Will UConn ever win another national championship?

[donalddoowop]

Did anyone read the article posted on the Internet this morning? I looked for it in a thread but could not find it.
Very interesting reading. It ended with the statement that players no longer had to attend UCONN in order to win a NC. It also included some comments about situations of which some on here were concerned but were denied by some UCONN fans who do not want to believe it.

 

[Longtime fan]

Did anyone read the article posted on the Internet this morning? I looked for it in a thread but could not find it.
Very interesting reading. It ended with the statement that players no longer had to attend UCONN in order to win a NC. It also included some comments about situations of which some on here were concerned but were denied by some UCONN fans who do not want to believe it.

I did not see it, but it isn't difficult to imagine the contents.

It is obvious that players no longer need attend UCONN to be " assured " of a national championship. They never were, really. But you are assured of becoming the best you can be, if you want that to be your goal. You are assured of " competing" for a championship, pretty much guaranteed.

I think the parallel is growing between the UConn Lady Huskies and the UCLA men's teams under the " Wizard of Westwood." Coach Auriemma is closer to the end of his coaching career than the beginning. Some of the magic will then end ( the magic of appealing to the top HS players, each recruiting season. ) Some of that magic has already gone. Donna Della Donne left UCONN for personal reasons. A'Jai Wilson went to South Carolina to become a candidate for Governor. Notre Dame gets all the best players from catholic high schools. And now Mississipi State draws UCONN players who are not compatible with the UCONN approach to basketball.

When coach Wooden left, the UCLA men's team succeeded sporadically, pretty much on "fumes." The kids that were recruited by Wooden, and remained after he left, were enough to compete. After the remnants of his recruiting was gone, however, UCLA has just been another team. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

We have to face facts. The days of UCONN dominance are over. And, truth be told, it is what most of us wanted. Not for UCONN to fall, but for others to rise. So that the championship meant even more.

We take no satisfaction from our undefeated, unprecedented success in the AAC. Am I right?

And now, though coach Geno remains, we lose Azura Stevens. She came for a crown, didn't get it, and moved on. No blame. Just reality.

So the UCONN team begins next season with three great players at the core; one player whom everyone hopes will emerge as
great ( Walker ); a very weak and unproductive bench; and two highly touted freshman.

That is not a " given " formula for a championship. It will take incredibly hard work, and good fortune. The days of just showing up and winning it all are over.

 

[trisailin]

Did anyone read the article posted on the Internet this morning?.

And we all know - anything on the interwebs is 100% fact. There are no opinions (thought out or otherwise) on the net.

 

[pvdoggy]

No

 

[buddy]

The article was from "The Tennessean" newspaper. I saw it in Yahoo. It was basically suggesting that UConn, like Tennessee after its period of dominance, may have peaked. The article stated that now that UConn has been defeated in two consecutive final fours, that it is a signal to players that they do not have to come to UConn to win a national championship. They felt that once Geno goes, the program will falter due to conference affiliation and location of the university. That about summarizes it. I kind of think there is some truth to the article, but we must remember that it comes from a Lady Vols reporter.

 

[Sifaka]

(1) It is obvious that players no longer need attend UCONN to be " assured " of a national championship. They never were, really.

(2) I think the parallel is growing between the UConn Lady Huskies and the UCLA men's teams under the " Wizard of Westwood."

(3) We have to face facts. The days of UCONN dominance are over. And, truth be told, it is what most of us wanted. Not for UCONN to fall, but for others to rise. So that the championship meant even more.

(4) We take no satisfaction from our undefeated, unprecedented success in the AAC. Am I right?


(5) So the UCONN team begins next season with three great players at the core; one player whom everyone hopes will emerge as
great ( Walker ); (6)a very weak and unproductive bench; and two highly touted freshman.

(7) That is not a " given " formula for a championship. It will take incredibly hard work, and good fortune. (8) The days of just showing up and winning it all are over.

Longtime fan,

that was an interesting, and mostly—in my opinion—accurate post.
We agree on points 1 through 5. (6) Camara and Irwin are far from very weak and unproductive. (7) It has always taken incredibly hard work, and in some years, good fortune as well. (8) I must have missed those days.

We haven't won every national championship since Geno and CD arrived. Some years we didn't even make the final 4. I expect that the next couple years will be difficult, but I see no reason to assume that we have permanently slid into the ranks of just pretty good teams.

 

[Charliebball]

UConn will win more NCs as long as Geno is the coach and as long as he can recruit the great players that he always has............if the pipeline slows so does the ability to win it all..........it appears that UConn recruiting is well positioned Brunelle or no Brunelle..............the next two recruiting classes are crucial to the future of the program.........

 

[RockyMTblue2]

xanax with a beer chaser....




Takes no effort to do this dammit: Will UConn win another national championship in women's basketball?

 

[Javjudah]

Geno did himself a disservice by not playing his bench more. He may have cost himself a National Championship. You can't be up 30-40 points and still wouldn't incorporate your bench with the starters. The fact that he played Walker and the rest of the bench players sparingly could cost him some in recruiting moving forward. Coaches will use it against him.

 

[donalddoowop]

The article was from "The Tennessean" newspaper. I saw it in Yahoo. It was basically suggesting that UConn, like Tennessee after its period of dominance, may have peaked. The article stated that now that UConn has been defeated in two consecutive final fours, that it is a signal to players that they do not have to come to UConn to win a national championship. They felt that once Geno goes, the program will falter due to conference affiliation and location of the university. That about summarizes it. I kind of think there is some truth to the article, but we must remember that it comes from a Lady Vols reporter.

It may have been a Lady Vols reporter, but it made a lot of sense.

 

[MainefanSC]

I find it interesting that this thread is "doom and gloom" with no more titles coming our way. Following our first 3 peat, we didn't get to the final four for 3 consecutive years. Since then there's been 7 NCs. We get beat, at semifinal, in OT, with last second shots, 2 years in a row and we're all done? Sure the competition has gotten better, no doubt. That does not signal the end of Geno's recruiting ability. There have been a couple years when we haven't gotten what was expected from some of the kids coming in but Geno is the "Wizard of Storrs". Looking back at the '05 - '07 drought, we didn't have the floor general we needed. CD is and will be for at least 2 more years (barring injury) one of the best and Geno will work very hard to build the supporting cast. Have some confidence and enjoy what we have. Lamenting over what we don't get for recruits is worthless. Supporting and cheering for what we do have will be very rewarding. I'm counting on it.

 

[Plebe]

An article from the dimwits in Tennessee. No need to even read it.

 

[Kevin G]

Oh good grief! Not going to waste my time reading that junk

 

[RockyMTblue2]

My only point for @donalddoowop and anyone else is don't post about some article you read if you don't have the energy to actually post it. It's annoying . BTW I didn't read it either. As far as the place of origin: Misery loves company.

 

[MainefanSC]

My only point for @donalddoowop and anyone else is don't post about some article you read if you don't have the energy to actually post it. It's annoying . BTW I didn't read it either. As far as the place of origin: Misery loves company.

And that would be why will not give them the privilege of our company.

 

[Orangutan]

I got as far as "Knoxville News Sentinel" before dismissing this immediately. Wishful thinking from Rocky Top. Maybe Geno's dynasty will crumble like ours did!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I find it interesting that this thread is "doom and gloom" with no more titles coming our way. Following our first 3 peat, we didn't get to the final four for 3 consecutive years. Since then there's been 7 NCs. We get beat, at semifinal, in OT, with last second shots, 2 years in a row and we're all done? Sure the competition has gotten better, no doubt. That does not signal the end of Geno's recruiting ability. There have been a couple years when we haven't gotten what was expected from some of the kids coming in but Geno is the "Wizard of Storrs". Looking back at the '05 - '07 drought, we didn't have the floor general we needed. CD is and will be for at least 2 more years (barring injury) one of the best and Geno will work very hard to build the supporting cast. Have some confidence and enjoy what we have. Lamenting over what we don't get for recruits is worthless. Supporting and cheering for what we do have will be very rewarding. I'm counting on it.

Tell me CD is not playing USA basketball this summer and I'll sign right up ... otherwise, I'm not so sure.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Come on guys we all had to know that the Stewie era was the pinnacle of UConn WCBB. It wasn't going to be like that (when Stewie et al were here) forever. I expected a bit more of a step back, but two losses and two final fours in the two years since is nothing to sneeze at. We were two buzzer beaters away from playing for the title the last couple of seasons. That's two more undefeated regular seasons and the best record among the ranked teams the last two years at 72-2.

 

[Bobcat]

I don’t get it. Uconn played the toughest OOC schedule in the country, was undefeated until the national semifinals, and then lost in overtime to a last second shot, in both of the last two years. What kind of failure is that?

 

[donalddoowop]

My only point for @donalddoowop and anyone else is don't post about some article you read if you don't have the energy to actually post it. It's annoying . BTW I didn't read it either. As far as the place of origin: Misery loves company.

I had the energy, I don't have the knowledge to post an article. If it annoys you don't read the post. It was not doom and gloom. For anyone who does not have their head in a hole, it makes sense. The article did not say those things will happen, just that they are something that are possible.

 

[JS]

I had the energy, I don't have the knowledge to post an article.

Please open Boneyard Rules & Links to Boneyard Lessons, pinned at the top of the page.

Then go to Lesson #3.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

Did a person with the initials M.C. pen this article from the Tennessean lol? The article reads like sour grapes to me. How about the fact that UCONN has made 11 str8 final four appearances? Geno will have three number one hs recruits on his roster and knowing how well he can motivate and develop players, i'm willing to bet by the time the post season arrives next year we will see uconn playing in their 12th consecutive final four..

There may not be a maya or stewie type player on the team, but you guys have geno and no one else does.

Maybe the Tennessean should focus on how far the lady vols have fallen and not negatively focus on a team that is still competing for national championships on a yearly basis

 

[Uhuru]

You are talking about 2 programs with different expectations. UCONN expects to be in the final four. Tenn hopes to win the SEC and make it out of the sweet sixteen. Both teams met their expectations this year, have for quite some time, and the fan bases should both be happy.

UCONN has been to the final four for the past 11 seasons. Tenn was last there in 2008, but they did get out of the sweet sixteen several times since then and have multiple SEC banners to brag about.

 

[donalddoowop]

Please open Boneyard Rules & Links to Boneyard Lessons, pinned at the top of the page.

Then go to Lesson #3.

Thank you.

 

[UConnNick]

I don’t get it. Uconn played the toughest OOC schedule in the country, was undefeated until the national semifinals, and then lost in overtime to a last second shot, in both of the last two years. What kind of failure is that?

It's considered failure by a significant portion of the fanbase when they have insane expectations of winning the NC every year.