How UConn fans view other WCBB Coaches

[DefenseBB]

Being a passionate UConn fan and avid poster, I definitely have bias on what coaches I like and what ones I dislike and it relates proportionally to their relationship with Geno. Let's recap to get everyone's senses buzzing with the universal 6/7 coaches we know we despise:
ND-Muffet McGraw was the UConn faithful #1 villian and while she is universally respected as a coach, this board has immense dislike for her personaly quirks, comments and "chip on the shoulder" attitude that pervade to her team.
Tennessee-Prior to Pat Summitt's demise, UConn-Tenn was right up there in rivalry with Yankees-Red Sox; Dodger-Giants; Ohio St-Michigan, but alas she had early onset dementia and her school has yet to recover from her absence. However, I can think of a fan base UConn despise more than Tennessee due to their denial that the LV stink. The LV Fans despise us but really despise Geno more mostly because he eclipsed Pat's record of Titles and overall success (soon to pass her win total!).
Holly Warlick on the other hand was not despised by us, but ridicules due to her own alternate reality of coaching, post game comments and team dysfunction.
Maryland-Brenda Freese's many untimely comments on her seeding, NCAAT location, rating/ranking and her general odd pregame and halftime speeches, drive many of us NUTS. We often pigeon hole her as a recruiter only and dismiss her NCAAT, her other Final Four visits, her league titles and her overall record as a coach which is a big disservice.
Duke-Joanne P McCalley, while we won't have her to kick around for now, she exasperated many of us with underachieving, poor comments, poor behavior and her own odd speeches.
Rutgers-C Vivian Stringer, while the departure from the Big East has left this rivalry by the wayside, the meer fact they have refused to play each other, speaks volumes. I respect what CVS has achieved over her career but do not like her, her coaching style or her media presence. I think it's time to hang up the whistle.
UCF-Katie Abrahamson-Henderson aka Coach Abe, was a major concern playing her not so much due to their talent (or lack there of) but due to the rugby style she employs thinking that's how basketball should be played. Refs seem to swallow their whistle (or are simply exhausted from blowing it too much) when this team plays us and many other top teams. I for one, am glad to be rid of this team as an opponent. I doubt we ever see them on our schedule again despite Ms. Sales as an assistant.

Some hate, some respect, some love group
Baylor-Kim Mulkey while not despised like the others above, many on this board do not appreciate what she does. Some are agnostic and some really like her. I probably fall into the really like her category. Geno tries to play her regularly so he must have respect. She still screwed up the whole defending Baylor Football mess though.
Stanford-Tara VanDerveer is one who Geno has had many, many games against but not so much lately. We on this board respect her accomplishments while at the same time noting she's won only 2 NCAAT with 1 star Player Jen Azzi (again, we can't mention the recruit whose name sparks frothing at the mouth!) back on 1990 & 1992.
Texas/MSU-Vic Schaeffer is relatively new to the higher echelon's of national recognition despite being long in the tooth. There is a vocal support unit on this board of mostly Non-UConn fans that love this guy, most of us are agnostic until he can consistently win without Teaira McCown. Could he have done with Rikea Jackson at MSU? We will never know, now he must take on the WCBB dinosaur of Texas to see if he can make them relevant again.

Coaches we know Geno loves and usually the fan base follows suit:
DePaul-Doug Bruno will now be 2-3 game a season foe instead of just 1. We know they care and respect a great deal for each other and we generally like Doug's plucky teams and BOMBS away.
SC-Dawn Staley who was an Olympic assistant under Geno and now plays annually. Can we tolerate their fan base on this board thought if they continue to win?
Oregon-Kelly Grave is a Nike Brand buddy and evidently has a great friendship with Geno. Kelly now has to live life without Sabrina but given his recruiting success, I think he will be fine (more so than Vic).
Temple-Tanya Cardoza is a former coach at UConn and clearly has a great friendship with Geno and Temple was always gracious to us to never pose a threat.
USF-Jose Fernandez is an old Big East, AAC foe and I think may be the guy that can replace Doug Bruno on the former foe, current friend on the OOC schedule if those 20 league games can get reduced. I just wish he would have at least 25% Americans on his roster...

Who am I missing on this post, I look to you my fine colleagues to offer feedback.

 

[and one]

I think it is all spot on. I would add under Freeze that TBY is quick to point out that her OOC scheduling is less than ambitious.

 

[Mdoggie]

Q from Cuse!

 

[diggerfoot]

This topic should get some passionate replies.

My first coach to dislike was VanDerveer. We beat her by 27 points in a semifinal and then she predicts Tennessee to win the final? Plus her reaction to us getting a gem like Nykesha Sales was that she has six of them. However, those comments now seem out of character with everything that has passed since then. Did she have initial negative reactions against the Italian male upstart and then get over it? Beyond that I just have a sense, with no evidence, that she respects the program in terms of both the players and the people it develops.

Stringer took over the dislike spot when she claimed to become the jewel of the Big East. Then there was that incident when she accused Auriemma of instigating something with her players when the evidence demonstrated the reverse. She gradually became out of sight, out of mind, plus I sympathize with the challenges she has face.

McGraw took over from Stringer for me. Some of her actions were blatantly petty; I don't think even a fair-minded ND fan can deny that.

I never disliked Summitt. Initially I was appreciative of how she was always willing to play us, even though at the start we had much more to gain from that than she did. That good will carried through her initial head-scratching pettiness. Then when I learned about her Alzheimer's, along with my own experience and knowledge that behavioral abnormalities in response to stress predates cognitive decline, how could I manage a dislike for her?

Now that McGraw is gone I do not have an intense dislike for any coach. Freese gets on my nerves. I know she has done some negative recruiting against us. I imagine many coaches have, but she's been caught at it. It would not take much for me to make Freese my next candidate.

 

[Viet Vet]

Sheri Coale. Her 2002 squad (Stacey Dales) gave the best team in UConn history (Bird, Cash, Jones, Williams, Taurasi) a run for their money twice: losses by 14 in December and 12 in the title game.

 

[eebmg]

Q from Cuse!

Cant blowout Qball enough.

 

[CL82]

Princeton's Carla Berube on the coaches we like list and how about GW's Jen Rizzotti?

 

[Carnac]

Cant blowout Qball enough.

Q will always be remembered for refusing UConn's request to play a preseason game there (Carrier Dome) for Breanna Stewart's (North Syracuse) homecoming game. UConn had to turn to Colgate (appox 35 miles away). Colgate graciously accepted UConn request. Syracuse had a home game the same night (Dec 9) against Coppin State.

Colgate's gym was sold out. Colgate's tiny gym had a total seating capacity of 1750. The official attendance that night exceeded their capacity by 32. Syracuse had 335 fans in attendance for their game. Hillsman said later when asked for a comment, that he had no obligation to Stewart or UConn, and he was not going to host them. He didn't verbally admit it, but it's believed that he knew he could not beat UConn, and felt uncomfortable scheduling an almost guaranteed loss.

UConn got some "sweet" revenge on Hillsman later that season when UConn beat them in the NCAA national championship game by 32 points on April 5 to win their 4th NC in a row, 11th overall.

 

[EricLA]

You can put Dawn Staley on the list of coaches I strongly dislike. Numerous reasons, but the most recent, the outright begging with her hand out for the NC to be awarded to her team last season. Go out and earn it like everyone else.

And by the way, I didn't see any other team, whether pro, college, or whatever, with their hand out begging for NC (or world series or championship) trophy for their respective sport. Kansas, on the men's side, ended last season with an overwhelming majority of #1 votes in the final poll, but you don't see Bill Self out there trolling for trophies.

 

[UConn82]

I am usually pretty dispassionate about the opposing coaches. Now, to be clear, I became a fan when Maya was a junior, so I missed all the Tennessee drama.

The coach I dislike the most is Muffet. Here is why. I think it was when Stewie was a junior. We won the NC game against ND, and she did not applaud for Stewie when she won the MOP. Can you believe this pettiness? All the more petty because, as we all know well, Stewie is not an "in your face" person, like D was (and is?) Her pettiness, not to our program per se, or to Geno, but to a player (a student-athlete), is appalling. So says I. (And I think Muffet was a great coach. I dreaded games that were razor close with 2 minutes to go with ND. We usually lost those.)

I respect KimM. She has won three NC.

I have grudging respect for Tara. Her teams plays very well: besides UConn, her teams are the only ones that look artful to me. But she hasn't won a NC since 1992. That is a very long time, especially having the O sisters.

I like VicS. We beat them by 60 in the Sweet Sixteen when Stewie was a senior, and IIRC we were up 30 after the first quarter. And, after that level of thumping, Vic was nothing but gracious in his post-game comments. I hope he makes Texas a powerhouse. He is a real gentleman.

Duke was smart not to extend Coach P's contract. I wish KaraL all the best. We shall see.

No comment on anyone else: too early for KellyG. We shall see. Doug is such a nice guy, but we do beat them every time.

 

[Alydar]

Most of any dislike I have for some programs and/or coaches is really dislike for their fans.

 

[Carnac]

UConn 82 said: "The coach I dislike the most is Muffet. Here is why. I think it was when Stewie was a junior. We won the NC game against ND, and she did not applaud for Stewie when she won the MOP. Can you believe this pettiness? All the more petty because, as we all know well, Stewie is not an "in your face" person, like D was (and is?) Her pettiness, not to our program per se, or to Geno, but to a player (a student-athlete), is appalling."

Since we're piling on Muffet today, let's not forget the game in South Bend Dec 2, 2018 when Ogunbowale purposely tripped/shoved Crystal during the game, and cursed Geno loud enough to be heard by other players and the officials. Geno was complaining to the refs about something, and Ogunbowale told Geno to "shut the *&! up." She got a technical foul for it, and ND lost the game 89-71.

Here's a portion of the game summary from ESPN: "The Huskies increased their lead to 65-59 heading into the final quarter and then steadily pulled away. Samuelson hit a three-point play for a 74-64 lead with 6:08 to play. She then hit a pair of technical free throws for a 79-66 lead after Ogunbowale and Auriemma exchanged words and the Irish player was hit with a technical with 4:25 to play. McGraw eventually took out Ogunbowale with 1:43 remaining when she received an unsportsmanlike foul (tripping and shoving Crystal from behind as Crystal had her back to her as she was running down court) and Dangerfield hit two free throws for an 89-70 lead."

She and Muffet both apologized to the ND fans afterwards, but neither ever apologized to Geno for Ogunbowale's actions. To me, THAT incident put Muffet's and Arkie's character (or lack thereof on full display.
I lost all respect for both of them that night. I'm a fan of the Dallas Wings, but I don't (nor will I ever) root for Ogunbowale.

 

[savoy33]

It's water over the dam now, given his departure from the scene but...
One of the things I was most anticipating with the return to the Big East was getting to see us play against Harry Perretta's Villanova squad.

 

[CocoHusky]

He is now retired but Harry Perretta who help staged Nykesha Sales breaking UConn's scoring record is a buddy of Geno and also very innovative offensively. I believe Harry is the only coach to have a winning record while going against Geno.

 

[GC2017]

And by the way, I didn't see any other team, whether pro, college, or whatever, with their hand out begging for NC (or world series or championship) trophy for their respective sport. Kansas, on the men's side, ended last season with an overwhelming majority of #1 votes in the final poll, but you don't see Bill Self out there trolling for trophies.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Just wanted to say that Bill Self actually did ask for a national championship for Kansas, albeit with an asterisk, but only Dawn came under fire for saying the same thing. Wonder why? Kansas coach Bill Self 'would be in favor' of polls deciding champion with 'huge asterisk'

 

[CocoHusky]

I also like watching Kevin McGruff tOSU squads get stomped by UCONN. At least he was always man enough to admit it in the post game presser. I also can't believe we have come this far and nobody has mentioned the guy that wears those god awful plaid shirts and recruits on the pre-school playground at recess.

 

[Figurehead]

Being a passionate UConn fan and avid poster, I definitely have bias on what coaches I like and what ones I dislike and it relates proportionally to their relationship with Geno. Let's recap to get everyone's senses buzzing with the universal 6/7 coaches we know we despise:
ND-Muffet McGraw was the UConn faithful #1 villian and while she is universally respected as a coach, this board has immense dislike for her personaly quirks, comments and "chip on the shoulder" attitude that pervade to her team.
Tennessee-Prior to Pat Summitt's demise, UConn-Tenn was right up there in rivalry with Yankees-Red Sox; Dodger-Giants; Ohio St-Michigan, but alas she had early onset dementia and her school has yet to recover from her absence. However, I can think of a fan base UConn despise more than Tennessee due to their denial that the LV stink. The LV Fans despise us but really despise Geno more mostly because he eclipsed Pat's record of Titles and overall success (soon to pass her win total!).
Holly Warlick on the other hand was not despised by us, but ridicules due to her own alternate reality of coaching, post game comments and team dysfunction.
Maryland-Brenda Freese's many untimely comments on her seeding, NCAAT location, rating/ranking and her general odd pregame and halftime speeches, drive many of us NUTS. We often pigeon hole her as a recruiter only and dismiss her NCAAT, her other Final Four visits, her league titles and her overall record as a coach which is a big disservice.
Duke-Joanne P McCalley, while we won't have her to kick around for now, she exasperated many of us with underachieving, poor comments, poor behavior and her own odd speeches.
Rutgers-C Vivian Stringer, while the departure from the Big East has left this rivalry by the wayside, the meer fact they have refused to play each other, speaks volumes. I respect what CVS has achieved over her career but do not like her, her coaching style or her media presence. I think it's time to hang up the whistle.
UCF-Katie Abrahamson-Henderson aka Coach Abe, was a major concern playing her not so much due to their talent (or lack there of) but due to the rugby style she employs thinking that's how basketball should be played. Refs seem to swallow their whistle (or are simply exhausted from blowing it too much) when this team plays us and many other top teams. I for one, am glad to be rid of this team as an opponent. I doubt we ever see them on our schedule again despite Ms. Sales as an assistant.

Some hate, some respect, some love group
Baylor-Kim Mulkey while not despised like the others above, many on this board do not appreciate what she does. Some are agnostic and some really like her. I probably fall into the really like her category. Geno tries to play her regularly so he must have respect. She still screwed up the whole defending Baylor Football mess though.
Stanford-Tara VanDerveer is one who Geno has had many, many games against but not so much lately. We on this board respect her accomplishments while at the same time noting she's won only 2 NCAAT with 1 star Player Jen Azzi (again, we can't mention the recruit whose name sparks frothing at the mouth!) back on 1990 & 1992.
Texas/MSU-Vic Schaeffer is relatively new to the higher echelon's of national recognition despite being long in the tooth. There is a vocal support unit on this board of mostly Non-UConn fans that love this guy, most of us are agnostic until he can consistently win without Teaira McCown. Could he have done with Rikea Jackson at MSU? We will never know, now he must take on the WCBB dinosaur of Texas to see if he can make them relevant again.

Coaches we know Geno loves and usually the fan base follows suit:
DePaul-Doug Bruno will now be 2-3 game a season foe instead of just 1. We know they care and respect a great deal for each other and we generally like Doug's plucky teams and BOMBS away.
SC-Dawn Staley who was an Olympic assistant under Geno and now plays annually. Can we tolerate their fan base on this board thought if they continue to win?
Oregon-Kelly Grave is a Nike Brand buddy and evidently has a great friendship with Geno. Kelly now has to live life without Sabrina but given his recruiting success, I think he will be fine (more so than Vic).
Temple-Tanya Cardoza is a former coach at UConn and clearly has a great friendship with Geno and Temple was always gracious to us to never pose a threat.
USF-Jose Fernandez is an old Big East, AAC foe and I think may be the guy that can replace Doug Bruno on the former foe, current friend on the OOC schedule if those 20 league games can get reduced. I just wish he would have at least 25% Americans on his roster...

Who am I missing on this post, I look to you my fine colleagues to offer feedback.

What is the feeling on Scott Rueck?

 

[eebmg]

What is the feeling on Scott Rueck?

I would trust him with my taxes.

 

[Centerstream]

I guess that I am in the minority here, but I think posting a thread detailing coaches that we "despise" is not in accordance with BY rules about being civil (my interpretation of the intent of the BY rules) and am surprised by the original post. But then again, I have been referred to as much here when posting an opinion or 2.
Oh well, just being myself on a short fly by.

 

[CocoHusky]

What is the feeling on Scott Rueck?

He recruits to many bigs. Wait that might be jealousy talking. Is jealousy a feeling?

 

[Argonaut]

He recruits to many bigs. Wait that might be jealousy talking. Is jealousy a feeling?

Not jealousy until he wins a NC with them.

 

[HuskyNan]

This thread -

Are we really this petty?