UCONN | Sports

Women's Basketball: Summitt says forget it

      

Tennessee

coach Pat Summitt reiterated Monday her belief that the resumption of the Lady Vols regular-season series with UConn was not in the future.
     “I hadn’t really thought about it,” said Summitt, on the eve of her national championship game Tuesday night against Stanford. “At this point I really don’t see it happening.”

     When asked if there was anything UConn coach Geno Auriemma could do on his end to help mediate the situation, Summitt was clear.

     “Not now,” she said.

     Summitt put an end to the 13-year series between the two national powerhouses last summer and has yet to address why. And she said she wasn’t planning to be more forthcoming Monday had UConn defeated Stanford Sunday to set up a fifth title game between the teams.

    “I would say, I didn’t want any of that to be a distraction,” Summitt said. “It’s not about the coaches. It’s all about the players. And unfortunately, some of the media folks out there have wanted to make this about Pat and Geno and it’s all about the players.

     “I think it’s fair to say that because of the unknown that’s still out there, that this would still be a story that has people digging and still interested and writing about it. I can respect that from the media. But it doesn’t mean that I’m going to reveal anything. When I make my mind up, I’m as stubborn as my father was.”

     Summitt said she hadn’t thought about the possibility of being asked questions about her apparent rift with Auriemma and his program, which has been accused by Tennessee and the Southeastern Conference of recruiting improprieties concerning freshman Maya Moore. Summitt has referred to the loss of

Moore

to UConn as the most disappointing of her career.

    “I hadn’t really thought about the questions I might get asked, because I wasn’t planning to talk about anything other than the players,” Summitt said. “I have tremendous respect for Geno’s coaching skills and ability. He made us better. They’ve beaten us enough.

   “But the fact that we’re not both here today is not going to change what I want to talk about or what it might take to mend this. My mind has not even gone there. My mind right now is one what we need to do to win one more game against a great basketball team (Stanford). That’s pretty much it.”

Women's Basketball: Perhaps it was something I said?

  Good morning from Bloga Bay, where morning broke with a gray, gloomy hue. I did what I could, played my game the best I knew how. But it wasn't enough.

  My dear constituents, it apppears my rookie season as your congressman representing the district of UConn women's basketball is over. Stanford did us in Sunday night. Season over, two games short of the sixth national championship.

   The UConn-Tennessee game I have long waited to see will not happen this season. The Lady Vols play for their second straight championship Tuesday night while the Huskies, top-ranked and top-seeded, sit home in Storrs. They got the best of us, one-upped us, beat us to the punch.

   If the the Lady Vols and their fans are feeling particularly glib this morning, well, how can you blame them? They have reason to gloat, reason to proclaim their superiority. There is nothing any UConn fan can legitimately say to counter that train of thought that would not be construed as sour grapes. And so I suggest we pay our respects to Coach Summitt and her team.

  Coach Summitt, by virtue of Alexis Hornbuckle's last-second shot, has escaped the congressional hearing that would have taken place today in the press room of the St. Pete Times Forum. She will not have to answer any charges about her role in ending the UConn series or filing complaints with the SEC about Geno's conduct. Those issues, in this forum, simply are not appropriate to be brought up. She wins again.

  I ask you not to fret about what was lost Sunday. I am sensing some frustration over the play of Renee Montgomery and, let's face it, her shooting touch certainly did go south in the NCAA Tournament. But without her play, who knows how far UConn would have advanced? She seemed tired, impatient. She took too many shots, too quickly, without any help under the boards. But these things happen.

   Stanford was a great opponent, with a marvelous All-American, Candice Wiggins, who would look lovely in a Connecticut Sun uniform, don't you think? Freshman Kayla Pedersen, a teammate of Maya Moore on two national teams, looks like a future All-American. They beat us fair and square.

  I will have more to say in a few days, I presume. But for now, let me say how much I've enjoyed talking to you all this season. The majority of you have made me feel so welcomed and I appreciate it. Some of you would rather I climb under a rock, which is OK, I guess. But that's part of the business; you take the good with the bad, the gracious with the venom.

   Be well, be happy, HuskyNation. It's been a great ride.

    See you soon, Caroline, Tiffany, Elena and Heather. Thanks for everything Mel, Charde, Brittany and Ketia.

   John

Women's Basketball: Raindrops may fall on their head

  Hello from inside the St. Pete Times Forum, where it is raining - outside and unfortunately inside.

  Raindrops are dripping from the roof, right onto certain areas of press row, confirming for once and all that we are all wet.

   So far, the floor as been spared. The players are warming up on both ends, perfectly dry.

  It seems like its good growing season for a championship

  John

Women's Basketball: There can be only one outcome

  Good morning from Bloga Bay, which is actually more of a canal, at least as it appears from the sumptous suite the Courant has arranged for me here at the Final Four. I see people with boats and in boats and I sense there must be many here that would like a boat.

   I am staying in a hotel with just about every women's coach, assistant, executive and fan in the country, or so it seems. They all seem be enjoying themselves, judging from how long it took us to reach the bar in the hotel lobby last night.

   Don't kid yourself, folks. These ladies don't only drink Gatorade or Powerade, although they do seem to run a lot and are all in killer physical condition. I've seen Shea Ralph, Jen Rizzotti and Paige Sauer. Stacey Dales and Kara Lawson, Angel McCoughtry and Gary Blair.

   No sign of Stacy Hansmeyer, however.

    I even spent a few minutes last night with Mike Thibault, the coach of the Connecticut Sun and one of the truly nicest people I've ever met in the profession. He seems to like sportswriters, which is understandable since his son once wanted to be one before turning to other noble pursuits of the written word.

    I asked him if it would be OK if the Sun went 2-30 in 2010 so they could draft Maya Moore in April 2011. You get a feeling he'd consider it - yes, Maya is that well-respected - if GM Chris Sienko wouldn't take it personally, of course.

   We can dream, can't we?

Women's Basketball: Congratulations Gene!

   If Geno Auriemma ever needed a reality check, he got a big one Saturday afternoon during the press conference announcing that he'd won the Associated Press national coach of the year for the fifth time.

   The AP representative assigned to introduce UConn's coach, and Tennessee's Candace Parker, the player of the year, called him Gene and then butchered his last name into some combination of Italian and Albanian that could hardly be recognized.

Copy editor, report to conference room No. 2 for a spell check on famous name of Hall of Fame coach!!

It was, to say the least, one of those incidents that makes you look away from the screen.

  "Well, that's four awards for Geno and one for Gene, my cousin," Auriemma joked afterwards.

   Auriemma seemed pleased with this award, one he said he believed he legitimately earned for keeping the Huskies on track after Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene were injured.

   "You start the season and think, hey, this team can win the national championship and things come up and make you think about how fragile things are," Auriemma said. "What can I say? We have a great coaching staff. The players may leave, but they stay the same. That's what gives us the constancy."

  Auriemma also said he felt lost in the hours after Thomas was hurt Jan. 15 in Syracuse.

  "I just wanted to talk to anyone who would listen to me, just to hear their voices. I wanted to hear nine million ideas [of how to save the season]. Those guys were all great. My problem was I'd already decided what I was going to do. And they knew it. They all played along with it. That's kind of how it works around here. I waited eight hours for one of them to say what my idea was. And then I said, you know what, I agree."

  Talk to you soon,

Johan

Women's Basketball: Orange blows (trumpets)

   Good morning from Bloga Bay, home of the 2008 Women's Final Four. I am not surprised to be here. You should not be surprised I am here, either, I told you all back in October that the season would end in the sunshine and here we all are, 85 and sunny.

   For the record, it was 9:40 this morning when the Tennessee band broke into "Rocky Top" for the first time outside the St. Pete Times Forum, where the games will be played. They held a little battle of the bands outside the arena while a big clinic was being held in conjunction with pregame events.

   Stanford's band and UConn's band - and cheerleaders - were here, as well.

   I have to admit, that I like Rocky Top. I think American Idol should use the song next week for the its final eight contestants. David Cook would rock it out,  man.

   The press conferences begin in about an hour, after which we will begin the process of making sense of it all.

   By the way, the Associated Press has announced that Geno Auriemma is their Coach of the Year for the fifth time and Candace Parker of Tennessee is its national player of the year.

   Carla Berube and Jen Rizzotti, you both will be here someday - as coaches - I presume.

John

Women's Basketball: Final Four Time

In Saturday's Sports Section

Sophomore Kaili McLaren is just one of the players UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma challenged this season. She was even benched at one point.

"It was hard, but my teammates and family were definitely there to help me and I knew that if I could stay positive, there wouldn’t be any more problems," McLaren said.

McLaren has stepped up her game as the games have become more important. Read more in Saturday's sports section as the Huskies prepare to meet Stanford Sunday night in a national semifinal game.

Team Practices Saturday

The Huskies arrived Thursday night. They are kept busy. They have an autograph session from 11-11:30 a.m. today, and practice from noon to 1 p.m.

If UConn and Tennessee each win their semifinal games, they play for the title Tuesday night. That means Auriemma and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt will each be on the podium before the national media on Monday. They'll be asked plenty about their relationship. And Summitt will be asked to explain why she did not want to play UConn this season. Will she answer?

Women's Basketball: Maya Makes It!

The UConn women have had their share of first-team All-Americans during the past 13 seasons. They are names synonymous with basketball royalty – Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti, Kara Wolters, Nykesha Sales, Shea Ralph, Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.

But never have the Huskies had a freshman make it. Then again, then have may have never had a player quite like Maya Moore before.

Women's Basketball: Play ball

We take time out from the start of the baseball season to bring you this update from Greensboro.

Rainy and cold...

Oh, there is something else you may be interested in

Neither sophomore center Tina Charles or junior guard Renee Montgomery required additional tests Sunday night after sustaining their injuries during the final minutes of UConn’s Sweet 16 win over Old Dominion.

Both are expected to play Tuesday night when the Huskies play Rutgers at the Greensboro Coliseum ( 9 p.m. , ESPN) for the right to go the Final Four.

Charles suffered a bruise to he her left shoulder and Montgomery twisted her left knee.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma is expected to update the status of both players at his press conference later this afternoon.

Women's Basketball: Well, bless her heart

  Good afternoon from Blogsboro, where the women all say "Well, bless her heart" instead of "Isn't she cute" or "Isn't that nice" or "Did Pat really say that about Geno?"

  Outside the window of my sumptuous hotel suite is the Odd Fellows Lodge, where, I can only assume, fellows who are odd assemble after work - if they work - to discuss whatever oddities make them the way they are.

To be honest, sportswriters are largely odd fellows, as well. We could be card-carrying members of the Odd Fellows Lodge. Just ask the coaches and players we write about. They know the truth.

  We live incredibly bizarre lives; work late, rise early, eat bad food, drink bad things, talk to editors. And then we do it all over again. I was thinking this again this morning at 5 when I walked through the doors at Bradley International and prepared to fly here, to Blogsboro, where our girls will play those girls from ODU on Sunday at noon on ESPN - I repeat, ESPN; for emphasis, ESPN; I'm not kidding, ESPN; this is not a pledge drive, ESPN.

  Personal note: If you don't get ESPN folks, seriously, we can't help you at this point. Call the receptionist at the Odd Fellows Lodge for information on how cable television works.

  Mike Patrick and Doris Burke doing the play-by-play, and frankly, ladies and gentlemen, it gets no better than that for women's basketball.

   Oh, well. I left my son, now 10, to come here. He is in a local production of The Sound of Music this weekend. He plays the Nazi official who comes to Captain Von Trapp's home and tells him he's been ordered to report to the Navy. This is not an example of typecasting; he is Korean.