With a laid-back coaching style that includes more jokes and smiles than raised voices and reprimands, Washington Mystics interim head coach Wayne “Tree” Rollins doesn’t resemble a man in charge of team that is still winless three weeks into the 2007 WNBA season.
In their first full week of practice under Rollins, the Mystics have worked on adjusting to his personality while reconciling it with the team’s increasingly desperate search for a victory.
“We have embraced it, and I was a little concerned at first because this team is young, and when you’re young, you tend to stray away,” said forward DeLisha Milton-Jones on Thursday. “When young players see a coach laughing and playing around, they think they can do it, and then the entire practice has a lack of concentration and focus. But we remedied that, and had a talk about it, and everyone understands that there’s a time to joke, and there’s a time to work. Today was as great practice.”
Rollins has added some tweaks and new plays that Milton-Jones hopes can lead to a performance against the Fever that will be far different from Washington’s 70-66 loss at Indiana just five days ago.
“Obviously personnel changed a little bit. We’re quicker and smaller,” said Rollins, despite the most recent addition of 6-foot-5 center Yelena Leuchanka, the team’s third acquisition in twoweeks. “We just gotta find a way now to get everybody collectively to play together.”
Indiana Fever (5-1) at Washington Mystics (0-6)
When » Tonight, 7
Where » Verizon Center
Radio » 1260 AM
