Kara Lawson

[mysticmajor]

I'm fairly new to the boneyard. Can anyone give some background on Kara Lawson. I can see her as a coach. She seems sharp. She is competitive. Why isn't she coaching somewhere really cool? I'm sure she would be selective, but I would think she would be in demand. Who else would you guess to be the next great new coach?

 

[EricLA]

I'll take a stab...

First of all welcome to the board. Second, as for Kara - not sure how much she makes as an analyst, but it's probably more than what she could likely get in coaching. The problem with making her a HC is that she has no recruiting experience, no contacts, no AAU pipelines, etc. Granted she has name recognition, but I'm not sure she'd be successful right away.

Also it's likely she'd need to start as an asst somewhere. I don't see a high mid-major or moderate P5 school taking a chance on her as a HC with non experience when you have, say, Marissa Moseley or Shea Ralph (or a whole host of other solid assistants who have been "coaching" for years).

I'm not THAT familiar with the list of mid major coaches who have gone on and had good success at a major conference school, but places like Gonzaga, Marist, Wisconsin GB and others are great proving grounds for coaches to be really solid, hone their craft, recruit well, and garner interest from more big time programs. And for the record Kara is my favorite commentator - I like her ever so slightly better than Rebecca.

 

[ctfjr]

I'll take a stab...

First of all welcome to the board. Second, as for Kara - not sure how much she makes as an analyst, but it's probably more than what she could likely get in coaching. The problem with making her a HC is that she has no recruiting experience, no contacts, no AAU pipelines, etc. Granted she has name recognition, but I'm not sure she'd be successful right away.

Also it's likely she'd need to start as an asst somewhere. I don't see a high mid-major or moderate P5 school taking a chance on her as a HC with non experience when you have, say, Marissa Moseley or Shea Ralph (or a whole host of other solid assistants who have been "coaching" for years).

I'm not THAT familiar with the list of mid major coaches who have gone on and had good success at a major conference school, but places like Gonzaga, Marist, Wisconsin GB and others are great proving grounds for coaches to be really solid, hone their craft, recruit well, and garner interest from more big time programs. And for the record Kara is my favorite commentator - I like her ever so slightly better than Rebecca.

The problem I see here is that her name recognition is not necessarily with prospects. Probably more with their parents.

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm fairly new to the boneyard. Can anyone give some background on Kara Lawson. I can see her as a coach. She seems sharp. She is competitive. Why isn't she coaching somewhere really cool? I'm sure she would be selective, but I would think she would be in demand. Who else would you guess to be the next great new coach?

Just a few obstacles to Kara launching a coaching career. 1) She is still playing in WNBA last year was teammates with two former huskies –Dolson and Hartley on Washington Mystic. 2) She is probably the best women's basketball analyst on ESPN. I ‘m not sure what they are paying her but she probably deserves more and her salary is probably significantly above all but a few NCAA coaches. I agree she would make a great coach and credible recruiter. I am just hoping Tenn doesn’t figure that all out and make her their coach since that is her al ma mater- probably Kara only documented flaw.

 

[mysticmajor]

I like both Rebecca and Kara, but I don't see Rebecca coaching. I hear local CT people talk about all of the community groups she supports.

As for the name recognition, that brings up another point I have issue with if we are talking about recognition as a player. I'm not convinced that top players that can be top coaches are all that plentiful. The vision is Geno's vision even if he couldn't play as well as a top basketball player. It doesn't add up to me to say that great players make great coaches. Nor can you exclude the great ones. If that is the case, I would think players and highly visible commentators would be on an even field with regard to name recognition.

Thanks for explaining the intracacies of the coaching career path.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

I'm fairly new to the boneyard. Can anyone give some background on Kara Lawson. I can see her asr a coach. She seems sharp. She is competitive. Why isn't she coaching somewhere really cool? I'm sure she would be selective, but I would think she would be in demand. Who else would you guess to be the next great new coach?

It is great when a former Pat Summit Tenn player talks about how good Uconn is.

 

[Striper69]

I'm fairly new to the boneyard. Can anyone give some background on Kara Lawson. I can see her as a coach. She seems sharp. She is competitive. Why isn't she coaching somewhere really cool? I'm sure she would be selective, but I would think she would be in demand. Who else would you guess to be the next great new coach?

Her plate is full right now, so to speak. With the WNBA and doing the studio work in the offseason.

Last question- Becky Hammon.

 

[mysticmajor]

Does that mean she has been disowned by Tenn??

 

[mysticmajor]

Her plate is full right now, so to speak. With the WNBA and doing the studio work in the offseason.

Last question- Becky Hammon.

Good one!

 

[geneticrex]

Lawson is as good as it gets in the analyst game.

I really enjoy her perspective.

 

[dtbtbtb]

IMO Kara is hands down the best analyst there is and she should continue to do that! in regard to coaching, if I'm TN i would offer her to be the Head Coach and provide her with experienced assistants.

 

[Farney]

Kara has not only become the best (or top 3) analysts in women's hoops but she's even started to do studio work for men's college hoops. And she's been very good with the expanded role.

Becky Hammon is an interesting question. She's got the WNBA recognition, now she has the recognition from working with the Spurs. Who knows if she wants to coach women's college hoops. Ultimately it boils down to whether she (or any coach) can recruit a HS kid. You can be a great coach but if you can't get a HS girl to follow you then it doesn't matter how good you are.

 

[Bestiarius]

I think it's quite unanimous that Kara is the premier female analyst. I can't recall anyone being critical of her, and that's saying something when the subject is analysts.

My guess is that she likes her job. I've never heard her talk about the desire to coach, so I'm guessing she's not interested. Besides, I believe she has a great upside in her current career. I can easily see her doing the Olympics, NBA, or rising into ESPN management. She is one smart, capable woman.

 

[asuwish]

The problem I see here is that her name recognition is not necessarily with prospects. Probably more with their parents.

She is on ESPN, so EVERY girl who watches WCBB (probably most high school girls basketball players) know who she is, not just the parents. Right now she would be more recognized among kids than say Shea Ralph.
As for coaching, yes, great players don't always make great coaches because often they can't understand why you don't get what seems so natural to them. Kara is VERY smart and point guards often make great coaches because coaches often give them the responsibility of being the coach on the floor. A coach once told his point guard that they are an extension of himself and therefore everything that happens on the court is their fault good or bad. Coaches don't give out that kind of leadership role to the PF.

 

[Fiftyish]

on ESPN. I ‘m not sure what they are paying her but she probably deserves more and her salary is probably significantly above all but a few NCAA coaches.

I have no inside knowledge but IMO that seems unlikely. There are a lot of NCAA Div 1 women's coaches making big bucks. Maybe not comparable to Geno or mens basketball coaches but probably more than what ESPN is paying Kara.

 

[mysticmajor]

She is on ESPN, so EVERY girl who watches WCBB (probably most high school girls basketball players) know who she is, not just the parents. Right now she would be more recognized among kids than say Shea Ralph.
As for coaching, yes, great players don't always make great coaches because often they can't understand why you don't get what seems so natural to them. Kara is VERY smart and point guards often make great coaches because coaches often give them the responsibility of being the coach on the floor. A coach once told his point guard that they are an extension of himself and therefore everything that happens on the court is their fault good or bad. Coaches don't give out that kind of leadership role to the PF.

That makes sense. The other two players I know of that I think would make good coaches are Bird and DT.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I think it's quite unanimous that Kara is the premier female analyst. I can't recall anyone being critical of her, and that's saying something when the subject is analysts.

My guess is that she likes her job. I've never heard her talk about the desire to coach, so I'm guessing she's not interested. Besides, I believe she has a great upside in her current career. I can easily see her doing the Olympics, NBA, or rising into ESPN management. She is one smart, capable woman.

Hard to be critical of her now in any way, but when she started out paired with either SDS or Peck, the ESPN studio had a lot of negative and uninformed discussion of UConn. But though the early Kara had some tendency to push UTenn and in the Parker era certainly had some reason to do so, she definitely tried to provide a lot of info on UConn. The fact that she was many levels above UConn haters SDS or Peck in both basketball knowledge and speaking manner made her always the best one in the command room, especially since worthless Trey Wingnut was the lead guy. In recent years Kara has become the authoritative voice of the WCBB ESPN shows, and it helps that she now has a booth mate in Rebecca who is also smart and that she works well with. No reason to leave that established position that she's worked very hard for and take a chance on the risky business of coaching.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I'm fairly new to the boneyard. Can anyone give some background on Kara Lawson. I can see her as a coach. She seems sharp. She is competitive. Why isn't she coaching somewhere really cool? I'm sure she would be selective, but I would think she would be in demand. Who else would you guess to be the next great new coach?

(1)Enjoys her job

(2) $

 

[baggerbob]

I've seen her in the booth for Men's games ,and she knows what she is talking about better then 90% of the men analyst's. She knows the game, and it appears not just the women's game.

 

[j66kicker]

(1)Enjoys her job

(2) $

Suspect (2) not so much, but only guessing. Probably making more than an assistant or smaller school head coach "starting job", but not more than the big-time coach she could become (if she has any interest in that type thing). Would be great to see Kara take over at Tennessee and bring them back to the upper tier

 

[JoePgh]

Here is an anecdote about Kara that I recall reading a few months ago:

At the beginning of this season, after watching the Olympics and then watching a few UConn games, John Altavilla told Kia Nurse that her game reminded him of Kara Lawson's. He obviously thought Kia would be flattered to hear that, but she sheepishly admitted that she didn't know who he was talking about.

Granted, she is from Canada so she probably didn't watch ESPN as much as an American prospect might have. But still it indicates that Kara's TV career might not necessarily give her celebrity credibility among high school prospects.

 

[Intpseeker]

Here is an anecdote about Kara that I recall reading a few months ago:

At the beginning of this season, after watching the Olympics and then watching a few UConn games, John Altavilla told Kia Nurse that her game reminded him of Kara Lawson's. He obviously thought Kia would be flattered to hear that, but she sheepishly admitted that she didn't know who he was talking about.

Maybe that is why I liked Kia from the get go. I always wished Kara had played for us. She has that JR quality...also orange isn't her color.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Lawson graduated from UTenn 12 years ago and didn't win any NCs with the Vols, so I'm not sure how much her college career would be known to most young players today unless they're the rare type that go back and dig up old WCBB games to watch. If anything, they would need to be a big WNBA fan and watched her play likely for the Sun or the Mystics. Lawson has been a strong pro player for 12 years but just not sure how much on the radar of the young recruits she is as an old vet player.

And as you say, Nurse is a Canadian, and I think from South Park I learned they have only one road and probably one TV station up there.

 

[msf22b]

[QUOTE="DobbsRover2, post: 1224742, member:
And as you say, Nurse is a Canadian, and I think from South Park I learned they have only one road and probably one TV station up there.[/QUOTE]

In Guatemala they have dozens of TV stations on Cable or Sat;
Hard to believe that any town in Canada has only one…roads…not so sure

 

[Blueballer]

She may very well decide to coach after she retires from playing. Time will tell. It's much easier to pick up an analyst's position in the off season than to be a head coach or even assistant which is more of a year round endeavor.