Geno Auriemma on upsets: Going to happen 'more and more'

[SVCBeercats]

Auriemma: Upsets to happen 'more and more'

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said the increase in upsets in women's basketball is a good thing for the sport.

www.espn.com

"What we don't need is when that does happen, to go, 'Ah, that team's not any good. How could they lose to that team?' Well, damn, you can't have it both ways. Either the favorites win all the time and there's no parity, or the other guys win and you go, 'Let's celebrate those guys that won and don't bitch about the guys that lost.' That's what we're all striving for."

Geno on CD: "We've stayed in touch the whole time, [her texting] with everybody on the staff and certainly the players. She hasn't been here physically, but she's been 'here.'"

 

[MSGRET]

Geno is right, you can't have it both ways, and the portal is going to have a big impact. Just don't know if it's good or bad for a team, look at both Texas and Tennessee, they are having challenges on getting it together with all of the new players.

 

[Bone Dog]

Geno is right, you can't have it both ways, and the portal is going to have a big impact. Just don't know if it's good or bad for a team, look at both Texas and Tennessee, they are having challenges on getting it together with all of the new players.

I suspect the portal fever will calm down eventually, once players get used to seeing how the Portal Patchwork teams struggle to find an identity early on. Of course, the tribe of sportswriters and pundits could speed this along a bit by speaking more reasonably about such teams in preseason polls and the like. All the baloney about how surprising all these November upsets are is just a way to cover up their earlier stupidity: "WCBB is crazy with upsets! It certainly can't be that my expectations were foolish all along."

 

[Next 12]

Auriemma: Upsets to happen 'more and more'

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said the increase in upsets in women's basketball is a good thing for the sport.

www.espn.com

"What we don't need is when that does happen, to go, 'Ah, that team's not any good. How could they lose to that team?' Well, damn, you can't have it both ways. Either the favorites win all the time and there's no parity, or the other guys win and you go, 'Let's celebrate those guys that won and don't bitch about the guys that lost.' That's what we're all striving for."

Geno on CD: "We've stayed in touch the whole time, [her texting] with everybody on the staff and certainly the players. She hasn't been here physically, but she's been 'here.'"

This is Geno at his best in being a coach and being sensible to today's college basketball. I hope he coaches at least 10 more years more. The news about Chris Dailey , that she is on the way and will be at the game was wonderful news. THe only kind I like to hear. Geno is hep to what is happening in today's way the game is going and will adjust accordingly and we will be OK. GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[Carnac]

Auriemma: Upsets to happen 'more and more'

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said the increase in upsets in women's basketball is a good thing for the sport.

www.espn.com

"What we don't need is when that does happen, to go, 'Ah, that team's not any good. How could they lose to that team?' Well, damn, you can't have it both ways. Either the favorites win all the time and there's no parity, or the other guys win and you go, 'Let's celebrate those guys that won and don't bitch about the guys that lost.' That's what we're all striving for."

Geno on CD: "We've stayed in touch the whole time, [her texting] with everybody on the staff and certainly the players. She hasn't been here physically, but she's been 'here.'"

Dailey is going to get one heck of reception the first time the team sees her upon her arrival in Portland.

 

[Inthepaint]

Huskies are a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts
Lots of talent, even without Paige & Ice ( and Caroline), but it’s the teamwork and , dare I say it, discipline that is enabling them to get off to such a good start.
Looks like Lou2 is meshing pretty well into the UCONN way.
It’s going to take some of these programs that pulled heavily from the portal a number of games to get their act together.
Hope we get to see a bit more from Ines this weekend.
Geno is quite cautious fishing in the portal. Seems to come up with more hits than misses.

 

[huskeynut]

For all those who cried "UConn is bad for women's college basketball" - welcome to the new world of parity - maybe.

The "experts" choices in the pre-season polls are not panning out as they had hoped. I don't think they realize that basketball is not a plug and play sport. 1 on 1 is not the goal. Team is the goal. Look who the top 3 teams are - South Carolina, Stamford and UConn.

Basketball is still about team chemistry on both sides of the ball. It's still about recruiting and developing players. Too many writers are enamored with the big scorer who racks up 25+ points a game. They miss the beauty of an offense that flows with passing, screens, back door cuts and fast breaks.

I'll take Geno and UConn everyday in the week and then some.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think you can add to a team from the portal, if you're careful about personalities. I think it's pretty clear you can't build a team that way. Geno has very judiciously added transfers and you can really see how careful he is about personality and character issues when he does this. The 3 recent transfers -- Evina Dorka Lou -- each turned out to be very good fits for the existing culture of the team.

 

[Florida Fan]

Geno is right, you can't have it both ways, and the portal is going to have a big impact. Just don't know if it's good or bad for a team, look at both Texas and Tennessee, they are having challenges on getting it together with all of the new players.

Guessing that Geno, with the Texas and Tennessee transfers, would have fielded a more coherent team response from those teams, but it's conjecture. As for upsets, UCONN doesn't have much margin for error, Notre Dame seems the most immediate threat, their team really deep. We can't suffer an injury to any of our current starters. There's hope that over time, Caroline could come around and Yanna looks very promising. I was surprised and gratified that the Huskies have come together so well, Azzi showing All-world abilities and Aubrey, going above the rim and beyond her injuries; Patterson only needing playing time and patience.

 

[Cuango]

Guessing that Geno, with the Texas and Tennessee transfers, would have fielded a more coherent team response from those teams, but it's conjecture. As for upsets, UCONN doesn't have much margin for error, Notre Dame seems the most immediate threat, their team really deep. We can't suffer an injury to any of our current starters. There's hope that over time, Caroline could come around and Yanna looks very promising. I was surprised and gratified that the Huskies have come together so well, Azzi showing All-world abilities and Aubrey, going above the rim and beyond her injuries; Patterson only needing playing time and patience.

I’m sure he will figure it out but Vic (the Texas coach) seemed extremely frustrated and down about his team’s inability to mesh and follow his instructions. That sounds to me like players who have (so far) been unable to assimilate into the new culture they find themselves in. He is a great coach and will either prevail or use the bench but some coaches may struggle with this all season!

 

[Bone Dog]

Guessing that Geno, with the Texas and Tennessee transfers, would have fielded a more coherent team response from those teams, but it's conjecture.

Hmmm. Sounds intriguing.

Shaylee Gonzalez
Taylor Jones
Sonya Morris
Khadija Faye
Rickea Jackson
Jasmine Franklin
Jillian Hollinshead
Jasmine Powell

Could he have "fielded a more coherent response" from a team made up of these players? If he'd recruited them as freshmen, yes, he probably could. I bet Vic and Kellie could have, too, after working with them for 3 years. There would be some depth at pg with Gonzalez and Powell, with Morris at sg, some strong front court players with Jones and Hollinshead and a decent backup in Faye, and a couple of strong wings in Franklin and Jackson. The backcourt would be a bit thin with only 3 guards, but the rest of the team could be pretty solid.

If any good coach were able to work with them for more than one season, and managed to build some sort of team culture with them, I'd put this team somewhere in the top 50. Perhaps a bit slow in the backcourt, and may not have many perimeter threats, but definitely formidable in the front court with more than one playmaker in the post.

 

[Longtime fan]

Geno is right, you can't have it both ways, and the portal is going to have a big impact. Just don't know if it's good or bad for a team, look at both Texas and Tennessee, they are having challenges on getting it together with all of the new players.

But they have until March to get it right.