Do Great Players Make Horrible Coaches?

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Great players who could not transition to coaching. The list is long...Wayne Gretzky, Isaiah Thomas, Bart Starr...Lindsay Whalen? Look at what she has done with a team coming off a 24-9 record. Or, was it simply a reach to hire a coach with no coaching experience? Personally, I'd like to see what Ryan Saunders could do if not retained by the Wolves. The next Geno Auriemma?
 




Yep, she's a good one. I hope we just don't have Cheryl Littlejohn 2.0...
 



Although I'm not ready to give Whalen any votes for the Coaches Hall of Fame, I will say that anyone who has watched the games this year should be well aware that the Gophers are short on talent. The bench is woeful. We were hoping that Staples would be able to step in and contribute and she hasn't been able to, Perez and Kaposi are seniors and they're still not able to contribute consistently, Byrne might not be able to compete at the BIG level, Bell turns it over too often, Brunson isn't much of an offensive factor, and Pitts has been in a shooting slump at least half the year. Hubbard would have certainly helped, but not even to make the Gophers more than a middle of the pack BIG team. Bottom line, this team just doesn't have even talent; they're not very good. They are a couple shooters short and about three bench players short.
 

Before we get down on Whalen, look at Dawn Staley's start at South Caroline. First two seasons her record was 10-18 and 2-12 in the SEC in 08-09. Then next year went 14-15 overall and 7-9 in conference. her breakout year was her 4th year at 25-10 and 10-6 in SEC. they made the sweet 16 that year. How about we give whalen a few seasons and a few of her own recruiting classes.
 

Before we get down on Whalen, look at Dawn Staley's start at South Caroline. First two seasons her record was 10-18 and 2-12 in the SEC in 08-09. Then next year went 14-15 overall and 7-9 in conference. her breakout year was her 4th year at 25-10 and 10-6 in SEC. they made the sweet 16 that year. How about we give whalen a few seasons and a few of her own recruiting classes.

I agree, Whay to early to tell. She seems humble and willing to learn. Recruiting is the obvious key and it will be critical to her success.


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Anyone think that the previous coach would have done better with this year's version of the Gophers?
 

Absolutely not. You mean the previous Staff who has two All-Americans (Banhan and Zahui) and a freshman Wagner gifted to them? Also it was two seasons ago Stollings team went 15-17 with Bell, Wagner and freshman Brunson, Taiye and Hubbard. Lets not forgot Taiye would probably be playing the center position so may not be the double-double machine she has turned into.

Anyone think that the previous coach would have done better with this year's version of the Gophers?
 

Anyone think that the previous coach would have done better with this year's version of the Gophers?

Stollings is last at 1/7 in Big 12 conference. Not sure she would have made a difference, assuming her players are of similar capabilities as Gophers. She does have one good recruit for next year.

IMHO, Gophers have poor offense and inability to make the easier shots. Maybe some of this is on Whalen, but imagine what the score would be with some made baskets, either by this team or better players.

Whalen needs a few years.
 

Imagine what the scores would look like with last year's defense as well.
 



What happened this year? Out of conference, we were beating everyone. Now it looks like we cant beat anyone.
 

We were winning games in the non-conference schedule, but we weren't beating anyone. Have you looked back at the non-conference schedule?
 

Besides at Boston College and Syracuse, every team they beat was a cupcake. Look at the San Diego game. there were signs of issues early then having only 29 points going into the 4th in that game. The Boston College game was simply won on the back of Pitts going off for 35 points. Big Ten teams as a whole have her a lot of locked in on the scout as this is year two of them all seeing her after she burned a lot of them last year. The Syracuse game if you go back and watch shows that Syracuse played a pretty laid back press at that time. Brunson looked a lot more Confident at that time. Plus Bell, Bello and Pitts all played 40 minutes and Kaposi and Perez only two off bench and Perez only game in for last two minutes of first half to give Brunson a break when she got 2 fouls. Syracuse also was a cold 5-22 from 3 and got 6 free-throws compared to 31 for the gophers. even when Syracuse got their defense more it aggressive it was when the gophers suddenly were down 61-55 with 3 1/2 minutes left. I think playing at home and a monstrous 20 point/18 rebound game from taiye played into gophers pulling this out. Depth was a hidden or less talked about issue even in non-conference. Before we get too far down the team is not as conditioned, once again remember they are trying to play hard on both ends of the floor. that was not a concern the last 4 seasons so depth or conditioning looked better than it probably was.

We were winning games in the non-conference schedule, but we weren't beating anyone. Have you looked back at the non-conference schedule?
 

Lol, a little over 1/2 through her first season might be early to question if Whalen will be a success. In an earlier thread one of the posters did a nice breakdown of the most successful women's coaches and how many years it took them to win consistently. If I remember correctly it was an average of 4-5 years. I have been a consistent Whalen supporter but none of us know now how successful she will be but I would hope we could agree it's too early to be questioning her future success. This will be a huge learning curve for her but I still think she will recruit well and win.
 

It's not that hard to figure out what's going on with this team, this season--watch the way Lindsay Whalen played and tell me this team is coached like that. Tell me that this team represents her toughness, creativity, and resiliency... I'll wait.

Bottom line: Whalen has a staff full of people she owes things to. A best friend/teammate from college & pro. Her pro coach's daughter. Her assistant coach in college (who has been run out of every job she's had, by the way.) Simply put, this is not a good staff. They can't even solve their woes against zone defenses and box-and-ones for when Pitts is shooting well. There's a reason none of these coaches would be employed as assistants in the Big Ten anywhere but here.

And, sadly, Whalen lacks the experience to take a stand, and has too much on the line personally to make it better. Shame, really--she's a hell of a person and, if given time and a better staff, would likely turn this program into a perennial Big Ten contender.
 

Well, it's her virgin season. Give her time. Pat Summit took thirteen years to her first of several national championships. Gino Auriema took ten years.

She is learning on the fly and she will figure out all the ins and outs to coaching.
 

For those who seem to think it is easy to break a zone...it's not all that easy when you don't have shooters. Gophers might have had that last year, with the likes of Wagner, Hubbard, and Pitts. Not so much this year with just Pitts, who has slumped with her shooting at times. And I'm not buying baller's thoughts on the staff. Way too early to be dissing the staff.
 

For those who seem to think it is easy to break a zone...it's not all that easy when you don't have shooters. Gophers might have had that last year, with the likes of Wagner, Hubbard, and Pitts. Not so much this year with just Pitts, who has slumped with her shooting at times. And I'm not buying baller's thoughts on the staff. Way too early to be dissing the staff.

Way too early? How long do you want to wait? We're Illinois's ONLY Big Ten win. They are 1-8 in conference and we're not much better, tied with Wisconsin for second-to-last at 2-7. This staff gets paid close to $1M in total salary. To be 2-7 in the Big Ten through 9 games. You're telling me the talent we have should perform at that level? How about even, simply speaking, since you seem to know so much--why on Earth are we still playing such tight, demanding 1-on-1 man defense ALL OF THE TIME? When we have maybe the worst bench in the Big Ten? Why are the girls running sprints in intense practices the day before a game when we have no depth? Way too early, though...

Stop with the excuses, people. There's no such thing as "on the job" training to be a head coach, especially not in the Big Ten. I'm not even getting into all of the dramatic BS going on behind the scenes. Y'all are unreal.
 

It's not that hard to figure out what's going on with this team, this season--watch the way Lindsay Whalen played and tell me this team is coached like that. Tell me that this team represents her toughness, creativity, and resiliency... I'll wait.

Bottom line: Whalen has a staff full of people she owes things to. A best friend/teammate from college & pro. Her pro coach's daughter. Her assistant coach in college (who has been run out of every job she's had, by the way.) Simply put, this is not a good staff. They can't even solve their woes against zone defenses and box-and-ones for when Pitts is shooting well. There's a reason none of these coaches would be employed as assistants in the Big Ten anywhere but here.

And, sadly, Whalen lacks the experience to take a stand, and has too much on the line personally to make it better. Shame, really--she's a hell of a person and, if given time and a better staff, would likely turn this program into a perennial Big Ten contender.

She hired Thibault off the staff of a team with consecutive national runner-up finishes, and you think that was a crony hire? No other Big Ten team would want an assistant coach with consecutive national title game appearances? Ok.
 

You know what? I was wrong about Thibault. She could get hired at a lot of schools, you're absolutely right about that. Sort of forgot about her because she doesn't seem to have much responsibility within this staff. But you're right, she's a rising star for sure.
 

Way too early? How long do you want to wait? We're Illinois's ONLY Big Ten win. They are 1-8 in conference and we're not much better, tied with Wisconsin for second-to-last at 2-7. This staff gets paid close to $1M in total salary. To be 2-7 in the Big Ten through 9 games. You're telling me the talent we have should perform at that level? How about even, simply speaking, since you seem to know so much--why on Earth are we still playing such tight, demanding 1-on-1 man defense ALL OF THE TIME? When we have maybe the worst bench in the Big Ten? Why are the girls running sprints in intense practices the day before a game when we have no depth? Way too early, though...

Stop with the excuses, people. There's no such thing as "on the job" training to be a head coach, especially not in the Big Ten. I'm not even getting into all of the dramatic BS going on behind the scenes. Y'all are unreal.

What drama BS are you talking about?
 

You can say what you want, but this season the Gophers don't have outside shooting threat like when Carly was playing. It is tough to keep leads late in the game without outside shooting.

T-Bello kept getting double-teamed. Opponents know how to contain the GOphers this season.

If Carly was still playing, that could easily mean three or four Big Ten wins. Hubbard being out of the lineup did not help matters. Staples is under a lot of pressure and hope that she learns from this season. Having Sara Scalia and Klarke Scorniers will help.
 

Finally someone mentions Hubbard again. Losing her from the lineup has been huge. She, Carlie and Pitts were almost all of the outside shooting last year. Now two of the three are missing (with no replacement so far) and it makes a HUGE difference. Ohio State clamped onto Pitts on the three line and doubled Bell in the lane and we were stopped when it mattered. Until we replace the Hubbard (and Wagner) outside shooting our scoring will be seriously wounded.
 




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