Geno's take on Expectations

[msf22b]

Geno gave us a fascinating look into his psyche today
As he responded to a question (not on the tape) that the Courant published (on Nan's rundown) regarding propects and expectations.

Compared with the noise eminating from places such as North Carolina and Knoxville Tenn, it is
surprisingly subdued, contemplative, especially that he just won a national championship with this group (of course +Kelly).
Obviously he still has some qualms.
Is this just gamesmanship?
Or is trying to tell us to keep our expectations in check.

His comments are transcribed (inexpertly) below. Please forgive my errors.

"You have to gauge the mentality of the team
And if you have an immature group coming back,
they won't be able to handle it.
They'll get swamped by the expectations.

Do we have a mature team?
I don't know.
I think when the first two weeks of practice come around,
we'll know how mature our team is.

You know we had Kelly Farris who was very mature
Set the tone for the entire team.

So, you know, we still have three sophomores who are going to play a lot.
And we have a coupla juniors who are going to play a lot.
And two seniors…" ends, incomplete.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Winning an NC can cut both ways. On the one hand, confidence and resolve even following some tough games, a la UConn in 2004. Perhaps a little bit of overconfidence and we-can-turn-it-on-at-anytime-to-get-a-victory thinking, a la Baylor in 2013. The best coaches know how to push the confidence and try mightily to guard against the entitlement thinking. And it is said by some that Geno is one of the best coaches.

 

[Aj]

you can bet Geno will keep saying "what happened to Baylor last year" to keep the team motivated!

 

[trisailin]

I would argue that Geno won't have to bring up Baylor. He sets the bar much much higher than that and mature players do too. If you want to play at UCONN, the bar is set at "PERFECTION" sometimes you even achieve excellence. I think the maturity he's speaking to is that of the team making sure they hold each other to the bar at perfection. If they let the bar slip from that standard and the standard becomes "just winning games", then Geno effectively is saying "anything can happen, some of which might not be good".

 

[EricLA]

Great stuff. Yet another reason why Geno is the best. We are so lucky and I'm loving every second of this ride we are on!

 

[mrmojack]

I think with the talent on this yrs team there will be plenty of competition
for minutes. This will be motivation for all 9 players. Imagine what it will
be like in 2014 with 11 or 12 scolly players fighting for minutes. It should
be very interesting. The future looks bright. But lets get through this yr first.

 

[Kibitzer]

What most often turns quality teams into mediocre (or underachieving) teams is distractions, on or off the court.

Injuries are the most common (and least unavoidable) distractions but there are others that have a neative impact at both the college and professional level.

Academic shortcomings, drugs, arrests, in-house disputes. . . the list is long.

I choose to not recount any of the many unfortunate examples that reach sports pages regularly; suffice it to say that a consistent characteristic of championship teams is that they somehow remain distraction-free.

Yes, there are occasional exceptions, but they are rare and an important element of Geno's success has been his skill at minimizing or eliminating distractions.

 

[Jackalope]

There has been a lot of discussion on the four current Husky players going to Las Vegas. One benefit that comes out of the experience is that they will have a good idea where they stand against many of the world's best. Hopefully this experience will help them to continue to raise their games, their maturity levels, and then meet the expectations.

 

[HuskeySlim]

We hear from time to time about this or that program bringing in all these fantastic, can't miss recruits.What has been the one constant thing in WCBB you have been able to count on the last 20 years ? UCONN WBB ! Not utenn, Baylor, ND, but UCONN. Should we dare say the NY Yankees of wcbb.Eric San Diego said he is loving the ride we are on. I feel the same way. We do it the right way, and every other team is trying to take what we have. As long as Geno has the reins of this team we will fend off all challengers.

Geno knows the pulse of this team. One of the things that makes him such a great coach, I think is, he knows his team individually, and collectively. This is how he is so great at integrating youth and experience.

What a great program ! What is scary though, is how much better we can be !

 

[Kibitzer]

Should we dare say the NY Yankees of wcbb.

Not any more.