On Thursday, the WNBA announced new changes to the coach’s challenge. In response to those changes, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello expressed her satisfaction.
Teams will now be awarded a second coach’s challenge — to be used during regulation play or in overtime — if the first is successful, the league announced. The new change for the 2024 season comes after the league instituted a challenge system, on a trial basis, for the first time in 2023. Last season, coaches were not awarded a second challenge if they won the first one.
Coaches are allowed to trigger a review on a called out-of-bounds violation, a called goaltending or basket interference violation or a foul called on their own team. In addition, a team may continue to retain the timeout used to initiate its first challenge if that challenge is successful.
Brondello called the change “exciting,” and looks forward to using the first challenge more liberally. The coach said she normally wouldn’t challenge calls in the first half and opted to save the review for a more high-leverage situation in the second half. Brondello added that the team will have a designated staff member with an iPad ready to alert her if a play should be challenged or not.
“I’m excited to see how I use it,” Brondello said about the new challenge rules. “You still have to get adapted to that. We’ll have someone that can obviously help on the iPad.”
When asked if the preseason will be a time for her to get used to the new rule, Brondello added: “Yeah, probably a good time to play around with it, explore it [and] get used to it.”
Liberty star center Jonquel Jones said Friday she is also in favor of the new rule, but thinks it could still be revised.
“I thought it was crazy last year,” she told the Daily News after Day 6 of training camp. “I feel like if you challenge something, you shouldn’t be penalized and lose the challenge or lose the timeout if you were right… I mean, I like the new rules, but I still feel like if I’m challenging stuff the whole game and I’m right the whole game, then I should be able to keep my challenge the whole time.”
#WNBA announces rule changes for the 2024 season.
Teams will now be awarded a second Coach’s Challenge – to be used during regulation play or in overtime – if their first Challenge is successful. pic.twitter.com/w8zhNvgcyI
— Fiifi Frimpong (@FiifiFrimpong) May 2, 2024
RESET TIMEOUT
The 2024 WNBA season will also feature reset timeouts for late-game situations. A reset timeout will allow teams to advance the ball and make substitutions, but not huddle. Each team will have one reset timeout in the final two minutes of the fourth period and one in the final two minutes of any overtime period.
To request a reset, a head coach or player must call a timeout and then immediately cross their arms like an “X” and verbalize “reset” to an official.
If either team huddles or prevents the ball from immediately being put into play, a delay of game will be assessed to that team. A reset may not be used due to a stoppage for an injured player, or other delay, unless a team does not have any team timeouts remaining.
Brondello said “there are a lot of different things we’ve got to think about now,” in regards to strategy with the new rules and that she’ll utilize the reset “probably more than anything.”
TIMEOUT STRUCTURE
This season, each team will be allocated five team timeouts in regulation along with a reset timeout. In 2023, each team were allocated four team timeouts. Twenty-second timeouts are now eliminated.
Each team will be limited to two team timeouts after the later of these two instances: the three-minute mark of the fourth period or the conclusion of the second mandatory timeout of the fourth period.
“This is something that the head coaches asked for,” Brondello said. “The timeout structure — that’s what we pushed for.”
