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Message: [QUOTE="smithall, post: 3237843, member: 10052"] Thought this was an interesting thread. Sorry for replying so late. I would gather that Duck fans would agree that Geno has proven himself to be the best coach in women's college basketball. What we have seen from Graves is that he recruits specific types of basketball players and gets them to buy into his style. He and his staff work really hard to maximize those traits that are most important for the team. His teams take good shots, shoot at a high percentage, and don't turn the ball over much. They also tend to not be super athletic, don't press, don't extend their defense and play good help defense. I think the players enjoy playing for him because they move the ball, get lots of good shots and have fun. Yes, he had a really player friendly approach. They do a really good job of identifying really good international players. Makes sense as he was building the program when he had much less of a shot at getting top flight US players. The 2019 class was all international. The 2020 class so far is all US. One thing he's talked about is not requiring players to stay in town during the summer and go to summer school. In fact, one of the starters has permission to miss the first three games of the season so that she can play for the German National Team. He tweeted a week ago about only four players being in the US at that moment. [MEDIA=twitter]1155957288168857600[/MEDIA] As far as equating Graves' style to that of a hands-off, West Coast hippie, I wouldn't go that far. He gives the players some freedom on the court, but is very meticulous in practice. Look at his twitter where he talks about how they run plays and how the way they practice carries over into games. [URL]https://mobile.twitter.com/GoDucksKG/status/1159178239899660289[/URL] [URL]https://mobile.twitter.com/GoDucksKG/status/1158454286512087040[/URL] His approach is different, but he hasn't built the success that he's had without being a good coach. Especially given that he previously has started with less talent. [/QUOTE]

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