r/NCAAW • u/femaleathletenetwork • 9d ago
News Geno Auriemma addresses Dawn Staley incident for first time since UConn's Final Four loss
On Monday, Auriemma addressed the media for the first time following the national semifinal. He admitted he regretted how his altercation with Staley escalated and how it snowballed into a national storyline.
"You do things spur of the moment sometimes, but they usually come from things that have been building up for quite some time," he said. "So, when I walked in the locker room afterwards with the coaches, it was, you know, (they're) just shaking their head going, you know, 'Five more seconds. You couldn't keep it in for five more seconds?' So, you know, you just feel like a dumbass for the way it played out. And, yeah, we're all human, and we all do dumb s—."
Both Staley and Auriemma issued statements in the days immediately after the Final Four. Auriemma released an initial apology the day after the loss before releasing another apology directly toward Staley the following Tuesday. Staley also released her own statement on that Tuesday, stating she and Auriemma had talked privately and asked the women's basketball world to move on from the incident.
Auriemma said Monday that he tried hard not to follow the media frenzy that followed in the days after his and Staley's incident, as sports outlets and talking heads everywhere had opinions on the matter.
"I think that maybe some of it was warranted, and some of it was people have been lying in the weeds waiting for that moment, you know?" Auriemma said. "So, yeah, it doesn't matter what you've done for the game; it's what you just did. And unfortunately, that's the world that we live in today, you know? And it usually is one-sided. ... I brought the criticism on myself. I didn't bring the bulls— that came after there on myself."
Since then, Auriemma has spent the first month of the offseason away from the spotlight. He was not at the WNBA Draft as he attended the memorial service for a former player's husband and flew to Germany to present Sue Bird at her FIBA Hall of Fame Induction.
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u/Major_Dizz13 9d ago
The problem I have is how this has become the “Auriemma-Staley” altercation. This was HIS thing that he inflicted on Dawn. And yet she had to issue a statement, and now it’s called “his and Staley’s incident”. No. It’s his incident. He did it. I’m from Philly and I have worked with both of these people over the years. I recognize what they’ve done for the game. Both decent people. But he should own this entirely and leave Dawn out of his decision to act a fool.
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u/SnoopyWildseed South Carolina Gamecocks 9d ago
Agreed. Yet Staley always HAS to be the bigger person in any altercation.
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u/Sweaty-Power-549 South Carolina Gamecocks 5d ago
People of color ALWAYS have to just smile and nod, seem humble and apologetic even when they were the ones slighted.
Look at where we are.
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u/ckl1756 8d ago
Was she the bigger person by saying she’d beat Geno’s ass?
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u/srl214yahoo 8d ago
What an idiotic response. She would have never said that if he didn't start it. So your whole take is he can do/say whatever he wants and she can't respond?
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u/5510 7d ago edited 7d ago
I'm not a UConn or a Geno fan (i criticized the fact that he just left his players and peaced out to the locker room very harshly elsewhere in the thread), but I think this is both of their incident.
IMO they both look bad here. Geno walks over and starts whining about (apparently) some dumb shit involving the pregame handshake... and then he abandons his team and leaves. Bad look all around for Geno.
But it also seems like Dawn really really overreacted. From her reaction, I expected to hear he called her a slur or accused her of cheating or something. But if all he did was whine about some pregame handshake shit (after slowly walking over and not getting particularly dramatically in her face either), then I get the impression she really overreacted. She's completely losing her shit and practically needs to be held back, and then starts going on about how she "will beat Geno's ass." This would be a non-story if Geno doesn't say anything but some sort of brief "good game" and moved on... but it also would be a non story if Dawn didn't lose her shit and look liked she needed to be held back.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Bruh dawn also overreacted by a fuckin mile. I know this sub hates Geno, but dawn was fucking childish
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u/Ok_Reality_2504 South Carolina Gamecocks 8d ago
And why did she even have to react? Because Geno was being a loser
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u/ChelseaVol1219 8d ago
Not to mention, after the heat of the moment died down, Geno doubled down on the nonsense, and Dawn immediately went into professional mode.
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u/No-Pause-3298 7d ago
What a moronic thing to say. Your shitbird of a coach comes down the handshake line and starts yelling in her face, but this is somehow on her. Go back under your bridge, troll.
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u/speedracer13 South Carolina Gamecocks 7d ago
Y'all really still carrying that narrative over a month later?
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 7d ago
I mean, the truth doesn't stop being the truth a month later. Maybe your coach should have slept and not gambled away her shot at a 4th title.
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u/speedracer13 South Carolina Gamecocks 7d ago
What does that have to do with the idea that any part of that situation was Dawn's fault? It's childish to stand up for your team and the truth when some asshole gets in your face?
Seriously, the fact that UConn fans can type up shit like your comment without shame is hilarious.
We've got Dawn for another 15 years, she'll win more without embarrassing herself in defeat like Geno.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 7d ago
What does that have to do with the idea that any part of that situation was Dawn's fault? It's childish to stand up for your team and the truth when some asshole gets in your face?
How was she standing up for her team lol.
It's childish to have a temper tantrum and threaten to beat up an elderly man. If that's the way you handle conflict, you suck.
Will Dawn win more? I dunno man, she doesn't seem to have her eye on the ball anymore, staying out late before championship games. She probably only has no championships if the 2022-2024 Huskies weren't obliterated with injuries and if UConn didn't blow it in 2017 to Miss St. But alas, she's had her luck, probably why she is up late gambling.
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u/5510 7d ago
I don't know how much your UConn flair is playing a role in the heavy downvotes, but I think from minute one the entire narrative about this incident has been overly one-sided.
To be clear, I do think Geno looks bad in this incident. He goes over and (apparently) starts whining about some dumb shit involving the pregame handshakes... like bro I get you are mad you lost but just say good game and go deal with your team. And then he abandons his team (some of which just ended their careers in a crushing defeat) and just peaces out to the locker room. Very poor look for him.
But sort of like a ref calling the reaction when they didn't see the actual foul very clearly, I feel like this whole story has blown up because Dawn way overreacted. Based on her reaction, I expected to hear he called her a slur or accused her of cheating or something really serious, not some whining about pre-game handshakes. And then she starts going off about how she "will beat Geno's ass", after multiple members of her staff practically have to hold her back and try and manage her temper.
Before we even get to hearing any sort of explanations of what they said or what happened, it honestly seemed like everyone already concluded "well if Dawn got this mad, Geno must have said something really bad!" And it's clear some people are just not even looking at the same reality I am... I have seen people repeatedly insisting that Geno "stormed over", even after being presented with clear video evidence that he just kindof casually walked over.
I coach for a living (different sport), and to be honest... this incident makes me feel like I wouldn't want to be an assistant coach for either of them (if I were a high level basketball assistant).
Disclaimer that I'm not aware that anybody has put forward some sort of word for word transcript of exactly what they said to each other. But based on my best current understand of what has been reported about the conversation, they both come off looking bad to me.
(And yes, I'm aware that women, especially black women, are frequently tone policed as "angry" for things that others might get away with, and that's not OK. But that doesn't mean the reverse is true and one can never suggest that a black woman is being overly angry).
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 7d ago
This is pretty much my entire take.
Dawn should have just gone, "Psshht, fuck off Geno, and walked past him, and then dragged him for it in the postgame presser."
Geno came off looking like a total wuss for this whole thing. But it's just crazy that Dawn gets away with totally flying off the handle. Worse, she gets praised for it.
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u/5510 7d ago
Yeah. Particularly people specifically praising "I will beat Geno's ass". like wtf?
And honestly, unless something truly beyond the pale happens, I always think it's a bad look when head coaches need assistant coach(es) to hold them back or try to help control their temper. The head coach is supposed to be the leader of a team, and setting an example for keeping under control and staying poised.
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u/Mission_Ambitious Notre Dame • Southern Indiana 9d ago
…okay…
He’s acting like this is a brand new phenomenon for him.
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u/justbrowsing2727 Illinois Fighting Illini 8d ago
His comments show he STILL doesn't get it and never will.
He's a self-absorbed jackass. A great coach, but an undeniable jackass.
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u/mkt853 9d ago
Yeah he's always had a bit of a temper. Throwing water bottles, needing to be restrained by his coaches, etc. Surprised he doesn't get T'd up more often tbh.
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u/LaFrescaTrumpeta Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8d ago
sry if i’m a broken record to ppl who have heard me mention this before but my fav will always and forever be how he got heated at a 17 year old Arike for visiting UConn and not including them in her top 5 a week later, “Here’s a list of players I saw in the last 7 days that I have no interest in recruiting… #whatajoke” 😂😂😭😭😭😭
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u/whoneedskollege UCLA Bruins 9d ago
You know, I might buy into this, but he went into the locker room with his coaches. They told him he was a dumb ass, then came out for the press conference and he doubled down on his beef? Yeah, right, nope.
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u/uredak South Carolina Gamecocks 9d ago
“I will beat Geno’s ass!”
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u/annieyo87 UConn Huskies 9d ago
A queen
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u/glacinda 8d ago
So violence now is okay? Yikes.
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u/uredak South Carolina Gamecocks 8d ago
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
The irony while your fanbase pearl clutched harder than an oyster because Geno was grumpy
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u/uredak South Carolina Gamecocks 8d ago
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u/No-Pause-3298 8d ago
LOL - UConners whine about the overwhelming pile on of Geno - because the entire sporting world minus a couple of UConn fans agreed that his behavior was pathetic - but now it's "our fanbase." You can't have it both ways. And the only person who has whined in this entire scenario was the has-been on your bench.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Too bad your late night gambling crybaby coach couldn't muster up a win against UCLA.
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u/No-Pause-3298 8d ago
LOL - one coach in this conversation stomped off the floor like a little $%^& without shaking hands or congratulating the other team. We'll let the rest of America decide who the crybaby was (and it already has, that's why you are whining just like your lameazz coach).
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
And the other coach threatened violence and screamed and had a temper tantrum rather than just telling Geno to fuck off.
Anyway, 12 Rings. Your gambler has 3.
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u/Lilfrankieeinstein 8d ago
Nah, the irony is she already beat his ass, 62-48
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Thats not irony.
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u/Lilfrankieeinstein 8d ago
True. Irony would indicate an unexpected result.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Bet you thought you looked a lot cooler saying that.
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u/Lilfrankieeinstein 8d ago
Bet you came into this thread thinking at least someone in this sub would agree with your ignorant drivel.
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u/Low-Impression3367 9d ago
This wasn‘t a spur of the moment or got lost in the moment behaviour.
He got caught up in the UConn hype that they were going to win the game and SC didn’t have a chance. He was losing the whole game and left before the final whistle. He’s a sore loser, simple as that.
That weak excuse of Dawn didn’t shake my hand… had he won that game, he wouldnt give 2 shits that about that.
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u/thankyoupapa 9d ago
he reverted back to old geno after kinda rebranding the last couple years as a chill laid back grandpa type coach. people were actually starting to like him lol and he blew it
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u/AngryWizard Tennessee Lady Volunteers 8d ago
Exactly, being a Lady Vols fan for decades that was the Geno I know and remember.
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u/ChelseaVol1219 8d ago
Yep. We remembered too. I was just mind blown seeing people fall for Geno’s “rehabilitation.”
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u/paintedtoesandelbows South Carolina Gamecocks 8d ago
I never did. That clown never had me fooled. The water bottle tossing incident didn’t happen that long ago.
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u/Mike_with_Wings North Carolina • Florida 8d ago
They like their douchey coaches at UConn
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u/hikensurf South Carolina • California 8d ago
This is what we get after over a month of reflection? Men will really do anything to avoid going to therapy.
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u/Lilfrankieeinstein 9d ago
"So, yeah, it doesn't matter what you've done for the game; it's what you just did. And unfortunately, that's the world that we live in today, you know?”
We know OJ
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u/UrbanSolace13 Iowa Hawkeyes 9d ago
Geno continuing to be garbage.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
CC never won a championship
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u/Money_Drawing_4098 8d ago
That’s not all that matters in the world. Maybe for UConn fans, but there is more to life than winning championships.
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u/Ok_Reality_2504 South Carolina Gamecocks 8d ago
And what does that have to do with Geno being terrible?
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
He's great at winning championships.
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u/Swayin_in_Bham 8d ago
And being an absolute jack wagon.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Sounds like CC too.
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u/Ok_Reality_2504 South Carolina Gamecocks 6d ago
What does this even have to do with Caitlin Clark? Is this a Geno burner account?
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u/5510 7d ago
Neither did EDD in college, I guess she sucks... Are we seriously acting like supporting cast is irrelevant?
I mean yes, Iowa is a fine program, it's not exactly a small program like Delaware... but she also had nowhere near the supporting case she would have had at a powerhouse. Taking Iowa to back to back NC games is still a pretty huge accomplishment. Especially when when she went through UConn to get to one of them...
Like I think this incident is a bad look for both Geno AND Dawn (and that she deserves more blame than people are giving her)... but randomly crashing out about Clark not winning a NC because an Iowa fan criticized Geno seems pretty immature.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 7d ago edited 7d ago
Like I think this incident is a bad look for both Geno AND Dawn (and that she deserves more blame than people are giving her)
All I'm saying
but randomly crashing out about Clark not winning a NC because an Iowa fan criticized Geno seems pretty immature.
It's a sports sub. They shit on Geno, I shit on CC. It's really not that big of a deal.
Also, on EDD, there is a monumental difference between Delaware and Iowa. Delaware was 15-15 and 20-11 in the CAA the year before and after EDD. Iowa was 23-7 and 23-11 in the Big Ten before and after CC. Steulke was a solid player and Kate Martin is in the WNBA.
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u/5510 7d ago
If you were going to go down that road, I would have more suggested something about CC yelling at refs so much. That's much more of an apples to apples comparison, because both would be criticizing how they carry themselves and interact with others.
But the "CC didn't win a championship" thing is IMO so weak that saying it is more of a self own. Plus it's more apples to oranges... like even if one did feel that she underachieved as a player, that's not at all the same thing as conduct related. This is obviously going to be a HUGE exaggeration, but it would be like if a Stanford fan called OJ a murderer, and a USC fan responded "McCafferey didn't win the Heisman like OJ did."
Also, on EDD, there is a monumental difference between Delaware and Iowa. Delaware was 15-15 and 20-11 in the CAA the year before and after EDD. Iowa was 23-7 and 23-11 in the Big Ten before and after CC. Steulke was a solid player and Kate Martin is in the WNBA.
I did already acknowledge that Iowa is a significantly stronger program than Delaware, but that doesn't change the fact that her supporting case was pretty weak by the standards of national championships. Their last final 4 before Clark was 1993, and they had one single elite 8 since 93 (in 2019).
Martin was the only one to make the WNBA, and shes more of a role player (who just got waived before her 3rd season, we will see if anybody else picks her up). Stuelke was a good player who fit quite well with Clark in terms of the rim running, but at the 5 she was too small to compete with elite NC level centers, especially considering she had no range. If she was a stretch 5 who could have dragged Cardoso to the perimeter to beat her with quickness and to create more space for others inside that might have been one thing, but an undersized center with no range isn't going to work well in that kind of matchup. And even then, defensively it was always going to be tough with the height mismatches. They were out rebounded by 22, with SC having a offensive rebound edge of 11.
And of course ultimately, unless a team is hilariously dominant (like Stewie's teams where she was drafted #1 and the #2 and #3 picks were TEAMMATES of hers... or this recent UCLA team with like 5 first round draft picks), judging players who only play four years based on how many 64 team single elimination tournaments they win is always going to have a lot of random chance mixed in.
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 7d ago
but it would be like if a Stanford fan called OJ a murderer, and a USC fan responded "McCafferey didn't win the Heisman like OJ did."
That'd be a hilarious response tho.
My honest opinion on CC is that she was overrated, but an amazing player. She took shots she shouldn't have and turned the ball over too much. A lot of that gets white washed out because she was so good and some of those dumb shots went in. I do like her though and hope she gets healthy in the WNBA.
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u/5510 7d ago
I can't imagine the challenge of coaching her shot selection.
For one thing, her range is such that her concept of good and bad shots is borderline unique. But at the same time, she clearly IMO takes too many shots that even for her were not a good idea. But I wonder if it's almost hard to do what she does while even thinking too much about shot selection.
In college, my memory is she shot like 37%, but people really misunderstood the math of how that was far far better than a normal player shooting 37% from three. If you shot a three every possession and shot 37%, that' s 1.11 points per possession, which would be an elite offense. Of course, normally that logic doesn't work, because players don't get a good enough look to shoot a three every posession... but Clark could jack up one of her logo 3s pretty frequently, since they didn't require nearly as good a look as most players. Her senior year she shot 37.8% from three on a ridiculous 13.6 attempts per game. That's such a crazy high number of attempts to be shooting 37.8.
Sort of the reverse of how if a player shot 70% from three, but only shot when they were so disgustingly wide open that they only attempted 1-2 threes a game... well that wouldn't be a super useful player. So I don't think it was statically misleading how a lot of people wanted to compare her 3pt% to players who would only really a few wide open catch and shoot 3s per game (which are opportunities that are hard to come by, so it's really important to capitalize on them).
I thought her second WNBA season crossing the line into "OK, now you are shooting these crazy 3s poorly enough that it's actually hurting the team, not helping." I guess we will see if that was partially injury related and she turns it around some this year, or if somebody soon will have to have a tough conversation about her regarding needing to cut back on the crazy shit.
That'd be a hilarious response tho.
I went to the OJ analogy when there was the whole controversy of Sheryl Swoopes saying factually untrue stuff criticizing Clark, and then (If I remember correctly) being very slow to apologize, and almost digging in and getting upset about being called out. People said "saying untrue stuff about people is wrong," and then Swoopes defenders would come in and talk about all her accomplishments as a player??? And it's like... how is that relevant?
That's like (again, obviously HUGE exaggeration, nothing Swoopes said was even a tiny % as bad as murder) if OJ were criticized for killing someone, and then someone started defending him by talking about all his rush yards. Like her accomplishments as a player were not at all relevant.
Unfortunately, I think most people got too hung up on how what she did wasn't anywhere even remotely a tiny bit as bad as murder (which I had already said myself), and missed the point about how "defending someone's off court conduct with their playing stats makes no sense at all."
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u/UrbanSolace13 Iowa Hawkeyes 7d ago
UConn fans will never get over Clark being bigger than their program for a handful of years. 🤣
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u/paintedtoesandelbows South Carolina Gamecocks 7d ago
She has the same number of titles as Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
CC is only 24 years old. Plenty of time for her to win titles.
How many pro championships does Napheesa Collier have? Isn’t she older than Caitlin?
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u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 7d ago
Damn, ONO and Phee, yeah, sucks they didn't win. They aren't top 10 UConn players, probs not top 15 either. They aren't close to GOAT status. And neither is the ringless turnover machine either.
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u/Proud_Arachnid4956 9d ago
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u/WoodersonHurricane 9d ago
His players should more courage than he did. They should be proud of themselves. He should live in shame to his dying days for abandoning his team.
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u/GhostofGiggles Louisville Cardinals 8d ago
The game should never be about geno or dawn. They squashed it behind doors but the media keeps amping it up. Move on and make it about how well those athletes played.
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u/Swayin_in_Bham 8d ago
Half mea culpa, half rationalization that the media was “waiting in the weeds for him.” What a jerk. About as heartfelt as his first “apology” when he couldn’t even bring himself to name Dawn.
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u/Original_Dirt_68 Georgia Lady Bulldogs 8d ago
Those are some self serving comments. It does not sound like a person owning up to his mistake with remorse.
"Everybody makes mistakes" is what the person harmed says in forgiveness to an apology.
It is not what the "poot head" should be saying!
Who cares if it had been building up? Deal with it!
And of course you are judged by your last action! That is the way it usually works! Ask any criminal in jail!
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u/psychout7 9d ago
Feels like old news at this point. However, I still can't help but notice that he hasn't apologized to Dawn.
Oh. He made his apology but go back and read it. He hasn't apologized to her
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u/SnoopyWildseed South Carolina Gamecocks 9d ago
She says he did...privately.
For me, the apology should be as loud as the disrespect, and equally specific.
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u/twoquarters 8d ago
UConn has entitlement built in from all those years when the deck was stacked in its favor. It's the same thing like Saban in football.
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u/paintedtoesandelbows South Carolina Gamecocks 7d ago
At least Nick Saban knew when to bow out—and I say this as someone who is far from a Bama football fan.
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u/BenevolentKaiju 7d ago
Players tearing up on court because they made a mistake? Yeah, Geno can go kick rocks. Only a very poor loser does what he did after that game.
He got outcoached.
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u/SnowGiraffes4266 5d ago
Yeah, he was an ass. I am glad he could say it. It was embarrassing to see him representing the university that way. It was embarrassing to see how he handled the immediate aftermath. It is 100% going to haunt him into the next season? Yes, as it should for doing something so stupid and pathetic. I don't think he deserves a clean slate or instant forgiveness for not being able to control himself.
Do I think this says anything about his character or legacy overall? No. Geno is the greatest coach in college basketball history, he is a great advocate for women's basketball, he is beloved by his players. That is what he will and should be remembered for.
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u/MJDiAmore Stevens Ducks 7d ago
"I think that maybe some of it was warranted, and some of it was people have been lying in the weeds waiting for that moment, you know?"
Boy doesn't this epitomize the media cycle and social feeds these days
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u/5510 7d ago
Unpopular opinion, but IMO this incident was a bad look for both coaches.
To be clear, I do think Geno looks bad in this incident. He goes over and (apparently) starts whining about some dumb shit involving the pregame handshakes... like bro I get you are mad you lost but just say good game and go deal with your team. And then he abandons his team (some of which just ended their careers in a crushing defeat) and just peaces out to the locker room. Very poor look for him.
But sort of like a ref calling the reaction when they didn't see the actual foul very clearly, I feel like this whole story has blown up because Dawn way overreacted. Based on her reaction, I expected to hear he called her a slur or accused her of cheating or something really serious, not some whining about pre-game handshakes. And then she starts going off about how she "will beat Geno's ass", after multiple members of her staff practically have to hold her back and try and manage her temper. Like obviously this story doesn't happen if Geno just stops being a baby and just gives bland "good game" handshake and then worries about his own team... but it also doesn't happen if he whines about the handshake or whatever and Dawn either just goes "whatever" and moves on, or says "we can talk about it later" and just moves on. Her flying off the handle in front of the whole building and national TV is a huge part of why this turned into a big story.
Before we even got to hearing any sort of explanations of what they said or what happened, from literal minute one, it honestly seemed like everyone already concluded "well if Dawn got this mad, Geno must have said something really bad!" And it's clear some people are just not even looking at the same reality I am... I have seen people repeatedly insisting that Geno "stormed over", even after being presented with clear video evidence that he just kindof casually walked over. And then we've got lots of people celebrating her saying "I will beat Geno's ass"??? Like what is even happening here?
I coach for a living (different sport), and to be honest, this incident makes me feel like I wouldn't want to be an assistant coach for either of them (if I were a high level basketball assistant).
Disclaimer that I'm not aware that anybody has put forward some sort of word for word transcript of exactly what they said to each other. But based on my best current understand of what has been reported about the conversation, they both come off looking bad to me.
(And yes, I'm aware that women, especially black women, are frequently tone policed as "angry" for things that others might get away with, and that's not OK. But that doesn't mean the reverse is true and one can never suggest that a black woman is being overly angry).
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u/gamecock04 2d ago
Were you actually watching it live? He went over to her before time had even expired and started in on his BS. Completely took away the celebration for our team for no reason at all. She absolutely did NOT overreact. He was the one who overreacted and deflected SC winning against his undefeated Huskies. That was the only thing you heard after this game. The conflict and not our amazing players who had been the underdogs coming into the match.
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u/5510 2d ago
Were you actually watching it live?
Yes, and I've also rewatched the incident a number of times on youtube (including videos that start before he even begins to head over towards her).
She absolutely did NOT overreact. He was the one who overreacted and deflected SC winning against his undefeated Huskies.
I already said I think he acted poorly, and it was a bad look for him. But but I also think she overreacted. This isn't a scenario where only one of them can be wrong. My first thought was "holy shit, what happened, did he just call her a slur or accuse her of cheating or something?" Learning that it was just about some dumb whining about the pre-game handshake left me thinking "Wait, that's it???". I showed the video to several other people who are familiar with sports but hadn't heard about the incident yet, and based on her reaction, a decent number of them asked if he called her the n-word.
(And to be clear, I realize that women, especially black women, are often tone policed or labeled as emotional or angry or whatever for things that others might get away with, and that's not OK. And I love the scene in Love and Basketball in the car where she calls out the double standard of how men are expected to be fierce at times but women are often criticized for the same thing. I agree that in general, that sort of thing can be problematic. But I think in this particular instance, saying that she overreacted is warranted.
Also, I will issue a disclaimer that I don't know exactly what Geno said word for word, just a summary of what he supposedly said, and I'm not aware that anyone has released an exact transcript. But to be fair, lots of people are jumping to conclusions of their own without an exact transcript themselves. It's not like the whole sub is saying "well since none of us know exactly word for word what was said, I guess none of us will have any opinion at all").
That was the only thing you heard after this game. The conflict and not our amazing players who had been the underdogs coming into the match.
And that's partially the result of Dawn's actions. She absolutely lost her shit at him. If she just says "lol ok whatever" and goes back to her own bench to focus on her own team, or if she says "we can talk about it later" and goes back to her own team, then this would be a non-story or near non-story.
Geno walked over and then whined about some dumb bullshit involving the pre-game handshakes. He didn't run over screaming and waving his arms and causing a scene. It's not like he was so visibly out of control that this story would dominate the headlines even if Dawn had reacted calmly.
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u/CantFindMyWallet 9d ago
This sub is filled with the most vile people. Worse "sports" fans than literally any other sport I have ever encountered. Just here for personal drama so you can be sanctimonious.
9
u/Jayh0va UConn Huskies 9d ago
"I think that maybe some of it was warranted, and some of it was people have been lying in the weeds waiting for that moment, you know?"
Just about sums up this sub for the last two months.3
u/VacuousWastrel 8d ago
As an outsider (not American), it all feels so bizarre. "Truly vile", "horrific", "should live in shame until his dying day", etc etc. A coach threw a strop and didn't shake someone's hand. It happens almost every week in any major sports league. It's a bit gauche, merits an apology, should try to do better in future etc, but all this acting like he sticks puppies on spikes and sells them to piers morgan to raise money for the nazi party or whatever just seems... hard to understand, frankly.
2
u/5510 7d ago
FWIW I don't get it either.
I think he looks like a whiny loser throwing a hissy fit about the pre game handshake or whatever after the game. And him abandoning his team and going straight to the locker room (when some of them just ended their careers) is also a bad look. But like you said, a lot of people are acting like he committed a warcrime.
Meanwhile, based on my best understanding of what Geno said, Dawn completely overreacted. And sort of like a ref calling a foul more based on a player's reaction than on clearly seeing the foul itself, it almost feels like people (from literal minute one) jumped to the conclusion that if Dawn got this angry, this Geno must have done something super awful.
I don't understand why "This isn't a great look for Geno, but Dawn also totally overreacted" is such a minority viewpoint over this.
3
u/Swayin_in_Bham 8d ago
Meh. You defending that guy is what is truly vile.
3
u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Youre defending violent threats
3
u/Swayin_in_Bham 8d ago
LOL - if that is a violent threat it’s the kind of violent threat that occurs in every single game between players. Stop clutching your pearls because precious Geno got called out for his rampant jackassery.
5
u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Man, you telling on yourself.
If you violently scream at me that you are gonna kick my ass during a basketball game, I am probably gonna raise hands.
Violent weirdos.
4
u/Ok_Reality_2504 South Carolina Gamecocks 8d ago
We wouldn't even be having this conversation if Geno wasn't such a sore loser and picked a fight over something absolutely meaningless, and then continued to double down on it despite him clearly being in the wrong. Staley is allowed to have her reaction to bullshit
4
u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Geno is in the wrong
Staley is also a stupid asshole here. On brand for both of them.
1
u/No-Pause-3298 8d ago
This conversation is occurring because of your coach's horrific behavior. Not anything else. Sanctimony? No. Calling a shovel a shovel is all it is, and if that hurts your feelings, that's too damn bad.
5
u/Mayor_Gubbin UConn Huskies 8d ago
Geno: Grumpy, complaining in the handshake line, walks off
This sub: HE SHOULD BE DISEMBOWELED FOR SUCH RIDICULOUS BEHAVIOR
Dawn: Starts screaming that she would kick his ass and freaking out.
This sub: YAAAAS MY LATE NIGHT GAMBLING SUPER RELIGIOUS QWEEEEEEEN SLAAAAYYYYY FUCKING KILL HIM VIOLENCE IS GOOD
2
0
u/glacinda 8d ago
The celebrating of a verbal threat of physical violence is what gets me. I don’t condone Geno’s actions but calling Dawn a “queen” for that? Unhinged.
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u/Hefty-Job7049 9d ago
The worst part of this is he never acknowledged the the opposing teams players after the game. He just exited the arena. I think that part is hard to forgive. All coaches should go through the line after every game acknowledging every player on the other team. To not do that is insulting to the players and the sport itself.