Geno Auriemma gave a viral answer about body language. He stands by it 10 years later

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Just minutes into a 2015 recreation in opposition to Memphis, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma started pulling his finest gamers.

First, he took out Morgan Tuck, a sophomore ahead and UConn’s third-leading scorer. Then he pulled Breanna Stewart, a junior ahead and the reigning nationwide participant of the yr.

Tuck performed 4 minutes the entire recreation. Stewart, simply 5. Neither noticed the courtroom your complete second half.

“In the grand scheme of life,” Auriemma stated, “I was trying to send a message.”

The Huskies did not want Tuck or Stewart that day — they beat Memphis by 46 factors — however Auriemma was adamant. It wasn’t about their play; it was about their body language and what it signaled.

“I got the sense that these guys weren’t really that committed that day, that they knew it was going to be easy,” Auriemma stated. “They knew it wasn’t going to take a lot of effort.”

A yr later, on the Final Four, Auriemma was requested a query about the keenness of UConn’s bench gamers throughout video games. His answer not solely went viral; it additionally referenced the 2015 Memphis recreation for example of his core philosophy.

“We put a huge premium on body language,” Auriemma stated. “And in case your body language is unhealthy, you’ll by no means get within the recreation. Ever. I do not care how good you’re. If somebody says, ‘Well, you simply benched Stewie for 35 minutes within the Memphis recreation a couple of years in the past.’ Yeah, I did. … Stewie was appearing like a 12-year-old. So I put her on the bench and stated, ‘Sit there.’

“I’d rather lose than watch kids play the way some kids play.”

Ten years later, Auriemma, now 72 and as soon as once more within the Final Four, remains to be a proselytizer of body language. He believes that it’s a shortcut to what is going on on inside a participant and the way that impacts the staff. That it alerts one’s mindset higher than dialogue can. That in case you let poor body language slide in a winnable recreation in February, it will come again to hang-out you within the greatest video games in March and April.

“Let me ask you a question,” Auriemma says on the cellphone. “You walk into work, or you walk into your team practice, and you go, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’”

I’m all proper.

“Right away, you’re like, ‘Oh, what the f—, man? Like, right away? This is how we’re going to start?’ As opposed to: ‘I’m doing great, man. Couldn’t be better. Let’s go.’”

For Auriemma, it’s a small example of what he believes: that negativity and positivity are contagious, and that little interactions like that set a tone.

In Auriemma’s eyes, there are two kinds of people in the world: energy givers and energy suckers.

An energy giver is like a battery — someone who can charge others around them when they’re struggling or in a funk.

Energy suckers are players who pout after their teammate makes a great play because they’re not in the game. They are more concerned with their situation.

“There are times where we all need an energy lift, and you want people on your team that can be those players that give you that,” Auriemma said. “But it cannot be each day. You’re taking, taking, taking, and also you’re by no means giving vitality. You’re not going to have a championship staff in case you’ve bought that.”

That was the point Auriemma wanted to make to Tuck and Stewart. Yes, they could beat Memphis, but winning isn’t enough if effort and attitude aren’t there; actions and body language have real consequences.

“Talking about it doesn’t necessarily get the point across,” he said.

Seeing it does. He’ll show players film of their body language — not just the bad, but the bad compared to the best versions of themselves.

“Look at you here when you are at your best,” he’ll say, then pull up a clip when their body language dipped. “Now take a look at the best way you are behaving. Are you pleased with that?”

The response is almost always the same. “They’ll look at it, and they’ll feel bad, and they’ll go, ‘No, that’s not me.’”

For younger players, the gap between who they are and who they think they are often wide. When players are young, everything leaks in: emotions, distractions, mistakes. Auriemma doesn’t expect consistency from an 18-year-old the same way he does from a senior. Even great players like Stewart, he said, didn’t show up fully formed.

“But you want them to grow from freshman year to senior year,” he said. “I take note of that stuff, as a result of if I do not level it out, then they’re going to by no means know what they’re lacking. What they may very well be.”

To Auriemma, a big part of his job as a coach is pointing out that out to players.

When he watches game film, he studies what’s happening on the bench the same way he studies what’s happening on the court. He also asks his players questions to challenge them.

This is when you’re at your best. What do you do to get yourself in that situation?

When you start acting like this instead, what is going on in your world that’s making you act like this? Because this is not acceptable.

How do we fix that? Just letting that behavior go and saying it’s just having a bad day is not enough. Because what happens when we’re playing in the Final Four?

UConn’s standout senior Azzi Fudd recently emphasized the payoff of that mindset. “If my shots aren’t falling, I’m not going to be sad and be upset and frustrated and be into my self-pity,” Fudd told CT Insider“but I’m going to be, ‘OK, what can I do to help the team now?’”

Understanding body language’s impact is simple, but embodying it every day is not. Even for Auriemma.

Some days, he walks into the gym with a bad attitude himself, his body language not up to standard. And then, as practice starts, he’ll get mad at his players for their attitudes.

That’s when his assistant calls him out: “That’s not acceptable, man.”

“You need teammates to call each other out,” Auriemma said. “You want your coaches to name you out. It’s all people holding one another and themselves accountable. It’s not only one rule for the gamers, one rule for the assistants, one rule for the top coach. It’s all people.”