The Sun

[bruinbball]

Am I the only one baffled by this team? I really hope they can click after this next week of practices. To me, there are times that there is absolutely no flow on offense and the defensive rotations are slow. They have to be frustrated with how they are playing.

 

[pinotbear]

"Where have you gone, Mi-chael Thieee-bault, the nation turns its' lonely eyes to you....wooo, woooo, woooo!"

 

[Icebear]

One word, "Anne Donovan."

 

[DishNSwish]

Asjha Jones. Need that other post option and consistent scorer to take the heat off Charles.

 

[EricLA]

Dish has it right. Jones is an Olympian and just terrific. Also I think Renee has been injured correct? I think Indiana's performances this season have been equally as baffling. Sure they got a low draft pick, but they won the WNBA last year with basically the same team (I think - did they lose anyone?)...

 

[msf22b]

Remember what Geno said in the on court interview after the ND win. Rebecca asked him how Stewie could play so much better and he answered:

COACHING!

 

[DishNSwish]

Dish has it right. Jones is an Olympian and just terrific. Also I think Renee has been injured correct? I think Indiana's performances this season have been equally as baffling. Sure they got a low draft pick, but they won the WNBA last year with basically the same team (I think - did they lose anyone?)...

Massive injuries; Pohlen still out ACL, Phillips out, Davenport out, Katie Douglas has been out too.

 

[Ctpaul0825]

Anne Donovan, great player, not so great coach.

 

[semper]

Basically I think the posters have it: several injuries, and a not so hot coach. Recipe for a not so hot season.

 

[bruinbball]

Yeah, I really wondered how effective Anne Donovan will be. Obviously, Thibault is a great coach and what he has done at Washington is astounding.

 

[katiecrum1992]

Why did the Sun fire Thibault in the first place?

 

[EricLA]

Why did the Sun fire Thibault in the first place?

I believe because he just couldn't seem to get over the hump. Always seemed to have one of the most talented teams in the WNBA, but it just wasn't resulting in WNBA championships... However, I don't really know that Donovan is an upgrade. She did nothing at Seton Hall and in the "what have you done for me lately" category, it pretty much comes up zippo.

 

[pinotbear]

Geez, she wasn't at Seton Hall long enough to learn her locker combination. She's a distaff version of Larry Brown: comes in as the savior, hits a little resistance/boredom, and bails out.

 

[psconn]

Am I the only one baffled by this team? I really hope they can click after this next week of practices. To me, there are times that there is absolutely no flow on offense and the defensive rotations are slow. They have to be frustrated with how they are playing.

Considering that this is a wbb conversational mecca, a remarkable and sad-for-the-league lack of knowledge is being displayed by several folks in this thread.
No Jones, no Montgomery, no McCray, no White, Lawson with an intermittent back issue. Now throw in a new coach and system and a changing cast of characters on the bench. How can anyone be surprised about the Sun's struggles? Tina is trying to force the issue on almost every possession and has struggled in every game but one despite the string of dub-dubs.

I hated the Coach T firing, but blaming this mess on Donovan at this point is just not right.

 

[pap49cba]

I have never understood why Donovan is considered one of the coaching elite.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I have never understood why Donovan is considered one of the coaching elite.

Don't know either. She did win the WNBA championship and the gold medal, so I don't think she is incompetent. Actually heard she is a very good coach for centers. But she has never shown me that she is above decent as a coach.

 

[semper]

I think most of the posters have mentioned the injuries first in this thread, and the coaching second....so let's see what happens when some of the guys come back.

 

[katiecrum1992]

Donovan coached Seattle for their first championship I believe, so it's not like she has no experience.
But it does take time to adjust to new coaches, and then there's the injury issues.

 

[Waquoit]

IIRC, many posters on this board had been calling for Thibault's head for years. No way are they this bad if he was still at the helm.