Geno's Biggest Coaching Mistake?

[Big Mick]

I'd say it was versus Arizona. Not putting AE in with Liv when all of their bits had 4 fouls late in the 3rd. Nike, I love her, but he got distracted with her being back. If you feed AE and Liv at that point in the game it's highly likely it's an easier bucket. Maybe a few easy buckets and one or two Arizona bigs fouling out changes the momentum of the game. I just felt like that was a pivotal moment.

TOTAL Nonsense!

Arizona didn't have any BIGs! for Christ sakes.

Liv lost that game:
- ZERO for 7 from 5 inches.
- A measly single point from the foul line.

If Geno has a fault - it is his total loyalty to upper classmen.

 

[SVCBeercats]

In your opinion, what was Geno's biggest coaching mistake in recent years?

Geno's biggest mistake was not leaving UCONN. He should have seen the writing on the wall that the more successful he became, the less respect he would get. He should have left for a big time sports college in the Midwest where people are more inclined to be grateful to have a coach of his caliber.

 

[Zanzman]

While his poor use of Acura is up there, I point to the Arizona game and his failure to realize it wasn’t our defense that was costing us the game but an ineffective offense, as 22 points in the first half indicated. Yet, he kept the second best passer and next best three point shooter on the bench until it was too late. Had Anna entered the game midway through first and remained in the game, possibly sitting an ineffectual ONO, we might—repeat might—have pulled it out. When she didn’t, I knew two things: we were going to lose and Anna was going to transfer.

Lol

 

[Dokey]

Since you knew UCONN was going to lose and Anna was going to transfer can you slip the winning lotto numbers for Tuesday April 13th, 2021 into my inbox. I promise you'll never hear from me again.

If it wasn’t obvious to you, you weren’t watching game. You’d probably lose the lotto numbers. Just kidding. Sorry, but I can only tell you what I thought at the the moment. Still do. That I was right still hurts. Would we have won with the lineup of Paige, AE, Anna, CW, and Evina/Nika? We’ll never know. We do know the lineup that lost. I saw Geno’s frozen look of what do I do on the sideline. I am haunted by the look of defeat on Paige’s face while game was still in play, thinking how Anna could have relieved the pressure on her.

 

[Redux]

Geno's biggest mistake was not leaving UCONN. He should have seen the writing on the wall that the more successful he became, the less respect he would get

You're over-estimating the Geno anti-fans. Here and elsewhere in the UConn community it's a sliver, vocal but cowardly (never there while things are going well but ready to pounce). Of no consequence.

Deeper and wider (but still a relatively small number calling for Geno's head) is the undeniable truth that the idea of a patriarchal Women's Basketball coach is not an ideal model moving forward from where we are right now. (20 years from now when maybe a societal shift has successfully completed, I think coaching/executive decisions can be gender-blind, but we're not there yet.)

Personally I think a respectful period during the finishing up of careers of successful coaches of good will is appropriate. But a few people are getting antsy about this and would like to see Geno go right now. But again I think this is over-estimated by some; there is not a huge groundswell of anti-Geno sentiment from either source. You/we are seeing an aberrant behavior.

 

[bertieboy]

Here's my two cents and it is probably not even worth that much. In the 2014 December game versus Stanford which we lost by 2 in overtime Geno started Kiah Stokes. That was the mistake and I even thought so at the time at the start of the game. He should have started and played Morgan Tuck more minutes that the the 20 she got in that game. Then we would have won, I believe.

 

[LoboDays]

Who knows what mistakes Geno makes during the course of a season or a career. I’m sure he makes them since he’s not a robot but he is in the envious position of very seldom having them exposed because the talent level on his teams overcomes them.

It’s hard to evaluate a coach who constantly puts a team on the floor that could beat 90% of the opposition if he benched his starters. If Geno decided to go for pizza instead of showing up for the AAC & BE games, UCONN’s record against them would be the same that it is today. There just aren’t any win or lose game time decisions to judge. UCONN Wins the AAC and BE on Signing Day.

it’s much easier to evaluate (and criticize) coaches whose game time decisions can be the difference between victory or defeat.

 

[Redux]

Here's my two cents and it is probably not even worth that much

There's always a discount. That's why it's MY two cents but from YOUR point of view it's "a penny for your thoughts." That valuation perspective helps keep one appropriately humble.

 

[JoePgh]

Here's my two cents and it is probably not even worth that much. In the 2014 December game versus Stanford which we lost by 2 in overtime Geno started Kiah Stokes. That was the mistake and I even thought so at the time at the start of the game. He should have started and played Morgan Tuck more minutes that the the 20 she got in that game. Then we would have won, I believe.

In this particular case, Geno himself agreed with you. After that game, he replaced Kiah with Morgan in the starting lineup, and he also replaced Saniya Chong with Kia Nurse in the starting lineup.

After those changes, a 111-game winning streak began.

 

[BBallF]

To me it is the semifinal game against Mississippi State. There should have been no way that anyone except Lou receives the ball from the in bounder and just drives to the foul line and pulls up. She was automatic from the foul line if she got fouled and was otherwise shooting great. At some point afterwards Geno explained Saniya going to the basket by using words to the effect " Bless her heart, she saw an opening and tried to make the play." Difficult to believe that Saniya would deviate on her own from such a vital set play. My second choice is this year. I thought we were tight, nervous and unfocused against AZ but I thought the error was not changing the offense at all during the game. AZ challenged the first pass to the high post and made Liv come farther out and then overplayed the second pass forcing Liv to make guard type of decisions. There were no in game adjustments whatsoever. Geno is a system coach but when it is clearly not working you have to try something like opening up the middle or running clear outs. People say that is incorrect, He only lost one game this year with the same offense, why change? My answer is that it was the FF and maintaining the same offense AZ was so well coached to defend all game did not work. Missing layups and bad passes were all part of the way we were playing that game, Given that state of our game, we needed to have different offensive opportunities for Paige and CW especially they were not prepared to defend not the ones they knew.

 

[bballnut90]

While his poor use of Acura is up there, I point to the Arizona game and his failure to realize it wasn’t our defense that was costing us the game but an ineffective offense, as 22 points in the first half indicated. Yet, he kept the second best passer and next best three point shooter on the bench until it was too late. Had Anna entered the game midway through first and remained in the game, possibly sitting an ineffectual ONO, we might—repeat might—have pulled it out. When she didn’t, I knew two things: we were going to lose and Anna was going to transfer.

I agree with the offense/defense part. The defense was quite good against Arizona for the most part, it was the offense that disappeared and Geno never found a solution. I was surprised more sets weren't run for Paige off screens considering she's automatic hitting those midrange jumpers.

 

[Redux]

I was surprised more sets weren't run for Paige off screens

I saw them try, a lot.

EDIT: You are correct in recalling that it was not effective. At all.

 

[bballnut90]

I saw them try, a lot.

Maybe they did, I just dont recall it ever being effective compared to the SC game for example

 

[FridaFriend]

In this particular case, Geno himself agreed with you. After that game, he replaced Kiah with Morgan in the starting lineup, and he also replaced Saniya Chong with Kia Nurse in the starting lineup.

After those changes, a 111-game winning streak began.

As I recall, Morgan Tuck and Gabby Williams had only recently been cleared to play after long recovery periods. Gabby Williams didn't play at all, and maybe hadn't been cleared? Morgan did play well, but was rusty from lack of practice with the team. Morgan did foul out in overtime. Kia was just a freshman and Geno didn't know how she would perform in a game situation. I believe she fouled out in the 4th quarter. Kia did start 99 of the next 100 games, so she did do OK, but who could have guessed that.

 

[Centerstream]

And let's never forget that hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[Bama fan]

I feel certain Geno would tell us he made some mistakes. But looking to the Boneyard to get advice would surely be the biggest mistake he could ever make. I am glad y'all have day jobs, or pensions!

 

[Rixxx]

With all due respect to KLS, upon passing the ball to Saniya, Lou went to the corner and did pretty much nothing else to get open. The floor was overloaded to her side with Kia on the other side as a kick out option. I have said before, Saniya saw an opening as big as Delaware and tried to make a play. William made the defensive stop of the game by taking the drive away from Saniya. I think Chong would have made the layup. What she didn't anticipate the action of William.
Someone pointed out that if Lou gets the ball anywhere near the foul line, we are golden. Didn't happen. MSS disrupted the play, not Geno's fault.

 

[chrissaran]

As someone who agrees (at least after the fact) with about 98% of Geno's coaching decisions, I offer this topic for off-season discussion:

In your opinion, what was Geno's biggest coaching mistake in recent years? I'm not talking about recruiting misses, or indeed anything related to recruiting, transfers, or early departures. I am asking about the decisions he made, taking the roster each year as a given -- decisions with respect to the starting five, the bench minutes, the offensive and defensive strategies, or specific in-game decisions about substitutions, time-outs, etc.

Here is my nomination (I recognize that it is a close decision, and I can see the rationale for what Geno decided):

At the beginning of the 2017-18 season, Geno had to decide about the starting lineup for the year. Of the previous year's starters, only Saniya Chong had graduated, so four out of five starting positions were set in stone: Lou, Napheesa, Kia, and Gabby. For the fifth spot, Geno had to decide between Crystal and Azura. He chose Crystal, and what a disaster -- the team notched 36 consecutive wins including 8 wins over ranked teams, before losing to Notre Dame 91-89 in overtime on the shot by Arike.

I think he should have made Azura the fifth starter. It would have caused some discomfort -- none of the other four starters was a natural point guard, so someone would have had to do a position transplant. Moreover, the offense would have had to change entirely to work around a big post in the paint, who would have needed a touch on almost every possession, instead of the small/fast approach that UConn actually used. Finally, Azura didn't really want to be a paint banger (just like Liv today), and might not have taken to the role that Geno would have given her.

But in the end, UConn needed the size in the paint if they were going to win an NC that year, and the actual lineup did not provide that. If they had gotten by Notre Dame in the semifinal, there is virtually no chance that they could have dealt with Baylor's Cox and Brown in the Final. It would have been better to groom Z as the inside presence that the team needed from the beginning of the season, so that by tournament time, she would hopefully have been comfortable in that role.

And I think there is at least a chance that if Azura had received the grooming that such a role would have entailed, she would have used her last year of eligibility in 2018-19. If she had, I think UConn would almost certainly have won an NC in that year.

Azura wasn't going to return because she didn't want to be a traditional, back-to-the-basket, post player. It wouldn't have mattered how much coaching she got. Besides, CD works with the posts.

 

[psconn]

Ohhhh, fun!

 

[Gurleyman]

Maybe they did, I just dont recall it ever being effective compared to the SC game for example

Arizona switched all of the off ball screens, so Paige wasn’t able to ever really get separation. The switching meant that she got the ball matched up against forwards on the perimeter, but Reese (or whoever) would come out and take away the 3, and help defense would sag into the paint, so Paige really couldn’t take advantage of the mismatch. That’s an area where better shooting on the wings will help open up the offense next year.

 

[DaConn]

TOTAL Nonsense!

Arizona didn't have any BIGs! for Christ sakes.

Liv lost that game:
- ZERO for 7 from 5 inches.
- A measly single point from the foul line.

If Geno has a fault - it is his total loyalty to upper classmen.

I love how ppl act like jerks on here. The kids that Arizona played at the 4 n 5 are their bigs. Smh. And show a lil class when talking about the girls. Go Huskies!

 

[DaddyChoc]

Azura coming off the bench was the wrong move. Having four players with that much experience would be hard to sit one of them. Imo Kia could run the point with Lou as the other guard with 3 forwards. AS would have stayed if she had more minutes and probably felt disrespected playing off the bench. If you wanted to groom Crystal as your starting PG. Why not start her from Day 1? Saniya really didn't prove anything her first 3 years on the team. I never believed in playing someone because they were a Sr.

Thanks, now I don’t have to post my own paragraph... well said. BTWi think that’s why AS left as well

 

[DaddyChoc]

While his poor use of Acura is up there, I point to the Arizona game and his failure to realize it wasn’t our defense that was costing us the game but an ineffective offense, as 22 points in the first half indicated. Yet, he kept the second best passer and next best three point shooter on the bench until it was too late. Had Anna entered the game midway through first and remained in the game, possibly sitting an ineffectual ONO, we might—repeat might—have pulled it out. When she didn’t, I knew two things: we were going to lose and Anna was going to transfer.

I agree, Anna definitely was another scoring option especially from 3 over Muhl and Griffin... along with rebounding and bringing the ball up the court. With others coming in, I don’t blame Anna for “bouncing”

 

[CL82]

Geno is recognized universally as one of the best in the sports history and the majority of Uconn fans appreciate what he has done but no one is omnipotent. Second-guessing and dissecting decisions of coaches is part of what fans do (especially passionate ones). That doesn't mean people think Geno is a terrible coach or that they can do better.

You had me until the last five words. There are a lot of people here who are quite sure they can do better.