Like him or not, Lady Huskies' coach Geno Auriemma probably summed it up best a while back when he said, "If we play our A game, nobody can beat us". And so it came to pass in the championship game against Notre Dame. The Huskies embarrassed the previously undefeated Lady Irish, 74-53.
Being absolutely dominant in the "paint", superior ball movement and execution, and crashing the boards coupled with a shut-down defense that forced turnover after turnover led to what basically became a blow-out.
Though the talking heads wouldn't dare say such a thing during the course of the regular season -- and even earlier in the tournament -- because they have to hype every game like it's the Super Bowl -- they finally gave up the obvious in the end. All year long there was a big gap between Notre Dame and UConn compared with everybody else. And as it turned out, there was also a big gap between ND and UConn themselves. One was clearly the cream of the crop, while the other was merely better than all the other also-rans.
Notre Dame, 37-0 going in, has to take a puddle-jumper flight from Nashville back home to South Bend while licking their wounds, after suffering a total beat-down on national TV by a vastly superior UConn team, who finished off a perfect 40-0 season in style. The plane ride home to Storrs will certainly be a lot more joyous.
And don't look now, but coach Geno Auriemma is getting into some very elite company when it comes to all-time championships. This was his 9th at UConn, surpassing Pat Summitt's 8 at UTenn.
The all-time leader in the world of sports? Phil Jackson, of NBA fame. Between the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers, the Zen Master won 11 titles. The late John Wooden of UCLA fame won 10. Scottie Bowman of the NHL won 9, as did Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics.
Thing is, for various reasons, none of the above will ever coach again. But barring the unforeseen, Auriemma could well coach at least another 10 years if he wishes. Besides being the juggernaut they've been over the last decade or so, the way the UConn program is set up -- championship caliber teams could well be in place for many years. Their roster is spread out between freshmen, sophs, jrs. and srs. For every couple seniors they graduate every year, a couple freshmen phenoms take their place and get indoctrinated into the system under the wings of the girls that have preceded them. For that matter, given their championship pedigree,would anyone seriously doubt that 5-star ultra-blue chip prep recruits are standing in line hoping to be able to play for UConn? Success breeds success and, in that regard, Geno has the luxury of reloading a couple vacant spots every year with young, but superbly talented players. And the beat goes on.
It's entirely possible Auriemma could win many more championships with his Lady Huskies in years to come. He could not only pass Phil Jackson for titles, but set the bar so high, nobody will ever get close to it again. It's sort of like Cal Ripken's consecutive game playing record will never be broken. Because even if somebody can avoid an injury for 20+ years, it's highly unlikely any athlete (or coach) will even WANT to hang out that long ever again. No need, because they make too much money. Folks like Derek Jeter, Coach K at Duke, Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, and a few others, are a dying breed.
Yet Geno Auriemma appears to be different. He clearly loves coaching his beloved girls year after year, and the players seem to love him right back. Plus, that program has become the epitome of success under his guidance. Auriemma recently turned 60. Not a spring chicken by any means, but not exactly a geezer either. If the love affair and the success continues, he could be around for another 10 years, and rack up 6,7,8, who knows how many more championships?
But for right now, given UConn's men are also national champions, I suspect they're going to have one helluva parade in Storrs in the next few days -- and good for them. They are both worthy champions.
Idle thought: What if the boy and girl hoopsters at UConn start inter-breeding? How good would those kids be at hoops in 15 years or so? Scary.
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