her visibility increases over the next few years, I wonder whether this will become an image problem for her at SC. Having lived in Philly for a while, I can attest to the fact that not everyone who lives in the inner city drops -bomb in every sentence, and in my experience, they can turn such talk off if they want to. This is one for which we should stay tuned.

I sit right behind the Delaware bench and although the coach yells a lot I've never heard any profanity.

 

[chrissaran]

CLE8O2A, you must not watch when UConn is on. When they get a lead of 30, Geno always has them run their offense, take their time, use all their options so they don't run up the score. Also, as a UConn poster pointed out, they get time relative to how they practice, no matter the score. If they're not practicing full out, they won't be seeing the court; they'll be sitting on the bench. At UConn you earn your minutes. Seems to have worked out fairly well.

 

[Shenandoah]

At UConn, when playing against an overmatched opponent, the team plays against the game, rather than the opponent. The game is meant to be played a certain way, and Coach insists that it be played that way, at all times, regardless of situation, score, time left, etc. Always striving for elusive perfection.