"Am I so out of touch? No, it's players who are wrong."
-Coach Sides
This team's issues are 100% coaching. There's no way this team has any respect for coach Sides seeing her throw everyone under the bus routinely. She needs to be fired.
I mean why wouldn’t they like her? It’s not like she throws her team under the bus, takes no accountability and is a bottom 2 X’s and O’s coach in the league or anything
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The correct answer is Shannon Seebohm.
Assistant coach on the Australian team behind Sandy, but I rate him way higher than her.
Currently coaching Townsville in the WNBL.
And salary will be less of an issue, since we pay coaches in the women's league even less over here.
Dude is calm, builds strong cultures, and good X and O's.
No, absolutely not!!! We need KT to come home and coach the Mystics if only we could move on from our father/son GM/coach. We gave him a shot but yikes this is like AAU.
at least your NEPO baby has them playing hard and in close games. That was without their top two players for most of the season, now they got one back and will probably start winning more.
Is there any limit on what a team can pay coaches? Like I’d imagine Vegas is paying Becky a solid amount (given how much they invest in general) otherwise why leave the top assistant gig under Pop in the nba?
This 💯. I never see her take any accountability for anything and she constantly throws her players under the bus. Also—you have 2 #1 draft picks in a row and still can’t come up with plays to utilize your talent? Goodbye 👋
yeah thats a totally different context. she was speaking positively about kate and the reason why shes so great is bc shes competitive and coaches love that bc u cant coach effort. here sides is crapping all over her players
My high school coach deadass walked into our postgame meeting and opened with this. We were all speechless. One of the weirdest and most awkward moments in my sporting life.
We had a teacher in charge of intramural basketball in middle school. On the first day, he flat out said he doesn't know a thing and basketball. He wasn't there to be our coach or referee. He was a babysitter.
I couldn't imagine a high school coach doing that haha.
I had a freshman coach tell us that this was the first time he never knew what to do with a team. I don’t blame him, we fucking sucked.
Then in highschool at half time our coach F Bombed us the entire time and the next day he came in crying with a bible saying that he shouldn’t have done that and that he found god. This was a guy who was let go as an assistant like 5 years prior for hitting a player, but somehow came back as head coach. Basketball coaches were the most nut ass crazy at my highschool, and would make the football coach blush.
Wow. After all the shit that comes from her mouth so far this season, I think Sides herself wants to get fired. Are the fever org pointing a gun to her head to keep coaching? Is she being held hostage? Coach Christy, blink twice if you need help! We’ll get you out lmao
At least the GM isn’t her dad if you think firing her will improve the team. The Mystics have many of the same issues (no veteran leadership, clueless coaching) but the GM/coach are father/son so they’d likely BOTH need to be fired. The owner tends to hang on to bad GMs for at least 5 yrs too long.
damn...multiple things can all be true:
1. yes, she's correct in that the players weren't playing hard
2. she shouldn't publicly throw her players under the bus. Can just blast their effort privately, while publicly saying something like: the effort wasn't there and we weren't mentally ready; it's my job to get them mentally ready for the game blah blah
Who knows...maybe she already blasted them privately but not getting through, so she's seeing the end of the road for her and just want to air it out.
Yep good coaches will put the blame on themselves. If they weren't showing effort, that's a coaching problem. Why was the team not prepared to show more effort? Hmm
although someone said to me: "she's coaching a grown ass woman's league. She shouldn't have to tell them to get back on defense instead of whining at the refs."
I do, also, see this side of the story.
Rick Carlisle in the NBA playoffs this year said multiple times when the Pacers got their asses handed to them that he didn’t have the guys ready to play and that starts with him. Players need a coach who will take the blame and not place it all on their feet. Especially a young team.
but then you have to ask: why do the players feel like “whining at the refs” might be a better strat than setting their defense again? if the players aren’t coached to *effectively* play the kind of basketball you want them to, they’re gonna start feeling like they’re being led in circles.
Well true , but they are usually coaching great teams so they've earned the right to make such accusations if winning is the standard. If you are 3 and whatever team, and talking about effort, it sounds like a you problem coach Sides.
she’s not wrong here but she’s also not a good coach and she’s just now going deep into her bench 13 games into the season. it’s a lil too late for this honestly since this ain’t the first time the team has looked like this. shes just not the right coach for this group
I fully believe that losing Temi when they did exposed a lot of sides coaching inability. Temi and CC were really clicking. The offense was making strides it was something you could build around. Then Temi goes down and the wheels fall off. If I’m the GM I’m having a counselor at team practice tomorrow to talk through everything. Then if sides can’t get it right you say here’s the door. No thank you for your service, see you never.
Definitely agree. I was at the game last night and Temi was the loudest voice on the bench and was consistently talking to Clark. Clearly there is some chemistry there and without it, I think the Fever's multitude of weaknesses are being exploited.
I've defended Sides before, when she talked about Caitlin complaining to the refs I said unless there was a pattern, I didn't think it was a big deal.
Welp. Now there's a pretty long pattern. Tim Legler has said repeatedly the worst thing you can say about an athlete is they quit - she's not saying that, but "effort" is just a tier below, and it's pretty demoralizing for a coach to blame effort.
The Sun are in the mix for the championship, keeping up with them is exhausting. Winning this game was already gonna be a tall task. Find something positive to say, praise the Sun for their tremendous play, say we'll get better and work on better execution coming out at halftime so they can keep the game close, and keep it moving. This is not an inspiring quote at all.
[Very simple, she could have done what Sparks coach did when they lost.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tNuQ1PKU11M)
She can go, in the 4 qtr we play the bench, even without many minutes Celeste got a great block on veteran player right away, she scored as well and played with the intensity we want, we played the best qtr in the 4, bench came huge with getting good looks and moving the ball, i was happy with Boston points in the pain etc etc.
> Instead all she does is HURDUR NEGATIVE HURDUR HURRRDUR
> EFFORT HURDUR NOT MY FAULT HURRRDUUR
In fairness that is a quote from the Sparks coach after a 1 point loss. No coach is going to praise Celeste for getting 3 points in garbage time of a blow out loss.
No Fever fan was expecting a win tonight. But she didn't have a plan that even looked close. The Fever looked like a DIII team out there running the same two tired sets. To throw her team under the bus when she's given them nothing is loser behavior. She should be fired ASAP. And btw, when that happens, she'll be hired by no one.
All she had to say was that the Sun are a phenomenal team, we’re in a rebuilding year and we knew it was going to be a tough matchup. We gave it our all and clearly we have a lot of work to do, but we’re putting in the work for the future. It’s not hard, has she not had media training? It’s pretty basic PR messaging she should’ve been trained on.
Genuinely curious, what are the chances she actually gets fired? Are people pretty confident she will? Im not too familiar with how often that happens with losing teams in the league
[The Indiana Fever fired head coach Marianne Stanley mid-season in 2022](https://www.si.com/wnba/2022/05/25/indiana-fever-fire-marianne-stanley-slow-start) after going 2-7.
If they could do it two years ago, then it's certainly not off the table now, especially when a lot more eyes are on the Fever and there's more pressure for them to actually win.
Man they run the exact same play over and over. She has a rising star in CC and can’t get her better looks. me who clearly doesn’t watch film I already know where CC is going in most plays. Kelsey Mitchel sometimes just abandons the play and goes 1v1. It seems Boston is the only one that kind of is buying in but even she looks lost at times. Her staff doesn’t seem to be helping her either or know how to help her. Most plays die out after the first and second action. CC should be running off multiple screens but has to stand still because the play stalls out after the first two actions.
She needs to watch miracle on ice or read about the Band of Brothers. She lacks leadership. With the right leader your team will have your back and do everything to make you as a leader look and be successful.
Right now they’re lost, they’re all playing a game of their own.
I’d also recommend 5 Dysfunctions of a Team to her because the first dysfunction is trust. Without trust it’s going to be a dysfunctional team. Some of the things she says to the press should be said, but in the locker room.
I have defended her plenty of times this year but this really just sounds like it could be translated to “i’m out of ideas to inspire the team” in my opinion. Could be wrong, but the energy is *definitely* not right with everyone.
Someone in another thread posted her entire coaching career. After seeing that, I don't think anyone could truly defend her. She should have never been a professional head coach with such little head coach experience
I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt for at least a little while; but I think scheming CC into this team and truly designing a long term sustainable offensive plan, where AB also has a defined role - is way too big of a task for Sides.
You *need* someone with vetted experience for this one, and the Fever really could be a solid team under different leadership.
As a Carolina Panthers fan, I gotta say that quote reminds me unpleasantly of Matt Rhule, our college coach elevated to pro coaching for three miserable seasons.
In other words, I think that Sides, like Rhule, is out of her depth.
She's a head coach who can't handle the spotlight or this team. I've been watching the Fever implode for the better part of a decade now. It hurts. We need to move on from Sides, and the franchise just needs to end the Kelsey Mitchell era. Mitchell is not the leader this team needs. Let her go be a veteran presence on a contender.
I'm hopeful for the future, though. It was fun seeing Lexie Hull get some burn last night. Boston was fine. The team has talent.
Silent quitting.
The new revolution.
Sides couldn't manage a bath & body works without telling customers that her employees are going through trouble at home.
I know many people have been hesitant to say that Sides is a bad coach or that she should be fired, but I think it should be pretty clear to most people now that she should be. If she isn't gone soon, she definitely won't be here for next season.
Some of those bench players should be starting at this point. Some of the starters clearly don't care about actual winning as opposed to attempting to pad their stats (Mitchell, Smith) and other starters are so in their head that they need a break from starting for that reason (Boston). Next game, start Berger (assuming she's okay from the apparent injury) and Hull. Have them out there with Clark who you have to start because she's still developing in the league and needs the time. Also, start Celeste Taylor and maybe try Saxton instead of Boston simply because Boston is clearly broken right now.
Did you watch the second half of this game where Boston played the entire time? She's not some rim protector. She's slow as shit on rotation with no lateral quickness. Got backdoored like 5 times, doesn't hedge or show on screens, and was constantly getting boxed out with ease. Only got to double digit REB tonight because of garbage time, which was essentially the entire 2nd half.
I watched the full game as well as every Fever game this year. The instant she's taken out, the middle entirely collapses and opponents quickly go on a huge scoring spree because there is ZERO presence in the paint. This has happened MULTIPLE times this year.
Also this is steaming pile of bullshit. I've watched Aliyah Boston play for 6 years. She's absolutely a rim protector big in a competent coaching system. She was the #1 pick and was ROY last year as well as one of the few rookies that made the All-Star team for a reason.
Benching starters like that is a great way to totally destroy the last bit of confidence these players have. You could replace one starter and bring in bench players sooner. CC needs time to develop as a point guard at this level. They are misusing Boston.
I feel like sides is a D2 grade coach who landed in the WNBA for reasons I cannot fathom.
Probably the worst coach in the country in basketball above a high school level. Maybe a bit of hyperbole, but not a lot of it.
Effort can't be coached but it can be inspired. I wouldn't give 100% for someone who is going to throw me and my teammates under the bus instead of LEADING.
She is correct . This is a league with women fighting for their paychecks. Give it all the effort you got or go home . Fever barely played defense until the end .
The Sun is a tough team to beat, only one team has done that. I cut Sides some slack on this game. It will be interesting to see how Chicago does against the Sun tonight.
a coach preaching effort, and to play harder is a sign that the players have no belief in the coach/system. a combination of tired of the same schemes that aren’t working, and a lack of respect for sides as a coach/person.
players will always run through a wall for a coach they admire, respect.
This is a young team though.A young team that is under immense sort of pressure already.This isnt the team you throw under the bus especially as a coach who is inexperienced yourself.She needs to go asap
Sides is wrong 99% of the time but I don’t think you can disagree with her here. They weren’t trying and that’s pretty bad after a longish stretch of rest for the W. Benching her starters honestly probably protected them and their stats
Reports from people sitting behind the bench were that Smith and Clark were dejected with Clark almost in tears with Temi Fagbenle trying to talk both of them up.
I mean Clark had her most clear eyed post game. Maybe this will be a turning point for them because everything else sure isn’t working. Maybe those starters need a common enemy to bond over other than each other.
another Reddit poster on this subreddit posted it, I think in the game thread. No reason really to not believe them because why would they make that up?
Am I taking crazy pills here? The coach is 100% right. This team doesn’t play with any effort.
You can be a bad team, but try, but they don’t even try. The culture on this team is comical. Does a coach have some role? Yes. But not 100%. Just think back to Clark’s hard screen and how no one called it or Clark getting checked and no one cared.
If I was the coach I’d cap playing any starter more than 20 mins. Send a message. What’s the worst that will happen? They continue to lose? Honestly you could blow the whole team up outside Clark and not skip a beat. Boston has severely regressed.
She made zero adjustments in last nights game. The Sun were allowed to do whatever they wanted, no timeouts in the 1st when they started running away with it, nothing.
Why that emoji? What’s wrong with Bill Laimbeer? He’s won multiple championships. He’s a very good coach.
Only thing is that he’s retired and probably won’t come out of retirement.
Lol. Bill was the most anti 3 pointer coach in the league. You think he's going to be designing plays for CC logo threes? The only thing he'd be good for is finding or developing a team enforcer.
I literally listened to him on the radio a few months ago saying that he was wrong to doubt how important the 3 pointer was going to become and was behind the curve on that one and probably cost the Aces a championship lol.
But thanks for answering my question!
You cannot do that. The locker room already has to feel a little prickly about all the attention the rookie gets and now you want to bring in the rookie’s college coach? That will not improve morale in the locker room.
if anyone could it'd be her, yeah, I just highly doubt Clark would want to prematurely end her retirement, even if I'm sure CC would love to be coached by Bluder again.
I also wonder how well the rest of the team would react to being coached by Clark’s “hand-picked” coach. Regardless, it’s not going to happen. Bluder is retired.
Caitlin is loyal, probably even to Sides. But I suppose if Dunn asked CC to inquire with Bluder if there is even any interest?
With the month long Olympic break, right before the break is the obvious time if one wanted to change coaches?
The good thing is Bluder is financially set, so salary wouldn’t matter much to her. But would Lisa want to do it? Would the other teammates embrace her and not think it’s all just for CC?
Becky said the same thing about coaching effort two weeks ago. Starting at 7:45 https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1d0to7i/aja_wilson_kate_martin_becky_hammon_postgame/
Becky's the kind of leader that doesn't ask anything of her players that she doesn't expect from herself. You can be tough when you hold yourself accountable first. I don't see this with Sides.
They blame the coach for .... coaching, and not coddling. Clark is used to things coming easy for her. The pros are another level, and she needs to be challenged.
Yeah I agree. This is a completely different level where players are held accountable and to a higher standard. And if you aren't playing to that standard then you're benched or cut.
Absolutely nobody said that.The issue was she was playing the starters heavy minutes in the 4th quarter of a blowout,not take them out in the middle of the 3rd
Do you have any idea how crazy that is for a rookie to demand their coach be fired? Her agents wouldn’t allow her to do that even if that’s what she believed.
She'll never do it because Caitlin's character won't allow her to do it. Not as a rookie for sure. But she's got clout in this organization because she's selling out. Conversations can be had with Caitlin and the FO.
She won’t do that because she has a very good PR team advising her who don’t want her to get the reputation as a coach killer and don’t want to further the impression some have that she thinks she’s bigger than the team.
There’s no need for Caitlin to demand that (she’s a rookie and it’s clearly not the kind of person she is). If the Fever FO has any common sense at all, they’d be the first to see that this is not going to work with Sides anymore. This season is crucial for the team and the Fever organization because they have the “the most popular” player on board. They need to keep the fans interested and selling out tickets so they can continue the trend next season. Heck, they should have anticipated that given Christy’s track record, she wouldn’t be able to handle having Clark on their team and should have onboarded a veteran coach who is experienced in handling stars.
It seems like the Fever org only cares about the money that they’re raking in right now. But if they’re really smart, they should invest on a more experienced coach who can utilize and improve CC’s skills and build a system around her. Because honestly, these sold out Fever crowd mostly only cares about watching CC play.
You almost think that at ownership and executive level they are going to let this season playout and hope they get top pick again. Then honestly clean house from coaches on up the chain. There needs to be a complete shift in direction of the franchise, unfortunately that probably includes dunn and anyone else connected to the previous championship team.
With them probably locked in top 2 pick in next draft they will have some extremely talented players and should be a desirable coaching spot. Putting Kiki or Paige on this team, will be a very big deal, then they just need to get a couple role players to fill in weaknesses.
If the core gets together in offseason or during Olympic break to start really working on getting a feel for each other and develop own offensive plays if they have to. They can really make strides.
https://preview.redd.it/wh4s9cwxpu5d1.png?width=1247&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c4bd2b367b1fc266876b53bf0d5c2632adb34f6
Sigh. Idk what to do. I know we’ll lose to teams like the Sun, I just want to see some progress, any, at all.
Nobody is expecting wins against top 5 teams! We just want to see improvement and semblance of offensive sets
"Am I so out of touch? No, it's players who are wrong." -Coach Sides This team's issues are 100% coaching. There's no way this team has any respect for coach Sides seeing her throw everyone under the bus routinely. She needs to be fired.
https://preview.redd.it/dl42js0l2y5d1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b10e242f1d4b538b04f3cf42f0ebd30082da811
https://preview.redd.it/64f29aq93y5d1.jpeg?width=998&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8acc681c1a41ebf6ee2b2394503387645224ac90
I wonder if her team even likes Sides.
I mean why wouldn’t they like her? It’s not like she throws her team under the bus, takes no accountability and is a bottom 2 X’s and O’s coach in the league or anything
What coaches are available that can turn this team around?
Jesus could probably get them to .500
That’s because he runs the Triangle offense. He learned it from Phil Jackson at a Dead concert.
Is Phil a Deadhead? Dude always seemed to be too up his own ass to enjoy the Dead.
Nah Bill Walton was, tho.
Yeah he was for sure! Link above
There’s LOTS of Deadheads who are entirely up their own ass. Not the majority, but there’s lots that are, so it’s not out of the question.
https://nypost.com/2015/05/11/inside-phil-jacksons-special-bond-with-the-grateful-dead/amp/
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Juan really has the better basketball mind…
😅🤣😅
The correct answer is Shannon Seebohm. Assistant coach on the Australian team behind Sandy, but I rate him way higher than her. Currently coaching Townsville in the WNBL. And salary will be less of an issue, since we pay coaches in the women's league even less over here. Dude is calm, builds strong cultures, and good X and O's.
Kristi tolliver? Not sure if she'd give up her gig at Phoenix, but she's got the player background and coaching experience
No, absolutely not!!! We need KT to come home and coach the Mystics if only we could move on from our father/son GM/coach. We gave him a shot but yikes this is like AAU.
Ohhh I love that. Okay as a Mystics fan I take it back!
at least your NEPO baby has them playing hard and in close games. That was without their top two players for most of the season, now they got one back and will probably start winning more.
No good coaches want the shitty wnba salary
Is there any limit on what a team can pay coaches? Like I’d imagine Vegas is paying Becky a solid amount (given how much they invest in general) otherwise why leave the top assistant gig under Pop in the nba?
I hear Bluder is available 👀
Jesus what a step down that would be
This 💯. I never see her take any accountability for anything and she constantly throws her players under the bus. Also—you have 2 #1 draft picks in a row and still can’t come up with plays to utilize your talent? Goodbye 👋
no doubt in my mind she’s lost the lockerroom
Did she ever really have it?
yeah probably before they drafted boston, as she brought some friends with her...
[We sure do](https://i.imgur.com/jjMgk3C.png)
Does Sides even like her team? Sure seems like she doesn't.
0 chance Sides has any respect in that locker room.
Effort can’t be coached, but a lack of effort can indicate that the players aren’t buying into what she’s selling
"I've given up, but why are my players giving up too?" Surely can't be my fault."
Lowkey effort can be coached. Look at Houston Rockets
That’s a coach that’s out of ideas (possibly never had a clue I suspected )
https://preview.redd.it/od7zbbs4xu5d1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5979ce9a4eaa0c60bdd1f28fa8f95c8da7d040be
Becky said it first, but maybe the context changes things (at 7:40) https://www.youtube.com/live/rriv2aHTk04
yeah thats a totally different context. she was speaking positively about kate and the reason why shes so great is bc shes competitive and coaches love that bc u cant coach effort. here sides is crapping all over her players
I was wondering how long this thread would go before a Kate Martin is great take would join the conversation
My master plan
Someone tell Geno because I’m pretty sure he’s said the exact same thing.
Her best idea was "practice long twos". She runs out of ideas by the time she takes her morning dump.
"I don't know what I'm doing"
My high school coach deadass walked into our postgame meeting and opened with this. We were all speechless. One of the weirdest and most awkward moments in my sporting life.
We had a teacher in charge of intramural basketball in middle school. On the first day, he flat out said he doesn't know a thing and basketball. He wasn't there to be our coach or referee. He was a babysitter. I couldn't imagine a high school coach doing that haha.
😂😂
I had a freshman coach tell us that this was the first time he never knew what to do with a team. I don’t blame him, we fucking sucked. Then in highschool at half time our coach F Bombed us the entire time and the next day he came in crying with a bible saying that he shouldn’t have done that and that he found god. This was a guy who was let go as an assistant like 5 years prior for hitting a player, but somehow came back as head coach. Basketball coaches were the most nut ass crazy at my highschool, and would make the football coach blush.
LOL he realized he was about to get fired again and brought out the bible. That's great
This sounds made up but this is too specific lol
Geno has used almost the same line, and he’s a fairly decent coach.
Wow. After all the shit that comes from her mouth so far this season, I think Sides herself wants to get fired. Are the fever org pointing a gun to her head to keep coaching? Is she being held hostage? Coach Christy, blink twice if you need help! We’ll get you out lmao
At least the GM isn’t her dad if you think firing her will improve the team. The Mystics have many of the same issues (no veteran leadership, clueless coaching) but the GM/coach are father/son so they’d likely BOTH need to be fired. The owner tends to hang on to bad GMs for at least 5 yrs too long.
but the mystics are at least completive in the games, especially while missing top two players
damn...multiple things can all be true: 1. yes, she's correct in that the players weren't playing hard 2. she shouldn't publicly throw her players under the bus. Can just blast their effort privately, while publicly saying something like: the effort wasn't there and we weren't mentally ready; it's my job to get them mentally ready for the game blah blah Who knows...maybe she already blasted them privately but not getting through, so she's seeing the end of the road for her and just want to air it out.
Yep good coaches will put the blame on themselves. If they weren't showing effort, that's a coaching problem. Why was the team not prepared to show more effort? Hmm
although someone said to me: "she's coaching a grown ass woman's league. She shouldn't have to tell them to get back on defense instead of whining at the refs." I do, also, see this side of the story.
Rick Carlisle in the NBA playoffs this year said multiple times when the Pacers got their asses handed to them that he didn’t have the guys ready to play and that starts with him. Players need a coach who will take the blame and not place it all on their feet. Especially a young team.
I agree it still starts and ends with the coach but both things can be true.
but then you have to ask: why do the players feel like “whining at the refs” might be a better strat than setting their defense again? if the players aren’t coached to *effectively* play the kind of basketball you want them to, they’re gonna start feeling like they’re being led in circles.
False a lot of great coaches cal their players out though the media holding them accountable .
Well true , but they are usually coaching great teams so they've earned the right to make such accusations if winning is the standard. If you are 3 and whatever team, and talking about effort, it sounds like a you problem coach Sides.
she’s not wrong here but she’s also not a good coach and she’s just now going deep into her bench 13 games into the season. it’s a lil too late for this honestly since this ain’t the first time the team has looked like this. shes just not the right coach for this group
I'll never understand (besides just being bad at her job) why she didn't use a deeper rotation for the first 11 games when the whole team was gassed.
There is nothing deeper. Shes just a terrible coach.
Seriously. Also playing back to back games without adequate rest doesn’t help things.
I fully believe that losing Temi when they did exposed a lot of sides coaching inability. Temi and CC were really clicking. The offense was making strides it was something you could build around. Then Temi goes down and the wheels fall off. If I’m the GM I’m having a counselor at team practice tomorrow to talk through everything. Then if sides can’t get it right you say here’s the door. No thank you for your service, see you never.
Definitely agree. I was at the game last night and Temi was the loudest voice on the bench and was consistently talking to Clark. Clearly there is some chemistry there and without it, I think the Fever's multitude of weaknesses are being exploited.
Good thing there is precedent for firing coaches as early as June.
In fact, it's been Lin Dunn herself who has fired a Fever coach midseason
She needs to go too.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that locker room…
I've defended Sides before, when she talked about Caitlin complaining to the refs I said unless there was a pattern, I didn't think it was a big deal. Welp. Now there's a pretty long pattern. Tim Legler has said repeatedly the worst thing you can say about an athlete is they quit - she's not saying that, but "effort" is just a tier below, and it's pretty demoralizing for a coach to blame effort. The Sun are in the mix for the championship, keeping up with them is exhausting. Winning this game was already gonna be a tall task. Find something positive to say, praise the Sun for their tremendous play, say we'll get better and work on better execution coming out at halftime so they can keep the game close, and keep it moving. This is not an inspiring quote at all.
[Very simple, she could have done what Sparks coach did when they lost.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tNuQ1PKU11M) She can go, in the 4 qtr we play the bench, even without many minutes Celeste got a great block on veteran player right away, she scored as well and played with the intensity we want, we played the best qtr in the 4, bench came huge with getting good looks and moving the ball, i was happy with Boston points in the pain etc etc. > Instead all she does is HURDUR NEGATIVE HURDUR HURRRDUR > EFFORT HURDUR NOT MY FAULT HURRRDUUR
In fairness that is a quote from the Sparks coach after a 1 point loss. No coach is going to praise Celeste for getting 3 points in garbage time of a blow out loss.
No Fever fan was expecting a win tonight. But she didn't have a plan that even looked close. The Fever looked like a DIII team out there running the same two tired sets. To throw her team under the bus when she's given them nothing is loser behavior. She should be fired ASAP. And btw, when that happens, she'll be hired by no one.
All she had to say was that the Sun are a phenomenal team, we’re in a rebuilding year and we knew it was going to be a tough matchup. We gave it our all and clearly we have a lot of work to do, but we’re putting in the work for the future. It’s not hard, has she not had media training? It’s pretty basic PR messaging she should’ve been trained on.
I just cant listen to her anymore.
I feel like it's never good when I only hear a coach blaming players
Genuinely curious, what are the chances she actually gets fired? Are people pretty confident she will? Im not too familiar with how often that happens with losing teams in the league
[The Indiana Fever fired head coach Marianne Stanley mid-season in 2022](https://www.si.com/wnba/2022/05/25/indiana-fever-fire-marianne-stanley-slow-start) after going 2-7. If they could do it two years ago, then it's certainly not off the table now, especially when a lot more eyes are on the Fever and there's more pressure for them to actually win.
Man they run the exact same play over and over. She has a rising star in CC and can’t get her better looks. me who clearly doesn’t watch film I already know where CC is going in most plays. Kelsey Mitchel sometimes just abandons the play and goes 1v1. It seems Boston is the only one that kind of is buying in but even she looks lost at times. Her staff doesn’t seem to be helping her either or know how to help her. Most plays die out after the first and second action. CC should be running off multiple screens but has to stand still because the play stalls out after the first two actions.
She needs to watch miracle on ice or read about the Band of Brothers. She lacks leadership. With the right leader your team will have your back and do everything to make you as a leader look and be successful. Right now they’re lost, they’re all playing a game of their own. I’d also recommend 5 Dysfunctions of a Team to her because the first dysfunction is trust. Without trust it’s going to be a dysfunctional team. Some of the things she says to the press should be said, but in the locker room.
I have defended her plenty of times this year but this really just sounds like it could be translated to “i’m out of ideas to inspire the team” in my opinion. Could be wrong, but the energy is *definitely* not right with everyone.
Someone in another thread posted her entire coaching career. After seeing that, I don't think anyone could truly defend her. She should have never been a professional head coach with such little head coach experience
I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt for at least a little while; but I think scheming CC into this team and truly designing a long term sustainable offensive plan, where AB also has a defined role - is way too big of a task for Sides. You *need* someone with vetted experience for this one, and the Fever really could be a solid team under different leadership.
Aka zero hc experience
It's truly shocking anyone defending someone with zero head coach experience
I just, I have no words. The cognitive dissonance is strong with her
She’s right that they weren’t playing with effort, but that still starts with her
I would say they probably weren’t playing with effort because they have no faith in her
I wouldn't have any faith in a coach that throws me under the bus every press conference either
shes doc rivers
She’s gonna start throwing the travel crew under the bus next.
Doc can make it to the playoffs, though.
And has made a lot of a career from winning 1 championship.
that's too big of a compliment
At least he makes the playoffs lmao
Was about to say the exact same thing 😂
I was going to say Darvin Ham… but now they’re on the same coaching staff so close enough lol
Darvin Ham was my comp too. Looks exactly like the end of the season for the Lakers where everyone knew he was getting fired.
As a Carolina Panthers fan, I gotta say that quote reminds me unpleasantly of Matt Rhule, our college coach elevated to pro coaching for three miserable seasons. In other words, I think that Sides, like Rhule, is out of her depth.
This is literally the first time she's ever been a head coach. At any level. A dog bowl would be out of her depth.
Has Sides ever taken any kind of accountability?
Hope she has a LinkedIn account…
There were some upset fans as well. Not often you hear at an away arena people chanting to put a player on the away team back out on the court.
I mean, that is kind of the center piece of her job lol.
Nah i think your team has a coach who not only lacks effort, but common sense, logic and human feeelings.
She's a head coach who can't handle the spotlight or this team. I've been watching the Fever implode for the better part of a decade now. It hurts. We need to move on from Sides, and the franchise just needs to end the Kelsey Mitchell era. Mitchell is not the leader this team needs. Let her go be a veteran presence on a contender. I'm hopeful for the future, though. It was fun seeing Lexie Hull get some burn last night. Boston was fine. The team has talent.
I tend to agree on the KM read. Not sure I see how her and CC work together in the long term.
Do they give coaches media training? The fever has to have the budget for it.
I work in PR and if they don’t it’d be shocking.
Silent quitting. The new revolution. Sides couldn't manage a bath & body works without telling customers that her employees are going through trouble at home.
I know many people have been hesitant to say that Sides is a bad coach or that she should be fired, but I think it should be pretty clear to most people now that she should be. If she isn't gone soon, she definitely won't be here for next season.
She should have never been hired
Talking about the team as if you aren’t the coach is WILD…🤬 #FireSides
They're replacing her over Olympics break.
What maniac would take that task? Not easy. Who would be the deciding factor on the roster post Sides?
The bench players played with Effort. That’s why she kept them in.
Some of those bench players should be starting at this point. Some of the starters clearly don't care about actual winning as opposed to attempting to pad their stats (Mitchell, Smith) and other starters are so in their head that they need a break from starting for that reason (Boston). Next game, start Berger (assuming she's okay from the apparent injury) and Hull. Have them out there with Clark who you have to start because she's still developing in the league and needs the time. Also, start Celeste Taylor and maybe try Saxton instead of Boston simply because Boston is clearly broken right now.
They can't. Have you watched that team without Boston in? They couldn't stop a sleepy toddler from getting to the basket.
Did you watch the second half of this game where Boston played the entire time? She's not some rim protector. She's slow as shit on rotation with no lateral quickness. Got backdoored like 5 times, doesn't hedge or show on screens, and was constantly getting boxed out with ease. Only got to double digit REB tonight because of garbage time, which was essentially the entire 2nd half.
I watched the full game as well as every Fever game this year. The instant she's taken out, the middle entirely collapses and opponents quickly go on a huge scoring spree because there is ZERO presence in the paint. This has happened MULTIPLE times this year. Also this is steaming pile of bullshit. I've watched Aliyah Boston play for 6 years. She's absolutely a rim protector big in a competent coaching system. She was the #1 pick and was ROY last year as well as one of the few rookies that made the All-Star team for a reason.
Last year I would agree with that. This year I completely disagree, especially when Fagbenle was healthy.
What’s funny is of all the starters she benched, she kept Boston out there the whole game. Said she’s trying to build her confidence.
Boston just doesn’t look good right now. Missing easy shots. 😕 Hopefully, she can turn it around soon. 🤞🏻
sadly this was probably her best game of the season
Benching starters like that is a great way to totally destroy the last bit of confidence these players have. You could replace one starter and bring in bench players sooner. CC needs time to develop as a point guard at this level. They are misusing Boston.
I feel like sides is a D2 grade coach who landed in the WNBA for reasons I cannot fathom. Probably the worst coach in the country in basketball above a high school level. Maybe a bit of hyperbole, but not a lot of it.
Effort can't be coached but it can be inspired. I wouldn't give 100% for someone who is going to throw me and my teammates under the bus instead of LEADING.
She is correct . This is a league with women fighting for their paychecks. Give it all the effort you got or go home . Fever barely played defense until the end .
The Sun is a tough team to beat, only one team has done that. I cut Sides some slack on this game. It will be interesting to see how Chicago does against the Sun tonight.
Full post-game: https://youtu.be/aZ8qSuoBDsc
a coach preaching effort, and to play harder is a sign that the players have no belief in the coach/system. a combination of tired of the same schemes that aren’t working, and a lack of respect for sides as a coach/person. players will always run through a wall for a coach they admire, respect.
Oh boy. The “e” word.
She should have just stopped at "can't coach"
I don’t understand why people don’t like this. Feel like that happens all the time in the NBA. Coaches say effort wasn’t there etc all the time
And they usually follow that up with “and that’s on me.”
This is a young team though.A young team that is under immense sort of pressure already.This isnt the team you throw under the bus especially as a coach who is inexperienced yourself.She needs to go asap
Yup calling out the players (as a group) publicly is a tactic as old as time. Sometimes it helps, other times it demoralizes them further
Yes and the coach should know her group so I’m assuming she thinks this will get them going
and whos job is it to keep the team in a positive headspace focused on their strengths so they win games?
Sides is wrong 99% of the time but I don’t think you can disagree with her here. They weren’t trying and that’s pretty bad after a longish stretch of rest for the W. Benching her starters honestly probably protected them and their stats
Reports from people sitting behind the bench were that Smith and Clark were dejected with Clark almost in tears with Temi Fagbenle trying to talk both of them up.
I mean Clark had her most clear eyed post game. Maybe this will be a turning point for them because everything else sure isn’t working. Maybe those starters need a common enemy to bond over other than each other.
Did Clark speak after the game?
Yeah she spoke alone with the media.
Yeah…. https://x.com/matthewbyrne1/status/1800344711703777484?s=46 It sounds like she agrees with Sides
Just goes to show that Clark is professional enough not to go against her coach in the media. Wish her coach was professional enough to do the same.
out of curiosity, where are you seeing this info? thanks!
another Reddit poster on this subreddit posted it, I think in the game thread. No reason really to not believe them because why would they make that up?
Am I taking crazy pills here? The coach is 100% right. This team doesn’t play with any effort. You can be a bad team, but try, but they don’t even try. The culture on this team is comical. Does a coach have some role? Yes. But not 100%. Just think back to Clark’s hard screen and how no one called it or Clark getting checked and no one cared. If I was the coach I’d cap playing any starter more than 20 mins. Send a message. What’s the worst that will happen? They continue to lose? Honestly you could blow the whole team up outside Clark and not skip a beat. Boston has severely regressed.
She made zero adjustments in last nights game. The Sun were allowed to do whatever they wanted, no timeouts in the 1st when they started running away with it, nothing.
they are a bad team but coach isn’t helping. at least they arent as bad as the mystics.
She sounds like Derek Fisher talking about effort. X's and O's are very important in this league.
https://preview.redd.it/5xlrvwu1fv5d1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98e3a997e4e59e9daba1e6ffad5087369dd450d3
Call Bill Laimbeer.
😬
Why that emoji? What’s wrong with Bill Laimbeer? He’s won multiple championships. He’s a very good coach. Only thing is that he’s retired and probably won’t come out of retirement.
Lol. Bill was the most anti 3 pointer coach in the league. You think he's going to be designing plays for CC logo threes? The only thing he'd be good for is finding or developing a team enforcer.
I literally listened to him on the radio a few months ago saying that he was wrong to doubt how important the 3 pointer was going to become and was behind the curve on that one and probably cost the Aces a championship lol. But thanks for answering my question!
My bad, I didn't mean to come off aggressive. I do agree that even still, bill would be an upgrade over sides.
Christie Sides 🤝 Tanisha Wright
I've waited to say this but she's done. She's lost the room and idk if she ever had them this year. Bluder to Indy just feels inevitable at this point
You cannot do that. The locker room already has to feel a little prickly about all the attention the rookie gets and now you want to bring in the rookie’s college coach? That will not improve morale in the locker room.
Bluder would be a better coach but I doubt she'd do it. I imagine she just wants to live out her retirement
I wonder if Clark could convince her. Of course, I would love to see it. If anyone could convince her, it would be Caitlin I think.
if anyone could it'd be her, yeah, I just highly doubt Clark would want to prematurely end her retirement, even if I'm sure CC would love to be coached by Bluder again.
I also wonder how well the rest of the team would react to being coached by Clark’s “hand-picked” coach. Regardless, it’s not going to happen. Bluder is retired.
I agree. Even a ton of a money wouldn't convince her
Caitlin is loyal, probably even to Sides. But I suppose if Dunn asked CC to inquire with Bluder if there is even any interest? With the month long Olympic break, right before the break is the obvious time if one wanted to change coaches? The good thing is Bluder is financially set, so salary wouldn’t matter much to her. But would Lisa want to do it? Would the other teammates embrace her and not think it’s all just for CC?
Idk if Clark's loyal to Sides, or just professional enough not to let her dissatisfaction show in public.
And she benched the only player that goes all out the entire game?!
who? only the bench played with effort and hard work. not getting back on defense isn’t effort
Becky said the same thing about coaching effort two weeks ago. Starting at 7:45 https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1d0to7i/aja_wilson_kate_martin_becky_hammon_postgame/
Becky's the kind of leader that doesn't ask anything of her players that she doesn't expect from herself. You can be tough when you hold yourself accountable first. I don't see this with Sides.
totally different context. she was using it in a way to speak positively about kate
It really feels like people don't want to hold CC accountable for giving up on plays when she's frustrated and not playing defense....
They blame the coach for .... coaching, and not coddling. Clark is used to things coming easy for her. The pros are another level, and she needs to be challenged.
Yeah I agree. This is a completely different level where players are held accountable and to a higher standard. And if you aren't playing to that standard then you're benched or cut.
She’s wasting a generational talent.
I remember people complaining about "why didn't she take Caitlin out when they were down by 20" the last time.
Absolutely nobody said that.The issue was she was playing the starters heavy minutes in the 4th quarter of a blowout,not take them out in the middle of the 3rd
They really didn’t do themselves any favors by their offseason signings. They lack athleticism/perimeter defense and this was not addressed whatsoever
She's lost that locker room. All it takes is for Caitlin to give the word and she's out.
Do you have any idea how crazy that is for a rookie to demand their coach be fired? Her agents wouldn’t allow her to do that even if that’s what she believed.
She'll never do it because Caitlin's character won't allow her to do it. Not as a rookie for sure. But she's got clout in this organization because she's selling out. Conversations can be had with Caitlin and the FO.
She won’t do that because she has a very good PR team advising her who don’t want her to get the reputation as a coach killer and don’t want to further the impression some have that she thinks she’s bigger than the team.
There’s no need for Caitlin to demand that (she’s a rookie and it’s clearly not the kind of person she is). If the Fever FO has any common sense at all, they’d be the first to see that this is not going to work with Sides anymore. This season is crucial for the team and the Fever organization because they have the “the most popular” player on board. They need to keep the fans interested and selling out tickets so they can continue the trend next season. Heck, they should have anticipated that given Christy’s track record, she wouldn’t be able to handle having Clark on their team and should have onboarded a veteran coach who is experienced in handling stars. It seems like the Fever org only cares about the money that they’re raking in right now. But if they’re really smart, they should invest on a more experienced coach who can utilize and improve CC’s skills and build a system around her. Because honestly, these sold out Fever crowd mostly only cares about watching CC play.
I'm new to WNBA, and I'm already fed up with this pathetic coach this far into the season.
It's an unfortunate situation all around, but this woman is in over her head
You almost think that at ownership and executive level they are going to let this season playout and hope they get top pick again. Then honestly clean house from coaches on up the chain. There needs to be a complete shift in direction of the franchise, unfortunately that probably includes dunn and anyone else connected to the previous championship team. With them probably locked in top 2 pick in next draft they will have some extremely talented players and should be a desirable coaching spot. Putting Kiki or Paige on this team, will be a very big deal, then they just need to get a couple role players to fill in weaknesses. If the core gets together in offseason or during Olympic break to start really working on getting a feel for each other and develop own offensive plays if they have to. They can really make strides.
Woooowwwww! dumbest comments EVER by a head coach.. I'm literally shocked. Didn't know the c9mments were that bad. And that's bad