Geno's Frustrations

[LCConnFan]

IMO, much of these inconsistencies can be blamed on the pandemic and the lack of games or cancellations, coupled by multiple games in a row. They started out in small groups, isolated and in 'bubbles'. There are little or no fans in the arenas as well. It seems to me that you can't 'gel' as a team with all of this going on. You can't compare this to anything in past years. It's 'uncharted territory' and Geno knows this. That's why he isn't as upset as he would be.

 

[CocoHusky]

OK, here are 3 other reasons why I don’t see it happening:

1. Paige came to Storrs for a number of reasons. Chief among them was to play for the best coach in WBB, someone who she knew would make her better. Just listen to her comments after the game and it’s clear she has enormous respect and admiration for Geno and the demands he is making of her. Paige is not going to shortchange the process by leaving early.

2. Paige has yet to experience college basketball or college in general. Certainly, she’s played in games. But she has lived in a bubble with her teammates, played in games without fans and taken class remotely. Hopefully next season, Paige will have the opportunity to sit in a classroom, interact with the student body at large and play before SRO crowds at home and on the road that are largely in attendance to see Paige Bueckers. Call me crazy, but I think the college experience is very important to Paige.

3. Lastly, let’s talk about money. Paige can’t play in the W until she turns 19, which would be after her junior season. Playing overseas would get her some money sooner rather than later. But I would make the argument that it could potentially cost Paige millions in the long run. Paige has the potential to earn more money than any female athlete in any sport. If she leaves early, potentially without a National Championship or NPOY, she misses the opportunity for untold millions in endorsements.

The bolded stated is not correct. The WNBA's age limit is 20 for "international players" and 22 for U.S. players, both also being measured as of December 31 of the calendar year of the draft.

 

[LCConnFan]

The bolded stated is not correct. The WNBA's age limit is 20 for "international players" and 22 for U.S. players, both also being measured as of December 31 of the calendar year of the draft.

Thanks for clarifying this Coco.

 

[oldude]

The bolded stated is not correct. The WNBA's age limit is 20 for "international players" and 22 for U.S. players, both also being measured as of December 31 of the calendar year of the draft.

Thanks for the correction. I had known that, but must have been experiencing a senior moment when I typed 19.

 

[Martin]

I think the lack of any seniors is showing itself. There is no one on the team that has been through 3 full seasons of the "system".

I also get the feeling from watching the games, that no one on the team wants to be "great" and I blame today's society for that. "Great" people get attacked every day for any little thing and today's young people don't want to deal with it. It's sad.

One think I do know for a fact...If you don't aspire to be great (at anything), you won't be.

Reminds me of “Our deepest fear....,” M. Williamson via Coach Carter. The post isn’t entirely inaccurate. I feel like I’ve lived it as a working professional and witnessed in my own daughter’s experience in competitive.

 

[Cuango]

While I agree that some UConn players may be reluctant to step up in the clutch, your suggestion that society is to blame is an extraordinary stretch. I’m afraid that dog just won’t hunt.

Why? Clearly, our “society” is to blame (at least partially) for many ills. Not being argumentative, just curious how you can so easily dismiss Vaconn11’s opinion?

 

[Zorro]

It is also possible that Paige might be struck by lightening, hit by a bus, or abducted by an alien spaceship.

 

[Zinethar]

Most of us in the Boneyard were not born into the social media age. These kids live in that bubble. Kids today are either praised or hated 24/7/365 by both lovers and haters. If a kid wants to be great today the best advice is to turn off that stuff, listen to your coach, and be yourself. It seems to me that it is a miracle that Paige isn't more stilted as she thrives so far in that environment. I just worry what happens if she makes a "social mistake". I'm glad UConn seems to regulate what they can or can not do online but I bet these kids still read all that stuff.

 

[oldude]

Why? Clearly, our “society” is to blame (at least partially) for many ills. Not being argumentative, just curious how you can so easily dismiss Vaconn11’s opinion?

There are numerous sociological studies linking societal problems to a range of issues including poverty, violence and teenage pregnancies to name a few.

But the poster suggested a completely undocumented and somewhat bizarre theory that UConn WBB players don’t want to be great because our society attacks great people for any little thing, and evidently UConn WBB players don’t want to deal with it. Really?

I would accept that some players on UConn may be reluctant to take big shots in clutch situations because they are afraid of letting the team down. But blaming that on society’s ills is a bridge too far for me.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

ok for you, but you presume that $ is paige's god. maybe. but it ain't for all and some find it inappropriate that you assume it is for a 19-year-old who seems to have the game as a higher priority

Ummm...Could I point out that almost every top male basketball player in America spends one year- the required one year- in college, then turns pro? There's even an expression for it: "One and done." If Paige is offered $400,000 a year for three years in Europe, or from a Russian club, she shouldn't consider taking it? At what salary point do top women athletes drop out of college and turn pro? UConn fans would certainly like to enjoy her performances for the full four years. But if she could earn over a million bucks before what would have been college graduation, why not?

Women athletes have the right to turn pro, just like male athletes. We long ago stopped viewing men turning pro as betraying their universities and teammates. It's not immoral for men to leave college to pick up big bucks, or try to. So why is it wrong for women athletes? Paige has nothing more to prove to pro scouts. Megan Walker left UConn a year before graduation to turn pro in the WNBA. How long does Paige have to stay?

I'm guessing she's thinking about it.

 

[tower1]

As usual, Coach Geno never sugarcoats anything. He's right on the mark: this is not one of UConn's great teams. We have some good players and one spectacular shooting guard. ONO is more often than not ineffective; she is effective mostly when the defense is keying on Paige in the lane, opening ONO to roll to the basket. Evina has struggled this season. Crystal is up and down- way up and way down. Edwards has been very good, but suffers from being double- and triple-teamed if ONO isn't there. And for some odd reason, Coach Geno won't give her more minutes. The team struggles against mediocre teams far too often. What's boosting UConn in the rankings is the fact that no other team has emerged as an unbeatable powerhouse. Each team near the top has fallen at some point, UConn to Arkansas.

Paige is "the real deal." The danger with Paige is that she decides to turn pro in Europe after this season or next, opting to collect what could be hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas a la American soccer players, and not go through the motions of amateur college ball and the risk of injury. She could maker herself a millionaire before her eligibility to play in the under-paid WNBA comes up.

I think it's ridiculous for anyone to bring up turning pro for a young girl. Let her get her degree first and something to fall back on in case of injury.

 

[oldude]

Ummm...Could I point out that almost every top male basketball player in America spends one year- the required one year- in college, then turns pro? There's even an expression for it: "One and done." If Paige is offered $400,000 a year for three years in Europe, or from a Russian club, she shouldn't consider taking it? At what salary point do top women athletes drop out of college and turn pro? UConn fans would certainly like to enjoy her performances for the full four years. But if she could earn over a million bucks before what would have been college graduation, why not?

Women athletes have the right to turn pro, just like male athletes. We long ago stopped viewing men turning pro as betraying their universities and teammates. It's not immoral for men to leave college to pick up big bucks, or try to. So why is it wrong for women athletes? Paige has nothing more to prove to pro scouts. Megan Walker left UConn a year before graduation to turn pro in the WNBA. How long does Paige have to stay?

I'm guessing she's thinking about it.

I doubt Paige is thinking about it. But for the sake of argument, let’s say she is. Let’s also assume you’re right that she could go to Russia and earn $1.2 million over 3 years. Paige would literally be banning herself to Siberia.

Paige is the most marketable female athlete to come along, according to media analysts. If she stays and completes at least 3 years and hopefully 4 at UConn that results in multiple championships, NPOY’s, full arenas and super-charged tv ratings, while bringing millions of new fans to WBB, she could be looking at 10’s of millions of dollars in endorsements. That sounds a lot better to me than earning $400k a year in Siberia.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Geno's comparison of Paige to Dee's junior year is spot-on....imo.

Did you see Paige in the presser get asked to comment on what Geno had said with CW sitting there? Awkward to say the least. Like I said in another thread, stop putting Paige and CW at the same press table.

 

[BBallF]

OK, here are 3 other reasons why I don’t see it happening:

1. Paige came to Storrs for a number of reasons. Chief among them was to play for the best coach in WBB, someone who she knew would make her better. Just listen to her comments after the game and it’s clear she has enormous respect and admiration for Geno and the demands he is making of her. Paige is not going to shortchange the process by leaving early.

2. Paige has yet to experience college basketball or college in general. Certainly, she’s played in games. But she has lived in a bubble with her teammates, played in games without fans and taken class remotely. Hopefully next season, Paige will have the opportunity to sit in a classroom, interact with the student body at large and play before SRO crowds at home and on the road that are largely in attendance to see Paige Bueckers. Call me crazy, but I think the college experience is very important to Paige.

3. Lastly, let’s talk about money. Paige can’t play in the W until she turns 22, which would be after her junior season. Playing overseas would get her some money sooner rather than later. But I would make the argument that it could potentially cost Paige millions in the long run. Paige has the potential to earn more money than any female athlete in any sport. If she leaves early, potentially without a National Championship or NPOY, she misses the opportunity for untold millions in endorsements.

All valid points. The 4th reason for me is that she is not that kind of a person.

 

[CocoHusky]

Ummm...Could I point out that almost every top male basketball player in America spends one year- the required one year- in college, then turns pro? There's even an expression for it: "One and done." If Paige is offered $400,000 a year for three years in Europe, or from a Russian club, she shouldn't consider taking it? At what salary point do top women athletes drop out of college and turn pro? UConn fans would certainly like to enjoy her performances for the full four years. But if she could earn over a million bucks before what would have been college graduation, why not?

Women athletes have the right to turn pro, just like male athletes. We long ago stopped viewing men turning pro as betraying their universities and teammates. It's not immoral for men to leave college to pick up big bucks, or try to. So why is it wrong for women athletes? Paige has nothing more to prove to pro scouts. Megan Walker left UConn a year before graduation to turn pro in the WNBA. How long does Paige have to stay?

I'm guessing she's thinking about it.

Could we point out that there is a different set of rules for WNBA and NBA. This is not a question of a right to turn pro it requires an understanding of the rules and consequences to do so. The WNBA does not have one and done. There is nothing preventing Paige from going overseas and earning money. If she goes overseas she will forfeit her NCAA eligibility. I don't know if $400K is a realistic salary. Because Paige is American born what is preventing her is the WNBA age limit. Going overseas does not shorten her path to the WNBA. Even the best overseas players play in the WNBA. Even if you believe Paige could play in the WNBA today she is not eligible and will not be until the Spring of her Junior Year or Spring 2023.
I'm guessing Paige is not thinking about anything besides her next class her next game and the next time she can get home to see her little brother-like most college freshman.

 

[diggerfoot]

Ummm...Could I point out that almost every top male basketball player in America spends one year- the required one year- in college, then turns pro? There's even an expression for it: "One and done." If Paige is offered $400,000 a year for three years in Europe, or from a Russian club, she shouldn't consider taking it? At what salary point do top women athletes drop out of college and turn pro? UConn fans would certainly like to enjoy her performances for the full four years. But if she could earn over a million bucks before what would have been college graduation, why not?

Women athletes have the right to turn pro, just like male athletes. We long ago stopped viewing men turning pro as betraying their universities and teammates. It's not immoral for men to leave college to pick up big bucks, or try to. So why is it wrong for women athletes? Paige has nothing more to prove to pro scouts. Megan Walker left UConn a year before graduation to turn pro in the WNBA. How long does Paige have to stay?

I'm guessing she's thinking about it.

You are creating a strawman argument. I do not see anyone saying Bueckers shouldn’t, but rather give reasons why she wouldn’t. Tim Duncan chose to play all four years at Wake Forest. Do you think him a fool for not taking millions earlier? Or can you provide a defense for why he might have done that?

 

[msf22b]

When I saw the title of the OP...I figured it related to Geno's fascinating answer to a query of what in what direction he sees the team going;

Where're we going, I don't know..We played today, we played kinda just half-assed in a lot of ways, we figured out a way to win the game...We do so many things that boggle your mind.I can't imagine it...I see things that make me shake my head...So you ask which way we're going? I have no idea, no idea...

Close but not exact transcription of answer to the question of how he sees the direction of the team.
And the TV broadcast did indeed broadcast a frame of Geno sitting on the bench shaking his head.

I'm not going to get into my pet theories (often expressed)...not so very different from Geno's...
But along with the cancellations and the potential for that...the length of how long everyone's been sitting around...all of which Geno referred to; the unsaid of having to rely on Freshman to keep the balls in the air

Yeah, he's frustrated...hates the format, the absence of fans, the different routine (if you can call it that) and I'm sure, the relative ineffectiveness of the upperclassmen.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Between a mother, a wife, three sisters and two daughters, I've got some 300 aggregate years of living with women. One thing I've learned through all that experience is that I have no earthly idea what might be going through Paige Bueckers mind. If I really needed to know and it was any of my business, I'd consider asking her before purporting to tell others what she 'must' be thinking. Fortunately, on the boneyard, we are unconstrained by ignorance or etiquette and free to just spout whatever silliness pops into our heads. My totally uniformed opinion (well, uniformed except for what Paige has actually said about wanting to play with her BFF) is that she came to UConn with some goals in mind; Multiple natty's, POY's, MOPs, a spot on the wall with Maya, DT, Stewie, and Sue. I'd be more inclined to believe that she'd stay for a shot at 5 'ships than she would be to leave any of that on the table.

 

[phil sampieri]

Coming, presumably, from a Boomer, a member of the most entitled generation of the 20th century (according to virtually every sociological research project). Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Hardly a boomer. Surprised you would mistake my comments for someone from that era. My generation born in the early thirties were hardly entitled.

 

[FridaFriend]

What does any of this have to do with "Geno's Frustrations"?

 

[oldude]

Between a mother, a wife, three sisters and two daughters, I've got some 300 aggregate years of living with women.

I absolutely plan on nominating you for the Nobel Peace Prize. ?

 

[diggerfoot]

Coming, presumably, from a Boomer, a member of the most entitled generation of the 20th century (according to virtually every sociological research project). Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

I do not challenge this assertion outright, but would like to know how “entitled” is operationally defined in all these studies. Boomers grew up during the most affluent time for the middle class and I can see how that might translate into some definitions of entitlement. On the other hand the sixties is noted for Kennedy saying “Ask not what your country can do for you ...” while the seventies, eighties, nineties and new century had a variety of sociological factors that encouraged a LOFNO mentality.

 

[chrissaran]

I think the lack of any seniors is showing itself. There is no one on the team that has been through 3 full seasons of the "system".

I also get the feeling from watching the games, that no one on the team wants to be "great" and I blame today's society for that. "Great" people get attacked every day for any little thing and today's young people don't want to deal with it. It's sad.

One think I do know for a fact...If you don't aspire to be great (at anything), you won't be.

No one on the team wants to be great is ridiculous. Some players have more talent than others, so they won't all be great. What you're implying is they're not trying hard enough, which is also ridiculous. How about 7 freshman, a system none of them have played in, the pandemic, starts and stops, not being able to practice regularly and then scheduling games at the last minute, resulting in 5 games in 10 days. What are you great at, since you brought it up?

 

[Vowelguy]

Lol
1) has any player gone pro before finishing her junior year? I recall VAs Schuye Larue going to Europe. And a Rutgers player — maybe E Prince? Point is it almost never happens. And the most obvious person who could’ve gone after her frosh year — Stewie — stayed for 4.
2) Paige made a big deal of wanting to play with Azzi. Now she is gonna be here and PB Is gonna leave after 0 or 1 years together?
3) Paige still has a lot to learn from Geno.
4) do you want to make money now or do yo want to be a historic great with a Bird/Taurasi type career? I suspect Paige is playing the long game.
5) with the exception of Diana, most UConn players are pretty academically inclined. Lack of interest in school is one reason players leave early.
6) kids from poorer families might feel more pressure to earn $ sooner. Seems like the Bueckers are pretty middle class and there wouldn’t be that kind of concern

she’ll be eligible for the W after her junior year and leaving then is plausible, but before then? I put it at <5%.
Probably <1%

 

[LCConnFan]

Thanks for the correction. I had known that, but must have been experiencing a senior moment when I typed 19.

Was it because you forgot you just turned '20'?