Carly Wilson – The Evening Game

WNBL19: University of Capitals coach Paul Goriss on Kristy Wallace signing and a new look team

May 6, 2018November 13, 2021Posted in SportTagged Basketball, Carly Wilson, Kelsey Griffin, Kristy Wallace, Leilani Mitchell, Marianna Tolo, WNBL, WNBL19, Women's sport

Speaking to this site after the 2016/17 WNBL season wrapped up, University of Canberra Capitals coach Paul Goriss reflected on some of the talented players that had come through the AIS when he coached there. Many of the youngsters he had worked with had become household names – Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum and Ben Simmons.

But there was one “very special player” he mentioned that was relatively unknown at the time – Kristy Wallace.

Since then, Wallace has further honed her craft at Division I program Baylor and played a starring role in Australia’s gold medal winning 2017 World University Games team.

She has also signed a two-year deal with the University of Canberra Capitals, reuniting with Goriss for her first professional basketball.

We would like to welcome Kristy Wallace to the UC Capitals for the next two years!https://t.co/A8qilERrdz pic.twitter.com/cG8DIecJsI

— UC Capitals (@UCCapitals) May 3, 2018

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‘Unleashing the beast’

Goriss says the intangibles Wallace brings immediately stood out when he coached her back in 2014. “There’s very few people that I’ve coached that have that drive and tenacity and want to get better,” he says.

“My first impression of her was someone that loves the game of basketball, wants to be the best that she can and goes about it with such a high work ethic.”

The 22-year-old Wallace will now need to call on all of that work ethic to overcome the ACL injury that brought her college career with the Baylor Bears to a premature end.

The team have no doubt she can make a full recovery, however. “We’d already spoken prior to her doing her ACL,” Goriss says.

“Whether she was injured or nor we started speaking to her very early on about coming back and playing WNBL.

“The knee injury was very unfortunate, but we’re standing by her because I know how valuable she will be to our group.”

After completing studies at the Texan college, Wallace is expected to arrive in Canberra around June, where she will undertake a full medical examination and the timeline for her return to court will become clearer.

Such a major injury requires a long and taxing rehabilitation program, though Goriss has a good-natured chuckle at the suggestion the team may look to ease her into the rotation when she returns.

“Mate, there’s no easing with her,” he says. “The thing will be us trying to stop her going full tilt at everything she does.

“We’ll throw her into the line-up depending on where she’s at medically and we’ll make sure all the boxes are ticked before she gets on court. But one thing we know with Kristy is this – as soon as we unleash the beast, the beast will be at 150%.

“There will be no stopping her, I’m sure, once she gets out there.”

Wallace’s fit on the team

Wallace’s ability as a scorer and distributor were a major part of why WNBA team Atlanta Dream drafted her in the second round and view her as a valuable long-term prospect. But her leadership and lionhearted defence are equally impressive parts of her game and led to her winning Baylor’s ‘Hustle and Courage’ award.

A long 5’11 guard who was a great floor general for Baylor, Wallace is seen as a combo guard by the team. Goriss says she will be a good fit alongside one of the team’s prized signings, Leilani Mitchell.

When coaching Wallace at National Under 19s level, Goriss played her in the backcourt alongside Flames prodigy Tahlia Tupaea, and says Wallace and Mitchell could form a similar switching 1-2 duo.“No one was a point guard or an off guard (in that team), it was whoever has the ball brings it up the floor and the other becomes a lane runner.

“We’re not going to pigeonhole Kristy into a role. She’s got unbelievable speed, so we want to enhance that, whether it’s the ball in her hands or not.

Goriss also believes Wallace’s ability to play as a primary ball-handler will free up Mitchell, a career .395 shooter from three-point range at WNBA level, to play off ball and function as more of a pure scorer.

On the defensive end, Goriss says Wallace has the length and athleticism to guard small forwards as well as guards. “Our league doesn’t really have too many threes that will really take you down and post you up. So, I think she can definitely guard a one, two or three.”

Goriss welcomed the retired Carly Wilson to the coaching staff last season. "Carly has a great basketball IQ" he says. Photo: Vanessa Lam — Goriss welcomed the retired Carly Wilson to the coaching staff last season. “Carly has a great basketball IQ” he says. Photo: Vanessa Lam

Big name players, big time expectations

Wallace, of course, isn’t the only big signing the University of Canberra Capitals have made. Marianna Tolo, Kelsey Griffin and Leilani Mitchell are all players who have been in MVP contention in this league before. Individually, each moves the needle. Collectively, they give the team a big three that has already got people talking about championships.

“We’re not going to shy away from that,” Goriss says. “We’ve recruited the team to make the top four and to push for a championship run. I think that kind of expectation is good to have.

“I also think we’ve got the right character within the group. Number one, they’re good people and number two, they’re good basketball players. They all want to play together, they want to make the team work and they’re invested in it”

Goriss concedes such a new-look team may take time to gel. “I guess that’s always one of the big challenges with a new group and unfortunately we’ve had to bring in the majority of our group over the last two seasons.”

Mitchell, Tolo and Griffin have all played for the Opals at various stages, where Goriss is an assistant coach. The Capitals will run some of the same offensive systems, meaning there is some inbuilt familiarity for the incoming or returning players.

The team still has a handful of roster spots to fill, including both import spots and Goriss says they are likely to bring in an import three, as well as a player to start at the two until Wallace can play. A big to fill in for Marianna Tolo, who also has an ACL injury, is also on their shopping list.

Goriss also reflected on the value of having club legend Carly Wilson as one of his assistant coaches last season. “Carly has a great basketball IQ,” he says. “It was difficult for her working a full-time job and then coming to practice and the games, but what she knows about the players and the WNBL was invaluable.

“She has that perspective of a newly retired player and can bring what it’s like out on the floor into the coaching seat. And she can relate to the players, that’s a great quality of hers.”

WNBL18: Carly Wilson on new coaching role, UC Capitals season and the value of veterans

September 21, 2017November 13, 2021Posted in SportTagged Abi Wehrung, Basketball, Carly Wilson, Kate Gaze, Keely Froling, Marianna Tolo, Mistie Bas, Nat Hurst, Paul Goriss, University of Canberra Capitals, WNBL, WNBL17, WNBL18, Women's sport

Of all sport’s clichés, perhaps the most insidious is that nice guys finish last. Over her decorated WNBL career, Carly Wilson was like a one-woman counterargument to that idea, being one of the league’s most successful competitors as well as a universally popular figure and admired teammate.

Speaking to this site shortly after the last of her 363 games, UC Capitals head coach Paul Goriss said the club was keen to keep such an affable and experienced figure around, an ambition now realised with Wilson coming on board as an assistant coach.

“It feels like a natural progression” Wilson says of the appointment. “I’d taken on some player coaching roles in my last few seasons and I’ve always been lucky enough to have a really good relationship with the head coach as a player where I would be able to speak to them about anything I could see that I thought could help us, or they would come to me and get my opinions on things. So, I always thought (coaching) was something I would go into at some stage.”

UC Capitals coaching staff: Carly Wilson, Paul Goriss, Peta Sinclair. Photo: Vanessa Lam

Wilson is already relishing the move. “Every time I get to training and I’ve rushed from work and it’s been a ‘not great’ day because things have been super stressful, I think ‘Yes, I’m glad I’m on this side of the fence and not doing that same warm-up I’ve done a million times before!’. It feels right”

While Wilson played with the team last season, the squad is quite different, with only Kate Gaze, Abby Wehrung and Keely Froling returning from last year’s fifth-placed group. The youthful trio all saw Wilson as something of a mentor or quasi coach already, something she says may make the transition from playing group to coaching staff smoother.

Work commitments will likely prevent Wilson from doing too many individuals or video work, but she will be hands on at training and helping out with game plans. Wilson and fellow assistant, Peta Sinclair, a WNBL champion and experienced coach, are still working out the details of how they will divide up tasks. “I think that will happen organically during pre-season” Wilson says. “We’ll see which areas we feel comfortable in, and where we have ideas that we think will work.”

A physically taxing season ahead

One area Wilson feels her recent experience as a player can help with is in monitoring fatigue, training load and minor injuries. “When someone turns into a head coach, it’s difficult for them to keep track of those things, they just need players on court for longer and want to be coaching for as long as they can.

“I’ve still got that player mentality. If ‘Gorrie’ says at the start of training ‘We’re going for an hour and a half today’, then I’m in his ear when 90 minutes is up saying: ‘Right, how long more are we going for?’

Having a feel for the nagging pains and niggling injuries will be doubly important in the newly condensed WNBL18 schedule. “It will be a really big learning curve…it’s an environment we haven’t had to deal with before.” Wilson says. “This year there’s lots of double headers, lots of games in a short time, a lot of travel. We need to make sure we have those fit, happy, healthy bodies.”

Making the challenge even greater is what shapes as a hard-fought, supremely even competition. “I think it’s going to be really tight across the board, as you say each team could make a case for winning the whole thing.” Wilson needs to look no further than last year’s team to know the margin for error can be razor-thin in the WNBL, even for a richly talented squad.

“When I think of the team we had last year, we had such a great team and we really should have won more games. You just drop a couple and all of a sudden, you don’t make finals.”

The retiring Wilson chaired off court by Mikaela Ruef and Marianna Tolo. Photo: 5 Foot Photography

Veteran leadership

A number of experienced players from last year, including floor general Lauren Mansfield and imports Mikaela Ruef and Jazmon Gwathmey have moved elsewhere. Most significantly, the team’s co-captain, offensive focus and general good egg, Marianna Tolo, has returned to European competition.

In light of this turnover, Wilson says the locker room presence of Mistie Bass and seven-time WNBL champion Nat Hurst becomes even more important. “You’ve always got to have those steadying veterans, that people can look to on court to calm everyone down, call the plays, make good decisions. We’re lucky that we’ve got two really good ones.” Wilson also sees Rachel Jarry as a leader amongst the playing group, a role the dual Olympian has been eager to embrace.

The veteran know-how should help bring the squad together quickly. “It’ll be really important to make sure everyone’s bonded and on the same page” Wilson reflects. “In other seasons, having a slow start might not affect you that drastically, you have to time to pull it back together. But now, if we’re talking the first three weeks, that’s already six games and a huge chunk of the season done. You don’t have that luxury of easing your way into it.”

It should make for a challenging, fascinating season and the league’s return to television only adds to the excitement. “It’s even bigger than people probably realise” Wilson says of the broadcast deal. “It couldn’t be more important and I’m thrilled about it.”

WNBL: Paul Goriss on the University of Canberra Capitals’ resurgent year

March 17, 2017November 13, 2021Posted in SportTagged Abi Wehrung, Alicia Froling, Basketball, Callie Bourne, Carly Wilson, Keely Froling, Lauren Mansfield, Marianna Tolo, Mikaela Ruef, Paul Goriss, WNBL

With seven premierships to their name, the University of Canberra Capitals are the most successful club in WNBL history, but after losing the iconic likes of Lauren Jackson, Jess Bibby and coach Carrie Graf to retirement, had endured two barren years. Under new coach Paul Goriss, who joined the team from Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, their primary aim was to restore a winning culture to the club and identify young players who can form the core of the team for years to come.

Coaching staff identified 14 wins as the magic number to qualify for the semis before the season, but felt the finals would just be the “icing on the cake”. After only recording two wins last year, the Capitals tallied 13, with a couple of heartbreaking losses and badly-timed injuries seeing them just miss the playoffs. They beat every other WNBL team, but also lost to every other opponent. Overall, their improvement was dramatic, with the team increasing their points per game from 60.8 last year to a far healthier 72.

A huge part of this resurgence was down to the return of Marianna Tolo, who was utterly dominant at both ends. After being encouraged to subdue her selfless instincts and be a key scorer, she ranked third in the league in total points, while her elite rim protection made her a no-brainer choice for defensive player of the year. Sadly for the Caps, Tolo will return overseas next season, though it is not goodbye for good. “She goes to Europe with our blessing” Goriss says, “knowing that one day she’ll be back as a Canberra Capital”.

Goriss is under no illusions as to the difficulty of replacing such a player, however. “To be quite honest, Tolo is irreplaceable” he says. As influential as the Opals star was on the court, her impact on the club went well beyond her prolific shot-blocking and low post scoring. “She was great with sponsors, great with fans, great with kids and just amazing with the playing group. She played through injury for a lot of the year, and when she couldn’t play, she was getting ice for people, running water bottles for the other girls, that’s the sort of person she is. She’s a consummate player and professional. She’ll talk to anyone and gives everyone the time of day”.

Among Tolo’s frontcourt partners was Keely Froling, a long, athletic forward who has been a fixture in elite junior squads. Already signed for next season, she enjoyed a successful rookie year, particularly after her college career was marred by knee injuries described as “really horrific”. Froling brought real intensity to her court time and projects as a top rebounder; she collected a rebound every 4.86 minutes, a rate comparable to elite rebounders like Carley Mijovic (4.25) and Laura Hodges (4.48). More generally, she soaked up knowledge from the seasoned pros in the squad. “She really did a commendable job” Goriss says. “For her, training with people like Carly Wilson and Jazmon (Gwathmey) really expedited her learning”.

The team is also keeping an eye on the progress of Froling’s twin sister, Alicia, who is currently smashing rebounding and scoring records for Division 1 school Southern Methodist University, though it’s far from a given the pair will once again play together. “She’s part of our recruiting plans for sure, we’d love to have her” Goriss says of Alicia. “But we’re also aware that (the sisters) don’t necessarily come as a package deal”.

Capitals already have one set of sisters, local juniors Callie and Issie Bourne, who joined the team as development players and earned some valuable exposure to WNBL level. Callie is a waterbug point guard while Issie, one of the youngest players to get court time in the recent years, could potentially play at multiple positions. Both reflect the team’s focus on providing a pathway for talented locals.

Abbey Wehrung was a much improved 3 point shooter.

The youth movement also includes third year guard Abbey Wehrung. While Goriss initially told Wehrung that he wasn’t that sure she was an WNBL player, the 21-year-old soon overcame his initial scepticism and was arguably amongst the competition’s most improved players, upping her numbers across the board. She was also more efficient, raising her field goal percentage from 34% to 41%, and seeing her outside shooting percentage jump from 28% to 40%. It’s an improvement Goriss puts down to her work ethic. “She is one of the hardest working young players I’ve seen. She lives the game, she loves the game, and she really proved she belongs”. Her late absence due to an ankle injury proved telling: “We were much better when she was on the court”.

More experienced players also had strong campaigns for the resurgent team. Mikaela Ruef joined from Adelaide and continued to be a monster on the boards; she led the competition in rebounds and earned a training camp invite from WNBA champions Los Angeles Sparks. Point guard Lauren Mansfield continued to push her case for Opals selection as a high level pick and roll orchestrator, while Kate Gaze was an elite catch and shoot player in her best games, most memorably sinking six of six three-pointers to help inflict a rare loss on Sydney. Gaze struggled with back problems at times and Goriss says her best form directly correlated with her health. “When she had that time on the court and practise time, that’s when she was really shooting well”.

As much as possible, the Capitals plan to keep this core together. Goriss is an avowed admirer of the San Antonio Spurs, who are widely regarded as basketball’s smartest organisation and place a high value on continuity. Just as that team gave retiring legend Tim Duncan the opportunity to be “assistant coach of whatever he likes”, the Caps have every intention of keeping beloved retiree Carly Wilson involved in a yet to be determined role.

“We’ve had a brief discussion (about her future), but I also want to give her some time and space, it was an emotional time with her retiring and how we went out” Goriss says of Wilson. “She’s very keen to get into coaching, but she’s also always telling me she hasn’t had an off-season or a summer off in 18 years. So she needs some time away from the game, but definitely wants to help in any way she can, so she’ll be around, whether that is doing individuals or in some other capacity”.

Carly Wilson brought leadership and outside shooting.

As the team continues to rebuild, the passionate Goriss has become a strong advocate for the club’s links with the University of Canberra and believes such affiliations can be key to the league successfully competing for talent with the US college system. “I think it’s just a case of educating the players on how we can develop them here, because I think we can do it better than the colleges”.

He is full of praise for the current Capitals setup. “I may be biased, but the facilities and support staff…it really couldn’t have been better. We have something special here”. For Canberra fans who have been heartened by the team’s vastly improved on court fortunes, such an endorsement for their off-court setup is a huge positive as they look to return to their glory days.