Beilein is hiring a female asst.
My understanding is that women's basketball relies a lot more on fundamentals than athleticism, so perhaps she will bring a good amount of knowledge in that regard. The only real concern is whether the players will respect her. Although nowadays I'm sure that's less of a concern than it was even ten years ago.
FWIW I went to an all boys basketball camp one summer in 7th grade and my coach was a female. She was a very good coach. It was weird only for the first five minutes tbh.
That's not an altogether unfounded concern, but I suspect it's one that will take care of itself. There will be some challenges she faces as the first(?) woman coach in the NBA, yes. But ultimately, if she is a good enough coach to improve her charges, that's what will matter. And any player that's too pigheaded to accept coaching from a woman is very likely not going to have a great time in general adapting to other experiences out of his comfort zone, which.... good luck with that
Not the only or first. Becky Hammon is on the Spurs staff and that's going great by all accounts.
I played football with a girl in junior high school. As with you, the novelty wore off very quickly. I barely thought about it after two or so days of practice. This stuff isn't a big deal. The Cavs will be focused on trying to win games, not Gottlieb's gender.
Bunch of dudes showing their asses on this thread.
Leaders and best and all that...
This is crazy. Womens' basketball is a completely different game from men's basketball and Cal isn't even a powerhouse in women's basketball. If this hiring wasn't forced on Beilein, I have to think he's gone senile. This makes absolutely no sense.
Not necessarily the case.
What likely happened is that Beilein wanted a young up-and-comer who is going to be schooling similarly young players and can relate to them. (The Cavs roster is pretty young) He interviewed Gottlieb and found her a good fit in terms of coaching acumen and personality.
I don't follow Cal women hoops, but getting a non-blueblood program to the F4 *especially* in a league as top-heavy as NCAAW is a feat. Maybe hiring an NCAAW coach to an NBA asst position works, maybe it doesn't. Twice over the past two decades, the Boston Lepers have hired men's coaches out of college to be their head guy - one time they got Pitino, one time they got Stevens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
There's always going to be a first X to do Y. There are often reasons brought up why it won't work because of what, not who, X was - and you can point to any number of historical examples of that. And more often than not, the history shows that many of those cited reasons held little to no merit.
Right! Those damn women are still throwing antique leather balls into a peach basket and they don't even have three point lines, free throws are shot underhand because women, duh, annnnd what else am I missing? Oh the Amish-like dresses they wear...completely changes the sport, what the hell is JB thinking?!
I don't follow the Cavs.
Max Bielfeldt is crying right now.
Tired: Commenting on how hiring a lady is weird and strange
Wired: Upvoting Hutch's "FUCKING CRUSH IT" comments to Bakich
I hope they all got their cooties shots.
Does his wife know?
Beilein's venture into the NBA is either genius or a train wreck. Adding a women's college coach to the staff led by a men's college head coach brings a fresh perspective but probably also a steep, steep learning curve. My guess is that this team overachieves by end of the season but is still garbage because of the talent level and they certainly won't attract more talent to Cleveland with a rookie coach, a pipsqueak owner, and a shitty town.
Still a little lead in his pencil
John Beilein exemplifies Leaders and Best. Michigan man forever.