Watching the Master at Work

[oldude]

Every year, it seems, there is a period during the season when Geno ramps up public criticism of his team. Many of us lament the fact that calling out his players in public with biting and sarcastic comments may be too harsh and counterproductive in the long run. While no one is immune from Geno’s wrath, clearly the more talented the player, the more likely they are to be the target of criticism. If a player happens to be a #1 recruit, like Stewie or Lou or MW, at some point in their freshman season, they can expect to be challenged like never before.

Following the Tulsa game last week, Geno was in rare form, declaring that the game was, “the worst performance in 32 years” and that, “the fans should get their money back.” Geno has complained about the reserves, and he has been complaining about the effort of the freshmen all season. Add in the remarkable decision by Geno to remove one of the freshmen from the team, and clearly this was no ordinary blowup by the HC.

With his best player likely battling ankle problems for the rest of the season, and an extremely talented team playing inconsistently, Geno must have sensed that he needed to get more out of this team for the Huskies to have a chance to win their 12th banner. While the public comments were strong, the decision on AEH was stunning. Anyone who’s been in an organization with one individual with the wrong attitude can attest to the negative impact that individual can have on everyone else in the organization. The four freshmen had dubbed themselves “the Fantastic Four.” Typically, players tend to gravitate to other members of the same class, but freshmen classes tend to be unusually close as they are all experiencing a brand new environment, away from home, together, for the first time.

So a little over a week after AEH was officially removed from the team, and 4 days after Geno tearing into his team after the Tulsa game, UConn played a game vs Temple yesterday that was as close to a complete effort as we’ve witnessed all season. Most importantly, the reserves played quality minutes and the #1 recruit in the nation looked like the #1 recruit in the nation. With Lou dealing with chronic ankle problems, I had commented after yesterday’s game that MW’s performance generated a collective sigh of relief from Husky fans everywhere.

While the Huskies are not out of the woods yet, I have to believe that MW and this team have turned a corner in their drive for a 12th championship. While the BY will always question his methods, after WATCHING THE MASTER AT WORK, it’s very difficult to question the results.

 

[eebmg]

I am not willing to connect the AEH situation with our improved bench play (one game at least). I also do not want to put a "scarlet letter" on her and prefer to view it as a tough situation where the player for whatever reason could not adapt to what was needed. Even now, I am uncomfortable with how public this has been made and the quicker forgotten, the better.

I do think the wholesale substitution of the reserves and the horror show that resulted which I did not like at the time was in hindsight brilliant and very beneficial to the bench in providing incontestable evidence of where they are and I am glad that Geno has not given up on them. We need some of our bench at least to play productive minutes to help our starters in triage.

 

[oldude]

I am not willing to connect the AEH situation with our improved bench play (one game at least). I also do not want to put a "scarlet letter" on her and prefer to view it as a tough situation where the player for whatever reason could not adapt to what was needed. Even now, I am uncomfortable with how public this has been made and the quicker forgotten, the better.

I do think the wholesale substitution of the reserves and the horror show that resulted which I did not like at the time was in hindsight brilliant and very beneficial to the bench in providing incontestable evidence of where they are and I am glad that Geno has not given up on them. We need some of our bench at least to play productive minutes to help our starters in triage.

As always, I appreciate your comments, particularly with regard to AEH. While I’ve heard Geno say some surprising things over the years, his comment in Phily on Saturday night regarding AEH was shocking.

 

[msf22b]

[QUOTE="eebmg, post: 2538204, member: 7548"]I am not willing to connect the AEH situation with our improved bench play (one game at least). I also do not want to put a "scarlet letter" on her and prefer to view it as a tough situation where the player for whatever reason could not adapt to what was needed. Even now, I am uncomfortable with how public this has been made and the quicker forgotten, the better.

I do think the wholesale substitution of the reserves and the horror show that resulted which I did not like at the time was in hindsight brilliant and very beneficial to the bench in providing incontestable evidence of where they are and I am glad that Geno has not given up on them. We need some of our bench at least to play productive minutes to help our starters in triage.[/QUOTE]


But I would ascribe the previous games disastrous performance by the young uns
to that unfortunate outcome.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

[QUOTE="eebmg, post: 2538204, member: 7548"]I am not willing to connect the AEH situation with our improved bench play (one game at least). I also do not want to put a "scarlet letter" on her and prefer to view it as a tough situation where the player for whatever reason could not adapt to what was needed. Even now, I am uncomfortable with how public this has been made and the quicker forgotten, the better.

I do think the wholesale substitution of the reserves and the horror show that resulted which I did not like at the time was in hindsight brilliant and very beneficial to the bench in providing incontestable evidence of where they are and I am glad that Geno has not given up on them. We need some of our bench at least to play productive minutes to help our starters in triage.

But I would ascribe the previous games disastrous performance by the young uns
to that unfortunate outcome.[/QUOTE]

Why? Do you believe Geno would share the reason for AEH's departure with a bunch of folks in a restaurant/bar in Philly and not the team? Or do you feel that her departure was disturbing to the team? It should not have been. Just the opposite.

 

[VivaLsVgs]

“While I’ve heard Geno say some surprising things over the years, his comment in Phily on Saturday night regarding AEH was shocking”

What did he say?

 

[HoopsFan21]

“While I’ve heard Geno say some surprising things over the years, his comment in Phily on Saturday night regarding AEH was shocking”

What did he say?

That if you don't listen to him, he's going to keep reminding you, but eventually his patience runs out and he wants them gone. He didn't mention any names, seemed more like a general comment, but I guess everyone knew or assumed he was talking about AEH.

 

[msf22b]

But I would ascribe the previous games disastrous performance by the young uns
to that unfortunate outcome.

Why? .[/QUOTE]

Because (as described) it was a close knit group...I sense (no evidence) that none of them saw this deus ex machina coming.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Why? .

Because (as described) it was a close knit group...I sense (no evidence) that none of them saw this deus ex machina coming.[/QUOTE]

You are suggesting a level of Machiavellianism that puts Geno in a very harsh light. I take his reason at face value. There is struggling to do something and there is refusal to try. Geno works with the former but not the latter once things are clear.

 

[oldude]

“While I’ve heard Geno say some surprising things over the years, his comment in Phily on Saturday night regarding AEH was shocking”

What did he say?

That if you don't listen to him, he's going to keep reminding you, but eventually his patience runs out and he wants them gone. He didn't mention any names, seemed more like a general comment, but I guess everyone knew or assumed he was talking about AEH.

Geno also specifically said referring to AEH that, “She’s gone because I wanted her gone.” That was the shocking comment I referred to.

 

[msf22b]

Because (as described) it was a close knit group...I sense (no evidence) that none of them saw this deus ex machina coming.

You are suggesting a level of Machiavellianism that puts Geno in a very harsh light. I take his reason at face value. There is struggling to do something and there is refusal to try. Geno works with the former but not the latter once things are clear.[/QUOTE]

I never said anything about Geno, harsh light or not.
I'm just referencing the outcome which I surmise had an effect on the remaining Frosh and may, just may have influenced their brain-dead game

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You are suggesting a level of Machiavellianism that puts Geno in a very harsh light. I take his reason at face value. There is struggling to do something and there is refusal to try. Geno works with the former but not the latter once things are clear.

I never said anything about Geno, harsh light or not.
I'm just referencing the outcome which I surmise had an effect on the remaining Frosh and may, just may have influenced their brain-dead game[/QUOTE]

Ah.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Geno also specifically said referring to AEH that, “She’s gone because I wanted her gone.” That was the shocking comment I referred to.

Yes shocking to hear him say it like that, and it made me wonder if there were others he felt that way about. Maybe it was the wine talking.

 

[iri10]

Geno also specifically said referring to AEH that, “She’s gone because I wanted her gone.” That was the shocking comment I referred to.

I think it was a blunt, Genoish way of saying what would normally be stated by athletic department PR people as follows: "Such and such player violated team rules." Quite common in the grand scheme of things, though not that common for a UConn WCBB player. 'Team rules" is really just a euphemistic way of saying "This is what the coaching staff and athletic dept. wants you to do, and what not to do."

The only wrinkle was that Geno and the player worked out a more amicable official explanation to cover it, which was somewhat ruined by him being entertaining for his guests.

 

[JordyG]

“While I’ve heard Geno say some surprising things over the years, his comment in Phily on Saturday night regarding AEH was shocking”

What did he say?

This is supposedly what he said in a video that has now been taken down:

 

[scubadog]

Personally, I don't like innuendos. I never heard , nor saw the remarks Geno said according to people here. Having watch Geno " perform" since the beginning, I find it odd . Usually things are kept in house. I also find it strange that the remarks have been removed.
probably to sequester any rebuttal from the student athlete or family. People who are " control freaks" by nature will point to Geno's methods as having stood the test of time. After all, the 11 national championships and unbeaten seasons prove that .

 

[Sonny44]

I am not willing to connect the AEH situation with our improved bench play (one game at least). I also do not want to put a "scarlet letter" on her and prefer to view it as a tough situation where the player for whatever reason could not adapt to what was needed. Even now, I am uncomfortable with how public this has been made and the quicker forgotten, the better.

I do think the wholesale substitution of the reserves and the horror show that resulted which I did not like at the time was in hindsight brilliant and very beneficial to the bench in providing incontestable evidence of where they are and I am glad that Geno has not given up on them. We need some of our bench at least to play productive minutes to help our starters in triage.

Horror show? The bench played their starters even for a whole quarter.

 

[eebmg]

Horror show? The bench played their starters even for a whole quarter.

The scoring from that quarter was completely dominated by Z and Naphessa based on athletic domination of a physically overmatched / undermanned team. The true bench performance in that quarter was not pretty if horror show is too severe? Geno's description of the bench effort was not flattering.

 

[Woof 101]

eebmg, no attack at all but you did give me a good chuckle with...
Even now, I am uncomfortable with how public this has been made and the quicker forgotten, the better. Your comment was added to a public forum...

Yes shocking to hear him say it like that, and it made me wonder if there were others he felt that way about. Maybe it was the wine talking.

No attack here either, Hoops and oldude" but I can't figure out how any long time fan would be shocked by anything from Geno. He did not bad mouth the student athlete in any way, he simply stated that she wanted to do things her way rather than his. After reminding her time and again at CT things are done his way, she used up his patience. Oh and I did not see a wine glass, it was definitely a rocks glass. Can't verify obviously, freedom of video has been removed.

 

[NewCorn]

If Geno made the statement about AEH attributed to him here. That was a horrible thing to do. If this is a post that has been taken down, good. Perhaps Geno realized he had embarrassed himself and regrets it. There is no justification for a world-famous coach to publicly humiliate a teenager who is no longer on his team. That would be just mean, accomplishing nothing positive. I choose to believe Geno never made that statement.

 

[Woof 101]

Personally, I don't like innuendos. I never heard , nor saw the remarks Geno said according to people here. Having watch Geno " perform" since the beginning, I find it odd . Usually things are kept in house. I also find it strange that the remarks have been removed.
probably to sequester any rebuttal from the student athlete or family. People who are " control freaks" by nature will point to Geno's methods as having stood the test of time. After all, the 11 national championships and unbeaten seasons prove that .

scubadog, as for innuendos and what was seen or heard according to people here...I realize you are a new member as of Tuesday and I welcome you as I am sure many will. Having said that do realize there are several here that cover the team better than most beat writers. You can scroll back through the archives and quickly see who they are. You are not going to find much innuendo here. If they said Geno said it that is because they were standing there and heard it. As for the video that has been removed I am sure it can be found as it must have been forwarded to some. It was a great contribution by a very devoted fan, obviously underappreciated by the powers that be.

 

[oldude]

If Geno made the statement about AEH attributed to him here. That was a horrible thing to do. If this is a post that has been taken down, good. Perhaps Geno realized he had embarrassed himself and regrets it. There is no justification for a world-famous coach to publicly humiliate a teenager who is no longer on his team. That would be just mean, accomplishing nothing positive. I choose to believe Geno never made that statement.

With all do respect, I must disagree with both points you make. Geno’s comments before a small group of UConn Supporters was a candid explanation by a coach who tells it like it is. There was nothing mean about it.

Having seen the video before it was removed, I can assure you that Geno did in fact make the comments.

 

[JoePgh]

If Geno made the statement about AEH attributed to him here. That was a horrible thing to do. If this is a post that has been taken down, good. Perhaps Geno realized he had embarrassed himself and regrets it. There is no justification for a world-famous coach to publicly humiliate a teenager who is no longer on his team. That would be just mean, accomplishing nothing positive. I choose to believe Geno never made that statement.

He made the statement. I watched the cellphone video yesterday before it was taken down, and I heard it. (You may have noticed that an entire thread discussing the video and linking to it, that had about 30 posts as of late Sunday afternoon, has also been deleted from this forum.)

I am not at all convinced that Geno expected his comment (or the other comment about Duke and how they prepared Azura) to become public. I assume that the video and the thread were removed because either Geno or someone in the UConn athletic department emphatically requested that it be taken down. He may have thought that a general summary might eventually leak out, and perhaps he didn't mind if that happened, but I can't believe he wanted it on video.

As I said on the deleted thread, recording the cellphone video and posting it publicly, if it was done without Geno's knowledge as I suspect, was a breach of trust.

The other thing that I find strange is that none of the print reporters who cover the team has written anything about it. Verification cannot be an issue -- I'm sure someone copied the video before it was removed, and the reporters could obtain it from that person (maybe Raoul?). I can understand that the reporters don't want to poison their relationship with Geno or UConn by publishing "dirt" on the program, but this statement certainly meets the test of newsworthiness and should be published if the reporters take their journalistic mission seriously.

The other aspect of this whole issue is the negative effect that the statement may have on AEH's ability to play at another school. I'm sure that she, her family, and Geno agreed a few weeks ago that the public posture would be that UConn was a "bad fit" and that AEH chose to transfer. By making this statement, Geno has abrogated that agreement if it existed (and I cannot imagine that it did not). Maybe Geno allowed that if another school who was considering a scholarship offer to her asked for his perspective, he would be honest in private about the real reason, but that is different from making this statement in a semi-public forum.

I don't understand how, if she was disregarding his instructions as he says, she got all the playing time that she got in the first eight games. Even in the game against Duquesne in Toronto (her last game in a UConn uniform), she got plenty of minutes relative to the other bench players. If she was persistently tuning out his instructions, wouldn't he start by keeping her off the floor while other freshmen played, before pulling her scholarship offer? Something doesn't compute.

 

[CocoHusky]

That if you don't listen to him, he's going to keep reminding you, but eventually his patience runs out and he wants them gone. He didn't mention any names, seemed more like a general comment, but I guess everyone knew or assumed he was talking about AEH.

He did not have to mention her name. He said: "That player that is no longer with us is because I did want her here. It didn't have anything to do with playing time or her not wanting to be here....."
Way TMI by Geno with 40 or 50 people in a room.

 

[NewCorn]

With all do respect, I must disagree with both points you make. Geno’s comments before a small group of UConn Supporters was a candid explanation by a coach who tells it like it is. There was nothing mean about it.

Having seen the video before it was removed, I can assure you that Geno did in fact make the comments.

I think the fact that the post has been taken down speaks loudly about the propriety of it.