Slappin’ Glass sits down with the father/son coaching duo for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Mike and Eric Thibault. The group dives into the areas of season “resets”, attaching switches and post doubles, defending special situations, and explore the areas of overrated stats and best trapping areas during a special edition of “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”.
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.
