Gary Blair says....

[pap49cba]

John Altavilla ‏@jaltavilla 2h
Texas AM coach Gary Blair says this is the best team #UConnwomen have ever had. "They have five WNBA first-round draft picks," he said

 

[semper]

We've had that before! And in the top 6, wasn't it?

 

[j66kicker]

We've had that before! And in the top 6, wasn't it?

4 of top 6: Bird, Cash, Williams & Jones. Taurasi was the 5th starter and wasn't drafted that year, as she was a sophomore

 

[j66kicker]

4 of top 6: Bird, Cash, Williams & Jones. Taurasi was the 5th starter and wasn't drafted that year, as she was a sophomore

I guess Diana counts if it doesn't have to be the same draft year (in that case we had 2 #1 overall picks starting on the same team)

 

[easttexastrash]

Geno + a WNBA team. Sounds like a recipe for a guaranteed championship.

 

[semper]

4 of top 6: Bird, Cash, Williams & Jones. Taurasi was the 5th starter and wasn't drafted that year, as she was a sophomore

Yeah, but in this discussion we are counting that...so it would be 5 in the top 6.

 

[j66kicker]

Geno + a WNBA team. Sounds like a recipe for a guaranteed championship.

His college job is much better - better pay, better hotels, charter flights, etc

 

[Geno-ista]

Gary Blair is on the short list of best coaches out there. His teams are always significantly better at seasons end. He can coach up raw young talent. Not sure he matches up with us- but they are dangerous.

 

[jsloanjr]

Blair is a 1st class person and it shows on how he coaches. Geno know the secrt to beating Gary Blair teams......Get up early and force them to take quick shots.

 

[alexrgct]

Gary Blair is as classy as it gets. Just hope UConn can go ahead and take care of business. At least Gary will always have 2011, so I wouldn't feel bad for the guy.

 

[UcMiami]

Really enjoy him - class all around.

 

[easttexastrash]

His college job is much better - better pay, better hotels, charter flights, etc

Well...I'm talking about Geno + this UCONN team, which Blair described as having 5 WNBA caliber players. I'm not implying that Geno should jump to the WNBA.

 

[Sonny44]

“I have the key to her house, she has the key to mine,” Jones said. “We’ve talked about this [the game] a lot. But we know once we step on the court it not about us, it’s about UConn and Texas A&M. We learned playing against each other in high that there is no friendship on the floor.”
Meanwhile, Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said he wishes Jefferson had chosen his program instead of UConn.

Isn't it sweet, the young and the innocent, can still compete without any sign of the hate factor?

 

[magic]

Gary blair is a wily old southern sweet talking FOX !

 

[Sonny44]

“In my opinion, it seems similar to what it was back in the day at Louisiana Tech [where Blair served as an assistant from 1980-85] … At some point it became harder for Leon Barmore [their coach] to get the games he needed to inspire himself and his team to play at the highest level. It was harder for him to convince the great players to come to LA Tech. They began going to places [in the bigger conference] where there were charter flights and better meal money and where everything was bigger. “It [sustainability] can still be done [anywhere], but we’re not letting him in the SEC, I’ll tell you that,” Blair said smiling. “They will not be coming in.

Seems to disagree with several former optimistic posts suggesting otherwise.

 

[diggerfoot]

“In my opinion, it seems similar to what it was back in the day at Louisiana Tech [where Blair served as an assistant from 1980-85] … At some point it became harder for Leon Barmore [their coach] to get the games he needed to inspire himself and his team to play at the highest level. It was harder for him to convince the great players to come to LA Tech. They began going to places [in the bigger conference] where there were charter flights and better meal money and where everything was bigger. “It [sustainability] can still be done [anywhere], but we’re not letting him in the SEC, I’ll tell you that,” Blair said smiling. “They will not be coming in.

Seems to disagree with several former optimistic posts suggesting otherwise.

I've only posted wistfully, not optimistically, about a desire to get to the ACC or B1G .... until now. Yesterday changes everything. To have a charismatic coach not named Calhoun or Auriemma bring UConn to the FF with MSG as the venue .... that was pure gold for future conference realignment discussions. Sure, some petty colleges like a BC, or presumably a TAMU (you can have the SEC anyways) might have resistance, but the overall market potential of our Blue Blood program for any conference at this point is undeniable. It's now inevitable.

 

[Aluminny69]

Yeah, but in this discussion we are counting that...so it would be 5 in the top 6.

Technically, 5 in the top SEVEN. Check your math.

A good trivia question: Who were the two non-UConn players in the top six of the 2002 draft?

 

[doggydaddy]

I've only posted wistfully, not optimistically, about a desire to get to the ACC or B1G .... until now. Yesterday changes everything. To have a charismatic coach not named Calhoun or Auriemma bring UConn to the FF with MSG as the venue .... that was pure gold for future conference realignment discussions. Sure, some petty colleges like a BC, or presumably a TAMU (you can have the SEC anyways) might have resistance, but the overall market potential of our Blue Blood program for any conference at this point is undeniable. It's now inevitable.

Kirk, I was thinking the same thing.

I think that this great UConn weekend with two men's games and one women's game had to make an impression on the powers that be in regards to conference realignment, be it the B1G (please) or ACC (I hope not).

You want the NY media area in your conference, UConn is the one. It's undeniable.

I know football rules, so we will have to see how this helps with the momentum of the football team. It couldn't hurt.

Everything I read about Diaco and what he is doing with the team tells me UConn will have a solid season. If they can make a bowl game it's just more good publicity.

They are also working towards AAU status.

Not 2014 but maybe by the start of the 2015 basketball season, following the 2015 football season? I'm hopeful.

 

[UConnCat]

Kirk, I was thinking the same thing.

I think that this great UConn weekend with two men's games and one women's game had to make an impression on the powers that be in regards to conference realignment, be it the B1G (please) or ACC (I hope not).

You want the NY media area in your conference, UConn is the one. It's undeniable.

I know football rules, so we will have to see how this helps with the momentum of the football team. It couldn't hurt.

Everything I read about Diaco and what he is doing with the team tells me UConn will have a solid season. If they can make a bowl game it's just more good publicity.

They are also working towards AAU status.

Not 2014 but maybe by the start of the 2015 basketball season, following the 2015 football season? I'm hopeful.

The UConn teams just need to keep winning and in the case of football start winning again.

 

[pap49cba]

John Altavilla ‏@jaltavilla 35m
So, in my way of thinking, Bob Diaco is now the most important man in Connecticut #uconnfootball #UConnwomen #uconnmen

 

[UcMiami]

“In my opinion, it seems similar to what it was back in the day at Louisiana Tech [where Blair served as an assistant from 1980-85] … At some point it became harder for Leon Barmore [their coach] to get the games he needed to inspire himself and his team to play at the highest level. It was harder for him to convince the great players to come to LA Tech. They began going to places [in the bigger conference] where there were charter flights and better meal money and where everything was bigger. “It [sustainability] can still be done [anywhere], but we’re not letting him in the SEC, I’ll tell you that,” Blair said smiling. “They will not be coming in.

Seems to disagree with several former optimistic posts suggesting otherwise.

Well ... I do not see the charters or the meal money or the facilities (yes the actual game day facilities could both use an upgrade, but those only represent about 30 hours of the 1000+ hours spent in 'facilities') disappearing. There is a big difference in budget between what LA Tech had available and what Uconn has now and into the foreseeable future. Add in the media exposure and the comparison is I think marginal.

As for 'football' driving the bus ... it is eyeballs that drive the bus and what the men showed this past weekend is that there is a significant NYC presence to the Uconn fan base. ND had a terrible football team for decades it seems but that didn't effect their bottom line because they had eyeballs. Uconn does not necessarily need to be a top 25 program to increase a conferences footprint in the NYC metro area. How many teams playing in the last decade had a special train put on just to transport fans to a game?

 

[UConnCat]

John Altavilla ‏@jaltavilla 35m
So, in my way of thinking, Bob Diaco is now the most important man in Connecticut #uconnfootball #UConnwomen #uconnmen

carl adamec ‏@CarlAdamec 15h
I hope that Warde Manuel is as right about Bob Diaco as he was about Kevin Ollie.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Gary Blair doesn't have to play the Poor Me Card, he's got 4 or 5 WNBA 1st round draft picks on his team as well. A&M is very talented and capable of knocking off UConn if UConn shoots like they did against BYU in the 1st half. Not predicting it will happen, but they are capable.

 

[doggydaddy]

Gary Blair doesn't have to play the Poor Me Card, he's got 4 or 5 WNBA 1st round draft picks on his team as well. A&M is very talented and capable of knocking off UConn if UConn shoots like they did against BYU in the 1st half. Not predicting it will happen, but they are capable.

Name them. Certainly not any graduating this year. There are no Texas A&M players in the mock draft I saw in any of the 3 rounds.

I was wondering when I would see a post claiming that if Uconn shoots like they did against BYU....blah blah blah.....

 

[Forty_four]

Name them. Certainly not any graduating this year. There are no Texas A&M players in the mock draft I saw in any of the 3 rounds.

I was wondering when I would see a post claiming that if Uconn shoots like they did against BYU....blah blah blah.....

So dismissive.... they already proved it could happen.