Media
Apple TV released the three-part series, which runs just over two hours.
Well, it turns out that Apple TV can produce a documentary series with “dynasty” in its title that pays proper respect to the coach.
Maybe a little too much in the case of “The Dynasty: UConn Huskies,” a compelling if condensed three-part series on the school’s staggeringly successful women’s basketball program that dropped Friday on the streaming platform.
The thread through the series, which runs just more than two hours in its entirety, is coach Geno Auriemma, which makes plenty of sense on one level. He’s the winningest coach in college basketball history, and has led the Huskies to 12 national titles and six perfect seasons as he approaches his 42nd as coach.
He gets the respect, credit, and facetime here that Bill Belichick did not in “The Dynasty: New England Patriots,” which was released in February 2024 and directed by Matthew Hamachek. The UConn version is directed and executive produced by the Emmy-winning Hamachek, with Erica Sashin serving as co-director and showrunner.
Auriemma’s approach to coaching — which essentially amounts to “tear down my players, tear them down more, and then a little more, then build them back up just when they’re wondering if it’s worth it anymore” — has to be called effective given the results. And his players, at least the ones that became champions, seem to love him at the end. It’s amusing to get further confirmation that Diana Taurasi in particular had him pegged all along.
But more about the players would have been welcome. Part 1 features the build up of the program and the importance of the program’s first true superstar, Southwick’s Rebecca Lobo. Part 2 features some on Taurasi and Sue Bird, as well as a look at the rivalry with Tennessee and coach Pat Summitt. Part 3 will draw the most attention, given that it reveals that Auriemma and good-hearted superstar Paige Bueckers didn’t talk for a portion of her final season.
It’s all good stuff, but the careers of Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore, among others, are mostly glossed over, and not much time is spent on the details of the record 111-game winning streak.
Succinctness is usually worthy of appreciation in these types of projects, but this one could have used a couple of more parts and a little more on the players.
At least they remembered the coach this time.
Stevens again has his say
The latest episode of the Celtics’ team-produced “Beneath the Banners” series popped up on YouTube this week, and it had an interesting tone. The episode, which is only 14 minutes long, is ostensibly to introduce offseason acquisitions Paul George, Mike Conley, and Mitchell Robinson.
But a knack for interpretation is not required to recognize that the real purpose is to give president of basketball operations Brad Stevens another opportunity to explain his decision to trade Jaylen Brown to those who still don’t understand it, or simply are choosing not to because of their adoration of the player.
Stevens laid out his offseason approach and rationale for the trade — at least to anyone who bothered to listen — during his press conference on July 6 at the Auerbach Center. He reiterated those points during “Beneath the Banners,” including acknowledging that it was difficult to trade Brown.
“There is a lot pulling at you,” he said. “There are the emotions of the person that’s been here for a long time. It’s something that you have to just say, ‘Do you think where we currently are and doing what we’ve done will we get to where we ultimately want to go?’ If not, doesn’t it make sense to explore the pathways, even if that could be very tough in the near term.”
In shocker, more McAfee
ESPN announced ubiquitous sentient monster truck Pat McAfee will be a panelist on “Monday Night Countdown” in the coming NFL season. He is also negotiating to be the central figure on a “Monday Night Football” alt-cast that will air on ESPN2 on the weeks when Peyton and Eli Manning aren’t hosting theirs. (They are in line to do 12 games, plus the Super Bowl this season.) The saturation of McAfee across various programs and platforms is something ESPN is going to look back upon in 5-10 years and pretend never happened. Before then, though, some misguided ESPN exec will probably pitch stuffing him between Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser on “Pardon the Interruption” … In other news on Scourges of the ESPN Airwaves, the National Association of Black Journalists designated Stephen A. Smith as a recipient of one its “Thumbs Down” awards at its annual convention. The NABJ cited a “recurring public pattern of disparaging commentary directed at prominent Black women across politics, sports and media.” Smith responded by running to Sean Hannity’s show on Fox to complain, thereby further validating the thumbs-down.
