Stupid Geno only wins by 11.

[Danzz]

I like the women's games when they play a team that actually has a chance of beating them. UConn/Tenn games in the past were outstanding. The problem is that there are only 2 or 3 teams in the country that have a chance against UConn. This year Notre Dame may be the only team with a chance.
Geno does a great job coaching and recruiting but what he really does well is get his team to continue to play hard when they are up by 30. He does the best he can at scheduling out of conference opponents but there are only so many out there.

 

[Gurleyman]

It's been a few years since we were prohibitive favorites. Last year, Baylor was the heavy favorite to repeat. We had a super-dominant team in 2002 (Bird-Taurasi), in 2009-10 (Moore-Charles) and this year looks like it could be another one of those years if there aren't more injuries. Not like we're ruining the sport, the way UNC Women's Soccer did for decades.

 

[jleves]

Geno's win loss record is something astronomical like 850-150. Seriously. And he took over a crappy UCONN team back in the late 80's. First 3 years he went something like 40-35, then it's been lights out ever since.

Just because I tend to be ADD about stats:
Geno:
Overall 852–133 (.865)
First Three Years 43-39 (.524)

If he goes til 65, He'll easily crack 1000+ wins. 67 and he probably hits 1100 to surpass Summitt at 1098. I'd be willing to bet he wants that record.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Ugh. Isn't that the infamous Marcus White stuck in the rim game?

Yes. In San Antonio. Had that layup gone in, it would have tied the game at 76 with 35 seconds remaining.

 

[ctchamps]

Older people tend to like the women's game because they play the way men played 30 years ago. It's like when older people dream about a time without technology.

This is the answer for some. Just as likely it's because the older we get the harder it gets to watch nail biters. We get frightened our hearts can't take the stress. Of course we'll always admit that the game looks better vs. we just can't handle things. The first answer has street cred.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Just because I tend to be ADD about stats:
Geno:
Overall 852–133 (.865)
First Three Years 43-39 (.524)

If he goes til 65, He'll easily crack 1000+ wins. 67 and he probably hits 1100 to surpass Summitt at 1098. I'd be willing to bet he wants that record.

Ah thanks for looking that up. I thought I was close, but didn't realize I was that close... Yeah, I think he wants to surpass the sourpuss.

 

[imno1]

The thing that impresses me about Geno's teams is they rarely take a play off. Even when up by 30 they are still in to it. I think that is the only thing the guys could emulate by watching there female counterparts. Other than that the games are too different and there isn't enough talent yet in wcbb to go around.

 

[uconnfan68]

And we think we have entitled fans!? I went over and checked it out, there are actually women's fans who are disappointed and find reason for concern over the fact that they only beat one of the top teams, in front of a packed house on the road, with the nations's leading scorer and a 69 game home winning streak by just 11 points on a night when UConn shot poorly and due to injuries essentially only played 6 people. Eeesh.

And they were right! Terrible refs, flopping opponents, poor shooting... next time it's 20+. Guaranteed.

 

[uconnfan68]

Me Personally I don't see how people get excited about the Women's team when their first real test will be in the Elite Eight. Come to think of it they should get a bye into the elite eight. There's maybe 3 teams in any random year that could challenge them.

Tough to watch a sport with little to no competition and where a WWE match has more drama to the outcome than a random UCONN Women's game.

Also it would be nice to see the talent spread around to more than just a few teams. These teams have little chance against Geno's machine.

IMO women's basketball will never grow in popularity past where it is until there are say 10 teams that COULD REALISTICALLY win the NCAA Championship any year.
Remember too that women's coaches have the ability of having their stars stay for all 4 years. Keeping the powerhouses like UCONN on top.


I would have liked to have Rip, Mek, Kemba , Caron, Drummond and Ray among others have to stay fours years-there would be a few more banners on the wall if that happened.

I get excited because it says "UConn" on their jerseys. I'm glad they are the very best thing in WCBB. It was nice to see a Field Hockey NC too. You're either a fan of UConn, or you're not. You don't get to choose.

 

[mauconnfan]

The thing that impresses me about Geno's teams is they rarely take a play off. Even when up by 30 they are still in to it. I think that is the only thing the guys could emulate by watching there female counterparts. Other than that the games are too different and there isn't enough talent yet in wcbb to go around.

Sorry but the only bad thing about mens basketball is they need to "take a play or 2 off" if the team needs minutes out of them. Let's be honest, the bump and grind of the men's game, even against the "worst" teams on the schedule is really difficult and they're not playing against them they can beat by 60 85% of the time…….hopefully they pick and choose when to "rest" but these 2 games are a whole different world…...

 

[Calhoun's Court]

I get excited because it says "UConn" on their jerseys. I'm glad they are the very best thing in WCBB. It was nice to see a Field Hockey NC too. You're either a fan of UConn, or you're not. You don't get to choose.

Sure you can choose. I'm a UCONN (Men's ) fan. Not everyone is a WCBB fan.
I'm not.

Pretty sure though that a lot of people "discovered" the women's team after 1990 and then more "discovered " them in 1995. Everybody loves a winner.

The women's fans are conditioned to win. I would love to see the fan base if UCONN WBB ever had a few losing seasons in a row and became Providence WBB for instance.

Let's face it there is not equal talent in the women's game. 3-4 teams tops can compete every year.

It's a totally unfair fight. With the recruits Geno brings in every year HE SHOULD win as much as he does especially with little to no competition and they should be a lock for the FF EVERY YEAR-that is what makes it uninteresting to me-it's expected.

If you enjoy it that is great. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[ctchamps]

Sure you can choose. I'm a UCONN (Men's ) fan. Not everyone is a WCBB fan.
I'm not.

Pretty sure though that a lot of people "discovered" the women's team after 1990 and then more "discovered " them in 1995. Everybody loves a winner.

The women's fans are conditioned to win. I would love to see the fan base if UCONN WBB ever had a few losing seasons in a row and became Providence WBB for instance.

Let's face it there is not equal talent in the women's game. 3-4 teams tops can compete every year.

It's a totally unfair fight. With the recruits Geno brings in every year HE SHOULD win as much as he does especially with little to no competition and they should be a lock for the FF EVERY YEAR-that is what makes it uninteresting to me-it's expected.

If you enjoy it that is great. Nothing wrong with that.

During the Strother years there was a lot of posting in the woman's forum that questioned Geno. So in that way they are no different than any fans. The major difference, as you and mau point out, is that their fan base bar is set differently.

The women's game is impacted negatively because there are not enough numbers of skilled athletes to generate competition. In a good year there are eight teams. But most years there are four or less with a chance to win a tournament. Of course it is rare for a four seed or higher to win a men's tournament, but upsets occur frequently during the season which is not the case in the woman's game.

No matter how good a coach Geno is, he is not a magician. When the walk ons are in the game UConn often is on the losing end of scoring during those minutes. So players are important along with coaching. What Geno does really well is that he creates a team of motivated and well integrated players. He lands his share of top players but he also recruits complementary players that bring out the best efforts of the team. And he has a great ability to get the best out of them most games. Even JC struggled to motivate players to play at an optimum against cupcakes which is why we so frequently state the players play to the level of their opponents.

I don't think there is a better coach in sports than Geno, relatively speaking. There are others at the same level. But he is arguably in the group of the best.

 

[Marty Jackson]

And we think we have entitled fans!? I went over and checked it out, there are actually women's fans who are disappointed and find reason for concern over the fact that they only beat one of the top teams, in front of a packed house on the road, with the nations's leading scorer and a 69 game home winning streak by just 11 points on a night when UConn shot poorly and due to injuries essentially only played 6 people. Eeesh.

how do you define those calling for Ollie's head or bringing up the WM decision to hire Ollie because he lost two games and fell to 11-3 after winning 20 games in a meaningless season?

Entitled comes to mind.

 

[Marty Jackson]

It's been a few years since we were prohibitive favorites. Last year, Baylor was the heavy favorite to repeat. We had a super-dominant team in 2002 (Bird-Taurasi), in 2009-10 (Moore-Charles) and this year looks like it could be another one of those years if there aren't more injuries. Not like we're ruining the sport, the way UNC Women's Soccer did for decades.

last year was a gift for the women in that they weren't expected to get past ND or Baylor. People could see that uconn was going to be a dominant force the next several years given recruits and current roster.

 

[Strummer]

IMO women's basketball will never grow in popularity past where it is until there are say 10 teams that COULD REALISTICALLY win the NCAA Championship any year.

Disagree. Women's basketball is just not enjoyable for most sports fans, and it never will be, regardless of how "competitive" it is. That's just the way it is.

If it was simply a question of higher levels of talent and more competition, then why is it that the WNBA pays average salaries of about 50 grand a year? Because women don't really like to watch sports and men don't like to watch women play sports unless asses and are sticking out.

Older people tend to like the women's game because they play the way men played 30 years ago.

Disagree. Older people in CT like to watch women's basketball because it warms their little old hearts to see a bunch of cute, little girls with pony tails and pretty teeth beating the piss out of other teams with a limited amount of aggression and contention.

That's it. It's certainly not the level of skill. I'm not sure how basketball is "supposed" to be played, but I tuned in to a single woman's game last year (they lost on a last second play - maybe to ND), and it was non-stop turnovers, crappy play, and missed shots. Really painful to watch.

I suppose the myth of high skill level comes from pounding on Aunt Sally's School for Wayward Girls teams who don't guard particularly well - or something.

How is that for BlowHardy?

 

[cordeodato]

There are a lot of anti-oldites on this board. I am old and don't like the women's game. Too slow
It amazes me how many young people know exactly how older people think. Just another stupid prejudice.
What is the cutoff again 40-50-60??

 

[ctchamps]

There are a lot of anti-oldites on this board. I am old and don't like the women's game. Too slow
It amazes me how many young people know exactly how older people think. Just another stupid prejudice.
What is the cutoff again 40-50-60??

I'm anti old. That's because I'm old. I often conjecture how others think even as I often wonder I how got there and where I came from in doing it.