WNBA: Is the Lynx’s Reeve the main candidate for Coach of the 12 months?

In skilled sports activities, a coach usually will get a lot of the blame when issues are going poorly, and little credit score when issues are going effectively.

Throughout the 2024 WNBA season, nonetheless, a number of head honchos have proven that they deserve credit score—after which some—for the performances of their squads: the Minnesota Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve, the Chicago Sky’s Teresa Weatherspoon and the New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello. In flip, they’ve put themselves squarely in consideration for Coach of the 12 months honors, not less than based mostly on a half season of proof.

Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx)

Photograph by David Berding/Getty Pictures

No, Cheryl Reeve has not misplaced her fastball. After a couple of wayward seasons following the retirement of franchise legends, Reeve has the Minnesota Lynx again within the place they occupied for a lot of the 2010s: close to the highest of the league and in competition for a championship.

Whereas Minnesota made a sequence of shrewd offseason strikes to improve their roster round a burgeoning MVP candidate in Napheesa Collier, Reeve has optimized these gamers’ contributions, with Courtney Williams thriving as a main playmaker and Alanna Smith making a big effect by doing all of the little issues. Returning members of the Lynx even have blossomed beneath Reeve, epitomized not by Collier—who doubtless can be nice in any scenario—however by Kayla McBride, Bridget Carleton and Cecilia Zandalasini, again in Minnesota after not enjoying within the WNBA since 2018. The trio fires away with confidence from behind the arc, led by McBride—an All-Star for the primary time since 2019—capturing 43.8 p.c from 3 on virtually seven makes an attempt per sport.

Reeve additionally has the Lynx enjoying one of many league’s most aesthetically-pleasing manufacturers of basketball, with an offensive assault that emphasizes ball motion and 3-point capturing and a defensive identification based on aggression and a spotlight to element. After all, it’s the outcomes that matter, and people have come for Minnesota. They lead the league in 3-point capturing and protection, serving to them earn a 15-6 document and the Commissioner’s Cup Championship.

The uncertainty round Collier’s current foot damage might trigger Minnesota to lose a few of their mojo, slide down the standings and, in flip, weaken Reeve’s Coach of the 12 months candidacy. Alternatively, if the Lynx can preserve their third spot within the standings whereas Collier probably misses a big period of time, Reeve might all however lock down her fourth Coach of the 12 months trophy.

Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago Sky)

Photograph by Steph Chambers/Getty Pictures

Teresa Weatherspoon embodies the pinnacle coach best. She’s intense and inspirational. She holds gamers accountable whereas additionally empowering them. She infuses her workforce with a drive to win with out sacrificing developmental alternatives.

She’s additionally engineered the speedy rejuvenation of the Chicago Sky. When it was introduced that the Sky can be buying and selling Kahleah Cooper to the Phoenix Mercury through the 2024 offseason, Chicago appear destined to float into irrelevancy. As an alternative, a squad that includes a mixture of journeywoman veterans and younger, high-profile stars shortly has coalesced beneath Weatherspoon right into a workforce that oozes camaraderie.

She’s confirmed the proper coach for Angel Reese, quieting any considerations about how the No. 7 total draft choose’s sport would translate to the WNBA by respiratory confidence into who Reese is and could be, each on and off the court docket. The emergence of Chennedy Carter additional certifies Weatherspoon’s particular contact. A participant whose expertise by no means was in query, Carter had struggled to search out her place within the WNBA. Supported by Weatherspoon, Carter has flourished, permitting her to indicate off her superstar-level offensive ability.

For Weatherspoon to seize Coach of the 12 months honors in her first season within the Windy Metropolis, she’ll doubtless must accumulate extra tangible proof of her intangible influence. At 8-12, the Sky at the moment occupy the eighth spot within the standings. That’s adequate to sneak into the playoffs, however a stronger document and resume is perhaps required for Weatherspoon to earn some further {hardware}.

Sandy Brondello (New York Liberty)

Photograph by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE through Getty Pictures

Whereas all coaches get a lot of the blame and little of the credit score, that’s very true of coaches of so-called “tremendous groups.”

Sure, it might sound straightforward to teach a workforce with a pair of former MVPs, one the league’s finest 3-point shooters, among the best level guards within the historical past of the league and a job participant extraordinaire. Sandy Brondello, nonetheless, has expertly helmed a New York Liberty workforce that entered the season with the very best of expectations: a championship. She has her squad on monitor to be in one of the best place doable to realize that ambition, all whereas not overextending her gamers, even because the Liberty have encountered some adversity.

After an uneven debut season in New York, Jonquel Jones once more has flashed her MVP kind, scoring extra effectively than ever each inside and past the arc as she has discovered a extra comfy, impactful function inside the Liberty’s league-leading offense. That offense additionally has hummed due to Sabrina Ionescu, who, within the absence of Courtney Vandersloot, has taken a leap as a playmaker and scorer. The play of that pair, together with the the ever-reliable efforts of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, has allowed Breanna Stewart to imagine a diminished offensive burden. Brondello has deftly managed an virtually all-new bench unit as effectively, a process made more difficult on account of Nyara Sabally’s prolonged time on the damage report. New York additionally has improved their protection, with a defensive of score of 96.3 in comparison with 99.4 final season.

Common season accomplishments, together with a No. 1 seed, won’t decide whether or not or not the Liberty’s season is a hit; the postseason would be the choose. That stated, how Brondello guides New York all through the season shouldn’t be discounted. A second Coach of the 12 months award—10 years after her first—may very well be deserved.