If he had said the same thing about Azzi that he said about Paige, Azzi would have been devastated and might have shut down for the next month. But he didn't -- he said it about Paige, who he knows has a thick skin and is probably thinking/saying similar things about herself. It's the kind of comment that I can imagine him making about Diana, and she would also take it in the spirit that it was intended.
He said good things about Liv's play because: (a) she deserved it and had earned it -- she played a good game; (b) Liv had been criticized by fans and reporters a lot in the past few years; and (c) Liv is the kind of personality who needs some bucking up.
So I totally disagree with
@LoboDays about "one size fits all". Geno does not treat all players the same way, as the above cases illustrate. The best proof of that is that (to my knowledge) only ONE player in the 21st century (Samarie Walker) ever left UConn who was getting significant playing time or had a reasonable expectation of significant playing time. Certainly he has had players transferring from the end of the bench who were not likely to get significant minutes -- and he had others with similar minutes expectations who stayed. (Incidentally, I'm not saying that playing time was the decisive factor in Saylor's decision, but the fact remains that she was not a core player and there was little likelihood that she would be.)
His comments about players' "stubbornness" are contradictory to what he has said in the past. Previously he said that all of his great players have been stubborn -- that it was almost a necessary personality trait for a great player. I think what he was saying today is that some of his current players are being stubborn who haven't yet earned the stripes to do so, which may well be true.
