John is no longer at the Courant. Here’s an article from his new gig at The Athletic:
The UConn women are 188-3 over the past five seasons. So why...
The title of his article, which I could not read unless I subscribed(I didn't and don't) on its face makes perfect sense.
A different title could be U Conn lost in the last two national semi-finals.
And while I think Geno is a genius at what he does and maybe no one has ever been his equal, his coaching, game prep, in game and end of game decision making was surely not even close to Geno standards.
I thought he made mistakes two years ago but surely he has earned and deserves a pass every so often. This year he played a major role in their loss. It's inexplicable to me that he didn't start AZ in third period and ride that five until they blew out ND.
He showed his blind spots in the interviews afterwards when he said that he never gave it a second thought!
I do think the pressure of the long winning streak, the four consecutive championships, the differences in players today(only some players) got to him. I also think this will be a better season than anticipated and hope they will reach the FF. If they lose this coming year in the semi-final that will have been an amazing coaching job. Winning the 12th NC would be beyond belief.
But yes, there reason for concern and criticism. And Geno has created this with his enormous success and striving for perfection! Him especially, but all of us need to do better at smelling the roses and savoring the unprecedented run.
Bronx23
