Pat Borzi: Hiring Whalen Not Without Risks

Ignatius L Hoops

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https://www.minnpost.com/sports/201...doesnt-mean-us-decision-hire-her-without-risk


Only about 200 fans braved the freezing rain and the approaching snowstorm to attend the announcement, but Whalen had plenty of friends in the floor seats. Minnesota Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve led a large turnout of Lynx staffers. There was Lynx teammate Seimone Augustus, who was shocked to hear Whalen got the job and cracked open a bottle of wine to celebrate; former U Coach Pam Borton; Kelly Roysland Curry, head coach at Macalester and Whalen’s former U teammate; Rachel Banham, who idolized Whalen before breaking her U scoring record; and U football and basketball coaches P.J. Fleck and Richard Pitino...

...It’s a risk on both sides. Whalen knows the game, and Reeve trusts her implicitly. In the final minutes of the Game 5 championship victory over Los Angeles last year at Williams Arena, it was Whalen, not Reeve, running the huddle during a timeout. And it was Whalen, along with Maya Moore, who delivered the Lynx to a fourth WNBA title in seven years...

But there’s a lot more to college coaching than Xs and Os. Whalen has never recruited; never assembled a staff; never had to fight football and men’s basketball for resources; never had to discipline a selfish player or tell obnoxious parents to back off.

...Expect Whalen to hire a former Division 1 head coach as her lead assistant, someone trustworthy to organize things while Whalen plays this summer for the Lynx. It probably won’t be Borton, a successful businesswoman and executive coach who responded to that question with an enthusiastic, “Hell, no!” repeated twice more for emphasis. Whalen likely will lean on Borton and Reeve for guidance, along with Mike Thibault of the Washington Mystics, Whalen’s first WNBA coach in Connecticut...



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Thibault’s going to help us?:p

LOL. Although Whalen is "something of an adopted daughter".

From last September:

http://www.startribune.com/lynx-mystics-ready-for-game-1-of-wnba-semifinal-series/444003493/

Thibault and Whalen grew close during her time with the Sun, which included two trips to the WNBA finals. Whalen became something of an adopted daughter to the Thibaults during the offseason following the 2004 run to the finals, when Whalen stayed in Connecticut following ankle surgery.

This will be the first time Thibault has coached against Whalen in a playoff game. “It’s weird,’’ he said. “Yes, it’s weird. I don’t even know what to think about it. I know how much it means to her, and she knows how much it means to me. So you just do your battle. Then, when it’s over, you congratulate each other.’’
 

I wonder which former D1 coach would be available to work as Whalen’s assistant?
 

Melanie Balcomb? Mickie DeMoss? Not advocating for either, but there are names out there. I'm hoping Whalen and (non-HC) Marisa Moseley have always been close.
 


Melanie Balcomb? Mickie DeMoss? Not advocating for either, but there are names out there. I'm hoping Whalen and (non-HC) Marisa Moseley have always been close.

As part of the non-advocating:
There's also Jolette Law (yes, the coaching part sort of escaped her; plus, she's now a South Carolina). There's Connie Yori; but even if she wanted to return to coaching how would she mesh with Whalen or anyone?
 

I wonder which former D1 coach would be available to work as Whalen’s assistant?

There is already one former head coach on staff and her bio hasn't been removed from the website. I assume Gail Striegler must be helping with the transition. Who knows if she'll remain part of the staff but the behind-the-scenes stuff for recruiting, etc., is still in place and she knows how it all works. Is it a long-term solution? Maybe not, but it's better than a bunch of empty offices heading at the beginning of the AAU season.
 

I don't think Whalen will have any problem to tell a parent to back off.
 




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