Truth be told, I hadn't given much thought over which Duke coach was actually better or worse than the other.
We were able to surmise that from your posts.
Beating Tennessee in 1999 was a great win for Duke, no doubt about it. The flub was in losing to Purdue in the championship game that year, a game they should have won in my mind.
Purdue was the OVERALL #1 seed that year and one of two favorites for the title (the other being Tennessee, the team Duke beat. Duke was a #3 seed. But somehow, Duke committed a flub in losing to a team with Ukari Figgs, Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper, etc. - all of whom went on to play several years in the WNBA, with Figgs and Douglas being starters on WNBA championship teams.
Interesting enough, in the NCAA tournament years from 1996 to 2007, Duke only lost to two teams that were numerically a better seed than they were. Purdue was a 1 and Duke a 3 in 1999. In 2005, Duke was 2 when they lost to 1 seed LSU. But over those years Duke was no worse than a 4 seed every year (they were six times a 1 seed, three times a 2 seed), and in those years they were bounced from the tournament by a 12, 9, 7, and a 5 seed, as well as by 2 and a 4 seed when they were a 1.
In 1996, Duke was building a program. The program was in the bottom of the basement when Goestenkors took over. In four years, she made that team relevant. And in her seventh year, the team was in the Final Four.
As for your statistics in that time period, you overlook the fact she made two national championship games and four Final Four appearances. From 1999 until 2007, Duke was a regular national title contender. 4 Final Fours, 7 Elite Eights, 7 30-win seasons (not to mention Goestenkors' record against UConn and Tennessee, her record against top five opponents, and her record against top ten opponents, all of which I posted for the 2001-2007 period). That loss to the 7th seed was to Minnesota with Whalen and McCarville, and Minnesota was ONLY seeded 7th because of all the losses the team sustained while Whalen was injured (she missed nearly 1/3 of the season).
More importantly, you claim she underachieved when she didn't beat #1 Purdue (when the team was a 3rd seed) despite making it to the NCAA Final, but then claim she underachieved when she lost to lower seeded teams n the Final Four and the Elite Eight.
So which is it? She loses to better teams and national title favorites, she underachieves (in your mind); she loses to lower seeded teams, even in the Final Four, she underachives. By that logic, unless she wins a national title every single year, she underachieves, in your estimation.
I just think that Goestenkors was way overrated over her Duke years as well.
Whats that expression from Kandi Burress..."She kept saying she 'think' I owe her an apology. Good thing she don't get paid for thinking."
I have posted records, numbers, and FACTS throughout this thread.
There is no "consistent underperformance" with Goestenkors, as you claim. It is a internet/message board fiction that people have bought into over the years. The only year I will say that Goestenkors underachieved, in my estimation, was 2003, when Duke returned the most talent and had beaten TN, while UConn lost four of its starting five (but still had Diana...and we didn't) and Oklahoma lost its key players. Arguably, 2004 falls into that category as well.
But after 2004, people (including many on this site, the Summitt, etc.) thought that Duke and Gail Goestenkors were DONE because of the graduation of Alana Beard. Duke lost Beard, Iciss Tillis, and Vicki Krapohl to graduation, Brittany Hunter to transfer, and Lindsey Harding to suspension and was down to 7 healthy players by the end of the year...and still won 30 games, made the Elite Eight, and lost by ten points (after being tied at the half) to LSU, with Temeka Johnson, Sylvia Fowles, and Seimone Augustus. And that team beat TN in Knoxville.
In 2006, the team lost a heartbreaker of a national championship game to Maryland in overtime, in a year where Duke, Maryland, and UNC were all #1 seeds. Duke beat UConn in Bridgeport in the Elite Eight and beat LSU (still with Fowles and Augustus) in the Final Four.
In 2007, Duke had lost Monique Currie, Mistie Bass, and Jessica Foley to graduation, Laura Kurz to transfer, and Chante Black to injury (she missed the entire season). And yet, the team went through the regular season undefeated, beating Candice Parker in Knoxville (and starting out the game on a 19-0 run). The ONLY reason why Duke was upset by one point by Rutgers in the Sweet 16 was because of the speculation that Goestenkors was leaving for Texas, as the rumors were swirling and it was being talked about at every single press conference. That was a MAJOR distraction. But still, that game was an upset.
And if you look at the games from 2005, 2006, and 2007, you will see VASTLY different offensive and defensive sets than 2001-2004, the Alana Beard era. In fact, Beard's graduation made Goestenkors as much better coach, and the results prove it.
Coach G left a bad "coaching" taste in my mouth many years ago, and to me it is petty much an automatic reaction for me to make snide remarks about her teams underperforming in the NCAA tourney over the years, despite continually being a top seed.
So for some unknown reason, you do not like her, which means you make bold proclamations about her career, wholly unsupported by facts, data, anecdotal evidence, or any semblance of objective thought. Got it, and noted for future reference.