This is a very good topic. Many points could be made -- here are some of mine:
1. Honestly, since 2007-2008 when UConn returned to the Final Four after a 3-year absence, it has typically won if and only if it had better talent than the opponent. When certain other teams had equal or greater talent, they have been able to beat UConn at least 50% of the time, in general. Examples of this are:
- Stanford with Wiggins, Appel, Peterson, and Nneka; or later with two Ogwumikes, Peterson, and Pohlen.
- Notre Dame with Diggins, McBride, Achonwa, and a very good supporting cast.
- Rutgers with Cappie Pondexter, Essence Carson, Matee Ajavon, and Kia Vaughan.
- LSU with Fowles and Augustus.
- Tennessee with Candace Parker and an excellent supporting cast.
- Baylor with Griner and Sims.
So the explanation for most of UConn's recent victories is the same as for the Yankees of the Mantle / Maris / Whitey Ford era -- they have had the horses.
2. Further reinforcing this point is the fact that UConn has had a higher concentration of truly exceptional talent in recent years than any competitor. This is evident from the recent National team. Who else has had any recent concentration of superstars comparable to Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna Stewart, and Moriah Jefferson in such a short period of time? If Geno had those people on his roster and
didn't win multiple national championships, people would be asking whether his middle name is McCallie.
3. Nonetheless, it is fair to ask whether all that talent would have come to Storrs (hardly a marquee destination from a geographic standpoint) if UConn's coaches had not established a track record of maximizing the development of whatever talent they had to work with. On this point, what is notable is the achievement of lesser talents relative to what was expected of them coming out of high school. The accomplishments of people like Stef Dolson, Kelly Faris, Mel Thomas, Barbara Turner, Ketia Swanier (who never started at UConn but had about a 5-year career in the WNBA), Ashley Battle (ditto), Maria Conlon, Jessica Moore, Kalana Greene, and many others is more impressive than the achievements of the superstars. I'm sure it helped to convince the superstars that UConn would get the most out of their talents as well. Breanna Stewart was quoted as saying that the primary reason she chose UConn was because everyone told her that UConn developed the talents of its players more than any other program.
4. Previous posters who have emphasized the
intensity of UConn's practices, and of expectations during games, are on the right track. The defensive success is mainly a reflection of this, as is the fitness of the athletes. However, this is not completely unique -- Pat Summitt in her prime got the same intensity out of her players and had similar levels of fitness and defensive success. Kim Mulkey appears to have her Baylor teams similarly prepared.
5. I'm not sure it's accurate to say that UConn runs the same offensive and defensive systems as other elite teams do -- many opposing coaches have said that is not the case. UConn players and teams do many things that other teams do, but do it better -- that statement has also been made. But they also run offensive schemes that are not widely used, some of which were seemingly hatched between Geno's ears. I suspect they may be things that he saw as a teenager on the playgrounds of Philadelphia, and learned how to teach -- things which many other coaches never saw because their experience was almost completely confined to organized environments.
6. That leads to the other thing that separates UConn from most programs -- Geno is able to teach the "brainy" side of basketball, i.e., to teach his players to make sound basketball decisions quickly and under pressure. Coach P mentioned once that she saw that as the difference between UConn and other talented teams -- UConn players made good basketball decisions in response to what opponents were doing more effectively than other teams. Again, this is not completely unique -- there are other brainy coaches like Tara, Muffitt, Jeff Walz, and even Harry Perretta, but either they haven't had the talent to compete with UConn or they weren't able to teach that decision-making to their players as effectively as the UConn coaches.
So I guess I am saying that no one else has mastered both (a) the ability to motivate high-intensity physical competitiveness; and (b) the ability to teach good basketball decision-making under game pressure -- at least not as well as Geno. And that has led to on-court success, which has led to recruiting success, which means he has the horses more often than anyone else. But others (especially Tara and Muffitt) have been almost as good when they have also had the horses.
