As the Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks NBA playoff series continues, the opposing players are growing weary of each other. Game 5 featured a couple of instances of players going face-to-face and drawing technical fouls.

A face becoming more familiar to NBA fans has often been the first to emerge from the Pacers bench to separate players: assistant coach Jenny Boucek.

Here's what you should know about Boucek.

Do the Pacers have a female coach?

Boucek, 50, has been on the Pacers staff since coach Rick Carlisle took over in 2021. Much of her work that has been reported is her helping Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell build confidence in their 3-point shots.

"It’s studying the athlete and their natural movements, and trying to mix that with the science of shooting, which is physics and biomechanics,” Boucek said earlier this season. “But it’s a very reciprocal relationship, a lot of communication."

More about Boucek: Boucek turned down med school but don't call her a shot doctor

Nembhard acknowledges being wary of taking lessons: "At first I was kind of sketchy on it. I wasn’t comfortable with it yet. I just wanted to work on my own thing."

McConnell took to working with Boucek easily. Said Boucek: "T.J. grew up with a women’s basketball background. I played for a short time with his aunt (Suzie McConnell-Serio) – she was in the WNBA, an Olympian – so he gravitated toward me. I said a couple things to him. Just try this one thing, see how it feels, and he was like: ‘OK, I want more.’"

Said McConnell in 2022: "Boucek is the GOAT."

Boucek was also on Carlisle's Dallas Mavericks staff, and a Sacramento Kings assistant, becoming the NBA's third female assistant coach in 2017. She was on WNBA coaching staffs from 1999-2017, including three years as head coach of the Sacramento Monarchs (2007-09) and three for the Seattle Storm (2015-17).

Did Jenny Boucek play in the WNBA?

Boucek played 10 games for the Cleveland Rockers in 1997, and professionally in Iceland. She played at the University of Virginia.

Jenny Boucek daughter

She has a 5-year-old daughter, Rylie.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek is on coach Rick Carlisle's staff