Lou's article

#54
#54
creekdipper said:
Then what is the issue?
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The issue is we had a team with an insane turnover rate that never really improved, and even Kellie's biggest supporters expressed disappointment in how little team cohesion had improved late in the season. Now we have a player saying the coaches offered little help in correcting mistakes and developing certain players didn't seem to be a high priority for the coaching staff.

Maybe there is a correlation here... 🤔
 
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#55
#55
In defense of the coaches, the article demonstrates that Lou was in a very fragile situation. Trying to make your body do what it used to do is frustrating. I still remember one particular play on defense. I knew the pass was coming. I knew I was in perfect position. I knew I was going to steal that ball and charge up court. I still see the ball big as a beach ball hanging in the air. I didn't get there, they scored. I can't shake that even today. Perhaps the coaches were laughing at something else and the timing was terrible. And lou assumed she was the brunt of the laughter. Coaches typically don't laugh at mistakes. Perhaps the file session was a coach's attempt to be light hearted and not put pressure on a player that was already trying too hard. If the players knew what Lou was thinking there should have been some leadership to go to the coaches and make sure they know how Lou saw those two instances and the damage it was doing to her psyche. Lou Deserved More. Lou Deserved Better. Perhaps it's a tragic misunderstanding that still needs to be changed.
 
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#60
#60
Lou was a player who gave her all during the games, she encouraged her teammates, and she played smart basketball. She was older than the other players, an experienced player who worked to overcome her injuries, something Kellie knew about from personal experience. What more could the Coaches want? Apparently, they saw that she was working hard, and did not feel she deserved to be corrected during a game, for a mistake. This actually bothered Lou. (Actually, Kellie brought players out of a game, but I never saw her berate or holler at any player.)

During film review of turnovers, of which Lou’s turnover was included, an assistant Coach maybe even smiled when she said, “Maybe you shouldn’t do that.” This upset Lou, who apparently was so inside herself, that she perceived the gentle rebuke as laughing at her.

Lou was made a starter on the team, she was included in some of the after game interviews, she was publicly praised many times by her head Coach, but in her mind, Lou couldn’t see the respect they gave her, and felt neglected. She apparently still feels that way.

As far as assuming the Coaches laughed at her in practice, the Coaches are friends and laugh together, and do not act like mean children. It makes no sense that any Coach would laugh at a player when they make mistakes, this is their livelihood. Lou thought, everyone is watching me and laughing, she had problems.

It seems the Coaches unknowingly made the mistake of treating Lou as an adult, when inside she was an insecure child wanting more personal attention.
 
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#61
#61
Not to entirely change the subject and not intended as a dig toward current staff, but I wonder if the injury situation would have played out differently (from Lou's perspective of prescribed treatment) if Jenny Moshak were still the head trainer. Lou did say that she had individual workouts with coaches (apparently with success) but then had trouble doing those activities in practice, which then only increased her frustration level.

To borrow a current cliche, there's a lot to "unpack" in Lou's article. With the pandemic confusion and hasty clearing of the campus and disappointment over the cancellation of the tournament (described by Emily as "a punch in the gut") added to the mix, there are so many emotions to process. Lou's article raised a lot of questions...even she seemed to be struggling with how to put things in words and how much was in her head with the injury thing vs. any real lack of personal coaching. Is she talking about training techniques? Pep talks and encouragement? Empathy? Injury management and acknowledging how the injury affected her previous skill level? Just hard to tell from the article.

A repeated theme that stood out was Lou's frustration in accepting the physical limitations imposed by her injury. She said she kept trying to "prove" that she could do the things she used to do rather than to "improve" over the course of the season. The natural wear on her knee (the physical contact she encouraged by taking charges couldn't have helped) only hampered her recovery, and it sounds like a vicious cycle began of pushing herself to exceed her physical limits, which just exacerbated the injury, which just limited her more, which just increased her frustration level. The tone of her article just seems like someone releasing a lot of pent up frustration and trying to put a lot of disappointment into perspective. It was also given to the Australian press and seems like a public glimpse into her private struggles with injury and coaching experiences. But despite her trying to spread around blame to herself, the coaching staff, and the injury, it definitely has a distinctly negative ring toward the program (interesting that Holly and staff were bately mentioned). When she talks about "emulating" the good coaching and "rewriting the bad" experiences when she becomes a coach, it seems obvious that she views her Washington State coaches among the former and her Tennessee coaches among the latter.

It's extremely disappointing to us fans who love both Lou and Kellie to read about the turmoil Lou felt even as her public persona was upbeat. It 's just sad to hear regardless of whom is being discussed and a reminder that athletes are complex people and react differently. I have regrets as a former coach about things said or done that could have been handled better, although the difference in perceptions can be striking. I've been surprised to learn that players whom you think are fine actually resented some perceived slight and never forgot it while others whom you thought you rode too hard come back regularly to visit and tell you how much fun they had and how they miss those days. And express their love (in fairness, the ones who hated your guts aren't as likely to share that).

As a young athlete, I resented a future TSAA HOF coach who has his name on a spirits facility because of perceived indifference to me (he even once made a rather innocent pun based on my name which I found insulting). Now I look back and see that he was a good, maybe great coach loved by many and see things from a very different perspective. Our personalities didn't mix well, but he played a role in my later athletic success, and I see him in a much different light through the lens of experience.

I hope Kellie takes the opportunity to clear the air with the team and reinforce that players should always feel free to come to her or other staff with concerns. And that this will lead to better, more open communication between players and staff. It would be interesting to have insight into the locker room to see if teammates were aware of Lou's feelings and struggle or if they were taken off guard like the fans. Not saying that we need to know or that Kellie should make a public response, but it would be interesting to hear how players view the article.
 
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#62
#62
Volfaninfl2 said:
Lou was a player who gave her all during the games, she encouraged her teammates, and she played smart basketball. She was older than the other players, an experienced player who worked to overcome her injuries, something Kellie knew about from personal experience. What more could the Coaches want? Apparently, they saw that she was working hard, and did not feel she deserved to be corrected during a game, for a mistake. This actually bothered Lou. (Actually, Kellie brought players out of a game, but I never saw her berate or holler at any player.)

During film review of turnovers, of which Lou’s turnover was included, an assistant Coach maybe even smiled when she said, “Maybe you shouldn’t do that.” This upset Lou, who apparently was so inside herself, that she perceived the gentle rebuke as laughing at her.

Lou was made a starter on the team, she was included in some of the after game interviews, she was publicly praised many times by her head Coach, but in her mind, Lou couldn’t see the respect they gave her, and felt neglected. She apparently still feels that way.

As far as assuming the Coaches laughed at her in practice, the Coaches are friends and laugh together, and do not act like mean children. It makes no sense that any Coach would laugh at a player when they make mistakes, this is their livelihood. Lou thought, everyone is watching me and laughing, she had problems.

It seems the Coaches unknowingly made the mistake of treating Lou as an adult, when inside she was an insecure child wanting more personal attention.
Click to expand...

It does seem like Lou had her share of perceived slights going on in her head. Here's one you didn't mention and it happened early on in the transition:

"A few weeks into the transition, Kelly Harper and an assistant coach had pulled me into her office and asked me what type of player I was. I expressed to her just that, while thinking to myself, so maybe she has not watched any film on me, yet?"
 
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#63
#63
When I read that, I took it as the coaches asking how she viewed her role on the team, her strengths, her philosophy as an athlete, work ethic, demeanor, leadership, etc. It would never occur to me that they were saying they didn't have a clue about her game. It seemed more to be asking how she viewed herself and going from there.

Seems that wrong impressions were being given or wrong assumptions being made. No way that "weeks" would have gone by without the coaches learning as much as possible about the players.
 
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#64
#64
Coach Jumper said:
I said it all along,,,I even used "the right words" as my Custom title for volnation

Those kids needed ore than just a coach-friend,, they needed direction, a strong hand and a soft heart, they all needed the right words.

Lou proves it
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You do realize she was talking about the current coaching staff, correct?
 
#65
#65
Terrells Bay88 said:
It does seem like Lou had her share of perceived slights going on in her head. Here's one you didn't mention and it happened early on in the transition:

"A few weeks into the transition, Kelly Harper and an assistant coach had pulled me into her office and asked me what type of player I was. I expressed to her just that, while thinking to myself, so maybe she has not watched any film on me, yet?"
Click to expand...

Agreed. This was an obvious example of how insecurities can warp one’s perceptions of situations. That question was a perfectly direct way to find out what the player thinks about HERSELF, not what the questioner think about her. Even if the staff had watched film of every game she’d played since elementary school, that would have told them zilch about how Lou viewed her own game. Lou Brown was waaaaaaay off in perceiving a slight there, and it’s telling.
 
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#66
#66
lvocd said:
Agreed. This was an obvious example of how insecurities can warp one’s perceptions of situations. That question was a perfectly direct way to find out what the player thinks about HERSELF, not what the questioner think about her. Even if the staff had watched film of every game she’d played since elementary school, that would have told them zilch about how Lou viewed her own game. Lou Brown was waaaaaaay off in perceiving a slight there, and it’s telling.
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To be fair... you weren’t there and didn’t see what went on. I know there are two sides to every story, but some seem quick to say “it was in Lou’s head.” She may have had some insecurities, but she also may have been slighted.
 
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#67
#67
Terrells Bay88 said:
It does seem like Lou had her share of perceived slights going on in her head. Here's one you didn't mention and it happened early on in the transition:

"A few weeks into the transition, Kelly Harper and an assistant coach had pulled me into her office and asked me what type of player I was. I expressed to her just that, while thinking to myself, so maybe she has not watched any film on me, yet?"
Click to expand...

I read that and thought it sounded as though Lou was not very self aware. Why would the coaches have needed to watch film on her? Could have easily been looking for a strong answer from players about the kind of player/person they are BEFORE watching any film. Just to see if their self perception matches their reality.
 
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#68
#68
Guys, it makes no common sense that the incoming coaches did not watch at least "some film" on everyone of their players...And yes, it is also logical that a coach would like to hear from each individual player what type of player they think they are...
 
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#70
#70
I'm sure Kellie was asked similar questions during the interview process. I doubt she thought, Didn't you watch any of my games?

I do remember Spurrier getting offended when he was considering returning to Flrida and was asked about his resume. According to reports (or legend), he walked the interviewer(s) over to the trophy case and angrily retorted, There's my resume!

At least, that's how I remember hearing the story.

Edit: Actually, this story may be apocryphal. Just now looked it up, and one commenter said a journalist made it up as a joke and that he was never asked to submit a resume. Still makes a great anecdote!
 
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#71
#71
T_Vol376 said:
You do realize she was talking about the current coaching staff, correct?
Click to expand...

Did you read all of my posts or just the one you wanted to see:

Coach Jumper said:
I don't mean anything to jab particularly at Coach K,,, Coach Warlick never confronted players or aproached them after foolish turnovers or aloof playing....This is a trend in coaching that has to stop.

Players want to be coached, if they don't,,,tell em goodbye and find some who do!
Click to expand...
 
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#73
#73
Based on comments it seems as though personal connection was not made. However is is difficult to offer opinion when not personally involved. As a former coach at times when I was completely frustrated I would laugh so as not to blow up at seeing the same mistakes. Not sure what Lou was looking for as it was obvious Kellie valued her court awareness and ability to anticipate what competition was doing. Without that skill she may have seen much less playing time due to her injury. In any event she left Washington averaging less that 6pts and 6 rebs and completed this year avg 5 for each. ( after injuries). Let’s not forget when she came on board in Sept. 2018 it was assumed she would stretch the floor and shoot threes given the team still had Hayes, Collins, etc.... Departures and second injury, coupled with coaching change made for a totally different landscape
 
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