Dichotomy of UConn Athletics regarding transfers

[Stinger92860]

I found it interesting to read the thread about Geno/Michala/Lauren until it was locked for good reason (it was ugly at the end). What was also interesting was reading Silver's Blog from today which discussed how Coach P treats transfers. IMO, it "appears" to be the polar opposite of Geno's recent comments. Maybe Geno was upset she picked BC. If it's my daughter I prefer the Coach P approach. That said, I wish she picked a different school, lol. She is a great girl, an excellent bball player and I hope she starts for BC next year. She deserves as much playing time as she can earn.

http://www.huskieblog.com/2012/08/pasqualonis-patience/

 

[Tonyc]

Geno has set a a very high standard at UConn. With the players on the roster for the next 2 seasons, the level of play is set very high. The talent level is the very highest. Those kids coming to UConn will have to be able to play at that level if UConn is to maintain that level. If they cant play at that level they will not play at that level. Yes there will be roster openings and yes they will be filled. However with the level of talent at UConn those who come, there will be an expectation to play at the highest level. The bar is set very high. Average and ordinary wont cut it. Good wont cut it.

Those who choose UConn will have to make a total commitment as expectations are high for the club to maintain its level of superiority. When you look at UConns roster we have 2 HS number 1 players, a HS number 2 player a couple of AAs to be this season, and a bunch of top 10 players. The level is high. Its tuff to cut it, but the rewards are high. The rewards are NC's and BE Championships. This team is built to win Championships.

Some of you have been posting where are the recruits for next season? Well where are they going to fit on the roster? Where would they fit in? There is so much talent on the roster it will be hard to find P.T. Geno said it and imo it was taken out of context. IMO what he meant was UConn has so much top tier talent that very good players cant keep up. When you break down the roster the next 2 seasons UConn might not lose a game. This is one deeply stacked devastating team. Yes Baylor will give us a game this season but other then that game well...... After our starters we may have the second best team in WCBB sitting and coming off the bench. Next season with seniors graduating there will be openings on the roster. Geno will fill them. Im sure there is alot we are not privy to and Im sure kids are lining up to see who wants to go where. When you look at what players are graduating this season and next and the positions that need to be filled, and the nucleaus that we have, well its a no brainer for kids who want to comie that success is written all over the program.

The most important thing that UConn has going for them is they have a great nucleaus for the next 4 years. Filling in the blanks wont be a problem to maintain success for the next 4 years however, when this years class graduates we will need some Big Dogs on the roster to maintain our superiority, which makes me wonder who is coming up in the next 3 years that can be a HS number 1 or 2 player. Any thoughts from the BB gurus?

 

[alexrgct]

I found it interesting to read the thread about Geno/Michala/Lauren until it was locked for good reason (it was ugly at the end). What was also interesting was reading Silver's Blog from today which discussed how Coach P treats transfers. IMO, it "appears" to be the polar opposite of Geno's recent comments. Maybe Geno was upset she picked BC. If it's my daughter I prefer the Coach P approach. That said, I wish she picked a different school, lol. She is a great girl, an excellent bball player and I hope she starts for BC next year. She deserves as much playing time as she can earn.

http://www.huskieblog.com/2012/08/pasqualonis-patience/

I don't like being "that guy", but you did express displeasure at posters speculating or presuming. The sentance I bolded from your post would very much qualify.

I'm also don't think you can compare UConn's football and WBB programs. Very different organizations, very different goals, very different levels of "elite-ness". Geno, if anything, has too many good players next season. PP doesn't have enough.

Ultimately, it comes down to results. Every coach is judged thusly. If you win, you can be however and whatever you want. If you lose, it doesn't matter what a good guy or gal you are because you'll be looking for another job. Them's the breaks. If UConn's football team has another season like last year, people will suggest, whether it's true or not, that Coach was too soft when it came to retaining discipline problems or players not wholly invested in the team. If he wins, the narrative will be retroactively spun that his approach helped him connect with his team. Whether either narrative would be true is another matter entirely. Geno, meanwhile, wins and generates revenue for the school, so his rough edges are forgiven. If he was losing, the narrative would be spun that he's too hard on players.

Now, I do have a daughter, and I'd have no problem sending her to Geno. It's not like a big surpise as to what you're getting with him. Read Courtney Ekmark's comments after she committted. She knows what she's signing up for, and she's a kid any father would be proud to have. Same with KML on all counts. Geno's going to be hard on you. He has a vision of what he wants to see on the court, and he's going to ride you if he doesn't believe you can execute it. He's going to severely limit your playing time. And he's not going to stop trying to push your buttons until you get better or you leave. And if he didn't, what would a kid like Kelly Faris think? And if you were Kelly's mom or dad, what would you think?

 

[rbny1]

Geno's going to be hard on you. He has a vision of what he wants to see on the court, and he's going to ride you if he doesn't believe you can execute it. He's going to severely limit your playing time. And he's not going to stop trying to push your buttons until you get better or you leave. And if he didn't, what would a kid like Kelly Faris think? And if you were Kelly's mom or dad, what would you think?

There was a lot of criticism of Geno when he was incredibly hard on Tina Charles her first two seasons, and even into her junior year. But I also remember that Tina's mother said she agreed with what Geno was doing, and that Tina needed to be pushed to achieve her full potential. We all know the results. I bet that Tina, looking back today, is extremely appreciative of what Geno did for her. I doubt that another coach in America could have brought out Tina's talent and turned her into a dominant player the way Geno did.

 

[meyers7]

I found it interesting to read the thread about Geno/Michala/Lauren until it was locked for good reason (it was ugly at the end). What was also interesting was reading Silver's Blog from today which discussed how Coach P treats transfers. IMO, it "appears" to be the polar opposite of Geno's recent comments. Maybe Geno was upset she picked BC. If it's my daughter I prefer the Coach P approach. That said, I wish she picked a different school, lol. She is a great girl, an excellent bball player and I hope she starts for BC next year. She deserves as much playing time as she can earn.

http://www.huskieblog.com/2012/08/pasqualonis-patience/

Well first, completely different situations. Second, they don't appear to be polar opposites at all. In fact they seem to be pretty similar coaches to me (at least from the article).

 

[earl the pearl]

I find it extremely humorous how all the arm chair coaches on this board pick apart a coach who has been as successful as GA. Come on now! Enough is enough.

 

[EricLA]

Here's the thing that annoys me about the ignorant who post about Geno's comments in regards to Lauren and Michala. First, NONE of them were there live to hear him speak. Second, we had a gentleman from Dishin N Swishin who WAS there and said you had to listen to HOW he spoke to understand what was being said. Third, NONE of us were with Geno or Lauren/Michala when they sat with him and told him they were leaving.

Even after Michala left, she had her twitter account subject header "Now a Badger but always a Husky at heart". I don't think it's too far a leap to assume that she left on very good terms and has positive feelings for everyone back at UCONN including coach. Even Lauren's twitter account still says "I play bball at UConn. Love my family and friends, living life to the fullest, with a smile because life is too short for anything else!!". That hardly sounds like a person who was pushed out the door and was "hurt" by how Geno treated her. I'm sure at some point she will change her twitter account title, but we have heard NOTHING to indicate she left on unhappy terms.

I totally get it if you are an orange fan and have a deep seeded dislike of Geno, or if one is predisposed to dislike Geno. There are certainly things he has said in the past regarding certain players that made me cringe. But to try and attribute something nefarious to the recent parting is stretching at best, and idiotic at worst.

For these people who are so "concerned" and "troubled" by Geno's comments, I suggest you go and interview Lauren and Michala and then come back and report on how things were left and how they feel about Geno and UCONN.

I do disagree with giving Geno a pass just because he's the best to ever coach the game. However, if you are going to form opinions on him without all the facts, then those opinions are ignorant.

 

[John Fryer]

Eric, I have enjoyed reading your posts, even when I am in disagreement with you.

I am one of the posters who has expressed concern about the negative comments coach A made about Michala and Lauren.

You, and others, have expressed a different opinion. No problem there for me.

The logical follow-up question is:

Why should my expressing a different opinion by a problem for you? Or any others for that matter?

And do you really think that I am ignorant?

Peace,

John Fryer

 

[cferraro04]

Eric, I agree with your post. I would add that most of us fans seeing who was coming into UConn this year and guessing at who would be committing in the next couple of years...knew that for those at the bottom of the rotation that there would be some serious issues surrounding their playing time. Even the least experienced among us knew that if those at the bottom of the rotation weren't concerned about playing time and were content to be role players that they might stay but if playing time was an issue then they were likely to transfer. If we were able to figure this out then it is patently clear that Geno and his staff also knew this. Geno's comments did not reflect nastiness or dissatisfaction with their decision but rather a pragmatic acceptance of what he already knew was probable in one case and inevitable in the other.

 

[trisailin]

I know this might surprise some but for almost all college athletes, they will do something other than sports after they graduate. For some, a chance to get school paid for and a chance to be coached by the best and play (even if "only" in practice) with the best is reward all by itself. Then to actually get to take the floor once in a while - WOW.
As fans, I know we obsess about all sorts of things - but as a former D1 athlete (different sport) I'm pretty sure the athletes themselves are obsessing about different things than we are.

 

[diggerfoot]

Eric, I have enjoyed reading your posts, even when I am in disagreement with you.

I am one of the posters who has expressed concern about the negative comments coach A made about Michala and Lauren.

You, and others, have expressed a different opinion. No problem there for me.

The logical follow-up question is:

Why should my expressing a different opinion by a problem for you? Or any others for that matter?

And do you really think that I am ignorant?

Peace,

John Fryer

I actually think Eric's response was one of the better ones written with two caveats. When he says "idiotic" he's resorting to hyperbole, and when he says people should interview Michaela and Lauren he's being rhetorical, because of course that's an impractical (and I would add undesirable) resolution. Outside of that, let me speak for him in addressing your questions.

Eric already answered your question of why expressing a different opinion bothered him. It's not that he thinks Auriemma should be treated with kid gloves because he's successful, and I'll add I've seen him be critical of Auriemma in the past. He pretty obviously stated that his problem with differing opinions in this case is ignorance. I don't know how much plainer he could have put it, though perhaps with a little less hyperbole and rhetoric. Your logical follow-up question actually was not that logical in response to Eric's particular post.

Is he right or wrong to assume that? Depends. Everyone is ignorant about most things, including you and I, but what about the matter at hand. There's a quote from Auriemma about the transfers that could be interpreted as too harsh, absolutely. That's evidence supporting your point of view. There's also evidence such as a live witness to the quote and the behavior of the transfers that suggest otherwise. There's also the mitigating factor that really what counts is whatever went down between Auriemma and the transfers.

Personally, I don't think the overall body of evidence is conclusive one way or the other, once again because no one is privy to what transpired between Auriemma and the transfers. But it fits the definition of ignorance if a person only knew about the quote and not the other mitigating evidence. On the other hand it would be dogmatic, not ignorant, if one knew the mitigating evidence existed but refused to consider it in providing a measured response.

Sigh. I made an attempt to derail the previous thread getting into this and now here I am contributing to this one. I trust I'm not the only one on the Boneyard who gets sucked into this stuff.

 

[Husky68]

Nah, not buying your write up on "what poster means by ignorance or what ignorance is". Geno said what he said. You can make the tone anything you want. No reason to say it. You can get away with a lot of stuff if you win 8 NC's (like implying a major competitor is a cheat) or if you win 7 NC's (like his statements about Michala and Lauren). You produce wins you get plenty of people defending you, no matter what you do. Just the way it is.
If seeing the statement as unnecessary and unprofessional is ignorant, so be it, I'm in that group. If you are in the limelight its hard to not occassionally say something stupid, why do so many people think they have to defend stupid; just say "boy that was stupid" and "wish my boy Geno hadn't said that"; and move on.

 

[Tonyc]

Let me make this generality. Most people dont know what it means to make total commitment to anything. Thats why most people are average and ordinary. I chose not to be average and ordinary. You see Geno demands the best out of you and accepts nothing less. Many posters have no idea what that means because theyve never experienced it and have never done it. The price you pay for success is higher then you can imagine. Its not easy. It is easy to post to a board what it takes but if youve never done it you have no idea. When Geno speaks alot of what he says is taken out of context, and some of what he says he choses the wrong words, but what he means is right on. Look at UConns