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Pat Coyle relieved of coaching duties, Donovan takes over Liberty
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After recently beating out Detroit as the worst team in the eastern conference, it’s hard to say that you .jpg)
didn’t see this coming. Liberty general manager Carol Blazejowski announced Friday that Pat Coyle has been relieved of her head coaching duties for the New York Liberty. Assistant coach Anne Donovan will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The hiring of Anne Donovan as the assistant coach in the beginning of the season put the thought in my head: If Pat Coyle didn’t produce for the Liberty, she would be gone. That thought became fact as Coyle finally got the ax on Friday after the Liberty’s third straight loss and horrendous record of 6-11. The record is a bit unusual since the team made the eastern conference finals least season and has left the roster virtually unscathed. But with practically the same squad the Liberty has fallen way short of expectations. Being a year older and wiser doesn’t translate to wins, especially when the team has problems executing offensively.
It is yet to be determined if it is too late for Anne Donovan to turn the Liberty’s season around. Donovan has won a championship with the Seattle Storm in 2004 and recently coached the USA women’s basketball team to a gold medal in Beijing. But let’s face it, Seattle’s general manager knows how to acquire talent. Seattle’s roster in 2004 included Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, Betty Lennox, Tully Bevilaqua, and Kamila Vodichkova among others. In Beijing, Donovan was surrounded by the best of the best. New York has a few less stars and a few more bench players in starting roles.
If you think New York can pick up rookie talent in 2010, then think again. The team traded away its first-round draft pick for Sidney Spencer, so the only respite may be making some ridiculously crafty trades. But mind you, the Liberty is not known for player acquisition strategy (see previous sentence).
The trade deadline is looming ahead on August 17. Now the real game is to wait and see.
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