McCallie Puts Blame In The Wrong Place - somewhat

[Harry Mangurian]

Who me ?? She is beginning to sound like C Viv. If you swapped the UCONN and Duke players, Geno
would beat his current team within two years.

''Connecticut has been the better team every time,'' Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ''They've had better leadership on the floor than we've had. It's not rocket science.''

''This team has not responded the way that I would have liked them to.''

We all know our women are special, but that means beyond basketball.

How about: They've had better leadership on the bench.

 

[ctkaiser]

Who me ?? She is beginning to sound like C Viv. If you swapped the UCONN and Duke players, Geno
would beat his current team within two years.

''Connecticut has been the better team every time,'' Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. ''They've had better leadership on the floor than we've had. It's not rocket science.''

''This team has not responded the way that I would have liked them to.''

We all know our women are special, but that means beyond basketball.

How about: They've had better leadership on the bench.

How about they had three better point guards then anybody we could put out there and then who is recruiting these players for our team.

 

[Orangutan]

How about they had three better point guards then anybody we could put out there and then who is recruiting these players for our team.

In fairness, I don't think she counted on Alexis Jones tearing her ACL and transferring to Baylor. If *knock wood* something were to happen to Lindsay Allen, ND would be in similarly poor shape at PG, just as an example.

But yeah, I agree. Duke's backcourt isn't strong enough to compete against UConn. I feel like sometimes coaches talk about something vague like "leadership" as a way around admitting that their team just plain isn't good enough. It's not as if infusing one of the Duke guards with the spirit of George Washington would suddenly make jumpers that brick into swishes.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Maybe it was just me, but I thought it really odd when, in her post-game press conference, McCallie said that her team was better able to defend the UConn shooters in the first half because the Duke bench was alongside UConn's offensive end and her bench was able to help the Duke defenders by "pointing out the shooters." Really? They didn't know? Coaches/teammates on the sidelines are needed to identify shooters for the kids on the court? Wow. Duke's floor players couldn't figure that out on their own? Wouldn't needing such communications slow down a defender's reaction time? Must be a freshman thing.

 

[iri10]

McCallie sometimes appears to forget that if there's no good floor leader, it's the coach's job to be leader. Geno has talked about this; in fact you could argue that this year's team started out without much of a floor leader (and it may still be the case).

Duke appeared to mentally check out of the game toward the end, and that's because McCallie herself checked out of the game after her tactics failed, and she had no backup.

This year, some bad luck (point guard injuries/transfers) have really hurt Duke, but the more fundamental problem is sitting in the coach's seat.

 

[HGN]

I think what she was saying was there was enough blame to go around.... And I agree with her.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Duke is proof of the wisdom of Geno's adage: You can't have too many guards.

PS. Note to self and Geno: Except when you have too few Bigs.

 

[ctkaiser]

Duke is proof of the wisdom of Geno's adage: You can't have too many guards.

PS. Note to self and Geno: Except when you have too few Bigs.

Unless you have Gabby who you can use in both positions!

 

[Intpseeker]

Watching the replay (a number of times) (Yup, geeky), P uses the reactive 'paint-by-number- approach to coaching as much as any DI coach I have watched. She micromanages in the moment, as opposed to following a game plan and allowing her players to work within the system. She directs every aspect, and she very effectively communicates her distaste early and often for any player choice that doesn't match her picture. Interesting, given that she has very intelligent, very talented players, but if you second guess a performer consistently, they begin looking over their shoulder. They are distracted. Remember that Geno wanted a young MoJeff to just play, and not be looking over to the bench every time for approval/disapproval. He didn't want her distracted from the task at hand.

There was a point towards the end of the first half when I noted in the game thread that duke's conditioning was suspect, as they appeared to be dragging in response to the pressure. When watched again, it appears that that was the point when they collectively began to phone it in. P was on them, and there seemed to be a group let down, as if they collectively decided that they couldn't meet the ever-changing demands of their coach.

Being a head coach is an incredibly difficult job because when they throw the ball up, you put your faith in the hands of 18-21 year olds who need to 'get' your vision for them and the game. Geno and his staff do this better than any other crew out there. I think the record speaks for itself in coach P's case. She appears to not have a vision to communicate, and then, unforgivably IMHO, repeatedly defaults to blaming her own lack of planning, preparation, and team development on her players. Her presser last night should have ended with her being handed a pink slip.

Have no doubt, she is teaching lessons, even if unplanned, but I find it hard to believe that they are the ones that Duke wants their students to take away from their university experience.

 

[Boreifs]

Watching the replay (a number of times) (Yup, geeky), P uses the reactive 'paint-by-number- approach to coaching as much as any DI coach I have watched. She micromanages in the moment, as opposed to following a game plan and allowing her players to work within the system. She directs every aspect, and she very effectively communicates her distaste early and often for any player choice that doesn't match her picture. Interesting, given that she has very intelligent, very talented players, but if you second guess a performer consistently, they begin looking over their shoulder. They are distracted. Remember that Geno wanted a young MoJeff to just play, and not be looking over to the bench every time for approval/disapproval. He didn't want her distracted from the task at hand.

There was a point towards the end of the first half when I noted in the game thread that duke's conditioning was suspect, as they appeared to be dragging in response to the pressure. When watched again, it appears that that was the point when they collectively began to phone it in. P was on them, and there seemed to be a group let down, as if they collectively decided that they couldn't meet the ever-changing demands of their coach.

Being a head coach is an incredibly difficult job because when they throw the ball up, you put your faith in the hands of 18-21 year olds who need to 'get' your vision for them and the game. Geno and his staff do this better than any other crew out there. I think the record speaks for itself in coach P's case. She appears to not have a vision to communicate, and then, unforgivably IMHO, repeatedly defaults to blaming her own lack of planning, preparation, and team development on her players. Her presser last night should have ended with her being handed a pink slip.

Have no doubt, she is teaching lessons, even if unplanned, but I find it hard to believe that they are the ones that Duke wants their students to take away from their university experience.

Lighten up! Duke has actually played quite well, with an inexperienced team, no guards, and the second most punishing pre-conference schedule after UCLA. UConn won by 31 points; give it a rest! The only fans who should care about the Duke coach are Duke fans; all this constant banter about opposing coaches really cheapens the quality of this board and makes it impossible for any really meaningful discussions to actually take place. My last post; almost anyone has better things to do. Consider it a self-inflicted pink slip.