Auriemma Holds First Practice As U.S. Coach
It's hard to imagine anyone more comfortable working a captive audience than Geno Auriemma, the master of spontaneity.
Still, there was something different about the group he addressed Tuesday night in Washington.
Auriemma, the winner of six national championships at UConn, has always wanted to coach the United States Olympic women's basketball team.
Well, his time arrived Tuesday. How to inform? How to inspire?
"He was really casual; it was just a bunch of people in the room," said Sue Bird, his former All-American, already a two-time Olympic gold medalist. "After Carol Callan [the team manager] spoke, Coach Auriemma got up.
"It was a good chance for everyone to see his style; straight ahead, no mixed messages. He will tell you how it is, good or bad. He laid out goals for us. He told us what he expects. There is no gray area with him. It was nothing new for those of us who know him."
Wednesday morning at American University, the process of building the team that will compete at the 2010 World Championships in the Czech Republic, and eventually the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, began with its first practice.
"Everything we did today was pretty much like we'd do in practice at UConn," said Renee Montgomery, the former All-American added to the team this week. "It was all second nature for me. But all the players here are smart; it wasn't hard for them to pick up on things."
Before he can build his team, Auriemma knows he must forge its path. That may have been the most important aspect of this introductory address, delivered to 19 of the 23 players Tuesday. The four not in attendance are playing in the WNBA Finals.
Seven of the 23 are current or former Huskies. Twelve players will make the team.
"It was very much the same as I would have addressed one of my UConn teams," Auriemma said. "Teams are teams, practice is practice. "I told them why they were here, who invited them. I wanted them to understand that they had all earned their way here, but that now it's up to us to come together and make the best team we can."
Bird and Montgomery, the greatest point guards in UConn history, said they saw no difference in their coach, the one who now, officially, has the best job in the sport.
"Coach isn't going to change for anything, whether he's coaching at UConn or coaching superstars," Montgomery said. "His style isn't going to change. I expected him to be coach — and he was. There was a joke here, a joke there. He was serious at times, too. He was Coach."
Interestingly, Auriemma felt it necessary to address what Bird called the potential "white elephant" in the room; that six of the 16 players participating in the first workout were from UConn — Bird, Asjha Jones, Swin Cash, Montgomery, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.
"I want [the others] to understand, as a group, [the UConn players] weren't there because I specifically wanted them to be," Auriemma said. "They're there for the same reason everyone else was, because the basketball selection committee decided they were the ones that should be invited.
"I also wanted them to understand that everyone here was someone I wanted, not just the UConn kids, but everyone. There is no one here against my wishes. There is no one here I am being forced to coach."
