Put Up Your Dukes: Here comes McCallie

[Vowelguy]

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-women/dukes-mccallie-willing-to-battle-uconn-on-any-front/

I'm sure this line will garner some comments:

Both programs win some and lose some in these recruiting battles. UConn won a very big one when they convinced Arizona guard Courtney Ekmark to verbally commit when she was a junior. hat one apparently stung Duke very badly and from what I understand some nasty things have been said back and forth since Ekmark’s announcement.​

 

[pap49cba]

Coach P. can talk-the-talk but has yet to prove she can walk-the-walk.

 

[huskie joe]

How about she quits complaining and starts to win some meaningful games. She has a load of talent on that team and is recruiting the kitchen sink lately. No lets see her make a final 4.

 

[huskeynut]

She needs to get her team to play the full game, not a half.

If you want to change the results, you have to change or the results will be the same.

 

[LadyVols9]

without duke's rep in academics, she would not have a single player. most overrated coach in the nation. i hope UCONN mops the floor with them.

 

[FairView]

I think she may be taking a shot at UConn's attractiveness in the AAC with this comment in a John A story:
The series with Duke ends next season with another meeting in Connecticut. Blue Devils coach Joanne P. McCallie, who was at the dinner, said that she would be interested in playing UConn again but wanted to see how this season progresses first.
"We have to look into it," McCallie said. "I'm not entirely sure what the situation is with the conference UConn is now in. It's a new time now. But we are always interested in playing the best. We are interested, but let's let the season go through so we can see what eventually happens with all these new conferences."

Full story, which was already link in the Boneyard is here.

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[rford53]

http://courantblogs.com/uconn-women/dukes-mccallie-willing-to-battle-uconn-on-any-front/

I'm sure this line will garner some comments:

Both programs win some and lose some in these recruiting battles. UConn won a very big one when they convinced Arizona guard Courtney Ekmark to verbally commit when she was a junior. hat one apparently stung Duke very badly and from what I understand some nasty things have been said back and forth since Ekmark’s announcement.​

It's amazing that Duke has one of the best regular season records over the past 10 years without a championship to show for it. Duke and Stanford are in similar spots in that regard. And since those programs and UConn have arguably recruited similar talent over those years, it must be coaching that is the key difference. I expect this year to repeat the pattern.

 

[wes33]

You need teams like Duke to play you to keep getting very good talent. So you had better be extra nice.

 

[triaddukefan]

without duke's rep in academics, she would not have a single player. most overrated coach in the nation. i hope UCONN mops the floor with them.

Triaddukefan DOES NOT like this.






We really do need a dislike button

 

[Vowelguy]

You need teams like Duke to play you to keep getting very good talent. So you had better be extra nice.

Thank you for your interest in UConn WCBB.

 

[ThisJustIn]

You need teams like Duke to play you to keep getting very good talent. So you had better be extra nice.

You're so right. 'cause winning National Championships is SO not a draw.

 

[Kibitzer]

You need teams like Duke to play you to keep getting very good talent. So you had better be extra nice.

I doubt that Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano or Muhammed Ali (among other champions) ever had any difficulty hiring sparring partners.

 

[triaddukefan]

I doubt that Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano or Muhammed Ali (among other champions) ever had any difficulty hiring sparring partners.

Cold blooded

 

[Icebear]

T, you are a joy to have here. Thanks for all your great pics.

 

[winlots]

These quotes from McCallie are terrific.....great examples of Duke brains vs. UCONN brains at work. (As noted in another post some time back , they can't be TOO smart down there in the Tobacco Road area....offered me a scholarship.) So she wants kids who want to so something themselves? What is the logic there? Didn't our three now-Sophs do something themselves when they won our eighth banner? I didn't see Lobo or Sayles out there.

Perhaps the logic is that obviously she can't go after kids who want to keep the flame of NCs alive.....bec Duke doesn't have any NCs to keep alive on the women's side. So, she really has no alternative.....and tries to turn that shortfall into some sort of a "noble choice" re whom she recruits. "Oh, you want to carry on a winning tradition?? Well, we surely don't want you here." Precious. Works for me.

She wants kids who want to make "their own" history. Seems like Faris made her own, eh? And Maya? ANd how many others of "Our Girls" made their OWN history?! You aren't OBLIGED to lose to make your own history.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Joanne P. McCallie - 490-183 career record

Tara VanDerveer - 894-203, 2 national championships

It's amazing that Duke has one of the best regular season records over the past 10 years without a championship to show for it. Duke and Stanford are in similar spots in that regard. And since those programs and UConn have arguably recruited similar talent over those years, it must be coaching that is the key difference. I expect this year to repeat the pattern.

Neither of these 2 are Geno, that's true. Neither of their programs are UConn, that's true. Duke hasn't won a NC to date, that's true, and McCallie isn't always likeable - also true.

BUT - not for nothing - there are probably 275 programs who would consider JPM an upgrade - and Tara is HOF career.

 

[rocky rococo]

Before people get carried away with trashing McCallie, let's not forget that she took a team with literally nothing even WNBA bench-worthy and went to a NC game. That takes coaching ability.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I did not see McCallie as caustic or pugilistic in the interview. I think she sort of lets herself off the hook toward the end with the suggestion that winning a National Championship "is a process" and "we'll get there." Pretty much saying she has not had the team with the capability yet.

 

[UcMiami]

It's amazing that Duke has one of the best regular season records over the past 10 years without a championship to show for it. Duke and Stanford are in similar spots in that regard. And since those programs and UConn have arguably recruited similar talent over those years, it must be coaching that is the key difference. I expect this year to repeat the pattern.

Just like to point out that could be said about most programs in the top 10. With Uconn having won 6 of the last 12 NCs, Baylor and TN with 2 each and Maryland and Texas A&M one each that leaves a lot of coaches out in the cold. So ... Coale, McC, Tara, Muffet have all had great records for that 10 year window (or 12 years) and have come up empty.
It is also interesting to look at the championship teams in that span - DT 3 years, Baylor - Young, MD - freshman, Parker 2 years, Maya, Tina/Maya, TA&M - Adams, Griner, KML/BS. In all the years except 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013 the NC also had the player of the year. So while coaching certainly helps, recruiting is pretty important too. And those POYs were pretty transcendent!
Also interesting to look at teams that had POYs and did not win NCs - LSU (Augustus) stands out but Duke - Harding and Beard both won at least one of the awards, Stanford - Wiggins, and of course Maya in 2011.
On Edit - I just used DT for the first three years but it should be Sue 1 and DT 2 years

 

[DobbsRover2]

I will always kind of like McCallie for her team's semifinal win in 2005 over the checkerboard, and was surprised to see she has coached in three NC's, two as an assistant with Auburn two decades ago. There are two seasons for the WCBB, and some coaches do some pretty spectacular things like leading their teams to 77-13 records in the ACC during the regular season, but the pressure gets amped up in the tournament, and only 4 chairs remain when the music for the FF stops. But four straight years plateauing at the Elite 8 can lead to statements tinged with frustration.

 

[Cheddie]

Coach P. can talk-the-talk but has yet to prove she can walk-the-walk.

If talk alone would win, The Donald would be our President

 

[HGN]

I like Joanne P. Mc........And I think she is a good coach. But when it comes to Championships her job is hard in the ACC and it just got harder with the addition of ND to the Conference and the addition of excellent talent to North Carolina's roster. But her biggest problem is not on the UConn , Tarheels , Fighting Irish , or any other ACC campus. Its right there in Durham at Cameron Indoor. Its Coach "K" and the Duke boys team.

Unfortunately for Joanne P. Mc , she and her team gets compared to a Duke boys team that competes annually ( and wins its fair share) for Conference and National Championships. When you got Coach 'K' winning National Championships and you are winning none it sticks out like a sore thumb. And they are right there on the same campus. So J.P. Mc might be feeling the pressure to win , and win now.....JMHO