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Shatori Walker-Kimbrough just couldn’t help herself, even though she knew better. She understands the new rules, but she had to get something off her chest.

For that, the eighth-year WNBA veteran got an early glimpse of the evolution of Eric Thibault in his second season as the Washington Mystics’ head coach.

“Yeah, he’s cracking down. He’s standing on business, for sure,” Walker-Kimbrough said, recalling an incident during last week’s preseason opener at Atlanta. “He said in the beginning: ‘We’re not talking to refs. We’re moving on to the next play.’ A bad call got called, and I just felt like I just needed to talk to the ref about it. And he was like, ‘No, Tori, we’re not doing that.’ And that’s good. I didn’t listen because I got caught up in a moment. He’s holding us accountable for it.”

Thibault laughed after hearing Walker-Kimbrough’s remarks and added, “I led the league in technicals, so I’ve got to practice what I preach.”

Lessons learned all around. There was minimal chirping at the officials Wednesday as the Mystics closed the preseason with an 83-77 loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Entertainment and Sports Arena.

The team — and the entire league — has hit the final stretch of training camp, with final cuts coming Monday before the regular season opens Tuesday. The Mystics are down to 15 players — two more than they will carry on opening night — after Queen Egbo was traded to the Connecticut Sun this week for a 2025 second-round draft pick and the rights to 6-foot-10 Hungarian center Bernadett Hatar.

Decisions are on the horizon for the Thibaults — Eric and his father, Mike, the Mystics’ general manager and former head coach — about how this retooled roster will enter the season. As they make their evaluations, Eric Thibault has already gone through his own self-scout.

His first season as head coach was disrupted by injuries and finished with a 19-21 record and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/09/19/mystics-liberty-cloud-ionescu/" target=_blank>a sweep in the first round of the playoffs</a> against the New York Liberty. There were deep looks into the construction of the team and some personal introspection.

“I think there are certain things we value here in terms of our culture, accountability, being selfless, trying to elevate the people around us. And I had to think about that through the offseason,” Thibault said. “Was I doing everything I could to create the culture that enables that?”

A strong culture has long been a source of pride for the Mystics, but the offseason changes put a few thoughts in Thibault’s mind. The team is younger, has several new faces and no longer has the veteran presence of Elena Delle Donne, Natasha Cloud, Tianna Hawkins and Kristi Toliver. So Thibault wanted a reset of sorts. He couldn’t assume that everyone fully understood what the standards, rules and tone would be.

“It felt like time for kind of a fresh beginning, a fresh introduction, new establishing way of doing it,” the 36-year-old Thibault said. “There’s less connection to quote-unquote ‘how it used to be.’ And so I think it had to be a conscious decision to say, ‘Here’s where we’re starting, here’s where we’re going, and how are we going to get there in between?’ ”

Veterans who have been with the team for years said they ­haven’t seen drastic changes but more of a reemphasizing of core values. Thibault always has been considered a player’s coach, working with them individually and even continuing the rebounding duties he carried for years as an assistant. Walker-Kimbrough specifically mentioned him being more of a stickler on rules.

Before she was traded, Egbo brought a different viewpoint from most of her teammates. She was acquired in the middle of Thibault’s first year as head coach, and only Egbo and guard Brittney Sykes were on the roster last year and this year without previously playing for Thibault when he was an assistant.

<i>“</i>He’s a lot more comfortable,” Egbo said. “I feel like he’s definitely a lot more vocal. Last year we had a lot of vets who were … kind of guiding, I would say, me and the team on the floor. This year, Coach is a lot more vocal with making corrections, adjustments. And I feel like he’s just more persistent and stern on what he wants. I feel like he’s kind of found more so who he is as a coach and what he wants to bring to his team.”

There have been some practice tweaks — the Mystics watch film first thing instead of waiting until right before they take the court. There is a bit more delegation now that Thibault’s staff has handled an entire season with its current responsibilities. More practice time has been dedicated to playing five-on-five, and there has been an emphasis on the basics of passing, ballhandling and finishing.

In the way young players look to grow during the offseason, the same can be said for coaches.

“If I [watch] video of . . . my first season, I’m going, ‘What in the hell was I doing?’ ” said 15th-year Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who will lead the U.S. Olympic team this summer in Paris. “You learn what’s your identity. What do you like? What are your staples? . . . You’re not your finished product yet, just like a player. You’ve got to be in the trenches and be in the battles and get your a-- handed to you, that kind of thing. And you’ve got to learn and you’ve got to adjust and you’ve got to be self-aware.”

Wednesday’s preseason loss featured good and bad. The Mystics had 20 assists on 26 baskets, with six assists coming from 31-year-old rookie Julie Vanloo, whose court vision stood out. Thibault said he was pleased with the team’s defensive effort and communication but that the pace from the starters and finishing around the basket could use work.

Ariel Atkins scored a game-high 20 points, Myisha Hines-Allen added 12, and Karlie Samuelson finished with 11, including three three-pointers. Atkins, Samuelson, Sykes, Shakira Austin and Stefanie Dolson started both preseason games, and those expected to be in the rotation played significant minutes. Second-round draft pick Kaylynne Truong didn’t play Wednesday because of an ankle injury suffered in practice.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/18/maria-giovannetti-mystics/" target=_blank>Assistant general manager Maria Giovannetti</a> has worked with Thibault for a decade as they grew within the organization. She said she hasn’t noticed any major changes from Year 1 to Year 2, but she said Thibault has been sturdy as a leader with the team going through this transition. There were a lot of offseason discussions about “the things that we want to be about.” That included everything from not arguing with the officials to not wearing jewelry at practice.

“It might seem insignificant to take them as kind of like one-offs,” Giovannetti said. “But when you put them into the whole picture of being about the right things, being in it for the team and not yourself, we felt really confident as a group that this is what we’re going to go forward with.”

University of Michigan

Kareem Copeland has covered Washington's NFL franchise, the Utah Jazz, Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers and Green Bay Packers. He has also covered the Olympics, Super Bowls and extensively written about college athletics. 

Kareem Copeland

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Mystics Coach Eric Thibault focuses on culture in his second season

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