Gary Kloppenburg, pictured with Indiana Fever head coach Lin Dunn, was tapped as Tulsa's coach today. (Photo by Craig Bennett/112575 media)
Gary Kloppenburg has been announced as the newest head man for the Tulsa Shock today. Kloppenburg comes to Tulsa after spending the previous four seasons assisting the Indiana Fever and long-time colleague Lin Dunn.
In the past four years Indiana has posted an overall record of 81-55, and has reached the playoffs in each of the last four seasons. The Fever fell to the Phoenix Mercury in the 2009 WNBA Finals, and most recently lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to Atlanta Dream in 2011. Prior to his stint with the Fever, Kloppenburg was Dunn's assistant for the Seattle Storm in 2000-02. During those years in Seattle, the team went 33-63, including a 6-26 inaugural season for the Storm.
"There are a number of excellent free agents available that I am confident will want to come to Tulsa and become a part of a franchise on the rise and we will be aggressively reaching out to them in the coming months," Kloppenburg said in a release. "I envision a Shock team next season that will play tough and aggressive pressure defense as well as be able to run an up tempo and early flow offense. We know we have a lot of hard work to do in 2012, but good players and coaches relish challenges such as the one in front of us."
Kloppenburg is noted for his staunch defensive coaching style, in a similar vein to his father, Bob. The elder Kloppenburg spent time in numerous organizations across the NBA and is credited with the innovation of the SOS Defensive System.
Along with his time as a WNBA assistant, Gary was on the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats staff from 2004-07, when the team freshly entered the league. The club went 77-169 during those years, with Bernie Bickerstaff as the head coach. He also worked in the Toronto Raptors organization as the West Coast advance scout in the late 90's.
Beyond his WNBA and NBA experience, Kloppenburg spent time coaching in the CBA, ABA and at the college level. His head coaching pedigree includes 11 years at Lassen Community College in Susanville, Calif., where he was the women's coach for five seasons followed by coaching the men for six seasons. His time at Lassen spanned from 1988-99. He was also tapped as the head coach of the Reno Sharpshooters of the ABA in 2007-08, but the season never materialized as the team could not secure a venue in which to play.
He comes to the Shock as the third coach to take the post in as many years. Nolan Richardson, Tulsa's head coach during the first transition year of the team, was replaced on an interim basis by Teresa Edwards midway through 2011's trying 3-31 campaign. Richardson was abruptly replaced 11 games into his second season after a dismal 1-10 start, but Edwards did not fare any better for the Shock, unfortunately.
Personally, this looks to be a curious coaching hire with such limited experience as the head of an organization despite a 23-year coaching career. Richardson and Edwards served both as coach and general manager, but no word has come down on the full scope of Kloppenburg's duties as of yet.
0 recs | 23 comments
At this point....
…any choice is a good one.
James Bowman - January 3, 2012
True true
Someone is better than no one. But. Is this the right someone? I sure hope so, for the sake of the Shock! :)
Jessica Lantz - January 3, 2012
I would be interested
to know who you all would have thought should get the job?
Almost there - January 3, 2012
Angela Taylor for GM and Julie Plank as head coach?
thewiz06 - January 3, 2012
but overall his resume looks solid so I don't think he will be a bad hire off the bat, but the jury is still out on how good he can be.
thewiz06 - January 3, 2012
Tom Thibodeau of the WNBA?
I have no idea… but he has a defensive rep and has been around Indiana for a while.
He has to have some idea of how to get this team playing defense.
Having a 6’8" center doesn’t exactly hurt, nor does having one of the league’s top defensive rebounders.
And there will be some defensive options available to them in the draft.
Nate Parham - January 4, 2012
To me really bad teams need to get a good offense first.
no point having a good defense if the offense is even worse.
thewiz06 - January 4, 2012
Perhaps
there is some kind of barrier for plank/taylor combo that we all dont know about? ie it looks like there is no GM?
Almost there - January 3, 2012
i think the barrier is that taylor doesn't want to coach
and plank doesn’t want to be a GM. And with Corey Gaines now taking his new title as GM of the Mercury, the WNBA GM as just a GM is a nearly dead breed.
thewiz06 - January 3, 2012
I'm completely underwhelmed....
That franchise needed a great hire this time, and I see nothing to make me think he’s it. He’s not even the best former Fever assistant they could have hired.
Amy22 - January 3, 2012
Mystics fans felt similarly about Taylor and Plank when they were hired.
Neither was explicitly a GM nor a head coach before, but everyone else around the WNBA loved them and said they were ready for those jobs.
thewiz06 - January 3, 2012
I, like Amy22...
Feel pretty underwhelmed by this one. However. I am encouraged by thewiz06 pointing out that these same feelings were present with Taylor and Plank. I didn’t have a specific person I hoped would be hired, but Taylor & Plank’s names were both definitely in my head as possibilities. Just like at that time, everyone seems really excited about Klopp’s new opportunity – fellow coaches, commentators and players alike. So perhaps I need to stop being a preemptive doubter! LOL
Jessica Lantz - January 3, 2012
If there are a lot of players who genuinely think it's a good choice.....
And aren’t just saying it to avoid a lot of public ugliness (looking at you, Trudi Lacey), then that would make me much more positive about the selection. The difference with Plank and Taylor is that they both had significant careers around women’s basketball. Kloppenburg seems to have coached anywhere he could find work, and changed jobs pretty frequently. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and maybe he’s the next Bill Laimbeer, but given the number of options you’d think Tulsa would have had, not the direction I would have gone.
Amy22 - January 4, 2012
It's tough to get a solid coach
for a WNBA team with talent. In this case, the new coach will be coaching the least talent in the league and probably the greatest disparity in talent vis a vis the rest of the league in history. The Shock have just completed the worst season in league history, and only have the fourth pick in a weak draft to show for it. And, they played a 40 year old guard/forward 26 minutes a game. And their 6’8" center with some promise will miss most of the season.
Coaching the Tulsa Shock in 2012 is going to be a nightmare unless he can sign some solid free agents. But the bad news is that good free agents avoid bad teams.
In other words, I forsee a dismal 2012 for the Shock even if they could have coaxed Phil Jackson into coaching them.
ttdomi - January 4, 2012
the best way to improve is to take advantage of a fire sale by another team.
Last year, Atlanta took advantage of the Mystics’ firesale of the backcourt.
This year, Seattle, San Antonio or Indiana may be doing the same thing if they decide to rebuild and it could start as early as next month. Tulsa has youth to sell to other teams, and one superstar will not be able to lead them to the playoffs, so the draft pick the Shock can trade for a superstar can still be Griner/Diggins/Delle Donne. Once a superstar is in Tulsa after a trade, then it should be easier to attract better players. This isn’t a “Ted Leonsis rebuild of the Caps” plan, but the Shock should try to do something like this or this team will fold after this season or next season. The Mystics probably are considering a similar route because I don’t think most fans will be able to put up with another bad season when the team has no notable players after Lang, and no Olympians, etc. I heard the renewal rate for next year was well under the 85% rate the Wizards got.
I’m so sorry that my Mystics bashing is coming back again….. But they’re really Tulsa-East.
thewiz06 - January 4, 2012
I am really happy for Tulsa
i think that the process was a solid one. Head coaching jobs in the W are hard to come by and lots of folks have to bide their time until the right role comes up. I wish Gary and everyone at Tulsa all the best!
Almost there - January 3, 2012
Given that WNBA teams are all trying to cut costs
I would think that Kloppenburg is also GM. It would be nice if they separated the roles, but I doubt it.
And with his quote:
I don’t see most free agents wanting to come there but Kloppenburg has been in the WNBA for a long time, so he probably has great cred. In addition, he can say that they aren’t the Mystics and they have more upside than the Mystics do as well.
thewiz06 - January 3, 2012
It looks like Edwards is completely out in all capacities?
https://twitter.com/#!/tulsashock/status/154641787535900672
https://twitter.com/#!/tulsashock/status/154642014217048064
Shannon Cotterell - January 4, 2012
I guess so.
Edwards was put into a bad situation on a team void of talent and of a soul. The Shock can be turned around only by cleaning house at the top. Though I think she will get another chance to coach in the future, hopefully she can be put into a better situation next time.
thewiz06 - January 4, 2012
void of talent?
That makes ma laugh Cambage and Pedersen were/are the only talent they have and Edwards had a good crack at destroying their games. I hope Edwards never gets another chance to push her paranoid, ego driven lack of coaching ability on any other team/individual. Seriously good coaching makes players better not worse, provide support and training and they lead a team to a good culture and dont fall in love with their own reflection. Oh and I do know what happened as i was there!
Almost there - January 4, 2012
"Oh and I do know what happened as i was there!"
Oh??
ttdomi - January 5, 2012
Cleaning house at the top?
Are you referring to Steve Swethoa? I am suprised to see that from the tweet referenced that he now has some GM duties.
ttdomi - January 5, 2012
I wonder if they were actually considering her for 2012.
The team did not improve under her from how they had started the season under RIchardson, and they fired Richardson.
ttdomi - January 5, 2012
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