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Foul issues concern UConn's Auriemma
Before taking his top-ranked UConn women basketball team on a challenging two-game road trip Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma stressed the importance of staying out of foul trouble.
Then he watched as the fouls piled up, especially in the frontcourt in Friday's game at Maryland and the same thing happened on Sunday against Penn State.
Senior center Stefanie Dolson picked up fouls. No. 2 and 3 nine seconds apart late in the first half and although she was not whistled for a foul in the second half, she came perilously close to being called for her fourth early in the early stages of the final half. Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson were called for their third fouls by the 15:45 mark of the second half and they too flirted with danger with some over aggressive plays.
"There is a fine line between how aggressive you can be and how smart you can need to be," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "You just get yourself where you want to make a play. The fouls that were called on Stefanie today, they were all fouls and they are fouls that can be prevented. One is a moving screen, you don''t have to set moving screens. One was she was standing there and the kid just threw herself at her but she had her hands (extended), the next time her hands were up here. Stewie, you have two fouls, they are running down on transition the kid stops at the foul line and you run by and smack her on the back of the head, what are you thinking?"
UConn posted wins over ranked teams by 19, 17 and 19 points and do not play a ranked team again until playing at No. 2 Duke on Dec. 17. Still, the Huskies are not about to rest of their laurels.
"When we go back to school we have a lot to work on," Auriemma said. "We don't take anything for granted, we don't disrespect any team when we are out there thinking we are going to win every game just because we show up. Contrary to public opinion we do practice and we do work really hard, we don't just roll the ball out there because we have 17 high school All-Americans."
Then he watched as the fouls piled up, especially in the frontcourt in Friday's game at Maryland and the same thing happened on Sunday against Penn State.
Senior center Stefanie Dolson picked up fouls. No. 2 and 3 nine seconds apart late in the first half and although she was not whistled for a foul in the second half, she came perilously close to being called for her fourth early in the early stages of the final half. Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson were called for their third fouls by the 15:45 mark of the second half and they too flirted with danger with some over aggressive plays.
"There is a fine line between how aggressive you can be and how smart you can need to be," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "You just get yourself where you want to make a play. The fouls that were called on Stefanie today, they were all fouls and they are fouls that can be prevented. One is a moving screen, you don''t have to set moving screens. One was she was standing there and the kid just threw herself at her but she had her hands (extended), the next time her hands were up here. Stewie, you have two fouls, they are running down on transition the kid stops at the foul line and you run by and smack her on the back of the head, what are you thinking?"
UConn posted wins over ranked teams by 19, 17 and 19 points and do not play a ranked team again until playing at No. 2 Duke on Dec. 17. Still, the Huskies are not about to rest of their laurels.
Labels: Breanna Stewart, Geno Auriemma, Moriah Jefferson, Stefanie Dolson
posted by Jim Fuller at
9:24 PM
3 Comments:
17 high school all americans
real funny geno
that is why we have to put up with the whining about only 7 scholarship players after injuries
Nice piece Mr.Fuller. I especially enjoyed Mr. Auriemma's statement in the last paragraph.
The other coaches that are in the piss and moan club should try to emulate Geno. Take a coaching job in a school whose program is inter-mural at best and thru blood,sweat tears and good old hard work, take it from a door mat to a national powerhouse. Oops they can't---They are not GENO
With all due respect to Geno, doubt he could take a lousy startup team and win a NC in this age. Talent level in the Top 25 is much better than it was in the early 90s. More importantly, the age difference between Geno and players today lends itself to a huge gap in personal view points. This is a Me world now. Some superstar high school players would rather play were they are guaranteed minutes than have to work for it. And then there is the rare case of EDD, who used her sister as an excuse to not leave home. Yet when paid, had no trouble being away.
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