This championship team resembles none other Geno has had

[alexrgct]

Geno's 2002, 2009, and 2010 teams were juggernauts.

His 1995 and 2000 teams were close- not quite as dominant, but very, very good.

His 2003 team was kind of a rich man's version of this season's ND squad- depleted, built around a remaining superstar with a collection if sidekicks and talented freshmen. Of course D is D, and Skylar, with all due respect, is not.

In 2004, the band was brought back together, limped through the regular season, and then turned it on when it counted.

Which brings us to 2013. Their run through the NCAA tournament would have made the juggernauts proud. Their struggles through the regular season sort of harkened back to the 2004 team. And at the start of the season, I saw them maybe like the 2000 or 1995 teams, albeit less experienced.

What does this mean? Well, it means that with #8, Geno paradoxically did something he'd never done before. And I bet when all is said and done, this team will hold a special place in his heart. It marked the culmination of the collegiate careers of a couple of kids he adores, marked the season of a fulfilled promise for two juniors he respects immensely, and just the beginning for a group of freshman and sophomores who are going to cement his legacy beyond any shadow of a debate when all is said and done.

Not bad for his "worst coaching job ever".

 

[Big Fan]

His post-game comments were interesting. Besides saying he did a lousy coaching job he also remarked that he and the team never seemed to “gel” or something to that effect. He never once mentioned the injuries or that he had to use 7 different starting lineups in the last 9 games of the regular season (I think I got this correct) In reality it was probably his best job of coaching and trying all of those combinations down the stretch allowed him to substitute when needed and give some players a rest when needed.

I’ve never once heard him use the plethora of injuries as an excuse – which certainly attributed to lack of team chemistry.

I have to be honest – except for the first championship where I think he really outcoached Pat I think this was his best coaching job.

 

[jplotinus]

Looking back to the beginning of the season and recalling the BY threads as best I can, I think expectations for this team were sky high. 39-0 or no worse than 38-1 was the expectation. 30+ victory margins were mandatory.

I recall that the Md and the PSU outcomes were not considered satisfactory and some blamed Bria for not doing this or that concerning her injury. So, expectations were dented early on.

To me the key factor may simply have been that other teams played better than expected. That can make it seem as if our coaches were lacking, but the reality is the competition may have had expectations for winning of their own and were not willing to give up without a fight.

Our expectations for perfection will be the same next season.