Twenty Years/Fifteen Years/Other News & Notes

[CamrnCrz1974]

1995-2014...twenty years.
- Nine UConn national championships.
- 45 percent of the WCBB national titles in the past 20 years have gone to UConn.

2000-2014...fifteen years.
- Eight UConn national championships.
- 53.3 percent of the WCBB national titles in the past 15 years have gone to UConn.

Tara + Muffet + Mulkey + Brenda + Blair + Hatchell = 8 national titles overall
Geno = 9 national titles overall

2000-2014...fifteen years.
- Pat + Tara + Muffet + Mulkey + Brenda + Blair + Hatchell = 7 titles in this time frame
- Geno = 8 titles in this time frame


The more numbers/analytics/data I research, the most impressed and amazed I am with what Geno Auriemma, his staff, and his players have accomplished. It almost makes me think that Geno is under-appreciated and under-rated as a coach. These numbers are simply mind-blowing.

 

[Vowelguy]

Suck up.

 

[j66kicker]

So we need some serious competition. You guys should get coach K to coach both he mens AND womens teams

 

[Icebear]

The more numbers/analytics/data I research, the most impressed and amazed I am with what Geno Auriemma, his staff, and his players have accomplished. It almost makes me think that Geno is under-appreciated and under-rated as a coach. These numbers are simply mind-blowing.

He is not under appreciated by other pros in the business. NBA coaches, men's college coaches and most women's coaches understand the truth about Geno's coaching.

 

[UcMiami]

He is not under appreciated by other pros in the business. NBA coaches, men's college coaches and most women's coaches understand the truth about Geno's coaching.

Within the men's fraternity there remain a number of coaches that still stigmatize Geno with the 'yeah, but ...' but I agree it is a much smaller percentage than the men's fan base.
I actually enjoyed the commercials running during both tournaments with the three coaches (rotating cast) sitting around discussing the coaching process/philosophy with two men and a woman. The lines could have been interchanged - the process being the same for everyone.

 

[alexrgct]

The question is not whether Geno is the best coach in WCBB history. That's pretty much a given.

No, the real question that's developing is whether Geno is better at coaching WCBB than anyone has ever been at anything.

 

[HuskyNan]

The question is not whether Geno is the best coach in WCBB history. That's pretty much a given.

No, the real question that's developing is whether Geno is better at coaching WCBB than anyone has ever been at anything.

Cough, Anson Dorrance.

 

[UcMiami]

The question is not whether Geno is the best coach in WCBB history. That's pretty much a given.

No, the real question that's developing is whether Geno is better at coaching WCBB than anyone has ever been at anything.

January 18, 2012 — Yale defeated the Trinity College men’s squash team today, ending the longest winning streak in the history of varsity intercollegiate sports in the United States.

Playing at Yale’s Brady Squash Center, Yale upset the top-ranked Bantams by a score of 5-4. The Bulldogs, who are coached by Dave Talbott, are the first team to defeat Trinity since 1998, when the Bantams’ record-breaking 252-match streak began.

Trinity’s streak far surpasses the number of wins of other notable intercollegiate winning streaks. Yale’s swimming team had a 201-meet winning streak between 1940 and 1961. Miami’s men’s tennis team won 137 matches between 1957 and 1964, and the UCLA men’s basketball team won 88 in a row under John Wooden in the early 1970s. More recently, Penn State’s women’s volleyball team won 109 matches in a streak that ended in 2010, and the UConn women’s basketball team won 90 games in a streak that ended last December.

 

[Suebird10fan]

The question is not whether Geno is the best coach in WCBB history. That's pretty much a given.

No, the real question that's developing is whether Geno is better at coaching WCBB than anyone has ever been at anything.

Alex you might want to change your password. Looks like TonyC got hold of it.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Nan, UCMiami, I was going to skip right over coaching altogether and bring up folks like Mozart and Einstein. They were pretty good at what they did.

 

[Icebear]

Alex, is correct. Geno's greatness in relationship to other coaching greats is a conversation that is being held. Anson Dorrance certainly belongs in that conversation as do others but I have heard national broadcasters now raising that very question. The answer is up for debate and that in itself is an amazing fact.

 

[Blakeon18]

Cam: I don't know whether you have addressed this topic here or not...but if you did, I missed it.

What are your thoughts on Duke's coach? Happy with her performance so far or not? Someone said she recently signed an extension...you OK with that?

If you would rather her elsewhere, who would you hire if you were The King of DukeDom?

My impression from afar is that recruiting has gone very well in her time....whether Duke or Joan get more credit for that...I don't know. I think the teams have overall
underachieved.

 

[UcMiami]

Alex, is correct. Geno's greatness in relationship to other coaching greats is a conversation that is being held. Anson Dorrance certainly belongs in that conversation as do others but I have heard national broadcasters now raising that very question. The answer is up for debate and that in itself is an amazing fact.

Agree. Each sport at each level has its own unique qualities of competition and success both at an individual and at a team level. Success on an individual basis in baseball is measured as failure 7 out of every 10 at bats, in golf a 'winning percentage' of 20% is phenomenal, in pro basketball 80%. Shooting percentages for a guard 50%, for a post 60%. Geno is a great coach, but in his 29 years he has only won 9 championships or 31% (Wow!)
The translation between sports and their environments and their individual 'dumb luck' coefficients is imperfect at best. Comparisons between 'ages' in the same sport also involves significant relational issue involving changes in competitive landscapes, physical development of the species, nutritional (both legal and illegal) advances, rules changes within the game and within the structure of a season, medical care, and technological advances/changes in equipment, playing surfaces, and uniform.
For coaches specifically - the players they get to coach has as much to do with their record as the skill with which they coach. Red had Russell, Phil had Michael, Geno had 'DT and you don't', Pat had the 'Mekes'.
I do think one thing that stands out to me is the 5 undefeated seasons and 3 of the 4 longest winning streaks in history that are among Geno's accomplishments. There have been other truly dominant teams in WCBB (including some Geno coached) but the ability to consistently play to a standard of excellence game after game without ever having that clunker is impressive. Add in the home winning streak, the 20+ years of not losing two games in a row, the streak of not losing to an unranked team which are again signs of consistency and focus.
Geno deserves to be in those discussions, but there will never be a answer to the 'best ever' across time or sport.