Jeff Van Gundy is ready.....

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[VAUConnFan]

He has done his homework. This might be a game to which the sound will not have to be turned down.

 

[easttexastrash]

I wish I could hear the broadcast while I am at the game. I really enjoy hearing what the commentators have to say. I am not sure if there is an audiocast by ESPN. Anyone know if they do that?

 

[UConnCat]

Van Gundy may be new to women's basketball, but that doesn't mean he won't be the subject of Geno's humor. From Rich's blog:

Former New York Knicks/Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy made headlines when he failed to break up a fight between Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson during the 1998 NBA playoffs. Instead, Van Gundy found himself on the floor clinging to Mourning’s leg.

Auriemma joked today that he hopes Van Gundy, who will be a member of the broadcast team for ESPN, will employ the same tactic on Griner to help give the Huskies an advantage.

“I was excited to hear that Jeff was doing the game,’’ Auriemma said. “There may be an opportunity for him to come out and tackle Brittney Griner and wrap himself around her leg. So I’m hoping that he saved that move and that he can break it out. Maybe I can give him a little signal and he’ll come out there and see if we can’t get that done on Sunday.’’

 

[easttexastrash]

Van Gundy may be new to women's basketball, but that doesn't mean he won't be the subject of Geno's humor. From Rich's blog:

Former New York Knicks/Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy made headlines when he failed to break up a fight between Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson during the 1998 NBA playoffs. Instead, Van Gundy found himself on the floor clinging to Mourning’s leg.

Auriemma joked today that he hopes Van Gundy, who will be a member of the broadcast team for ESPN, will employ the same tactic on Griner to help give the Huskies an advantage.

“I was excited to hear that Jeff was doing the game,’’ Auriemma said. “There may be an opportunity for him to come out and tackle Brittney Griner and wrap himself around her leg. So I’m hoping that he saved that move and that he can break it out. Maybe I can give him a little signal and he’ll come out there and see if we can’t get that done on Sunday.’’

Gotta love Geno's sense of humor and that he is willing to say anything that pops into his mind. I enjoyed the incident between him and Pondexter when they were jawing at each other. It was Pondexter, right?

 

[HuskyNan]

Gotta love Geno's sense of humor and that he is willing to say anything that pops into his mind. I enjoyed the incident between him and Pondexter when they were jawing at each other. It was Pondexter, right?

Yes, it was Cappie. The two of them are friends, btw, and have been since Geno recruited her. They made up just days after the incident by doing what grown ups do -they talked it over and cleared the air.

 

[Brad Palmer]

Great quote by Geno. I think the reason the "mainstream" media love Geno is that he always uses examples from men's sports. Not saying this is right or wrong, but when he makes comparisons to NBA, NFL, MLB the non women's sports fans sit up and take notice.

 

[easttexastrash]

Yes, it was Cappie. The two of them are friends, btw, and have been since Geno recruited her. They made up just days after the incident by doing what grown ups do -they talked it over and cleared the air.

Geno recognizes and appreciates a competitor. I am sure that he got a good chuckle out of the incident later. I had wondered if it would impact Cappie's chance of making the Olympic team but Geno is too smart to let one incident cloud his judgement.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno recognizes and appreciates a competitor. I am sure that he got a good chuckle out of the incident later. I had wondered if it would impact Cappie's chance of making the Olympic team but Geno is too smart to let one incident cloud his judgement.

Cappie wasn't the problem.

 

[easttexastrash]

Cappie wasn't the problem.

Interesting comment. Please elaborate. This has probably been discussed previously on this board but I an very interested in your insight on this. That was one of the most unique player/coach confrontations I have seen. It looked like Geno had to be restrained from getting in her face but maybe I remember it as a bigger incident than it was.

 

[Icebear]

Interesting comment. Please elaborate. This has probably been discussed previously on this board but I an very interested in your insight on this. That was one of the most unique player/coach confrontations I have seen. It looked like Geno had to be restrained from getting in her face but maybe I remember it as a bigger incident than it was.

The problem was others inserting themselves into the situation involving Geno and Cappie and not knowing much of anything about the exchange.

 

[HuskyNan]

Interesting comment. Please elaborate. This has probably been discussed previously on this board but I an very interested in your insight on this. That was one of the most unique player/coach confrontations I have seen. It looked like Geno had to be restrained from getting in her face but maybe I remember it as a bigger incident than it was.

Ah no,that's not what happened at all. During a UConn-Rutgers game in the BEast tourney, UConn player Ann Strother was shooting free throws when a Rutgers player, Matee Ajavon, yelled out some trash talk of a personal nature. Geno overheard and said something like "Just shut up and play". Somehow the Rutgers folk, including Coach Stringer and Cappie, thought Geno had yelled a racial epithet. Cappie came to the sideline and jabbed Geno in the shoulder and yelled at him. Geno basically stood there with a "Who, me?" look on his face. After the game, C Vivian Stringer went on a long, rambling diatribe accusing Geno of saying "something that no one should have to hear". (Found this article on the incident)

The Big East investigated and all parties were exonerated. The RU Athletic Director apologized to Geno, C Vivian never did which stoked an already incendiary rivalry between the fan bases. Geno and Cappie made up almost immediately after the incident, it took Geno and C Viv a bit longer but they eventually became friendly again.

The other incident you might be talking about would be the one below.

 

[UConnCat]

Below is a linked article that summarizes what happened. Nan has it about right, except it was Charde who was shooting the foul shots and Geno actually asked the official (DeMayo) to direct Ajavon to "shut the hell up." Ann Strother was on the receiving end of Ajavon's nasty commentary throughout the game, but not at the moment that led to Cappie's reaction.

http://articles.courant.com/2005-03-10/features/0503100027_1_uconn-coach-big-east-cappie-pondexter

 

[RoyDodger]

In the article linked above, Van Gundy says the following:

I am surprised, quite honestly, that the players don't get more bored. Some of these games for both teams are just, they're not competitive. Back in November, UConn played Stanford, and after that, they just hammered everybody else, even Texas A&M. Baylor has had two tough games [Notre Dame and Tennessee].
When you're winning by 40 or 45, I think subconscious boredom sets in. [UConn coach] Geno [Auriemma] or [Baylor coach] Kim Mulkey can say whatever they want, but when you're hammering these teams so bad, subconsciously you're not going to be as sharp. And then, all of a sudden -- boom -- you're playing a team every bit as good as you, or better. Sometimes your habits can slip. And this is where I think the coaches play such an important role because they seem to be so demanding that they do the best job they can in limiting that slippage, even as they are playing these overmatched teams.
I think that's the one step forward for women's basketball. There seems to be a steep drop-off from the top 10 to the next 10 to the next 10. When you see No. 2 UConn beat No. 7 Texas A&M by 30, that's where the game has got to grow, where there's more good teams and more tight games. ... The game is great when you get the equal teams [playing each other].

I'm fascinated by this situation in women's college basketball and wonder what the Boneyarders think is the cause and the solution to the problem. If you consider it a problem. And please excuse me if this subject has been discussed before. I'm sure it has. But maybe Van Gundy's comments provide a good basis for discussing it again, especially in light of the fact that our own team gives great promise of becoming almost overwhelmingly better than it already is with the prospect of having Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck in its future.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Other programs have to recruit better, other universities and athletic departments have to stop treating the women's programs like stepchildren. And ESPN has to do what they can to better promote women's basketball and quit using novice/uninformed/incompetent/annoying announcers. Sports, in general, is about the stars. More should be done to promote the top players. If college basketball is, as often said, about the coaches, then the top coaches need to be profiled and sicussed more. Women's college basketball has four active coaches in the Naismith Hall of Fame. More should be done to exploit that fact. More should be done at the younger youth levels to encourage more young ladies to take up basketball. Attitudes about women's athletics have to change.

 

[RoyDodger]

Other programs have to recruit better, other universities and athletic departments have to stop treating the women's programs like stepchildren. And ESPN has to do what they can to better promote women's basketball and quit using novice/uninformed/incompetent/annoying announcers. Sports, in general, is about the stars. More should be done to promote the top players. If college basketball is, as often said, about the coaches, then the top coaches need to be profiled and sicussed more. Women's college basketball has four active coaches in the Naismith Hall of Fame. More should be done to exploit that fact. More should be done at the younger youth levels to encourage more young ladies to take up basketball. Attitudes about women's athletics have to change.

Instinctively, I imagine it's the coaching. Is Geno Auriemma a genius ? Maybe. But are there no coaches that can coach with the intensity he gives to the game? When he took over UConn, it certainly wasn't the competitive team it is today and look what he created. I look at ESPN's HoopGurlz top 100 and can't believe that those at the very top are the only really good potential college players. Good coaches should be able to turn many of these talented girls into outstanding players. And if schools really paid attention, the recruiting would be more intense towards building up a women's program. I imagine it's tough for women like Jen Rizzotti or Jamelle Elliott at Hartford and University of Cincinnati respectively. They come out of Geno's intense program and I would have to suspect don't get the support that was available at UConn. But one would think that having learned under Geno, they'd have a head start towards building a real women's basketball program and inspiring their schools to support them.

(I note that Jamelle Elliott's Cincinnati team has now lost four in a row after winning their first six, and maybe Hartford is simply too close to UConn--too much competition in one state).

 

[VAUConnFan]

It's all about recruiting. Would Coach Auriemma be any less smart had he not won 7 national championships. Was Bobby Knight smarter as a coach at Indiana than he was at West Point? How many coaching jobs did Bill Belicheck have before Tom Brady entered his life. Is Gary Blair suddenly clueless now that UConn and Purdue have taken him out back.
It is great that you mentioned Jamelle Elliott. She gets far too little credit for her role in the history of UConn Women's Basketball both as a player and a coach.