WNBL: Canberra Capitals coach Kristen Veal confident of delivering championship

Yes, she's "fully confident" they can go all the way in what will be her first season as a WNBL coach.

But it's the decades of problem-solving on and off the court that will be the key to making it happen, because she's been doing it since she teamed up with the greatest player in Australian history to prove people wrong.

Back then it was the Veal and Lauren Jackson show. First, they shocked the WNBL world when they led the AIS to its only championship win in 1998-99.

Then it was the Capitals. Together they moved to the other side of Belconnen to lay the foundation for a Capitals dynasty with a title in their first season.

Along the way she's had stints as a firefighter, stopped off at several WNBL sides, played in the WNBA and even had a crack at the AFLW.

Now the challenge is the same, but different in so many ways to her first Capitals stint.

New players, new coaches and a complete rebuild. But this time Veal is pulling the strings as the puppet master, starting with a clash against the Bendigo Spirit on Friday night.

"Not one of us is bigger than the club. It's not 'this is my time' and big egos - we're all committed to what has been and what will continue to be such a successful program," Veal told The Canberra Times.

"When you finally put them all in the same room together, and you can see we've hit the mark ... like, the group is phenomenal."

When Veal isn't plotting game plans to win WNBL games, she turns to Netflix to unwind. But that problem solving part of her personality that makes her a quality coach is still hard to switch off.

"Anything with crime drama, or FBI investigations, like Criminal Minds - I love it," she said.

Ask any Capitals player what Veal brings to the table since she took on the top job for this season, and they'll all tell you a variation of the same answer.

She's dedicated to the game, and brings a highly-calculated approach to getting the best out of every player.

And after the Capitals lost several stars in the off-season - including three players and a coach to their season-opener opponent Bendigo - smart recruiting was something Veal strived to get just right.

The 41-year-old looked abroad to the US, as well as in her own backyard, and now she's confident her Capitals squad can shock those underestimating them this season.

Veal doesn't know where her knack for problem solving came from, but she said she was always creative with "an overactive imagination" when she was younger.

After her long playing career ended, as a coach Veal noticed how she had matured and gained a better perspective on the game.

"Now that ability to problem-solve is a part of my coaching philosophy, and I really enjoy that," she said.

"It's helpful when you've got some really cool problems to solve, and I think that's an important attribute to have in this day and age, when you can be thrown all sorts of hurdles."

So far the signs are promising, with the young Capitals squad littered with new faces displaying the type of chemistry of a team together for years.

"Vealy is great at puzzling pieces together," one third of the Capitals leadership group, Jade Melbourne, observed in pre-season.

"We have a really great group with a lot of people bringing different talents.

"We've been emphasising defence, and we think that's what's going to win us games this year.

"We're going to play a really cool brand of basketball and go into the season feeling fully confident that we can win a championship."

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