”If someone was chasing you with a knife, you'd run a lot faster”: When Geno Auriemma commented on Will Smith's trait of challenging himself

Geno Auriemma spoke about his views on one of Will Smith's famous quotes during his interview with high-performance consultant Brett Ledbetter. The video was shot in 2021 and released on November 7, 2022 on Ledbetter's YouTube channel - What Drives Winning.

The actor shared his approach and mindset while speaking on an episode of "The Tavis Smiley Show" in 2004. Smith was speaking about talent and what seperated him from the others.

"The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period... But if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die... You're not going to out-work me." Smith said.

Auriemma said that he had coached players with a similar attitude as Will Smith and spoke about how humans performed better under pressure.

"I think we're inherently built for challenges," Geno Auriemma said (37:56). "And when we don't have a challenge we are not our best. So, some people run faster when they're being chased, don't they?"

Reflecting on his coaching style, he said:

"And I do that with my players all the time, I go let's go and they'll go, and I go, 'I bet you if somebody was chasing you with a knife you'd run a lot faster,' and you can see it in their face going, 'Oh, yeah, hell yeah, I'd run a lot faster.' So, you know we all need that challenge and some people, and maybe Will Smith is one of them. He challenges himself."

Geno Auriemma shares how Paige Bueckers makes her teammates better even when she's struggling

In his interview with the UConn Radio on December 11th, Geno Auriemma reflected on how his guard’s unselfishness made her teammates better. These comments came on the back of two games in which Bueckers' shot was not falling.

"Paige just being on the floor helps everybody else be a better player and she's so unselfish she's not going to go out there and just start taking bad shots just to shoot the ball," Geno Auriemma said. "And she's going to do other things, 10 rebounds and she's going to play good D and going to get her number of assists."

Despite scoring just 19 points on 30% shooting in the two games against Louisville and Holy Cross, Paige Bueckers garnered 17 rebounds and 11 assists to help her teammates. The Huskies won both these games thanks to strong performances on offense from freshman Sarah Strong.