[teejers1]

Brutal, and true:

Asked if he sees some things that can be fixed by the time UConn faces UCLA on Saturday, Auriemma sounded bleak.

"I don't think it's gonna get fixed," he said. "I really don't. I've been doing this a long, long time. Coaches are supposed to be eternal optimists. I'm too old to be an optimist. I'm a realist. I truly believe what I see. I don't try to make up what I'm seeing and pretend it's something else. I know what I see.



"And what I see is a team that's somewhat disheveled. And that's on me. Somehow, some way I do not have the ability at this point in time to affect my players to make sure that we're in a better place mentally and physically, to play the kind of basketball we need to play.

"I've usually been pretty good over the years at making players better. We get really good players coming out of high school, but they get better and better and better every year. And right now, that's not happening."

I've been so surprised by the lack of growth from Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. They were the no. 1 and 5 players in their class. Westbrook, I suspect, will never be the same player she was pre-knee injuries, but she was still a top 5 recruit. Their starting lineup had 3 top 5 recruits, a Big Ten A-A, and an Olympian. There is really no excuse for a group that talented to put up 44 points. Something is clearly way wrong in Storrs.

I wonder if Geno's comments about the team are part of it -- doesn't think the team is good without Paige? That's got to undermine the confidence of the rest of them, and that can't help. He's not doing what he should be to build confidence, instead seems to be deflating them.

Geno's post-game comments pissed me off, and I don't even like UConn or its players - or more accurately, have absolutely zero emotional attachment to them.  But as others have noted, Geno historically operates with an incredibly short bench - which is shameful given the talent he reels into Storrs.  He should be giving 8-10 players meaningful PT every game for roster development and security purposes.  But he doesn't because . . . well, only Geno knows why (I gravitate toward wanting to have "record-breakers" under his charge, and those select few need all the PT to become "record breakers).

What sucks about this is that now UConn will be forced to improve roster depth/security, to the detriment of the other teams come the NCAAs.  And that will have to do only with necessity and not some smart coaching moves by Geno.

As I said in another thread, I hope UConn loses as many games as possible (while hoping player injuries are not serious).

P.S. The PG issue that UConn faces now sounds familiar, doesn't it?

[teejers1]

Brutal, and true:

Asked if he sees some things that can be fixed by the time UConn faces UCLA on Saturday, Auriemma sounded bleak.

"I don't think it's gonna get fixed," he said. "I really don't. I've been doing this a long, long time. Coaches are supposed to be eternal optimists. I'm too old to be an optimist. I'm a realist. I truly believe what I see. I don't try to make up what I'm seeing and pretend it's something else. I know what I see.



"And what I see is a team that's somewhat disheveled. And that's on me. Somehow, some way I do not have the ability at this point in time to affect my players to make sure that we're in a better place mentally and physically, to play the kind of basketball we need to play.

"I've usually been pretty good over the years at making players better. We get really good players coming out of high school, but they get better and better and better every year. And right now, that's not happening."

I've been so surprised by the lack of growth from Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. They were the no. 1 and 5 players in their class. Westbrook, I suspect, will never be the same player she was pre-knee injuries, but she was still a top 5 recruit. Their starting lineup had 3 top 5 recruits, a Big Ten A-A, and an Olympian. There is really no excuse for a group that talented to put up 44 points. Something is clearly way wrong in Storrs.

I wonder if Geno's comments about the team are part of it -- doesn't think the team is good without Paige? That's got to undermine the confidence of the rest of them, and that can't help. He's not doing what he should be to build confidence, instead seems to be deflating them.

Geno's post-game comments pissed me off, and I don't even like UConn or its players - or more accurately, have absolutely zero emotional attachment to them.  But as others have noted, Geno historically operates with an incredibly short bench - which is shameful given the talent he reels into Storrs.  He should be giving 8-10 players meaningful PT every game for roster development and security purposes.  But he doesn't because . . . well, only Geno knows why (I gravitate toward wanting to have "record-breakers" under his charge, and those select few need all the PT to become "record breakers).

What sucks about this is that now UConn will be forced to improve roster depth/security, to the detriment of the other teams come the NCAAs.  And that will have to do only with necessity and not some smart coaching moves by Geno.

As I said in another thread, I hope UConn loses as many games as possible (while hoping player injuries are not serious).

P.S. The PG issue that UConn faces now sounds familiar, doesn't it?