So just why *is* UConn 10-0 in NC games?

[alexrgct]

Ah


You say Chrissaran misunderstood a segment of the post, well I'll be wet in the rain. He/she made sense. Your post starts with three questions then states, the sample size is large enough by now to draw conclusions. Then continues to ask no less than seven more questions. No slander here but this goes into my things you can't make up drawer.

Chrissaran's post made no sense at all. I was doing no disservice to any opposing coaches, and it was insulting to suggest I had. The questions were simply whether UConn habitually fields better teams, but if that were true, why wouldn't we be undefeated in national semis as well? Of course Muffet, Pat, Tara, and Debbie Ryan (the coaches of the teams that defeated UConn six times total in national semifinals), are/ were fantastic coaches. And yet Geno has beaten Muffet twice, Tara once, and Pat four times, in national championship games. Reconciling all of this was the basis of my questions.

Meanwhile, what you seem to be accusing me of is utterly confounding. I suggested 10 games is enough to draw the conclusion that there must be some sort of trend, but I had a number of questions as why that trend might be. What exactly is the harm in that?

I take great pleasure in these 10 national championships. If others want to make a joyous thread rancorous and difficult for no apparent reason, I am not willing to entertain further dialogue with such folks.

 

[DobbsRover2]

On a tangent - I have seen the stat before but cannot find it anywhere now. But it basically goes:
In the history of NCAA division 1 women's basketball and the AP (or coaches poll) there have been 56 (or 65 or ___) instances of #1 ranked team vs #2 ranked team and Uconn has been involved in half of them. As the #1 seed they are 17-2 and as the #2 seed they are 8-3 or something ridiculous like that.
Uconn was involved in two of those games this year - SC as #2 seed and ND as #1 seed - which actually points to the inconsistency of poll because 75% of the country knew Uconn was a better team than SC before the game but ... whatever.

My point being - is 10 - 0 any more surprising than somewhere around a 80% win rate when playing the #1 or #2 team when Uconn was #1 or #2.

If anybody can find the source for that stat I would love to see it again.

In the article in the NY Times and cited in a BY post after the USCar game, they were 17-3 (now 18-3) in #1 vs #12 match ups, now 13-1 as #1 and 5-2 as #2.

Not bad, could be better.

 

[UcMiami]

Thanks Dobbs.

 

[BroadwayVa]

How does this happen? Getting to 10 NC games is amazing enough; only two coaches have done it. But to win all 10? Heck, even Pat Summitt is 8-5!

UConn faced and beat then-arch-rival Tennessee four times, now-arch-rival Notre Dame twice, semi-rival Stanford once, Probably-happy-to-be-there Louisville twice, and definitely-happy-to-be-there Oklahoma once. The Huskies have won by deficits of 6, 19, 12, 5, 9, 22, 6, 33, 21, and 10- quite a range, but an average spread of 14.3 points.

This is no coincidence. This is a trend. The sample size is large enough by now to draw conclusions.

So, how on earth does Geno do it?

I'd be interested in reading everyone's thoughts on this. Is it that Geno only makes the big game if UConn is simply the better team? And if that's true, why is UConn "only" 10-6 in national semifinals? Does Geno know how to foster a championship culture of that gained momentum as UConn kept winning? Does Geno know who to keep his players in the right mind state in a big game, to be poised and unintimidated by either the opponent or the moment?

What is it? It's one thing for the Husky men to be 4-0 in NC games (awesome in itself), but how on earth can Geno's players face 10 opponents good enough to win five tournament games and win all 10 times?

Question marks?

This is quite simple---let me explain: 1. Get good to better than good players and play 8 or less 2. Foster team chemistry 3. Get your team in top physical condition so they can run 40 minutes in any game (Uconn won many games in the second half--with their opponents dragging their tails) 3. Get super intelligent Associate and Assistant Coaches 4. Make all Recruits take an IQ test--select only those above 165 (maybe Scorpions) 5. Practice, practice, practice 6. When all else has been tried--hire GENO.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Very true.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, in some of these years, there have been season ending injuries to key starters, while in others, there were significant transfers that left UConn in compromised positions.

Case in point..

How many people think UConn loses to ND, or anyone else in Maya's senior year if EDD, Walker and McCormack don't transfer and does anyone think ND's 2 year run of mostly last second and/or ovetime wins unfolds in the same fashion if those players remained in school??? As solid as ND was over that time, if EDD stays at UConn, the legacy of Skylar Diggins doesn't include a collection of heart stopping wins against the Huskies.

The series of ND wins is still raw nerves, sore point with me. 3 of those loses, maybe more, I've watched over and over--masochist me
each of those game, I believe, if played another day, Uconn wins. Un-Uconn like play, last second mistakes (un like Uconn), Muffet triple teaming KML as a Frosh, 5th year Senior Doty making making mistakes she'd never make before or after---I call all those loses FLUKES.
Yes that takes away from ND--they are not my team--ND was not that much better than UConn . The closeness of the games only displayed how closely the teams were matched--I've apologized to KML for 4 years for my comments about her getting caught up in the Muffet triple team. Maya was used abused bounced and trampled in the ND final 4 game, and no one on UConn gave her much help--yet Maya got over 30--how much more can one super star be asked to do???

 

[geneticrex]

The series of ND wins is still raw nerves, sore point with me. 3 of those loses, maybe more, I've watched over and over--masochist me
each of those game, I believe, if played another day, Uconn wins. Un-Uconn like play, last second mistakes (un like Uconn), Muffet triple teaming KML as a Frosh, 5th year Senior Doty making making mistakes she'd never make before or after---I call all those loses FLUKES.
Yes that takes away from ND--they are not my team--ND was not that much better than UConn . The closeness of the games only displayed how closely the teams were matched--I've apologized to KML for 4 years for my comments about her getting caught up in the Muffet triple team. Maya was used abused bounced and trampled in the ND final 4 game, and no one on UConn gave her much help--yet Maya got over 30--how much more can one super star be asked to do???

Add to this an epic flopfest by the Flopping Irish, where critical calls and non-calls "seemed" to go ND's way (I admit I'm a homer) combined with the transfers that decimated UConn's frontcourt and it was a perfect storm for ND.

Were they tough??? Yep, they were very tough and nobody can take away those wins, but sometimes it pays to have the luck of the Irish.

 

[CocoHusky]

I read somewhere that the team eats the same pre-game meal Grilled Chicken & Pasta ..... That must be it.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Geno has always said he has taken teams to the final four that have not been ready to win an NC, but he has never taken a team into the NC game that wasn't ready to win it. I think that is an interesting distinction. So ... I think it really comes down to him doing his losing in the Semis. That his teams perform up to his expectations for them. He is 10-6 in FFs as in he has been to 16 FF and won 10.
Probably his biggest regret and suspicion of failure is the 2001 FF - I think he felt that team was ready and he let them down in the locker room at the half.

I think there was at least one and maybe more team that lost in the national semi-finals that was good enough to have won the championship game and you know what team I'm talking about, it's the 2001 team that lost after we lost Svet and Shea and then we ended up blowing a big double digit lead at halftime. There's no question in my mind that they would have won the championship game but losing those two players in such a short time and not having much time to adapt to their loss really doomed them.

 

[Geno-ista]

This might be part of the reason.....

(From the Geno Project)

"K is leaving. Kiah is leaving. You guys that are coming back have a lot of work, more work than you can imagine."

This was said by Geno to the team after they won the NC.

I love that- and then he said something to the affect- but we'll deal with that later- now is the time to enjoy!

 

[Gus Mahler]

This is quite simple---let me explain: 1. Get good to better than good players and play 8 or less 2. Foster team chemistry 3. Get your team in top physical condition so they can run 40 minutes in any game (Uconn won many games in the second half--with their opponents dragging their tails) 3. Get super intelligent Associate and Assistant Coaches 4. Make all Recruits take an IQ test--select only those above 165 (maybe Scorpions) 5. Practice, practice, practice 6. When all else has been tried--hire GENO.

I don't get the Scorpions part. Elaborate, please?

 

[terif831]

I remember a quote from Geno from some years ago, where he opined that playing in the semi-final game was much harder than playing in the final. I can't remember now the exact quote, but it was along the lines of nerves and expectations weighing you down in the semi-final - trying to prove you are worthy of being there - once you are in the final, you feel you are worthy, and that weight is lifted.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I remember a quote from Geno from some years ago, where he opined that playing in the semi-final game was much harder than playing in the final. I can't remember now the exact quote, but it was along the lines of nerves and expectations weighing you down in the semi-final - trying to prove you are worthy of being there - once you are in the final, you feel you are worthy, and that weight is lifted.

Well, that's easy for Geno to say when he's 10-0 in NC games and only 10-6 in the semis, but Muffet is 5-2 in semi's and only 1-4 in the NCs, and of course the old-time Auburn team was 3-0 in semis and 0-3 in the NC game. But this is kind of a zero-sum game, and some teams will be on the positive side of the zero and feel very positively about the NC game experience, and some will have that unfortunate negative side of things or be at breakeven.

 

[meyers7]

Go back and start all over again.

UConn is 14-0 in National Championship games. It's in the water.

Ahh, got it.

 

[ctdad]

1) Talent. UConn's title teams always have elite talent, lots of it and a coach who can coach it (not every coach can coach elite players well nor can every coach improve average talent).

2) Prep time. There are 5-6 days between the regionals and the semis. That gives teams time to at least try to simulate the physicality, pressure and quickness that UConn brings via the practice players most teams use. The Huskies are generally a very tall team (they always seem to have 3-4 people on the court who are tall for their position). That can change shots and the week between games gives a team time to bring out the tennis rackets or brooms or whatever and get used to shooting over that height. The one day between the semis and the finals does not allow anyway near the same level of prep.

3) One of those things. The UConn teams that lost in the semis may just not have been quite good enough. During UCLA's incredible run from 1962 to 1976, they lost in the semis thrice (1962, 1974 and 1976) while going 10 for 10 in finals. The Bruins didn't make the FF in 1963 or 1966 (although they may well have had the best team in the country in their freshman team in 1966)

 

[Huskies Rule]

I don't get the Scorpions part. Elaborate, please?

Maybe BroadwayVa meant "scorpios" and if you believe that stuff, then they'd all be ambitious (want to win the NC), passionate (play every minute 100%) , faithful (be a loyal teammate), brave (be unafraid, but unwilling to lose), mature (enough to handle Coach), goal-oriented (NC only acceptable outcome).

-Sort of an Auriemma Oath:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to UConn and Team
and to obey the UConn Way;
To help my teammates at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
defending, passing, screening,
rebounding, obeying Coach, giving
everything- in practice and in games
and ALWAYS ALWAYS BE READY
WILLING AND ABLE TO BEAT N.D.

....... so help me Geno.

 

[Huskies Rule]

- Reasons for 10-0:

1. The GREATNESS of Rebecca, Sue, DT, Maya, Tina, Stef, Bria, Kaleena, Moriah, Morgan and Stewie.
2. Coach Geno Auriemma

Note: UConn might very well have been an even more insane 16-0 in NC games but did lose in 6 FF semis because Rebecca, Sue, DT, Maya, Tina, Stef, Bria and Kaleena, ARE NOT PERFECT. As for Moriah, Morgan and Stewie ..... we'll just have to wait and see.