Bob's Corner: Sandy rises out of Phoenix
TweetBOB'S CORNER: Our US correspondent BOB CRAVEN is back but Aussie Tokyo Olympics coach Sandy Brondello will not be, with her WNBA club Phoenix Mercury this week announcing she would not be reappointed as head coach, her contract up and her eight-year tenure in Arizona drawn to a close.
AUSTRALIAN Opals head coach Sandy Brondello is out after eight years as head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
The multiple Australian Olympian led the Mercury to the WNBA title in 2014, and to the best-of-five Finals this past season, where they lost 3-1 to the Chicago Sky.
Her departure was announced as “by mutual agreement”, her contract with Phoenix ending after the conclusion of the 2021 season. The announcement concluded that “it will not be renewed.”
She was WNBA Coach of the Year in 2014 and, in addition to being the head coach, she also served as the team’s Vice President of Player Personnel. Her record while at Phoenix was 150-108.
To me this sounds like, for whatever reasons, things were going stale between her and team ownership. Also, and interestingly, her husband, Olaf Lange, is an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky.
That situation must have made things a bit difficult during the course of a WNBA season, and even moreso during this past season’s Finals, when the two teams played each other for all the marbles.
I also found it a bit odd and awkward that the team’s statement went on to say that “. . . At the same time, we understand that an eight-year tenure as a head coach is an exception in any professional sport, and we are confident a new voice is necessary for our team at this time."
It seems there might be more to this than meets the eye, so stay tuned.
RECENTLY noted the good fortune of U. of Connecticut’s superstar guard, Paige Buecker, in landing the first two nationwide endorsement deals for a college/university athlete, male or female.
Her on-the-court luck since then has changed for the worse. With under 40 seconds left in last Sunday’s game against rival Notre Dame and with a big lead, she was dribbling up the court when she stumbled and landed awkwardly, appearing to twist a knee. She had to be carried off.
An MRI and CT scan showed she suffered a “tibial plateau fracture”, which is a break of the tibia (shin bone) where it extends up into the knee joint. It is caused by the femur (thigh bone—the longest and strongest bone in a human body) banging into the “spongy” top of the tibia as the result “of an acute stop”.
She is expected to be out for about eight weeks, but the docs also said she was lucky, because the rehab from this injury is a lot quicker than the rehab from a torn ACL, which is not uncommon under the circumstances where the knee responds to an awkward and sudden stop. Surgery is seldom required for type of injury she has.
SINCE we’re now well into the NBA season, and since college games have also begun, we should be seeing a fair few basketball anniversaries for the next several months. Here are a handful from the first week of December, dominated by one of the most dominating players ever:
1956—Wilt Chamberlain makes his long-awaited college debut as his U. of Kansas team beats Northwestern U. 87-69. Wilt scores 52 points and grabs 31 rebounds, breaking the all-time records for Kansas in both categories.
1961—Wilt, now with the Philadelphia Warriors, scores 78 points and corrals 43 rebounds in a 151-147 win over the LA Lakers in 3 OT’s. Elgin Baylor led the Lakers with 63 points.
1967—Wilt, still with the Philly Warriors, scores 52 in a 133-109 win over the Seattle Supersonics. The big news here is that Wilt sets an all-time NBA record by missing 22 free throws in the game.
2000—Shaquille O’Neal scores 26 points and grabs 16 rebounds in a 103-95 loss to the Supersonics. He also sets an all-time NBA record for most free throw attempts in a game without making a single one—he went 0-11 on the night from the line. He breaks the previous record of 0-10 set by Wilt (that guy again) against the Pistons in 1960.