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p_d_swanson
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 Posted: 12/18/10 6:29 am ::: Whisenant Settling In |
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John Whisenant settling in as coach, GM of Liberty
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As one of his first moves, Whisenant filled out his coaching staff by hiring Monique Ambers and Lady Grooms as assistants. Both have ties to Whisenant and the Monarchs � Ambers was an assistant with Sacramento from 2002-09 and Grooms played there from 1998-04.
The Liberty also hired Jill Culbertson as the assistant general manager. Culbertson spent nine years with the Monarchs, including the franchise's last two as the manager of basketball operations. |
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root_thing
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jaye
Joined: 12 Sep 2007
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| Posted: 12/18/10 12:31 pm ::: |
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glad to see lady grooms get a chance... she took my son under her wing when she used to train at run n' shoot in atl....
this trend in the "w" to combine the gm and head coach jobs... is this an attempt to save money??
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Richyyy
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
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| Posted: 12/18/10 2:11 pm ::: |
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| Interesting that he openly hired two assistants, and they're both already referred to as such on the Liberty website. There were teams that did that last season, but I wonder if they did something about that muddled rule in the team meetings.
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dynasty0207
Joined: 16 Aug 2009
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| Posted: 12/18/10 4:50 pm ::: |
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| Maybe only one assistant will travel, depending on which conference the opponent is considering they mentioned which conference each assistant is in charge of.
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BCBG25
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 12/18/10 5:39 pm ::: |
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Thought the whole point of having one assistant was to save money, but if they can switch assistants depending on opponent, there's a loophole in there somewhere in the rules.
So it's Whiz and his Sactown buddies in NY...not sure I like that, but whatever, I'm willing to give this a chance.
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
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| Posted: 12/18/10 6:56 pm ::: |
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It will be interesting to see if he makes a move or moves to acquire players who play a more physical style.
It will also be interesting to see if Whisenant's approach gets Kia going, being that she is a player in that mold.
I know nothing about the assistants in terms of coaching ability. Time will tell.
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scullyfu
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| Posted: 12/18/10 7:01 pm ::: |
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| Richyyy wrote: |
| Interesting that he openly hired two assistants, and they're both already referred to as such on the Liberty website. There were teams that did that last season, but I wonder if they did something about that muddled rule in the team meetings. |
and then there's the case of jennyboo who missed being at the 3rd finals game cuz of that rule. she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the team, especially given how meadows whined about it on previous occasions.
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StevenHW
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
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| Posted: 12/19/10 12:50 am ::: Re: Whisenant Settling In |
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| p_d_swanson wrote: |
John Whisenant settling in as coach, GM of Liberty
| Quote: |
As one of his first moves, Whisenant filled out his coaching staff by hiring Monique Ambers and Lady Grooms as assistants. Both have ties to Whisenant and the Monarchs � Ambers was an assistant with Sacramento from 2002-09 and Grooms played there from 1998-04.
The Liberty also hired Jill Culbertson as the assistant general manager. Culbertson spent nine years with the Monarchs, including the franchise's last two as the manager of basketball operations. |
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In other words...The New York Liberty has become: Monarchs east.
But congrats on Monique and Lady on remaining with the WNBA.
I have to wonder which former Monarch Whiz is going to bring in for his next move.
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Queenie
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| Posted: 12/19/10 1:06 am ::: |
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Happycappie and I are taking bets on it. I think he's going to trade for Haynie; the fiance thinks he's going to coax Newton out of retirement.
Both would be bad ideas, of course.
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StevenHW
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| Posted: 12/19/10 1:09 am ::: |
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| Queenie wrote: |
Happycappie and I are taking bets on it. I think he's going to trade for Haynie; the fiance thinks he's going to coax Newton out of retirement.
Both would be bad ideas, of course. |
More realisitically, I can see Whiz pushing a deal with the Lynx to send ex-Monarch Rebekkah Brunson to the Libs.
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PhoenixxLily
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| Posted: 12/19/10 1:45 am ::: |
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| well, people did want to see the monarchs return....... |
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
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| Posted: 12/19/10 1:49 am ::: |
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| StevenHW wrote: |
| Queenie wrote: |
Happycappie and I are taking bets on it. I think he's going to trade for Haynie; the fiance thinks he's going to coax Newton out of retirement.
Both would be bad ideas, of course. |
More realisitically, I can see Whiz pushing a deal with the Lynx to send ex-Monarch Rebekkah Brunson to the Libs. |
That's what I was thinking/hoping.
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PhoenixxLily
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| Posted: 12/19/10 1:59 am ::: |
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| LibWNBAFan wrote: |
| StevenHW wrote: |
| Queenie wrote: |
Happycappie and I are taking bets on it. I think he's going to trade for Haynie; the fiance thinks he's going to coax Newton out of retirement.
Both would be bad ideas, of course. |
More realisitically, I can see Whiz pushing a deal with the Lynx to send ex-Monarch Rebekkah Brunson to the Libs. |
That's what I was thinking/hoping. |
can the lynx stand to lose rebekkah though? |
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MNfan22
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Richyyy
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| Posted: 12/19/10 4:25 am ::: |
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| New York have a grand total of absolutely fuck all that Minnesota would be interested in trading their single solitary rebounder for. Unless Cappie's changed her mind about playing in New York (and even that would just necessitate a crap load of other Lynx trades to sort out the roster).
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
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| Posted: 12/19/10 6:07 am ::: |
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| Richyyy wrote: |
| New York have a grand total of absolutely fuck all that Minnesota would be interested in trading their single solitary rebounder for. |
Objectively yes, that is true, if it was you or me making the deal. But considering the track record of the organization we're talking about in Minnesota and the fact that they have already traded for one hometown player in Whalen, my attitude would be you never know for sure.
Maybe McCarville and Mitchell could get a deal done. I wouldn't do it if I was Minnesota. Doesn't mean that they wouldn't. They could realistically find a legitimate use for both players. Backup point guard was a big issue for them last year. And they were a horrible FG% team and they had no offensive chemistry. McCarville's passing ability would be a welcome addition. And McCarville would give the Lynx the other half of that U of M connection.
Losing Mitchell at point guard would necessitate another move for NY. But being that she isn't the type of PG you would expect from a Whiz-run team, Ticha would be a viable replacement if Whiz operates according to his past history.
From the Lynx perspective, would those things be worth trading a player who averaged a double-double last year? Not in my mind. But like I said, given the track record of the organization, it doesn't mean they wouldn't do it.
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Queenie
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| Posted: 12/19/10 8:39 am ::: |
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| StevenHW wrote: |
| Queenie wrote: |
Happycappie and I are taking bets on it. I think he's going to trade for Haynie; the fiance thinks he's going to coax Newton out of retirement.
Both would be bad ideas, of course. |
More realisitically, I can see Whiz pushing a deal with the Lynx to send ex-Monarch Rebekkah Brunson to the Libs. |
That would be lovely and wonderful. I've always said we should have had Brunson-we've had all the Rebeccas, and a spelling change shouldn't be that much of a difference. But I think it's more realistic he'll go after one of the lower-echelon players he used to bring back like bad pennies with the Monarchs.
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root_thing
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| Posted: 12/19/10 11:01 am ::: |
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| I've said it before, you're likely to see some old Monarch's post players who are available for free -- Laura Harper, Courtney Paris, DeMya Walker... Brunson is a pipe dream. If you want an athletic 6-3 PF, Breland may be available when the Liberty pick in the draft.
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
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| Posted: 12/19/10 11:15 am ::: |
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| I'd happily take Walker.
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pilight
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| Posted: 12/19/10 11:18 am ::: |
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| root_thing wrote: |
| I've said it before, you're likely to see some old Monarch's post players who are available for free -- Laura Harper, Courtney Paris, DeMya Walker... Brunson is a pipe dream. If you want an athletic 6-3 PF, Breland may be available when the Liberty pick in the draft. |
I would not be surprised to see Harper in Lib camp. Dunno how keen she is on playing, she hasn't gone overseas.
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ClayK
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| Posted: 12/19/10 11:33 am ::: |
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Having watched Whisenant up close for several years, I don't expect him to go after specific players, but rather specific types of players.
He wants defensive-minded guards who can prevent penetration from the top, and force the ballhandler to one side so his White Line defense can front the post and get into help -- which may be a problem for Mitchell.
He wants physical defenders, which may be a problem for Vaughn, and in fact, most of his personnel decisions will be based on defense.
The Monarchs weren't the most entertaining team to watch because of the grinding style, but they were effective and they won more than they should have. Whisenant has a clear plan, and has successfully executed it at this level. If he has decent talent (for his system), I would expect him to be successful again.
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NYL_WNBA_FAN
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| Posted: 12/19/10 12:17 pm ::: |
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Vaughn can bang, so in terms of that quality, she certainly has it. She has the strength and willingness to move people.
I would be concerned about her ability to front the post, if that is what Whiz winds up doing here, as she is not built very long, and her footwork also needs improvement.
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StevenHW
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| Posted: 12/20/10 3:40 pm ::: |
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Monique Ambers and Lady Grooms will be the Liberty's assistant coaches next season.
Does this mean the WNBA is allowing teams to revert back to 2 or 3 assistant coaches per team? This past season (2010), all teams were restricted to just one assistant coach on the court.
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StevenHW
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