The stunning 10-point upset victory over UConn was barely over when Arizona coach Adia Barnes gathered her team for a celebratory huddle.
Barnes, once a dynamic Arizona player and now a rising star in the coaching world, gave an animated speech to her team. And it concluded with an unmistakable gesture — a middle finger while a grinning Barnes appeared to use a four-letter word, based on some lip reading.
“I did not cuss out the NCAA,” Barnes said after Arizona’s 69-59 victory in San Antonio. “I did say a cuss word. The cuss word is basically, forget everybody, more of a chosen word. Forget everybody if they don’t believe in us, because we believe in us. That is my team. I believe in them.”
The “F” everybody? That was something of a rallying cry for a team that entered its first Final Four as a decided underdog against 11-time national champion UConn. The theme of disrespect percolated throughout the tournament, as Arizona was seemingly motivated by not being featured in an NCAA Final Four highlight video this week.
Barnes maintained it was not a top-of-the-list motivating factor as the team prepared for UConn.
But ...
“I think that was just another ... small thing,” she said. “That was just another thing that we dealt with. I think it started early. First of all, I get why. We hadn’t been here. It’s unchartered territory, so I get the whole thing. But initially we weren’t mentioned when they were talking about our region. That was the first thing. Those things are motivating.
“Second thing, when you’re going to play Texas A&M (in the Sweet 16), we were barely in the highlight video. It was already them. Everybody thought Texas A&M. Then you fast forward the next thing was the (Final Four) highlight video; we weren’t in it, there were three teams. Those are just things that motivate a team. It means nothing. We don’t care. We believe in each other. We believe in what we do. That’s just motivating. That’s something like, I’m, OK, show them, be on the next video.”
Barnes, in fact, said she loves being underestimated: “I’ve been an underdog all my life. Too small to do this, too this to do that, too inexperienced to do this. We prove it wrong every time. I don’t care. It just motivates me and my team.”
She’s not wrong about being underestimated. UConn junior guard Christyn Williams admitted as much.
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes reacts during the first half of a women's Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Connecticut Friday, April 2, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Eric Gay / Associated Press
Arizona guard Aari McDonald, left, celebrates with head coach Adia Barnes at the end of a women's Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Connecticut Friday, April 2, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Arizona won 69-59. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Morry Gash / Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 02: Head coach Adia Barnes of the Arizona Wildcats and Aari McDonald #2 celebrate after defeating the UConn Huskies during the third quarter in the Final Four semifinal game of the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome on April 02, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Carmen Mandato / Getty Images
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 02: Head coach Adia Barnes of the Arizona Wildcats speaks with players in the huddle against the UConn Huskies in the Final Four semifinal game of the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome on April 02, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Elsa / Getty Images“We thought it was going to be easy, I guess, and we got flustered,” Williams said.
paul.doyle@hearstmediact.com
April 03, 2021 at 01:46PM
https://www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Did-Arizona-s-coach-use-middle-finger-after-16074166.php
Did Arizona’s coach use middle finger after beating UConn? Barnes says ‘forget everybody if they don’t believe in us’ - CTPost
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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