The Athletic: Cheryl Reeve on Lindsay Whalen, Gophers and Lynx

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https://theathletic.com/698065/2018/12/10/cheryl-reeve-qa-lindsay-whalen-gophers-lynx/

Some nuggets from Sloane Martins Q&A with Cheryl Reeves:

Whalen says she’s borrowed quite a bit from your system with the Lynx very early on in her career. What is that development like from your perspective?

It’s what you sort of expect because it’s the most recent thing that she knows. I know she learned a lot from (former Connecticut Sun coach) Mike Thibault, particularly offensively, so I think there’s probably a blend of her time with Mike and then her most recent time here. What was she here for, eight years? So it’s what she knows the most. So she knows what plays to call for herself, she knows what plays to call for Seimone Augustus, she knows Maya’s plays, Brunson, Syl, so it will be natural for her to look at her team and go, “OK, Kenisha Bell, I know that she’s good at this and here are the plays that we ran.”

I talked to her about this: It’s important that it’s her own. It’s not somebody else’s that she’s trying to run. It’s what she believes in. That’s fun. So right away when the ball goes out of bounds on the side and I see her calling “one down” — it’s like, I laugh because I love “one down” and we’re really good at “one down,” and she was so natural calling it like it’s ingrained in her. But I think also, for her the job as a coach is, there’s maybe half the things that we ran or run that don’t fit her group. That’s the art of coaching — knowing what are the skill sets of this player, this player, this and timing. That’s where Whay was really good — “Who needs the rock right now? Where’s their sweet spot? How do I get it to them?”


You were a young coach taking over a Division-I program at Indiana State (1995-2000). What do you remember from that time?

I was 29. It was hard because I didn’t know what I was doing and I didn’t have a big-time job. I had a mid-major job. I was overmatched in so many ways at who I was going against. I see it now, I didn’t see it then. I get a job and I’m like, “I’m going to kick your ass. You’re dumb, you’re cocky,” but when I look back at my young self, I say, “You were so overmatched basketball-wise.” I was learning, I was growing. I had four coaches who were legends in the game. The Missouri Valley Conference at that time was really, really good. Cheryl Burnett, Lisa Bluder, Connie Yori, Jill Hutchison, Cindy Scott — there’s five right there in our conference, so I was way overmatched.

I think Lindsay is more prepared because she has a level of humility that I did not have at the age of 29. I think she will be highly confident, maybe a touch cocky and that’s good. Don’t get me wrong, I was prepared. I didn’t quite know how hard it was going to be. I thought it would be easy. Recruited my tail off at (George Washington), we got good players, we were ranked sixth in the nation, blah, blah, blah, you think you are going to do all that in the next place you go. I think Lindsay has a really strong staff around her, which will help her navigate same of that stuff. But that’s what I remember most, just how hard it was. Winning a game.

Have you offered to be sounding board as she finds herself as a coach?

I might message and tell her, you know, being good defensively is really helpful because they didn’t play defense before. It wouldn’t take much to improve, and she knew that. She has people on her staff that really value that. I remember seeing them that it was very typical that the defense was ahead of the offense. It’s very, very common. I reminded her that defense is great — and don’t say this to your players, but I’m saying this to you — hang your hat on your defense and rebounding, that will keep you in every game, but you are going to win a lot of games with your offense.

Don’t forget you are going to have to coach the **** out of your offense. It’s hard. Offense is really hard. I think one of the mistakes coaches make is spending 70-30 on defense. If you are spending 70 percent of your time on defense, you are not going to be a good offense.
 

Well-said by Reeve. It's nice to know that she's available to be a sounding board for Whalen. I found interesting her comments that last year's Gopher team "didn't play defense before". Although that's obvious, it's still interesting to hear Reeve say that. And when Reeve is saying that defense and rebounding will keep teams in a lot of games, she is spot on, especially with this year's Gopher team, which is more offensively-challenged than last year's squad.
 

My basketball IQ went up 10 points just reading that.
 

The Lady Gophers must have a lot of fun playing for Whalen. She was clapping her hands and cheering them on when BC was leading. It is just the way she knows how to maximize her players' talent that is wonderful.

The team does not panic. They went on workmanlike fashion and chiseled away BC's lead. They took away BC's momentum when Ortlepp almost single handedly sparked the Eagles. Destiny Pitts - I can't say enough about her killing it with 36 points.
 
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This coaching relationship will help Whalen in these early years. I have a hard time visioning Whay throwing her jacket but who knows ? Like CR said she has to make it her own.
 


This coaching relationship will help Whalen in these early years. I have a hard time visioning Whay throwing her jacket but who knows ? Like CR said she has to make it her own.

So far she hasn't worn a coat. So unlikely to happen.
 

The Lady Gophers must have a lot of fun playing for Whalen. She was clapping her and chewering them on when BC was leading. It is just the way she knows how to maximize her players' talent that is wonderful.

The team does not panic. They go on workmanlike fashion and chisel away BC's lead. They took away BC's momentum when Ortlepp almost single handedly sparked the Eagles. Destiny Pitts - I can't say enough about her killing it with 36 points.

From what I have heard via one of the player's fathers, the change in culture and fun was very evident from the day Whalen took over.
 




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