PHOENIX – Based on anticipation/performance ratio, the reasoning seemed pretty solid.
"What it came down to ..." Phoenix Mercury president Amber Cox said, "(was) expectations were not being met."
With powerhouse rookie center Brittney Griner joining superstar Diana Taurasi and a (presumably) healthy list of upper-tier teammates, Phoenix seemed poised -- from a personnel standpoint -- to challenge for another championship.
We're not sure how high expectations usually are set when injury wrecks continuity for the second season in a row, but the Mercury currently sit at a very disappointing 10-11, having lost seven of their last 10 games.
So Corey Gaines, one of the employees who helped establish previous expectations by directing the Mercury to a WNBA title in 2009, was dismissed Thursday of his duties as head coach and general manager.
He's been replaced by Russ Pennell, who about five months ago was unexpectedly fired as head coach at Grand Canyon University in favor of former Phoenix Suns standout Dan Majerle. Pennell was finishing his best season with the Antelopes, had produced 42 victories over the past two years and was preparing to help escort them to the NCAA's Division I level.
"Sometimes there's a shelf life," Pennell, working (for now) with the interim label, said in regard to the fluidity of the coaching profession during a press conference that included some words of praise for Gaines.
But it's not easy to seem gracious in such situations – for the incoming coach or the person with the responsibility of letting the former coach go.
"None of his contributions were lost on any of us," Cox said of Gaines.
With Penny Taylor (currently out for the second time this season) having played in only six games during this campaign and Griner's minutes rationed in the 15 games she's participated in, perhaps Cox's assertion that "We thought it was time to shake things up a bit" has more to do with the how rather than the what.
And how Phoenix loses professional basketball games (seemingly forever on the women's and men's side) is not playing defense at a noticeably pesky level.
When asked what he anticipates as Job One now that he's jumping from coaching college men to the best female players on the planet, Pennell said defense.
"It'll be a subtle change," he said of a transition that will include having former Grand Canyon assistant Anthony Boone on staff. "What we have to do is build on the good things and correct the bad things."
Starting with Friday and Sunday home games against the Tulsa Shock, Pennell will have 13 regular-season opportunities to make these corrections a reality in the standings.
What's his Mercury shelf life beyond that?
"As long as we keep winning, I get to keep coaching 'em," Pennell said before identifying advice from his father, Dewey, who coached high school basketball for a few decades and believed that worrying about the next job could negatively impact the current job.
Why would a respected men's college coach be interested in a WNBA gig? For Pennell, the reasoning was obvious.
"It's very, very simple," he said. "You're talking about the greatest women athletes on the planet."
With gender not being an issue, the opportunity to coach players the caliber of Taurasi and Griner was too enticing to pass up.
To help resurrect this season's optimism, Pennell pointed said the emphasis will be less on worrying about opponents and more on connecting with his players.
"The curve of getting to know the team," he when asked to point out his biggest challenge. "I've got to accelerate this."
Pennell, 52, coached at Grand Canyon for four seasons, compiling a 72-44 overall record. In his one season as interim head coach at Arizona, he took the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in 2009.
Gaines joined the Mercury in 2006 as an assistant coach under Paul Westhead and succeeded Westhead as head coach in 2009. His leaves with a career record of 90-101.
