Geno/team meet with media on Selection Sunday | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Geno/team meet with media on Selection Sunday

I'm impressed that Geno knew about Mercer's history and who their head coach is! With no prep!

I like Susie Gardner. One of these years, Mercer will get a draw against a team they can compete with...but I don't think it happens this season.
 
Longtime fan said:
Here's the thing: Evina is right. One practice at a time, one game at a time. I love the team's confidence and Geno's observation the Paige Looks really good. UCONN, however, is no longer the team no one can beat. There are a lot of good teams, and several in the Bridgeport bracket ( NC STATE, Indiana, Notre Dame, Kentucky, and I know I forgot someone ). We can lose to anyone. The issue is; can we beat everyone? We will play nine. And if Paige is improving, that is an edge. The beauty is that no one is talking about UCONN. We are just another competitor. Mostly regarded as a tough out, but not an odds on favorite to win it all. If nine players shine for us, we can do it. But don't forget, two those nine are freshman. And one is returning from surgery. I think Olivia will hit a bunch of threes and set us on course. It is wide open. And we are under dogs.
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The UConn women are the best team in this bracket with a healthy team, which is what we have now. Several of the teams you listed, we can beat in double digits. The 2 freshmen are not your typical freshmen and don’t need to carry the load. We could still lose, thats why you play the games, but I will not be shocked by any success. These girls are very good and we have 9 of them. Who else is deeper?
 
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Stinger92860 said:
The UConn women are the best team in this bracket with a healthy team, which is what we have now. Several of the teams you listed, we can beat in double digits. The 2 freshmen are not your typical freshmen and don’t need to carry the load. We could still lose, thats why you play the games, but I will not be shocked by any success. These girls are very good and we have 9 of them. Who else is deeper?
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Agreed. There is no way UConn is an underdog and that includes NC St. Regardless of seeding, let’s not forget that this is a team that made the Final Four last year, returned all key players and had an infusion of talent. Essentially, if UConn reaches the Final Four this year, they will have 4 new players, each adding and contributing. (I’m including Nika in the mix as she was hampered).

The tournament is a new season and there are very few coaches that prepare their teams as well as Geno does for what lies ahead. There is no team in this bracket that should beat UConn. Compared to last year, this team has more talent, better outside shooting, more depth, less dependency on Paige, and plays better team defense. Yes, the regular season was a slog, but UConn survived. As a program, UConn is defined by their post season success. Now, this is all that matters.
 
UConnCat said:
Priotity #1

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I was hoping Geno would have kept that under the radar until showtime. :rolleyes:


Longtime fan said:
Here's the thing: Evina is right. One practice at a time, one game at a time. I love the team's confidence and Geno's observation the Paige Looks really good. UCONN, however, is no longer the team no one can beat. There are a lot of good teams, and several in the Bridgeport bracket ( NC STATE, Indiana, Notre Dame, Kentucky, and I know I forgot someone ). We can lose to anyone. The issue is; can we beat everyone? We will play nine. And if Paige is improving, that is an edge. The beauty is that no one is talking about UCONN. We are just another competitor. Mostly regarded as a tough out, but not an odds on favorite to win it all. If nine players shine for us, we can do it. But don't forget, two those nine are freshman. And one is returning from surgery. I think Olivia will hit a bunch of threes and set us on course. It is wide open. And we are under dogs.
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You haven't been on the official selection show thread yet?

the-boneyard.com

Official Selection Show thread

It’s tonight at 8:00 on ESPN
the-boneyard.com the-boneyard.com
 
tchalla1 said:
Isn't it great when we have a team as such that people are actually questioning who the reigning NPOY will replace in the lineup? Wow....
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Actually people were expecting this before the season even started, you seen all them threads about "who starts" and "who will get the minutes". :rolleyes:
 
UConnCat said:
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At some point, Paige is going to return to her previous level of health and physical fitness. I hope she reaches that level sooner rather than later like sometime this week. How nice would it be to have Paige return to form for this season’s final run?
 
My favorite part of these interviews was the players' insistence on not overlooking any opponent and taking it one game at a time. I am sure this was a lesson the upperclassmen learned the hard way last year against Arizona.
 
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LETTERL said:
I'm impressed that Geno knew about Mercer's history and who their head coach is! With no prep!

I like Susie Gardner. One of these years, Mercer will get a draw against a team they can compete with...but I don't think it happens this season.
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Geno is a first degree schmoozer :-). Truthfully, he likes people and likes talking to them. He has friends in the high school ranks up into the NBA and foreign Olympic teams. I hope you get a chance to meet him some time, Geno is very charismatic
 
Who was the retiring coach Geno was talking about around the 10-minute mark?
 
Really pleased to see everybody on the same wavelength in the interviews. The whole choir seems to finally be singing the same psalm. One can sense the focus, intensity and trust that have been built up. Even the choir-master seems to be in an upbeat mood.
 
I think some people forget how good Paige is when she is healthy and the many things she does on the court to make the team better. The question is not whom Paige would replace in the starting lineup but who the other four players would be.

That’s not to diminish anyone else. It’s a team sport, and a single player doesn’t win games by herself. Azzi, Caroline, Nika, and others are playing at a higher level now, and Paige’s role as a pass-first guard and as a floor general will give the others even more opportunities to play their best.

We’ll see if Paige really is like she was before, but if she is, I feel optimistic. Paige’s dream in winning the NC is passing the ball to Azzi for the game-winning shot.
 
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tchalla1 said:
Isn't it great when we have a team as such that people are actually questioning who the reigning NPOY will replace in the lineup? Wow....
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Nice dodge of the question. But seriously, who does Geno remove from the starting lineup? Back at the beginning of the season, When Paige was starting, Nika Muhl was not. So, at first glance, that would be the obvious choice. Are you good with that?
 
ballerfan said:
I think some people forget how good Paige is when she is healthy and the many things she does on the court to make the team better. The question is not whom Paige would replace in the starting lineup but who the other four players would be.

That’s not to diminish anyone else. It’s a team sport, and a single player doesn’t win games by herself. Azzi, Caroline, Nika, and others are playing at a higher level now, and Paige’s role as a pass-first guard and as a floor general will give the others even more opportunities to play their best.

We’ll see if Paige really is like she was before, but if she is, I feel optimistic. Paige’s dream in winning the NC is passing the ball to Azzi for the game-winning shot.
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Paige was our best offensive player and defensive player before she got hurt so yeah if she’s close to full strength, I feel really really really good about our chances.
 
Nice dodge of the question. But seriously, who does Geno remove from the starting lineup? Back at the beginning of the season, When Paige was starting, Nika Muhl was not. So, at first glance, that would be the obvious choice. Are you good with that?

I do not fixate on irrelevant things--Geno has said its immaterial who starts, and the players have shown it doesn't matter to them, it seems only important to a significant portion of the Boneyard. But since you asked--if I were Geno, I would develop my line up based on the opponent's strengths, if they are guard oriented, I might start Paige/Azzi/CW/AE/Liv/--if the opponent's strengths is in the front court, then I might go with Paige/CW/Dorka/AE/Liv. But again everyone is going to get 20-25 minutes as it's been going thus far...
 
ABCDFE said:
Paige was our best offensive player and defensive player before she got hurt so yeah if she’s close to full strength, I feel really really really good about our chances.
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By Geno's account, Paige surely was not our best defensive player.... Certainly, you are entitled to your opinion but Geno does not share your lofty evaluation of Paige's defense...
 
Zanzman said:
Did Paige not practice or the whole team?
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The sentece starts with "UConn didn't practice on Tuesday-Thursday after the Big East Tournament", so I would think that the whole team didn't practice.
 
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tchalla1 said:
By Geno's account, Paige surely was not our best defensive player.... Certainly, you are entitled to your opinion but Geno does not share your lofty evaluation of Paige's defense...
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By Geno’s account, who was the best defensive player? I never knew that he said who was the best, so I’m honestly curious. UConn has a number of great defensive players.

As for Paige, Geno has praised her defense, especially this year. He said, for example, « She’s so smart offensively that when she’s on defense, she knows exactly where they’re trying to go with the ball. » He has repeatedly called her the best player on the team, so I doubt he thinks she plays defense poorly.
 
hoopsfan22 said:
Nika:

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I didn't know that Dorka and Nika knew each other before Nika came to the US. Nika said Dorka was trying to get her to go to Ohio State, then the tables turned and Nika was recruiting Dorka to UConn.

Nika also said the team doesn't care who starts. Maybe a good example for all of us on the Boneyard.
 
Bigboote said:
I didn't know that Dorka and Nika knew each other before Nika came to the US. Nika said Dorka was trying to get her to go to Ohio State, then the tables turned and Nika was recruiting Dorka to UConn.

Nika also said the team doesn't care who starts. Maybe a good example for all of us on the Boneyard.
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I understand that they met when Nika was looking at O State before Geno called.
 
tchalla1 said:
By Geno's account, Paige surely was not our best defensive player.... Certainly, you are entitled to your opinion but Geno does not share your lofty evaluation of Paige's defense...
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I'm pretty sure early in the season, in interview or post game press conference said Paige was currently playing the best defense on the team or something to that tune. I can't verify it, but perhaps another BYer remembers as well and can corroborate.
 
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