Mind Games

[Bigboote]

However, I did recall after one "exit" by Jana that she had a nice
"chat" with C.D. on the bench. Jana was, to my way of looking at
this T.V. scene, "taking it all in". A learning experience? Could be?!

Thank you; I was about to post something similar. Remember the time in Nika's freshman year when she made a dumb play and Geno pulled her soon afterward and "made her cry"? We found out a few years later that he saw she was down on herself and lost focus, pulled her out and gave her a pep talk.

Geno's been at this for 40+ years; I think there's very little he does out of anger to players during games.

 

[Zarathustra]

Thank you; I was about to post something similar. Remember the time in Nika's freshman year when she made a dumb play and Geno pulled her soon afterward and "made her cry"? We found out a few years later that he saw she was down on herself and lost focus, pulled her out and gave her a pep talk.

Geno's been at this for 40+ years; I think there's very little he does out of anger to players during games.

A nice "memory lane" moment, thinking about that scene with
Geno and Nika.... all heart....Both of them!

 

[huskeynut]

I'm going to say Geno, CD and the rest of the staff know what they are doing. BUT.........................

Geno says he knows who the five are to lead the team. Good, but, too much subbing is not alllowing those five to gel. I understand the "need" to know what each player can do, but, at what cost to team chemistry.

This year's team is talented, no doubt. But we know Geno will cut his rotation to 7 or 8 players.

Jana and Ice need to continue to play and play a lot. But, Geno has got make up his mind.

 

[Bills Fan]

I like the idea of teaching Jana during the game. Pulling her out of the game to tweak her and putting her back in is helpful in her development. She was a scorer in Egypt against lesser competition. She can score its a matter of adjusting to WCBB where the competition is much better

The problem with what you say, Tony, is that Geno does NOT put "her back in." Just look at the minutes she plays. Not enough to develop her if that's his intent. I agree with what was said earlier in this thread. Humiliation is not a teaching tool. If he wants to pull Jana out of the game due to a mistake, fine, but don't do it immediately as a gut reaction. A few minutes later and then the CD discussion allows Jana to save face and still learn.

 

[ERWUC65]

I'm going to say Geno, CD and the rest of the staff know what they are doing. BUT.........................

Geno says he knows who the five are to lead the team. Good, but, too much subbing is not alllowing those five to gel. I understand the "need" to know what each player can do, but, at what cost to team chemistry.

This year's team is talented, no doubt. But we know Geno will cut his rotation to 7 or 8 players.

Jana and Ice need to continue to play and play a lot. But, Geno has got make up his mind.

I think there are a couple of more situations that Geno will wait on before deciding on the starting five and the rotation of the best 2 or 3 bench players. First is Azzi going to be the Azzi of old? Second is Morgan and what is her potential?. Third is Aubrey and like Azzi will she be the Aubrey of old and how long will it take? Notice I am not including any thoughts on Ice or Jana - I think those ships have sailed.

 

[hoophuskee]

Jana and Ice need to continue to play and play a lot. But, Geno has got make up his mind.

No he doesn't. I mean not early. Not for this year's team. He's forced into not knowing. Chemisty will suffer. Can't help that. Aubrey is the main issue.

 

[MooseJaw]

Geno is mixing things up, seeing who can do what and with whom. Geno knows who will start, during the game he plays different combos with small, big and indifference to size players.
Soon we will see a regular rotation, with a regular sub package. Geno rewrote the book, if it isn't working, he has the players who will and can make it work. In short order we will see the team gel while becoming a beast of a team. Just give Geno and crew time to fine tune his team it's what he does.

 

[hoopsfan22]

No he doesn't. I mean not early. Not for this year's team. He's forced into not knowing. Chemisty will suffer. Can't help that. Aubrey is the main issue.

It's not really early. Season's half over. This is week 9, only 8 weeks remain.

 

[hoophuskee]

It's not really early. Season's half over. This is week 9, only 8 weeks remain.

I meant :"not soon." My bad.

 

[Centerstream]

Because one of the dominant subjects in many threads seems to be a lack of scoring and all players contributing, I decided to watch the replay of the First Round game of the 2018 NCAA Tournament against St. Francis (PA). We won 140-52 and had 6 players with double digit scoring and 3 players with a double double.
Ah, those were the days...

 

[Cuango]

Yes, we’ve got a long way to go in order to be the team we are all hoping for! However, here’s some good news! We have 26 tames for Geno to mold & shape this team into it’s best form. H’s been doing exactly that for 40 years and furthermore, is on a run of 3 or four years where he has overcome injuries that mght have broken another coach and yet has brought his team into the tournament playing great basketball! As frustrating as it may be to watch these players struggle, I have zero doubt that when the tournament rolls around, we will be a team no one wants to see in their bracket! Clearly it will be tough even if we are playing lights out but at least we have the talent and a coach who consistently has his team playing it’s best in April!

 

[Mandoo]

I agree with what you say, but the quick hook thing with Jana--is that productive? If a player is not giving their all, certainly there's redirect necessary, say not going after a rebound or failing to block out... however when you pull a player for missing a layup mere minutes after she's put in is quite humiliating for that player, and from my understanding, humiliation is never an effective motivator and/or redirect methodology....

This is especially so for an inexperienced player....

Big Jim used to pull players if they were not playing well or making mistakes. Does his record speak for itself? Are male players more resilient when yanked suddenly?

 

[hjoerring]

Happy New Year to all-- and especially the worried minds. In Europe basketball is not the sport that attracts the sport-minded persons-- it competes with others. Interestingly though those who chose to pursue it are good. This varies from country-to-country, but the clubs put out some good talent.There is really a uniformity of talent level across clubs. Compare with American High Schools (and I am basing my info on posts cited by members of the Boneyard regarding recruits and their HS team), I'm often shocked by the variation within teams and , of course, across teams. On any given team you may have one-half (an exaggeration of course) of the players who cannot get-up-and-down the court and contribute very little. The team is dominated by two players who do everything. What I am saying is that the disparity between players ranked in the top 10 and those after can be night to day. My suspicion is that Jana has not really played the 5 before. But has been one of those players who have had to play every position because of weak teams: she is learning. Ice?? A big on weak teams that took all the shots, just to win? And what about Q? why is she lauding on the bench? Is the system too complex for her--wow! A victim of her own making, or of others. And what about Chen? I can't believe its a question of talent. Is she not defensive minded? too slow? She knows how to score and how to deal with pressure.
My worry is not so much about the games lost and more about a weak BE Conf (compared with last year). Without top ten wins (the next 2 top teams would help) and a weak conf., it might be difficult to get a good seeding.

 

[ERWUC65]

Happy New Year to all-- and especially the worried minds. In Europe basketball is not the sport that attracts the sport-minded persons-- it competes with others. Interestingly though those who chose to pursue it are good. This varies from country-to-country, but the clubs put out some good talent.There is really a uniformity of talent level across clubs. Compare with American High Schools (and I am basing my info on posts cited by members of the Boneyard regarding recruits and their HS team), I'm often shocked by the variation within teams and , of course, across teams. On any given team you may have one-half (an exaggeration of course) of the players who cannot get-up-and-down the court and contribute very little. The team is dominated by two players who do everything. What I am saying is that the disparity between players ranked in the top 10 and those after can be night to day. My suspicion is that Jana has not really played the 5 before. But has been one of those players who have had to play every position because of weak teams: she is learning. Ice?? A big on weak teams that took all the shots, just to win? And what about Q? why is she lauding on the bench? Is the system too complex for her--wow! A victim of her own making, or of others. And what about Chen? I can't believe its a question of talent. Is she not defensive minded? too slow? She knows how to score and how to deal with pressure.
My worry is not so much about the games lost and more about a weak BE Conf (compared with last year). Without top ten wins (the next 2 top teams would help) and a weak conf., it might be difficult to get a good seeding.

Let's remember Jana is just back from injury, a year off, and as such is still a work in progress who needs this year and a summer with a specialized post training program to reach her potential. Ice has the tools, but is limited by a lack of confidence, a more difficult problem to address. With Aubrey coming back, Q will be last off the bench this year, a victim of inconsistency and a loaded roster. Like you, I can't understand why Chen seems to be playing under her talent lately, she got off to a good start, but seems overly cautious in recent play.

 

[Rowdy831]

No offense, this is just opinion but IMO your post is nothing more than excuse making. The players that look over their shoulder are the same players that should be looking over their shoulder because they know they aren't playing well. Using Jana as an example, to believe that Geno is the cause of her not playing well when she blows two layups is wrong. To blame Geno for her 35% free throw shooting because she might get pulled is made-up analysis. When I played in measly High School for a very strong team, yeah I'd get nervous about being pulled because I wasn't as good as the others. My coaching staff and my teammates were supposed to sacrifice games and chemistry all because my coach needed to give me a hug? How is that fair to any member of my team?

Maybe. Maybe this wouldn't be excuse-making if we had some evidence that the style is no longer valid. But that’s not the case here. Let’s look at last year. What “confidence” did Geno show in Ice for most of the year along with Amari? Let’s review how many posters on here and for that matter others that weren’t posting on here last year would’ve thought UCONN was fried? And what about 2 years prior when UCONN got to the Finals? His teams have ben devastated by injuries these past several years and yet he’s been to a Finals and FF of which the Final Four a terrible call away and potentially they are in the Finals. Yet we’re supposed to dismiss all this for make-believe psychology?

IMO we all need to chill. As Nan has pointed out, this UCONN team isn’t made up of robots or pros. How about there be a recognition that the coach’s way of doing things might still be right? For me, I can’t ignore the past recent success nor when I played back in the Dark Ages. I just feel the reasons you are giving are excuse-making and make-believe psychology. Sometimes you just have to recognize that a player just isn’t that good at this moment and other more deserving players deserve the time. They are the ones that should be rewarded. That’s how greatcoaches build great sustainable programs.

If UConn only has 5 players left to play they are a better 5 than 95% of the teams in the country have at full strength. Sure they have injuries but Geno likes to play 7-8 anyway so it doesn't hurt them unless someone is in foul trouble. He also could have rested players when they were ahead by 20 so no excused for Geno and not having players.

 

[Rowdy831]

Right now UConn has a bunch of players that aren't looking all that good. Some of that is expected because the whole teams is young outside of the stars and the players are showing improvement. One change that is coming is KK will be moving into the starting lineup. The team offense is much better with her running it regardless of who the other person is at the point.

They aren't a great three point shooting team and that is going to result in a lower shooting percentage. Yesterday was a lackluster looking game yet they won by 32 points, the sky isn't exactly falling on UConn.

 

[hoophuskee]

If UConn only has 5 players left to play they are a better 5 than 95% of the teams in the country have at full strength. Sure they have injuries but Geno likes to play 7-8 anyway so it doesn't hurt them unless someone is in foul trouble. He also could have rested players when they were ahead by 20 so no excused for Geno and not having players.

I'm missing your point. Is what you're saying is that Geno is doing fine? That was my point.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Kk has led the nation in assist to turnover ratio most of this season. Why she is the spark off the bench is beyond me. I think Chen has to look for her shot more, she is just not the scoring threat she was at Princeton and if I was an opposing team I wouldn't even guard her.

And is Caroline Ducharme ever coming back? This season, next season? Put her and Sarah on the court together and you two 6-2 all big east performers with Azzi and Paige. Wishful thinking

 

[hoophuskee]

Kk has led the nation in assist to turnover ratio most of this season. Why she is the spark off the bench is beyond me. I think Chen has to look for her shot more, she is just not the scoring threat she was at Princeton and if I was an opposing team I wouldn't even guard her.

And is Caroline Ducharme ever coming back? This season, next season? Put her and Sarah on the court together and you two 6-2 all big east performers with Azzi and Paige. Wishful thinking

Not saying she shouldn't start but Chen's EFG% is 60.6%. I'd guard her. It would be nice if KK could take shots other than layups or 5 foot runners in the lane but her defense and assist to turnovers is real good that the point of her starting -- sure 50-50.