Diana Taurasi announces her retirement! | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Diana Taurasi announces her retirement!

I told my wife about the announcement and that led to a discussion on her next steps. I opined that I’m not certain about whether she would be a good coach, to which my bride said: “I’d like to see her either in ownership or as a GM. She’ll have more impact that way.”

There’s a reason why I’m lucky to be married to her!
 
The best compliment I can give Diana is I always considered her the female Larry Bird. Like Larry, DT was much-watch TV. Each had supreme confidence in their ability, talked absolute "smack" on the court, were consummate team players but knew when to take charge, and they were winners - wanting the ball when games were tight, willing to take the last shot. While Di is probably better known for wicked sense of humor, Larry was no slouch either.

Can't wait to see Diana and Sue do their thing at the Final Four.
 
cabbie191 said:
I told my wife about the announcement and that led to a discussion on her next steps. I opined that I’m not certain about whether she would be a good coach, to which my bride said: “I’d like to see her either in ownership or as a GM. She’ll have more impact that way.”

There’s a reason why I’m lucky to be married to her!
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I think that’s what Dee was leaning to.
 
My favorite play of hers is the NCAA tournament game in 2002 (I think) against Oklahoma. With the game getting tight but UConn still holding onto the lead, Diana had the ball and teammates cleared way so she could go 1 on 1 with defender. Look up game on YouTube and go to 1:45 left in game. Diane backs down the defender, no mystery to what she was doing, but she couldn’t be stopped- she gained an advantage, made a shot and was fouled by Oklahoma’s star Stacy Dales who fouled out on the play. That ended Oklahoma’s chances
 
.-.
robert said:
…. And The Irish , they get into my last nerve especially the 2001 national semifinal game during Dee’s freshman year , I still can’t get over it ..
Expand ...

Dee did not play well against ND. But Barbara Turner was a leprechaun killer!
 
Dee, thanks so much for taking a chance and leaving Chino for Connecticut! What a ride! It always brought a smile when I heard “We have Diana and you don’t”. So glad we had her and her being a great ambassador for the game.
 
IMG_8857.jpeg

Lmao
 
Conndog said:
My favorite play of hers is the NCAA tournament game in 2002 (I think) against Oklahoma. With the game getting tight but UConn still holding onto the lead, Diana had the ball and teammates cleared way so she could go 1 on 1 with defender. Look up game on YouTube and go to 1:45 left in game. Diane backs down the defender, no mystery to what she was doing, but she couldn’t be stopped- she gained an advantage, made a shot and was fouled by Oklahoma’s star Stacy Dales who fouled out on the play. That ended Oklahoma’s chances
Expand ...
I and my wife were there for that one. Ironically shared an elevator ride at the hotel with Stacy Hansmeyer, who was an asst. coach at Oklahoma at the time
 
Honestly she's a big reason y I'm a UConn fan. My older brother is an alum and went to school during her years. He would talk about how great she was. I started watching her every chance I got, which was a bit limited without cable and not living in the area. Anyways when she turned pro I was fully on board. I was a stan. I got older and I was less of a fanatic but always pulled for her teams. I'm still a bit bummed that they lost in the finals in 21. Anyways to me, she was like LeBron but replace his athleticism with shooting, and replace his friendly on court demeanor with the opposite of a friendly on court demeanor. I remember times where she got into it with Svetlana abrosimova in Europe and im confused, double checking while it's happening like I'm 99 percent sure they were teammates and had a good relationship .lol. I've even seen her be a little opposite of friendly to Sue Bird on the court. I know ppl her call her the goat.. but I actually think ppl don't understand how good she was. Like I think we could talk about more. She basically played 3 positions flawlessly. Like she won her first title as a 3. Her second title she was kind of a 3 but I actually like to think of her as a 2. This was her MVP year . Then she won her last title as a point guard. I don't think ppl do this. Lol, besides LeBron . And I could see Paige or Caitlin doing something similar. Lastly I agree with the notion that we don't know about or factor in her overseas play enough. Russia, Turkey etc. Not to start anything but I do sometimes think the year she took off was a bit of bad timing.
 
.-.
After a poor shooting performance in UConn's 2001 Final Four loss to Notre Dame, Taurasi vowed "We will not lose another tournament game while I'm wearing this uniform." They proceeded to win three straight national titles, and 18 straight tourney wins. Leading up to the final championship, her coach, Geno Auriemma, would declare his likelihood of winning with the claim, "We have Diana, and you don't." --Wikipedia
 
oldude said:
Someone please post my favorite photo of DT, at Cameron Indoor, after torching Duke, despite the constant harassment of the Duke fans. Upon leaving the game, DT put her hand up to her ear, as if talking into a phone, turned and smiled at the Cameron Crazies and shouted out, “Call me!”

My very favorite memory of the GOAT. :)
Expand ...
My favorite quote: "They were booing? I thought they were mooing".

Records are made to be broken, but no women's basketball player is ever going to get 7 Olympic gold medals. Not going to happen. Stop and think about it, 500 years from now if the Olympics are still around DT will still hold the record.
 
Respect to Diana Taurasi. She was the first woman baller I really started paying attention to back during that historical run at UCONN
 
Let's take a look at what she has accomplished.

College
  • NCAA Championship (3)
  • NPOY - Naismith (2), Wade, AP, USBWA
  • Nancy Leiberman-Cline Award (2)
  • AA - WBCA (3), AP (2), USBWA (2)
Pro
  • WNBA Champion (3)
  • WNBA MVP
  • WNBA ROY
  • WNBA All-Star (11)
  • WNBA 1st Team (10)
  • WNBA Scoring Champion (5)
  • WNBA All Time Scoring leader
  • WNBA All Time 3 pt made leader
  • Euro League Champion (6)
  • Russian League Champion (7)
  • Russian Cup Winner (3)
  • Turkish League Champion (1)
  • Turkish Cup Winner (1)
USA
  • Olympic Gold Medals (6)
  • World Championship Gold Medals (3) / Bronze (1)
  • USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year (4)
That's a lot of hardware.
 
.-.
From the great JS

Ode to the Ball Hog Chick
(JS)

UConn's got a young guard
And they call that girl DT.
And you never find it hard
To see she's friendly as can be.

She pats the ref right on the butt
And tousles coach's hair.
She always makes you bust a gut
And never shows a care.

But opponents better watch out
Cause this gal's got mucho game.
She's gonna make your coach pout,
Make you sorry that you came.

You can try your X's and your O's
She's gonna make you pay.
Give you headaches, give you woes,
Make you wish that it were May.

No matter what you've learned,
And no matter what your schtick
You'll still get good and burned
By that grinning Ballhog Chick.

If your manning gives you trouble
Then try your box and one.
If your zoning lies in rubble
And your double teams are done

Then it hasn't been your day
Be you Muffet, be you Pat.
Just shake ol' Geno's hand and say
"Nice game, you little brat."

"Cause no matter what we boasted
We just couldn't make it click.
We were lit up, we were toasted
By that awesome Ballhog Chick."
 
Great post from the past, Meyers7.

This post is a repeat but for the life of me I can not remember
the reporter's name. Hope someone does.

Dee played in the high school all-star game in her senior high school year.
All the greats in that class were in the game. It was played in the Hartford
Civic Center. Dee played with obvious ability and flair...more than a bit
showy and flamboyant...loosy-goosy...it WAS an all-star game after all.

Post game one of the sports reporters for the Manchester Journal Inquirer was sitting somewhere down in the basement.
Diana walked by...I doubt they had ever met. The reporter simply said to Dee: You can't play like that at UConn.
Taurasi's answer was just as simple. I know that, Sir....then walked on.

From that moment on Diana had that [olde school] reporter wrapped around her finger. I think it was simply
the use of the word "Sir". Every article the reporter wrote about Dee the next 4 years contained much
evidence that he really.....REALLY...admired not just her game but her character. His affection for her
jumped off the pages.

Dang...who was that reporter? I think he was the sports editor for the JI at that time. Researching
didn't help. Anyone remember?

Oddity: I think it was at that particular game that Chubby Checker's daughter played...very talented...went to
Duke I believe. I sat about 2 rows behind Chubby. Whenever the camera was on him the crowd would all chant
his name and TWIST. He would wave and grin...only once did he stand up and do The Twist...crowd went wild.
 
I know it is time but i just feel a little sad reading she was retiring.I remember Geno telling his team when she as a freshman to keep their heads up during practice or she'll hit you in the head with the ball
Who can forget when her an Geno hugged after winning their 3Rd Naty in a row and Geno saying to her 'It's the only way this could have ended "
My favorite of all time..Uconn has had a lot of fierce competiters though the years but no one as fierce and willingness to win than DT
When people talk about Goats .there is only one Goat not plural but singular and that is Diana..I guess the greatest accolade is when your peers call you "the Goat" to me the greatest wbb player of all time
 
.-.
Blakeon18 said:
Great post from the past, Meyers7.

This post is a repeat but for the life of me I can not remember
the reporter's name. Hope someone does.

Dee played in the high school all-star game in her senior high school year.
All the greats in that class were in the game. It was played in the Hartford
Civic Center. Dee played with obvious ability and flair...more than a bit
showy and flamboyant...loosy-goosy...it WAS an all-star game after all.

Post game one of the sports reporters for the Manchester Journal Inquirer was sitting somewhere down in the basement.
Diana walked by...I doubt they had ever met. The reporter simply said to Dee: You can't play like that at UConn.
Taurasi's answer was just as simple. I know that, Sir....then walked on.

From that moment on Diana had that [olde school] reporter wrapped around her finger. I think it was simply
the use of the word "Sir". Every article the reporter wrote about Dee the next 4 years contained much
evidence that he really.....REALLY...admired not just her game but her character. His affection for her
jumped off the pages.

Dang...who was that reporter? I think he was the sports editor for the JI at that time. Researching
didn't help. Anyone remember?

Oddity: I think it was at that particular game that Chubby Checker's daughter played...very talented...went to
Duke I believe. I sat about 2 rows behind Chubby. Whenever the camera was on him the crowd would all chant
his name and TWIST. He would wave and grin...only once did he stand up and do The Twist...crowd went wild.
Expand ...
That was the old WBCA All-Star game, before McDonalds took over. First time I saw DT live. And yes she did play very "loose". Took a couple 30-35 foot shots. (I think she might have made one.)

However, she quickly endeared herself to the UCONN nation. After the game, I believe she was receiving the MVP Player award for the game?, she led the crowd in a U-C-O-N-N cheer. No doubt where she was going to school.

Mistie Bass was the one you were thinking of, Chubby Checkers daughter. Played quite a few years in the WNBA also. I believe won a WNBA Championship with DT at Phoenix.
 
DT is one of the GOATs, not just at UConn but at all levels professionally as well. She is in very rarified air and has won it all. Retirement is well deserved!



So happy I was able to be alive and watch/appreciate all of her success. I hope (and imagine) she will continue to be a part of the women's game in other shapes/forms.
 
.-.
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