Kellie Harper Doesn't Agree with Geno

[Wbbfan1]

Kellie Harper dismisses Geno Auriemma's barb toward Lady Vols

Kellie Harper thinks Geno Auriemma is entitled to his opinion. She just doesn’t share it.

www.knoxnews.com

 

[ed4ourgirls]

This was hashed out ad nauseam on Volnation.

Many have interpreted this as a riposte to sportswriters who are calling it a big game
rather than as a dig at Tennessee.

 

[Lawrence]

Kellie Harper dismisses Geno Auriemma's barb toward Lady Vols

Kellie Harper thinks Geno Auriemma is entitled to his opinion. She just doesn’t share it.

www.knoxnews.com

Oh please...

 

[EricLA]

All joking aside, she may be the first Tennessee coach to actually get Geno.

As for Auriemma?

“Geno is a very good coach,” Harper said, “and he’s a clever coach as well.”

I don't know the exact reason Geno said what he did, but it reminds me of his needling of Duke "You know, there are just as many Duke graduates waiting on tables as there is from any other school in the country. They may just be working at a better restaurant."

At that time he had a young and inexperienced UCONN team going to Duke's home court to face Duke and the Cameron Crazies. He did that to pull the focus off the players and on to him. It's possible he said what he did about Tennessee for Evina's benefit - take the focus off her and let the LVol fans be annoyed at Geno.

Clever indeed. And already looking out for his player right from the get-go...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

It wasn't a barb. It was the truth. He doesn't regard it as a big thing. Tennessee just isn't the same. Since Volieland fans foam at the mouth and pee themselves at the mention of Geno's name, we can always count on them for irrational reactions and right now Harper has to be careful to say the right things by Volieland standards.

 

[triaddukefan]

Jan 2020 can't get here soon enough.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Kellie Harper dismisses Geno Auriemma's barb toward Lady Vols

Kellie Harper thinks Geno Auriemma is entitled to his opinion. She just doesn’t share it.

www.knoxnews.com

As often happens view points and spins are determined by where you are sitting at the moment.
Geno's comment is accurate and up to date. He's not playing a Top level Pat team. Kellie Jollie Harper (good pg for them) isn't Pat, the program does not have the mystique Pat's team's had. It will not be number 1 against number 2. In essesense it shall just be another game, albeit some in either crowd will be hoping it becomes just that hyped up head to head UT/UC of old.
The outcome of that came will not determine who wins the NC or which team changes from 1 to 2 or 2 to 1.

 

[Rocket009]

In a lot of ways Geno is right. Back in the day, TN was UCONN's biggest game and UCONN was TN's biggest game. That's not going to be true this time around. ND will still be UCONN's biggest game, while teams like South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland look at the UCONN game as the one to circle for the year even if they have TN on their schedule.

That might change if TN can make it a game, consistently, but they also have to become a top two or three team again as well. Time will tell.

 

[BroadwayVa]

All joking aside, she may be the first Tennessee coach to actually get Geno.

As for Auriemma?

“Geno is a very good coach,” Harper said, “and he’s a clever coach as well.”

I don't know the exact reason Geno said what he did, but it reminds me of his needling of Duke "You know, there are just as many Duke graduates waiting on tables as there is from any other school in the country. They may just be working at a better restaurant."

At that time he had a young and inexperienced UCONN team going to Duke's home court to face Duke and the Cameron Crazies. He did that to pull the focus off the players and on to him. It's possible he said what he did about Tennessee for Evina's benefit - take the focus off her and let the LVol fans be annoyed at Geno.

Clever indeed. And already looking out for his player right from the get-go...

@EricLA --I'm not a Pat hater. So, Jollie isn't the first UT coach to "GET" Geno. She GOT him and knew he was an analytic observer of the game. She also knew he recruited almost as well as she did (early on) and in that he was a threat. I seriously doubt Pat ever took Geno or his teams lightly. Dementia destroyed her image, and her caring about Geno and the great competition his teams always gave UTenn.

 

[lebronfan23]

Still don’t understand why she was hired. She failed at NC State badly. They probably settled for her because no good coach would want coach for that fan base.

 

[BroadwayVa]

In a lot of ways Geno is right. Back in the day, TN was UCONN's biggest game and UCONN was TN's biggest game. That's not going to be true this time around. ND will still be UCONN's biggest game, while teams like South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland look at the UCONN game as the one to circle for the year even if they have TN on their schedule.

That might change if TN can make it a game, consistently, but they also have to become a top two or three team again as well. Time will tell.

I detrated Holly at every turn. Kellie Harper is indeed another horse of a different collor and WILL move UT forward, if anyone can. Some of that is up to UT Admin by back Mrs Harper. The Team's ability to believe her plan and Mrs Kellie Jollie Harpers ability to cohere this group into a team.

 

[EricLA]

@EricLA --I'm not a Pat hater. So, Jollie isn't the first UT coach to "GET" Geno. She GOT him and knew he was an analytic observer of the game. She also knew he recruited almost as well as she did (early on) and in that he was a threat. I seriously doubt Pat ever took Geno or his teams lightly. Dementia destroyed her image, and her caring about Geno and the great competition his teams always gave UTenn.

IMHO, Pat NEVER got Geno. She did not understand his humor, nor did she like it. Possibly she disliked it because she simply did not get it. Or maybe it got under her skin for other reasons. Anyway that's what I meant.

Clearly she knew he was a threat - It's one of the reasons she tried to destroy Geno and his program. And failed.

 

[Rocket009]

Geno pretty much always says what he thinks - I think the real question here is did he say it because he doesn't care what other people think, or did he say it because he knows other people will care about it (especially people dressed in orange wearing tin foil hats)

 

[Bama fan]

Jan 2020 can't get here soon enough.

That may be the truest thing ever said!

 

[eebmg]

My interpretation is that he is annoyed that we are unrealistically beefing up this historical rivalry which implicitly puts TN into the same air-space as UConn while ignoring our true rival (ND) who has earned this designation (historically as well as recently).


The only reason Geno is doing this was because of the money to help Pat Summitt's foundation. If it didn't, Geno most likely would not have touched this game and Harper is kidding herself about renewing the series. Unless TN becomes a true national power and the game stands on the merits, there is no reason to continue.

Just take them to the wood shed and be done with it.

 

[oldude]

From KJH’s perspective, she’s absolutely correct. This is a huge “validation” game in Knoxville. The problem is that this LV team may be the least talented in a long time.

 

[Woof 101]

I have no disdain toward Kellie Harper I actually hope she is what The Vols need to become relevant once again.
Having said that I do think she could have saved a lot of breath explaining....We are going to be fun to watch, play tough and gritty with high energy, quick and aggressive. The players will be honored to wear the jersey!

She could have simply said we are going to be like UCONN!

 

[eebmg]

I have no disdain toward Kellie Harper I actually hope she is what The Vols need to become relevant once again.
Having said that I do think she could have saved a lot of breath explaining....We are going to be fun to watch, play tough and gritty with high energy, quick and aggressive. The players will be honored to wear the jersey!

She could have simply said we are going to be like UCONN!

Clearly she does not want them to play like UConn. She does not mention 'play smart, unselfish etc.' Her description applies to Rugby as is appropriate for the SEC.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Neutral third-party here (sort of - I've always liked Geno and the Huskies more than Pat and the Lady Vols, and let's not even get me started on Holly...):

To me, it clearly was a dig at UT, given that both UConn and UT had their cute little twitter back-and-forth to announce the resumption of their home-and-away games. I can't recall Stanford ever thinking a home-and-away was newsworthy enough to merit that. And UConn to my knowledge has NEVER done that with another school. So clearly both schools think it was a big deal, and it's just dishonest for Geno to act like the media shouldn't take BOTH schools' bait in hyping the game.

And yeah, it was clearly a barb from Geno about UT's decline in relevance - and an unnecessary barb at that. I love his coaching, his player development, and his generosity in defeat, and yet those are the kinds of comments that undo good will and have the entire rest of the country rooting against UConn. Maybe he thinks they're effective at needling the other team, but to me they just seem unnecessarily petty.

Taking the high road shouldn't be that hard when you have 11 national championships to go home to. And yet it still seems to be...

 

[Bayloralum]

In a lot of ways Geno is right. Back in the day, TN was UCONN's biggest game and UCONN was TN's biggest game. That's not going to be true this time around. ND will still be UCONN's biggest game, while teams like South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland look at the UCONN game as the one to circle for the year even if they have TN on their schedule.

That might change if TN can make it a game, consistently, but they also have to become a top two or three team again as well. Time will tell.

Not this upcoming season! Notre Dame won’t be that good this year! I know Baylor vs UConn will be a great battle up in stors this next season

 

[RockyMTblue2]

As often happens view points and spins are determined by where you are sitting at the moment.
Geno's comment is accurate and up to date. He's not playing a Top level Pat team. Kellie Jollie Harper (good pg for them) isn't Pat, the program does not have the mystique Pat's team's had. It will not be number 1 against number 2. In essesense it shall just be another game, albeit some in either crowd will be hoping it becomes just that hyped up head to head UT/UC of old.
The outcome of that came will not determine who wins the NC or which team changes from 1 to 2 or 2 to 1.

But I'd rather kiss a donkey's arse than have UConn lose in January. I'd make a charitable contribution to have this contrived game that cornered Geno cancelled. But for the charitable image extortion Geno would not have agreed to this.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Geno is not all that hard to get. He is aggressive on and off the court. As he has said, most teams lose before they even step on the court with UConn. His remarks, whether natural or contrived, factual or opinion, are factors in creating the advantage.

There is nothing "wrong" with it, but most coaches don't do it - I have noticed that most coaches who do "say things" are successful, but I don't think it is a requirement for success. As Farm Fan and others say, it doesn't endear him to the opponents fan base or thrill a lot of fans in general. Conversely, of course, there is no reason he has to thrill them.

As we used to travel around and before Geno mellowed a bit - I can assure you, folks at numerous schools, some of whom never played UConn, all expressed the opinion that he was a great coach, but they didn't like his remarks. Repeat of the above - do you think he cares or that he should?

 

[CL82]

Geno is not all that hard to get. He is aggressive on and off the court. As he has said, most teams lose before they even step on the court with UConn. His remarks, whether natural or contrived, factual or opinion, are factors in creating the advantage.

Maybe he is hard to get. I think he's just saying that it isn't a rivalry game anymore. It's not.

 

[Carnac]

Jan 2020 can't get here soon enough.

A rivalry game?, no. Notre Dame is our rival now, especially after losing to them in the final 4 the last 2 years. I don’t know about the entire schedule, but that game will certainly be the biggest and most anticipated game of the second half of the season. A lot of media hype leading up to the tip.

A game both teams want to win. Will UConn be favored? Which team will be under the most pressure to win? A lot of media credentials will be handed out for this game. Both coaches will be Inundated by the media for interviews leading up to the tip.

It will be a big game. When this game is the next game on their schedule, it will get the attention it deserves from the print and electronic media.

 

[UConnNick]

IMHO, Pat NEVER got Geno. She did not understand his humor, nor did she like it. Possibly she disliked it because she simply did not get it. Or maybe it got under her skin for other reasons. Anyway that's what I meant.

Clearly she knew he was a threat - It's one of the reasons she tried to destroy Geno and his program. And failed.

You're spot on here. I have the same smart ass personality as Geno does. We come from the same general neighborhood. I've also lived in various parts of the deep South for many years.

There are more than a few natives of Dixieland that don't understand or appreciate the use of sarcasm for humorous effect like you see among folks from the NE US. There we'll engage in some good natured back and forth ribbing.

The south is different. You'll find out pretty early on after you first meet some of these folks. You'll say something sarcastic and get nothing but a blank stare. If they know you're originally from yankeeland it can be even worse.

Some people just don't have that kind of a sense of humor. They take everything a person says literally. They don't recognize any humor in sarcasm, particularly the kind that is common in the northeast. Since Geno makes public comments that get published, it's worse because the folks that don't get his brand of humor will analyze what he says, take it literally, and conclude he's a loud mouthed obnoxious jerk.