Donovan shoots for WNBA precedent

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The notion makes her laugh.

"As a player, you think your coach doesn't do anything but show up to practice and show up to games," said Anne Donovan, a former Olympic center turned professional coach. "Yeah, that's real funny. I had no clue."

No clue there would be days like last Tuesday, when Donovan, entering her second season as Storm coach, would have to squeeze an hour-long media interview into a schedule that already included practice. Then there was an evening media reception, scouting for an upcoming exhibition game and the further dissecting of a 39-point exhibition loss to the Phoenix Mercury, the league's worst team last summer.

As she tussled with her no-fuss, cropped brown hair, Donovan flashed back to her introduction to the profession in 1989 as an assistant for her alma mater, Old Dominion. A swarm of issues ranging from pregnancy to missed curfews suddenly needed managing in the middle of recruiting, scouting, coaching and learning.

The games? The practices?

That was the easy part.

"That's the kind of player I was, somebody who could relate to other people," said Donovan, a 1995 Hall of Fame inductee. "That's why I love this game — played pickup, played whenever I could — because of the camaraderie and relationships you develop. And I know that's my strength. I'm a straight shooter."

It's that knack to connect that has many looking to Seattle as a contender to advance to the WNBA Finals despite the fact that the organization has made the playoffs just once in its five-year history. Coaches and players across the league say there are three keys a team needs to win a championship and, barring a repeat of injuries like last summer, the Storm has all three: great players, solid coaching and balance.

If Donovan, 42, does win a title, she would be the first female coach to do so in the league's eight-year history. In fact, no female coach has won a championship in any of the most recent professional women's basketball leagues — the WNBA or the defunct ABL. When Donovan dragged her 2001 Charlotte Sting team out of a 1-10 start to advance to the Finals as Eastern Conference champions, she joined former Phoenix coach Cheryl Miller (1998) and former New York coach Nancy Darsch (1997) as the sole women to reach that plateau.

And don't think that bit of information doesn't irk Donovan. She stabbed her fork in her seafood salad as she expressed her feelings.

"It's not a man-woman issue," said Donovan, noting that Houston coach Van Chancellor made his name in women's college basketball and won the WNBA's inaugural four titles. "But there's a whole difference in style and how they approach the game. There's a sense of entitlement, expectation for them and we're still trying to prove ourselves. But what better way to prove than to win a championship.

"(Charlotte coach) Trudi Lacey and I are planning an all-woman Finals."

Venus and Mars

Donovan is one of four women coaches in the 13-team league, joining Minnesota coach Suzie McConnell Serio, Phoenix coach Carrie Graf and Lacey. Overall, 24 of the league's 46 head coaches have been women.

Yet, there isn't a lot of outrage. Just an underground grumbling, especially when eight of the nine current men coaches have direct links to the NBA as former players, scouts or assistants.

"To me it doesn't matter, coaching is coaching," said Olympian Jennifer Azzi, who retired this offseason. "But women don't have the experience yet on the professional level. Women are getting it, and once they do, it's going to be great. But it (the WNBA) is not quite the family atmosphere of college. It's a whole different way. It's a different world, you no longer have the neediness of college basketball."

The addition of salary caps and free agency through the collective bargaining agreement, which went into effect last season, has changed the dimension of the coach, just like getting paid to play — no matter how little — changes a player's mentality.

"In college there's more nurturing and commitment to them (the players) before they even get to campus. It's a lot more all-encompassing job description," said Storm assistant Jenny Boucek, who also worked for Ron Rothstein, an Indiana Pacers assistant who coached the defunct Miami Sol. "Now it's all about performance, and the players have to be their own motivator.

"(The men) initially played or coached in the NBA and are seeing them (the WNBA) as basketball players and that's it. Ron realized women had more emotional needs, so to speak, and took on a fatherly role, that's why he got the most of them. Men who are too black and white don't do well in the WNBA; you have to have that balance. And I think Anne has evolved so much, no one works harder than Anne."

Society has also changed, according to Lacey and Graf.

The Phoenix Mercury recently announced the acceptance of two women partial owners, while the organization hired Graf, who has limited coaching experience in the WNBA.

"There's a cultural, societal change in women being looked at as leaders," Graf said. "Maybe their mothers worked or were leaders, but the new generation is more open to women in leadership roles."

To Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer, the former Detroit Pistons Bad Boy who won his first WNBA championship last summer, the topic boiled down to one phrase.

"Coaching is coaching," he said. "And any coach will tell you to win a ring you have to have great players."

Sam I am

Like Chancellor with Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Cynthia Cooper. Or even Los Angeles Sparks coach Michael Cooper with Lisa Leslie, DeLisha Milton and Mwadi Mabika, Donovan was given Olympians Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Kamila Vodichkova.

She said it herself as the Storm introduced her as the new coach in December 2002, replacing the colorful Lin Dunn, currently an assistant for Indiana.

And although Donovan's draft picks have been busts due to injury or refusal to report because they preferred to play overseas, she has one golden star she's coveted since she started coaching professionally in the ABL — forward Sheri Sam.

"We had a ton of offers for that sixth (overall) pick (in April's draft)," said Karen Bryant, the team's chief operating officer. "But (Donovan) really wanted that trade. She sat on it until it happened."

In addition to Sam, a 2002 All-Star, the Storm also added shooting guard Betty Lennox, a former rookie of the year struggling to return to her form before hip surgery. The starters give the Storm a lineup as impressive as that of the Sparks or Comets.

"We're going to do it," said reigning MVP Lauren Jackson, who led the league in scoring last summer (21.2). "That's what I came back for."

Sappy love

The sentiments are too squishy and gooey to print, all the admiration that dribbles out of players' and coaches' mouths when Donovan's name is the topic. Even former Washington star Giuliana Mendiola was respectful of Donovan after she was passed over by the Storm and every other team in the WNBA draft (signing eventually with Sacramento).

"You find anyone (to say something bad)," challenged Sting guard Dawn Staley, who played for Donovan for two seasons. "We're from the old school, if you respect us, we'll respect you."

Donovan gives a "Thanks, fellas" to the men she uses as practice bodies every time they visit, her office door is open whenever a player wants to talk, or she'll pull one in if she believes they aren't showing their full potential.

And it's not unusual. While most professional coaches stay out of their players' personal lives, they do quirky things as motivation. Cooper makes players dance inside a circle to break tension. Chancellor will cancel practice if he feels his players' legs are tired. Lacey is known for swapping a grueling session for a day at the movies.

"But they never want to see the movie I pick," Lacey said.

More than gimmicks, it's the visible passion Donovan has that players say motivates them.

Four days is all she allows herself to stretch out her 6 foot 8 frame on a warm beach with a Jodi Picoult novel. Of course that'll be after the Storm season ends and she's coached her first Olympics as an assistant under Chancellor.

"I want to go deep into October and then the college basketball season starts, so there isn't much time," Donovan said.

If it weren't for her gray cat, Romeo, Donovan would probably never stop. He's epileptic and needs his medication twice a day, which means Donovan has to return home.

"He keeps me balanced," she said.

Otherwise she's contorting her body in the window seat of the exit row in coach on flights, trying to complete the job of many women before her.

"If anyone can change the tide a little bit it's Anne Donovan," said Michael Cooper, the Los Angeles coach.

But he'll have to relinquish his three-year hold on the Western Conference title first.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com