Mike Thibault Conference Call Transcript (Feb. 16, 2006)
Connecticut Sun head coach Mike Thibault has been named to the coaching staff of the 2006 USA Women’s World Championship team that will compete for the gold medal at the FIBA Women’s World Championship this September in Sao Paulo, Brazil, under the direction of head coach Anne Donovan. On Thursday, Thibault participated in a conference call with local media. Below is a transcript of the conference call.
Q. Could you talk a little about the other teams (Russia, China and Nigeria) seeded with the U.S. in Group C of the Preliminary Round of the World Championships?
A. Russia is obviously very good. They have been a power in international play for quite a while. Their games with the U.S. over the last couple major tournaments have been very good. They have players that have prominent roles in (the WNBA). Everywhere from Maria Stepanova who played with Phoenix last year, Svetlana Abrosimova who everyone knows (from UConn), Elena Baranova and on down the list. There is a girl on that team who is the face of FIBA’s The Year of Women in Basketball, Ilona Kortstine. I think the Phoenix Mercury own her rights. They are a very, very good team.
China we played two years ago in an exhibition game here (at Mohegan Sun Arena). They have a couple of players in our league that play for Sacramento. They didn’t play a lot last year. Chinese Taipei, I don’t know that much about their team.
Nigeria is an up-and-coming group. A couple of their players have played a little bit in our league. I have not watched a lot of tape on them yet. I have some (tape) actually sitting here on my desk as we speak to start looking at.
It’s obviously a very competitive bracket. Once you get outside the first round of pool play, you’re now looking at all the other powers in the world. Australia, obviously, feels like they are at a point where they can compete for a gold medal. Brazil, the host country, is going to be very good, and there are so many other countries that have gotten much, much better over the last four or five years. The Czech team who won the European Championships last year upset Russia in the Finals. It’s going to be a very very good World Championships.
Q. From your experiences with USA Basketball on the men’s side, what can you tell us about coaching in the international game? Is it a fulfilling experience?
A. It is a great experience. The two teams I coached on the men’s side were some of the most exciting moments in my coaching life. Obviously winning NBA Championships and CBA Championships and being in the WNBA Finals are all highlights. But playing and coaching for your country in a gold medal game is pretty intense. The one we lost in the Pan Am Games in Argentina was against the host country in a 7,500-seat arena that they put 9,000 people in. Those people showed up four hours before game time and didn’t stop chanting for all four of those hours plus the entire game. We took a young CBA team down there to play against those teams. It was just an unbelievable atmosphere. When we won the gold medal in Puerto Rico for the World Championships Qualifying Tournament, we once again played the host country on their court, but we escaped with the win in that one. It’s just the intensity. I tried to explain to the players when we went down there that, as a US Basketball player, you’re kind of like a rock star off the court, but the minute you step on the court you are the most hated opponent that there is. Everybody measures their progress in international basketball by how they do against the U.S. That’s a constant pressure every time you step onto the court. It was a terrific experience. I loved it and I’m thinking this will be similar. There will be a lot of pressure to win this thing. We’re coaching some of the best players in the world, too.
Q. How did this opportunity come about?
A. It happened just about a year ago at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis. I was approached by some of the people in USA Basketball about whether this was something that I would be interested in and if my intent was to stay involved in the women’s game, because they wanted someone who would be involved in the women’s game for a long period of time. It was right about the time that I had signed my new four-year contract here so I was able to tell them that I had made a commitment (with the Sun) and that I was interested. Gratefully, I thank the powers that be here at Mohegan Sun – Chris (Sienko), Mitchell (Etess) and Paul (Munick) – for allowing me to do this.
Q. What kind of input do you have in the player selection process?
A. Some. This is going to be a hard process because the team is picked by a committee. The coaches have input as committee members and then there are other people involved who will watch the player tryouts. The plan, I think, is to name six core players who don’t necessarily have to go through the tryouts, but who will play in some of these exhibition games. The other roster spots will be open for competition. We’re going to Europe twice in March to hold two separate training camps. Many of the WNBA players who are playing in Europe will come in for seven to 10 days to play and train together in some exhibition games. There will be a third one following the NCAA Final Four in Australia where we’ll play a series of games with Australia, China and Chinese Taipei. At that point, the balance of the team will be selected. I think the fact that I’ve coached against most of these players in the WNBA will allow me to have some input, but the way that USA Basketball is structured, the coaches don’t select the players.
Q. Who makes up the committee?
A. There are several people on the committee. There are former athletes, people from USA Basketball, people from the WNBA, and then the coaches. It’s going to be a group effort to come up with a team that can fulfill a lot of different roles.
Q. Wouldn’t it make sense for the coaches to have some amount of input in the selection?
A.We have some input but that is not the way that it is set-up. It has never been that way for the men or the women. Obviously, they are going to solicit our opinion and listen to us carefully. I think Anne (Donovan), as the head coach and having been the assistant for the last Olympic team, will be an influential person in that regard. I think the committee would be pretty wise to listen to her advice.
Q. What are your duties as an assistant coach?
A. I’ll probably be doing a little bit of everything like my own assistants do. I’ll be teaching on the court, studying the opponents for scouting reports and watching a lot of video. I’ve already got probably 30 DVDs of various teams from around the world from the last Olympics and international competitions. I’ll be doing what any normal assistant coach would do on any professional or college team, which is to prepare for a game.
Q. How will you balance your duties at the Connecticut Sun?
A. It doesn’t affect us at all during the season. The bulk of the work is before the season starts in the next six-to-eight weeks and then in the follow-up to our season. The World Championships begin September 12th, which is three days after the last possible playoffs date, in Brazil. Probably USA Basketball’s worst nightmare is for us and Seattle to battle in the Finals. That could happen. The biggest burden is in the next two months. I’m going to be gone to Europe a lot in March. We’ve done the biggest bulk of scouting for the draft with the exception of college tournaments and both Scott (Hawk) and Bernadette (Mattox) will be out seeing those. Right now, and unless things change, we have the 28th pick in the draft. The draft is not going to be what shapes our team for the year. We’re in a position where our returning core group is going to be what makes us win or lose. The young players that we have coming off our bench are going to be what training camp is about. I think I’m pretty good at balancing what needs to be done for both.
Q. Is it a natural progression to go from being a part of the World Championship team to being a part of the Olympic team?
A. From what I understand, the head coach, Anne, has been selected for both. After the World Championships, they will determine who will be retained (for the Olympics) for coaches and players. It’s a little bit of a process. Right now I don’t know the answer to that and it would be nice to think that that could be a follow-up to this. That’s a long way off right now. Let’s worry about winning this thing first. But, it would be an honor.
