Geno cheering

[geneticrex]

Not to say he doesn't love all his teams, but I get the feeling that Geno REALLY loves this team.

 

[cferraro04]

I'm gonna go with that was simply Geno making a statement with regards to Syracuse's self-proclaimed best back court in the nation. I don't think for one minute that Geno doesn't think that anybody has a better back court than him. His players are interchangeable...Gabby plays a forward position but can bring the ball up, put the ball on the floor and drive the basket, can defend other teams guards, block shots and rebound with the best of them. Samuelson is a great shooting guard...but can post up under the basket...she can drive the basket or just shoot the lights out from 3 point land and recently she has figured out how to get herself to the foul line. Nurse is just Nurse...she is hustle all the time...good defensive player, drive the basket, make plays and apparently lately she wants everyone to know that she can shoot the lights out. Saniya one of the best A / TO ratios in the country. Can shoot the three, has stepped up her defense and she is incredibly fast when you least expect it and Collier an undersized post player who has the 2nd highest shooting average in the country, great first step, nose for the ball and can handle the ball like a guard. Then there is the understudy...Dangerfield...anybody can see she is going to be great...she gives you glimpses of it now. The team has the highest assist to basket ratio of anybody in the Tournament. Why wouldn't Geno think he has the best back court in the country...he has all six players capable of playing it.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Geno appreciates good defense. Remember his chest bump with Kelly Faris a few years back!

 

[mntncougar]

As much a any game this year Geno wanted this one. It showed all game.

Looked to me like he enjoyed it more too. Never saw those looks on his face before. He couldn't even force himself to stop smiling.

 

[CocoHusky]

Geno appreciates good defense. Remember his chest bump with Kelly Faris a few years back!

Video OK?

 

[CocoHusky]

In the post game presser Geno explains why he was clapping. UCONN wanted to guard the Syracuse players a certain way basically crowd them and help if they got by. The clapping was because Gabby executed perfectly as did Kia, KLS, Saniya , and Napheesa. based on the amout of turnovers and the looks on their faces you could tell the Syracuse players were not used to being guarded that way or that closely.

 

[BobbyJ]

Has to be the wimpiest chest bump I've ever seen. Just as he did it he must've been thinking, "What the hell am I doing?"

 

[Husky pride]

"Plus I think Geno likes beating Coach Q, even though I think they are buddies."

Just a guess, but I would say that you are right on the first part and really, really wrong on the second.

I would have to agree. Geno is not the type to, in any way, show-up another team.....nor does he normally ever have to. The past incident involving Stewie had to bother him deeply. She was among his favorites and delivered in royal fashion! He had to have wanted to provide her a home game at the Carrier Dome. Coach Q's remark that if she wanted to play at the Dome, she should have gone to Syracuse, had to sting. Also, at the end of the game handshake with Coach Q he didn't appear at all willing to linger over Q's congratulatory remarks. Finally, in one of the game pressers, his comment that "I only ask once"in regard to the possibility of scheduling future games with the 'Cuse......all point to his not being a happy camper going into this game!!!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

In the post game presser Geno explains why he was clapping. UCONN wanted to guard the Syracuse players a certain way basically crowd them and help if they got by. The clapping was because Gabby executed perfectly as did Kia, KLS, Saniya , and Napheesa. based on the amout of turnovers and the looks on their faces you could tell the Syracuse players were not used to being guarded that way or that closely.

It was fun to watch our players get all up in there, bounce back, and sorta say: watcha going to do now!

 

[Coach]

I would have to agree. Geno is not the type to, in any way, show-up another team.....nor does he normally ever have to. The past incident involving Stewie had to bother him deeply. She was among his favorites and delivered in royal fashion! He had to have wanted to provide her a home game at the Carrier Dome. Coach Q's remark that if she wanted to play at the Dome, she should have gone to Syracuse, had to sting. Also, at the end of the game handshake with Coach Q he didn't appear at all willing to linger over Q's congratulatory remarks. Finally, in one of the game pressers, his comment that "I only ask once"in regard to the possibility of scheduling future games with the 'Cuse.all point to his not being a happy camper going into this game!!!

I think you're right.

Not sure if it's due to the NCAA tournament or a pound of flesh but I noticed the starters played longer than usual in the 4th Quarter.

 

[UConnNick]

I thought Geno wanted the victory last night more than he usually does due to two things: the scheduling snub last year and Syracuse' self-proclaimed "best backcourt in the country". That animated display by Geno when Gabby forced the turnover in the first quarter was indeed the most emotion (of the happy type) I can ever remember him showing during a game.

As far as the vaunted "best backcourt in the country" performed, I don't think Peterson and Sykes were even the best backcourt in last night's game. Kia alone was a better backcourt. Admittedly, Peterson and Sykes can shoot. Peterson scored on a bunch of high-arcing bunnies in the lane in the last three quarters, not an easy shot to pull off. And both of them bombed a few threes. I think they scored 40 points between them, which is impressive against UConn. However, their backcourt pressure was not effective at all. In the first quarter they forced one turnover in the backcourt and immediately turned it back over. Gabby set the mood by dribbling the length of the court through the middle of the pressure defense a few minutes into the game. For some reason Peterson kept trying ankle-high passes inside to her bigs, never a good idea. At the end of the first quarter the Syracuse backcourt had one basket - a three-point bucket by Sykes - and several turnovers, bobbles, zero dishes and several missed switches. They were deer in the headlights. End of discussion.

There was one play, I think late in the 2Q, when we had the ball and Nurse was standing in the right corner all alone. I mean there wasn't a defender anywhere remotely in her zip code. We actually missed the opportunity to get her that wide open look because the ball and most everybody else was on the other side of the court. I remember thinking to myself that as hot as she'd been from behind the arc, how in the world do you miss somebody that badly on defense?

Hillsman may be a great recruiter, but he sure sucks as an in game manager. Even after the game, all he could say is they lost Kia for the game. For the game? Have you ever heard of in game adjustments, perhaps? No, we're just gonna keep doing what we're doing and hope she starts missing? That was his apparent strategy, if that can be called strategy.

To give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's thinking we're screwed no matter what we do, because doubling up on Nurse just means somebody else is going to go wild scoring the BB, so you let it ride hoping she will eventually cool off. They were going to lose the game anyway, but I'd at least try something different when confronted with an opponent who's shooting the lights out from behind the arc with nobody within 15 feet guarding her.

 

[UConnNick]

I'd like to see Auriemma trademark a phrase for his defense and put it on a wall they can touch everyday and pre-game. "40 Minutes of Hell."

Already been done by Nolan Richardson at Arkansas...won the 1994 men's NC.

Maybe "40 minutes of terror".

 

[BobbyJ]

Already been done by Nolan Richardson at Arkansas...won the 1994 men's NC.

Maybe "40 minutes of terror".

Gotta believe the statute of limitations or something has run out. Send him 10 bucks to forget about it. He doesn't need it anymore.

 

[Bigboote]

You mean this?:

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You mean this?:

There is over the counter ointment for that condition.

 

[Blueballer]

I'd like to see Auriemma trademark a phrase for his defense and put it on a wall they can touch everyday and pre-game. "40 Minutes of Hell."

I think they just like "UCONN Basketball".

 

[Carnac]

The way I see it Geno understood that this team was a specific match up problem for UConn and not necessarily for the other top 4 seeds. Their frontcourt are long, athletic leapers with speed. The backcourt are excellent shooters who can penetrate off the dribble with speed. Shooters that once they got hot could carry the game. This was a team that he has had issues with as to their mode of play. He's also had issues dealing with Q personally in years past. This is an old Big East rival and they had just played UConn last year in the final. UConn doesn't get to play old Big East rivals much anymore, it was the first time in many years two teams from last years final get to meet in the tourney the following year, and Geno doesn't like playing teams who have seen his team before in the NCAA's. For coaches this could add up to a perfect storm. He wanted this game almost as much as ND. Perhaps because of some issues, more.

Also frankly, these young ladies continue to surprise him. He's been asked a few times this year whether he finds this run or this team exciting and he's said not really. But I think he finds them interesting and that has surprised him. This team plays with an even keel. They don't get too high or too low. They're not a rah-rah let's win this one for old UConn, play on adrenaline kind of team. He's said many times that this team has plenty of personality and emotion off the court but not much on the court. Yet they always do what needs to be done to win. They're led by sophomores and a junior that were role players last year with no superstar senior to guide them. That's never really happened before at UConn. They're perfectly willing to pick each other up when another is having an off day. For a clearly emotional man such as Geno this team is almost a cipher, and very different than other teams he has had.

Watching Geno on the sidelines this game was like watching the old Geno. Geno with his jacket off, sleeves rolled, squatting on the sidelines, ripping a hole into the refs and players alike. But also the Geno that cheered his troops on, occasionally shaking that fist or clapping his hands with that wide satisfied grin. Man, it was good to see that guy back.

I ain't TonyC, the eternal optimist who is usually right about how UConn's season's are going to play out. I'm a pessimist that is usually wrong and perpetually surprised by the outcome of every season. I don't know if this team will win their 5th in a row, but it sure has been one of the best rides this team has ever given me. Glad I'm a fan. A fan of UConn, WCBB, and all the dedicated people who participate in this great sport.

Now as for the rest of the teams in this tournament I ain't sceerd of a single one.

Not. One. Bit.

Welcome to the club.

 

[UcMiami]

I don't think it had anything to do with the opponent - the coaches and the players are all focused on what Uconn wants to do and how Uconn wants to play - and in the first quarter, Uconn came out and did exactly what they wanted to do and played exactly how they wanted to play, and that is a whole symphony not just music to a dedicated coach! He was joyous about how his team and his individual players were playing and could care less who the opponent was in that moment or what they had said during the season.

As for Stewart and 'the game' - he got that out of his system in the NC last year, sort of a perfect ending for Stewart and him.
And as for Syracuse - Geno went out of his way to praise Syracuse, and coach Q, and the importance of Syracuse being relevant in not just men's basketball but women's as well. He didn't have to do it, but he did.
As for the way Syracuse played - I know quite a few people thought they were trying to take Lou's eyes out, but I saw no indication from any player on the floor or any coach on the bench that they thought anything improper or intentional was happening - and I have seen Geno, CD, and Marisa all make their feelings know on those kinds of issues over the years - as for Shea, she is the easiest of all to read when one of her charges is being abused! Nada in that game.

And yeah - Geno gets an upset stomach before every NCAA game, because as the hunted he has broken down all the surprises he can imagine and every nightmare situation that could upset his team, and being a good Catholic boy, he knows that he has sins that must be atoned for, and maybe this night is when he starts paying down that debt. So he foresaw Syracuse pulling a Dayton or a Louisville and hitting everything they threw at the basket, and Gabby picking up three fouls in the first quarter, and .... And so on top of his team doing everything exactly as they had drawn it up, there was also this incredible release of pent up energy as he realized that tonight was not THAT night!

 

[reno tony]

"Plus I think Geno likes beating Coach Q, even though I think they are buddies."

Just a guess, but I would say that you are right on the first part and really, really wrong on the second.

I'm still pi$$ed at him for not giving Stewie her home game so I like when UCONN beats them.... the bigger the better. Also, during Geno's presser after the Syracuse game he looked so happy I thought someone was tickling him the whole time.

 

[terif831]

My question is Who was he looking at while he was clapping so demonstrably? All his players were to his right. He had duck-stepped away from them.

Was it to needle Syracuse's backcourt?

I had the same question. From where I was sitting at the game, I couldn't see which players (if any) were in front of him while he was clapping, but I saw the UCONN players on the other side of him. I said to my friend sitting next to me that I thought MAYBE he had been clapping towards the Syracuse team? But I couldn't tell for sure because of the obstructed view, and I didn't hear anyone mention it later in any commentary.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I had the same question. From where I was sitting at the game, I couldn't see which players (if any) were in front of him while he was clapping, but I saw the UCONN players on the other side of him. I said to my friend sitting next to me that I thought MAYBE he had been clapping towards the Syracuse team? But I couldn't tell for sure because of the obstructed view, and I didn't hear anyone mention it later in any commentary.

Glad to hear at least someone else wondered that. I couldn't believe he would be doing that. I watched on TV (my computer) and have seen the replay several times. He was clearly not clapping at his players. When he started out, he was clapping somewhat "normally." Something caused him to suddenly take it to another level. And then the really big smile came and he was clearly looking across the floor. My latest conjecture is that it was the mascot or someone else who was bending down and really getting into it and Geno was playing off of that.