Brondello New Coach Possibility For Paige?

[fireford]

Not sure if this has been kicked around anywhere else.

I realize that the Wings still currently have a coach and he's chummy with the GM but would they be willing to upgrade with a proven winner on the market for the taking?

Liberty GM: Call on champ Brondello 'proactive'

Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb says the decision not to bring back coach Sandy Brondello was not solely based on this season's results and that a coaching change was "very much under consideration last season," when New York won the WNBA title.

www.espn.com

 

[DEpup]

No. I have to think she is heading back to West Coast. It's a lot easier to get to Australia from there and I read her kids still go to school in Arizona. My bet is on Seattle or Portland.

 

[ucmiami2]

She is certainly a seasoned veteran coach, the question is whether she is 'over-seasoned.' Without Diana and a superstar team and Breanna and a superstar team in NYC what has she done? After her first season in Phoenix it was all disappointment.

Not sure what to think of the Wings - haven't liked them as a team, the coaching, or the front office for a long time. It is a place I never want a Uconn player to be drafted, and I am not sure just a coaching change will make a difference.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Anybody but that sad sack she had this year would be an upgrade.

 

[Crossover]

She is certainly a seasoned veteran coach, the question is whether she is 'over-seasoned.' Without Diana and a superstar team and Breanna and a superstar team in NYC what has she done? After her first season in Phoenix it was all disappointment.

Not sure what to think of the Wings - haven't liked them as a team, the coaching, or the front office for a long time. It is a place I never want a Uconn player to be drafted, and I am not sure just a coaching change will make a difference.

What has any coach done without a superstar surrounded by stars?

 

[oldhusky]

Maybe, but perhaps a bigger question might be would Brondello want Dallas. In most years a coach with her credentials and track record would not be available. With expansion and a potentially attractive gig in Seattle, she likely will have more than one suitor. Not just teams with an open position, but every team were the coach's position is not that secure.

Paige is an obvious draw, but Dallas doesn't draw that well, and IMO the only other major building block for the future is Maddie. On the other hand, this free agency period will be unlike any other previously, and with a new star in Paige and potentially a headliner coach, it is not out of the question that Dallas could add not just one major star, but maybe a couple and be an above average team pretty quickly.

Their focus should be on the best free agents that still have a few prime years left. The later stage ring chasers will probably pursue teams that are serious contenders right now. The Arike situation will be difficult for them as well. She has been the face of that franchise, but they are likely better off letting her walk now.

 

[WFFL]

Maybe, but perhaps a bigger question might be would Brondello want Dallas. In most years a coach with her credentials and track record would not be available. With expansion and a potentially attractive gig in Seattle, she likely will have more than one suitor. Not just teams with an open position, but every team were the coach's position is not that secure.

Paige is an obvious draw, but Dallas doesn't draw that well, and IMO the only other major building block for the future is Maddie. On the other hand, this free agency period will be unlike any other previously, and with a new star in Paige and potentially a headliner coach, it is not out of the question that Dallas could add not just one major star, but maybe a couple and be an above average team pretty quickly.

Their focus should be on the best free agents that still have a few prime years left. The later stage ring chasers will probably pursue teams that are serious contenders right now. The Arike situation will be difficult for them as well. She has been the face of that franchise, but they are likely better off letting her walk now.

Dallas does not draw that well because they play in a 6k Max college arena. They played in the mavs arena finally this year and had over 16k. And no the Arike situation wont , its amicable and very much respected for what she did for the franchise thanks for speaking or assuming you personally know whats going on here in dallas though .

 

[TheFarmFan]

What has any coach done without a superstar surrounded by stars?

Oh heeeeey. Believe the reigning COY did pretty well with a team full of other team's discards. Granted, she didn't win a championship, but she got as far this season as Sandy got, and she had no Stewie, JJ, Sabrina, Cloud, or Meeseman.

 

[cancontent]

View attachment 111889
Oh heeeeey. Believe the reigning COY did pretty well with a team full of other team's discards. Granted, she didn't win a championship, but she got as far this season as Sandy got, and she had no Stewie, JJ, Sabrina, Cloud, or Meeseman.

How soon they forget hey? 😉

 

[baggerbob]

Dallas does not draw that well because they play in a 6k Max college arena. They played in the mavs arena finally this year and had over 16k. And no the Arike situation wont , its amicable and very much respected for what she did for the franchise thanks for speaking or assuming you personally know whats going on here in dallas though .

You might not like it but you aren’t getting great free agents to come to Dallas to play with Arike. The best player on the team Sabally left to go elsewhere.

 

[oldhusky]

You might not like it but you aren’t getting great free agents to come to Dallas to play with Arike. The best player on the team Sabally left to go elsewhere.

From what I recall, Arike was very positive about the expected addition of Paige, and I am not aware of significant problems with the front office, but Paige is clearly the far superior player that the team will be built around, and while both may have tried to make it work, it didn't at least from Arike's standpoint.

Arike's production overall fell off a cliff. She is what she is, a high volume, mediocre efficiency, ball dominant, shot creator. She needs the ball in her hands. The best compliment at SG for Paige is more of a shooter that can do other things, than a ball dominant one on one scorer.

They just don't compliment each other well even if both were trying to. I do think it is true that at least some players don't want to play with her, and some people wouldn't want to coach her either. Management will make their decision, but I think one of the worst crippling decisions they could make would be resigning Arike to anything even vaguely approaching a max contract.

I know she has her supporters, but I think Arike's best use in the W would be as an offensive spark off the bench for a decent team, or as an expansion team's primary scorer, where she could be a big fish in a little pond.

 

[JellyBean]

Nope.

 

[EricLA]

Why would Dallas even consider Brondello? She won championships with the amount of talent that most BY'ers could have won with. And Dallas had such a small amount of talent that to judge the HC based on how poorly they did is unfair IMHO.

I mean really - starters of Paige, then Hines-Allen, Siegrist, Berger, and Jones? Aside from Paige, the rest of them would barely get time off the bench for most other teams (Siegrist excepted). And maybe Hines might be solid off the bench. But as starters, that's a dreadful group.

Sandy won in Phoenix her first season in 2014 with the likes of Diana, Brit Griner, Dewanna Bonner, Candice Dupree, and Penny Taylor. All of them were at the peak of their talent. Spent 7 years there and didn't win another. Then she won again with NY in 2024. Again, she had a boatload of talent.

This season they basically swapped Vandersloot for Cloud, upgraded their bench, and added Meeseman mid season. Yet after the all star break, they had something like the 5th worst record in the league and sunk to 5th place overall. I get they had injuries but with that much talent, including the talent off the bench, it was a pretty poor showing IMHO.

I don't think Seattle should take a chance on her either. Go after a young smart assistant in the league, or poach a coach from the ranks of WCBB (Jose Fernandez anyone?).

 

[WFFL]

You might not like it but you aren’t getting great free agents to come to Dallas to play with Arike. The best player on the team Sabally left to go elsewhere.

The disdain for a player who never did anything to any of you all is insane. Once geno tweets about you everyone hates you forever i guess. Either way Arike is a great player and we appreciate her here in Dallas. Glad she knows we are true fans of all of our players. Oh and btw they said we wouldnt get free agents last year too lol .

 

[bbsamjj]

I dont' have any dog in this fight, but Brondello's last two coaching jobs she has been in a "WIN NOW" position that yes, she had a lot of talent to work with, but also a lot of pressure. I wonder if the appeal of an underdog situation would appeal to her at this time as a change of pace. She already has two WNBA titles to her name, so she can go after any opportunity that sounds interesting to her.

 

[cancontent]

From what I recall, Arike was very positive about the expected addition of Paige, and I am not aware of significant problems with the front office, but Paige is clearly the far superior player that the team will be built around, and while both may have tried to make it work, it didn't at least from Arike's standpoint.

Arike's production overall fell off a cliff. She is what she is, a high volume, mediocre efficiency, ball dominant, shot creator. She needs the ball in her hands. The best compliment at SG for Paige is more of a shooter that can do other things, than a ball dominant one on one scorer.

They just don't compliment each other well even if both were trying to. I do think it is true that at least some players don't want to play with her, and some people wouldn't want to coach her either. Management will make their decision, but I think one of the worst crippling decisions they could make would be resigning Arike to anything even vaguely approaching a max contract.

I know she has her supporters, but I think Arike's best use in the W would be as an offensive spark off the bench for a decent team, or as an expansion team's primary scorer, where she could be a big fish in a little pond.

While her production wasn't what we're used to seeing, she did average 15.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. She also was out for a large portion of the season and played 29 games, which could have had affected her ability to play to the level she's used to.

 

[azfan]

Maybe, but perhaps a bigger question might be would Brondello want Dallas. In most years a coach with her credentials and track record would not be available. With expansion and a potentially attractive gig in Seattle, she likely will have more than one suitor. Not just teams with an open position, but every team were the coach's position is not that secure.

Paige is an obvious draw, but Dallas doesn't draw that well, and IMO the only other major building block for the future is Maddie. On the other hand, this free agency period will be unlike any other previously, and with a new star in Paige and potentially a headliner coach, it is not out of the question that Dallas could add not just one major star, but maybe a couple and be an above average team pretty quickly.

Their focus should be on the best free agents that still have a few prime years left. The later stage ring chasers will probably pursue teams that are serious contenders right now. The Arike situation will be difficult for them as well. She has been the face of that franchise, but they are likely better off letting her walk now.

No

 

[azfan]

I dont' have any dog in this fight, but Brondello's last two coaching jobs she has been in a "WIN NOW" position that yes, she had a lot of talent to work with, but also a lot of pressure. I wonder if the appeal of an underdog situation would appeal to her at this time as a change of pace. She already has two WNBA titles to her name, so she can go after any opportunity that sounds interesting to her.

Absolutely!!!

 

[Dillon77]

I've perused this thread and the posts that have to do with the stated subject (Brondello) have not brought up one critical piece of the equation: Curt Miller. Greg Bibb brought him in to take charge and ensure that the team moves forward with the rookie-of-the-year. Paige Bueckers. PB had a heckuva year and a far better first-year performance than Miller's hand-chosen rookie head coach, Chris Koclanes.

Bibb and Miller have probably already discussed whether Koclanes is in over his head altogether or whether he can move forward with a learning curve that will match the kind of team Miller continues to build in the offseason. I'm guessing if they thought he was drowning, he'd be on the side of the pool already.

As for team construction, here's what I see:

• Coming back under contract: Paige Bueckers, Maddy Siegrist, Aziaha James, JJ Quinerly, Diamond Miller
• ERFA: Amy Okonkowo, Grace Berger, Haley Jones, Li Yueru, Luisa Geiselsoder
• UFA: Arike Ogunbowale, Myisha Hines-Allen, Tyasha Harris
• Club: Lou Lopez-Senechal

Miller has the ROY, two scoring guards, an athletic wing and a scoring "hybrid" forward (Siegrist) on the team, plus a number of players they've had a chance to see in the latter part of the season. While there's a new CBA coming, taking Hines-Allen and Ogunbowale would take nearly $250,000 of the books.

So, who does Miller want taking off this combination of young players and to-be-determined rookies? As many of have noted, Brondello is used to working with established players (see Mercury, Liberty, the Opals). Plus, with her family still in Phoenix and (still) being the coach of the Opals, it probably makes sense to stay on the Left Coast.

My guess: Koclanes stays or maybe a coach known for developmental abilities (Eric Thibault, perhaps?)