Emily Waner??

[Wander]

I don't suppose that you have any desire to share any of your inside information?

Oh, I don't have any inside information, I just think it's easy to read between the lines here. I mean, look at what MulletMan just said:

"I don't think that there is anyway that a change from one coach to another can be seemless. Especially when you've played for one coach for 2-3 seasons. Its a significant change in a significant relationship, and thus, there will likely be some rocky times."

If that's not a nice BS politically correct way of saying there's some chemistry issues, then what is?

[Mike Corey]

The current women's team has a tremendous amount of talent, with at least two--Chante Black and Abby Waner--that are of the same caliber of previous Duke All-Americans. In other words, the cupboard is not bare. Further, this wasn't the first time Duke lost a NPOY.

This was the first time it happened while transitioning into a new staff and strategy, however.

Of course, assimilating to a new coach is tough; assimilating to new players is tough, too.

Here's hoping the adjustments are swift and thorough, however, and that the women's program finds its lofty footing once again, and right soon.

In the meantime, I'll continue taking great pride in the high character and dedication of the women in the program, as I'm sure everyone here does.

[Acymetric]

Rumor mongering is not allowed. See the posting standards. The deleted posts included unsubstantiated rumors about Emily's departure that can serve no purpose.

Fair enough, sorry. This was actually legitimate by the rules, but two rather noticeable deletions (one with a solid reason so far) in about a day seemed strange to me. Sorry if I sounded overly critical or hostile, merely looking for an explanation (and in this case it was actually pretty obvious). Thanks.

[JDukie]

First of all, the topic is Emily Waner so let me address her first. She and her sister both are outstanding representatives not only of Duke University but women's basketball nationwide. They do it right in every aspect and we are very fortunate to have them on campus whether they are both on the team or not.
I am not surprised to see Emily "take a leave of absence" and I suspect, as I said in a post last week, that there will be much more of this once the season ends. These girls do not look happy at all!
As for comments above, AMEN to godukecom! You nailed it!
Coach G had great talent, she made the program what it is and by no means at all did she leave the cupboard bare! Had she stayed, we would easily be TOP 5 and national contenders. As it is, we are not and though some of you think we are going to light it up come March, you are dreaming. Being Top 15 in the women's poll is like being Top 50 in the men's poll. There are very few teams that are legitimate national contenders and we have been for the last several years but not this time. If you recall, we lost All Everything Monique Currie two years ago and a heartbreaking game in the National Championship that we should have won. No one at that game could have predicted that we would come back last year and go through the regular season undefeated or that Lindsay Harding would become NPOY. Coach G pulled that team together and though she was not perfect and yes, I too felt like she wilted in tight game situations at the end, she had them playing team basketball at a very swift pace facilitated by good defense so that most of our offense was layups. This team has never approached that level of defense or offense, before or after the unusual rash of injuries.
This is the ACC not the Big 10 folks. You run, press and win and are a legitimate title contender each year, ie Maryland and Carolina. We have no big center so we need to stop acting as if we do and push the ball. Yes, we are beating the average teams in the ACC and we squeaked by Rutgers because their style is to slow the game down which is how we play this year. Last year they took us out of our game and upset us in Greensboro.
I cannot bring myself to go to another game after seeing the UNC game last week. We are in freefall and it disturbs me greatly because we were among the elite and I just hate to see it all fall apart so quickly.
Yes, some of these words may get eaten but I will be the most surprised one of all if they are. I think this was a terrible hire and that we are not going to see her succeed. Probably does not matter to our AD since it is a women's program, but again, as I said last week , I won't comment on that situation because I cannot say anything positive.
I support Duke Athletics but almost withdrew my support this year after the way the whole G thing went down last year. She brought too much to DU to see her set free so easily.
A final word about the Waner girls... I am pretty sure that we would not have the players that we have this season if they had not been on the phone with all the recuits as well as holding many team meetings during the dark days of G's departure and the uncertainty of the new hire without these two girls leadership. Emily, best to you, you will be missed in many ways and Abby, we love you to death and wish only the best for you.

[Turtleboy]

Rumor mongering is not allowed. See the posting standards. The deleted posts included unsubstantiated rumors about Emily's departure that can serve no purpose.

This is crap. My two word post contained no rumormongering whatsoever, and I deeply resent the implication. I don't now when I have seen such bush league moderation. You guys are afraid of your own shadows.

[devil84]

This is crap. My two word post contained no rumormongering whatsoever, and I deeply resent the implication. I don't now when I have seen such bush league moderation. You guys are afraid of your own shadows.

When a post is deleted for rumormongering, we will delete posts that quote the rumor, too.

You included a quote of the rumor, and your two words essentially asked for substantiation. With the original post deleted for rumor-mongering, editing your post to remove the quoted rumor would leave your two words without a context. Best just to remove it.

Turtleboy was not rumor-mongering.

[Bluedawg]

I've been a Waner Sister fan since day one. Here are two video's...enjoy

waner sisters

Duke's Dynamic Duo

[Bluedawg]

Oh, and by the way... you are concerned abotu how the women's players look when on the court? Perhaps you should go back and look at some of the game tapes when G was coaching and see what SHE looked like when games were tight and tough. Perhaps Coach P will be a bit more, ummmm, up to the challenge when the games are on the line.

In tight games I rarely agreed with Coach G's game plan. She tended to deviate too far away from what had been working. Coach P seems to stay the course much better.

[Indoor66]

Apart from the warranted or unwarranted criticism of Coach P (and I think unwarranted), I don't understand the harping about Coach G leaving. She, out of her own mouth, stated that Duke met every one of her requests. She allowed Texas to pursue her. She saw Texas as her dream job. Duke countered and she chose Texas. Her own life situation had changed. She had split from her husband. She chose to make further changes in her life. I respect that and recognize that my love for Duke does not, necessarily, translate to the same feelings by others. Her dreams, apparently, were not Duke-centric as are many on this board.

Give it a rest. Coach P is our coach. She will do a good job and deserves respect and understanding during the transition. There is a learning curve for players about the coach and expectations and for the coach about player's skills and expectations. No change is seamless. I imagine the football players have questions in their mind about the coaching change. All of them came in under Roof and have no real idea about what a Cutcliffe is. I will not be shocked if some decide to bail out. Such is life in college athletics.

Let's give Coach P a chance.

[bludev03]

The comparison between the Duke fb coaching change and women's bball coaching change is completely in left field. The Duke fb team is comparable to a D1AA program and they haven't even been competitive. They have nowhere to go but up. Meanwhile, the Duke women's bball team has won 30+ games for 7 consecutive years. In the last 10 yrs, Gail won 301 games and had a winning clip of .867. That's a HUGE difference...

[Bluedawg]

Apart from the warranted or unwarranted criticism of Coach P (and I think unwarranted), I don't understand the harping about Coach G leaving. She, out of her own mouth, stated that Duke met every one of her requests. She allowed Texas to pursue her. She saw Texas as her dream job. Duke countered and she chose Texas. Her own life situation had changed. She had split from her husband. She chose to make further changes in her life. I respect that and recognize that my love for Duke does not, necessarily, translate to the same feelings by others. Her dreams, apparently, were not Duke-centric as are many on this board.

Give it a rest. Coach P is our coach. She will do a good job and deserves respect and understanding during the transition. There is a learning curve for players about the coach and expectations and for the coach about player's skills and expectations. No change is seamless. I imagine the football players have questions in their mind about the coaching change. All of them came in under Roof and have no real idea about what a Cutcliffe is. I will not be shocked if some decide to bail out. Such is life in college athletics.

Let's give Coach P a chance.

I tend to agree. We all have strategy differences with coaches...that is not uncommon.

However, I have advocated having something around the athletic facilities bearing her name, as a acknowledgement of her success at duke

[Bluedawg]

The comparison between the Duke fb coaching change and women's bball coaching change is completely in left field. The Duke fb team is comparable to a D1AA program and they haven't even been competitive. They have nowhere to go but up. Meanwhile, the Duke women's bball team has won 30+ games for 7 consecutive years. In the last 10 yrs, Gail won 301 games and had a winning clip of .867. That's a HUGE difference...

How many coaches dod Coach Williams keep when he went to UNC, Coach Lowe at State, how will be kept at Ga tech with the new FB coach. Yes...it is comparable

[gadzooks]

Apart from the warranted or unwarranted criticism of Coach P (and I think unwarranted), I don't understand the harping about Coach G leaving. She, out of her own mouth, stated that Duke met every one of her requests. She allowed Texas to pursue her. She saw Texas as her dream job. Duke countered and she chose Texas. Her own life situation had changed. She had split from her husband. She chose to make further changes in her life. I respect that and recognize that my love for Duke does not, necessarily, translate to the same feelings by others. Her dreams, apparently, were not Duke-centric as are many on this board.

I agree, and find it irritating that people continue to harp on it as though Gail desperately wanted to stay at Duke, but Alleva forced her out. I have seen absolutely no indication that that's even remotely true. Or that Duke should have hired Geno Auriemma or Brenda Frese, or [insert other random coach's name here] as though there was some evidence that any of them wanted to leave their current school and come to Duke. Look. Gail has a mind of her own, let's accept that she used it to make the choice to take the Texas job. Let's also accept that Duke isn't the dream job for every coach in the world. I completely understand and share the frustration of fellow fans of the women's basketball program, but let's stay in reality here.

[killerleft]

So this is what the board would have sounded like when Coach K came on board! I always wondered...

And the situation was much the same. A pretty fair bunch left over, but not as good as before he came. Different system, rocky start, best offensive player's court time reduced because of a lack of defense...

At least Coach P has been given every benefit of the doubt, huh?

[Indoor66]

I tend to agree. We all have strategy differences with coaches...that is not uncommon.

However, I have advocated having something around the athletic facilities bearing her name, as a acknowledgement of her success at duke

I cannot agree with naming anything after Coach G. She left. So be it. I wish she had stayed but she made her decision. If you want to name something, how about something for Vic Bubas? He retired as coach at Duke with an extremely high winning percentage, 3 final fours, many All-Americans.

[Wander]

So this is what the board would have sounded like when Coach K came on board! I always wondered...

And the situation was much the same. A pretty fair bunch left over, but not as good as before he came. Different system, rocky start, best offensive player's court time reduced because of a lack of defense...

So it's never okay to criticize a coach because this one time Duke hired Coach K and it worked out. I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up.

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

So it's never okay to criticize a coach because this one time Duke hired Coach K and it worked out. I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up.

Of course. Just like K never makes any mistakes because overall he's been successful. Any single point of success negates all criticism into perpetuity.

[Wander]

Of course. Just like K never makes any mistakes because overall he's been successful. Any single point of success negates all criticism into perpetuity.

I'm pretty sure no opponent has ever scored a point against a K-coached team. Also, did you know his teams average negative five turnovers a game?

[Bluedawg]

I cannot agree with naming anything after Coach G. She left. So be it. I wish she had stayed but she made her decision. If you want to name something, how about something for Vic Bubas? He retired as coach at Duke with an extremely high winning percentage, 3 final fours, many All-Americans.

Fine...I have no problem with that.

[killerleft]

So it's never okay to criticize a coach because this one time Duke hired Coach K and it worked out. I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up.

I think you missed the point. Or made it for me. Coach K did make mistakes. But he didn't deserve the hysterical destructive criticism that he received from some alumni and fans.

And Coach P doesn't deserve some of the comments put forth earlier in this thread from people who are assuming quite a bit and knowing nothing.