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Tara VanDerveer is the all-time winningest Division I coach

Tara is one of the classiest and most consistent coaches in any sport at any time. So well deserved ...
 
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Pat had she not been ahead of her time I believe would have been the first female to coach an NBA team if she wanted to.
 
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pat would have definitely broken the barrier coaching in the NBA. But before that would have happened she would have had about 3 or more chips in the WNBA for sure!
 
OK, so I wasn't going to say anything, but this is supposed to be about Tara ...

One of the things people don't know, and isn't brought up, about Pat Summitt is that she built her early teams by stealing players from other programs. Back in the day, when no one cared and transfers were easy, she would just cherrypick freshmen and sophomores from other colleges and bring them to Tennessee. She would then stack her roster ten deep -- much like football programs did before the scholarship limit.

Many coaches in the South were more than a little angry by this blatant recruiting of their athletes, but of course it made it a lot easier for Summit. She let the other coaches do the work, and then skimmed off the talent.

Now was she a very good coach? Yes, but also note her players often did not do as well in the WNBA as expected because player development (and thus helping women set themselves up for professional careers) took a back seat towards winning tonight.

Yes, Summit was great, but the hagiography misses some key details.
 
all sounds familiar. sounds alot like bay area high school girls basketball. pat won 3 titles before the wnba. then her 3 peat 96-98 had 4 players who played in wnba and the best in ncaa at the time in Holdsclaw. 07 and 08 also had multiple wnba players. none of those teams in the last 5 titles had transfers. now i have never watched a wnba game in my life so i could not speak on development, however with fewer teams (12) and alot of college players eligible blame cannot be placed on Tenn. Some women just decide the degree is more important that winters in Russia or Turkey.
 
Having followed the WNBA from the beginning, the Tennessee players' pattern was clear: Talented but not as fundamentally sound nor as mentally ready for the next level. Stanford's players have not been as talented but have come closer to their potential at the next level.
 
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but ultimately it is about winning at the college level and pat did that for sure. pro basketball is on the player more than the coach at the ncaa level. i mean if you can get a scholarship to tenn you probably arent all that bad to begin with so you gotta be responsible for you. Coach K on the mens side has the same complaint though as far as players not panning out in the pros.
 
ClayK said:
Having followed the WNBA from the beginning, the Tennessee players' pattern was clear: Talented but not as fundamentally sound nor as mentally ready for the next level. Stanford's players have not been as talented but have come closer to their potential at the next level.
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This is more of a general question, but does this dynamic of players under performing in the professional ranks have to do with the type of system in college. More coach controlled make players learn roles over skills that come from a system that has more freedom.
 
ClayK said:
OK, so I wasn't going to say anything, but this is supposed to be about Tara ...

One of the things people don't know, and isn't brought up, about Pat Summitt is that she built her early teams by stealing players from other programs. Back in the day, when no one cared and transfers were easy, she would just cherrypick freshmen and sophomores from other colleges and bring them to Tennessee. She would then stack her roster ten deep -- much like football programs did before the scholarship limit.

Many coaches in the South were more than a little angry by this blatant recruiting of their athletes, but of course it made it a lot easier for Summit. She let the other coaches do the work, and then skimmed off the talent.

Now was she a very good coach? Yes, but also note her players often did not do as well in the WNBA as expected because player development (and thus helping women set themselves up for professional careers) took a back seat towards winning tonight.

Yes, Summit was great, but the hagiography misses some key details.
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THANK YOU!!!!
Just because you give props to one coach doesn't mean you still don't have another favorite coach. Pat Summit did her thing but this thread is about Tara Vanderveer, who is right in our backyard coaching a California team. A Norcal team at that.

Some of yall are probably the people that gotta bring up Kobe and MJ every time somebody talk about Lebron. *Facepalm*
 
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GBBall4L said:
THANK YOU!!!!
Just because you give props to one coach doesn't mean you still don't have another favorite coach. Pat Summit did her thing but this thread is about Tara Vanderveer, who is right in our backyard coaching a California team. A Norcal team at that.

Some of yall are probably the people that gotta bring up Kobe and MJ every time somebody talk about Lebron. *Facepalm*
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Tara May Be
Pat aint Trippin off NO BAH DEE
They Neva Gon Be Anotha KOBE
MJ is THEEEEEE GREAT ALL MIT EEE
Its still RockyTop and TENNESSEE!
VOLS ON 3!
 
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Streak One said:
This is more of a general question, but does this dynamic of players under performing in the professional ranks have to do with the type of system in college. More coach controlled make players learn roles over skills that come from a system that has more freedom.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of factors, but obviously those programs that play more like professional teams (in the WNBA and overseas) will prepare their players better. And if you have a lot of players with enough talent to play professionally, it seems to me there's an obligation to prepare them for the next level while at the same time doing well at the college level.

Oregon, for example, runs a pro-style offense, with lots of three-point shooting, pick-and-rolls and an emphasis on offensive versatility. A team that walks it up and runs Flex, say, isn't going to help its players develop.

At the same, it's important to develop the skills of the players and add to their games. It's like teaching left-handed layups and left-handed follow shots at the high school level -- you don't need them that often, and the superior players can do whatever they want at that level using just one hand, but to really help a player become a good college player, a high school coach needs to sacrifice a little in the short run to make sure her college-bound players are fundamentally sound. By demanding that girls use their left hand on certain shots, there will be more misses in high school in the short run, but the girls will be better basketball players in the long run.
 
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Geno is the GOAT.....love Pat and love Tara, but Geno has the best winning percentage and is only a few wins behind Tara with 7 less years of coaching experience. Only been at 1 school UCONN. He has sent many successful players to the WNBA also. They come to him very good, but they leave way better players. Mentally and physically!
11 NCAA Championships!!!! 20 Final Fours!!!!

CONGRATS TO TARA, there is no doubt she is at the top right now!
 
stepslide said:
Geno is the GOAT.....love Pat and love Tara, but Geno has the best winning percentage and is only a few wins behind Tara with 7 less years of coaching experience. Only been at 1 school UCONN. He has sent many successful players to the WNBA also. They come to him very good, but they leave way better players. Mentally and physically!
11 NCAA Championships!!!! 20 Final Fours!!!!

CONGRATS TO TARA, there is no doubt she is at the top right now!
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he seems a tad to arrogant for my liking.
 
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Geno is not the Goat. He came late in the stage. pat was declining and Stanford had up and down years and now she's finally back up. He will be one of the Goats because he took over the last decade and a half. athletes much bigger stronger faster. When you go to the pros its about what system you step in to. when you play in college systems that's pro style it would be a easier adjustment. Sometimes like in football they draft you as a QB and you wind up being converted to WR of Special teams because that's how you THIER team. College is for the love of them game. Pros is for entertainment. remember its a business...So you get to the pros off of your college success. but the pros Pay you so you do what your told.
 
dvez24 said:
Geno is not the Goat. He came late in the stage. pat was declining and Stanford had up and down years and now she's finally back up. He will be one of the Goats because he took over the last decade and a half. athletes much bigger stronger faster. When you go to the pros its about what system you step in to. when you play in college systems that's pro style it would be a easier adjustment. Sometimes like in football they draft you as a QB and you wind up being converted to WR of Special teams because that's how you THIER team. College is for the love of them game. Pros is for entertainment. remember its a business...So you get to the pros off of your college success. but the pros Pay you so you do what your told.
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Geno is a GOAT 🐐 please know that but some ladies paved the way for sure. Pat, Tara, Vivian and so on.
 
AtomicDawg1911 said:
Geno is a GOAT 🐐 please know that but some ladies paved the way for sure. Pat, Tara, Vivian and so on.
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Shout out to Geno but UConn has always played in weak conferences. We are kidding ourselves I'd we believe the Big East and the AAC stack up against the the PAC, SEC, & ACC for women's basketball. Much easier to run those numbers up in the cupcake conference but shout out to Geno. The Natty's speak for themselves in terms of his greatness but for his coaching wins, I'm not sure they hold as much value. That's like having a food eating contest where one person has to eat bowls of hot dogs and the other person has to eat bowls of whip cream. The person eating whip cream is gonna eat more bowls everytime. But it's winning in the tougher conference with the tougher opponents for me.
 
I think a big reason why the Pac-12 is at the level it is was because of the standard Tara and Stanford set. It was either get better or keep getting beat.
 
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no doubt. Stanford set the tone as other Pac 12 teams got better. The reason why Stanford was the staple because they were the only ones to recruit local kids. it is just recent that some of our local players stayed on this side and played on the west coast. Not even Cal was recruiting locally. I believe had all the Pac 12 schools went after their own the PAC 12 would have been strong a long time ago. Geno Like i said will have to be in the GOAT conversation but by default! When have you ever had to see UCONN totally build from scratch?? All these other teams have peaks and valleys. So he gets mad respect as he even was viewing a game that my daughter was in at the Nike Tourney in Chi town. Cant ignore what his resume shows. but He clearly came in the later half of the Tara Pat Stringer for sure.
 
dvez24 said:
no doubt. Stanford set the tone as other Pac 12 teams got better. The reason why Stanford was the staple because they were the only ones to recruit local kids. it is just recent that some of our local players stayed on this side and played on the west coast. Not even Cal was recruiting locally. I believe had all the Pac 12 schools went after their own the PAC 12 would have been strong a long time ago. Geno Like i said will have to be in the GOAT conversation but by default! When have you ever had to see UCONN totally build from scratch?? All these other teams have peaks and valleys. So he gets mad respect as he even was viewing a game that my daughter was in at the Nike Tourney in Chi town. Cant ignore what his resume shows. but He clearly came in the later half of the Tara Pat Stringer for sure.
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Geno is definitely in the Goat convo and the fact UConn never has peaks and valleys is a testament to his greatness. UConns peaks and Valleys are still being a top 25 team in the nation and I would say the same for Stanford. Geno was smart enough to peep game from Tara and Pat and apply the knowledge to how he does things. He is a great coach and in the Goat discussion but it's the arrogance and lack of accountability for me.
 
GBBall4L said:
Geno is definitely in the Goat convo and the fact UConn never has peaks and valleys is a testament to his greatness. UConns peaks and Valleys are still being a top 25 team in the nation and I would say the same for Stanford. Geno was smart enough to peep game from Tara and Pat and apply the knowledge to how he does things. He is a great coach and in the Goat discussion but it's the arrogance and lack of accountability for me.
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the arrogance.... i mean he earned it but damn i hate it. if he really that great go take over the knicks. i know it kills him when a woman beats him which is so ironic.
 
I think it kills him when anyone beats him ...

And I don't think the implied sexism issue really holds up -- look at his staff, and look at how much his players respect and like him.
 
ClayK said:
I think it kills him when anyone beats him ...

And I don't think the implied sexism issue really holds up -- look at his staff, and look at how much his players respect and like him.
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i agree with the first.
i stand with my thoughts on the second.
 
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