UConn Undefeated, 2002 Version

[FanHam]

Saw the UConn Undefeated, 2002 version yesterday.

Very entertaining. Already knew Geno, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird had big personalities and sharp senses of humor, but Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams surprised me by being just as funny and charming as the others.

Geno had a good line. He said Svetlana Abrosimova and Shea Ralph "wouldn't pass you the ketchup at dinner, let alone the ball." Sue Bird had one, too. When Geno whined about how hard they were to coach, she said "Then give me back your rings and your (Olympic) medals!".

This team was a steamroller in 2002. Tamika said at one point "they were mean". They all reminisced about Asjha making Vanderbilt's star player, whose name escapes me, cry during an early season rout.

Was surprised how vague everyone's memory was about the details of the season: opponent, winning scores, etc. They did all remember the Sweet Sixteen games through to the national championship. Somebody ought to print off a crib sheet for the last three shows.

Swin, Asjha, Tamika and Sue, who were all freshmen in 1998, knew the underclassman Diana was the necessary addition they needed to win the national championship (and go undefeated) in the 2001-2002 season. They treated her as an equal.

There were plenty of entertaining stories and surprising revelations. Tamika nearly brought me to tears with her remembrance of how they went to a bar after finally getting back to Storrs after the Final 4, had a drink, then instead of feeling euphoric, they collectively felt let down: it was over, they'd come, they'd seen and they'd conquered, and now they were going their separate ways, probably never to be teammates again, never to suffer together again, never to feel that joy again.

Poignant. Don't miss it.

 

[eebmg]

Maybe posted elsewhere but never too much

 

[eebmg]

Looking forward to the 2014/2016 period Wonder who will be part of it.

Probably Stewie, Tuck, Moriah, Stephanie, Hartley, KML;

 

[warbler1055]

Had trouble with the audio. Missed lots of conversations. Thanks for the nice summary.

 

[EricLA]

I enjoyed it a lot. Still, the best one so far was the 1995 team. The most eloquent and well spoken quintet of former UCONN players.

One small nit to pick - there were several times where they reminisced about teams they played, one example, as @FanHam pointed out, made a Vandy player cry. They showed numerous snippets of game tape for other games, several snippets they showed numerous times (it was almost as if they were too lazy to get other archived tape).

I would have liked to have seen the Vandy player crying when they played UCONN. There was some lively discussion about how Geno was consoling Diana after the final 4 loss her freshman year to ND. The other player said Dee was crying, and Geno consoled her but not any of the other players. Then they showed a snip of Dee on the bench in tears with Geno kneeling down chatting with her. That was awesome. Would have liked to have seen more snips of what the players were talking about with other stories...

My other small nit was the audio quality - had a hard time hearing what they were saying, as @warbler13 mentioned. They needed better video quality for several of the former players...

 

[Drumex]

Looking forward to the 2014/2016 period Wonder who will be part of it.

Probably Stewie, Tuck, Moriah, Stephanie, Hartley, KML;

It was a wonderful reminisence of a great team- fearless, hard-working,
fun-loving, talented, confident, insightful, and in the end- inspiring.
All these Undefeated shows are indicative of Geno's choices of players
that he got the most out of their abilities. And the players, in turn, have contributed
to their own communities, or their own teammates in their workplace, and have made
a difference. Excellent series.
Peace to our Husky Nation
Drumex- a 1972/73 grad who remembers the cow palace, years before
Gampel, where you could shoot hoops or run on the track, and get dunked on
by pickup guys. No 3-point line, kids.

 

[uconnfan68]

I enjoyed it a lot. Still, the best one so far was the 1995 team. The most eloquent and well spoken quintet of former UCONN players.

One small nit to pick - there were several times where they reminisced about teams they played, one example, as @FanHam pointed out, made a Vandy player cry. They showed numerous snippets of game tape for other games, several snippets they showed numerous times (it was almost as if they were too lazy to get other archived tape).

I would have liked to have seen the Vandy player crying when they played UCONN. There was some lively discussion about how Geno was consoling Diana after the final 4 loss her freshman year to ND. The other player said Dee was crying, and Geno consoled her but not any of the other players. Then they showed a snip of Dee on the bench in tears with Geno kneeling down chatting with her. That was awesome. Would have liked to have seen more snips of what the players were talking about with other stories...

My other small nit was the audio quality - had a hard time hearing what they were saying, as @warbler13 mentioned. They needed better video quality for several of the former players...

I don’t remember the Vandy player crying, but definitely remember how physically she was handled. She was a 6’6” All-American, and Asjha just tossed her to the floor. Even Asjha admitted she was mean that day.

 

[UConnCat]

I don’t remember the Vandy player crying, but definitely remember how physically she was handled. She was a 6’6” All-American, and Asjha just tossed her to the floor. Even Asjha admitted she was mean that day.

Chantelle Anderson.

 

[BobbyJ]

This show was a good reminder to me of the differences I see in the players of that era and now. All of these young women, even now as athletes and coaches, still have a hardness and an edge to them that I don’t see in the kids at UConn now. The current kids run hard and compete and are really nice. But that ‘02 crew on the court was just physically and mentally nasty. That’s why they’ll always be my favorite UConn team.

 

[Aluminny69]

Can anyone explain the Maria Conlon finger roll story? They were all laughing, it was difficult to discern what they were saying. Thanks in advance.

 

[CL82]

Can anyone explain the Maria Conlon finger roll story? They were all laughing, it was difficult to discern what they were saying. Thanks in advance.

I don't remember it clearly either, so feel free to chime in and correct, but...

DT was making fun of Conlon's quirky lay up. Swin defended her. DT fired back. Swin (aka Schwinn) got fed up and left. DT said something like "Yeah, why don't you go watch your 'stories.' I'm sure General Hospital is on." It pissed Swin off and they may have had a "discussion" about it in the locker room later.

Something like that anyway.

 

[Geew1992]

I don't remember it clearly either, so feel free to chime in and correct, but...

DT was making fun of Conlon's quirky lay up. Swin defended her. DT fired back. Swin (aka Schwinn) got fed up and left. DT said something like "Yeah, why don't you go watch your 'stories.' I'm sure General Hospital is on." It pissed Swin off and they may have had a "discussion" about it in the locker room later.

Something like that anyway.

The reason this story came about is because they were talking about D’s attitude. Swin said she was a totally different person on and off the court. Geno asked if there was ever a tussel. That was the only moment they could think of