SHONI SCHIMMEL TRADED TO NEW YORK LIBERTY
Schimme, a fan favorite on the roster...along with Angel McCoughtry...had recently come under fire from the Dream's head coach Michael Cooper for reporting to training camp out-of-shape..an issue that also upset Dream management. Cooper, however, indicated that the conditioning had nothing to do with the trade.
"The way we are being structured and want to go, anybody could have been traded. This was about dynamics on the team. We wanted to put something on the floor that the fans can appreciate and will play with a high energy on offense and defense." Cooper commented.
Nice try, Michael, but no cigar. So, you're saying that Angel, or Tiffany Hayes might have been trade bait? That the fans don't appreciate Shoni...who wowed the WNBA in the All-Star game? Fess up, pal. It was all about the conditioning and a plethora of guards on the Dream's 2016 roster. Moving Shoni to point guard may or may not have been a viable strategy but at least call this what it is. A power play from a coach who failed to get the Dream to the WNBA Playoffs in the 2015 season. A maneuver to try and save your job.Meanwhile, Shoni's new coach, Isiah Thomas, sees the potential.
"Shoni has demonstrated she can shine on a big stage and I am confident that with the leadership on our staff and our team she will thrive as a member of the New York Liberty playing in Madison Square Garden. Shoni is a good fit for our style of play and her long range shooting will really allow us to spread the floor on the offensive end. She takes pride in giving back to the community and she shares the same core values that the other members of this team do."
Tanisha Wright and Sugar Rodgers started for the Liberty in their first exhibition game of the season...a loss to Chicago.
So...it's goodbye Georgia Peach and hello Big Apple for #23. We hope the change is acceptable to the palate and that Shoni shines brightly in Manhattan.
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ASIA AND JUDE
Two other WBB Cards are also involved in the preseason WNBA contests and they faced each other the other night. Asia Taylor (Indiana Fever) and Jude Schimmel (Dallas Chicken Wings) met in a May 1st game. The Fever took the contest 108-90Jude had five points in 24 minutes...Asia 13 points in 14 minutes.
Both teams played without its top stars. Dallas played without returning starters Skylar Diggins, Karima Christmas, Courtney Paris and Odyssey Sims. Indiana was without Tamika Catchings, Marissa Coleman, Shenise Johnson, Erlana Larkins and trade acquisition Devereaux Peters.
paulie
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Power play? A professional athlete shows up two off seasons in a row visibly out of shape when her only job is to stay and shape and play basketball. No matter how he said it, and there's an Atlanta journal constitution article from the other day before the trade and plenty of times last season where he's commented publicly on her weight so he's not afraid to say she's out of shape, it doesn't stop it from being true. His comments sound like he was trying to move on and not continue to beat the same dead horse he's been beating when it comes to Shoni.
ReplyDeleteWe love Shoni. She's family, but we know better than anyone hat she has to be motivated to stay in shape. I hope that she can do it before she finds herself out the league, and if anyone was born to be a ball player, it's her.
Of course Cooper's job is on the line! To continue to hold on to an out of conditition guard who also cannot play defense ( which is what I read his statement to indicate) again this year (after missing playoffs by one game last year) would definitely create a threat to his job.
ReplyDeleteAnd underachieving Dream team is a threat to Cooper's job. An out of shape and lack of dedication to off season conditioning is a threat to Schimmel's job. Both needed a clean slate and break from each other. Shoni, a first a first round draft pick, was traded for a second round pick and in the WNBA when second round picks make the team's only half the time should be a wake up call for her
DeleteAngel out of shape? How did she make the Olympic team?
ReplyDeleteSome of you folks still just don't get these NA kids. They don't really care about worldly success. It is what is is. The cool thing is that they'll always feel loved by those that matter the most to them. If you don't get that you haven't been paying attention to what Jude and Shone have been consistently saying over the past half decade.
ReplyDeleteShoni is a Maravich level talent. She may or may not succeed in NY but it won't detract from her pure roundball love and skills. Further it won't detract from the love that her people feel for her and her solid heritage of doing things that no one else ever even thought of in WBB. It is what it is.
Do I wish that she had the discipline of Kelly Faris? No. Shoni's gift is what it is and it isn't discipline, it's creativity and a sense for the game. She's already showed what she can do in the most public of forums. It may take her to higher places or it may end at what it is right now. Either is fine because no one will ever forget the clear footprint she stamped on the back of Baylor, Tennessee and Cal.
Cooper knew exactly what he was getting in Shoni and he just couldn't coach her to where she needed to be. Walz went through the heavy Shoni stage and came out the other side as a winner. Cooper just isn't that good of a coach.
It is what it is.
Well said, Burn.
DeleteNo, I think that's the one thing we all get about Shoni - staying in shape doesn't matter to her. That's obvious.
DeleteLet's wish her well and success, but stop excusing her for not doing what she should to be ready to play and contribute. It's the coach, it's her cultural differences, she said in an interview she's still a kid. It's everybody but her. Accountability. Where it is? You know the difference between what Walz did to motivate her and what Cooper "didn't do?" A paycheck. From a basketball player to a dog catcher, when you're earning a living doing something on a professional level, your boss shouldn't have to motivate you to keep yourself in the best position to do your job.
Pay Attention. She doesn't have anything remotely professional in her upbringing or background. If you've ever been on any rez you know that pretty much nobody has a job or a profession out there unless they work for the tribal government, a tribal casino, state government or federal government. That's just how it is. So professionalism is pretty much bs a concept out there.
DeleteI'm not making excuses for her. I'm less than happy that she blew up. I get hard work and professionalism, but then my dad was a CPA so I grew up watching what professionalism was every day. I'm a retired VP from Mitsubishi Credit and I lived professionalism for years.
She doesn't owe you, Louisville, Atlanta, New York or anyone else anything. They enter into a contract and either they like what she did or not. If not they trade her and she moves on. Maybe you've never been a boss but the higher you go in any organization the more concerned you become about motivating your people, particularly the high potential players. So you are 100% wrong. At the end of the day motivation is pretty much all that matters and the higher you are promoted in any organization the more concerned you should be about the motivation of your staff because with every step up the ladder you get that much farther away from real work. Coaching is no different.
I'll tell you this too...I started my career with General Motors but I never really understood what was going on in my industry until I subsequently worked for Toyota, Nissan and retired from Mitsubishi. So she's got plenty of time to find her stride. I certainly did and still retired at 53 so I'm thinking we can cut this girl a bit of slack.
Finally, Walz took a huge flyer on Shoni and coached with and around her throughout her career at UL. If Cooper didn't do enough due diligence to understand the well documented challenges that would come with drafting Shoni he should have stepped back. The Dream certainly didn't have any problems leveraging Shoni's NA Heritage, All Star balloting and All Star MVP award from a marketing perspective. I think the Dream are going to get exactly what they deserve having now traded away two of their three all stars from Shoni's MVP year.
Awesome post Burner. That pretty much covers it!
DeleteAnonymous your point is well taken as well!
DeletePaulie thanks for the update on Jude and Asia. Fun info!
ReplyDeleteListen, I don't want to get into a back and forth about the tact someone else is choosing to take with their career when it doesn't affect you or me in any way that alters our day to day existence. And she doesn't have to "owe me anything" for me to have a critique on a message board. I didn't call her out of her name. I didn't insult her as a person. I kept the critique strictly about her work ethic as a basketball player. She's a role model to an entire community and honestly I think you would maybe agree with this, she does her community a service of she's able to excel in her current position and not be a flicker but a flame. I wish that for her because unlike Jude where basketball seems to be among other passions, this is what Shonj was born to do. This is where her talent is. Nurture that. God doesn't give many of us these above average abilities.
ReplyDeleteI think we all want to see Shoni do well in the WNBA and life . Same for our other student-athletes. As fans, we tend to get caught up in their successes and failures and celebrate or commiserate with them. Jeff Walz will tell you that if you want to improve your grades...then study. If you want to improve your game, get in the gym and do the work
ReplyDeleteYou can use those dame principals in life. You want the reward, put in the time.
Paulie
Good words. Thanks
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