Interesting poll up on EspnW

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[hussybulldog]

Let's say Geno easily wins the most electoral votes!

 

[semper]

Great to see we had more electoral votes in CA and in TX. There's lots of recruits in them thar hills.

 

[EricLA]

Great poll. Pat still has the all time wins, but Geno has done much more in a shorter period of time. More NC's, better winning %, 2 time Olympic coach, more top 2 recruits, his former players have had much more success professionally, etc etc. And I think it's clear he's a better coach in x's and o's as well. Even the most die hard Tennessee fan would have to admit Geno teaches his team much better offense than Pat ever did.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Looks like Notre Dame fans may have skewed Indiana.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I won't vote. I don't like "best" as the operative word.

Geno is the greatest coach of all time, the most successful and a lot of other superlatives.

But the term "best" would, to me, require some comparison of their success against the very different challenges they faced and is why I object to deciding "bests" across different eras. Sometimes, as in coaching, someone is clearly the "greatest" in a sort of over-all sense and I'll give that to Geno. I personally think Leon Barmore may have been the best coach ever - but the very success that might make him the best prevented him from being the greatest or most successful.

 

[HuskeySlim]

If Gen0 and UCONN had not come along, who else would have challenged Pat & ut ?

 

[Fiftyish]

Geno got only 81% of the Connecticut vote? What's up with that.

 

[Icebear]

And Pat got 81% in TN, interesting.

 

[Waquoit]

If Gen0 and UCONN had not come along, who else would have challenged Pat & ut ?

Someone would have, probably not to Geno's extent. The fact is PHS had hit her ceiling. Her formula was to recruit the best athletes and motivate them within an inch of their life stressing rebounding and defense. Basketball skills took a backseat. Shooting didn't matter since they were going to get the offensive rebound and put back the bunny. Patterns and plays were deemed unnecessary. The backdoor-fest of 2000 changed the paradigm. If not Geno then, another coach eventually.

 

[Waquoit]

Geno got only 81% of the Connecticut vote? What's up with that.

Didn't realize there were so many Central fans.

 

[triaddukefan]

Didn't realize there were so many Central fans.

Im a fan ...... gotta support my brethren


Im not a fan of the Blue Demons though

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Someone would have, probably not to Geno's extent. The fact is PHS had hit her ceiling. Her formula was to recruit the best athletes and motivate them within an inch of their life stressing rebounding and defense. Basketball skills took a backseat. Shooting didn't matter since they were going to get the offensive rebound and put back the bunny. Patterns and plays were deemed unnecessary. The backdoor-fest of 2000 changed the paradigm. If not Geno then, another coach eventually.

While I believe you oversimplify, the basic point is true.

There are many quotes out there about defense and rebounding and winning games and championships. I have also been exposed to some of the ideas you mention (put-backs from rebounds, transition, etc) as the primary way to score. But there were always also patterns and plays. They were not perhaps have been as sophisticated as they could have been (and clearly not as sophisticated as the stuff UConn runs) which might have been because they were only part of the offensive scheme, but they were certainly not deemed "unnecessary".

Still, the point is well taken that, eventually, more sophisticated offenses had to be developed to compete with other teams, with UConn one of the leaders. While some here may not remember "back in the day" the news it generated when women's coaches started learning and implementing the triangle - Tara was one of the first, Vivian learned it one off-season (Tex Winter and Phil Jackson, instructors) but admitted rejecting using it because she didn't have the personnel to implement it.

Likewise, it is difficult to know how Pat might have developed if she had not become ill; I am of the belief that health issues impacted her coaching the last few years.

 

[j66kicker]

Let's say Geno easily wins the most electoral votes!

Just an observation: More people in CT voted than in any other state. CT has 1.1% of the US population, but accounted for 5.2% of the vote in this poll

 

[Waquoit]

Likewise, it is difficult to know how Pat might have developed if she had not become ill; I am of the belief that health issues impacted her coaching the last few years.

I don't know about that. It was a good 10 years (at least) from that UConn game to when her illness may have had an impact. But on the other hand, her preferred style had a big influence this year - on the men's game. What better way to describe Kentucky's game than throw it up and get the rebound.

 

[UConn990411]

Nothing will ever take away from Pat's legacy, but I don't even see how it's debatable anymore that Geno's was/is the better coach.

He's gone undefeated five times in his career. Five. Summitt went undefeated once.

Sorry, but there's really no argument here.

 

[semper]

What I have never gotten, and I don't want to unleash our visiting Vols fans, is a serious discussion of her coaching strategies. In her prime, it had to have been more than rebound and chuck it up at the other end, and recruit....I mean, she must have run plays, etc. right? So what kind of strategist was she, seriously. Was she zone, man, what?

 

[Sakibomb25]

I know that people don't like comparing men's and women's basketball, but I think a far more interesting poll would be who is a better coach - John Wooden or Geno Auriemma. It would also be interesting to see of the voters, how many follow men's basketball, women's basketball or both.

 

[schmendrick]

What did Geno ever do to Montana that he didn't do to Wyoming?

 

[Adesmar123]

LINK

What's interesting is that maybe 3 years ago, the struggle would have been to prove why Geno is the better coach. Three years later the struggle is to prove why PHS might be the better coach.