RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Genero36]

How good would you say the quality of coaching around the league is in contributing to the product on the court?

Obviously, you can't judge coaches that have never coached in the league before (i.e. Fisher) but as it stands, do you think the level of coaching on the sidelines matches up with the talent on the rosters?

Nicki Collen
Atlanta Dream

James Wade
Chicago Sky

Curt Miller
Connecticut Sun

Pokey Chatman
Indiana Fever

Katie Smith
New York Liberty

Mike Thibault
Washington Mystics

Brian Agler
Dallas Wings

Bill Laimbeer
Las Vegas

Derek Fisher
Los Angeles Sparks

Cheryl Reeve
Minnesota Lynx

Sandy Brondello
Phoenix Mercury

Dan Hughes
Seattle Storm

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I'm all for the separation of church and hate.

[Ay Mate]

Nicki Collen - My Grade (A-). She took a blah team and turned it into a championship contender and still went far even when Angel went down. She was the defensive brains in CT, and she brought that to Atlanta along with Miller’s offensive schemes. The Dream looked tight last year.
Atlanta Dream

James Wade - No Grade yet. He can’t be worse than Amber Stocks who was terrible. Needs a better roster though. It’ll be a welcome breath of fresh air in Chicago, but their coaching has always been a disaster. Hopefully Wade finally breaks that trend.
Chicago Sky

Curt Miller - My Grade (B). Sure he elevated the team but his substitution pattern is still head scratching. At times, they look great defensively, but most of the time, it’s lacking. Miller brings the offensive plays, he’s great at that, but the Sun’s defense lacked when Collen left. The Sun lost their edge when she left.
Connecticut Sun

Pokey Chatman - My Grade (F). I thought she was terrible in Chicago, and even worse in Indiana. I’ve always heard players don’t like her and her roster looked miserable last year. Sure losing can do that, but she’s a coach that players want to get away from. I predict 10 or less wins this season. If they don’t come out strong at the beginning, they need to fire her mid-way through the season.
Indiana Fever

Katie Smith - My Grade (F). Even with a shitty arena and uninspired players, Smith’s coaching was a disaster. She shouldn’t even get a 2nd year. She made Holly Warlick look good! Like the Fever, If the Liberty don’t come out of the gate strong, fire her mid-way through the season.
New York Liberty

Mike Thibault - My Grade (B-). Great regular season coach, horrible post season coach. Always been the case. He gets props for bringing the Mystics to the finals finally though. He’ll never win a WNBA ring though.
Washington Mystics

Brian Agler - My Grade (A+). He’s won 2 championships with 2 different teams. Enough said. Hopefully he can keep Liz in Dallas. If so, the Wings will go further than ever before. But that might not be saying much after the awful coach they had before. One of, if not the best & smartest coaches in the league.
Dallas Wings

Bill Laimbeer - My Grade (B+). He’s been lackluster since the Shock folded. Should’ve made the playoffs last year with his stellar roster. If he doesn’t again this year, he never will. My score is based on past championships. If they miss the playoffs again, he gets an F.
Las Vegas

Derek Fisher - No Grade Yet, but I believe the Sparks will go backwards this year unless they can get Liz without losing much. Even if the Sparks do well, without or without Liz, Fisher is a big step backwards from Agler and I’ll say that without seeing him coach yet.
Los Angeles Sparks

Cheryl Reeve - My Grade (B+). She’s won 4 championships as coach so you can’t take that lightly, but she’s done it with a superstar laden team. She’s not as good as everyone thinks. With a level playing field this season with everyone else, we’ll see the REAL Reeve, and the Lynx won’t go far.
Minnesota Lynx

Sandy Brondello - My Grade (C+). She wins games because of DT, BG, and DB. Take one of them away and Brondello ain’t all that. Her defensive schemes are nearly non-existent & I’ve still yet to see Griner reach her full potential. To me, she’s still a bit blah and lackluster (basing that on her potential, she’s still not there). The Mercury run too hot and cold for a better grade.
Phoenix Mercury

Dan Hughes - My Grade (B-). Sure his team just won but he had a stellar roster and his players were overjoyed at having a new coach after the disaster they had the year before. Can’t forget about all the bad seasons he had in San Antonio though. I’m sure his grade will increase this season.
Seattle Storm[/quote]

[Ay Mate]

Nicki Collen - My Grade (A-). She took a blah team and turned it into a championship contender and still went far even when Angel went down. She was the defensive brains in CT, and she brought that to Atlanta along with Miller’s offensive schemes. The Dream looked tight last year.
Atlanta Dream

James Wade - No Grade yet. He can’t be worse than Amber Stocks who was terrible. Needs a better roster though. It’ll be a welcome breath of fresh air in Chicago, but their coaching has always been a disaster. Hopefully Wade finally breaks that trend.
Chicago Sky

Curt Miller - My Grade (B). Sure he elevated the team but his substitution pattern is still head scratching. At times, they look great defensively, but most of the time, it’s lacking. Miller brings the offensive plays, he’s great at that, but the Sun’s defense lacked when Collen left. The Sun lost their edge when she left.
Connecticut Sun

Pokey Chatman - My Grade (F). I thought she was terrible in Chicago, and even worse in Indiana. I’ve always heard players don’t like her and her roster looked miserable last year. Sure losing can do that, but she’s a coach that players want to get away from. I predict 10 or less wins this season. If they don’t come out strong at the beginning, they need to fire her mid-way through the season.
Indiana Fever

Katie Smith - My Grade (F). Even with a shitty arena and uninspired players, Smith’s coaching was a disaster. She shouldn’t even get a 2nd year. She made Holly Warlick look good! Like the Fever, If the Liberty don’t come out of the gate strong, fire her mid-way through the season.
New York Liberty

Mike Thibault - My Grade (B-). Great regular season coach, horrible post season coach. Always been the case. He gets props for bringing the Mystics to the finals finally though. He’ll never win a WNBA ring though.
Washington Mystics

Brian Agler - My Grade (A+). He’s won 2 championships with 2 different teams. Enough said. Hopefully he can keep Liz in Dallas. If so, the Wings will go further than ever before. But that might not be saying much after the awful coach they had before. One of, if not the best & smartest coaches in the league.
Dallas Wings

Bill Laimbeer - My Grade (B+). He’s been lackluster since the Shock folded. Should’ve made the playoffs last year with his stellar roster. If he doesn’t again this year, he never will. My score is based on past championships. If they miss the playoffs again, he gets an F.
Las Vegas

Derek Fisher - No Grade Yet, but I believe the Sparks will go backwards this year unless they can get Liz without losing much. Even if the Sparks do well, without or without Liz, Fisher is a big step backwards from Agler and I’ll say that without seeing him coach yet.
Los Angeles Sparks

Cheryl Reeve - My Grade (B+). She’s won 4 championships as coach so you can’t take that lightly, but she’s done it with a superstar laden team. She’s not as good as everyone thinks. With a level playing field this season with everyone else, we’ll see the REAL Reeve, and the Lynx won’t go far.
Minnesota Lynx

Sandy Brondello - My Grade (C+). She wins games because of DT, BG, and DB. Take one of them away and Brondello ain’t all that. Her defensive schemes are nearly non-existent & I’ve still yet to see Griner reach her full potential. To me, she’s still a bit blah and lackluster (basing that on her potential, she’s still not there). The Mercury run too hot and cold for a better grade.
Phoenix Mercury

Dan Hughes - My Grade (B-). Sure his team just won but he had a stellar roster and his players were overjoyed at having a new coach after the disaster they had the year before. Can’t forget about all the bad seasons he had in San Antonio though. I’m sure his grade will increase this season.
Seattle Storm[/quote]

[ClayK]

As with most leagues, there's good and bad -- but of course, it's graded on the curve, so someone has to be bad if anyone's good.

For women's basketball coaches who dislike recruiting, it's a great landing spot. It has its negatives (not as much money or prestige) but positives (shorter season, no recruiting) as well.

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[Ay Mate]

It’s going to be hard to judge Reeve. I mean, she’s losing a third of her power 5 starting lineup. No Whalen, No Moore and I doubt Brunson will be around much at all. Whalen had a horrible season last year but that was only because she didn’t want to be there and had her mind on her upcoming Gophers season. Danielle Robinson will be a decent starting PG but shes not even close to the talent that was Whalen. And with Augustus, she’s going to have to return to form now that she’ll be without Whalen, Moore and Brunson. And sorry, but she’s not going to be able to handle the load like she did years ago. She’s not the same player. So it’ll be an interesting year in the land of a thousand lakes.

[Richyyy]

And different coaches are often 'good' in different situations. Phil Jackson was a master at juggling big personalities and winning titles with them, but who knows what he'd have managed to achieve with a limited roster. Reeve gets similar criticism to Jackson - "oh anyone could've won with those rosters" - but she got them all to buy in and play together, and built consistently league-leading defenses without many individuals considered top defenders. That's a skill, and a very important one in certain coaching situations. But whether she can get the most out of a roster with limited talent, and develop youth as key parts in a rebuild, remains to be seen.

We see this in soccer all the time. David Moyes was a huge success when he was working on a limited budget, maximising the potential of the squad that was available to him. Then he went to Manchester United, where it was just a completely different job, with very expensive and highly-paid players, huge egos, and higher expectations. And he was a complete bust, and his career has never recovered.

As for the WNBA, I think we're down to a pretty good group at the moment. We've pared away most of the bad ones, and are largely left with pretty good ones and a few unknowns. But as ClayK said, we're in a zero sum league, so some team is going to suck, and their coach is probably going to be considered bad. It can be really tricky to separate the coaching job from the talent that's available for the coach to work with.

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[Genero36]

[Nixtreefan]

Collen gets the nod from me as she took a group and made them work hard as a team. Hughes gets a shout out for showing how the game has evolved and how to use your roster. Agler not so much. You see it depends on a yearly accounting how they perform is not a broad brush, it depends on the year.

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Feelings, nothing more than feelings...

[toad455]

Rankings from last year's coaches:

1. Dan Hughes
2. Nicki Collen
3. Mike Thibault
4. Sandy Brondello
5. Curt Miller
6. Bill Laimbeer
7. Brian Agler
8. Cheryl Reeve
9. Katie Smith
10. Fred Williams
11. Pokey Chatman
12. Amber Stocks

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