So, the Dallas Wings coach, Jose Fernandez, like I’m not joking when I say this, this guy is either going to be one of the best coaches in the WNBA or an elite coach, or he is going to be so bad that he becomes a meme. There is no question about that. He is either going to be so bad that his interviews and what he says becomes a meme, or he is going to be incredibly good.
And if you are a Wings fan, you hope that he’s good. If you’re a fan of anyone else, you hope he is a meme.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez, his defense and rebounding are two focus points. Asked if he’s liked what he’s seen in those departments. [laughter]
Let’s take a listen.
“No. But we’ll continue to have—we’ll get it right. I think we can’t be a team that’s going to give teams extra possessions on the glass. That can’t happen. We can’t give teams extra possessions by giving up offensive rebounds and live ball turnovers. And you take bad shots on the offensive end that lead to bad transition defense. That’s another issue.
But I thought today, you’re coming off media day, there were some things out of our control today, first time on our floor. The communication, the effort, the energy, the intensity—they got after it. Another day bringing in the officials. I think our male scrimmage team is getting much more comfortable and playing a lot harder and testing us. So they’re getting a feel for that as well. But overall, we’ll come back tomorrow and—”
[laughter]
This guy sounds like someone doing a Geno impression. I’m sorry. This guy cracks me up. He sounds like a parody. We might be in good hands. Literally a Geno variant.
There is no in-between.
Coming off of Curt Miller and hearing this? Please light their asses up. Jose already—no accountability, no excuses.
I don’t think people understand that these coaches that are like, “Have you liked what you’ve seen in the defense?” No. They played one preseason game. They’ve won one preseason game, I think. Am I right in saying the Wings have won one preseason game before the season starts? One.
Let me just double-check.
And the scary thing is this team doesn’t rebound. They’re tiny. They don’t play defense. This team doesn’t really play defense either.
I like Awak Kuier. People are talking about Awak like she’s the second coming of Rudy Gobert. She can play a bit of defense.
Sorry, they played the Aces in preseason. So they played two preseason games. Two.
And again, you’re looking at this team that is supposed to be a playoff team, that are going all in, playoff or bust.
And he’s being interviewed and he’s like, “So, you know, Aziaha James and Arike and Paige, how are you going to play it? Do you know what it’s going to look like with the three of them playing together?”
“We’ll find out.”
It’s like, “Have you been good on defense and rebounding?”
“No.”
The problem with this is people are like, “Oh, accountability.” The problem is that this is a team that is not structured to be a good defensive team or a good rebounding team. That’s not how they’re structured.
And if he’s unhappy, you realize every one of these press conferences are going to be gold, right? They’re going to be gold.
If this team’s bad—and by the way, if this team is good, great. If you’re a Dallas Wings fan, you’ve got a good coach.
It is one thing with these accountability coaches that hold everyone accountable. It’s one thing when you’re winning and things are going well. You can be Geno Auriemma.
It’s another thing if this team starts losing.
There is a very fine line between holding players accountable and throwing players under a bus. It’s an extremely fine line.
And I don’t think people realize it in general when it comes to these type of coaches.
People are saying, “Oh yeah, it’s better than Chris Koclanes.”
Look, he can’t be worse than Chris Koclanes. He was a glorified PE teacher. I don’t know how Chris Koclanes got that job.
But a coach like this, you have to tread very carefully.
And if it’s a coach that isn’t happy with anything and is going to publicly say it, it’s one thing holding players accountable. It’s another thing publicly throwing players under a bus.
Especially as a rookie head coach.
You can do it if you’re Sir Alex Ferguson. You can do it if you’re Gregg Popovich. You can do it if you’re Pep Guardiola. You can do it if you’re Geno Auriemma.
You might not even be able to do it if you’re Becky Hammon or Cheryl Reeve.
He is coming in like he is Geno Auriemma as a rookie. It is a bold, bold move.
And if the Dallas Wings get off to any sort of bad start and he continues talking like this, it is going to be gold.
I really hope they do. I really hope the Indiana Fever cook them and he starts throwing his players under a bus.
Because you better believe the first person that’s going to be right there laughing is going to be me.
If he’s good, okay, cool. Dallas, you’ve got a good coach.
But I think even Dallas Wings fans will say it—if he ends up being a bad coach, and that is a very real possibility, because I don’t love how this team is structured.
If you’ve got a coach that is publicly basically saying your defense and rebounding has been terrible in training camp, and sounds like a guy doing a Geno Auriemma impression, if that team is bad, it’s going to get ugly.
When you’ve won 12 national titles and you’re Geno Auriemma, you can throw your players under the bus publicly. You can call out Paige Bueckers publicly for being passive.
You can do all of that.
If you’re a rookie head coach with pros who were this close to winning a title in Jess Shepard and Marina Mabrey’s case the last two years, and your team’s not doing great, there are players that won’t listen to you.
And this can go south very quickly.
A coach with this type of attitude can go south very quickly.
Again, there is a fine line between accountability and throwing a player under a bus.
And that’s something that’s really difficult to do as a coach. It’s really difficult.
It’s also a very fine line holding players accountable without them feeling like they’re being thrown under the bus.
If you’re a coach whose whole thing is accountability, accountability, accountability, and then there’s a player you criticize more than another, it’s hard to keep egos in check. It’s hard to keep people upbeat.
Being that type of coach is next to impossible without the accolades to back it up.
It’s why people say a Jose Mourinho type manager can’t really exist nowadays in football.
Because Mourinho came right in after winning a Champions League with Porto and said, “I’m the special one.”
And basically everything he said went.
Then he won with Chelsea, went to Inter Milan and won the treble, then went to Real Madrid and set the points record in La Liga.
He was untouchable.
He went back to Chelsea and won again.
The man was untouchable.
He’s someone that can do that because he has the accolades to do it.
Geno Auriemma and UConn have the accolades to do that.
Dawn Staley has the accolades to do that too.
I don’t know if Jose Fernandez does.
And it’s going to be a very interesting season to see how this plays out.
Because again, look, surely he can’t be worse than Chris Koclanes.
Surely.
That’s all I’m going to say.
But he really does sound like a guy doing a Geno Auriemma impression.
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