I too thought this interview was very good. And I agree that Lindsay has got what it takes to make a great coach, even if it takes recruiting a couple more good players for that to manifest itself in win/loss record or tournament appearances.
I thought I’d get credit for pointing out Whalen had no coaching experience. I was driving the point home. The reason why it’s so rare to hire a head coach with absolutely no coaching experience at any level is because it’s risky and basically stupid. I don’t think the AD would do the same with the more “serious” Gopher sports. If the women’s basketball program fails under Whalen, it’s like “oh well”, at least the fans have Whalen to pat on the back and say they love her no matter what. ...
I think Shades and others were a little leery about Whalen's coaching inexperience way back when (perhaps Shades was most vocal). I'm not sure, but maybe it was a 25%/75% split with a quarter of us being quite nervous about the idea, and 3/4 of us ready to give her a shot at it and live with the results. I was amongst that part of the 3/4 who had high confidence in her, and still do (this season having been shot in the foot via ankle injuries and an impossible-to-surmount SoS hole left us by Stollings).
Shades does have a good point though, in that most likely the AD would be less ready to take such a chance with a revenue sport. Pitino wasn't all that high on the experience chart, but at least he did have some hoops coaching experience, plus the genetic disposition, so I was in favor of taking the chance with Pitino at the time too (and still support him, last year being events beyond his control).
It is true that the MN fans love Whalen - just check the Attendance thread.
... I think you’re contradicting yourself a little here. In order for a 4 guard lineup to work, you need to have 4 starter-worthy guards. I (and to a lesser extent, CutDownTheWords) was the only one who recognized Perez as being underutilized. You were in the too large camp that said Staples needed to have more minutes than Perez, who played well to the observant early in season. Even I wasn’t picturing Perez as a starter. I just knew she was better than Staples and deserved more minutes. Perez as a starter has worked out so well that it shows just how underutilized she’s been. A 4-guard lineup lineup with Staples starting would have been worse than the two-post with Lamke starting. ...
[By the way, Shades, I love the CutDownTheWords reference. Funny, and no offense taken. My motto: Why use one word, when three will do in order to state it precisely!]
There might have been one or two others to note it, but indeed, Shades was in the vanguard (and I supported it with statistical evidence) of suggesting that Perez ought to have a crack at a bigger role. In my book, it didn't matter whether Perez or Lamke started (and still doesn't) - that's just a convenience for building a preferred rotation order. The key point though (again in 20/20 hindsight) is that it would-have-been/still-is perhaps a better idea to roll Perez into the rotation when Lamke goes out - thus at the same time essentially dynamically switching from a 3-guard lineup to a 4-guard lineup - rather than putting in Kaposi, since although Kaposi gets rebounds at a pretty good rate, she seldom contributes much to scoring (she's dynamite at bunnies, but she ought to be green-lighted only out to 5 feet). Or, vice-versa, start Perez and when she goes out, roll Lamke into the lineup, dynamically switching between 4-guard and 3-guard lineup. We should mix-and-match between 4/3-guard lineups anyway - just adjusting the percentages as needed per the opponent (in particular, their front-lilne height). If we play Iowa again in the tourney, we may go 4-guard part of the time, maybe even most of the time, but part of the time we may need Lamke in there in order to double-team Gustafson with a triangle-and-two zone.
Anyway, glad Perez is not only getting some playing time now, but has finally losing her shyness for shooting, and is a huge factor in opening things up so that Pitts can get more 3-point shots.
... not being around full time in the summer meant she got behind in developing personal relationships and connections with the players. ...
I forget whether she actually stated so explicitly, but one theme running through the conversation was that Lindsay is genuinely interested in the players and what it will take to help them advance within all aspects of their lives, including academic and personal and social, and yes, even basketball. This is trait that I pretty much expected to see in her. An attitude that "this is my team, and I want to help them be the best basketball players they can be, and also the best people they can be, and prepare them for a productive future (whether that's in or out of the WNBA)." She may have gotten a late start due to circumstances, but she's working overtime to make up for lost time in developing personal relationships and connections with the players.
... I do appreciate that Lindsay now understands that she's coaching college players. ...
... And she recognized that she wasn't coaching a pro team. Her players needed direction and detail. Along those lines, Lindsay said she's become more direct and assertive in her coaching.
Certainly she knew (as a truism) coming in that these were college players to be coached. But to her point, she really learned on the fly that there's a huge difference between the sophistication (and pre-learned basketball knowledge and skills) of professional WNBA players, and amateur college players. Her primary examples of coaching and what a coach needs to do came from Sheryl Reeve and Mike Thibault. So her model of what she would be doing as a coach, came from the role models of those two, as a foundation to build upon. Obviously she knew that would need to be modified, as needed. But she learned quickly this season that a much more nurturing and teaching-oriented approach was needed for college ball. And I expect that she's very good at that teaching aspect, but maybe a little shell-shocked about how much teaching and nurturing is required in practice. But she acknowledges that she learned that, and is making the proper adjustment.
If anyone is interested, the following is a reference (and Amazon link for table of contents) to the book she mentioned that she just bought a few weeks ago, and has helped her gain perspective on that challenges and approaches needed to teach and manage and inter-operate with (so-called) Millenials.
Bruce Tulgan - Not Everyone Gets a Trophy (revised and updated): How to Manage the Millenials, 2 ed, Jossey-Bass, Jan 2016, 75% 5-star rating
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Everyone-Gets-Trophy-Millennials/dp/1119190754/ref=dp_ob_image_bk
Given the title, and the fact that the Gophers were on the skids at the time, one might think that the book is more apropos to basketball specifically than it actually is. It's a more general book about relating-to and managing and working-with Millenials (of which our team is, and Lindsay herself was actually on the leading-edge of the defined Millenial time-frame). So her point was more that this book was useful to her in helping her to relate to her team-members and understand what motivates them and makes them tick. [As opposed to her having a heart-to-heart talk with the team in which she has to tell them that, sadly, we won't be winning the National Championship this year, after all.]
... My vote for Lindsay's best coaching move ... is ... her employment of the press. I think Lindsay's right, the move improved both the defense and offense by keeping players focused on the game and not on individual possessions.
I agree that's a huge part of the adjustment that was made by the coaching staff. I want to toss out two more points related to that, though.
First, giant kudos to the entire Gopher Women's Basketball Team for accepting that (not only hugely improved defense, but then the press/trap on top of that) proposal by Lindsay, and owning it, and working their butts off, not only to learn it, but also to implement it in a game. Especially adding the press/trap lately on top of the already tiring defense. That's really gutsy by the team. Especially considering that we're now going about 5.5 players deep in our rotation. Credit to the players for saying "OK Coach, if that's what we need to do, then we'll do it to the best of our ability."
Second, credit to Lindsay and her coaching staff for having the guts to tell the team, "this is what it's going to take to achieve your team goals," and then taking the time and care to teach it to them. Especially the press/trap on short notice.
Regardless if our team ends up (semi-miraculously) in the NCAAs, or in the WNIT, or back home playing tennis, I think we can honestly say that we are extremely proud of the effort made this year by both the team and its coaching staff.