Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="diggerfoot, post: 3233386, member: 1673"] We project what we would consider to be difficult coaching on what Auriemma would consider. If I can accurately imagine what goes on in Auriemma's mind, a difficult schedule would not make his job difficult in the least. Ironically, my impression is that Auriemma cares much more about player development and pursuing excellence than wins and losses. Reminds me of when my oldest daughter declared, somewhat in shock, that I had become a good cook. My secret was I did not care what the food tasted like, I started using spices that were good for brain health. My doing that the food tasted good. But I digress. By pursuing player development and excellence the wins follow. A difficult schedule facilitates player development and the pursuit of excellence. If anything I agree with what some have pointed out, the schedule is not difficult enough for Auriemma's goals in coaching. It may contribute to doing a masterful job, but in the opposite way that the OP intimated. What stands out to me as presenting difficult challenges for Auriemma already has been pointed out. One was the "lean year," where we could not go beyond the Regionals. C. Houston was specifically cited, but more challenging I imagine was losing an entire class of three, including a 6'5" center and a player who could have played point. It's one thing to plan for known lean years of recruiting; it's a whole other level to have that suddenly sprung on you. The other difficult challenge was a year like 2001, in which there was so much talent that chemistry and likely playing time became an issue. We performed nowhere near the talent potential that year, indeed, we performed better once the roster thinned a little. I don't wish that ever on players, as I am sure Auriemma doesn't, but I agree with posters who point out a stacked roster as presenting a particularly difficult challenge for a coach like Auriemma. Hence, this year could be one of his greatest challenges, as the roster will be stacked with talent, though the inexperience of some may actually help with the chemistry. A little off topic, but "on thread," there is a poster that hails from the same region as the long gone HoopDreams. That handle itself was a new revival of someone who hailed from that area. Our history with Ossining players has not been sterling, which has led to some discontent in that area. Making a claim based on physical talent, highly unlikely to come true because of the mental and learning aspects of the game, is a good way to set the table for assigning blame later. Just sayin'. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

Forum statistics

Threads: 164,422

Messages: 4,395,708

Members: 10,209

Latest member: gemini*trvl