Geno kills the traditional post player in WBB

[oldude]

Last night at Gampel, Geno Auriemma and the Huskies drove a stake through the heart of the traditional post player in WBB. This trend started a long time ago in men’s pro basketball. Years ago, dominant centers such as Chamberlain, Russell, Jabbar & Shaq ruled pro basketball. They were goliaths who jogged up and down the court, rebounded, blocked shots and scored, all within 5-10 feet from the basket. They were done in by a combination of the 3-pt shot and a change in rules allowing double-teaming on defense. Men’s college basketball soon followed suit.

A new breed of Big Men who could run, shoot, handle the ball and play defense away from the basket became the paradigm for the men’s game at all levels. The Golden State Warriors, maybe the best team in basketball, do not even start anyone who could remotely be called a “traditional post player.”

The last bastion of the traditional post player has been women’s basketball, but Geno has been steadily working to undermine that tradition for many years now, demanding that his BIGS run, pass, defend and shoot like smaller more athletic players. In order to be successful, UConn’s motion offense and switching defense requires that all 5 players can do a little bit of everything on the court.

Four seasons ago, Geno introduced us to his new prototype, a long-armed, 6’4” phenom from Syracuse, NY who could block shots, rebound, shoot the 3, dribble, pass and defend forwards & guards out on the floor. By the time Stewie graduated last Spring, she was the most decorated WCBB player in history, while being the key ingredient in 4 national championships.

Leading up to the game last night, the pundits told us we would be watching the 2 most dominant BIGS in WCBB. They were absolutely right, but the 2 dominant BIGS were 6’1” & 5’11” and they didn’t play for South Carolina. Of course, the pundits were talking about SC’s twin towers, who didn’t play badly. Coates & Wikson went a combined 9-18 with 20 rebounds & 27 points. At the same time, Gabby & Pheesa went a combined 18-35 with 23 rebounds & 44 points (Should have been 47 pts but for an atrocious charging call on Pheesa).

Traditional post players are becoming a liability in WBB, particularly on defense, just like in men’s basketball. Any WBB coach who has designs on competing with UConn for a national championship is out there right now looking for athletic BIGS, or a world class high jumper, to be able to take on the Huskies. I wish them luck. Something tells me that Geno and the Huskies will always be a step ahead of them.

 

[Geew1992]

As underrated as Gabby and Pheesa are, is as overrated as Coates is.

 

[oldude]

As underrated as Gabby and Pheesa are, is as overrated as Coates is.

Coates had the better game last night of SC's 2 bigs, shooting 4-6 with 14 rbs. Wilson all but disappeared in the 2nd half.

 

[Geew1992]

Coates had the better game last night of SC's 2 bigs, shooting 4-6 with 14 rbs. Wilson all but disappeared in the 2nd half.

Yes, I know. Wilson also showed her frustration towards the end of the game. I just don't think Coates is as good as WCBB says she is.

 

[oldude]

Yes, I know. Wilson also showed her frustration towards the end of the game. I just don't think Coates is as good as WCBB says she is.

I agree. At the next level (WNBA) Coates could be very limited.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

As underrated as Gabby and Pheesa are, is as overrated as Coates is.

She's going to be an asset in the W and elsewhere, once someone teaches her to work without the ball. Someone like....TC, for example. Right now she is just another Kelsey Bone. Knowing that she is the lesser of the two....

Coates had the better game last night of SC's 2 bigs, shooting 4-6 with 14 rbs. Wilson all but disappeared in the 2nd half.

....Geno adjusted to remove Wilson from the game in the second half.

 

[phil sampieri]

Coates had the better game last night of SC's 2 bigs, shooting 4-6 with 14 rbs. Wilson all but disappeared in the 2nd half.

sorry if you re-watch most of her points were put-backs. She also is the first to run out of gas. Jogging back on D even in the 3rd quarter.Over-rated in MO

 

[Vowelguy]

Uh. Phil Jackson might have something to say about that.

The Jordan pippen Rodman Bulls killed the center.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Wilson didn't disappear. I got a few glimpses of her surrounded by white jerseys and I saw her looking up at Williams a couple of times.

 

[msf22b]

I agree. At the next level (WNBA) Coates could be very limited.

Both of them have temperament issues to a greater or lesser extent
that Dawn has not been able to modify
Reminds me a wee bit of UTenn
Dawn's mea culpa the other day with regard getting the kids to listen (or perform to a standard)
is evidence of a certain weakness in her program, not apparent in the best ones.
Even Muffet complained this year (after a poor loss) of a similar issue.

Geno complains as well that kids have changed...and them he changes them back...or whatever magic he performs.

 

[oldude]

Uh. Phil Jackson might have something to say about that.

The Jordan pippen Rodman Bulls killed the center.

Yes, but the 3-pt shot and changes allowing double teaming were already in place in the NBA, as I point out in my original post.

 

[huskyd]

"I don't know about you," as Andy Rooney used to say, but I'll be very happy next year to have Azura and Batouly playing around the key. OD's point, however, about versatile Bigs certainly is true about those transfers; they can do more than act as monoliths.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Dawn is missing the experienced PG that can get the ball to the other players in the right position to score. Also Dawn's offense doesn't have a lot of motion in it which would enable A'ja and Coates to get easier shots. Will be interesting to see how Azura Stevens players next year as when she was at Duke she had a similar style of play as A'ja does. Azura does have more range in her shot then A'ja.

 

[oldude]

View attachment 19747
"I don't know about you," as Andy Rooney used to say, but I'll be very happy next year to have Azura and Batouly playing around the key. OD's point, however, about versatile Bigs certainly is true about those transfers; they can do more than act as monoliths.

Good point. At 6'6", Z might fool you into thinking she's a traditional BIG, but she can shoot the 3, put the ball on the floor, pass and play D, and for the last 8 months she has been learning how to excel in UConn's system.

 

[JoePgh]

Last night at Gampel, Geno Auriemma and the Huskies drove a stake through the heart of the traditional post player in WBB. Traditional post players are becoming a liability in WBB, particularly on defense, just like in men’s basketball. Any WBB coach who has designs on competing with UConn for a national championship is out there right now looking for athletic BIGS, or a world class high jumper, to be able to take on the Huskies. I wish them luck. Something tells me that Geno and the Huskies will always be a step ahead of them.

I don't think Geno has anything against a traditional, back-to-the-basket post player, if he happens to have one on his team. Tina Charles in her last two years would qualify for that role. Unlike the current version of Tina, who has expanded her game and is now more of a 4 in the WNBA and the Olympics, the UConn Tina was what you call a "traditional center". Moreover, she was very good at it, and in her last two years she had the teammates she needed to protect her from being double-teamed.

It's true that the immobile, wide-body center is a disappearing breed, and that is no great loss. I agree that Alaina Coates's potential in the WNBA is limited for that reason. But I have been surprised by how effective players like Courtney Paris have been able to become, even if they are not the top centers in the league.

 

[magic]

Well oldude, that is called PROGRESS ! Don't take this personally, as I am an old dude too. Why is it that we always think it was better in the " old days" ? The women's game is evolving , and the evolution is being led by the Huskies and Geno. What really bothers me most about wcbb, is the rules " game " ! A couple of years ago, ncaa made a big deal about restricting players movement on the offensive end of the floor. Yet they continue to call ticky tak hand checks 20 feet from the rim , and allow " anything goes" in the lane.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I was thinking it started with EDD before Stewie.

 

[bags27]

Great post (as usual) Oldude. Motion 5-0 is more difficult to learn but therefore more effective than Motion 4-1, and Geno has upped the ante on what opponents need to do to defend UConn.

OTOH, as JoePgh implies, if Stef were still around, I suspect Geno would find some "traditional" ways to use her.....

 

[CL82]

sorry if you re-watch most of her points were put-backs. She also is the first to run out of gas. Jogging back on D even in the 3rd quarter.Over-rated in MO

Playing against UConn will take the gas out of your tank. Before the game someone asked how could Gabby play against the SC big, my response was they had to worry about playing against Gabby. Man that kid is a freak of nature, fast, strong and of course incredible hops, but the key is that she is just relentless. She is just a blast to watch.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Coates had the better game last night of SC's 2 bigs, shooting 4-6 with 14 rbs. Wilson all but disappeared in the 2nd half.

I don't agree with anyone who says USC didn't bring their A game and didn't play with intensity--ask Lou and the team about the bruises they are soaking today--to say they (USC) didn't play at the top of their game--undermines the effort and terrific game played by Uconn.
If as you say Aj'a disappeared in the second half--thank Uconn defense.
I loved much about this game--except the damn Refs---35 fouls 18 USC 17 Uconn--when was the last time Uconn had 17 fouls--
Katie lou---being PUNCHed in the belly--no technical--no foul. Kia's head was contacted by Harris'''???--that was on Harris not Kia.
Aj'z legs tangled with Gabby , technical trip (usually on the tripper) Gabby was called for a travel. I thought the refs were terrible.

 

[SCGamecock]

Coates had the better game last night of SC's 2 bigs, shooting 4-6 with 14 rbs. Wilson all but disappeared in the 2nd half.

Or she was being triple teamed the entire 2nd half. Great half time adjustment by Geno, it worked.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Playing against UConn will take the gas out of your tank. Before the game someone asked how could Gabby play against the SC big, my response was they had to worry about playing against Gabby. Man that kid is a freak of nature, fast, strong and of course incredible hops, but the key is that she is just relentless. She is just a blast to watch.

PLEASE--NO freak!! She uses her parent given talent to an extent never seen--but certainly---she is not in any terms of the meaning of the word--a freak!! She is OUR girl!! She is OUR talent. She is OUR savior in the USC game. She is OUR Gabby!!! No freak!! Please.

 

[divots]

I thought that our girls did a great job of shutting down the dribble penetration by South Carolina guards and forced them into situations that minimized their interior post height advantage.....the traditional big can be an incredibly effective scorer for teams that have a guard(s) who can take the ball inside, draw the defense and then find the open big witness the play Crystal Dangerfield made Q4 when finding Nat open alone for the uncontested bunny a second before the 30-second clock expired....South Carolina had some success with that early on but as the game went on their guards seemed more inclined to try to lob the ball into the post players who were already being beaten to their preferred up-close and personal comfort zone before immediately being swarmed on by 2 or 3 UConn defenders....Wilson's Q4 frustration became increasingly evident to all when it was obvious how the game was going to play out....with sincere apologies to Tyasha Harris' split lip, in the immortal words of Mike Tyson, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

 

[bags27]

Or she was being triple teamed the entire 2nd half. Great half time adjustment by Geno, it worked.

On another thread, it was correctly (I believe, as I've watched SC a couple of times this year) stated that Wilson and Coates ran out of steam...that UConn is the better conditioned club. I believe this strongly, just as the Patriots were better conditioned than the Falcons. Geno's and Belichick's practices are legendarily tough, and it pays off in big games when adrenaline runs havoc, creating highs and lows, and one team tends to play more up tempo.

 

[tkaes]

All of the above is all well and good. But, how do you explain the recruitment of Charli Collier, Aliyah Boston, and River Baldwin. None of them are a Stewie type player. Aren't they more traditional post players? Aren't they different than a Tuck or Pheesa?