I think Geno Auriemma of UCONN's women's basketball team is a great coach in a lot of phases of the game of basketball for women... Obviously, it is almost unfair the amount of talent he has at his disposal so he is a great recruiter(though the program now basically recruits itself). It is fun to watch the coaching going on with them as they understand ball reversal in a unique way.. A tall wing player will dribble from the wing, draw in the double team, keep a cutter on the strong side to keep the defense's attention, then pass to the weakside wing for the open jumper.. Have done it for years. Then, if you go man to man against UCONN, they run a 2-2-1 offense, where the person closest to the basket either posts or flares to the wing, which opens up the lane for a cutter to receive the pass or post up. Always good team basketball.
After watching Auriemma on the sideline and post game interview, I get the feeling that he hates the loss and end of the win streak, BUT understands his job got a lot easier after the loss....Obviously, the pressure is now off because the win streak has ended.. But they wont see the floor until next November for the returning players against another opponent. I think that Geno wants that loss to burn in the souls of his girls and to take time for his girls to re-commit in their hearts the concept of playing team basketball..
He recruits extremely competitive athletes who expect to win.. My guess is this loss does not sit well... But, next to losing, the most miserable thing for a coach of a team is when the players think they are good enough to sleepwalk through practices and still destroy the opponents, like UCONN was doing earlier. Coaches instructions at times fall on deaf ears, in that situation... This loss gives Geno the team's undivided attention going forward and a reference point to tell his team this is what will happen if they don't play good team basketball..... The old "girls, you don't want to feel like that again, do ya?" to his returning players... Gives the returning girls some fire in their bellies to pass on to the next few incoming recruiting classes as extensions of the coach on the floor. There is always the debate of "is there such thing as a good loss??" I am sure Geno wishes it would have happened in the regular season as opposed to the NCAA semifinals, but I think this loss will impact his returning girls in a positive manner that may start another long streak and more NCAA titles for the Huskies.... We will see but I think Geno will eventually see this loss as a motivating moment rather than a disaster to the program.
After watching Auriemma on the sideline and post game interview, I get the feeling that he hates the loss and end of the win streak, BUT understands his job got a lot easier after the loss....Obviously, the pressure is now off because the win streak has ended.. But they wont see the floor until next November for the returning players against another opponent. I think that Geno wants that loss to burn in the souls of his girls and to take time for his girls to re-commit in their hearts the concept of playing team basketball..
He recruits extremely competitive athletes who expect to win.. My guess is this loss does not sit well... But, next to losing, the most miserable thing for a coach of a team is when the players think they are good enough to sleepwalk through practices and still destroy the opponents, like UCONN was doing earlier. Coaches instructions at times fall on deaf ears, in that situation... This loss gives Geno the team's undivided attention going forward and a reference point to tell his team this is what will happen if they don't play good team basketball..... The old "girls, you don't want to feel like that again, do ya?" to his returning players... Gives the returning girls some fire in their bellies to pass on to the next few incoming recruiting classes as extensions of the coach on the floor. There is always the debate of "is there such thing as a good loss??" I am sure Geno wishes it would have happened in the regular season as opposed to the NCAA semifinals, but I think this loss will impact his returning girls in a positive manner that may start another long streak and more NCAA titles for the Huskies.... We will see but I think Geno will eventually see this loss as a motivating moment rather than a disaster to the program.
