Geno Auriemma People Quotations

When I look back, that's probably the one thing that I'm going to remember more than anything, not so much the championships, the wins, but I think we made the Big East take women's basketball seriously. I think we made people around the country pay attention to what we were doing. Because of that, it showed a lot of people out there that there's an unbelievable game out there that people were missing.

She's come a long way with this team. She's one of the great people in the game and I'm happy for her.

One or two people can't get you to where you want to go. The Yankees can get to the World Series almost every year. But one or two guys really have to step up for them to win it. We needed just a little bit more tonight.

One of the dangers that you run into when you have success so early, people tend to forget. It?s better to have success late then early because an awful lot of people may end up remembering whatever happened last year or whatever is going to happen this year.

I don't care if you have the best team in the country or are Cinderella, this is the hardest game to play in that you'll ever play in. The goal for most people is to have an experience of being in the Final Four. After you've been to the Final Four there's no experience like it, except winning a national championship.

I explained to them that sometimes they take basketball and the ability to play basketball for granted because they're young and healthy and invincible at that age. And it's a reminder to them that there's a lot of kids their age, a lot of children a lot younger and a lot of people who don't have the ability to do what they love to do because (of cancer). Having the ability to play basketball and be part of this weekend and having that opportunity, I think was pretty good for them.

I always thought Mel has a chance to be the poor man?s version of Shea (Ralph) and that?s exactly what?s she?s turned out to be. She can?t get to the basket like Shea could. She?s not old enough to go slam people just to see what it feels like, like Shea did. But she makes shots like nobody else in the country at this point.

I thought we ran so much that we got a little bit tired. We need more contributions from more people if we're going to keep playing like this. You worry this time of year that you get hesitant and tentative and it becomes a walk-it-up kind of game. I don't want it to be like that. I don't want to be afraid to run and afraid to lose. I just want to run up and down and make some plays and see what happens.

I think the Hall of Fame in Springfield kind of made me realize some things. ... There's a lot of people in the Hall of Fame that are dead. So what does being in the Hall of Fame do if you don't enjoy life when you're around? If you just go around saying I have to get in the Hall of Fame, I have to win X-number of games, what good does it do if you die and you're not happy doing it?

I think because of Diana (Taurasi playing for the Mercury), circumstances are different in this one, ... Maybe people sense that the climate is different at Connecticut than it was in the past.

Pitt has a chance to be really good. They have a great facility. They are located in an area that is really good for high school basketball. The hardest part is winning, especially being in such a tough league. But they are winning and scoring a lot of points. People will notice. The men's program has done just that. Pittsburgh is a city that likes winners.

I think, for now, it works. I think it?s the best way to get her some minutes. And going into conference play, if you were to ask me what you want other than obviously talent, the thing that you probably look for the most going into this part of the season is experience ? people who have been in that situation a few times.

We played pretty good defense and took good care of the ball and got people involved in offense that we wanted to get involved. We got the right shot at the right time. We accomplished a lot.

We can't run a play. We can't get into any kind of offense. For us, it was hard to find people to contribute. (Rutgers) got contributions from a lot of people.

When Megan was a freshman, it wasn't that difficult (to guard her) because she didn't know the ins and outs of getting other people involved. Now that she's a senior, it's difficult because she knows how to get her own shot, she knows how to score, and she can get the ball to the big post players.

As I look at stuff like this I say to myself, it's kind of odd because you always think of coaching as an opportunity for your players to stand up their on that podium and put the net around their neck and celebrate winning championships. You never think of yourself as being in that situation. You're only as good as the people that you get to direct, and if you're fortunate enough to have the best people to direct then you're one of the lucky few. I think that's kind of what this is all about. So it's hard for me to put it into perspective from a personal perspective.

(Duffy) should get 40 points if she played the way she did in the last 10 minutes. She's just one of those unselfish kids who wants to get the other people on her team the ball. She showed in the last 10 minutes how hard she is to defend.

I've always had enough people around me that I've come to know a little bit about it. We're trying to do as many things as we can to help the process.

Anybody that knows Rene, knows that she loves to say things that irritate people and she's one of the best in the country at it.

As long as we play defense like that and keep people in the 50s we'll be all right. Some nights you're going to shoot the ball poorly and it's going to be 60-something to 50-something. Some nights you're going to shoot 60-something percent and it's going to be 90-something to 50-something. But you've got to be able to play with the game on the line, which I think we showed (Saturday).

You?re only as good as the people that you get to direct, and if you?re fortunate enough to have the best people to direct, then you?re one of the lucky few. I think that?s kind of what this is all about, so it?s hard for me to put it into perspective from a personal point of view.

There's 12 really good reasons (to stay), the 12 players on my team, ... And that's always going to be the case. You always coach for the players and you always coach for the enjoyment that you get out of it. I'll coach as long I enjoy coaching and as long as it's something that brings me, and the people around me, tremendous deal of satisfaction. When that's not the case any more I won't coach anymore. Here or anywhere else.

It seems like we're in the late game an unusual amount of times compared to maybe some other schools. I guess that's a good thing that people want us to be in that game. Or maybe they're trying to keep women and children from being exposed to some of the stuff that we do on the court, and hoping everybody's asleep by the time we play. I do think it's difficult on the players.

It's kind of odd. She coached players who won national championships. She made women's basketball acceptable. And yet, she's not in the Hall of Fame. People say it's because she didn't coach long enough. I don't care whether she coached three years. When you win three national championships, you're in the Hall of Fame. So there's a lot of people that aren't in that should be.

It's not anything that you could ever prepare yourself for. And for someone who spends a lot of time talking, it really is the first thing that really renders you speechless because you just don't know how to express in words what it would mean to be part of this fraternity. And I still haven't figured out how to say it. All I can do is just look around bug-eyed at all the people that are here.

The big guys hurt us. And Essence Carson hurt us. They got contributions from the big guys and Essence Carson. And for us it was hard to find people to contribute.

It's different than it was two years ago. People buy into teams and into personalities. We were coming off a national championship and we had the dominant personality in the country. Now we're coming off losing in the Sweet 16 and we have a bunch of nice kids that are just happy to be here. Maybe I'm going to have to rile some people up, start saying and doing stuff that stirs the pot a bit.

It's different than it was two years ago, ... People buy into teams and into personalities. We were coming off a national championship and we had the dominant personality in the country. Now we're coming off losing in the Sweet 16 and we have a bunch of nice kids that are just happy to be here. Maybe I'm going to have to rile some people up, start saying and doing stuff that stirs the pot a bit.

In some ways, Ann has always been looked upon as the Andy Pettitte of women's basketball. Everybody else was always the star, but when you really needed something she always gave it to you. And people just take it for granted. That's just Ann. What's she great at? Nothing. But she's really good in every area.

In some places if you get to the Final Eight and lose to the No. 1 seed and win 32 games, there's 6,000 people waiting to meet you at the airport when you go home. But with us, with our tradition, people say, 'What happened?' We're just a team that came close . . . a team that almost had a chance to be great.

I can't tell you how many times I've been offered jobs in that league that no one ever knew about. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to people seriously about jobs in that league. This one just happened to make it to that point ... to the newspapers.

I don't hire good coaches, I hire good people. If they turn out to be good coaches, too, that's a plus.