Scoggins: Loses Take Bigger Toll on Whalen the Coach than Whalen the Player

Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.startribune.com/losses-t...a-coach-than-when-she-was-a-player/504783042/

Lindsay Whalen had trouble sleeping after her first loss as a coach. She added nausea to her sleep deprivation after the second loss.

“I felt like I was going to throw up for 48 straight hours after the Illinois loss,” Whalen said. “I had never had that as a player.”

...

“I’ve learned from watching all the other Big Ten coaches,” she said. “They’ve been doing it for 20-something years.”

Little lessons such as a situation in a loss to Iowa. The Hawkeyes went on a run in the second half. Whalen waited for the media timeout because she wanted to keep two timeouts for the fourth quarter.

“Well, we got down by 15 so having two timeouts, what does that matter?” she said.

Sunday’s loss at Nebraska brought another gut punch. The Gophers led by six points with four minutes remaining. The Cornhuskers ripped off a 12-0 run to win.

As a player, Whalen could have taken the ball hard to the basket to stop the run. Or got a deflection on defense. Or hit a jump shot against Nebraska’s zone.

As coach, she didn’t sleep much replaying the ending and thinking about what more she could have done.
 

Big learning curve this year. Has been difficult to see them have all these losses in the Big but I think the future is bright with Whalen.
 

Sometimes, the best lessons are learned in defeats.
 




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