I think Staley understands what UConn does and why it works very well.
"I think movement: ball movement, player movement, a lot of activity," Staley said. "They do a really good job of reading defenses. So they're not really looking at what their teammates are doing, they're looking at what the defense is doing. And that's a really hard concept for young people to see because they only see their teammates, they don't see the opposing jerseys. And once you advance to that where you're just seeing defense, the ball will tell you where to go. I think UConn does a really good job at teaching that."
When Geno was coaching the Olympic team for the first time, he tried to employ that read and react mentality with the team. Diana took him aside and told him that he can't do that, that the team wasn't UConn. Instead she told him to draw up a play and give it a name and the pros on the team would execute it.
Last night Geno said that UConn was struggling with deciding how to attack SC. Either Shea or Marissa said, it's not working, pick something and tell them to go with it. In the end Geno took two plays and ran them and the team grew more and more comfortable and took over the game.
The take away for me is that Geno teaches the game at a very high, very cerebral level. But he has the experience (and the staff) to change things up when needed. Excellent preparation, plus great game coaching is a tough to overcome. That probably matters more than 'Geno gets all the all-Americans."
