Let me modify the topic a little. Which woman's basketball coaches current or past do you: a) dislike, b) like, c) respect, and why? Lists need not mutually be exclusive.
For me,
Dislike:
Pat Summitt - I have respect for what she achieved but her deliberate attempt to smear the program, players and members of the board bothers me to this day. It's an ugly footnote on a great career, but she made it personal.
Quentin Hillsman - Well it's way down in intensity but he's on the list. On a one to 10 scale if Pat was a 6 (and she definitely was 10 when this was going on) Quentin is a 3. His teams tried being a little chippy with our girls and Geno showed him what it was like to play us without Geno's largess. Then Hillsman wouldn't give Stewie and home game and instead choose to play a game in front of maybe 300 people, silly. Still his girls used pluck and grit to get the NC game last year.
c. Vivian Stringer - Same issue of questionably chippy play. I personally believe one shove to the back of Maya Moore, after the game was decided, may have cost us a championship as Moore struggle with back spasms the rest of the way.
Like:
a. Sherri Coale - Good coach who has great respect for our program and Geno and is pretty easy on the eyes.
b. Courtney Banghart - Princeton has had some good seasons since she's been there. I've met her on a few occasions and she is warm and friendly.
c. Doug Bruno - likable guy who is respect of our program and is a friend of Geno. He has his kids ready to play and ready to play hard, what's not to like.
d. Holly Warlick - Only because she is the gift that keeps on giving.
Respect:
a.
Summitt: She's #2 WBB coach behind Geno, so she gets respect.
b.
Muffet: Her teams are prepared and have been our closest competitors. She could have been on either of the 1st two lists on any given day. But for Geno, she would likely be the gold standard in WCBB. That has to sting for her.
c.
Tara VanDerveer: Stanford is where UConn streaks go to die. She is a very good coach who has sustained success.
d.
Mulkey: 2 NCAA championships. What more needs to be said?
e.
Dawn Staley: The building job she has done at South Carolina is very very impressive.
f.
Steve Gomez: Remember him? He was the Lubbock Christian head coach. The way he handled his trip to Storrs and used a 60+ point beat down as motivation to take his team to a national championship is a great story.
Here's how it started.
e.
Bruno, Jose Fernandez, Banghart all come to mind as well.
I like your take on this as those on this site are obvious fans of WCBB so HATE is too strong a word. Here's my spin:
Dislike:
Jose Fernandez - his teams the past 2 years have been overly physical against us, he recruits predominately foreign players, plays a soft schedule and under achieves in the tournament.
Joanne P McCallie- she's underachieved at Duke, has clearly bullied her players and even some assistants, plus it's Duke!
Muffet McGraw- I do respect what she does however this years game is typical of why I dislike her: her post game presses was all about how her team didn't play well, not once giving credit to UCONN defense and how they shut down her top 3 players when it mattered in her house. Plus it's ND - name a school sports teams more overrated,
C. Vivian- Same as CL82. Might be time to hang up the whistle.... just saying'
Like:
Brenda Frese- yes even with the baggie give away! Her teams come to play blue collar hoop, she always is in the conversation for contenders (yes, this years OOC is lame). That said this team has talent with a top freshman class.
Kim Mulkey-thing about her is she's won 2 titles across 7 years and built a great program. She is a competitor and was very gracious in her presser this year. And as a reminder to BYers we don't play them next year but in 2018 at Baylor so she is not ducking us. And she's got styling outfits!
Sherri Coale- built a decent program, has slipped a bit behind Baylor but still been good a descent amount of time.
Tara V-2 titles, Olympic Gold, beats UConn occasionally. She's not as relevant in annual Final 4 discussion anymore but still is quality.
Dawn and Doug- Geno likes them, therefore so do I.
What's going on really with these?
Jeff Waltz- can he coach? Or does he recruit? Is he a bully? Is he just inconsistent? Can he get the monkey off his back?
Holly W.-was just the beneficiary of a great program? Does she actually know offense? She can recruit but doubt she can coach. Still 27 wins is nothing to sneeze at EXCEPT IN TN, avoid VolNation-they eat their young over there....
Jamelle, Tonya, Jen- can anyone of these prove to be a worthy successor?
