Mike D.

[UCAP_Fan]

Did Frese really have to go there?
I hope this link works. If not there is a link Nan's news thread. New London Day.
Good for a laugh.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Booom!

 

[Phil]

I think it is an over-reaction. Brenda didn't say Geno doesn't have to coach (when he has 9 AA) she said he doesn't have to coach like the rest of us.

Big difference.

She has a point.

At the risk of over-simplifying, Frese has to do the following analysis:

"My AA Thomas is tired. Should I put in my sub, who isn't an AA? At 100% Thomas is better, but Thomas is tired, Is the sub, who is not tired, more effective than a tired Thomas? Maybe yes, maybe no. My other AA picked up a second foull. Dare I leave her in, because her sub is definitely not as good. Or take her out, because I can't risk a third foul in the first half."

In contrast, Geno analyzes as follows:

"Stewart looks tired, send in another AA. Hartley has a couple fouls, send in another AA"

Yes, I know I am oversimplifying, as Geno is not that cavalier about substitutions. A lot goes into it. Maybe he will leave someone in with 2 fouls because she should learn to play with 2 fouls. Maybe someone should stay in when tired, because it is good to see what it is like to play when tired. No big deal, we are up by 20.

The point is not that Geno doesn't have to think. I guarantee he is thinking harder than the opposing coach. The point is he is thinking about different things.

 

[EricLA]

Agree with Phil. Off the top of my head, very few teams have even close to the number of AA's on their roster. ND, Duke, Tennessee come to mind. and even ND only has maybe 3 or 4. For all the AA's on Tennessee's roster, it's stunning they don't have better results the past 5 years...

 

[Forty_four]

What are spleen venters?

 

[wallman]

Wonder how her other players feel now!

 

[Kibitzer]

What are spleen venters?

They function similarly to petard hoisters.

 

[Adesmar123]

Agree with Phil. Off the top of my head, very few teams have even close to the number of AA's on their roster. ND, Duke, Tennessee come to mind. and even ND only has maybe 3 or 4. For all the AA's on Tennessee's roster, it's stunning they don't have better results the past 5 years...

Notre Dame and Duke have done well with their AA's.

Edited to note that Duke doesn't have a NC and ND has one over 10 years ago.

 

[UcMiami]

Sorry but there are two kinds of AA - high school, where there are usually about 15-20 each year and college. If you look at most of the good college teams - they have quite a few HS AAs only a handful of which make it to the college AA level. At this point Geno has three college AAs on his team and that is quite rare for him or any coach - we expect that next year he will have two as Stewart will reach that level and Bria and Stef will graduate. But when Geno goes to his bench he is not bringing in college AAs - Saniya and Kiah are good players, but they are not KML or Bria or Stef at the moment.
What Geno does succeed in doing WITH his coaching is develop HS AAs and non-AAs into very good players some of whom (and possibly a higher percentage than other coaches) achieve college AA status.

 

[HuskyNan]

Notre Dame and Duke have done well with their AA's.

How've Tennessee, Rutgers, and Ohio State done with theirs in recent years?

 

[vtcwbuff]

When I read Frese's comment my first thought was that it was nothing more than an "evil empire" type of wise ass needle. I still think that.

 

[tomcat]

What bothers me about Frese's comment is not what it says about Geno. he can defend himself just fine without our help. It's what she implied about her own players who, last time I checked, aren't exactly the worst in the world. Maybe she doesn't have a roster full of them -- seven, say, which is what UConn had that night available for duty. But MD had plenty of good players who, with the right coach, might have done more damage. Remember all-American Laura Harper? UConn recruited her and she chose -- wait for it -- Maryland. And there have been others.

What Frese is saying, if only she were perceptive enough to understand, is this: Geno and I are good coaches, but the difference between him winning and me winning is that he has better players. If I were a MD player and read that, I don't know what i would think, but it would not be good.