Thibault WNBA coach of the year

[EricLA]

No real surprise - he took a dreadful Washington team from last year and made them into a playoff team. Donovon, on the other hand, took a playoff team from last year and turned them into the worst team in the league. Congrats to both coaches for accomplishing something rarely seen in the WNBA...

WNBA COY

 

[semper]

I always liked Mike. Glad to see this for his sake.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Mike is da man! congrats

 

[BearJWS]

Great for Washington, sucks for The Sun. Never understood why they fired him & replaced him with Donovan. She may be toast soon....

 

[ThisJustIn]

To be honest, the bar was set sooooo low (thanks, Sheila) I'm not surprised. He is a great x/o kinda guy.

Let's not toss Donovan under the bus too soon -- no jones, no gruda. injuries to the hilt. attitude from Tina all added to a horrific season.

 

[EricLA]

To be honest, the bar was set sooooo low (thanks, Sheila) I'm not surprised. He is a great x/o kinda guy.

Let's not toss Donovan under the bus too soon -- no jones, no gruda. injuries to the hilt. attitude from Tina all added to a horrific season.

Agree, and no Kara Lawson. I think they missed Kara and Ashja a lot, but I'm hard pressed to imagine that the team they had performed so poorly. Worst record in the league. I'm hoping they get the top draft pick. I think this coming season will truly be a question mark as to the #1 pick. So many great choices, and a terrific draft. In my mind, the strongest in years...

 

[Wbbfan1]

I'll wait and see what kind of Playoff Record Mike has with Washington. He wasn't successful with the Sun.

 

[Phil]

Congrats Mike!!!

 

[psconn]

No real surprise - he took a dreadful Washington team from last year and made them into a playoff team. Donovon, on the other hand, took a playoff team from last year and turned them into the worst team in the league. Congrats to both coaches for accomplishing something rarely seen in the WNBA...

WNBA COY

Sorry, but I'm calling a foul here Eric...
I was, and am, totally against what the Sun did to Coach T., but Donovan did not turn the Sun into the worst team in the league as you say. I think 7 protracted injuries did that along with the ham-handed approach of the GM (that might have made AJ's decision easier and certainly contributed to Kara's apparent alienation).

Lots of pressure on Donovan next year, though. No excuses.

I'm 80% sure I'm renewing my season tickets but this will be the last time if things don't make an obvious and sustainable turn for the better next year.

Congrats to Coach T and continued success in the playoffs.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Congrats to Mike. And his team won the first playoff game. Tonight, they were bad on offense. The starters shot 5-31 for a total of 16 points. Ouch!

 

[barbrox]

Congrats to Mike. I'm lovin that he got coach of the year. Love his little sarcasm that maybe this guarantees him one more year on the job.
If the Sun are going to give us a better year next year, it is going to take some "fire in the belly" changes from Coach Donovan as well as the players. It was nice to see her up and protesting calls at the end of the year.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

Glad for Coach Mike and well deserved. While I think he would have done better than A.D. under the same situation, it wasn't all her fault.

The front office or whomever decided to let him go, they I fault. Even if it was someone higher, the GM should be on notice if not already. Conference finals to basement and the Coach you let go takes a basement team to an awesome turnaround....shameful.

If you didnt have an Agler or someone of that caliber ready to step in, Mike should have not been let go.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Glad for Coach Mike and well deserved. While I think he would have done better than A.D. under the same situation, it wasn't all her fault.

If you didnt have an Agler or someone of that caliber ready to step in, Mike should have not been let go.

If only it were that easy. On paper, I would think that Donovan "almost" looked like an Agler (few casual fans realize how good a pro coach he has been). But, Dan Hughes is an excellent pro coach and GM and look how SA did this year (injuries contributed). OTH, Indiana had its share of devastating injuries, and while their season wasn't the greatest, look where they are.

Was Bill Laimbeer that bad a choice for the Lib? He has an excellent track record.

It is, unfortunately, not so easy. From the college ranks, may I present GG's time in Texas?

Actually, I must say, in general I am not in favor of coach changing when you are still being successful; that said, from anything I heard and read (much of it on the BY), I suspect Mike's time was up with the Sun. It happens.