U see this? she is not messing around…
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Roy must have taken notes from her opening.
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This was awesome. The reporters seemed semi scared to ask her questions after she opened…
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I believe he was. I would have been.
wow
Coach Bennett is the greatest! UMBC loss so special. To be positive during that event, so very special.
I do feel for Roy as was his special moment there at the GT loss. Overwhelming to have GT hand Roy the worst loss ever recorded at the Dean Dome when he was expecting to celebrate passing Coach Dean in wins. I am glad that UNC’s next two games are at home. Hope they win one at Dean Dome to celebrate for Roy. But sure does show how Bennett handling UMBC loss was so very special.
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I have to admit that Im not as decent of a person as you. When UNC missed their first 18 shots, I was laughing and enjoying every bit of it.
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Phew that is fire from Coach Tina. I’ve been in that position after a game as a coach and it’s not an easy one. Loved that she didn’t back down or apologize and looks like her and the team will take complete accountability that’s what you want from a coach trying to build a culture.
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I’d like Carla to acknowledge this was a bad hire and move on to someone else after this season.
It’s her second season, if we judged CTB on his second season there sure as heck wouldn’t be a banner hanging in JPJ. Gotta give her some time to build the program.
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Agree it’s too early to pull the plug on her right now. The whole situation was a bad one in terms of what she inherited and to expect it to turn around in less than 2 years is not fair.
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No offense, but comparing Tina to Tony is like comparing me to John Wooden. By year two, Tony already had a top 15 recruiting class and had Malcolm on the way. Sure there was no guarantee in any of that but at least it showed some potential and his team was improving.
I don’t follow women’s recruiting very closely but my understanding is that Tina is not recruiting very well and her team is getting worse.
Not to mention just the optics of all her ”look at me” fashion passion on Instagram and Twitter is completely against anything Coach Bennett would ever think about doing.
Enjoying your Chanel and Dolce doesn’t make you a bad person or coach. But it also doesn’t necessarily send the message that teaching, developing and molding 18-22 year olds is your top priority.
I agree that firing her and your two maybe to quick pay hook. But somebody needs to sit her down and have a little come to Jesus meeting with her about things like being seen at NBA games while her struggling team is traveling and what being the face of the program is all about.
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Williams is her best recruit to date. Led the nation in scoring as senior.
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This is her first head coaching gig, so I imagine there is a learning curve we have to be OK with. +
This was Carla’s first big hire…so I’m guessing she’ll get the benefit of the doubt here.
Hoping for the best. I personally enjoy her Instagram posts…
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Could not agree more, Joe. Tina is simply a bad fit for UVA. Many fear that her unabashed arrogance will never permit Tina to fully understand where she is falling short. The decisions she made in hiring a staff gave an early peek of trouble to come. With Tina’s lack of college head coaching experience, the need for a strong lieutenant, with some successful HC history was a must, to smartly fill in the gaps should have been very evident. Unfortunately it wasn’t to Tina. My son is close with the parents of one of top ‘21 recruits in the nation, as she resides in the DMV. There is no way their daughter will consider UVA as they perceive the program to be a complete mess under Tina. I applaud Carla for thinking out of the box with the hire, unfortunately, Tina is simply a terrible fit on so many levels. While I understand it is quite sensitive to fire a coach with such a small sample size of game, especially someone with Tina’s brand in the sport. My feeling is as more time progresses, it will become painfully obvious to a growing number of influential people this program is on a bad path that’s irreconcilable under Tina. BTW, Carla’s 2nd hire, the women’s golf coach is getting high praises from many. The upgrades to Birdwood will be a huge plus for both programs.
I personally think would be interesting/ obvious at some point to consider Dawn Staley and or Tammi Reiss and or Audra Smith-Oliver as our coach. Back when they went to Final Four after Final Four these women packed UHall with a lot of special fans on par with our team. And are all proven basketball coaches on every level.
That being said I am all for the present coach and her having success. I just dont know enough about this team and thats my fault but giving her and the team full support.
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I don’t watch much women’s hoops…But the name Tina Thompson alone gets ur attention. I did noticed a lot if turnover on her staff, that seems bad.
I am one of those people who says they supports women’s hoops but rarely watches. I feel horrible about that.
My understanding was Dawn Staley declined an interview last time around because for whatever reason UVa passed her up the first time around (I believe when Debbie Ryan retired) when she was still at Temple, and I think there was a bit of a bad taste left in her mouth. It’s really a shame because I totally agree she would be an amazing fit and would bring instant prestige and credibility back to the program.
I also have this memory of Sam Brunelle mentioning that as part of her decision not to consider UVa when she was coming out. Which I think was a massive miss to have one of the top players in the country in your back yard and not get them locked in.
All that said like I said before I’m not willing to pull the rip cord on Tina Thompson just yet. It’s not like the program was setting the world on fire when she was hired, and the circumstances that led to the coaching search in the first place were so wonky, that you have to imagine almost anyone would struggle initially.
I’m a big believer that the worst thing that can happen to an athletic program is instability and firing a coach after 2 years and would certainly cause that. You end up with essentially 3 different recruiting classes on 1 team.