Who the hell is David Ubben?

[tomcat]

If you listen to NPR's "All Things Considered," as I do, you were treated today to a feature on UConn women's basketball, in which one David Ubben, of the website "Sports on Earth," essentially supported the position of Shaghnessy-the-self-promoter. His arguent is that as long as Geno gets the best players, a streak like UConn's in WBB is NOT like Tiger Woods' domination of golf. Because it was all Tiger, and it is not all the same players. SO the implication, at least to my ears, was that UConn's achievment is somewhat denigrated because they got many of the best players and trained them up. Ubben acknowledged that this is a considerable feat, and that Auriemma is one of the best coaches ever in basketball, but that UConn's dominance keeps people from watching.

Another idiot.

 

[tomcat]

Just a quick follow-up: When you go to Sports on Earth and find Ubben's page, there are 20 articles. Nineteen of them are about men's basketball. Why am I not surprised.

 

[Kaizen]

It looks he did watch UConn - Texas game.
Q: why he bothers to watch?
A: he tried to promote himself otherwise no one knows who is this Sports on Earth.

 

[2Husky]

sports on earth actually has some good stuff, disappointed with this effort, but this article on stewie from a few years ago was good
http://www.sportsonearth.com/articl...na-stewart-best-womens-basketball-player-ever

 

[ABachelor6CR]

His argument is that as long as Geno gets the best players.....

Another idiot.

Problem with that statement is that Geno DOES NOT get all the best players.......he develops great players. Sometimes he gets players that no one wanted and turns them into very good players.....i.e. Kelly Faris.....

 

[Blueballer]

We live in the age where everybody has a voice. Either they are in the media or they are media wanna be's with an ISP and a microphone or just another loudmouth with a blog.
Geno doesn't get all the best players but the good ones he does get end up being the best of the best.

 

[MattF]

Absolutely! He didn't get A'ja Wilson, Plum, the Mabreys, Jewell Lloyd, Sidney Wiese, Courtney Williams and a host of other amazing players, who don't wind up at UConn. What these folks don't seem to get is how many great players there are in WCBB already and what a great coaching staff exists at UConn to get players to play at their highest levels. From listening and readimng these folks you'd think there were only a handful of great players in the country and they're all at UConn. Totally wrong!

Problem with that statement is that Geno DOES NOT get all the best players..he develops great players. Sometimes he gets players that no one wanted and turns them into very good players.....i.e. Kelly Faris.....

 

[bags27]

Another idiot.

Who listens to NPR for sports? it's like listening to NPR for financial news. No one will care. I love Car Talk even in reruns and Wait, Wait! but I find NPR generally boring and predictable--and I'm a knee-jerk liberal.

 

[MattF]

Were Jordan's Bulls unfair? The Celtics with Bird, DJ, Parrish, McHale, Ainge? The Lakers with Magic, Kareem, Worthy?
Somehow it's a great women's team that's bad for the sport. Ugh!

 

[MattF]

Were Jordan's Bulls unfair? The Celtics with Bird, DJ, Parrish, McHale, Ainge? The Lakers with Magic, Kareem, Worthy?
Somehow it's a great women's team that's bad for the sport. Ugh!

 

[todl31]

A successful head coach has to wear many hats. He has to be astute in the X's and O's. He has to be a motivator. He has to be a teacher. He has to be a RECRUITER. He has to be an administrator over all of the details of the program- assistants, trainers, travel planners, schedulers, etc. If you say he is successful because he gets good players, my response is "that is one of the jobs of a head coach." It is as important to be a good recruiter as it is to be a good X's and O's coach. Getting good players who fit the system is a sign of a good coach, not just a matter of luck.

 

[chrissaran]

David Ubben is nobody. How ridiculous to say that UConn should give up the best players. Did Aja Wilson, Skylar Diggins, Chiney Ogumike, Rachel Banham, Ariel Powers, Nina Davis, Kelsey Mitchell, Sidney Wiese or Jordan Canada commit to UConn. There are many talented women players who don't come to UConn, which is why they're not winning National Championships. Geno, CD, Shea, and Marissa are the best coaching staff there is. Congratulations to the staff and the players for all the hard work that puts them out front of the pack. Like Huskies pulling a sled, they never quit, never tire, never give up.

 

[TitleTown]

A successful head coach has to wear many hats. He has to be astute in the X's and O's. He has to be a motivator. He has to be a teacher. He has to be a RECRUITER. He has to be an administrator over all of the details of the program- assistants, trainers, travel planners, schedulers, etc. If you say he is successful because he gets good players, my response is "that is one of the jobs of a head coach." It is as important to be a good recruiter as it is to be a good X's and O's coach. Getting good players who fit the system is a sign of a good coach, not just a matter of luck.

Your right that a successful HC must wear many hats and Coach Auriemma is great at all of them but honestly I feel that he really excels as a motivator. He knows exactly what buttons to push to get the most out of his players and has an uncanny ability to break a team down and then build them back up so they are peaking right at tournament time. There is a quote by either Taurasi or Lobo that says "From October until late February Coach Auriemma told us we could lose every game and then March came around and he told us we couldn't be beat"