Geno Auriemma confident in another UConn title: 'Just matter of when'

[The CDR-Ret]

Geno has backed up what I've been saying all year, we're going to win No12! I admit he said he didn't know when,but the sooner the better.I predict that this is the year because we have so much we have to prove that we are contenders. Last year we overcame one major hurdle after another and still made it to the finals. Even with Paige ouy, the team now believes it can finish the job this year and win the NCAA title outright. I know we have to face SC, but we are 9W-3L against them. THIS YEAR WE WILL MAKE IT 10 and 3. As I've posted before,"we have GENO, they don't!" GO HUSKIES!!!

Hopefully we make it 11-3 by playing SC in the Final Four OR for the NC.

Beating SC TWICE in the same year will be like 1995 all over again vs. the Evil Orange Empire, when they were ranked above UCONN during the regular season...

Sooner (2023) better than later (2024), but I'm greedy, so win BOTH!

Go Huskies!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

I’m drinking that Koolaid also. I have commented recently that there are several other teams fully capable of winning the national championship this year. The same ones that were one and two seeds in the national tournament last year. They will ALL be there again this year.

The road to this year’s tournament will not be a cakewalk to the championship. The competition will be fierce. A lot of good teams will be sent home that second weekend.

Geno is right. Right now, UConn has as good a chance as any other program, even with Paige out. Geno started preparing his team for tournament play Thursday.

The thing that will win a championship for UConn this year is the same thing that will win it every year. Execution. Make plays on both ends of the court. When the ball comes your way, make a play. Limit the number of offensive rebounds by your opponent.

Limit your team turnovers each game to 9 or less. Don’t give up easy baskets or dumb fouls. That’s not how you practice, that’s not how you play. Show up ready to play every game. No magic tricks. Don’t let foul trouble send you to the bench. You can’t help your team from there. Play smart, have fun and enjoy the ride.

Simplified: "Just win the play in front of you!" The game will take care of itself if all the players are of the same mindset and communicate with each other: "win the play in front of you!"

 

[The CDR-Ret]

“just a matter of when.” I think the Butler coach said that too.

But that was the Men's coach who is now no longer with the Celtics....

 

[Carnac]

Simplified: "Just win the play in front of you!" The game will take care of itself if all the players are of the same mindset and communicate with each other: "win the play in front of you!"

Touche!!

 

[CL82]

No. Unless they are a redshirt, they only have 4 years of eligibility. The Covid year didn’t count towards it.

Generally you have 4 years to play four seasons. If you have a medical hardship they may allow you to have six years to play for seasons. But the Covid year is something entirely different. It did not count toward your four allowed seasons.

That’s my understanding anyway.

 

[Bone Dog]

Maya Dodson was denied one more season even though she missed all but 8 games in her junior year due to injury and opted out of playing her senior year at Stanford before transferring to ND. She asked for a fifth year (or fourth depending on how you count) of eligibility and the NCAA turned her down.

 

[GEAinAustin]

If Bueckers wanted to extend her college career she would have to file for a medical exemption before the 5th game of her senior season. I am not positive, as the rules are somewhat arbitrary with the covid rules.

 

[Plebe]

Maya Dodson was denied one more season even though she missed all but 8 games in her junior year due to injury and opted out of playing her senior year at Stanford before transferring to ND. She asked for a fifth year (or fourth depending on how you count) of eligibility and the NCAA turned her down.

Dodson wasn't entitled to a 5th season. The 2020-21 Covid year was a "freebie" in the sense that it didn't count against eligibility, but that doesn't mean a player could sit it out and then redesignate the freebie year as it suits her.

She played 9 games in her junior year (2019-20), but those games were at the end of the season, including the Pac-12 tournament. Medical hardship waivers are for players who couldn't play after the season midpoint.

 

[UConnCat]

Dodson wasn't entitled to a 5th season. The 2020-21 Covid year was a "freebie" in the sense that it didn't count against eligibility, but that doesn't mean a player could sit it out and then redesignate the freebie year as it suits her.

She played 9 games in her junior year (2019-20), but those games were at the end of the season, including the Pac-12 tournament. Medical hardship waivers are for players who couldn't play after the season midpoint.

That's right. Those players (e.g. Dodson) who chose not to play during the 2020-2021 Covid year could still have benefited from the NCAA's Covid rule if they needed an additional (6th year) to complete their 4 years of eligibility. Dodson did not need that extra year since she exhausted her 4 years of eligibility during the '21-22 season at Notre Dame.

 

[Jim R]

But that was the Men's coach who is now no longer with the Celtics....

Except he is…Brad Stevens took over Ainge’s spot, as General Manager, and believe he’ still there. Was a great coach at Butler.

 

[Waquoit]

"We're going to win another one," Auriemma told reporters prior to the school's "First Night" pep rally. "It's just a matter of when.

I remember in a bit of a title drought, Geno came out and said that fans would regret it if they jumped of the bandwagon. Four titles later...

 

[Bone Dog]

I remember in a bit of a title drought, Geno came out and said that fans would regret it if they jumped of the bandwagon. Four titles later...

He can be cagey, dropping hints about what he sees, sarcasm and humor directed at the players and the fans. Half the fun of his press conferences is trying to get a read on him, and he knows it.

 

[TCC Kid]

Ok gang, we’ve arrived. We’ve reached the ultimate pinnacle of existence. Our coach has recognized us in public as caring friends and fans of the program.

For over a Decade, maybe 2 or more if you add in Husky Nan's blog, Geno has been reading the Boneyard and denying it. Now we know--Geno Reads the Boneyard.
His get real sentences in this acknowledgement is a warm breeze, mainly because: Geno doesn't believe in losing.

Case in point Early 2000 may 1,2 or ,3 on the Connecticut Capitol steps---Geno aglow in the cheers of thousands talked about his current NC and without taking another breath said: We'll see you back here next year at this time. (not exact wording, the essence is in this). I cringed. That's Geno, he believes in himself, his staff and his team.
Uconn did not come back for another NC ride through downtown Hartford the next year.

 

[TCC Kid]

I remember in a bit of a title drought, Geno came out and said that fans would regret it if they jumped of the bandwagon. Four titles later...

Geno and his kids give us their all and hope we, if we are loyal fans, will return the privilege. During a "lull" too many didn't.

 

[Rich]

I mean......I hear ya Geno. But I don't necessarily share your optimism, primarily due to the effect of the portal and NIL on roster construction. Time was in the prehistoric days, Auriemma could hoard (what would have been) 5 star recruits with impunity and get them to stick on the roster without regard to playing time; fortunate for him given his proclivity to shorten his rotation in the regular season.

Those days are over though. Kids can move around and get the best deal for themselves and their future ambitions and coach can't do much if anything to stop them. Good for the kids, makes life harder on the coaches from a pure roster planning perspective. I'm still not sure that Geno grasps this as fully as he should....I mean, yeah, we're taking transfers but we've also lost a lot of depth in the past few years that while maybe they weren't gonna be impact players it would have helped to have them on the bench in the event you need 'em. Younger coaches like Staley seem to be doing a much better job of this, and maybe that's not a surprise. I guess if you're the old (Husky) dog you don't really have to care about new tricks if you've got 11 pelts on the wall and are single handedly responsible for the sport's popularity growth and enhancement over the past three decades.

 

[GEAinAustin]

It's also good for the coaches not in Auriemma's position. It is much easier for them to build competitive rosters every season.

 

[eebmg]

It's also good for the coaches not in Auriemma's position. It is much easier for them to build competitive rosters every season.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I mean......I hear ya Geno. But I don't necessarily share your optimism, primarily due to the effect of the portal and NIL on roster construction. Time was in the prehistoric days, Auriemma could hoard (what would have been) 5 star recruits with impunity and get them to stick on the roster without regard to playing time; fortunate for him given his proclivity to shorten his rotation in the regular season.

Those days are over though. Kids can move around and get the best deal for themselves and their future ambitions and coach can't do much if anything to stop them. Good for the kids, makes life harder on the coaches from a pure roster planning perspective. I'm still not sure that Geno grasps this as fully as he should....I mean, yeah, we're taking transfers but we've also lost a lot of depth in the past few years that while maybe they weren't gonna be impact players it would have helped to have them on the bench in the event you need 'em. Younger coaches like Staley seem to be doing a much better job of this, and maybe that's not a surprise. I guess if you're the old (Husky) dog you don't really have to care about new tricks if you've got 11 pelts on the wall and are single handedly responsible for the sport's popularity growth and enhancement over the past three decades.

Geno still pulls most of the #1 recruits though:

2012 - Stewie
2013 - KML
2015 - KLS
2017 - Megan
2018 - CW
2020 - Paige
2021 - Azzi

 

[Alydar]

I mean......I hear ya Geno. But I don't necessarily share your optimism, primarily due to the effect of the portal and NIL on roster construction. Time was in the prehistoric days, Auriemma could hoard (what would have been) 5 star recruits with impunity and get them to stick on the roster without regard to playing time; fortunate for him given his proclivity to shorten his rotation in the regular season.

Those days are over though. Kids can move around and get the best deal for themselves and their future ambitions and coach can't do much if anything to stop them. Good for the kids, makes life harder on the coaches from a pure roster planning perspective. I'm still not sure that Geno grasps this as fully as he should....I mean, yeah, we're taking transfers but we've also lost a lot of depth in the past few years that while maybe they weren't gonna be impact players it would have helped to have them on the bench in the event you need 'em. Younger coaches like Staley seem to be doing a much better job of this, and maybe that's not a surprise. I guess if you're the old (Husky) dog you don't really have to care about new tricks if you've got 11 pelts on the wall and are single handedly responsible for the sport's popularity growth and enhancement over the past three decades.

Those days are over? UConn has had probably the best 4 years (20-23) of HS recruiting that I can recall.
Can you give me the past years where Geno has had all those elite performers 2 deep up and down the roster? If anything the last decade has been one of short rosters and 6 man rotations in the NCAA's.
Who are all the transferees that have led their teams to titles in the last five years? Sheppard is one. Let's look at what Maryland and Tenn do this season and then revisit this.

As for NIL I don't see how it has cost UConn. Other programs are offering what I think are thinly disguised bribes from boosters while UConn can offer elite players the best stage and the biggest audience in wcbb.
Things may end up working out as you say but there is little evidence of it yet.

 

[socal613ws]

Those days are over? UConn has had probably the best 4 years (20-23) of HS recruiting that I can recall.
Can you give me the past years where Geno has had all those elite performers 2 deep up and down the roster? If anything the last decade has been one of short rosters and 6 man rotations in the NCAA's.
Who are all the transferees that have led their teams to titles in the last five years? Sheppard is one. Let's look at what Maryland and Tenn do this season and then revisit this.

As for NIL I don't see how it has cost UConn. Other programs are offering what I think are thinly disguised bribes from boosters while UConn can offer elite players the best stage and the biggest audience in wcbb.
Things may end up working out as you say but there is little evidence of it yet.

South Carolina offering players that join 25k each is pretty convincing.

 

[hoopsfan22]

South Carolina offering players that join 25k each is pretty convincing.

You can still only have 15 players though.

 

[Skeets]

South Carolina offering players that join 25k each is pretty convincing.

To a high school kid that might be really good money, but stepping back and looking at the big picture in life $25K is chump change. Not the way to base life decisions. I sincerely hope an adult tells any kid offered $25K that. Paige makes what? twice that with each post?

 

[socal613ws]

To a high school kid that might be really good money, but stepping back and looking at the big picture in life $25K is chump change. Not the way to base life decisions. I sincerely hope an adult tells any kid offered $25K that. Paige makes what? twice that with each post?

maybe some kids don't want to be doing social media? THey wanna focus on ONLY Basketball

 

[Next 12]

Hopefully we make it 11-3 by playing SC in the Final Four OR for the NC.

Beating SC TWICE in the same year will be like 1995 all over again vs. the Evil Orange Empire, when they were ranked above UCONN during the regular season...

Sooner (2023) better than later (2024), but I'm greedy, so win BOTH!

Go Huskies!

I truly enjoyed your optimism and post. Why not 2 wins against SC this year and No 12 and 13 NC's. when SC had A'ja Wilson and Alaina Coates , we were suppose to be unable to beat them, but we did! Let's show them who the TOP DOG is. GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[jdote33]