If Geno could do it--Why can't any coach?

[BroadwayVa]

Geno started at Uconn an unknown and un tried head coach. Until 1995 Uconn really didn't enter the top level of Women BB teams.
So Geno did not have an extraordinary personality or intellect or even Basketball experience. How did he do it?

 

[reno tony]

If you ask him.... it is because of CD. He said without her he would be driving a truck in Philadelphia. So I think surround yourself with like minded, dedicated, competent people and follow a great plan.

 

[HuskyNan]

He recruits highly ranked, versatile players that are fierce "hate to lose" competitors who buy into his philosophy 110% then he pushes them into discovering how good they can be. And he's the best in the business at covering up the team's flaws and making in-game adjustments.

Easy peasy, anyone can do it.

 

[Waquoit]

I think he made a choice early on to not to recruit players with big-mouth fathers, no matter how highly-ranked they are. That set the right tone.

 

[BroadwayVa]

He recruits highly ranked, versatile players that are fierce "hate to lose" competitors who buy into his philosophy 110% then he pushes them into discovering how good they can be. And he's the best in the business at covering up the team's flaws and making in-game adjustments.

Easy peasy, anyone can do it.

Everything you say is absolutely true.
The question remains---how does he recruit so highly (assuming starting with his 3rd year) and how does he even today get these Ladies who are desired by everyone--to buy into his 110 percent of effort. Mulkey will tell them as will muffet, or Dawn that --with you , you will be on a National champion team---yet Geno gets the good ones--WHY??? What does he have or do that other coaches can't ???
Half time adjustments have made believers of all of us--how does he do it???

 

[Gus Mahler]

He recruits highly ranked, versatile players that are fierce "hate to lose" competitors who buy into his philosophy 110% then he pushes them into discovering how good they can be. And he's the best in the business at covering up the team's flaws and making in-game adjustments.

Easy peasy, anyone can do it.

Yup. Hard to say which of those two he's better at.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I think he made a choice early on to not to recruit players with big-mouth fathers, no matter how highly-ranked they are. That set the right tone.

True--but other coaches choose to do the same thing--why is Geno successful and the other coach not?

 

[BroadwayVa]

If you ask him.... it is because of CD. He said without her he would be driving a truck in Philadelphia. So I think surround yourself with like minded, dedicated, competent people and follow a great plan.

That is something I can agree with. But that can't be all of it--or some smart coach or college would be offering CD 10 million to go there.

 

[j66kicker]

He treats women like basketball players, including insisting they get in real "basketball player" shape, and play 'real' basketball with discipline and toughness. Whether he knew back then or not, this isn't how 99% of WCBB teams are coached. So, after some success and starting to get some national caliber players, most wins are by default.

 

[RowdyFan]

Geno checks his ego at the door. And he expects the same from his coaches, managers and players when they step out on the court.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Geno started at Uconn an unknown and un tried head coach. Until 1995 Uconn really didn't enter the top level of Women BB teams.
So Geno did not have an extraordinary personality or intellect or even Basketball experience. How did he do it?

IS THERE A FORMULA THAT CAN BE PUT FORTH THAT WILL GIVE--SAY WALZ (AT LOUISVILLE) A MAP TO GOING TOE TO TOE WITH GENO??

 

[BroadwayVa]

He treats women like basketball players, including insisting they get in real "basketball player" shape, and play 'real' basketball with discipline and toughness. Whether he knew back then or not, this isn't how 99% of WCBB teams are coached. So, after some success and starting to get some national caliber players, most wins are by default.

I agree he coaches players not men or women, makes no difference. Yet there is a difference. Women and men approach discipline with different emotional skills. Why is Geno able to transverse this gap?

 

[JudgeSCR]

No question Geno/CD et al. recruit brilliantly. No question he understands the game and sets good game plans and makes smart in game/halftime adjustments.

Geno has something in addition to all that. He may be the best ever (certainly on the women's side) at understanding how to motivate the players he gets. His personality fits the game and its participants perfectly. He knows which buttons to push and how hard to push them and he almost always gets it right. He creates trust, loyalty and a family atmosphere. He straddles the line between strict disciplinarian and humorous uncle (with a biting sense of humor). He teaches and makes them better players and people.

When you get many of the best players and you have the Xs and Os and engender trust and loyalty and you motivate and teach ... well, 10 national championships and counting.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno started at Uconn an unknown and un tried head coach. Until 1995 Uconn really didn't enter the top level of Women BB teams.
So Geno did not have an extraordinary personality or intellect or even Basketball experience. How did he do it?

Basketball "science/fundamentals/whatever" is not that hard. Hard is figuring out what each player is capable of and how she fits into the scheme you have for using those basketball fundamentals to maximum effect. 80% of Geno & Co. is pushing kids to get the basketball fundamentals down to rote and then the 20% - ah, that would cost you more than you can pay.

 

[BroadwayVa]

He treats women like basketball players, including insisting they get in real "basketball player" shape, and play 'real' basketball with discipline and toughness. Whether he knew back then or not, this isn't how 99% of WCBB teams are coached. So, after some success and starting to get some national caliber players, most wins are by default.

Wins against those less than top 15 maybe by "default" .. Top teams over 31 years have not laid down after reading the Uconn on those uniforms. Certainly not ND. There has to be more to it.

 

[j66kicker]

Wins against those less than top 15 maybe by "default" .. Top teams over 31 years have not laid down after reading the Uconn on those uniforms. Certainly not ND. There has to be more to it.

I put ND, TN and a couple others in the 1%. Other than those top programs, there isn't the same level of intensity or expectation.

 

[Bgillon]

Leadership, great communication skills, and a great basketball mind.

 

[Zorro]

I think he made a choice early on to not to recruit players with big-mouth fathers, no matter how highly-ranked they are. That set the right tone.

He tried very hard to recruit Brittany Hunter. Her stepfather was a royal pita, but he would have loved to have her. In fact, he DID love to have her, even after she blew out he knee.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I think Geno is a coaching savant. I think he has it all. He knows the game between the lines, he knows X's and O's and why various sets work in various situations. He has the personality and charisma to recruit a special kind of person and her parents. He is generally very likable. He is a hard worker at least in that he goes out and sees what's going on the game--the AAU circuit, HS, international, etc. He is definitely a leader. He is driven. He is a communicator and can be a diplomat. Finally, as CD noted in The GA Project (and by others on this board), he knows which buttons to push with which player. He knows the psychology of reaching in and connecting the right wires.

I so very much enjoy watching the maestro perform.

 

[alexrgct]

Combination of luck and great talent evaluation, along with player development:

1. Uconn was 9-18 in 1984-85 and improved to 12-15 in Geno's first season, then to 14-13 in his second. That serves as evidence to me that Geno was already a good developer of talent.

2. Kerry Bascom came at the right place and time with his mother's unfortunate health, desire to stay close to home as a result, and Geno's refreshing honesty. She pushed the program forward in a way that included uconn's first league championships, NCAA tournament appearances, and first trip to the Final Four in 1991.

3. This F4 bid coincided well with the success of the men's team, what with the NIT championship, the great run to the Elite 8' in 1990, and the unveiling of Gampel. This view of Uconn basketball as a whole on the rise is what Rebecca Lobo says in hindsight she wanted to join and bring to the top.

4. With Lobo, Geno had talent. Now, he had the opportunity to make great talent evaluations. In 19992, what a class he had: jamellle Elliott and Jen Rizzotti.. Any questions there?

5. Another great talent evaluation: Kara Wolters in 1993. Meanwhile, 1994 brought on the first national #1 high school recruit in nykesha Sales who a) got to witness that Uconn was headed in right direction, and b) just happened to live in Bloomfield, CT. Finally, Uconn now also had added two more excellent role players in Carla Berube and Pam Webber. Add these two to Jen, jamellle, nykesha, Kara, and Rebecca, and Geno has assembled his championship squad.

Geno went on to win a national championship in 1995 on the strength of a 35-0 record. Quite a step above 9-18, huh?

From there, Geno evaluates talent, recruits well along with his coaching staff, and develops talent beautifully along with CD ( another reason in herself that Geno does it). That is how he's gone from a losing program to championship to dynasty to "bad for the sport".

 

[PacoSwede]

Geno started at Uconn an unknown and un tried head coach. Until 1995 Uconn really didn't enter the top level of Women BB teams.
So Geno did not have an extraordinary personality or intellect or even Basketball experience. How did he do it?

Boy, I cant' fathom that assessment. From many comments in this thread, a lot of BYers see that as one of his prime assets.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Boy, I cant' fathom that assessment. From many comments in this thread, a lot of BYers see that as one of his prime assets.

As he started out his attributes were not developed. His personality--is his personality. He can talk with the best of them. His prime asset is getting young women to do what they ordinarily would not have done towards becoming a better basketball player.. Some og this this must be attributed to Christine Dailey who often acts as a buffer
He has many more assets and some are undefinable --those are the things I was looking for. If you want a fathom--it takes 6 ft to get there.

 

[UcMiami]

So Geno did not have an extraordinary personality or intellect or even Basketball experience. How did he do it?

I didn't vote because I had a hard time with the choices. And I disagree with the sentence above:
You hear early (and really on through the 90s) players talk and he had a Charisma thing going with them and probably their mom's - so I would say he did have an extraordinary personality. And he still does - people love talking to him and the media love interviewing him. And it cuts across genders - he can relate just as well to the fathers. And the second half of the sentence - put it together and i think you have another answer - he has always had a very good basketball intelligence. He studied the game of basketball (not women's basketball) and excelled at that.
I guess my real answer would be 'He is great at people' - he talked his way into the job, talked his way into his recruits' homes, convinced their parents to trust him with their daughters, talked CD away from Rutgers and a better job, and then he knew exactly how to motivate and teach his players, to get them as committed as he was.

He is great at Xs and Os, he has a great eye for detail, and is a very good teacher, but none of that would matter if he didn't convince the talent to come, and if he couldn't push the right buttons to get their attention once they did come.

 

[Huskies Rule]

I think Geno's greatness, while perhaps not absolutely unique, is pretty close to it. He is equal parts task-master, Norman Vincent Peale, psychiatrist, genius, parent and on and on.

Seriously, Geno has an innate, intuitive, god-given gift that is extraordinarily rare and virtually irreproducible.
Enjoy him. We won't see another like him.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I think Geno's greatness, while perhaps not absolutely unique, is extraordinarily rare. He is equal parts task-master, Norman Vincent Peale, psychiatrist, genius, parent.

Seriously, Geno has an innate, intuitive, god-given gift that is virtually irreproducible.

I fear what you say is absolutely without a doubt true. The first part is also true.
In the Sound Of Music--they ask How Do You Keep A moon Beam in your hand??? --That will one day be Geno.
Isn't it wonderful--that we are the lucky people in the WORLD who gets to watch him work his magic for 31 years and counting