Geno Interview 2 April 2014 ASAP Sports

[FollowerCT]

FYI ... not sure if this has yet been discussed ... if so, sorry for the repeat:

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=97820

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Now that was a great interview. Of course we are blessed to have Geno as THE Coach for all the obvious reasons. Part of his growth as a coach has been his evolution into a senior statesman of the game who works hard at providing thoughtful, insightful answers to questions posed in post game pressers and interviews such as this. He knows, too, that each on of these occasions is an opportunity to reach into the home of any number of future recruits. And, thank God, he is still the quip meister. Too many coaches simply blow off the press with clichés and get me outta here (which is fine with me and Geno I'm sure ).

 

[HoopsFan21]

Thanks for posting that. I believe it's the transcription from the NCAA teleconference that we've seen come out in bits and pieces from various tweets. Nice to be able to read the whole thing instead of 140 character chunks taken out of context.

 

[cferraro04]

One of my favorite lines from the interview: "It's a combination of things, obviously, but I think the expectation level here is you go to the Final Four and you play for a national championship, and we're pretty proud of it, that since 1988‑'89, every player that's been recruited at Connecticut has played in the Final Four. The kids know that. That's why they come here. When you have high expectations you tend to live up to them."

 

[UcMiami]

Thanks for posting - the NCAA has done a pretty poor job of posting transcripts of press conferences and pre/post games this year. No idea why, because the transcripts are being produced after every game and the only ones I have seen have been posted by individual schools. Doesn't take more than a minute and costs next to nothing for the NCAA to have link to the PDFs or to create HTML versions once it has been transcribed.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Awesome, awesome interview. I wish someone knowledgeable had reviewed the transcript (Carol Walters??? Joe Loyd???) But that's nitpicking.

I especially loved the comments on Big Momma Stef. You can tell that Geno is gonna get really emotional watching her and Bria step off the court in a UConn jersey for the last time.

And of course, I was delighted by the not very subtle dig at Skylar Diggins: "...Stewie doesn't really take herself too seriously. She's not one to make everything about her. She's not one of those prima donna types. She's not one of those me‑me‑me looking for attention types that we've seen in the NCAA Tournament recently. She's just more about winning." Wow! Talk about telling it like it is!

 

[maddoggy]

It actually IS a bit more subtle than his quote in the thread called
Jere @NYT: UConn’s Breanna Stewart: A Guard in a Center’s Body at Forward

“Today, it’s about the show, the posturing,” Auriemma said. “With her, it’s all just about let’s play. She’s not going to do anything to draw attention to herself except to try to get a double-double every night. She’s from a different era. She’s not that kid that wants everybody to stare, to say, there’s Breanna Stewart, let’s see her entourage, let’s see if she has bodyguards, let’s see if somebody has to do her hair, let’s see if she’s got certain nail polish that’s only hers.”

 

[HoopsFan21]

Geno is right. A lot of the top kids now want their LeBron moment. As I recall Stewie basically told Geno that she would like to commit if he'd have her. No big press conferences, no constantly posting about it on social media, no big build up to "The Decision." Just a kid that loves playing hoops that wants to be the best and play for the best.

 

[UcMiami]

Geno is right. A lot of the top kids now want their LeBron moment. As I recall Stewie basically told Geno that she would like to commit if he'd have her. No big press conferences, no constantly posting about it on social media, no big build up to "The Decision." Just a kid that loves playing hoops that wants to be the best and play for the best.

Wasn't she the one who ended up signing the letter on the hood of her dad's car.

 

[caramel]

Wasn't she the one who ended up signing the letter on the hood of her dad's car.

yes

 

[hussybulldog]

It actually IS a bit more subtle than his quote in the thread called
Jere @NYT: UConn’s Breanna Stewart: A Guard in a Center’s Body at Forward

“Today, it’s about the show, the posturing,” Auriemma said. “With her, it’s all just about let’s play. She’s not going to do anything to draw attention to herself except to try to get a double-double every night. She’s from a different era. She’s not that kid that wants everybody to stare, to say, there’s Breanna Stewart, let’s see her entourage, let’s see if she has bodyguards, let’s see if somebody has to do her hair, let’s see if she’s got certain nail polish that’s only hers.”

Is that a subtle warning to Wilson, who seems to want to make sign on as an event of year thing? I have this feeling UConn is not too warm to her as she is already becoming sort of a Prima Donna .

 

[Suebird10fan]

It actually IS a bit more subtle than his quote in the thread called
Jere @NYT: UConn’s Breanna Stewart: A Guard in a Center’s Body at Forward

“Today, it’s about the show, the posturing,” Auriemma said. “With her, it’s all just about let’s play. She’s not going to do anything to draw attention to herself except to try to get a double-double every night. She’s from a different era. She’s not that kid that wants everybody to stare, to say, there’s Breanna Stewart, let’s see her entourage, let’s see if she has bodyguards, let’s see if somebody has to do her hair, let’s see if she’s got certain nail polish that’s only hers.”

Hadn't seen that. Yes definitely more subtle than that.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Is that a subtle warning to Wilson, who seems to want to make sign on as an event of year thing? I have this feeling UConn is not too warm to her as she is already becoming sort of a Prima Donna .

I'll bet Geno knows where she is going. He's been in the game a long time and has seen it all and sat in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of potential recruits' living rooms. He's made several comments like that in recent weeks. A few weeks ago he said something along the lines of his recruiting style is he lays out everything that UConn has to offer, and doesn't promise anything but an opportunity if you're willing to work hard, and that hasn't changed. In Geno's opinion waiting to make a decision doesn't make a lot of sense because the programs that a recruit is choosing between aren't going to change. UConn is still going to be exactly the same next year as it was last year and the year before that, and the decade before that. Geno's comments echo the sentiment from CD when she mentioned that the pool of candidates they are willing to consider continues to shrink.

 

[UcMiami]

Hussy and Hoops - no idea where she is going and would actually be surprised if Geno knows either. And I doubt his or CDs statements had anything to do with Wilson. CD was I think referring to 1988 - the talent level was x on the team and that meant they could recruit a lot of people, by 1999 the talent level was 2x and recruiting a 1x player was not good for the player or the team, and by 2009 the talent level was 3x and recruiting a 2x player no longer made sense.
Geno was talking about a cultural change and me first attitude that is more prevalent in the women's game than it was ten years ago (and in society at large.) If he was referring to any specific people (and I don't think he was) they were not HS kids but pro or college players.
All coaches have deal with teenagers making a monumental decision in their lives and know that every one of them is different. Wilson has not been playing coy with anyone - she announced early last spring that with the USA team taking a chunk out of her summer when she had planned to do her due diligence on schools she would not be signing in the fall but planning her visits. And she said pretty clearly in the fall that she would wait until after the basketball season to make her decision.
When Geno does not like a situation he is very quick to roll up the welcome mat and it is telling that he has not done so. He is happy with this process and will wait for the decision.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Geno was talking about a cultural change and me first attitude that is more prevalent in the women's game than it was ten years ago (and in society at large.) If he was referring to any specific people (and I don't think he was) they were not HS kids but pro or college players.

"one of those me-me-me looking for attention types we've seen in the NCAA tournament recently" sure sounds like SkyDig. If not, then who else? Sims or Griner? Maybe, but I don't think so. Maybe you could put Shoni in that category? Certainly fits Diggins to a T.

 

[UcMiami]

"one of those me-me-me looking for attention types we've seen in the NCAA tournament recently" sure sounds like SkyDig. If not, then who else? Sims or Griner? Maybe, but I don't think so. Maybe you could put Shoni in that category? Certainly fits Diggins to a T.

With nothing to go on except his words, we are just projecting our own thoughts here on if a specific player drew that comment. Geno is not generally 'harsh' about someone who has not provoked him, so to assign a name to this I think is wrong - i'm not aware of anyone in WCBB who has either a body guard or an entourage or has ever needed one (except Geno at Rutgers) so it would be more likely a pro and truthfully more likely a male athlete. Take that and the nail polish comment and I think I have it! Dennis Rodman!!!

 

[Suebird10fan]

UCMiami, I was referring to a quote from the original link. In it Geno refers to "me-me-me looking for attention types we've seen in the NCAA tournament recently." Given that the context was an interview re women's F4 I think we can conclude he was talking about WCBB. It sounds pretty specific to me. Frankly I don't know how you make that comment without having one or at most a few very specific people in mind. As far as what specific people he might have meant, you're right--there's no way to know and perhaps I'm projecting my own thoughts on it to ID SkyDig.

 

[semper]

I think it could relate to a number of players...I was thinking he was referring to a different one. And I don't think he "knows" about A'ja...not sure she does. So let's see what happens in Nashville. Still thinking that matters for this case.

Go Huskies! Fabulous interview!

 

[Suebird10fan]

Awesome, awesome interview. I wish someone knowledgeable had reviewed the transcript (Carol Walters??? Joe Loyd???) But that's nitpicking.

I especially loved the comments on Big Momma Stef. You can tell that Geno is gonna get really emotional watching her and Bria step off the court in a UConn jersey for the last time.

Well, I called that one right.

 

[Icebear]

He loved Bria's competitiveness and I think he just loved Stef's joie d'vivre. Her joy was infectious in everything she did. She can be no other way.