Inside the Episode
We were excited to be joined on the podcast this week by the father/son coaching duo of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Mike and Eric Thibault. Mike is the all-time winningest coach in WNBA history, and together the pair recently won the 2019 WNBA Title. We had a blast in this back-and-forth family affair diving into a ton of on and off the court topics including:
- Season “Resets”: Since winning the 2019 WNBA Title, the Washington Mystics have dealt with a rash of key injuries that kept them out of last year’s playoffs. Mike and Eric discuss “resets” both during and after a difficult season from both an emotional and tactical standpoint. A great conversation of how the Thibault’s continued to tweak offensive and defensive philosophies, as well as maintain morale in the midst of a tough year.
- Defending BLOB and SLOB Situations: We dove into how Mike and Eric viewed defending baseline and sideline out of bounds situations and their go-to strategies for both. The conversation includes whether or not to put a player on the ball, forcing certain directions, switching, and being physical on cuts.
- Attacking the Switch: With great players like Elena Delle Donne and Tina Charles on the Mystics’ roster who can punish a switch, Mike and Eric discussed how and when they might attack that switch. We discuss attacking a switch early vs. late in a shot clock, high-low automatics, letting the switch “come out in the wash”, and more.
- “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”: During a special “Newly-Wed” version on “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”, the Thibault’s fire back and forth about “misleading stats”, rebounding percentages, trapping wing ballscreens, and much more.
- Triple Switching the Side Ice: Coach Mike and Eric additionally detailed how they applied the Horns Triple Switch to their Side Ballscreen Ice coverage. Often times peel switching back if a shooter sets the screen and then switching the guard out if the shooter dives after the pop.