John Wooden vs Geno Auriemma

[salsa man]

Which coach do you think is better?

Click to read more...

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Wasn't alive then but the men's game had to be more competitive.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Being the head coach of UConn women's basketball team is like being the head coach of Canada's women's hockey team. Yes, you're good. Yes, you have to put a lot of work into it. Yes, there are some tough teams out there, but.... overall? There's really not much competition beyond a core group of countries/schools and you're more or less expected to win each and every year.

Granted, that speaks well for his recruiting ability, but I have to give the advantage to Wooden for recruiting and developing and repeatedly winning in a much more competitive field.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I guess you could say the tournament was competitive but nobody was competitive with UConn. They were dominant no doubt but the thing is nobody was challenging them. How would they do if they were actually challenged?!

 

[kihei]

Wooden. UCLA faced some pretty tough competition racking up many of those titles.

 

[BigMac1212]

Wooden. UConn doesn't have a competitor that can be considered a "challenger."

 

[Tecumseh]

Wooden. You could argue the greatest talent wasn't even going to UCLA and Wooden still won 7 in a row and 10 in 12 years.

 

[BigMac1212]

Any Geno fans want to defend UConn's dominance?

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

What's there to defend? I hated his Tiger comment though. Team sports vs individual aren't a fair comparison. Individual need actual villains.

 

[PanthersPens62]

Any Geno fans want to defend UConn's dominance?

Has won 120 of his last 121 games. Streaks of 90 and currently 75 in a row and counting. I believe all wins in the current streak are by double digits. And yes, there may be fewer quality teams out there than Wooden had to deal with, any time he has faced a top 5 opponent of high quality, such as Baylor/Notre Dame/South Carolina/Maryland/Stanford he has won those games with ease.

My vote remains Geno as GOAT.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Geno would get wrecked in the men's game.