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Interview
20
Australian-born Maher’s illustrious coaching career has spanned four continents and a wide range of
competitions. He is the most successful coach in the history of the Women’s National Basketball League
(WNBL) in Australia having won seven WNBL titles. He earned the title of Coach of the Year in 1987, 1992
and 2010 and is a Life Member of the WNBL.
In 1996, Maher led the Australian women’s national basketball team to their first Olympic medal (a bronze)
and on to silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He moved on to coach the New Zealand national team to their
best-ever Olympic performance in Athens 2004 and then went on to coach the Chinese National Team into
fourth place at the Beijing Olympics.
In addition to his amazing success in the Olympic arena, Maher was the head coach for the Washington
Mystics in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the U.S. and head coach of WNBL teams
Nunawading, Perth, Sydney, Canberra and Bulleen.
In May 2009 Maher was appointed coach of the Great Britain women’s basketball team and is looking
towards the London 2012 Olympics.
Winning Ways
Tom Maher, Head Coach of Great Britain’s Women’s Basketball team, took the time to chat with Touchline.
Can you tell us a bit about your career path? What brought
you to women’s basketball?
I started coaching junior girls when my little sister Kerrie was 10.
I was playing then and her training was before mine, so it fitted
in nicely.
You have coached a range of teams from different
countries. Have you found the cultures of the teams
vastly different or is the culture of basketball quite
consistent?
Definitely. Each country’s culture is somewhat different, but
nevertheless there is a sub-culture in basketball that helps
understanding in the basketball community. Certainly China was
a huge difference because Chinese basketball had not progressed
to the type of ‘world’ game that the rest of the world has gravitated
towards. On the other hand, coaching New Zealand ‘culturally’
was virtually no different from coaching an Australian team; the
sporting ethos was so similar.
How is coaching a national team different to coaching a
WNBL team?
The biggest difference is that you don’t need to recruit and players
can’t get a transfer, this is good and bad. If the team lacks talent
there is no other way than to develop the players you have.
On the other hand, players that might play individually in other
club-type teams have to adhere to the party line if they want to
make the national team (unless of course a star player has so
much power they can hold the coach to ransom). Coaching a
national team is relevant to the talent you have, some countries
just aren’t that good, but coaching the Australian team which is
full of great players with great team ethics
is a dream job and in most ways easier
than coaching a club team.
You’ve
had
great
success
throughout your career as a
coach, what makes your teams
so
successful?
Are
there
particular universal techniques
you always use or do you tailor
your coaching style to the team?
The universal aspect that I apply is my
team philosophy, that comes with me
as a coach. Furthermore, I believe I
have a solid grasp on how basketball
should be played, so in general terms
I teach a successful style of play.
Nevertheless, a team is reliant on its
talent so one has to be mindful and
ready to make adjustments. Recently
I was asked this question and the
notion did come to me that one
thing that I think has helped me is
that I have a team mentality and the
team’s success was never about me.
In regards to my philosophy, I base
everything on seven themes. In short
to be successful, a team (or
individual) must rank highly in
F