St. Francis Post-Game Press

[wallman]

OK so would you ask Coach Abe (UCF) to try and play an up tempo game when they haven't all year? Why would a coach ask his team to do something it was incapable of doing or at least inexperienced in doing? That to me is the bigger crime so to speak. Coach Haigh stuck to his guns and said we're going to do what we've done all year which won us 24 games. Sorry, but I don't see the problem in that. Geno would and does have the exact same mentality.

If your team jacks up 81 shots within a second of crossing the halfway line, which damn they were launching them, then you should expect to get your ass beat by big numbers against Uconn.

For arguments sake, can you imagine if Geno had decided to leave his starters in for a full 3/4 instead of about half the game which btw, he has the right to do if he wants to get them up and down, it would have been 200 and there would be even more crying and this dude got what he asked for.

 

[Vowelguy]

SF won the 2nd most games in team history this year. Yeah that coach is such a failure.

 

[HoopsFan21]

SF won the 2nd most games in team history this year. Yeah that coach is such a failure.

The guy won 24 games this year. Two years ago the same team won a grand total of six games. Let that sink in for a minute. This SFU team won as many games as the Tennessee Vols.

 

[lne001]

Not Geno's finest moment in his presser. He was clearly embarrassed by the margin of victory, as he should be. But blaming the other team is beneath him. He shakes his head and says "I've never seen anything like that, ever", as if the fault for the margin is St. Francis's style of play. Two seconds later he refutes that statement by mentioning Paul Westhead, who used exactly the same system at Loyola Marymount.

Auriemma then used the excuse of keeping his starters fresh as to why they played as many minutes as they did (Nurse was close to 30!), as if 10 fewer minutes each would make a difference. Sorry Geno, the absolute size of the margin of victory is on you, not St. Francis. You want them to slow down and hold the ball so they only lose by 60 rather than 100. Great solution.

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Not Geno's finest moment in his presser. He was clearly embarrassed by the margin of victory, as he should be. But blaming the other team is beneath him. He shakes his head and says "I've never seen anything like that, ever", as if the fault for the margin is St. Francis's style of play. Two seconds later he refutes that statement by mentioning Paul Westhead, who used exactly the same system at Loyola Marymount.

Auriemma then used the excuse of keeping his starters fresh as to why they played as many minutes as they did (Nurse was close to 30!), as if 10 fewer minutes each would make a difference. Sorry Geno, the absolute size of the margin of victory is on you, not St. Francis. You want them to slow down and hold the ball so they only lose by 60 rather than 100. Great solution.

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

LOL how many of the starters played more than 20, 22 minutes? Why do you guys keep doing this to yourselves? Do you even look at a box score?

 

[tomcat]

What was this guy thinking. Not only did he have his team ill prepared, he had absolutely no response when his stupid game plan blew up in his face. This guy is not earning his salary.

He got a team that a couple of years ago could not play its way out of a paper bag into a situation where they won their league and had a really good record for the year. They were ranked maybe second worst in the tournament and went up against the best team in the country and they got skunked. So what?

On the basis of your standards, Geno, who had what was acknowledged to be the best team in WCBB last year, should have been drawn and quartered when UConn lost to MS St. From what I can see, St. Francis' coach is doing a great job in a low-level conference. His team, or future iterations of it, may never be better than that, but that's okay. They are champions, in their league.

 

[tower1]

Someone should ask the St Francis coach if on hindsight he played the dumbest game plan ever in NCAA history.

"Yeah, let's run with them and get them lots of shots." And while we're at it, let's set a record for the most 3 point shots ever in an NCAA tournament. "Nah, don't worry if you miss 'em all"

I enjoyed the game. They came to play and play the way they played all year. Would you enjoy the game if they slowed the game down and made it a boring game? I know i would not of watch it . So i salute this team for playing their hearts out and not giving up no matter what the score was. Good Luck, St. Francis.

 

[JoePgh]

Not Geno's finest moment in his presser. He was clearly embarrassed by the margin of victory, as he should be. But blaming the other team is beneath him. He shakes his head and says "I've never seen anything like that, ever", as if the fault for the margin is St. Francis's style of play. Two seconds later he refutes that statement by mentioning Paul Westhead, who used exactly the same system at Loyola Marymount.

Auriemma then used the excuse of keeping his starters fresh as to why they played as many minutes as they did (Nurse was close to 30!), as if 10 fewer minutes each would make a difference. Sorry Geno, the absolute size of the margin of victory is on you, not St. Francis. You want them to slow down and hold the ball so they only lose by 60 rather than 100. Great solution.

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

I’m not sure exactly what you think Geno should have done when confronted with the game plan that St. Francis was following. Should he have told his team NOT to exploit the openings that their style of play allowed? That’s exactly the opposite of what any good team should be doing. A team that has aspirations for a national championship should ALWAYS take advantage of any opportunities it finds against what ever style of play its opponent chooses to use.

It seems to me that the ONLY thing he could have done (consistent with not fostering bad basketball habits in his team) would have been to play his starters less. But as he noted, Kia Nurse was the ONLY starter to play anywhere near 30 minutes. Azura and Napheesa played 15 and 16 minutes, and scored 23 and 24 points in that amount of playing time. Should he have instructed them to score less while they were on the floor? Or should they have only played 5 minutes (since you say 10 less minutes wouldn’t have any negative effect)?

I think the reasons why Kia got so many minutes are (first of all) that she and Napheesa are the only starters with no injury issues; secondly that bench players need one experienced player to be a coach on the floor; and thirdly that her 3-point shot has been off-target in recent games, and he wanted to give her a chance to recover it.

But he did play the entire 4th quarter with all 6 core players on the bench for that entire 10-minute period. Surprisingly, the bench players did very well, outscoring St. Francis (including Kovatch and other starters) by a margin of 20-4 (approximately; I’m working from memory). What should Geno have done about that? Put the student managers on the floor?

 

[lne001]

LOL how many of the starters played more than 20, 22 minutes? Why do you guys keep doing this to yourselves? Do you even look at a box score?

That was Geno's excuse. Why did Kia play 30 minutes? Are you telling me that a Hall of Fame coach, with complete control of the game, could not dictate the final score? He was embarrassed by the margin. And then he compounds his shame by stating that 'it could have been worse'. Yeah, we know Geno, that is the problem.

 

[JoePgh]

That was Geno's excuse. Why did Kia play 30 minutes? Are you telling me that a Hall of Fame coach, with complete control of the game, could not dictate the final score? He was embarrassed by the margin.

If by “dictate the final score”, you mean that he could have told his players to play bad basketball (e.g., not pass the ball to a teammate who was open under the basket), I guess he could have done that. But that goes against everything the program stands for, and that kind of “mercy” should never be expected of any coach.

As previously noted, the 5 players at the end of the bench played the entire 4th quarter, and they outscored St. Francis (who was still playing starters as much as ever) by about 16 points. What could he have asked them to do (other than play bad basketball) to hold the margin down?

 

[sarals24]

Kia is also a senior and this is one of her last games on campus. She can play 40 minutes if she wants. Why are we treating this like UConn beat up on a grade school team? St. Francis is a D1 team, champion of their conference, and this is the NCAA tournament. I don't think Geno would expect any team to show mercy against him.

 

[lne001]

I’m not sure exactly what you think Geno should have done when confronted with the game plan that St. Francis was following.

Hey, I don't know and I don't care. I just do not think he should be ashamed of the final margin and then blame the opposing coach for not playing how you want him to play.

 

[sarals24]

Hey, I don't know and I don't care. I just do not think he should be ashamed of the final margin and then blame the opposing coach for not playing how you want him to play.

I didn't get that he was blaming him for anything. He had just never seen a team try to run with UConn before like that.

Although I remember a game against Oregon when Paul Westhead was coaching them that looked really similar. Oregon just had better athletes so it wasn't such an insane final score. But same principle.

 

[lne001]

Kia is also a senior and this is one of her last games on campus. She can play 40 minutes if she wants. Why are we treating this like UConn beat up on a grade school team? St. Francis is a D1 team, champion of their conference, and this is the NCAA tournament. I don't think Geno would expect any team to show mercy against him.

Fine, then be proud of the ass kicking you administered. In fact own it with pride. Instead Geno whined about how St. Francis plays. Why would he even care about the magnitude of the final verdict. The bigger the smashing the better.

 

[lne001]

He had just never seen a team try to run with UConn before like that. Although I remember a game against Oregon when Paul Westhead was coaching them that looked really similar. Oregon just had better athletes so it wasn't such an insane final score. But same principle.

I think Geno actually said he had never seen a team do that before, and then immediately mentioned Paul Westhead, who ran that exact same system at Loyola Marymount when they averaged 122 pts per game. Geno was not happy with how the game transpired and was tripping over his excuses.

 

[DEpup]

Not Geno's finest moment in his presser. He was clearly embarrassed by the margin of victory, as he should be. But blaming the other team is beneath him. He shakes his head and says "I've never seen anything like that, ever", as if the fault for the margin is St. Francis's style of play. Two seconds later he refutes that statement by mentioning Paul Westhead, who used exactly the same system at Loyola Marymount.

Auriemma then used the excuse of keeping his starters fresh as to why they played as many minutes as they did (Nurse was close to 30!), as if 10 fewer minutes each would make a difference. Sorry Geno, the absolute size of the margin of victory is on you, not St. Francis. You want them to slow down and hold the ball so they only lose by 60 rather than 100. Great solution.

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

Hmm. Cherry pick facts much? Z played 15 min and Pheesa played 17. How much less could they have played? If you don't like watching excellence, find something else to do with your time.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

 

[lne001]

Hmm. Cherry pick facts much? Z played 15 min and Pheesa played 17. How much less could they have played? If you don't like watching excellence, find something else to do with your time.

The starters could easily have played fewer minutes, they weren't really needed. UConn could have called off the press earlier, put a leash on his offense, a myriad of other things that a Hall of Fame coach certainly knows. That game was hardly a display of excellence, and I anticipated your unsolicited advice and turned the game off after 6 minutes.

If you read what I've been posting you should know that I don't care by how much UConn won. Hell, lay it on. I do care somewhat, however, when Geno blames the other coach for the embarrassment that he himself feels.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Fine, then be proud of the ass kicking you administered. In fact own it with pride. Instead Geno whined about how St. Francis plays. Why would he even care about the magnitude of the final verdict. The bigger the smashing the better.

I must've missed the whining.

Geno is right. That game was a result of UConn being an incredible team, leagues better than the Red Flash, and St. Francis playing a style that resulted in UConn getting 90+ shots and many uncontested layups.

I've yet to hear anyone from St. Francis claim they were embarrassed. But what do they know.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I do care somewhat, however, when Geno blames the other coach for the embarrassment that he himself feels.

This is ridiculous. Are you a psychoanalyst?

What should he be embarrassed about? St Francis set the pace and style of the game, taking a shot just about every time they crossed half court, and endlessly pressed. I suppose the Huskies were supposed to not take advantage of those things the other team did for nearly 40 minutes. Perhaps play the back of the bench the last three quarters, something you sound like you'd be a fan of.

I'd be more embarrassed by many of the shots the Red Flash took and the ole defense they often employed.

UConn is allowed to play and get something out of this game. They're not obligated to insultingly roll over for an inferior opponent.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I mean, some of those shots Kovatch took would make Laksa blush. But that playground stuff was all okay while the selfless, precision basketball UConn played was heartless or something.

 

[CL82]

Fine, then be proud of the ass kicking you administered. In fact own it with pride. Instead Geno whined about how St. Francis plays. Why would he even care about the magnitude of the final verdict. The bigger the smashing the better.

So, put me in with the group who really didn’t hear his comments that way at all. It was a bit of a perfect storm with a very good UConn team, low D1 St. Francis team, and a decision by their coach to generate a lot of possessions. I think Geno’s comments expressed his amazement at that combination of facts and the result he produced on the court.

Geno took his foot off the gas as much as possible. He called off the press and slowed down the tempo. You could see that the team struggled with that. I’m not sure what more you want him to do.

For what it’s worth, I’m not critical about the St. Francis coach’s decision to take a shot at winning the game rather than minimize the margin by which his team lost. It was a gamble that resulted in a record-setting beat down, but it least it arose out of trying to compete.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

So, put me in with the group who really didn’t hear his comments that way at all.

That was as relaxed and happy as I've seen Geno in months.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

“I don’t think it’s bad for women’s basketball at all,” Haigh said when asked if he thinks people on the outside will view the margin of victory as a bad thing for the game. “… Everyone knows the difference between the best team in America and the teams at the smaller level of Division I. But we didn’t play scared, we did the best we could. The people who want to say it’s bad for women’s basketball, probably don’t care about women’s basketball much anyway.”

 

[tomcat]

Thank you for posting this. Those BYers who think St. Francis should have done something different really should listen to Jeff Walz. And, now that I think of it, I'm reminded of why I think Walz is a damn good coach.

 

[UC10NN]

Not Geno's finest moment in his presser. He was clearly embarrassed by the margin of victory, as he should be. But blaming the other team is beneath him. He shakes his head and says "I've never seen anything like that, ever", as if the fault for the margin is St. Francis's style of play. Two seconds later he refutes that statement by mentioning Paul Westhead, who used exactly the same system at Loyola Marymount.

Auriemma then used the excuse of keeping his starters fresh as to why they played as many minutes as they did (Nurse was close to 30!), as if 10 fewer minutes each would make a difference. Sorry Geno, the absolute size of the margin of victory is on you, not St. Francis. You want them to slow down and hold the ball so they only lose by 60 rather than 100. Great solution.

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

Geno has a responsibility to the team and no one else’s, not the media, not the NCAA, not you, not I and definitely not future male fans of WCBB. The goal right now is to win a chip. If that means he needs to play his starters 20 minutes to give them game action after 10+ days of no real game action, so be it. And since they are on the court, he expects them to play UCONN ball as do we. Just because they are up by a bunch does not mean they should play differently, otherwise they would be making bad habits because they are almost always up by a bunch.

It’s like those that says well once they are up by 20, let others play. Well that would be 3 minutes into the game yesterday. How do you think his starters would feel about that? Work your ass off in practices so you can play 5 minutes.

 

[mbr33ct]

Not Geno's finest moment in his presser. He was clearly embarrassed by the margin of victory, as he should be. But blaming the other team is beneath him. He shakes his head and says "I've never seen anything like that, ever", as if the fault for the margin is St. Francis's style of play. Two seconds later he refutes that statement by mentioning Paul Westhead, who used exactly the same system at Loyola Marymount.

Auriemma then used the excuse of keeping his starters fresh as to why they played as many minutes as they did (Nurse was close to 30!), as if 10 fewer minutes each would make a difference. Sorry Geno, the absolute size of the margin of victory is on you, not St. Francis. You want them to slow down and hold the ball so they only lose by 60 rather than 100. Great solution.

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

I don't get it, you do not blame St Francis...but you do blame this fully on Geno? Hindsight, maybe Geno should have just kept his starters on the bench. St Francis jacked up 81 shots, coupled with UConn's 91...a unfathomable 172 total shots by both teams. Balls were heading to baskets at a record pace of 4+ a minute. So, let St Francis play their style but UConn should not.

 

[UcMiami]

Thanks for posting. Nice smart response and interesting insight on that blow-out NC game.

And the SF game in comparison to the massacre of TX three years ago and the massacre of MSU two years ago ... realistically the SF outperformed expectations compared to those two teams.

 

[warbler1055]

It's Sunday morning, I just finished reading the Courant sports section and having my coffee. Looking at this tread, I am shocked and amazed at the negativity of the posts, the incessant whines and complaints against both the SF coach and Geno. IMHO, the SF coach showed class and spoke well about why he chose the game plan with disastrous results. The SF players competed hard and their best scorer Jessica Kovatch (sp?) was lock down by KN. They were simply overmatched. Geno did what he had to do to prepare his team, he surely did not want to embarrass anybody, least of all SF players and coach. I just want to enjoy the win and hope that SF will have a great memory of the game and have much improved and better players in the future.

 

[Sifaka]

In closing, like it or not, games and scores like this will not entice new male fans to women's college basketball.

Well, now we know, at last, the point of women playing college basketball. I shall go lurk in the corner and commiserate with the potted plant, because I have long suffered from the misconception that they were motivated to play the game to the best of their abilities, have fun playing a game they love, get an education, and all those other trivialities.

How could I have missed something so obvious as the importance of enticing male fans? I can only beg forgiveness for appreciating how well they play.