Last month, Dawn Staley told me that she thought Cheryl Reeve was the “fieryest” coach the U.S. team has had since Pat Summitt. When I told her that, she laughed and said she had become much more reserved. And in that first half against Japan, Reeve was remarkably calm.
She spent most of the half coaching from the bench and really tried to relax the players when they were visibly frustrated. When she left the court for halftime, she had one hand in her pocket and was chatting with Chelsea Gray. If you don’t know the score, you probably wouldn’t guess it was an 11-point game.
