"Uncoachable Christyn Williams" - I dislike the way it's mischaracterized | Page 2 | The Boneyard

"Uncoachable Christyn Williams" - I dislike the way it's mischaracterized

I want her to be an All American next year. The best way to respond to the unfair criticism would be to end up on the wall.
 
@Bald Huskie this might not be 1995 but here you are definitely dwelling on something from the past. Both Geno and Christyn have move well beyond those comments. Both acknowledge that the comments were made in a moment of frustration by Geno and when Christyn's confidence and performance was at a low point. The commentators that mention this All mention this in a positive light as in "look how far the relationship has come since then." Quite as it kept Christyn Williams is shaping up to be one of the best post season players in UCONN history. Why bring this up now?
 
Bald Huskie said:
This has bothered me for a while, so now I feel the need to express my thoughts. I don't know where this came from, probably from one of Genos pressers, but I feel that an injustice has been done to Christyn Williams. This is 2021 Geno, not 1995. We live in a different world now. Since the term "uncoachable" has come out regarding Christyn, it has been a headline in the print media, social media, and even discussed by TV commentators. So now the entire national basketball community thinks that she is, or has been, an uncoachable player. The problem I have is the different interpretations people may perceive from that comment. Is she nasty, does she have an ego problem, disrespectful? In every interview since her first after her great performance against ND, I have found her respectful and a very pleasant person. This was probably an off the cuff comment, but coaches and players alike have to be aware of what they say, and this comment I am sure does not do Christyn any favors, and will unfortunately follow her around until she graduates. I for one appreciate her skills and am proud that she is a member of our team.
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let it go GIF
 
Uncoachable tends to imply character traits that are unfair to Christyn. I see no evidence of that. Geno wants to take a great talent and mold that into what he envisions the best use of that talent in his system. On occasion he adjusts the system to fit the player, but usually it is the other way around. He also tries to ween players of their faults, reducing fouls, turnovers, low percentage shots etc.

In Christyn's case, on offense a comfort zone has never been reached. How aggressive or passive to be is something that is a constant battle. She is far more scorer than shooter. Ability to create a shot good, pure shooting ability not really. Uconn as a team shoots a very high percentage, so someone who can get their own shot at mediocre efficiency doesn't bring much additional value to the table, but on a team with few scoring options it could be a very valuable trait.

So I think Christyn's scoring volume is constrained by a very high bar on what is a good shot by Uconn standards. On the other hand if she eliminates that aggression she becomes just a spot up three point shooter which turns her into a mediocre offensive player.

Christyn is not an instinctive or creative passer but doesn't turn it over either. She clearly has pitched in more on rebounds when we play small ball, and her biggest improvement is completely turning around her performance on the defensive end. It appears that she has been a good teammate, works hard, and is clearly on balance a very good college player. The offensive production has probably fallen short of expectations given her rating as a prospect, but in times where our offense is not getting good shots, turning her loose a little more on offense probably is strategic, even if it is not against most opponents. Knowing when to flip that switch has been hard for the player and the coach in my opinion.
 
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CW will be judged by the basketball world her play on the court..........if she continues at her current level of play she will most likely be in the WNBA based on that and with Geno's recommendation.........
 
Bald Huskie said:
This has bothered me for a while, so now I feel the need to express my thoughts. I don't know where this came from, probably from one of Genos pressers, but I feel that an injustice has been done to Christyn Williams. This is 2021 Geno, not 1995. We live in a different world now. Since the term "uncoachable" has come out regarding Christyn, it has been a headline in the print media, social media, and even discussed by TV commentators. So now the entire national basketball community thinks that she is, or has been, an uncoachable player. The problem I have is the different interpretations people may perceive from that comment. Is she nasty, does she have an ego problem, disrespectful? In every interview since her first after her great performance against ND, I have found her respectful and a very pleasant person. This was probably an off the cuff comment, but coaches and players alike have to be aware of what they say, and this comment I am sure does not do Christyn any favors, and will unfortunately follow her around until she graduates. I for one appreciate her skills and am proud that she is a member of our team.
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Maybe you should look for the original story and the context of the statement. If I recall, it was based upon some pretty specific things that Christyn was or wasn't doing at the time. It was not intended to be taken as some people have taken it. But in the current world, like you said, it was blown up and spread all over the interwebs, without the context. And even here on the BY. But it is the off season and everyone and everything is fair game, correct????
 
Geno says a lot of stuff, about all his players, and has probably called most of the great ones "uncoachable" at one time or another. He obviously does it to tweak them. It means nothing. In the end, they improve. That's coaching. Christyn's no different. In hindsight, wish she hadn't had such a great performance against ND. But she was a markedly different player this year, particularly on defense and in the tourney. That's coaching. She's a great kid and a great player. Period.
 
Uncoachable means I tell you to do something to improve yourself as a player and you are not doing it. And he was talking about that moment, not forever. I believe she acknowledged it, he was telling me how to be better and I wasn't doing it. Now I am and I am better for it. You are living in today's world where no one can be criticized, you tell everyone great job and give them a pat on the back and smile. End result, they never get better. She wants to get better, you want her to be ... what? I like her attitude better than yours. and it the end, it is her decision how to react, not yours. I am sorry that you are offended by Geno's coaching of her. Now it seems You don't want to just stop someone from saying something that applies to You, You want to power to stop someone saying something that applies to someone else that offends you. You don't want Geno to make her better, because he had to say some tough love words. Sometimes a coach makes players run until they are exhausted and in agony to get them in shape. Is that forbidden? Sometimes coaches point out that a team won't get the message until they lose, like maybe this year's Arkansas game. You know what, I'll bet that loss hurt the team's feelings. They should not have to hurt like that just to learn a lesson and get better. I move that we take than loss away and pretend it never happened. Let's take away all the losses from every team. All teams are undefeated, everyone is a champ. Did you see how Boston was in tears after the loss? That was not fair. We have to make that last basket go in so she can be euphoric. Whoopee. Oh wait, what about the other team, if we make Boston happy we leave them in despair.

Jesus said to Peter, "get behind me Satan." Talk about harsh words. That is terrible. We have to tell Jesus he can't talk like that. Or just maybe we say tough words were needed to get the message delivered to Peter. As is often said, don't complain when God gives you tough situations to teach you something, worry when he stops caring enough to try to teach you.

Did you notice also that when Williams missed 3 out of 4 free throws that nearly cost us a win over Baylor, instead of being out on the floor with the team whooping it up right after the final buzzer, Geno went over to her, put his arm around her and told her good job, you helped us win this game and we could not have done it without you. The man knows how to get the best out of people most of the time, and players come to UConn because that is what they want. Occasionally they find out it is not what they want, and they transfer out. That is fine. Different strokes for different folks.
 
She was used to having the ball all the time in high school and that was hard for her to transition from initially but she has. She moved really well without the ball in the second half of the season and became a very solid defensive player upon request by the coaches and is very team oriented. That's not uncoachable, that's very coachable, especially her work on defense which is as much desire as it is technique. I am looking forward to the senior version of CW, stronger and highly motivated.
 
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Okay, okay,okay. Sorry I brought it it up. When you get up in the morning after not sleeping well, your mind thinks of strange things. You're right, Geno has his own way of motivating players, and I'm actually in favor of how he does it. Internally thats fine, I guess I just didn't like the attention it got nationally, portraying her the way they did. My bad, I guess in my old age I'm becoming a softy, or simply the grandfathering type. Sorry about that.
 
oldhuskie said:
Uncoachable tends to imply character traits that are unfair to Christyn. I see no evidence of that. Geno wants to take a great talent and mold that into what he envisions the best use of that talent in his system. On occasion he adjusts the system to fit the player, but usually it is the other way around. He also tries to ween players of their faults, reducing fouls, turnovers, low percentage shots etc.

In Christyn's case, on offense a comfort zone has never been reached. How aggressive or passive to be is something that is a constant battle. She is far more scorer than shooter. Ability to create a shot good, pure shooting ability not really. Uconn as a team shoots a very high percentage, so someone who can get their own shot at mediocre efficiency doesn't bring much additional value to the table, but on a team with few scoring options it could be a very valuable trait.

So I think Christyn's scoring volume is constrained by a very high bar on what is a good shot by Uconn standards. On the other hand if she eliminates that aggression she becomes just a spot up three point shooter which turns her into a mediocre offensive player.

Christyn is not an instinctive or creative passer but doesn't turn it over either. She clearly has pitched in more on rebounds when we play small ball, and her biggest improvement is completely turning around her performance on the defensive end. It appears that she has been a good teammate, works hard, and is clearly on balance a very good college player. The offensive production has probably fallen short of expectations given her rating as a prospect, but in times where our offense is not getting good shots, turning her loose a little more on offense probably is strategic, even if it is not against most opponents. Knowing when to flip that switch has been hard for the player and the coach in my opinion.
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This may be true, but if you take her scoring average for the past two years and extrapolate that to a 38 game season she'd most likely be a 2000 point career scorer (barring injury next year). That would put her ahead of many great Uconn players. As it is she'll most likely finish above Abrosimova.

Bria Hartley (2010-14): 1,994 points
Renee Montgomery (2006-09): 1,990 points
Svetlana Abrosimova (1998-01): 1,865 points
Tiffany Hayes (2008-12): 1,801 points
Stefanie Dolson (2010-14): 1,797 points
Ann Strother (2002-06): 1,699 points
Shea Ralph (1997-01): 1,678 points
Kia Nurse (2014-18): 1,674 points
Barbara Turner (2003-06): 1,629 points
 
Bald Huskie said:
This has bothered me for a while, so now I feel the need to express my thoughts. I don't know where this came from, probably from one of Genos pressers, but I feel that an injustice has been done to Christyn Williams. This is 2021 Geno, not 1995. We live in a different world now. Since the term "uncoachable" has come out regarding Christyn, it has been a headline in the print media, social media, and even discussed by TV commentators. So now the entire national basketball community thinks that she is, or has been, an uncoachable player. The problem I have is the different interpretations people may perceive from that comment. Is she nasty, does she have an ego problem, disrespectful? In every interview since her first after her great performance against ND, I have found her respectful and a very pleasant person. This was probably an off the cuff comment, but coaches and players alike have to be aware of what they say, and this comment I am sure does not do Christyn any favors, and will unfortunately follow her around until she graduates. I for one appreciate her skills and am proud that she is a member of our team.
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Show me where the coaching staff has said this. If not, it's just an opinion with no upside being discussed here.
 
temery said:
Show me where the coaching staff has said this. If not, it's just an opinion with no upside being discussed here.
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the-boneyard.com

"Uncoachable Christyn Williams" - I dislike the way it's mischaracterized

There's an article on ESPNW UConn's Christyn Williams motivated by Geno Auriemma's 'uncoachable' comment, fuels Sweet 16 win The article goes on to say "Christyn Williams was wounded by the remark, probably more than UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma intended. When he referred...
the-boneyard.com the-boneyard.com

I thought this topic had been chewed over recently
 
Pretty sure the uncoachable thing was kept in -house when it was a problem, it only came out as a compliment to show her progression.
 
I think what was meant was that she was not doing things that she needed to be doing, maybe in practice but certainly in games. We all saw the uneven and undeachieving game performances. I did not take it to mean that she was a bad person or anything other than that she was not putting into practice the things she was being taught or that she was being asked to do and the things the team needed her to do. I also recall several games where Geno gave her high praise. There was no evidence that she did anyhting other than respond and that the message that was delivered was received. We need to remember that anyone who comes to UCONN wants to be held to a high standard and wants to be coached. These are very competitive people and they can take being challenged and pushed. As Geno said, this team need Christyn to be performing at a high level to be successful and she needs to perform at that level to achieve her goals of WNBA success.
 
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Bald Huskie said:
Okay, okay,okay. Sorry I brought it it up. When you get up in the morning after not sleeping well, your mind thinks of strange things. You're right, Geno has his own way of motivating players, and I'm actually in favor of how he does it. Internally thats fine, I guess I just didn't like the attention it got nationally, portraying her the way they did. My bad, I guess in my old age I'm becoming a softy, or simply the grandfathering type. Sorry about that.
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No need to back off just because some BYers ostracize your totally unnecessary observations about a long-dead topic.
Remember your Emerson: "To be great is to be misunderstood."
 
Trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Let it go.
 
huskiemaniac said:
Imo, Christyn had her "Tina Charles light bulb moment" at roughly the same point in her UConn career as TC. She's a much more complete player than before and I think is poised for an excellent senior season.
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Agree. See had moments when she was hyper-focused in the NCAA's. It was great to see that intensity.

(FWIW, did you complain on Twitter that the BY was dismissive of women's posts? ("Go make me a sammich.") Because that is a weird take for a poster on the WBB board.)
 
Zinethar said:
Someone in the post game presser tried to start another one by questioning the "rude" behavior of Paige for tapping him on the butt after Anna's 2nd 3 and the resulting excitement. Geno blew him off with his response that it was an inside thing. Some people just have to try to stir up stuff to make a headline. They might just do a better job of that if they actually asked good questions instead of some of the dumb things I've heard or the preaching they do instead of actually asking much of anything.
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Geno has been around this bunch of "reporters" for decades. If he puts an "uncoachable" comment out there he darn well knows what those folks will do with it. This kertuffle is as much his as anyone's and really more. Let it be a learning exercise Geno; yes you are still learning.
 
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Williams wasn't great all year but it was a weird year. She put it all together late against the best competition however. I 2nd the motion that the light bulb went off and she will have a monster senior season.
 
Ralph said:
Uncoachable means I tell you to do something to improve yourself as a player and you are not doing it. And he was talking about that moment, not forever. I believe she acknowledged it, he was telling me how to be better and I wasn't doing it. Now I am and I am better for it. You are living in today's world where no one can be criticized, you tell everyone great job and give them a pat on the back and smile. End result, they never get better. She wants to get better, you want her to be ... what? I like her attitude better than yours. and it the end, it is her decision how to react, not yours. I am sorry that you are offended by Geno's coaching of her. Now it seems You don't want to just stop someone from saying something that applies to You, You want to power to stop someone saying something that applies to someone else that offends you. You don't want Geno to make her better, because he had to say some tough love words. Sometimes a coach makes players run until they are exhausted and in agony to get them in shape. Is that forbidden? Sometimes coaches point out that a team won't get the message until they lose, like maybe this year's Arkansas game. You know what, I'll bet that loss hurt the team's feelings. They should not have to hurt like that just to learn a lesson and get better. I move that we take than loss away and pretend it never happened. Let's take away all the losses from every team. All teams are undefeated, everyone is a champ. Did you see how Boston was in tears after the loss? That was not fair. We have to make that last basket go in so she can be euphoric. Whoopee. Oh wait, what about the other team, if we make Boston happy we leave them in despair.

Jesus said to Peter, "get behind me Satan." Talk about harsh words. That is terrible. We have to tell Jesus he can't talk like that. Or just maybe we say tough words were needed to get the message delivered to Peter. As is often said, don't complain when God gives you tough situations to teach you something, worry when he stops caring enough to try to teach you.

Did you notice also that when Williams missed 3 out of 4 free throws that nearly cost us a win over Baylor, instead of being out on the floor with the team whooping it up right after the final buzzer, Geno went over to her, put his arm around her and told her good job, you helped us win this game and we could not have done it without you. The man knows how to get the best out of people most of the time, and players come to UConn because that is what they want. Occasionally they find out it is not what they want, and they transfer out. That is fine. Different strokes for different folks.
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Ralph your first sentence nailed it on the nose! I agree Geno was tired of having to repeat that to his third year player.
 
I rarely post but feel I need to..this young team was a very good team this year and provided much joy to all of the fans! It is a team sport and all the girls had their "moments". But let us be real without CW contributions in the tournaments UCONN does not get to semi finals!
 
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