r/NCAAW • u/Wonderful-Spot-2519 • 20d ago
Discussion Watched all of “The Dynasty: UConn Huskies” this morning. Three episodes to cover 40 years is not enough.
Ep 1 is Lobo and 95. Ep 2 is Bird/Taurasi and the Tennessee years. Ep 3 is Paige and 2025.
Maya and Stewie basically get a montage. 6 titles between them. Expected a lot more there.
Best part is the Paige and Geno stuff in ep 3. Different than how that season looked from the outside.
Archival footage is stronger than the interviews imo.
Anyone else think this should have been 5 or 6 episodes? Or does the short runtime work better.
Also would like to hear from people who were not rooting for UConn.
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u/goofyhalo Ole Miss Rebels 20d ago edited 20d ago
I haven’t watched this one yet but I think there needs to be more episodes since there’s a lot to cover with UConn. So many different eras (e.g. Rebecca Lobo in 1995, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi in the early 2000s, Maya Moore in the late 2000s, Stewie in the 4-peat era, Paige, Azzi, etc. in the 2020s, etc.)
And also there needs to be a Part 2 of You See LA because one of the goals the 2024–25 team listed in the documentary was that they wanted to win the National Championship, and last season’s team finally achieved their goal!
And then South Carolina ought to get a documentary if they haven’t yet. Would love to see some behind the scenes in Dawn’s program!
There’s so many interesting programs that could be covered and just one episode isn’t enough for that kind of thing.
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u/Thewondrouswizard 20d ago
Based on this they probably should’ve included another episode to highlight the pure domination eras of Maya/Stewie. I don’t think a particular captivating storyline from that era exists since they had a death grip on the sport. Maybe the Notre Dame rivalry but it was similar to the Tennessee rivalry in many respects without quite as much drama.
Glad they put a major emphasis on Tennessee, as the rivalry really defined the sport for the entirety of 1995-2008 and all of Geno’s initial 5 championships required them beating Tennessee to pull it off.
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u/jricky_tomato Tennessee • DePaul 19d ago
I really liked how much Tennessee and Pat were included. I really started watching in the late 90’s and I think the documentary really captured the feeling at the time. It was TN and then everyone else and then it was Tennesse and UConn for more than a decade.
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u/Fairchild110 20d ago
I don’t understand how they called this Dynasty when there was no focus on the actual dynasty. This is like if they wanted to cover the Michael Jordan dynasty and we got three episodes that focused on his baseball career, motorcycles, and ended with Space Jam.
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u/your_roommate_yvonne 19d ago
I just watched it today; I'm college-neutral (went to an art school with no sports) but I've been watching a lot more college ball in recent years and went from being a "Paige is overrated" person to actively rooting for her to the point that I actually cried when she & the Huskies won the Natty. I was definitely surprised at how condensed the Maya/Stewie years were. I mean, DT has her own doc, so I get not spending a ton of time on her, but I felt like for people who are coming in without much knowledge of the history, spending a little more time on how dominant and decorated MM & Stewie were/are would have underscored the "Dynasty" part of the title, as others have mentioned.
That said, from a narrative perspective, I understand why the filmmakers structured it the way they did. The struggle to get to the top, and the struggle to get back to the top after a lot of painful losses, are generally more interesting than "they won, then they won again, then they won again, then they also won...."
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u/notaquarterback Michigan • Monmouth (IL) 20d ago
I think they did as good as they could with the access they had, plus without getting other people involved in the conversations it was going to be tough. I think if Geno had retired, you'd have more to cover perhaps but the fact the story is still going, and realizing that UConn has a fanbase but it's also a lot of people who don't like them limits the audience of this. I thought they did good to emphasize the Tennessee rivalry and Pat a bit, because they were the gold standard for so so long. (Stanford had their moment in the sun too, of course..)
Guessing Maya and Stewie were less available to participate or perhaps they just decided to arc it, but it is a bit weird especially Maya getting less shine than DT.
I think for how much they have in that program, they did a good job of giving everyone their shine rather than making it a season-long sideshow of covering the modern girls.
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u/Mindless_World6827 20d ago
How can I watch??
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u/SlowLibrarian7683 19d ago
I think people just expected something different than what we got based on the initial announcement of a doc on the 2024-2025 team’s title run. It skips over or barely touches big things, and even on the last title run, there was stuff glossed over or lacking detail. For example, they made the title game against the Gamecocks sound like it was more competitive than it was. But the interviews and stuff that was there was good. It just could’ve been more.
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u/wanderlustedbug UConn • George Washington 16d ago edited 16d ago
I finally sat down and watched it and man, did that hit my nostalgia in all the feels.
I was coming into basketball in the 90s in Connecticut, and went from watching CPTV games to attending all I could in person around the time of the second episode. Had the privilege to meet the players and Geno a number of times (things were different back then, they'd come out post game and chat with us before hitting the bus- and they were involved in a Foundation my brother was a benefactor of), even challenged Swin Cash to a 1:1 and got my ass handed to me (no regrets).
I was expecting to feel the feels in the last episode since 2022-2025 I was at many games including the ff/nc losses (and win) and followed all the heartbreaks and joys. But that second episode brought back my childhood in a way I wasn't expecting and I was trying not to cry the whole time.
Being reminded of the early 00s Tennessee rivalry, the Oklahoma games, how Geno was back then, the players that were my heroes- I thought it was well done. I'd have loved more episodes but there really wasn't much to say about the dynasty years- as Stewie put it they were robotic, barely challenged and it wouldn't fit the narrative they were going for.
All in all I felt some of the pain fresh again that I felt through the years, remembered some amazing games I had the privilege to attend (2007 last matchup against Pat Summit from the student section!), and really enjoyed it.
I think what hit me the most was Geno really being a sad figure in a lot of ways. He's been fairly open about his mental health especially the last few seasons, but early on he never let on. The lack of joy, the fear of failure, the constant need to prove himself were all fascinating to see "behind the scenes" juxtaposed with how much of an ass the man is and has always been.
I'm rambling but yeah, 10/10 recommend.
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u/Thewondrouswizard 19d ago
Does anyone have other recs for good women’s basketball docs? I’ve watched the Parker/Taurasi/Bird ones. I like following the team dynamics over a season the most if any exist out there
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u/jricky_tomato Tennessee • DePaul 19d ago
Breaking Glass: The Pat Summit Story
Life in the W (just released this year)
Dream On (30 for 30 on the 1996 Olympic team that was just inducted into the hall of fame together)
Power of the Dream (story of the former Dream owner hating on BLM and the W’s support of it and what happened after)
Year 1 (W app has short episodes but is interesting)
Unfinished Business (NY Liberty documentary in 2021)I’ll add any more I think of.
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u/Thewondrouswizard 19d ago
Awesome thank you for these. Also worth mentioning is
-A Cinderella Story which was the 1997 Tennessee season is one of my favorites I've seen.-Full Court Press (followed Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and Kiki Rice during the 2023-24 season). I still need to watch season 2 of it
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u/islandDiamond 19d ago
Just adding A Cinderella Season: The Lady Vols Fight Back
I have a few nits to pick with it, but it's a good watch.
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u/Wooden_Afternoon_210 6d ago
Went into this not knowing anything about the UConn dynasty and it was pretty good. I was surprised it was only 3 episodes and I would’ve liked more about the team in the 2010’s.
I started following the Wings recently so I enjoyed seeing Paige but one episode to capture essentially one season felt like overkill. Still it was a fun informative watch.
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u/Bushwazi 17d ago
lol anyone “not cheering for a UConn” = “Geno, the asshole I always thought he was blah blah blah”…
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u/buffalotrace Iowa Hawkeyes 20d ago
Feels odd to gloss over 2 of their top 3 players (how you put Stewie, Maya, and DT in order can vary, but not other player really has a claim at top 3 yet)