SoonerinNC posted this in the TT thread:
I think these are the two best coaches in women's basketball, for very different reasons. Geno is, without doubt, the best coach in the nation at producing winning teams. He doesn't brag that you better get him now because he just recruited a great class. He simply teaches very talented athletes how to win on the floor when it counts. Connecticut has won eleven of the last twenty-two national championships. He doesn't care about a Big East or AA whatever title. He wins the national championship. He lost three really talented players this year, two who were among the best ever. They are still undefeated.
When you look at Geno's teams, you have to admit that they are the best at basketball in the game. They execute. They are good players, and they play at a winning level. It is rare to see an upset win over UConn. What seems so fascinating is that he seems to know who will fit into his system. Other coaches recruit superstars, but they often don't seem to fit together. I don't know if it is that Geno has the ability to recognize who will fit together, or he has the adaptability to change his system a bit to accommodate them. I'm still fascinated that a home-schooled kid from Glenn Heights was a four-year starter on a four-year national title team.
I haven't seen a lot of coaches express great affection for Geno, excluding Sherri. But, despite the fact that Pat and Muffit had some difficulties with him, I don't know that I have seen anyone who didn't respect Geno and watch to see what they could learn from him. Sherri has made it clear that she likes and respects Geno.
Geno has made it clear that he likes and respects Sherri. It was Geno who said that Sherri was what college basketball should be about. They are great coaches, with a different agenda. Their goals are a bit different. I think that each would like to become a bit more like the other.
Geno is the winner. After you win four or five national titles, you can talk to Geno about what it takes to win. Sherri is about women. She is first and foremost, a teacher. Geno is right. Sherri is what women's college basketball should be about. You want it to be about wins? Take it to pro basketball. College is about teaching and learning.
Sherri takes young women and helps mold them for a world. Along the way, she wants to win a lot of basketball games, and I'm sure she would love to win a national title. She's been at the doorstep. But, whereas other coaches might want their players to become pro basketball stars, I think Sherri would be most pleased if her players were to become Senators, Congressmen, professional women. Indeed, her support comes largely from the Stilettos, a group of professional women---not basketball stars.
Sherri lives in a real world in which women are not yet treated as equals, on the basketball court, in industry, or in the voting booth. Sherri is about preparing women for that world and the development of rising aspirations. It is interesting that we see so many fans at the games who are grandmothers or grandparents who bring their granddaughters to the game. Grandma may have played basketball as a girl, but the sport didn't exist at the college level when she went to school.
Along the way, Geno operated in a climate that has produced winning basketball teams for both women and men, whereas OU has never won a title with either. For basketball fans, a title is important. At OU, it is lumped in with other sports as football has its own board.
I think there are things about Sherri that Geno would like to be. There are things about Geno that Sherri would like to be. Given what they have as goals and values, they are the most successful coaches in the game. A lot who think they want to win as their goal will never even earn the right to be in Geno's shadow in that aspect.
Both Geno and Sherri share an aspect that is important. Both are respectful of their adversaries and the integrity of the game. Geno and Sherri don't fake injuries, start fights, or ridicule opponents. Rather than trying to put Marsha Sharp down, a primary adversary if you are trying to win in the original Big Twelve, Sherri was highly supportive of all things Marsha Sharp, as well and Judy Conradt. She honored them at their retirements. Despite his riffs with Pat and Muffit, I think Geno respects them and their accomplishments.
Sherri and Geno are at different universities with different histories relative to women's sports and different support systems. They see the world a bit differently, being of different genders. It has produced somewhat different perspectives, both being great in their own way.
I can't disagree with much of your post. I would suggest that of all the players on the OU team, the only ones that Geno might want on his team might be Maddie, Chelsea, and Nancy. I doubt he would have taken a second look at Gioya, TT, LaNesia, Derica, Shaya, or McKenna. Had he had more of an opportunity to see them, he might have considered others. But, I don't think that's what I want to talk about.
I think these are the two best coaches in women's basketball, for very different reasons. Geno is, without doubt, the best coach in the nation at producing winning teams. He doesn't brag that you better get him now because he just recruited a great class. He simply teaches very talented athletes how to win on the floor when it counts. Connecticut has won eleven of the last twenty-two national championships. He doesn't care about a Big East or AA whatever title. He wins the national championship. He lost three really talented players this year, two who were among the best ever. They are still undefeated.
When you look at Geno's teams, you have to admit that they are the best at basketball in the game. They execute. They are good players, and they play at a winning level. It is rare to see an upset win over UConn. What seems so fascinating is that he seems to know who will fit into his system. Other coaches recruit superstars, but they often don't seem to fit together. I don't know if it is that Geno has the ability to recognize who will fit together, or he has the adaptability to change his system a bit to accommodate them. I'm still fascinated that a home-schooled kid from Glenn Heights was a four-year starter on a four-year national title team.
I haven't seen a lot of coaches express great affection for Geno, excluding Sherri. But, despite the fact that Pat and Muffit had some difficulties with him, I don't know that I have seen anyone who didn't respect Geno and watch to see what they could learn from him. Sherri has made it clear that she likes and respects Geno.
Geno has made it clear that he likes and respects Sherri. It was Geno who said that Sherri was what college basketball should be about. They are great coaches, with a different agenda. Their goals are a bit different. I think that each would like to become a bit more like the other.
Geno is the winner. After you win four or five national titles, you can talk to Geno about what it takes to win. Sherri is about women. She is first and foremost, a teacher. Geno is right. Sherri is what women's college basketball should be about. You want it to be about wins? Take it to pro basketball. College is about teaching and learning.
Sherri takes young women and helps mold them for a world. Along the way, she wants to win a lot of basketball games, and I'm sure she would love to win a national title. She's been at the doorstep. But, whereas other coaches might want their players to become pro basketball stars, I think Sherri would be most pleased if her players were to become Senators, Congressmen, professional women. Indeed, her support comes largely from the Stilettos, a group of professional women---not basketball stars.
Sherri lives in a real world in which women are not yet treated as equals, on the basketball court, in industry, or in the voting booth. Sherri is about preparing women for that world and the development of rising aspirations. It is interesting that we see so many fans at the games who are grandmothers or grandparents who bring their granddaughters to the game. Grandma may have played basketball as a girl, but the sport didn't exist at the college level when she went to school.
Along the way, Geno operated in a climate that has produced winning basketball teams for both women and men, whereas OU has never won a title with either. For basketball fans, a title is important. At OU, it is lumped in with other sports as football has its own board.
I think there are things about Sherri that Geno would like to be. There are things about Geno that Sherri would like to be. Given what they have as goals and values, they are the most successful coaches in the game. A lot who think they want to win as their goal will never even earn the right to be in Geno's shadow in that aspect.
Both Geno and Sherri share an aspect that is important. Both are respectful of their adversaries and the integrity of the game. Geno and Sherri don't fake injuries, start fights, or ridicule opponents. Rather than trying to put Marsha Sharp down, a primary adversary if you are trying to win in the original Big Twelve, Sherri was highly supportive of all things Marsha Sharp, as well and Judy Conradt. She honored them at their retirements. Despite his riffs with Pat and Muffit, I think Geno respects them and their accomplishments.
Sherri and Geno are at different universities with different histories relative to women's sports and different support systems. They see the world a bit differently, being of different genders. It has produced somewhat different perspectives, both being great in their own way.