The Oregon athletic department hoped to make a big splash with the hiring of a new women’s basketball coach, and an unorthodox hire is already making waves.
Former NBA and WNBA coach Paul Westhead, 70, became the sixth head coach in Oregon women’s basketball history on March 26, replacing former Oregon player and two-time All-American Bev Smith. Smith, regarded as one of the Ducks’ greatest-ever female athletes, was not retained as coach after posting a 9-21 record this past season. Smith went 123-121 as head coach of the Ducks, with one NCAA tournament appearance and two Women’s National Invitational Tournament appearances. Oregon won the Women’s NIT in the 2001-02 season.
“We wanted the coach to fit the Oregon culture of being exciting, innovative and entertaining. I can’t think of anyone better than coach Westhead to do just that,” Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny said in a media release. “Over the years, Paul Westhead coached teams are the epitome of exciting and entertaining basketball. He clearly has a reputation as one of the top teachers of the game on both the men’s and women’s side.”
Westhead’s most recent job in basketball was assistant coach to former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach P.J. Carlesimo; he was let go after the Thunder began the season 1-12 and fired Carlesimo. He is the only head coach in history to win both an NBA Championship (1979-80, with the Los Angeles Lakers) and a WNBA Championship (2007, with the Phoenix Mercury). The Ducks, however, will be the first collegiate women’s team Westhead has ever coached.
In the collegiate ranks, Westhead is most famous for engineering the powerhouse teams of Loyola Marymount University. From 1985-1990, Westhead amassed a 105-48 record (.603 winning percentage) and three NCAA tournament appearances, advancing as far as the Elite Eight. His other stops include La Salle University (1970-79; made two NCAA tournament appearances) and George Mason University (1993-97); his overall collegiate record is 285-223 (.561).
Westhead won his NBA title with the Lakers – on a team featuring Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – in his first season as an NBA head coach. The Lakers would make the playoffs in Westhead’s second season and be ousted in the first round; 11 games into the 1981-82 season, he was fired and replaced with Pat Riley. The Lakers would go on to win the NBA title that year. He also served as an NBA head coach with the Chicago Bulls (1982-83) and the Denver Nuggets (1990-92) with a career record of 183-224 (.450).
Arriving in Phoenix for the 2006 season, Westhead produced the franchise’s first-ever WNBA championship in his second year, breaking the franchise scoring record each of his two seasons and compiling a 41-27 record (.603).
Westhead has also served as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic, and had stints in the American Basketball Association and in Japan.
“I found out from them more so than most teams I’ve coached that, once you get them going, the women play a terrific game,” Westhead told The Register-Guard last week. “It’s enjoyable to play, it’s enjoyable to coach. Without that experience, I don’t think I’d be here today.”
Westhead brings a distinct style of basketball to the table in a run-and-gun transition offense, an earlier incarnation of the style popularized by New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni in today’s NBA. The Oregon women were last in the Pacific-10 Conference in scoring (56.6 points per game) last season; an offense at breakneck speed will be a true variation from Smith’s half-court attacks, if little else. Controversy has surrounded Westhead’s offensive credo at all levels: His 1990-91 Nuggets team, which finished 20-62, allowed an NBA record 130.8 points per game despite averaging 119.9, leading the league.
“If we want to implement that style, we have got to be in top shape,” junior guard Micaela Cocks told The Register-Guard. “To get in top shape means we can’t wait for the season to start and then just turn it on. We’ll have to work hard from the get-go.
“Change sometimes makes people feel a little anxious, but it’s exciting, brings new challenges and opportunities. I think everyone feels positive about it.”
Though the hiring of Oregon’s staff under Westhead is not expected to be completed right away, current Phoenix Mercury head coach Corey Gaines is expected to join Westhead’s staff. Gaines, a former player under Westhead at Loyola Marymount who played five years in the NBA with four different teams, would retain his job with the Mercury while assisting Westhead with the Ducks. (The WNBA season begins in early-June and ends in late-September.)
In the meantime, fans are encouraged to buckle their seat belts and prepare for a wild offensive ride.
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