PHOENIX - Russ Pennell started watching the Mercury when he moved to Arizona, but until a few days ago he hadn't watched much of the WNBA team.
"I think it's ironic I sat there and watched more of that game than I had in years," Pennell said. "Little did I know what was going on at the time."
Unhappy with how its season was progressing, the Mercury announced Thursday they fired six-year head coach and general manager Corey Gaines and hired Pennell, a former University of Arizona and Grand Canyon University coach, as interim coach.
President and chief operating officer Amber Cox will take over interim general manager duties.
"What it really came down to is expectations for this team are not being met," Cox said. "Twenty-one games in, 10-11 on the season, and that's just not good enough quite frankly.
People are also reading…
"We feel like we should be in a better spot after 21 games so we felt like it was time to change things up a little bit and make this move midseason while we still have a third of the season left."
Pennell, 52, has 30 years of coaching experience, including stints at Arizona State, Arizona and Grand Canyon.
As interim coach at UA, Pennell took his team to the Sweet 16.
Recently, he built a 72-44 record over four years at Grand Canyon, including two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II tournament. He resigned from Grand Canyon in March.
He'll bring with him assistant coach Anthony Boone, who he said will be a great addition for Brittney Griner as she continues to develop.
The new coach has immediate problems to deal with as the Mercury prepares for tonight's game against the Tulsa Shock (7-15). Griner and DeWanna Bonner suffered injuries in Tuesday's loss against Seattle and are listed as day-to-day.
Pennell also will have to deal with a defensive zone that has crumbled and has been inefficient.
"If you're going to be a championship team, I don't care what league it is, what gender it is, if you can't guard and rebound, you aren't going to win," Pennell said.
"So that would be today, 5 o'clock we're going back to shell defense, get in the stance, try to stay, you know, YMCA basketball. Stay between your man and the basket, that's good at any level."
Today
• What: Tulsa at Mercury
• Where: US Airways Center
• When: 7 p.m.
• TV: NBA TV
