UConn coach Geno Auriemma and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley have one thing in common: they cut their teeth under UVA Basketball coaching legend Debbie Ryan.
Wonder what Debbie was thinking last night when her former assistant coach and her former star point guard were tussling at center court in the Final Four?
The highlight came from Staley, after being confronted by Auriemma, who was butthurt as his team was a millisecond away from having its perfect 38-0 season derailed:
“I will beat Geno’s ass! I will beat Geno’s ass!”
Classic.
I’ve told this story before, but it bears retelling: about how I played in pickup games with the men’s and women’s teams at UVA in the offseasons when I was a student at the University in the early 1990s, and in one of those games, Staley took – and called – a charge on Bryant Stith, the all-time leading scorer in Virginia Basketball history.
For those who don’t know the culture, you don’t call charges in pickup games.
Unless you’re Dawn Staley.
And don’t overlook here – Staley played at 5’6” and in the mid-130s; Stith was 6’5” and in the 210s.
Dudes weren’t getting in front of Bryant Stith on his way to the basket in those games.
That’s the Dawn Staley that told Geno Auriemma what he could do with his griping.
Last night’s broadcast was the first that I ever recall wherein the in-game coach’s interview actually did any good, because a frustrated Auriemma, speaking with ESPN’s Holly Rowe ahead of the fourth quarter, let on what was about to go down.
“There were six fouls called that quarter, all of them against us,” Auriemma said. “And they’ve been beating the sh-t out of our guys down there the entire game. And I’m not making excuses, because we haven’t been able to make a shot, but this is ridiculous.
“Their coach ran some rage on the sideline and called the referees some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get 6-0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey, and they go, I didn’t see it. C’mon, man, this is the national championship,” Auriemma said.
The “kid with a ripped jersey,” Sarah Strong, was seen on video ripping her jersey herself, which she later said was an “accident.”
No harm, literally no foul.
The confrontation initiated by Auriemma as the final seconds wound down actually delayed the end of the game, as game officials had to separate the two coaching staffs.
UConn had to inbound the ball with 0.1 on the clock for the final buzzer.
Auriemma was already on his way back to the UConn locker room, alone, as his players and staff shook hands with the South Carolina side.
He tried to claim later that his issue was with Staley not shaking hands with him before the game, though video and still photos showed them clearly engaging in a quick handshake prior.
What was really at play here: he didn’t like that his team got outplayed.
Auriemma did acknowledge that “the game wasn’t played the way we want to play it, it was played the way South Carolina wanted to play it,” which is Coaching Sin #1.
UConn shot 31.1 percent from the floor, was 6-of-21 from three, got outrebounded 47-32, and was outshot at the free-throw line 22-6, though a fair amount of that was end-game fouling by UConn to try to play the clock – South Carolina was 7-of-8 at the line in the final 1:45.
My analysis of these things is, the team that attacks more gets rewarded more – South Carolina had 28 shots at the rim and just six three-point attempts; UConn had 18 shots at the rim and 21 attempts from three.
“You can ask Geno the question,” Staley bristled at a reporter who tried to get her to talk about the confrontation. “He’s the one that initiated the conversation. I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today.”
Later, defending her players, and herself:
“They play the right way,” Staley said. “We don’t denounce anybody’s play. They are always uplifting the game of women’s basketball, and when we were getting our heads beat in by UConn for all those years, I said nothing.”
My best guess is, Debbie Ryan is on Team Staley here.
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Chris Graham
