OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 Indiana Pacers assistant Jenny Boucek isn\u2019t so concerned right now with becoming the first woman to be a primary assistant coach on a team that wins the NBA championship.<\/p>\n
She just wants to be part of a title.<\/p>\n
There is a barrier that could be broken in these NBA Finals<\/a>, and Boucek is fully aware of that. She is the first woman to be part of the front-row assistants (it means exactly that: the coaches who sit on the front row of the bench) for a team in the NBA Finals, and she and the Pacers will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7<\/a> to decide this season\u2019s title on Sunday night.<\/p>\n Being in that role has led to the spotlight shining on her in these finals, though Boucek has found ways to not let it be overwhelming.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been around long enough to have experience and felt where people build you up and those same people tear you back down. People jump on the bandwagon, they jump off. People love you one day, they bash you the next,\u201d Boucek said. \u201cJust going through that a few times in different ways in my career has really taught me to tune it all out and not take in the compliments and the praise. And then that way, you\u2019re protected from the criticism. You can just focus on what you\u2019re in control of.\u201d<\/p>\n She played briefly in the WNBA and overseas before becoming a coach. Ron Rothstein \u2014 who was the first Miami Heat coach before becoming coach of the short-lived WNBA\u2019s Miami Sol \u2014 had Boucek on his staff there and even now, more than 20 years later, still raves about the kind of coach and person Boucek is.<\/p>\n Working with an established NBA coach like Rothstein helped give Boucek some credibility, and others soon saw why he was so high on her talent and smarts as a coach. When Rick Carlisle was coaching Dallas, Boucek \u2014 who was coaching in the WNBA at the time \u2014 spent a few weeks around the Mavericks to learn whatever she could.<\/p>\n Carlisle, now the Indiana coach and someone who didn\u2019t think twice about having Boucek on his staff, was impressed by what she brought to the table and never forgot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was clear to me she was a prospect \u2014 not only to be an assistant coach in the NBA, but to perhaps one day be an NBA head coach,\u201d Carlisle said.<\/p>\n Boucek is in Carlisle\u2019s ear probably more than anyone in games, and she\u2019s tasked with essentially leading the Pacers\u2019 defensive plan. Pacers assistant coach Jim Boylen, another big fan of Boucek, also is involved in the defense.<\/p>\n Pacers forward Pascal Siakam had a new system to learn when he was traded to Indiana from Toronto in the middle of last season. Boucek basically became his tutor for all things Pacers.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s been great that way,\u201d Siakam said. \u201cShe\u2019s a great communicator. And also, I like her positive just energy about everything. It\u2019s mostly needed. Even in those moments where sometimes it felt like we didn\u2019t do well or whatever, she\u2019s always bringing that positivity, which is needed for coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s made history before. Boucek was part of the first all-female staff to win a WNBA title, when Seattle beat Connecticut in 2004. At the time, she didn\u2019t know how big of a deal that was.<\/p>\n But now, she knows what an Indiana win on Sunday would mean as far as a female coach breaking yet another barrier.<\/p>\n \u201cI was young and naive, and it meant nothing to me at the time,\u201d Boucek said of being on that all-female Seattle staff in 2004. \u201cBut now, looking back and reflecting on things, I can see how that meant a lot to a lot of women. Right now, it doesn\u2019t mean much. I just want to win a championship. I just want to be one of the guys. I want to do my part. But I\u2019m sure at some point we\u2019ll look back at it, if and when that happens, and hopefully that\u2019s something that can be used for greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n