So, when does the domination criticism start?

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I still think the "good for the game" issue is a false narrative. As UConn writes more and greater records, it brings attention from folks who are not particularly women's basketball fans - although I fear many of them are neither interested in, nor likely to become one. Likewise, it is good for UConn. And additionally, it is true that watching a UConn game might inspire young athletes, provide examples for other coaches and show fans what a first rate team can do.

However, for fans of other teams, I am sorry to tell you, but the feeling is often that the results are preordained. And it does take the enjoyment out of it, knowing that your team's chance of beating UConn is so limited. Do you all remember the NCAA game where Rutgers had a lead on UConn in the 1st half and lost in the 2nd half. Sadly, that was the expected result, even as the game was going on to us Rutgers fans. The better team won. In that aspect of it stinks for those of us who root for teams that are or were at some point good enough to think about making a run at the NC.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I hardly ever see the "bad for the game" discussion anywhere other than on the Boneyard. I am not sure where all this "bad for the game" criticism is located but I would be interested in knowing who is making these statements.

the hate is sooooo thick they don't even mention UConn on their boards... but watch what happens when UConn loses, just watch!
Are you happy that UConn is winning, was you happy when they spanked Baylor? You thought parity was on the rise after the Big 3 got drafted. Now you can not wait to see you Carolina does.

You may be praying that The Gamecocks dropkick the Huskies... but of course you will not admit it cause you dont like how that Baylor loss felt so you keep your feeling to yourself. Which I understand.

I actually thought South Carolina would beat UConn this season all the way up til the Lady Vols beat them... now its not so much

 

[DaddyChoc]

I think I understand the fascination with the men's game along with the NBA, there are many fantastic athletes. They deserve the recognition I suppose. But for those who are not blessed with a 6'5" frame and some leaping ability and you want to watch the game played as it was originally envisioned with passing and shooting not of the dunk fest variety then you appreciate the women's game in a general way and for the charge of perfection as the goal for UConn. I don't know the numbers but which team leads the men's game in percentage of assisted baskets and how many assists per game? Up and down the women's game I think you will find a higher number. Frankly if you want to see a well played game just turn on the Huskies. Different game.

a few NBA players are close to averaging triple-doubles... so there is a lot of passing going on. The dunk, well you rather watch blown clear to the lane breakaway lay-ups from an "elite" team than someone shoving the ball thru the hoop?

 

[SCGamecock]

I think as a growing sport it's good for the game. Common basketball fans know about Geno and how dominant the Huskies are, which itself is good for recognition and drawing in more fans.

For current WCBB fans, it takes the fun out of the season when there is virtually no chance that anyone upsets the Huskies. I was thinking about flying to Dallas for the Final Four and visiting family, but I don't want to spend $200 on tickets just to watch the same team that has won it 4 years in a row pummel two opponents. And in future seasons, it's only going to get worse as UCONN has 2 more years with KLS/Collier and brings in Walker.

In the last ten years, there has only been one nail biter game, 2 competitive games and 7 blowouts. There have also been 5 undefeated teams in the last 8 years, along with a 1 loss champion who was better than many of the undefeated teams.

The previous ten years, there were 4 nail biters, 2-3 competitive games and just 3 blowouts in title games. There were also only 2 undefeated teams during that stretch. It was a much more competitive era and multiple teams were capable of upsetting the big dogs.

You can't fault Geno, as he has turned UCONN into an incredible machine, but their dominance takes away much excitement for me as a fan of women's basketball.

We're on the same wavelength. I don't think UConn is bad for the game... they play a style and level of basketball that more teams need to be playing. Now with that being said, I do understand why people criticize WCBB and call it boring when it's already known at the beginning of the season that everybody else is playing for 2nd. I don't like when people criticize UConn for being too good though.. I think that's unfair. We need to criticize everybody else for not being good enough. Other coaches of top 15-20 programs need to coach better and RECRUIT better to keep pace with UConn. As you mentioned.. UConn isn't going anywhere. Looking at their recruiting.. they will always get their pick of the elite litter. The schools like Baylor, Texas and Notre Dame that can consistently compete with UConn recruiting wise are going to be the schools most successful against them going forward.

I also think it's equally unfair when UConn fans criticize fans of other teams and non-WCBB for being bored with UConn's domination of the sport. Yes, most of us think what UConn is doing is very impressive, but a lot of us are just as bored with it. It's easier for you guys to swallow this domination by UConn because you all are actual fans of the team dominating but for the rest of us it's kinda like playing a video game over and over that you know you're never going to beat (annoying, right?). I'm obviously rooting for SC on February 13th.. but I will also admit that I openly rooted against UConn in every game they played against a top 25 OOC opponent this season... not because I dislike UConn or anything. I don't dislike UConn.. I hang out here and I think the team is likeable.. but I love underdogs and I love suspense, especially in sports. A lot of us watch sports for suspense.. and the bottom line is that when you're watching UConn yes you get beautiful execution and precision.. but you definitely don't get suspense.

So yes, IMHO, UConn's domination is good for the sport in the sense that they set THE benchmark for the way WCBB could and should be played. No doubt about it, all teams need to execute on offense and defense like UConn.. that's the level the sport needs to be played. But UConn's domination is not exciting for the sport.. most people that aren't UConn fans but watch UConn games are usually watching in the hopes that their opposition pulls off what seems like a miracle at this point and actually beats the Huskies. Again, none of this is UConn's fault.. but I'm just providing an honest opinion of what it means to be a non-UConn fan of WCBB in 2017.. we're all essentially underneath the thumb of Geno Auriemma at this point.

 

[whaler11]

1. UConn shouldn't care about the good of the game.

2. Win #100 will get a good amount of coverage - after that no one will notice until 200 or a loss

3. UConn's dominance is TERRIBLE for the sport. It's good for UConn and it's good for UConn's television ratings but when potential fans of all the other schools think they can't win that is a huge regulator on other fanbases.

 

[LETTERL]

I would say the UCONN dominance is NOT good for women's basketball -- the Huskies are clearly on another plane from everyone else. Year after year after year. They play a very tough pre-conference schedule and tend to dominate the teams considered to be their biggest challengers. Sure, the streak is fun if you're a die-hard UCONN fan (my sister and late brother-in-law, who used to post on Boneyard are huge UCONN fans) but it's not so much fun if you're a fan of one of the hundreds of other teams with a WBB program.

Of course, the onus is on all those other teams to raise their game to match UCONN and so far, noone has done that yet.

Count me among the many who really thought the playing field would be evened out this year, after UCONN lost so much from last year...but they just reloaded with a collection of talent that far out-classes everyone else.

I think what impresses me the most about this streak is that very rarely does UCONN have a "down" game; they bring it EVERY game. It's hard to bring your "A" game every time out; the length of the season and vast differences in quality of competition do mean that every once a while, a team will have an off night...where the shots just don't fall and nothing seems to go right; NCState has had several of those "lemon-type" games this year, but has also had some high-profile wins. UCONN never seems to produce a lemon on the court; they are a Rolls Royce every time out.

Could the streak end during this year's NCAAT? Sure...and every team that makes the tournament has a belief, and a dream, that THEY will be the one to make history and end "The Streak". It will take an extremely high level of play, a nearly perfect game, and hope that UCONN finally has one of those "off nights" that seems to allude them...but noone is willing to concede the title. At least...not yet.

 

[DaddyChoc]

and UConn has NO super-powers this season... and teams are still losing, thats bad!

a "average" team is bad for the game... damn shame! If I was a fan, coach or player of another team I'd be emarassed to say UConn is bad for the game.

I recall as a youth going to the YMCA to play in their league, we beat everyone... beat a team 50-0, after a few seasons I guess they decided we were bad for the game and split us up onto other teams.

 

[chrissaran]

What's good for the sport, and I'm sure I'm not the first one to say this, is the number of fans who turn out to see UConn. Everywhere they go they are setting attendance records. How can more fan exposure to the "Greatest Show on Hardwood" not be good for the game?

 

[chrissaran]

easttexastrash, this hasn't just started. I believe it was two years ago when Julianne Viani said all the important games are played at UConn, Dan Shaughnessy saying UConn is killing the women's game, Jonathan Coachman about a month ago imploring female basketball players to stop going to UConn, Chris McKendry saying UConn was bad for the game. Do you need more?

 

[Jim]

It is common knowledge that year after year UCONN keeps getting the best assistant coaches!

 

[Scotter]

We need to criticize everybody else for not being good enough. Other coaches of top 15-20 programs need to coach better and RECRUIT better to keep pace with UConn. As you mentioned.. UConn isn't going anywhere. Looking at their recruiting.. they will always get their pick of the elite litter. The schools like Baylor, Texas and Notre Dame that can consistently compete with UConn recruiting wise are going to be the schools most successful against them going forward.

I do think the focus should be on what other teams need to do to be better because teams allow the gap to be about more than talent. The conditioning gap is probably the most glaring. If there is already a talent gap how do you expect to beat UConn when UConn's best players are playing the entire 40 minutes while sprinting up and down the floor, and you have to sub out your best players to help them recover. If you want to narrow the gap how do you not start there? Keep your best players on the floor more, cut down on fouls and turnovers from fatigue, and get more hustle plays.

And when it does come to recruiting talent there is a major issue in that a huge amount of talent has gone to underperforming coaches and programs. When you look at all of the talent that has gone to Tennessee in the last decade and not a single Final Four or even come within sniffing distance of actually playing UConn. When you look at all the talent that has gone to Duke in the last decade and not a single Final Four to show for it, and consistently got exposed against UConn. When Duke's recruiting success picked up again Stanford's success declined again. Imagine if some of those talented players ended up with Tara instead of at Duke for example. There are other examples that immediately come to mind in terms of squandering talent, but those two programs are the most glaring examples when you look at their recruiting rankings versus their on court results. The pressure should be on the programs that do get the highly rankted recruits to actually perform, rather than underachieve.

 

[huskeynut]

If the "experts" would stop with the easy commentary of why UConn is bad for WCBB and do some very in-depth, serious research they would find the answers as to why UConn is so successful.

Its coaching. Like it or not, Geno has no equal and neither does his staff. Their preparation is almost flawless. They recruit the players that fit UConn in terms of basketball talent, academics and character and who are coachable and want to learn and grow. Geno and his staff teach the X's and O's to another level. He expects his players to think on the court, figure it out and then execute. No player is guaranteed minutes in a game. You earn them in practice.

And I point out a couple of other thing that might upset some people. Uniforming - no rolled up shorts, all footwear is matching. Headbands, if used, are the same. No personal names on the back of the jersey. No social media during the season.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I do think the focus should be on what other teams need to do to be better because teams allow the gap to be about more than talent. The conditioning gap is probably the most glaring. If there is already a talent gap how do you expect to beat UConn when UConn's best players are playing the entire 40 minutes while sprinting up and down the floor, and you have to sub out your best players to help them recover. If you want to narrow the gap how do you not start there? Keep your best players on the floor more, cut down on fouls and turnovers from fatigue, and get more hustle plays.

And when it does come to recruiting talent there is a major issue in that a huge amount of talent has gone to underperforming coaches and programs. When you look at all of the talent that has gone to Tennessee in the last decade and not a single Final Four or even come within sniffing distance of actually playing UConn. When you look at all the talent that has gone to Duke in the last decade and not a single Final Four to show for it, and consistently got exposed against UConn. When Duke's recruiting success picked up again Stanford's success declined again. Imagine if some of those talented players ended up with Tara instead of at Duke for example. There are other examples that immediately come to mind in terms of squandering talent, but those two programs are the most glaring examples when you look at their recruiting rankings versus their on court results. The pressure should be on the programs that do get the highly rankted recruits to actually perform, rather than underachieve.

Good to see posts from you Scotter.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I do think the focus should be on what other teams need to do to be better because teams allow the gap to be about more than talent. The conditioning gap is probably the most glaring. If there is already a talent gap how do you expect to beat UConn when UConn's best players are playing the entire 40 minutes while sprinting up and down the floor, and you have to sub out your best players to help them recover. If you want to narrow the gap how do you not start there? Keep your best players on the floor more, cut down on fouls and turnovers from fatigue, and get more hustle plays.

And when it does come to recruiting talent there is a major issue in that a huge amount of talent has gone to underperforming coaches and programs. When you look at all of the talent that has gone to Tennessee in the last decade and not a single Final Four or even come within sniffing distance of actually playing UConn. When you look at all the talent that has gone to Duke in the last decade and not a single Final Four to show for it, and consistently got exposed against UConn. When Duke's recruiting success picked up again Stanford's success declined again. Imagine if some of those talented players ended up with Tara instead of at Duke for example. There are other examples that immediately come to mind in terms of squandering talent, but those two programs are the most glaring examples when you look at their recruiting rankings versus their on court results. The pressure should be on the programs that do get the highly rankted recruits to actually perform, rather than underachieve.

To some degree, conditioning is a good point, but it isn't universal. When Rutgers had the athletes, I assure you they were well conditioned. It was a hallmark of CVS and was expected of every player. There are certainly other teams where this is also true.

I'm not going to argue that you found under-performing coaches, but the truth is, compared to Geno, I'm not sure anyone is "over-performing".

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

If the "experts" would stop with the easy commentary of why UConn is bad for WCBB and do some very in-depth, serious research they would find the answers as to why UConn is so successful.

Its coaching. Like it or not, Geno has no equal and neither does his staff. Their preparation is almost flawless. They recruit the players that fit UConn in terms of basketball talent, academics and character and who are coachable and want to learn and grow. Geno and his staff teach the X's and O's to another level. He expects his players to think on the court, figure it out and then execute. No player is guaranteed minutes in a game. You earn them in practice.

And I point out a couple of other thing that might upset some people. Uniforming - no rolled up shorts, all footwear is matching. Headbands, if used, are the same. No personal names on the back of the jersey. No social media during the season.

The no social media during the season is not completely unusual and is a GREAT idea. No names on the jersey is a tool for the coach, having them or not doesn't really make any difference in the player's actual performance. But as I say, the coach can use it as a tool to enforce certain aspects of everyone being equally important. Except, of course, they are not.

The head bands, the shorts, the tats - those are for the fans and to create a particular culture. Geno would produce the same results with or without these. That said - I hate seeing odd "bright" shoes and improperly worn shorts. The tats don't bother me, per se.

 

[Woof 101]

`That internal joy for those of us who love our game does not shine as bright
when the tournament winner is a foregone conclusion.

No attack wes33....BUT notice a big but...Just my opinion, any team, coaching staff or fan base that thinks the winner of a tournament is a foregone conclusion should simply stay home.
Your internal joy has absolutely no confidence in your team (Duke) or coaching staff. I don't blame you for that but why blame UConn for your misery? Your statement is simply no where near a fact. Then again it is one less positive to worry about on this end as negative fans permeate a team just as positive ones do.
GO Duke and the fans that have already written them out of the tourney.

 

[JordyG]

When does it begin? When the hell does it stop.

 

[alexrgct]

When does it begin? When the hell does it stop.

Yes.

 

[Huskie78]

Stephen A. Smith going off on the streak right now on First Take.
Max Kellerman defends it.

 

[ivrytontusker]

It's not Geno's problem or UConn's problem, nor is it something that we should apologize for, but it is obviously not good for the sport. If I ask people if they follow women's basketball (without saying I am a UConn fan) fans of other teams -especially non-elite P5 teams- regularly say things like "doesn't that one team, UConn, always win? So I don't really follow the sport."

Dominant teams are not bad for the sport in general: see Alabama football, the Patriots, etc. But those teams have also lost a number of big games in living memory. They aren't "unbeatable." The last "big game" we lost was, what? The FF game vs. ND in 2012? I can't even remember exactly. We're now at a hyper-dominant level that simply bores other fans.

Heck, there is some evidence that it bores our fans. Has home attendance increased during the streak? How many people in CT care if we win another title? It would be bigger news if it didn't happen.

 

[DefenseBB]

Stephen A. Smith going off on the streak right now on First Take.
Max Kellerman defends it.

Did you say Stephen A.? Say no more, I immediately hit the mute button as any logic or reason were immediately discarded by him. I know what the "A." stands for in my mind...

 

[Huskie78]

Those who do not care for WBB won't watch it.
That said, some of those same people will be watching tonight.
Why? History, my friends, history.
Perhaps some of those new eyeballs will stay watching after tonight.

 

[magic]

Steven A. Smith ranting again this morning. I am a long time knick fan sick of watching them. Steven A. rants daily about the knicks sorry state, and I certainly agree with him . But how can you complain daily about the knicks, and not be able to appreciate what the huskies are doing ? Totally illogical .

 

[Mdoggie]

Good grief! So many victims out there in fan land.