Geno receives the Wooden Legends of Coaching Award

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[Icebear]

Simply Awesome!!! It is one of those awards that will completely humble Geno. He loved and so deeply respected John Wooden.

 

[meyers7]

Legen......wait for it......dary.

Good for Geno.

 

[Sonny44]

We love our guy, he really gets the best out of our gals.

 

[alexrgct]

Award would be more prestigious without Rick Barnes having won it...

Seriously, though, congrats to Geno. Very good company he's in.

 

[EricLA]

another feather in his cap, but i know he doesn't keep track. IIRC, he carries (or used to carry) Wooden's book around with him? i'm guessing this will have a bit of special meaning to him. and so well deserved. Congrats Geno. all us hacks with computers wish you well!

 

[semper]

This is REALLY great...he deserves to win, and it is a pleasure for us hacks to have something like this at the end of the season, when we are spinning away without much to do (in basketball that is). Thank you, Geno, for the joy your work brings to so many people.

 

[HGN]

Congratulations Geno !!.........An Award that is well deserved.

 

[HuskyNan]

From USA Basketball and an article on the 11 players chosen for the National Team:

What makes Geno Auriemma such a great coach?
Sue Bird: No matter who coach Auriemma is coaching, he stays exactly the same and you have to respect that because he doesn’t care who you are. He wants the team to be successful. He wants each individual to be successful and he’s going to try and get the best out of you, out of the team, out of everybody. And that always stays the same and I think that’s why he’s able to do what he’s done.

At the 2010 FIBA World Championship you were able to play for your college coach, Geno Auriemma again. Are you excited about another opportunity to play for him again?​

Swin Cash: Yeah, it’s special because in 2010 when we won the World Championship, that was a special team. We had great chemistry and obviously coach and his staff was a big part of that. He just makes it fun and enjoyable. So, I’m looking forward to finishing off my USA Basketball career with one of the coaches who helped get me here, from pushing me in college all those years and really giving me encouragement after that. I’m really looking forward to it.​

What makes Geno a great coach?​

Syliva Fowles: He just knows everybody’s personality. He knows how to get to you mentally, physically. You just got to get it done when you’re playing for him. He knows what he wants, he’s consistent with what he wants and he knows how to win. You don’t have any choice but to respect that.​

What makes Geno Auriemma such a good coach?

Candace Parker: I think coach Auriemma is very knowledgeable about the game of basketball. He breaks things down for his team and he allows us to go out and play. I think when you have a leader like that, you’re willing to play hard and learn from him.​

Along that same line, when you first started playing for USA Basketball in 2006, was this something you thought would be attainable?​

Tina Charles: I knew with hard work and patience my time would come to be a part of a special opportunity. Playing at UConn and buying into what Coach Auriemma and the rest of the coaching staff wanted out of me and believed in that anything was possible.​

 

[UConnCat]

Here's a link (I hope) to a video of the interview with Geno and an interview with the women's finalists except for Griner who reportedly went home to spend time with her mother who is ill. The women finalists interviewed included Nneka, EDD, Diggins and Julie Wojta.

http://new.livestream.com/woodenawardbb/woodenaward2012

 

[UConnCat]

Bumping this up so those interested have a chance to watch the interview of Geno at the Wooden event in LA over the weekend.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Geno... you're da man!

 

[Tidepool]

I don't doubt that Geno will be looked back at as a legend, and deservedly so. But here's my quibble. Why is this award given to an active coach? Why is college basketball different in this respect from, say, professional sports, which wait until a player or coach is out of the game for a while before giving them their Hall of Fame-type honors? In so many areas, the perspective of time can be very important to making that kind of evaluation. Not that in Geno's case will the passage of time make a whit of difference, but the concept of calling someone a legend or a hall-of-famer while he or she is still engaged in the role for which he or she is being honored -- it seems premature. And I suspect that some day, with some future honoree, later developments may cause the honoring body to endure some embarrassment.

P.S. I want to re-emphasize I am in no way suggesting that Geno isn't and won't forever be fully worthy of such honors. I also understand that if someone wants to create an award, they can set up whatever criteria they want. I am just questioning the reasoning behind giving career-honoring awards to persons who are, as far as we can tell, still fully engaged in their careers. My question is more of a philosophical or theoretical one, not triggered by any doubt about our coach's worthiness. I hope I've made that clear enough. It's been a subject that I've thought about for a while, and this seems like an appropriate place to mention it. It's the off-season, after all.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I don't doubt that Geno will be looked back at as a legend, and deservedly so. But here's my quibble. Why is this award given to an active coach? Why is college basketball different in this respect from, say, professional sports, which wait until a player or coach is out of the game for a while before giving them their Hall of Fame-type honors? In so many areas, the perspective of time can be very important to making that kind of evaluation. Not that in Geno's case will the passage of time make a whit of difference, but the concept of calling someone a legend or a hall-of-famer while he or she is still engaged in the role for which he or she is being honored -- it seems premature. And I suspect that some day, with some future honoree, later developments may cause the honoring body to endure some embarrassment.

P.S. I want to re-emphasize I am in no way suggesting that Geno isn't and won't forever be fully worthy of such honors. I also understand that if someone wants to create an award, they can set up whatever criteria they want. I am just questioning the reasoning behind giving career-honoring awards to persons who are, as far as we can tell, still fully engaged in their careers. My question is more of a philosophical or theoretical one, not triggered by any doubt about our coach's worthiness. I hope I've made that clear enough. It's been a subject that I've thought about for a while, and this seems like an appropriate place to mention it. It's the off-season, after all.

who should is go to (just asking)