89 consecutive wins; but where is the R.E.S.P.E.C.T!!

The Connecticut women's basketball team now hold the longest winning streak in Division 1 college basketball, courtesy of a 92-63 rout of Florida State.  It doesn't matter whether you talk about men's or women's hoops; we are just talking Division One hoops, period.

Maya Moore making it happen

In such a crucial game, it was only fitting that Maya Moore took center stage to bring home the win and make sure that this Connecticut would go down in history as one of the best teams to ever grace the hardwood.  Moore did it all; inside and out, on her way to a career high 41 points.  Also getting in on the action were Tiffany Hayes (14 points) and Bria Hartley (21 points), who is being tipped as the next big star for this program.


Outside of Maya Moore, Lorin Dixon and Caroline Doty, the current crop of Husky players have yet to play on a losing team.  They probably couldn't spell it if you drilled them.  UConn survived Baylor earlier in the season and play Stanford on the 30th of this month; the last team to beat them, in case you forgot.


Prior to writing this article, I stopped by a few forums to check out what people thought about UConn and women's basketball in general.  What I read didn't surprise me at all, in fact some of the comments were downright stupid if you ask me.  There was a large number of people who were simply happy for the lady Huskies, while others said that they couldn't even beat an average boys high school team.  Seriously?


the man of the hour

Regardless of what people may say, UConn has managed to accomplish something that is very rare and we may never get to see again in our lifetime.  There is some truth about the lack of parity in the women's game; but that argument completely undermines the great job that the UConn staff does when it comes to recruiting and coaching.

A good number of comments stated that "Geno Auriemma should coach men's basketball".  What more does he need to prove?  Maybe women's basketball is "boring" because they actually learn the fundamentals, play as a team and the players actually graduate from school.  Maybe that is why it is possible to establish dominant programs in the women's game.  In the men's game, you're dealing with players who only care about improving their draft stock and what kind of shoe deal they'll get once they declare for the draft; so you're looking at a situation where you're recruiting a lot of one-and-done players.  You can't be dominant when your best players don't stick around, right?  I'm not saying that Auriemma can't coach men, but who would want to give up a good thing?

The immortal John Wooden

Of course, the biggest story of the evening is UConn surpassing the 88 game win streak, set by John Wooden's UCLA teams from 1971-1974.  First of all, these are two different teams from two different eras.  While it's still basketball, men's hoops and women's hoops are two different brands.  You can not compare these two teams against each other.  It is not and will never be the same thing; at all.


When, if ever, will people learn to not read too much into everything that's put out there.  The media has done more than it's fair share of bringing this discussion to the table, and people have take the bait; hook, line and sinker.  People are talking indeed, whether or not they watch the women's game.  It's plain and simple, you either root for them, root against them or you just don't care.


Just because UCLA's record was against men's teams, and Connecticut's record was against women's teams, does not make the Huskies' record any less relevant.  UCLA's record was, is and will always be relevant given the fact no other men's program has even come close to accomplishing what they did.  What these two teams have in common, is that they beat the teams in front of them; which is what they are supposed to do if they want to win, right?

Whether Connecticut measures up to UCLA isn't the topic here, because it's not even relevant.  These ladies shouldn't be victims of their own success.  To keep it simple, give respect where it's due; they earned it.  Take it for what it is, congratulate them, give them a pat on the back or whatever and just leave them be; they've got a streak to preserve.