The "Big, Big Problem"

[veryolddog]

Geno is just being Geno. Every year the puppet master pulls the strings and the puppets begin to wiggle the way he wants them to wiggle. He wants to know why they are afraid to make a mistake? They are terrified that they won't win his approval. Watch the players: they look over to the bench to see his reaction. He re-creates them. When they "get it", and lose the fear, and start playing the "Geno" way, then he will ease up and begin to praise them.

 

[Longtime fan]

Megan has been a major factor in several games. We may loose the Notre Dame game without her rebounding for example. Also this years incoming class have an established group in front of them, making it harder to get minutes and make an impact. BTW, even Moriah had limited minutes her freshman year.

I think you are onto the issue. Geno has, naturally, had to play the starting 6 for most of most games. He needs them to get into a rhythm and develop a feel ( and trust ) for each other. When a bench player gets in for 4-6 minutes, at most, it is pretty hard to do much that will "demand" more court time. Walker has played biggest in the biggest moments, but she must not be performing consistently in practice. I have no basis for this comment, other than that is the rhetoric which always comes out of the mouths of former UConn players; " you earn court time in practice. " But even that has limits, given the quality of the starting 6. I mean if Molly practices better than anyone, is Crystal going to sit down? I don't think ( barring injury ) there is any room for the bench players in most games, no matter how well they work in practice. In fact, when the NCAA tourney gets beyond the preliminary rounds, we shall likely see only 6 players. And we all know who they are. Next year, the doors open a lot wider.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Megan will be fine. In 2020, no one will believe she ever had a bad game.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Didn’t know there was a football board. Does UConn have a football team?

;-)

Oh you are mean---but funny!!

 

[DaddyChoc]

Crystal, Moriah nor Gabby did anything their Freshman year

 

[my2cents]

Every other school in the country wishes they had the problem of integrating 5-7 All Americans and potential All Americans.
Freshman , in Geno's mind, earn their playing time by working hard in practice and "making plays" in their time in games.
The reserves had bad practices this week, but played well in the game...shouldn't game play become a larger factor?
MW is a unbelievable talent, but maybe her style, slashing and scoring...needing the ball to score. As a freshman, does not fit in Genos' philosophy of passing it around until someone is open.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Every other school in the country wishes they had the problem of integrating 5-7 All Americans and potential All Americans.
Freshman , in Geno's mind, earn their playing time by working hard in practice and "making plays" in their time in games.
The reserves had bad practices this week, but played well in the game...shouldn't game play become a larger factor?
MW is a unbelievable talent, but maybe her style, slashing and scoring...needing the ball to score. As a freshman, does not fit in Genos' philosophy of passing it around until someone is open.

Sometimes Coach Geno is just pushing kids to be better. That was behind his caustic/funny comments about Z after the UCF game. But other times he's being totally honest. And that was what he was doing when talking about the younger players. And here's an article about the same subject:

Geno Auriemma Wants Inconsistent Reserves To Show They Are Unafraid

Sorry, but that group should be producing more. Coach Geno was sending a message, loud and clear, when he kept Walker off the floor in a blow-out until there were six minutes left. And he wasn't kidding when he said the best thing about the game was the last four minutes.

Sorry, but they need to produce far better than they have.

Still really, really want things to work out for AEH. Really sad that she's having this hiccup in her career. Such a young kid. Hoping for the best.

 

[Orangutan]

Megan will be fine. In 2020, no one will believe she ever had a bad game.

Yup. On 1/5/13 UConn lost to Notre Dame 73-72. So this almost the exact same part of the season we are at now.

Jefferson played seven minutes. Her only contribution to the stat sheet was 2 fouls. She was 0-2 shooting. No rebounds, assists, steals. Nothing.

Stewart shot 5-17 in her 22 minutes and also had 4 turnovers vs. 0 assists. Her overall stat line is ok (10 pts, 9 reb, 6 blocks) but she was horribly inefficient.

Those two turned out ok.

 

[Bgillon]

Orangutan is such a great addition to our board. I am amazed at how valuable a contributor he is and in a less than friendly environ sometimes. He enriches our discourse. Well done!!!

 

[my2cents]

Sometimes Coach Geno is just pushing kids to be better. That was behind his caustic/funny comments about Z after the UCF game. But other times he's being totally honest. And that was what he was doing when talking about the younger players. And here's an article about the same subject:

Geno Auriemma Wants Inconsistent Reserves To Show They Are Unafraid

Sorry, but that group should be producing more. Coach Geno was sending a message, loud and clear, when he kept Walker off the floor in a blow-out until there were six minutes left. And he wasn't kidding when he said the best thing about the game was the last four minutes.

Sorry, but they need to produce far better than they have.

Still really, really want things to work out for AEH. Really sad that she's having this hiccup in her career. Such a young kid. Hoping for the best.

If I missed Geno's sarcasm regarding Z after the game, then my bad.
MW has produced, in her uneven time the last few games. (Post her illness)
I even understand Geno's demand for maximum effort about practice.
But as Allen Iverson said, "Are we talkin practice? practice? its practice man, i mean practice?"
Orangutan is a like a guest celebrity on the board

 

[UcMiami]

Just to put 'development of freshman' in a little perspective, we have a senior AA on this team whose last three games as a freshman average under 5 minutes per game and the MOV in those three games was 18 points so they weren't exactly nail biters.

The history of Uconn is that very few freshman contribute much at all in 'competitive games, and even fewer see the floor in the FF. And regardless of the size of the bench, most starters average 28+ minutes per game, and the next two players about 18 minutes per game - does not leave a lot of minutes for 'bench' players, freshman or otherwise. And the MOV for Uconn is consistently in the 30s year after year.

Go to the Archives tab on the Uconn site and pull up the full year stats - they are amazingly consistent. And this year is following the same pattern.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

But as Allen Iverson said, "Are we talkin practice? practice? its practice man, i mean practice?"

And that quote is his epistle in the NBA Hall of Fame. Hard to make a point with it here.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

If I missed Geno's sarcasm regarding Z after the game, then my bad.
MW has produced, in her uneven time the last few games. (Post her illness)
I even understand Geno's demand for maximum effort about practice.
But as Allen Iverson said, "Are we talkin practice? practice? its practice man, i mean practice?"
Orangutan is a like a guest celebrity on the board

You have to go back to the interview for the comment on Z. It was hilarious and vintage Geno. He said something like, "Z plays both ends of the court. One half she plays on the offensive end of the court, and the next half she plays on the defensive end of the court. So she says she's got the whole court covered."

I'm not doing justice to his humor. It was a long quote. But he was needling Azura, and it was really funny.

 

[chrissaran]

Kyla has improved quite a bit, Bronxjeff. You're right on target.