Geno Auriemma postgame news conference after South Carolina vs. UConn

[0:00] Hey, Coach, Doug Feinberg, the AP. [0:02] What exactly happened at the end of the game [0:04] in the last second with the handshake line with you and Don? [0:08] I said what I had to say, and nothing, nothing. [0:19] We'll come up to the front. [0:24] It's Aya Abdeen for the 9450. [0:26] So there are notable UConn alums such as Diana Taurasi, [0:30] Paige Beckers, Maya Moore, and Swin Cash and Caitlin Chen [0:33] in the house tonight. [0:35] How cool is it to see the alum spread the love for the program [0:41] and the type of program you've been building [0:42] for the last few years as well? [0:46] That's one of the great things about coaching at Connecticut. [0:51] There's such a passion for the school, [1:01] for the basketball program. [1:03] They come back every year. [1:07] They spend a tremendous amount of time with our players. [1:12] They are our biggest supporters. [1:17] They stay. [1:21] They come back. [1:21] They stay. [1:21] They stay Connecticut Huskies for life. [1:23] And it's one big part of the thread that goes through who they are [1:31] when they're at school and who they are when they leave, [1:34] and I'm really proud of that. [1:39] We're going to go next, Jonathan, then to Annie. [1:41] Jonathan, if you could raise your hand, [1:42] we can get the microphone to you. [1:45] Jonathan Tannevold from the Philadelphia Inquirer. [1:48] Do you know it was 38-0 up to now, [1:51] and people were starting to talk about 40-0, [1:53] which you guys had not done in a long time. [1:56] And I just wonder. [1:58] I know there's a lot of heat in the moment right now, [2:00] but how difficult is it for any UConn team, [2:04] no matter who it is, [2:06] to go undefeated in a season? [2:09] Yeah, I was never comfortable with that narrative. [2:15] You know, people talking like that going into the season. [2:18] I mean, in the middle of the season, [2:22] trying to do that in today's day and age [2:33] has always been difficult. [2:34] Don't get me wrong. [2:37] I mean, we were an undefeated team one year, [2:42] and when we got to the regionals, [2:44] I think we had played 12 of the teams [2:46] that were in the Sweet 16. [2:48] You know, and it's really hard. [2:51] It's always been hard, [2:53] and that's why I don't like the narrative, [2:55] November, December, January, February. [2:57] I don't care when it is, [2:58] because there's too many good teams left to play. [3:02] There's too many big moments left to play in. [3:06] You know, the four teams that are playing here, [3:11] today, I don't know that you would be surprised [3:14] if any of them won. [3:15] It wouldn't be like if, you know, [3:18] if any of these four teams won, [3:20] you'd be, like, shocked, you know. [3:21] So for us to be, you know, [3:24] viewed as they're going to go undefeated [3:29] and nobody can beat them, you know, [3:32] this game's about playing the game [3:34] you're supposed to play, you know, [3:36] and they played, you know, [3:40] they played better than us offensively, [3:42] and we held them to 62 points, [3:45] and you hold a team to 62 points, [3:47] you think you're going to win that game. [3:49] And we just didn't make the plays [3:56] that we needed to make on the offensive end. [4:01] You know, so all the credit to them [4:02] for how they played and how hard they played [4:07] and the shots they made when they had to make them. [4:15] Do you know, Annie Costable, front office sports, [4:17] Dawn said post-game that the exchange [4:19] had something to do with her not shaking your hand pre-game. [4:23] Is that what you said to her? [4:25] Do you have any regrets about the way you handled [4:28] that exchange with her and your communication [4:29] about her to Holly Rowe in the fourth quarter? [4:33] I don't have any regrets about what I said to Holly Rowe. [4:36] Why would I? Why would I? [4:40] I've been coaching a long time. [4:41] I've never had a kid have to change their jersey [4:43] because somebody ripped it, [4:44] and the official said I didn't see it. [4:48] There were a lot of things that happened in that game. [4:50] Unless you're on that sideline, [4:52] you have no idea what's happening on that sideline. [4:59] I mean, for 41 years I've been coaching [5:03] and I've been, I don't know, 30, [5:04] 25 Final Fours, and the protocol is [5:07] before the game you meet at half court. [5:10] Anybody ever see that before? [5:11] Two coaches meet at half court and they shake hands. [5:14] Correct? You ever see it? [5:16] They announce it on the loudspeaker. [5:20] And I waited there for like three minutes. [5:29] So it is what it is. [5:31] Take our next question. [5:32] If you can raise your hand, we can get right in front of you. [5:35] She's ahead of you. [5:37] Nope, you're up. [5:39] Hi, Gino. [5:40] Maddie Kenny with the New York Post. [5:41] You said what you had to say. [5:43] What did you say specifically? [5:47] Why would I? [5:48] I said what I said. [5:53] And obviously she didn't like it. [5:56] I just told the truth. [5:59] We'll take our next question from Kareem. [6:00] If you can raise your hand, Kareem, [6:01] we can get the microphone to you. [6:05] Gino, can you expand on the frustrations, [6:09] the physicality in the game that seemed to [6:11] cause some of the tension that you had [6:16] and the frustrations that you had? [6:18] I don't have a problem with the physicality of the game. [6:20] I don't. [6:22] I think the game is physical [6:26] and I think we're just as physical in a lot of ways [6:30] as any other team. [6:30] I don't have a problem with the physicality of the game. [6:30] I don't have a problem with any other team [6:31] that we play against. [6:33] I don't know that we were as aggressive [6:39] and as physical as we needed to be on the offensive end. [6:42] You know? [6:43] I thought on the defensive end we were. [6:47] You know, you don't hold a team that's averaging 90 points [6:51] in a tournament to 62 unless you are. [6:54] So the physicality goes both ways. [6:56] I don't have a problem with that. [6:58] You know, and I guess we just weren't aggressive enough, [7:02] you know, on the offensive end to match. [7:10] You know, we just weren't aggressive enough to make it to the playoffs. [7:17] Yeah. [7:17] We're going to take our next question from the back. [7:20] Hi, Coach. [7:20] Jesse Morrison, Arizona Sports. [7:22] Going back to the undefeated thing, [7:25] just do you wish you all had gone [7:28] through a little bit more adversity this season heading [7:30] into this game? [7:33] You got to run the race you're racing, you know? [7:35] There's nothing you can do about it. [7:37] It's not our fault we beat all those teams in November, [7:39] December by 30. [7:41] I can't tell them, hey, let's make the game close. [7:44] So it is what it is, you know? [7:48] We just weren't good enough tonight. [7:52] It has nothing to do with going through adversity in North Carolina. [7:54] It has nothing to do with going through adversity. [7:56] I've had teams come here undefeated and win a national championship [7:58] that the game was over at halftime, about 38 out of the 40 games. [8:05] So I just think you have to play good that night. [8:07] You know, what happened to you along the way, [8:09] I don't think that maybe has any bearing on it. [8:13] At least it hasn't in the past. [8:14] So, but who knows? [8:21] We'll go to our left. [8:23] Chapel Fowler, with the state, you talked about the handshake. [8:26] There's pictures of you guys in videos, pregame handshake. [8:29] Was your frustration that it took a while for her to get over there? [8:32] Is this a separate instance, pregame, versus the one that was on social media? [8:38] No, I think you missed the point of what I'm talking about. [8:43] So I'd rather not go into it. [8:45] Anybody that's been in the NCAA tournament, you know what I'm talking about. [8:50] Take our next question from our right, coach. [8:54] Coach, Brendan Martin, Arizona Daily Sun. [8:56] Even beyond this game, you, UConn, South Carolina, you and Don have had spirited battles back [9:02] and forth, just, you know, one team getting the better of the other multiple times. [9:06] Just what is it about this matchup specifically that has been so, [9:10] sort of, elevated and just what is it about just the counterattack and the attack that [9:15] each of you coaches have to do and inevitably when it happens again in the future? [9:21] I think the two good teams always, a lot of good players on the floor, two games that [9:37] are, a lot of games that you play that are really, really meaningful, that have high [9:44] stakes when you play them. [9:46] Yeah. [9:49] And in that case, I think it's going to be, you know, at a certain intensity level to [9:58] those games. [9:59] And if, and if it keeps happening, then obviously, you know, there's, you know, going through [10:10] the NCAA tournament, you know, you're probably going to meet them somewhere along the line, [10:17] you know? [10:18] I mean, this is their sixth Final Four and this is our 17th out of 18 years, so pretty [10:25] hard to avoid them. [10:28] We'll go to the back on our left. [10:32] Hey Coach Auriemma, Christina Walker from Christina Girl Hoops TV. [10:36] Despite the loss tonight, when you think about your team's journey from the beginning of [10:40] the year to now, what's something that you're most proud of as it relates to your team? [10:47] You know, whenever you're going through, whenever you're going through a season, a lot of things [10:53] happen. [10:54] You know, some show up on, on game day, some don't. [11:04] You know all the things that your team is really, really good at and you know all the [11:08] things your team is good at. [11:09] You know, some of the things that your team is potentially going to get hurt by and you [11:15] try all year long to kind of cover up those, those things and hide them from everybody [11:21] so they don't see them. [11:24] And this team did a really, really good job of that and, and they really played, played [11:34] for each other, you know? [11:37] We talked a lot this year about coaches can, can only coach so much and how they coach [11:48] each other means more than what the coach does. [11:50] That's what coaches are, are saying. [11:52] And I think they did a great job this year of coaching each other and getting the most [11:57] out of each other. [11:59] So I was really grateful for that, to be able to coach a team like that. [12:02] Want to stay to our left? [12:05] Hey, Coach T Baker with the nine sports. [12:08] Sarah Strong is a young superstar, you know, just a sophomore. [12:12] We've kind of talked about all year how she's cool, kind of, you know, unfazed. [12:17] How do you help her take a loss like this and kind of build some fire and motivation [12:21] for, you know, her next two years? [12:23] Well. [12:25] I mean, sometimes we do forget, you know, she's a sophomore and she's carried a huge [12:32] load for this team and, and an awful lot falls on her. [12:44] Tonight she'll be the first to tell you that she's now proud of how, you know, how her [12:50] game went today. [12:52] A lot of shots that you've seen her make for two years so easily today didn't go in and [13:02] she still got her 12 rebounds and did all the things that she normally does and played [13:07] 40 minutes. [13:08] Bless you. [13:09] And played 40 minutes. [13:10] I don't think Sarah Strong needs me to put any fire or motivation or, or anything into [13:20] her. [13:21] We'll be back here next year and, and she'll make sure of that. [13:27] Take our next two. [13:28] We'll go Michael, Mitch, and then the gentleman right behind Mitch. [13:30] So if we can get a microphone up to Michael, if you can raise your hand. [13:38] Coach Michael Curitino, Sideline Sports. [13:39] When you talk about the physicality meeting. [13:41] Obviously. [13:43] It's pretty much the game, a heavyweight fight. [13:44] You get up, they punch back, they get up, you guys stay in the middle of the ring and [13:47] punch back. [13:48] But defensively more specifically in the second half, what did you, it seemed like they got [13:53] you to rush a lot of your shots and then when you slowed it down and took a lot of the shot [13:56] clock, it was shots were getting rushed at the end. [13:58] What was just the, I guess the challenge and what, how they adjusted to what they were [14:02] doing differently from the first half. [14:05] There was anything different in the second half that, that happened in the first half. [14:09] I think what happened at the beginning of the third quarter. [14:13] I think. [14:14] I think there were maybe three or four straight times where we came out of there with an empty [14:18] possession where we turned it over and that led to some, some easy buckets for them. [14:28] A lot of times I thought we had opportunities in our transition and we didn't execute it. [14:37] I think there were, there were times when we were playing so fast that we couldn't, [14:47] we couldn't take advantage of the opportunities that we did get. [14:51] Right. [14:51] Now, they did a good job of, I think, of making the game like that in the half court. [14:59] And that's why I think we needed those opportunities in the full court in transition. [15:07] And it wasn't the kind of – the game wasn't played the way we want to play it. [15:11] It was played the way South Carolina wanted to play it. [15:13] And, you know, I think they did a great job of doing that. [15:20] Mitch Northam with USA Today. [15:22] I just wanted to get some clarity on the end of the third quarter [15:24] because Sarah seemed to say that she made a mistake and ripped her jersey, [15:29] but you're under the impression that South Carolina played it. [15:31] No, she didn't make a mistake. [15:31] She said it was a mistake. [15:33] She didn't say she ripped her own jersey. [15:36] Okay. [15:36] Okay. [15:37] And the video seems to show that she did, [15:39] but you're under the impression that a South Carolina player ripped it? [15:42] No, I'm just saying there was not a single foul called on us [15:45] and on them in the third quarter. [15:47] And I got a kid that's one of the best players in the country [15:50] and has got the ball a lot and is trying to get something done. [15:54] And you mean to tell me? [15:55] There was never a time when she got fouled. [16:00] I find that hard to believe. [16:04] Hey, Coach. [16:05] Jeremy with the Mirror. [16:06] There's nothing you can do to prepare your players for a moment like the loss today. [16:11] I mean, it's undefeated season. [16:12] You can work on professionalism and composure all you want, [16:14] but there's just nothing like it. [16:16] But I was still struck by the absolute professionals in the locker room [16:19] of your players right now, [16:20] whether it be upperclassmen like KK or underclassmen. [16:23] Obviously, emotional, emotional moment. [16:26] Just kind of the reputation of your program [16:28] is how your players carry themselves off the court. [16:31] How much pride do you take in your players right now? [16:34] Obviously, this is going to be a tough day, [16:36] whatever way you slice it, [16:37] but just in how they're able to carry themselves in these moments. [16:42] You know, one of the things we said in the locker room [16:45] when we got in there was there's nothing that I can say to a team [16:51] that's sitting there losing in the Final Four [16:55] that's going to make them feel any better, [17:00] that's going to make it hurt any less. [17:04] Nothing. [17:06] It's going to be there. [17:07] And they have to deal with it. [17:10] We all have to deal with it. [17:12] But I also said that, you know, here at Connecticut, [17:17] we've won so much that I think we know how to win. [17:23] And I think we know how to win with class [17:26] and we know how to win with dignity [17:27] and we win with humility. [17:30] We know all that because that's what we do. [17:32] And you made a point to say yourself how we handle ourselves. [17:35] But the true test is how you handle yourself in this moment [17:43] and the way that you handle yourself. [17:45] They were in the locker room and how they handled that moment. [17:49] And I want always for our team to be able to handle both moments [17:55] the exact same way because no one's won as much as we have. [18:01] And so when you are part of that, be gracious in your losing. [18:07] I never wanted to be anything other than that [18:11] and treat people with respect. [18:16] We'll stay to our right. [18:19] Sports journalism class, as the winning NCAA coach ever [18:25] and being at your 25th Final Four, [18:27] what makes you more motivated to continue coaching? [18:31] Well, after tonight, I don't know that I want to continue coaching. [18:39] You know, somebody was reminding me earlier. [18:48] I think this is our 25th Final Four in 36 years, since 1991. [18:56] So we've been to 25 Final Fours since 1991. [19:00] It's 25 out of 36. [19:03] So I was telling my players that up until last year, [19:06] I had lost more times in the Final Four than I had won. [19:11] And that there's no, [19:13] there's no stigma, there's no stain in losing [19:16] because you have to be in this. [19:23] And if you're going to be in this enough times, [19:25] you're going to lose enough times, okay? [19:29] And so the motivation is to keep coming back here [19:33] and trying to win it again. [19:37] And once you get here, you have to understand [19:39] that there's a high probability that you're going to lose. [19:44] And you can't be afraid of that. [19:47] And you can't put yourself in a position where, [19:49] well, this is what a lot of people do. [19:54] I maybe don't want to be in that position. [19:56] That way I don't have to feel [19:57] what my players are feeling right now. [20:00] But if you're going to be in that situation last year, [20:03] where AZ and Ash and Sarah and KK celebrated winning [20:08] a national championship, [20:09] you also have to be able to accept the fact that [20:11] you're going to lose a lot of times in these games. [20:15] The 99.9% of all the kids playing college basketball [20:19] this year are going to go home [20:21] without winning a national championship. [20:24] Somebody out there Sunday night is going to win one. [20:28] Everybody else, they're not losers. [20:31] So what's the motivation? [20:34] Just keep going back and try to change the outcome [20:36] of games like tonight as often as I can. [20:43] And never feeling like losing here [20:44] is any kind of disaster, catastrophe, [20:49] oh my God, the world's coming to an end. [20:52] It's just another opportunity to go forward [20:55] and work real hard to get back here [20:57] and try to change the outcome. [20:59] And at Connecticut, after we won in 2016, [21:09] we went nine years without winning again. [21:13] And so there was this feeling out there [21:15] that it's over for Connecticut. [21:16] They're never going to... [21:17] Meanwhile, we kept going to the Final Four. [21:20] So for nine years, we kept going to the Final Four, [21:22] but we kept losing. [21:25] So if you walk away when you're losing, [21:28] you're never going to get another opportunity to win again. [21:32] So I think that is my motivation right now. [21:36] Take our final two. [21:37] Cassandra, then we'll go Natalie. [21:40] Cassandra Negley, Yahoo Sports. [21:42] Early in the second quarter, [21:43] Dawn got on the refs pretty heavily, [21:45] and it looked like you came over and kind of, you know, [21:46] you were going to win. [21:46] You were going to win. [21:47] You were going to win. [21:47] You were going to win. [21:48] You were going to win. [21:48] You were going to win. [21:48] And then Yael asked if she's allowed [21:50] to talk to them like that. [21:51] I'm wondering if that fed into your frustration [21:53] at the end of the game at all. [21:56] I just want to make sure there's not a double standard. [22:01] I'm of the opinion that if I ever [22:02] talk to an official like that, I would. [22:08] So I just want to make sure there's not a double standard, [22:12] that some people are allowed to talk to officials like that, [22:14] and other people are not. [22:18] That's it. [22:19] So yeah, that was pretty frustrating. [22:22] Take our final question from Natalie. [22:24] She's on our right-hand side, Coach. [22:26] Natalie Esquire from NBC Sports. [22:28] Just to follow up on what you just said, [22:30] do you think Dawn should have been [22:32] tossed, and then my second question [22:34] is, it seemed like in the beginning of the game [22:38] when Raven was guarding Sarah that maybe that frustrated her [22:41] a little bit. [22:43] What do you think was effective about that game plan, [22:47] why maybe she got off to a slow start? [22:51] I don't think. [22:53] It's not my place to judge whether any coach should ever [22:58] get tossed. [22:59] And I'm not suggesting that that should have happened tonight [23:02] at all, not at all. [23:06] I think as far as the game plan was concerned, I think, [23:12] and we do this a lot, I think the more pressure, [23:16] the more defensive pressure you try [23:18] to put on the other team's best player, [23:21] you're hoping that there's a level of frustration [23:26] a little bit, and it starts to affect the way they play. [23:30] And yeah, I mean, you saw the way Sarah's stat line looks, [23:37] and how it went for her. [23:40] And yeah, and maybe if she was a senior, maybe she would go, [23:48] yeah, I've been to a lot of Final Fours where this happens. [23:51] This is the first time that it's happened to her. [23:54] Last year, it wasn't quite like that, [23:57] because Paige was playing great, AZ was playing great. [24:02] So yeah, it was the first time for her. [24:05] And certainly, I think it had an effect. [24:10] And it was. [24:13] It was. [24:14] We would do the same thing defensively if I was them.