Former CBA Coach Mike Thibault to Serve on 2006 USA Women's Basketball World Championship Staff
February 16, 2006 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1) News Release
Colorado Springs, CO (February 16, 2006) - Former Continental Basketball Association head coach and current WNBA head coach Mike Thibault was named today to the coaching staff of the 2006 USA Women's World Championship Team, which is headed by four-time Olympic team member and Seattle Storm head mentor Anne Donovan. Also named to the coaching staff were collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of Duke University (N.C.) and Temple University's (Pa.) Dawn Staley.
"This is a tremendous staff and I am very excited to work with Mike, Gail and Dawn," said 2006-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team head coach Donovan. "Our backgrounds are all somewhat diverse and bringing all that experience together will make us a very tough, well rounded staff."
The three selected coaches are all familiar with USA Basketball and the international game. Thibault, who in three years coaching women's basketball has guided the Connecticut Sun to a pair of WNBA Finals, spent 13 years coaching professional men's teams and served as head coach of two USA Basketball men's squads that captured silver at the 1995 Pan American Games and gold at the 1993 FIBA Americas (formerly known as COPABA) World Championship Qualifying Tournament.
The Donovan-led U.S. squad will look to defend its World Championship title at the 15th FIBA World Championship, scheduled to be played Sept. 12-23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Behind the play of 2002 FIBA World Championship MVP Leslie, the United States captured the '02 gold medal, successfully defending its 1998 World Championship crown. The U.S. owns a record seven gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the World Championship, while compiling an 80-20 (.800 winning percentage) record, including a 19-0 winning streak that dates back to the 1994 bronze medal game.
Mike Thibault
"Mike Thibault has shown the WNBA what he is all about...winning," said Donovan. "He has coached his Connecticut Sun team to the WNBA Finals the past two seasons and throughout his career has shown his abilities to win. Mike's experience with some of our men's teams internationally will be a help to us as well. Mike has the personality and experience that will help me greatly in the heat of the battles that we are going to face."
"To be able to coach for USA Basketball is such an honor," said Thibault. "But to be able to do it on both sides is amazing. It's not something I ever would have expected to do in my career, some of my best coaching experiences have been with USA Basketball. Having the chance to work with three great coaches, all three have done so much in this game, and working with the top basketball players in the world will be exciting We have a challenge ahead of us, but with this staff and the athletes we have in this country, we will be up to that challenge.
"I know about some of the international players from scouting in the WNBA and studying them for the draft, looking at free agents. I've been to Australia, and we have a couple of Australian players on our roster. I've seen a lot of the Russians before and our team played the Chinese National Team two years ago. There should be some exciting games, there are some really good teams out there. When I went down to Argentina (for the Pan Am Games) I didn't know much about the competition, but you can't do that anymore, so I've been watching a lot of tape to get ready for the World Championship."
Owning international coaching experience on the men's side, Thibault has guided a pair of USA Basketball squads to the medal stand. In 1993 he directed a USA team consisting of CBA stars to a 6-1 overall record and the gold medal over top squads from the Americas at the World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico. He returned two years later, again with a CBA-laden squad, and piloted the 1995 USA Pan American Games Team to the silver medal and a 4-3 record in Argentina. His three losses in that tournament came by a total of nine points and once again his team was pitted against some of the top talent from the Americas.
Thibault took over the Connecticut Sun program in 2003 and guided the team to the WNBA Eastern Conference playoffs in his first season coaching women's basketball. In doing so, he became the first coach in franchise history to advance the Sun in the WNBA playoffs. He then upped the ante in the next two seasons. Predicted to finish last in the conference in 2004, Thibault led his team to an 18-16 slate, then took the Sun on a run through the playoffs and into the WNBA Finals. In 2005 he piloted Connecticut to a league-best 26-8 record and a second consecutive appearance in the WNBA Finals.
During his tenure, the Sun has never dropped more than three games in a row and in earning a franchise record eight straight victories during the 2005 season, he eclipsed the franchise record of six consecutive wins set by his 2004 squad. In all, Thibault owns a 62-40 (.608 winning percentage) record with the Connecticut Sun.
A 13-year men's professional coach, including four years (1998-99 through 2001-02) as an assistant with the NBA Milwaukee Bucks, Thibault got his start with the World Basketball League's Calgary 88's in 1987-88. He then spent eight years (1989-90 through 1996-97) building a 236-205 record (.535 winning percentage) with the Continental Basketball Association's (CBA) Omaha Racers, where his squads not only competed in the CBA playoffs each year, but he led his teams to the 1993 CBA championship and returned the following year to the CBA Finals.
In 1989, Thibault began a remarkable eight-year run as general manager and head coach of CBA's Omaha Racers. The Racers made the playoffs each season (1989-97) under his watch, bringing home a CBA title in 1993 and a return to the finals in 1994. Thibault was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by the Omaha sportscasters and ranks sixth on the CBA all-time coaching victory list (236).
Hired as an assistant to George Karl and Milwaukee Bucks in 1998-99, over the span of four seasons the Thibault-assisted Bucks compiled a 163-133 (.551 winning percentage), clinched the 2001 Central Division title and advanced to the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.
2006 USA Women's World Championship Team Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Anne Donovan, Seattle Storm
Assistant Coaches: Gail Goestenkors, Duke University; Dawn Staley, Temple University; Mike Thibault, Connecticut Sun
2006 FIBA World Championship Facts
Site: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Dates: Sept. 12-23, 2006
USA Head Coach: Anne Donovan, Seattle Storm
USA Assistant Coaches: Gail Goestenkors (Duke University), Dawn Staley (Temple University), Mike Thibault (Connecticut Sun).
USA Team: 12 Players TBD
Nations Qualified: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Lithuania Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the USA.
USA World Championship Record: 80-20
USA Medal Count: 7 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
USA World Championship Winning Streak: 19 games
Defending FIBA World Champion: United States
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