Wolves 1-6 after mystifying 113-110 overtime loss. What’s next?
Posted on November 12th, 2008 – 3:02 AMBy Jerry Zgoda
It’s late and my head hurts and is still spinning from a game in which the Wolves led by 13, trailed by 13, led by 10 with seven minutes left in regulation and still lost to a Golden State team missing Monta Ellis, Corey Maggette and Al Harrington.
All kinds of things can be debated:
That zone Nellie slapped on the Wolves in those final seven minutes that Randy Wittman, Randy Foye and none of the other Wolves could solve; Al Jefferson never scored in the game’s final 13 minutes, took only one shot in that time and left the locker room without talking to reporters except for saying, “I’m outta here,” after everybody but him shot the ball and missed (12 of their final 13 in the fourth).
Foye looking so good in that 14-2 third-quarter run that got the Wolves back in the game and then so vexed by the Warriors’ zone when it mattered most. Sebastian Telfair played just 14 minutes, less than three minutes after halftime while Foye played nearly 39, including the entire fourth quarter and all of overtime.
Rashad McCants scoring 18 off the bench but failing to make a shot when it mattered most, including missing what would have been a winning three at the fourth quarter buzzer and then losing the ball without getting off a shot on the team’s last possession of the game.
Kevin Love playing all of the third quarter, when the Wolves outscored Golden State 37-25, and then not playing another minute after that while Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith, McCants, Foye and Jefferson played down the stretch.
Afterward, Gomes said, “As the veterans say, ain’t no one coming to save us.”
Really?
After all that, this is probably the most important thing: You don’t make moves like the Wolves did last summer — moves that were supposed to make them noticeably better — and start 1-6 with a murderous schedule between now and Thanksgiving — without someone getting blamed. So who’s it going to be first: The coach? Kevin McHale and his staff? Or a significant player or players?
Something’s going to happen. The question is who and when?
From the mood on this blog, I’m guessing the overwhelming favorite is almost everybody, but if you were going to, say, make a coaching change, who would it be?
Thoughts? Comments?
206 Responses to "Wolves 1-6 after mystifying 113-110 overtime loss. What’s next?"
Well if your head coach expects to only win 40 games this year what does that tell ya. They ain’t going to win with what they got jerry.
I hope it’s McHale that takes the fall for this. I’ll try to summarize what I wrote on other posts and articles.
First this loss isn’t Wittman’s fault. This is on McCants and Foye tonight
Four minutes left in regulation and the Warriors went zone and Foye froze up. It was like he had never seen a zone defense before. Witt had the right guys out there…Foye and McCants to drive, Gomes and Miller to shoot, but Randy and Shad didn’t do anything. The way to break a zone defense it to attack the rim and either kick to open shooters or get to the free throw line. That’s just elementary basketball. Foye didn’t have us doing either, and Shad just missed everything.
Wittman did the right thing, he put the guys on the floor who would get through the gaps in the zone, but our guys didn’t execute. Foye just wandered the arc and the few times McCants went to the rim, he went away from the contact when he should have been going into it. A real point guard would have seen the shift to zone defense and changed the offense instinctively to counter. Randy just got locked into jumpers and Wittman had to yell at him what to do, and by the time Randy understood it was too late.
That’s why I think the problem isn’t Wittman at all, it’s the point guard spot, and ultimately the problem at point guard is McHale. He’s the one that made the trade for Foye (after getting outsmarted by the GM Kid, Kevin Pritchard) and he’s the one who told us that Foye would be our point guard of the future. And ya, I take pride in seeing through that and saying “no he won’t” when everyone else said ok. But it’s clear now that Foye isn’t going to make it as a lead guard, which leaves us in a huge huge bind.
But also, as a more over-arching thing, I’ve felt for a few years now (basically since the emergence of Chris Paul, who proved the league’s rule changes) that the way to build a modern NBA team is to go fast, athletic, and defense oriented. McHale seems stuck in yester-year, trying to build an old school team that’s highly highly skilled by slow, unathletic, and not good defensively. By trading for Love, he did get us size and a much needed shooter, but he also locked us into being an undersized team with basically no defensive potential. With the NBA’s focus on athletic guards, we just can’t compete with the roster we have. And that’s not Wittman’s fault, that’s McHale’s fault, and he should be the one owning up to that. He is just out of touch with the league now, trying to live in past era’s instead of building for the new one.
This is the same situation we were in right before Saunders was fired. People saying he didn’t know how to coach and this and that and blah blah blah, when it was never his fault. And he proved that by posting back to back to back 50 win seasons in Detroit. It wasn’t ever the coach, it wasn’t ever Saunders, it was the roster. KG has to physically drag guys to the right spots on the floor and it’s Flip’s fault? McHale gives the guy Ricky Davis and Mark Blount and Marcus Banks and expects wins….that’s irrational. And then FLIP takes the fall for it not working?
McHale has put Foye in a very bad spot, playing out of position under the expectations that he can be something he isn’t. And now he’s left him out to dry as the bad guy for things not working. Just like he left Saunders out to dry. And because we passed on the good point guard prospects in the draft and would have to engineer a miracle to land Rubio in 09 (because I’m not sold on Jennings any more than Foye), we don’t even have a way to solve our biggest problem now. McHale has us painted into a corner.
So it’s not Wittman’s fault, because he knows what he’s doing, but has a bad roster. It’s not the players’ fault because they didn’t assemble themselves. McHale made this all happen, leaving us without a point guard and with a roster that just can’t compete in today’s NBA.
I hope Taylor finally loses his patience (because I don’t want him selling the team…I don’t want to risk it leaving town a la the Sonics) and fires McHale. And If he does, I feel bad for everyone…the players, the coaches, us fans. The new big basketball man will basically have to rebuild AGAIN, when the current project isn’t even halfway done, to get us back on our feet.
Bottom line is we need athletes, we need defenders, and we badly need a point guard. And the fact that we have basically none of all three is directly on McHale’s shoulders, not anyone else’s. That’s why McHale is the one who should take the fall for this.
Also, I guess I’ll add that personally I’m just tired of the constant revolving doors that McHale puts up. Ever since Marbury left, it’s been how many different coaches and how many different players and just none of it’s worked.
McHale made some valiant efforts at it, put together some good teams and got blamed for things that weren’t his fault. But I think that now, in the end, it’s clear that the McHale era has just run its course and that his office is out of ideas on how to do this. It’s time for something new.
I’m not sure if change for its own sake does much for this team apart from momentarily sating the blood lust of a frustrated (and dwindling) fan base.
I’m really not sure what they can do at this point. Heading into this season my concern wasn’t that they hadn’t improved the talent level of the team, I do think they have, it’s that the pieces they’ve assembled don’t really fit together. They’ve assembled a roster full of guys kind of stuck in between two positions.
1. Foye and McCants are both shooting guards in point bodies.
2. Craig Smith has the sheer strength and mentality for the 4 but lacks the height to hold his own against most low post players.
3. I still don’t know what Kevin Love’s position is in the NBA.
4. Jefferson is best when matched up against a center when he’s on offense, but he can’t really defend the 5 on defense. Though to be fair he can’t defend the 4 either.
It goes on and on. This just feels like a team that’s being built without a plan. There’s seemingly no attempt to address flaws like Jefferson’s low post defense. Rather than going out and trying to offset that somehow they added a player who duplicates Jefferson’s failings.
simply stocking up on talent isn’t enough. We’ve seen the Clippers run through some extremely talented rosters over the years, we saw the post-Jordan bulls stockpile talent with little return. Just as the whole can be more than the sum of its parts it can be much less too if those parts don’t remotely fit together. I’m not one of those people who will exaggerate and say that this isn’t an NBA level roster. There absolutely is some good talent here, it just doesn’t fit together.
Unfortunately as frustrating as this opening stretch has been panicking is probably the worst thing they can do. As bad as McHale has been at times the though of a desperate McHale wheeling and dealing in an attempt to salvage this year makes me cringe.
So I guess I’d advocate riding it our, reassessing at the mid point and then trying to reduce some of the redundancy on the roster.
we could take a logical look at this…but this is the Timberwoefuls(so far) and Wittmann and his staff don’t seem to be able to draw up plays that work when needed…or can determine what exactly is needed when a team is playing a tough zone…you should be able to determine the solution…that everybasketball player has learned since their youth traveling teams…penetration…the dribbling type…drive and kick, drive and kick…you can also have what we call zone busters, guys that are lights out from three point land, do the wolves have any of that? a great shooter is suppose to force teams out of zones, if teams are shooting poorly it plays right into the zones hands…that is when as a team you’re suppose to force the ball inside…zones breakdown when the ball goes inside…one would think that a professional coach would know…
there is another twist to this…the wolves are suppose to be set up perfectly for the FA wars for the next two years…ONE GLARING PROBLEM!!! WHO IS GOING TO WANT TO PLAY IN MINNESOTA FOR THIS COACH AND FRANCHISE?? honestly people. it’s great that the wolves will have cap room…but it’s tough to draw in top talented free agents when they already know how bad things are. maybe things will turn around…I would love to have Flip Saunders back on the bench…that would probably mean that McHale is gone and Fred Hoiberg is in charge( that would be fantastic btw) I think the Mayor would do a great job.
as for this team, this situation…the wolves just can’t get it done in the 4th quarter plain and simple. and that is why the wolves lose games…because in the NBA you play four quarters, not three.
I will continue to follow this team, and be a fan…and post blogs and hope that things improve. I believe that there are good pieces to the wolves future on this roster, but man oh man does McHale look like moron w/ some of his draft day blunders of the past few years…and for those of you now thinking it…I think the wolves made the right move in acquiring Love and Miller…I really do…but the other ones…Roy/Foye…Chalmers
McHale might want to get his scissors out and start cutting card board cut outs of fans to stick in the chairs at Targetcenter and play crowd noise from previous years cuz targetcenter might start to look even more empty than it does on TV right now.
bryan, read your posts…I said the same things basically…my posts are just slightly shorter than yours…and I didn’t read them until after i posted mine…
I have a few other names that aren’t Flip Saunders, to throw out into the pit for a coaching change: Avery Johnson, Brian Hill…and I have one reach…and only putting it down cuz he was an undersized forward in the NBA, now an assistant in Denver, Adrian Dantley.
Dewayne Cassey….
we tried that one sportsjunkie…not saying it didn’t work…but he’s not coaching right now…
BRING BACK FLIP SAUNDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do we expect anything from Randy Wittman? Has he ever won anything anywhere? I caught a little bit of the game yesterday and didn’t see much defense being played. They are missing the superstar player. The don’t have one.
Flip could make this team happen.
Charles, you get the Mr. Obvious award for the day…not trying to sound like an @$$. but really Wittmann hasn’t had success coaching in the NBA, i believe the Wolves are his second team, and you’re right…there is not “Superstar” then again, there are only so many true “Superstars” in the league at the moment
[…] On the Wolves – […]
The Wolves are in trouble. I’d start with McHale.
I vote for McHale and Stack leaving and Taylor to stop being cheap. It’s Taylor that drives the draft day trades that bring in the cash considerations in trades to dump our 2nd round pick (34th in the draft) for cash and 2nd round picks that will end up in the 50’s. The Brandon Roy trade was made for Foye and cash.
We can’t tell how good or bad a coach Wittman is until you give him some players that will actually have both talent and the desire to work hard on defense and offense. I’m tired of playing Musical Coaches when the GM staff always gets off the hook.
If a coaching change is made McHale should be forced to coach this team. He was the one that put this team together and put unrealistic expectations on them. If he thinks they can win 40 games why doesn’t he show us how they would do that. I don’t see Taylor paying another coach this season. He is still paying Casey and Wittman. You could actually argue that McHale has been the second best coach in Wolves history. How pathetic is that?
I agree, jama. Let McHale try to clean up the mess he made. Then, blow him and the rest of the crew (Mayor included) out in the offseason. You’re not going to be able to make any substantial hire in the middle of the season. And this team needs completely fresh leadership — nobody from the Country Club allowed.
Mchale as coach is the only answer for this team. It would force his hand out of town. He is the one who didn’t like Casey because he wouldn’t do what HE wanted. Taylor can give him the ultimatum, coach this mess and succeed or go to the lake.
Even at that the damage is already done.
I believe the team is over=coached already. They need to be able to just play the game. Relax
I also disagree with the notion posted earlier in the thread that Saunders was not to blame for some of the Wolves KG-era problems. Saunders earned a share of the blame (frankly, I think both McHale and Saunders should have been shown the door around the time of the fifth straight first-round loss). I think his tenure at Detroit only validated the fact that he’s an average NBA head coach.
Granted, that’s better than what we’ve had since he left.
I also believe that no amount of instruction will help Foye and McCants. They as a team were enough to discourage the player with the greatest attitude in the league. Garnett saw the writing on the wall with those two. It makes you wonder who did the personality interview with them..
For all the focus that was put on defense during the preseason, there sure seems to be a lack of it now. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look like the team is comunicating on defense to call out picks and switches. The worst is their rotation when they do switch. Jefferson and Love (as well as most everyone else) seems lost as to where to go when they switch or rotate off their man. They don’t know who to pick up.
Also, is Jefferson ever going to learn to pass out of double and triple teams to an open teamate? He (as well as Smith) seems to have a tendency to put his head down when making a move to the basket. Granted, he’s got a great touch inside, but he misses a lot of opportunities for teamates. With Miller, Foye, McCants, Gomes, Brewer and even Carney having the ability to hit an outside jumper, Jefferson needs to pass out of bad situations instead of forcing up a shot. Then he can focus on crashing the boards if he doesn’t get the assist because his shooter missed.
I don’t think this team in incapable of winning with the players and staff they currently have, they just don’t understand how to make it happen. From my perspective it seems like a communication breakdown at several levels.
1. Fire McHale
2. Fire Wittman
3. Hire Flip Saunders
4. Trade Randy Foye an $1 million for Brandon Roy
5. Trade 7 players for KG
There seems to be no singular plan or direction for this team. The front office, coaches and players are not all on the same page, and until they all understand how they are going to reach whatever their goal is, it’ll be impossible for them to improve as a team.
Arlo, you sound like you need a time machine to go back to 1996 and somehow influence the Wolves draft picks from their forward. (take a look a my post a blog post or two ago) 
Randy Wittman is the worst coach in the history of the NBA. He has no passion, knowledge, or leadership abilities. It’s time for the country club to get the heck out.
97-198 for the career…disgusting.
WE WANT FLIP BACK!
All-time worst coaches (by winning %)with over 290 career games:
1) Sidney Lowe: 25.73%
2) Tim Floyd: 28.04%
3) Ron Rothstein: 28.54%
4) Mike Woodson: 32.32%
5) Randy Wittman: 32.88%
And we’re keeping this historically awful slug around for what reason?
The owner is an idiot for letting all this shizo happen right under his nose. And if I recall, the Mayo for Miller and Love deal went through after the Memphis owner called Glen Taylor. This team needs a point guard, but that won’t happen so I start with firing McFail and Witless. This team needs a fresh start, and they aren’t getting it with those 2 relics from the past.
And whoever the idiot was that said this isn’t Wittmans fault…. GET A FRICKEN CLUE! Wittman puts the players out on the floor, draws up the plays, if he puts players out there that can’t beat the zone that falls on him. HE WAS OUTCOACHED.
Love the posts; there seems to be a number of solid basketball minds here. My take; leave McHale alone for now - see if he can work a deal asap for a PG. Leave Foye and McCants to share backup two guard minutes. They both bring the same thing - most important is Foye’s inability to pass. Not just the willingness but his actual passing skills are sub par, even at the collegiate level.
Big Al has to become a better teammate. He’s not MJ, he’s not at that level and I’m tired of seeing the anger towards teammates. He’s the vet, there’s a difference between leading and showing up your own guys, he’s on a slippery slope with that.
Run a play for Love. He’s a big guy with solid NBA offensive skills AND he will make the right pass at the right time. If you watched the game last night you may have noticed that he was the best one at getting Al the ball in the right spot.
Gomes & Brewer should be sharing all of the minutes at the 3.
Wittman needs to coach with more feel especially with his substitution patterns. That said, he also needs to coach with more competence - when the Warriors went into that zone we fell flat. The ball movement and shot selection was poor. The two people who should address that are the PG & the coach. PG doesn’t do what you need him to - you need to sit him down. Even IF he was the first round pick, blah, blah, blah: You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole.
Let’s work on a PG asap. Run a play on the block for KLove.
When the Wolves went big with Jefferson, Love, and Gomes on the floor together, they played great. Gomes also did a real nice job on Stephen Jackson in the second half. Gomes is a small forward, and that is where he needs to play.
So where was that combo in the fourth quarter and OT? Nowhere to be found.
For all the fellow bloggers here from last year its like deja vu. If mcfail and witful stick around much longer it’d be lottery talk blah blah blah…the team can get different players but it needs a different gm / coach…. Wake up Taylor
As Britt from the rake suggested: I’d love for McHale to switch from VP to coach. 2 flies in one swat. Mchale was pretty decent as a coach, it would make him prove his theory that this team is capable of a 42-40 record AND it would make room for some new blood in the front office.
Anyone wanna whisper this in his ear?
The thing that really worries me is that this organization is actually set up to do some things in the next couple of offseasons. They are going to have a lot of draft picks and money to spend in the next two offseasons. Do Wolves fans really want McHale to be the one making those decisions. If he messes up the next two offseasons it could set this team back another decade and that is not an exaggeration. Taylor has to see that what the Wolves have now is not working. He needs to bring in a new GM at a time when they have some tools to work with not when this whole organization is too far gone to fix.
I’ve gotta hang this loss on Witt. What was he doing with in the 4th?!
* The Warriors were beating the Wolves in almost all aspects of the game. The only thing keeping the Wolves in the game was O rebounds and 2nd chance points.
* So who does Witt decide to not play at all? Brewer and Love, two guys getting a lot of the O boards.
* Witt gets something from Smith even though GS has a much taller team. Yeah, have a party. What does he do? Keep him in until almost the end of the OT. You got something out of a 6′6″ PF. Be happy and bring back someone reasonably tall!
* Witt finally gets Rhino out of there by … wait for it … playing Gomes at PF! What is this Gomes at the PF obsession!? Gomes played very well as a backup SF. Why must you play him the rest of the game, and at PF?
* Why does McCants have to be on the floor at the end. Early in the game he was shooting every single time he touched the ball. Later he was taking better shots but missing them.
* How can you not get the ball to Al for like the last 10 minutes of the game + OT? I think Al forgot what the ball even looked like. Or how can you not get it to Miller for one clean look at the hoop when you haven’t scored for like 5 minutes? How is this possible?!
What an incredibly frustrating game. I am officially on the Wittman Must Go bandwagon.
Jeff Van Gundy? Keith Smart? Flip Saunders (if McHale were fired to pave the way)? Tom Thibodeau?
Would love to see Flip back as well, but that will certainly mean McHale being shown the door (double bonus?). Here’s another possibility: Jeff Van Gundy. He’s seasoned, has coached several playoff teams, and is currently in the broadcast booth. But Taylor needs to loosen the purse strings — this team needs a premier coach, not one on the cheap.
Is Hoiberg to close to mcfail and is now seen as poison and he has to go also…
What is with Minnesota sports fans and pun based insults?
Fire Wittman!!
He is clueless.
The wolves took control of the game in the 3rd period with REBOUNDING.
They got 2nd chance pts and fast break points keyed off of rebounding. There was a 20 pts swing in the wolves advantage because of REBOUNDING.
Love played all of the 3rd quarter and had 9 rebounds when he went out at the end of that quaarter for a rest.
HE NEVER PLAYED AGAIN in the game.
NOT IN Q4, not in OT.
WITTMAN didn’t even understand why his team took control of the game in Q3.
He is clueless and should be fired.
If McHale can’t see it, Fire McHale also.
Don’t wait for this to be a lost season.
This team has talent.
They just need a coach who has a clue how to use it.
If they decide to make a move away from Whitman there’s two guys I’d like them to keep in mind: Tom Thibodeau and Ty Corbin. Thibodeau is an elite defensive coach and Corbin has done a lot for Utah’s front court and seems like he’s ready to take a step up.
That game was awesome. I was entertained the whole time.
i vote wittman - mostly b/c of the maddening rotations that seem to lack any reason and are certainly void of consistency. it has been the same ‘ol story since he took over even though the personnel has completely turned over (save mad dog).
granted any guard rotation with this roster’s current personnel may seem like an excersize in futility but how does he expect these guys to trust themselves, defensive roatations, schemes, etc. when they play with different guys each time they are on the floor?
truth is this franchise is essentially operating in a vaccum anyway. beyond the 3500 paying customers at the target center does anyone really have a right to demand change?
i felt more entitled to an opinion last year when i paid the $160 for the league pass so i could be a part of “lets build it” from out of state. i didnt renew that subscription. as the old tennesse (or it texas?) saying goes: fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…. well whatever the saying is - if you get fooled, you cant get fooled again
Fire wittman!!
This team has talent. They have the talent to be competitive in 6 out of 7 games.
They need a coach that has a clue!
Wittman never makes adjustments during the game.
The zone at the end of Q4 when the wolves went scoreless is classic. No changes just blow a 10 pts lead at the end.
Wittman would have ordered his team to give Jefferson the ball.
Maybe? just maybe? Love should have played in Q4 and OT?
When he was on the floor, the wolves dominated the boards.
Why didn’t Love play in Q4 and OT?
It goes on and on.
Fire Wittman and bring in a coach who has a clue.
or even Donald Duck, because anyone would be better than Wittman.
I keep thinking about how this team could have Wally, Garnett, Roy and Mayo. That’s a team I would pay to watch.
McHale must go. Everything he touches turns to ash.
Chris
I think we get the point, NM.
I think we need wholesale changes in the front office and on the coaching staff. Our 15 year experiment with McHale has proven it hasn’t worked. Wittman has proven that he isn’t a good NBA coach. And some of our players are proving that they aren’t good NBA players. The first player I’d fire would be Rashad McCants. I was at the game last night and was sitting close enough to see his teammates *relax* a bit when he would get the ball and start his one-on-three show. Those shows are cool when one is practicing in one’s backyard, but his teammates looked alternately amused (”look what Shaddy’s doing again. haha”) and disgusted (”what a selfish prick”). Until the overtime period, he was shooting almost every time he touched the ball and ignoring open teammates. It’s obvious that he’s given up on the team, and that should be a sign that his days in Minnesota need to be over. He’s looking like a less productive Ricky Buckets with a basketball IQ of Gerald Green.
Obviously we need more talent on the roster. We’re one of the smallest, least athletic teams in the league. Demar DeRozen from USC could possibly change that. So could Gerald Wallace of the Bobcats, if we could trade for him.
And we need a point guard and a center.
“I keep thinking about how this team could have Wally, Garnett, Roy and Mayo. That’s a team I would pay to watch.”
I’m surprised you led that list off with Wally. As frustrating as McHale’s moves have been at times parting ways with a declining spot shooter who hasn’t played defense in the better part of a decade isn’t high up on my list.
Mark Madsen is still on this team and getting meaningful minutes. Nuf said.
Those must have been two pretty meaningful minutes last night.
Mayo for Love trade was horrible i would rather have Mayo starting with Foye than Miller and Telfair with Love at PF. Love will be a good ROLE player but the wolves may never have the chance to get a player of his cailber! We thought that getting rid of Jaric and other contracts would set us up for free agency to bring in a star, but we had that in mayo without giving anything up, and what crazy free agent would want to come here now!
Wittman is over matched, slow to react and has no understanding of situations and how to take advantage of them. The blatant favoritism he shows towards Al and the rough treatment Randy Foye and Kevin Love receive is building a chasm between members of the team. Anyone notice Al going off on Randy for a poor entry pass at the start of the 4th? Al was so busy yelling and screaming, his man slid behind him to the basket and got fouled for an easy 2 That is not what a true team leader would do. Worry about the next play, pick up your teammate so he knows you have his back and address the bad pass later, not while the game is in the balance. In my opinion, that was when the game was lost. We were flying before that, getting steals, making layups, good ball rotations, active defense. Then Al acts like a small child and the air comes out of the team.
Foye can’t catch a break from these guys. He has an amazing 3rd quarter and brings the team back, and gets yelled at for making a mistake. F that noise.
Wittman needs to go NOW!! Bring on AVERY JOHNSON. He won’t play favorites and would’ve let Al hear it for showing up Foye on the court. Would you have someones back if they didn’t have yours? Maybe that is why Al didn’t get the ball down the stretch, he took himself out of the game when he focused on Foyes error instead of winning. It’s not like Al has brought us home down the stretch before, so who does he think he is to act like that?
The Wolves’ problem is that they are trying to build a fantasy team, not a basketball team. When you have a guy best suited for the 4, you don’t trade picks for another guy best suited for the 4. The Wolves need to decide if Al Jefferson is their cornerstone, and if he is, they need to add things around him he doesn’t bring, like a shot-blocker and jump shooters. The problem is, Al is so bad at passing the ball, we can’t really take advantage of the double teams he draws. If anything, we should trade Al for picks and cap room, and hope to get a Bosh or LeBron in a couple years (not holding my breath on that last one).
Whitman seems to be overwhelmed. He constantly changes lineups, does not appear to have confidence in his team, does not appear to have a clue how to counteract when another coach changes mid-game, he seems to play the wrong players at the wrong times in the wrong situations and he cannot inspire his team to pull it together down the stretch.
McHale does not fare much better here, as he traded Roy for Foye, but clearly there are pieces here that the Wolves are competing with. The Wolves have had a few overtime games already this year and they have been close in other games, proving they can compete. I think the coach needs to take the heat on this.
I’m starting to have serious doubts about Al Jeff as the cornerstone of the rebuilding process. He’s worthless on the defensive end, seems incapable of leadership (witness the continuing pattern of demonizing teammates), and can’t pass out of doubleteams for sh*t. As good as his low post game is, I’m not sure it’s worth it. I say keep K. Love over big Al (cheaper, much more upside long-term on D and passing), and deal Al for a veteran (27-28) capable of playing solid interior team defense.
I like the idea of getting Avery Johnson or Jeff Van Gundy to coach this team. Almost every poster above me is right on about Wittman. He needs to go. This could be the most important year in our rebuilding process and we need to make some progress heading into the offseason. We have to figure out who is staying with this team and who can go and with Wittman’s puzzling rotations its hard to assess any of the players.
Big Al needs to grow up. This might be the biggest issue on the team. Actually I can’t even call it a team right now, it’s just 5 guys wearing the same jersey playing for themselves. If we are going to build around Al he needs to take ownership on the court and be a TEAM player.
Turn McHale loose and let him stay in woods deer hunting.
Bring back Flip.
End this nightmare!
McCants cost them the game last night. He needs to go
McFail needs to put his huge ego aside and bring Flip back. Wittman is clearly over his head. He cost them the game against the spurs. And his coaching down the stretch last night was crazy. No field goals in the last 4 minutes up by 9? Are you frickin kidding! Can’t design one play to get the ball in the hands of your best player? Leave Mcants out there to hoist bad shot after bad shot and then sit Love so you have nobody to rebound all the misses. Are you kidding. Hes a good guy but hasn’t he proven in his 3 head coaching gigs that he is not up to the task!
It has only been 7 games, but they are in desperate need of a change. Wittman just can not figure it out. You are going against a zone that is obviously perplexing your PG in the game(Foye), so bring in someone whom is an actual PG: Telfair. He finds holes in zones. He could have come in and made one or two more plays and they would have been the lowly Warriors in regulation. But Wittman, cant even figure that out. Please, for the sake of the fans who are still even mildly interested in this team, MAKE A CHANGE.
FLIP FOR GM.
FIRE MCHALE.
FLIP BECOMES COACH NEXT YEAR.
It might be early but it looks like we will once again have a top 5 pick. I really hope we can get Ricky Rubio with the pick but would be just as happy with B.J. Mullens (Center from Ohio State). I’m looking through the roster and think we need to move Foye or McCants (or both) and work to find some veteran help at PG or C. I’m still really hoping that in 2 years we have enough pieces and a good enough coach/system in place to entice a player like Joe Johnson to take this team to the next level.
JMan….
Your idea to get rid of Al is pretty interesting. I like the idea of KLove and a true center who actually has a presence in the middle on D. The only problem is getting back value for him.
I would have to say that Wittman is the major problem. Not only due to his inability to react or gameplan, but for the horrible effect he has had on the players. Foye and McCants as rookies under different coachs were better than they are now. I remember McCants used to play defense (he was even praised for it by this paper) and that was how he got his mins. Smith was a better rebounder before. This years Al Jefferson is worst than last years same goes for Gomes. The only player that has improved under Wittman is Telfair who might be immune to Wittman’s teaching since I think he has proved he has never listened to anyone. I say get rid of Wittman before he can ruin Love and everyone else for good.
the downfall started with letting go of flip, bring him back if possible. we should have a good draft, the only thing the draft doesnt help you win now. i think its time to get rid of mchale, who replaces him hoiberg? why not give him a try.
The biggest single problem I see with the current Wolves roster is that once the fourth quarter rolls around and the opposing team starts to get close, the team simply panics. That was abundantly clear during the loss to the Warriors last night; as the fourth quarter wound down and the Warriors inched closer, you could almost see how no one on the Wolves wanted to take any shots or make any aggressive plays whatsoever. Instead, the entire team just passed the ball around the perimeter and hoped that the time would run out before Golden State had a chance to catch up. During the timeouts, you could almost see the apathy in the Wolves players’ eyes; each seemed to be saying “don’t pass the ball to me, we’re sunk.” The same thing happened during the loss to the Trailblazers the other night as well.
Where is the killer instinct and heart on this team? We have a bunch of players that can get their shot off and score points during the first three quarters of the game, but no one wants to have the ball in their hands when the game is on the line.
For me, the players on the floor should get most of the blame, followed only by Wittman’s poor lineup decisions. How is it that Love consistently brings hustle, defense, and rebounding to the lineup and he gets put on the bench the entire fourth quarter? You can’t tell me that Craig Smith was a better lineup decision there. And when Foye is struggling to run the offense and making bad decisions, why not put Telfair in the game or Kevin Ollie? Both know the offense just as well and could have made smarter decisions. And McCants? Don’t even get me started on him; he can fill it up, but his is a “shoot first, shoot second, then maybe pass third” mentality. He makes so many wild, ill-advised shots during games that it’s a wonder that he gets as much playing time as he does.
To me, the starting lineup on this team shouldn’t be rocket science: Jefferson, Love, Gomes, Miller and Foye. McCants and Brewer come off the bench early on; McCants to score, Brewer to play defense (sorry, Corey, but you really need to start scoring some points to be worth the #7 overall pick). Telfair plays the point when Foye is ineffective or makes bad decisions. Smith provides a wide body and physicality when Jefferson sits. Of course, had we not gotten rid of Chris Richard, he would be a good role player, too.
Oh, and one last thing — how do the Wolves not keep Mario Chalmers? We picked him in the second round and would have paid him next to nothing, and he would have been a great point guard, as he is currently proving with the Heat. There’s another trade–for cash only, I might add–that makes zero sense to me.
Here’s hoping for Ricky Rubio in ‘09.
Thoughts:
- Trade McCants. You trade now, you can sell high.
- Move Foye over to the 2. He’s not too small for it. Dewayne Wade is the same height and three pounds heavier than Foye (and obviously a lot better)
- Have Telfair run the offense. People forget that Telfair was supposed to be the savior in Portland. The guy knows how to play. Let him run the show.
- Jefferson play 5, Love play 4, Miller play 3.
- Have Craig Smith watch 8 hours of footage of Charles Barkley every day. If he’s going to be a good NBA player, he should model his game after Sir Charles.
Soon, this team will only have about 6K at the games! What a *&%$#@ product!
There are some very good tactical suggestions here. Why, however, is nobody adressing the root cause, namely Taylor’s refusal to demand accountability throughout the organization? Maybe to a man of his means this team can just be a plaything, but allowing McHale to continue to wheel and deal and seemingly make every other team in the NBA better is just plain negligent.
*If* we were to consider moving Big Al, here’s a deal I would do: Al Jeff for Joel Pryzbilla and Lamarcus Aldridge. Salaries would work under cap rules, but don’t know if Portland would go for it. This would instantly make the Wolves front line bigger, more athletic, and much better defensively.
By the way, this is not in place of a coaching or GM change, but in addition. Maybe good coaching could improve Big Al’s game, but his offense and rebounding just isn’t enough to offset the defensive and passing liabilities, and as someone else pointed out, he and Love are really both natural 4s, and thus one of them is expendable. Love may be able to replicate Al’s low post game, and already is a better team defender, passer, and teammate.
Bunch of Negative Nancy’s today. I’m getting depressed reading all this.
I think McHale should be given a coaching ultimatum by Papa Glen this year. Either he coaches or leaves, and should he choose to coach, he needs to play the last 70 games of the season at .500 or leave. After that, I think this is a front office problem. The team lacks clear direction and it needs to choose a system and a coach that fits that system. Personally, I’d like to see them go up tempo with an offense that focuses heavily on dribble drive motion. I don’t pretend to know what NBA level coaches are proficient with this sort of system.
Dribble drive motion? Doesn’t that require perimeter players who can slash to the basket effectively? And for this to happen, don’t they need to be an outside shooting threat (or teams sag or zone) and/or be able to finish at the rim? We don’t have a whole lot of guys who fit this bill. Corey can slash but not shoot or finish, Rashad ball hogs and/or shoots way too early in the clock, Bassy is a wonderful creator but struggles at the rim and with his jumper, and Mike Miller refuses to shoot. Foye might be best suited to this style, but only if he plays the 2.
This, in a nutshell, is our problem. We have a collection of players who don’t seem well suited to any known style or scheme of play. Drafts and trades without a real philosophy, except to get rid of the cancerous locker room presence of guys like RD, Blount, Wally, Marko, etc.
Looking at the Wolves roster they look like a team of players that would be coming off of the bench for most other teams (all except for maybe Al Jefferson). I think Wittman may be a good assistant coach but not a good head coach, but to be fair he does not have much to work with. Last but not least, McHale is to fault for the other reasons I have stated and should be let go at the end of the season along with Wittman, because I do not think this team will make the playoffs.
Simple: fire McHale. It won’t immediately solve any problems, but it sure as hell will create a ton of goodwill. He’s an awful, awful GM that squandered KG and has this franchise back to being a bottom-feeder. Clean house in the front office and truly rejuvenate this team.
FLIP FLP FLIP GAME OVER
WE WANT FLIP
or, TUBBY TUBBY TUBBY!
and the gophers can sign flip
use Mccants and a pick or two and land a top tier player.
i mean.. seriously.. mike miller needs to shoot the ball more.. he needs to make it rain from deep.. has he made 10 threes yet this year??
a simple move that i would love the wolves to make. is to get pryz. or gadzurek, or someone with some height.. if only for height..
i dont know. i follow the wolves as much as i can while not living in minnesota.. but they need a change.
they need a joe johnson, a igoudala, rip hamilton, a guy like that
McHale needs to go. But this has been painfully obvious for several years now. What has become even more painfully obvious is that he will not be asked (or told) to leave. I did not realize that Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Timberwolves came with a life-time employment contract, but apparently it does. I’m not sure that structuring one’s executive management team akin to the Supreme Court is the smartest business decision, but that’s what it seems Glen has done. And therein lies the biggest problem with this team: Glen Taylor.
Yes, I know that he is a great Minnesotan; a local business leader; a stalwart of the community - the fact is, he has NO idea how to run a professional basketball team. And frankly, I do not know how he made as much money in his other businesses based on his performance here. I cannot fathom how he lets someone continue to wield extreme amounts of power when they have demonstrated nothing but ineptitude. I work in the financial world with businesses that are forced to change out management teams quite regularly - basically, if you’re looking to improve your business, changing the leadership is about the first priority and most effective key step you can take. The CEOs of these private companies I work with have incredibly short leashes and if they don’t deliver results immediately, they’re out. The owners of the businesses know that sticking with bad management for too long essentially ensures the company will eventually fail. This is a fundamental tenet of business, which is why I’m floored to see Taylor stick with McHale through thick and thin, continual failings wholly tolerated.
I have lost a lot of respect for Glen as a businessman if this is really how he thinks it’s best to run this organization. But then I look at his other successes, and I realize that there is no way he thinks this is the best way to run a company - he just doesn’t care about the ultimate success of the Wolves as if it were one of his other businesses. The Wolves are a hobby to him; a chance for him to hang out with celebrities of his youth (McHale); a chance to chat with Jimmy Jam; a chance to play with the cool guys. And, if you’re a billionaire, that’s your prerogative. But unfortunately that leaves us, as fans, getting the short end of the stick. We don’t get the personal enjoyment of chatting with star players; we don’t get the owner’s box, GM meetings or all-inclusive All-Star weekends in Vegas. All we get is the actual product on the court, which unfortunately is seemingly not the most important part of Glen’s vision.
So, while I realize that the risk of the team moving increases with a new owner, I also realize that the Wolves will never become a true title competitor without significant changes in the upper management. And, after several years of hoping for such changes without any progress, I’ve realized that those changes will never come without new ownership.
I don’t know if it is the chance to be pals with McHale, or the personal debt you feel from having McHale “take the fall” for the Joe Smith debacle, but Mr. Taylor, if you’re not going to give the same attention and significance to the Timberwolves that you do your other business interests - if you’re not going to run the business with the sole intention of making it as good as possible - please sell it to someone that will.
Sorry for the rant.
The Timberwolves organization is pathetic.
what is Al Jefferson’s contract?
5 years 65 mil?
thats a solid contract for a player with the skills like big al.
now if only we could land lebron or dwade.
id like to get marion. but he does not seem like a good fit and has a ridiculous contract
seriously though.. with possibly 4 first round picks.
i bet we get hansborough, harengody, trever winter and blake hoffarber
There is a lot of disappointment in these comments(and rightfully so). Many comments make it seem that some were expecting a successful season from our young Wolves. Not to OK the losses which were well within our grasp but this is a rebuilding year. We purged bad contracts, added young talent and, with any luck, we will come out of this season with three to four players we want to continue with. None of our players are superstars. We only have one true star at this point in Big Al. We won’t be successful until he is the second best player on the team. We need to find that great player through trade or the draft. The team we have now is made up of future role players and benchwarmers not starting NBA players. This is an evaluation/teaching year not a winning year. With that in mind there is no question that Wittman is not the man for the job. There is a reason he has a losing record in the NBA. With a new coach (hired on record not on value), the development of talent on the team and the addition of a true elite player the Timberwolves will be a competitive team in the near future. Lets not overreact to a season that shouldn’t have been a success in the first place and take time to evaluate what we have to take forward into the future. Go Wolves!
Jerry, you’ve been pretty reliable in your past prognostications, such as Love and Telfair moving into the starting lineup.
What do *you* think will happen, and how soon?
My guess at the beginning of the season was that Witt would be fired around the 20-30 game mark if the team was significantly before .500. I’m going to stick with that.
The bad news is if the resulting move is a promotion of Sichting or another assistant, is that going to help one bit?
Going outside the Wolves culture and hiring an established coach would seem to help far more, but that would require major convincing (mid-season take overs are not attractive) and major $$.
I would guess it won’t happen as soon as fans would like since (1) they have to stew on it and convince Glen (2) contact a replacement, and (3) pick a stretch of games they think they can win so the move will look successful. Laugh at #3 if you wish, but I’ve seen it before.
It doesn’t matter if we have good draft picks if McFail is in charge. Even when we draft a good player like in the past, we trade them for someone worse. (draft Ray Allen, trade for Stephon Marbury; draft Brandon Roy trade for Randy Foye; Draft OJ Mayo trade for McLovin and Michael Bolton, etc). This team needs a major make-over. Al Jefferson is about the person we need to keep.
And I have given up the cry for McHale to be fired. My voice is too hoarse from years of yelling about it to go on. Realizing that he will be here whether I like it or not I am attempting to focus on possible moves and not bashing my head against the wall that is Glen Taylor’s stubbornness.
Wittman is the sole reason we lost last night. Maybe dont play Rashad because all he does is turn the ball over and play NO defense whatsoever. What did he possibly do to deserve to be in the game last night. Also, people who hate on Foye couldnt be any more wrong. Give this guy a break, he didnt get an run his rookie year cause casey doesnt play rookies, hurt last year and when he came back was our second best player. Gets to the hole almost at will and plays great defense. How about that 10 point spurt he had in the 3rd quarter last night, he brings it every night and cant catch a break. When he has the ball in his hands something good happens most of the time. Our starting 5 should be: Foye, Miller, Brewer, Love, and Big Al. Love should only come out when hes tired. Was Wittman serious last night with keeping him out, clearly we needed him in the game. He plays fantastic defense and can score around the basket as well as step out and hit the open shot. Wittman lost the game for us last night and needs to be held responsible. We won’t win until we bring in a quality coach that knows how to win games. No assistant coaches, We NEED Avery Johnson to come in and coach this basketball team. Who better to help Foye than Avery. This will never happen though until McFail is gone because he would clearly never make a move that is logical and helps this franchise out.
just imagine.
roy and garnett.
that is a nice one two punch
throw in mccants for some production off the bench.. and we are atleast 4-3 this year.
ha
Wittman is to blame. I know he’s a basketball junkie but he needs to exit the Target Center. How about Avery Johnson?
J Man:
Between Foye, McCants, Miller, and Brewer, I think dribble drive motion is about the best our perimeter guys could do. I think Love would be an excellent big man compliment to such a spaced offense and Jefferson…well, you’re definitely right about a mish-mash of personnel vis-a-vis any system they choose to run.
Fire Wittman!
6:35 left in Q4; wolves up 104 to 95
what happened the rest of the way in Q4 and OT?
Shooting:
Smith 1 for 5
Foye 1 for 4
Gomes 0 for 3
McCants 0 for 5
Miller0 for 1 [Only 1 shots for the best “shooter” on the team.] [Fire Wittman!]
Jefferson NO SHOTS! [Fire Wittman!]
In Q4 when the wolves lost their 9 point lead they were out rebounded
13 to 1 let me say that again.
in the last 6 minutes of the game the wolves were out rebound by 12 rebounds and their second best rebounder - Love -sat on the bench the whole time.
was Wittman aware of what was going on?
Not a clue!
Fire Wittman!!
The three best players on the Wolves are Jefferson, Love and Miller. They should be getting the most shots night in and night out.
But everyone on the team “wants their touches”. They have no clue what their role should be. [Fire Wittman!}
There are NO Rotations on this team. No clear roles - Fire Wittman!!
I could go on but I’d be writing for a week.
Just, Fire Wittman!!
why not have coaching tryouts.
everyone gets a chance. you lose a game your fired. hire a new guy the next day. if he wins. he keeps the job until he looses.
do that for an entire season. and narrow it down.
then do the same thing until you have one individual who simply cannot lose.
where do i sign up?
[…] http://www.startribune.com – […]
McHale hasn’t put together I winning team yet and he’s not going to anytime soon. This team has been doomed from the start. I call for a complete boycott of the Timberwolves franchise until McHale is sacked. Don’t go to any games, don’t watch them on tv and don’t buy and merchandise. (I’m mean, really, who would want to see this team anyway?) Glen Taylor needs to see that McHale is costing the organization wins, fans and MONEY.
Just end the misery and disband or relocate the team. Let us focus on hockey instead.
The negativity in this town sucks!!!
Dan, this team has talent. They could be 6 & 1. There were very competitive in 6 out of 7 games.
More realistically, they should be playing at least .500 ball.
In the last 6 minutes of Q4, when the wolves blew a 9 point lead, the Warriors out rebounded the Wolves by 12 rebounds. What adjustments did Wittman make? None.
He left his second best rebounder, Love, who had 9 rebounds through the end of Q3 sitting on the bench.
This team has talent. They need a coach who can use it effectively.
Wittman must Go!
Fire Wittman!
I do think hope is around the corner. And that hope is the organization is going to start losing a lot of money- bad product in a tough economy. I think we’ll see Taylor’s loyalty only last as long as his profits do.
I see people still don’t understand how a zone defense works. Wittman had everything set up right last night. It was Foye’s fault for not executing right. Anyone actually paying attention last night would have clearly seen that Foye panicked when the Warriors threw a zone defense at him, and that that was what killed our offense.
He should have be attacking the rim. Wittman screamed at him and McCants to attack the rim. They didn’t. That’s not Wittman’s fault. That’s Foye’s fault for not following the gameplan, and McHale’s fault for putting Foye in the position of having to run the team in the first place.
All this “Fire Wittman” talk is the same as the “Fire Saunders” talk. You all said he couldn’t coach and threw him under the bus. And what happened? He led the Pistons to the ECF three straight years in a row while we got progressively worse in his absence. If our problem was Saunders, why didn’t we get better when he left? Why did he do better somewhere else? Was it really Saunders’ fault? No. He put up 50 wins a year with A ROSTER THAT WAS BUILT RIGHT. Our roster was built wrong, is still built wrong, and that’s McHale’s fault.
So Bryan you are saying that Wittman can coach in a game situation but what about getting players prepared for games? Does it seem that Wittman may be weak in that area?
This team has the talent to be competitive in 6 out of 7 games. They could as easily be 6 & 1 as their present 1 & 6. Realistically they should be at least .500!!
in the last 6 minutes of Q4, the Wolves were out rebounded by 12 rebounds, when they had dominated the boards earlier.
What was the difference?
Their second best rebounder - Love - who had 9 rebounds at the end of the 3rd quarter was sitting on the bench.
The wolves being killed on the boards and Love just sitting there.
Wittman is an idiot and deserves to be fired.
Wittman has been given talent and has no idea how to use it effectively.
Jefferson, Love and Miller should be geting most of the touches on this team.
They should each be playing 35 minutes a game.
No one on the wolves except Jefferson has any idea what his role is.
Jefferson’s role is supposed to be clear. He is the low post scorer. But he had NO SHOTs in Q4 and in the OT.
The idiot playing point guard, Foye forgot to get his best player the ball in the right spots.
Miller, the best most experienced outside shooter, had 1 shot in the 2nd half of Q4 and in OT.
Fire Wittman!
bryan.
i understand what you are saying, but if foye and mccants dont know what to do when they are facing a zone defense, it still lies on the head coach to get them prepared.
Also, you guys should know that less than half of all NBA teams are profitable. Most teams lose money, even when they’re winning (Mavs, Nuggets). Some teams make money, even when they lose (the Clippers, hellooooo)
Accroding to Forbes, the most profitable NBA team is the Bulls. The least? The Knicks.
Want to know something though? We’re a more profitable franchise than the Blazers.
Profitability is not about winning or losing. It’s about market size, payroll size, owning your arena versus renting it, profits from parking, from concessions, from clothing sales. Ticket sales, even if we sold out every single game, wouldn’t make up even a fraction of the team’s operating expenses.
Taylor has been losing money on the Wolves for a long long time. He’s not going to fire McHale over profits or losses. If he does fire McHale, it will be over pride and reputation.
Bryan
If McCants and Foye weren’t doing what they were suppose to or what they were told to do why did they play the rest of the game? Why didn’t Wittman pull them and put Telfair and Miller in the game?
also.
as far as this team and expectations.
i didnt expect them to contend, or have a winning season.
but i did expect improvement over last year.
i think the team is better and we have better pieces. but this team has lost plenty of close games with wittman as coach, and that has to change.
i expected 25-30 wins this season.
but so far this team looks alot more like the team that started last season, then the team that finished it
Anyone happen to see the points Mayo has been putting up for Memphis? I cannot believe McFail passed up on him. Simply unbelievable!
This is the worst franchise in professional sports. Bar none. Kevin McHale is without doubt the most inept GM in any league.
I am not a McHale apologist, and have lost my zest for the Wolves over the past few years due to the mismanagement provided by McHale and Taylor. But, the current issues are resolvable with a coaching change (although any coach interested in coaching the Wolves with McHale and Taylor as his boss is probably not a very good option).
The roster they have is capable of winning more than they lose, and they have talented players at many positions.
However, Wittman has no clue how to manage an NBA team, and it has nothing to do with X’s and O’s. The players have no idea what he expects from them, and nobody knows their role, how much they will play, etc. The Golden State game was a perfect example. If you look at 82Games.com, you will see that the Wolves have used 10 different combinations on the floor this year, but only four have a positive +/- ratio. The only player who is on all four of the positive combinations is Kevin Love, and Love is the only regular with a positive +/- rating individually. Yet, he did not play the final 17 minutes of the game.
Young players need defined roles and boundaries, yet most of the Wolves young players come to the arena with no idea if or how much they will play.
Wittman has no system, no philosophy, no structure, and no respect from the players. They would be better off with Casey, who was actually starting to figure out how to be an NBA coach when McHale dumped him for his pal Wittman.
Unfortunately, we are probably stuck with Wittman for the rest of the year unless they want to turn it over to one of the currently uninspiring assistants the Wolves have on the payroll.
I agree, Wittman has to go. The Wolves scored 37 points in the third quarter, with Jefferson at C, Love at PF, and Gomes at SF. Gomes basically shut down Jackson, who was driving us nuts in the first half. Good lineup Wittman — where has THIS been all year???
In the 4th quarter, Nellie switched to a zone defense. Wittman acted like he had never seen a zone!! Put Love in the high post and you can break it down. Tell Miller to shoot the ball over the zone and you can break it down. What did Wittman do? None of the above.
I actually don’t mind replacing Wittman with Sichting, as an acting coach. It seemed like Sichting used common sense in guiding the team to a few wins last year. We could use some of that.
Like Nascar on ESPN, I hate seeing coverage of this team.
Has he made one single correct move? Not likely. Has certainly made his share of incredible blunders. Of course Joe Smith-gate was Taylor’s fault.
Really we need to focus on what we are getting out of our players and less on wins and losses. Do we want to continue with an ineffective PG (Foye) or a selfish/streaky shooter (McCants) or do we focus on the benefits of having and developing talent like Big Al, Kevin Love and Mike Miller who have shown they can play at the NBA level. We need a coach that can continue to develop that talent and has the know-how to get the best out of the players they are given. Wittman has shown repeatedly he is not that coach. Whether through poor game decisions or poor player development he has shown that the task is more than he is capable of at this point in his career. I don’t have the answers nor do I get paid to have the answers but those that do need to look into aggressively pursuing a proven coach this coming off-season knowing that we will continue to struggle with Wittman. No need to make a move on Wittman now. Don’t forget the worse the record the better the chance of a high first round pick.
Good coaches don’t try to get the best matchup to the other teams players. They are proactive and put their best players out there. There is no continuity on the team when nobody knows what is going on. If everyone is taking jumpshots and not going to the basket for 8 minutes,the coach needs to stop it.
The team is better but the management still stinks. McHale has made some good moves this last year but they need a coach who is in charge.
Taylor loses money??
Merely analyzing a pro sports franchise on annual operating profits/losses kind of misses the point. Owners make money, or they wouldn’t be owners. Take the Vikings as an example. McCombs used to talk up his annual losses as an argument for a new stadium. And similar to the Wolves, he probably did run the team in the red year to year. But guess what? He made a $350 million capital gain when he sold to Wilf (purchased the team for $250 million in 1998, sold for $600 million in 2005). So even if he lost $10 million per year every year he owned the team, he still would have netted $270 million in profit over 8 years. Don’t feel too sorry for Taylor — he’ll be just fine.
The Wolves aren’t going to get any better until they take the ball and big time situations out of Foye and McCants hands. You simply can’t have inconsistent shooters taking the big shots and you definitely can’t have them taking 30-40 shots a game. Once (if?) Wittman and McHale realize that both are role players the Wolves will get this thing turned around.
I feel bad that I couldn’t get online before this today.
McHale has to be taken to task for firing Casey, and for making these MULTI-PLAYER TRADES… even though I really think this last one was quite brilliant even though Mayo is looking good, and he can’t be taken to task for Chalmers though I’d like to put Babcock in Guantanamo Bay for that one!
Babcock for Chalmers, and not communicating with the rest of the management group.
Wittman because he’s not good at any aspect of coaching. I think he’d be a decent radio guy/tv guy. I think that he’d be a great high school basketball coach, or Jr. College coach, but he’s freaking worthless as an NBA coach, and that’s not even being mean to him for a change. You can’t get Corky from Life Goes On and expect him to be a Surgeon.
And above all you have to blame Glen Taylor, but no one has the money to take the reigns away from him.
Who is first? Lock them all in a room and last man standing is the first one that gets blamed for this!
I told you all that they would start the season 4-17!!!
On the 21st game in a Karma-bomb Wittman will either resign, or be institutionalized for how crazy he is driving himself coaching this team.
Foye, Miller, Brewer, Gomes, Jefferson as the starting 5.
use Telfair as the backup PG because it’s all he can play,
McCants for 18-22 minutes a game.
Love in for Gomes and Jefferson so he can get about 28 minutes a game.
Smith as the 4th big
Carney as the odd man out for the time being along with the street clothes guys…
And the team needs to run, gun, and play as hard and fast as they possibly can. This team cannot play defense well, and when they run set offenses they are either in the wrong spacing, Jefferson can’t or won’t pass, Miller won’t make sure he shoots first and thinks second… this would be the closest thing you can do to using Foye to the best of his ability, and finding out if he is a real NBA PG which isn’t looking good for him.
Give the GM and Coach job to Mike McCollow.
I am not even sure who they should bring in, but at this point in time it is a lot like 2006 in the political field… (as long as it’s not the people that are already in place… anything is better).
BC
Have you watched any of the games this year? Gomes is not a 4. He is a 3. Part of the defensive problems occur because he can’t guard other 4’s and he is a horribly rebounding PF. He is much more suited to play the 3 than the 4.
Del Harris anyone. Flip Saunders anyone. trade some #1 draft picks for D Wade he is from Chicago and may come up here to the area
Maybe now we can start “FIRE WITTMAN” chants at Target Center?
There is not enough talent on this team to win, but they should be improved and so far have not shown any signs of that. With that said, I think Wittman is an awful coach and was only hired back in Jan. 2007 because he was buddies with those in the front office. The firing of Casey was uncalled for. You only do that if you have a better replacement, which they didn’t. Wittman is the first that should take the fall.
The only regular with a positive plus/minus is Love - who is plus 9
He should be starting.
Starting line up should be
Jefferson
Love
Gomes** or Brewer
Miller
Telfair or Foye
McCants should start, but he never passes and doesn’t defend much either, but he has done better on the court [better plus minus] than Miller or Brewer, so maybe we give him at shot at starting SG if he promises to focus less on his own shot?
Maybe Ollie gets more playing time?
** most of Gomes playing time has been at PF where he can’t rebound or defend well enough. I think his numbers will be much better at SF.
The only Wolves regulars with decent plus minus are Love and Jefferson. [jefferson is just about Even.]
The worst plus minus on the team?
Gomes minus 41
Miller minus 40
Smith minus 30
Brewer minus 18
Telfair minus 14
McCants minus 12
Foye minus 6
Ollie Minus 4
Jefferson minus 2
in that order.
You guys realise none of this matters? The wolves suck and will always suck as long as McHale has anything to do with the team. The starting five, the bench, who plays when and takes how many shots…
NONE OF IT MATTERS!!!!
The solution to this team isnt curently residing in Target Center.
If your players cannot break a zone, then you need to TEACH THEM HOW TO BREAK A ZONE.
Coaches are there to coach. Wittman is doing none of that.
I have always wondered why they picked him other than he was the best brownnoser who worked Kevin McHale.
His record at his only other stint in the NBA was 32 wins for the entire season. Dwayne Casey had Randy Foye’s ear and seemed to be coaching him pretty well. He had 20 wins in his first season before he was canned.
Other names mentioned here are good as well. I hope the owner is reading this and not just listening to his GM.
My last question on this is “If he is such a good coach, why does his alma mater (Indiana) keep passing him over for their head coaching job?”
Maybe they know something that we don’t.
Have you seen Mayo’s stats? Did McHale give up another ROY for Love? Over and over it’s basketball f’ups, McHale.
McHale: Danny, let me draft and build NBA-caliber players and then trade them to the Celtics for nothing.
Ainge: Send us Jefferson and we’ll send back five of our worst players plus Perkins.
McHale: Ha! Ha! ok. will do, Danny! We fool those Wolves fans every year don’t we Danny? What idiots those Wolves fans are, eh Danny?
Ainge: Ya, dumb! Huck! Huck! Huck!
Ainge:
Flip will NOT coach the Wolves..EVER. Get over it! Whenever someone says we need to hire Flip they obviously know nothing about the NBA. That bridge has been burned. He is getting paid millions to not coach and you think he wants to come back here???
I am feeling a little more sympathetic for Foye now that I’ve read some more posts. Last night should’ve been the ultimate indicator who he is as a player. He is clearly not the answer at PG. Can we please end this experiment. That being said, he clearly showed that he can play at a high level with that 10 point stretch in the 2nd half. So why not trade McCants right now for any sort of PG or C help and use Foye for 20-25 minutes as the 6th Man/Spark off the bench. Don’t call on him to set up the offense but to make things happen.
I think the lineup should be:
Telfair
Miller
Brewer
Love
Jefferson
They started out great last night and Bassy got us in a nice flow. He has all the intangibles to be a quality starting PG, he just needs to be make a shot more than once a week and play D a little smarter.
OK 1)Bryan, it IS Wittmans fault. He did not put the guys in a position to win. IT is the COACHES responsibility to see that your PG is not lost and if he is you, as coach, need to make that change. If the coach can not see what is going on in front of him - he needs to go.
2) Rydog - I understand rebuilding/teaching/learning, but as stated previously, this team is MUCH better talent wise than 1-6. They were in all the games (except the second Sacto game) and everybody has an OCASSIONAL off night. This team seems to have them EVERY night.
3) I agree with those who think McHale should coach the team. He made this mess, he predicted 40+ wins, take over now while there is still a chance to reach that goal, if you can.
I am an optimist and had predicted 35-37 wins for this team, but they won’t win 10 the way they are playing now. Remove Witless and replace him with McHale.
OJ Mayo will get garbage points on a garbage team. No one else in Memphis is capable of doing anything. He can not create his own shot, has a slow first step, does not play well in big games, and is undersized.
Someone has to score for Memphis. It might as well be him. I don’t see Memphis improving with him on their team.
“Last night should’ve been the ultimate indicator who he is as a player.”
Yeah. I agree. The seventh game of the season in Golden State. Ive always heard thats the ultimate yardstick for a PG……
Wittman is the worst coach in the league. His player rotation and time distribution is horrible. He doesn’t know how to call plays. You have Al Jefferson in the post who doesn’t take a shot the entire last quarter/OT. That’s something a coach has to recognize and tell his players, “GET THE BALL TO AL”. The fact that Wittman is our coach in the first place is McHale’s fault. I don’t care who they hire, just get rid of Wittman. He’s horrible!
What you do now is ignore this losing franchise. Don’t waste your time, energy and money on proven losers. NBA is a flawed sport with spoiled felons, …eh I mean athletes. I’d rather organize my basement than watch this product perform.
“I’d rather organize my basement than watch this product perform.”
Yet here you are. On a blog. About basketball.
point 1- Wittman was at fault for a bunch of last night’s late game gaffes. if one has to pick, he should go.
point 2- we’re 7 games into the season. clean the sand out of your labias, wolves fans. we’re not good, but we’re also not as bad as 1-6 shows.
point 3- not to really defend Wittman, but he’s coached awful teams. remember those pre-Lebron Cavs teams he coached? nobody could get more than 20 wins out of that squad. add in last year, and of course his winning percentage is garbage.
wolve’s fans at the Target Center
Let them hear you!
Fire Wittman, NOW!!
Fire Wittman, NOW!!
Fire Wittman, NOW!!
I can’t hear you!!
Fire Wittman NOW!
Fire Wittman NOW!
Fire Wittman NOW!
Fire Wittman NOW!
Well, basketball sucks, so I’m glad it’s turning out this way. Maybe we’ll lose the team, and Target Center can get taken down like the Met Center did. It would be poetic justice. Without basketball, we would have never lost hockey. Now with hockey in town, basketball can’t survive. Get over it and pick a new team to root for. It’s the game that sucks, not the GM or the players.
Arlo says:
November 12th, 2008 at 8:44 am
1. Fire McHale
2. Fire Wittman
3. Hire Flip Saunders
4. Trade Randy Foye an $1 million for Brandon Roy
5. Trade 7 players for KG
lol.. this made me laugh out loud!!!
Fire Everybody!!! lol
Hey Bill….
Hockey sucks donkey balls.
Is that blad guy with the expando backboard and nerf ball still walking around the stands?
They should fire him too.
Dear “Arlo are you retarded?”
Yes, I must be retarded. I am a Wolves fan so by default I am retarded.
Arlo
Maybe the US Govt. can give some of the $700 Billion to the Wolves and bail them out too?
The proximity of the Twins new club house to McHales office is concerning to me. It cant be a good thing to have him that close. He’ll suck the life out of the Twins.
Thats why I want him gone. So he cant destroy the Twins too.
Pointless…
I was trying to say that last night pretty much summed up Randy Foye. He is not the answer at PG but he is not a player that we should just get rid of. He showed that he can be effective at times but when it comes to running the team, he just doesn’t have it. He played the same way last year so I’m not basing my opinion off of 7 games.
I can’t hear you!!
Fire Wittman NOW!!
Fire Wittman NOW!!
Fire Wittman NOW!!
Ever see that Seinfeld episode where George decides all of his instincts are always wrong and he decides to start doing the opposite of what his instincts tell him to do in each and every situation?
McHale should watch that episode.
Jballer do you know anything about Chauncey Billups’ carear? Keep that in mind when you think about Foye.
Maybe Wittman should get the team together and they could watch Hoosiers? That might help.
Better yet, maybe Gene Hackman is available to coach?
You have a coach who is learning on the job with players that are learning on the job.I say get rid of Wittman and bring in a coach who has a track record of winning. If you have to wait until after the season to do so, so be it, just bring in a winner. How about Van Gundy. I don’t think the players believe in Wittman the has never had sucsess as a head coach.
Go Wolves, seriously they are the worst team in the league, No arenas for the wizards, and think if we didn’t have Jefferson, we wouldn’t even have one win.
Is this even close? McHale! McHale! McHale! Mchale!! this guy wants all the glory and doesnt do the work! How many years in the last 10 have the t-wolves drafted someone who played in Ncaa tourney here? Laettner? Foye? Anyone heard this stat? theres a lot of players that played there before the t-wolves drafted them.
Fire anyone who thought this team can win. Open your eyes! 1-6 and against weak teams. Wittman is a proven loser. Mchale is a joke. Al is good, Love could be decent, Miller ok as 3 shootes the rest are all busts. there is no way this group will EVER make the playoffsbin the west. The only way they may be competitive is if they joined the WNBA.
I think we should hire Tom Thibodeaux or Ty Corbin to coach this team. McHale is a disaster, but it doesn’t matter if Taylor doesn’t want to get rid of him. Glen is too loyal.
I like this team. They’re off to a bad start and may not make the playoffs but I like the roster. That 3rd quarter gave us a glimpse of what’s to come.
On another note, OJ Mayo is having a great start.
Here I am watching the Heat and Blazers play and I am actually enjoying it. Imagine that, basketball can be fun to watch. I guess I need to crawl out of my Timberwolf cave every once in awhile to see how organizations should be run. Sad that Roy and Chalmers couldn’t be running the floor. I could care less about Mayo not being a T-wolf. It always seemed like he was more into his image than his team.
To Daredevil -
What about this roster do you like? We have no solid guard to depend upon, a glutton of Power Forwards all fighting for playing time, and no legit center!
mchale has made so many errors in what he is supposed to be an expert at-judging talent and how it fits together what he should just resign and say someone else should give it a try. mchale errors-roy for foye, garnett to celts, love for mayo, wally over chauncey, cassell for jaric,marbury for allen and on and on and on……………………….
Get rid of Wittman, bring in Jeff Van-Gundy!!
if we had roy we could have probably kept kg as kg would finally have the scorer he needed to play with. roy has been rookie of the year and on the all star team last year. mchale is the one responsible for these decisions.
OJ MAYO IS THE NUMBER ONE ROOKIE RIGHT NOW, READ ON…..The same day I found out that Love Lockdown was Kanye’s song, I saw O.J. Mayo’s line against the Nuggets: 31 points on 4-for-5 shooting from deep, eight rebounds and three assists. A couple of days earlier Mayo had put up 28 points on the Kings, but it had only come with one rebound and zero assists. Mayo getting 28 with no dimes against a poor Sacramento team made sense to me. I knew he could score and I could see him calling his own number against a sorry Kings team all night.
But 31, eight and three while being guarded by a defensive-minded veteran like Chauncey Billups? Who knew Mayo’s game was so complete?
Hearing Kanye sing like that opens up my mind to a whole new realm of musical possibilities from him in the future and seeing Mayo dominate in an all-around floor game like that so early into his rookie season makes me see a whole new career arc for the guy.
I had Mayo pegged as a scorer in the Allen Iverson-Ben Gordon-Vinnie Johnson mold. I thought he was an instant offense guy: just add playing time.
But 31, eight and three suggests so much more. Scoring, rebounding and passing gives you a Magic, a Bird, a Jordan, a Kobe, a LeBron.
Line of the Week
O.J. Mayo (MEM)
Nov. 9 at DEN
31 points, 8 reb, 3 ast, 11-21 FG, 4-5 3-FG
It’s a great feeling to be surprised for the better by somebody. If Kanye can sing and O.J. can be a five-tool player, then maybe the guy in my apartment building can stop parking so close to my car and the girl at Starbucks who makes my tea can remember not to fill the cup the whole way so I can add milk to it.
If O.J. is already surprising us just eight games into his career, just think of what level of play he’ll be at when he impresses us like that the next time.
To those who want Flip back, he couldn’t win with a championship caliber team in Detroit, how the heck is he going to win with this team in Minnesota? Wittman looks clueless on the bench and seems to have no rhythm or reasoning behind his substitutions. McHale is horrible but at least the Love trade is the beginning of fixing his mess. The team will not go anywhere with Wittman. These young Wolves have some talent, they just need to be coached a lot better. I’m not even expecting a change but that is what needs to happen.
Howard Beale - “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”
Rodney King - “Can’t we all just get along?”
Susan Powter - “Stop the Insanity!”
Juno MacGuff - “WHOA DREAM BIG!”
Fogell - “I am McLovin!”
To answer William’s question about what I like. I like the beast Jefferson first and foremost. I think Miller is solid and Love has a good future. Foye has potential. He’s been inconsistent so far but give the kid a break with the injury and all. I’m optimistic. I picture him playing eventually every night like he did in the 3rd quarter last night. Gomes, Smith, Brewer, McCants aren’t that bad although McCants is a bit of a loose cannon.
now 167 comments on this thread…Jerry, you’ve done something…you’ve gotten the few wolves fans to discuss this current team and situation with general concern for this franchise…now I haven’t read all these posts(just woke up) but as one of the regular contributors I am impressed w/ the turn out on todays thread…
and in case some of you haven’t noticed…the Heat and Blazers are playing on ESPN, showcasing a couple of guards that could be on this wolves roster in Roy and Chalmers…I’m really impressed w/ Chalmers and I’m guessing that the Heat are a little upset that they took on Marcus Banks’ contract.
Is there anyone in the organization that truly understands successful point guard play? Also, if Jefferson can’t pass out of triple teams, can’t play team defense, and tries to lead by being a jerk, he is not a team leader. I may be dating myself but Jefferson would do well to study Bill Russel and Larry Bird if he wants to be perceived as a team leader. McHale was a great post player but he seldom passed out of double teams. This team will continue to lose if Jefferson doesn’t wise up. It is very discouraging to read about Jefferson’s less than exemplary attitude here on this blog. I thought he would be a true team leader.
Also, the organization needs someone that knows how to evaluate point guard play.
As for the coaching situation, I think guards are usually better coaches.
cowboy, the wolves do have some idea of good point guard play…they did bring in Sam Cassell when they knew they needed to bring in a good point, they’ve had Terrell Brandon, gotten rid of Marcus Banks, Marko Jaric…
I don’t know if the Wolves ever worked Chalmers out before the draft, or just drafted him because he was the highest rated they had on the board…and that is why they got rid of him…Jerry, do you know if the wolves worked him out before the draft?? and most recently the Wolves tried to acquire livingston…so I think they know…but are just stuck in trying to get one.
i just read the blog,and haven’t read any of the comments,but maybe the wolves could bring back duane casey.just to get them back to .500,and then fire him and let wittman start over.just a thought,probably already been mentioned
the wolves never wanted Chalmers.
They had already taken Mayo.
They drafted Chalmers at the direction of Miami, so he could be sent there.
The trade for Love and Miller happened after the deal with Miami was done.
Chalmers is playing 31 minutes a game.
He is averaging 6 pts, 5 assists, 1.6 turnovers, shooting 40% and only 38% from the FT line.
I wouldn’t cry too long about Chalmers yet.
Dwayne Casey is an assistant coach with the Mavs. He’s not available.
Watching the Heat and Blazers tonight, it struck me that Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye are probably on the block. We should inquire.
Mayo is blowing-up and destined to be an All-Star. Another draft day trade we’ll soon regret.
Three things need to be done:
-Fire Wittman and hire Avery Johnson.
-Fire McHale and give his job to Hoiberg.
-If team is signficantly below 500 at trade deadline…trade Miller for 1st round pick and/or promising young wing player.
Here’s a fact:
If you support the Wolves, you suck. Kevin McFail MUST BE FIRED. If you support the team, by extension you are supporting HIM. The Wolves are the Detroit Lions of the NBA, i.e. train wreck. Stop the talk about firing Randy Wittman. Wittman is NOT the problem (even though he is and will always be an assistant coach, not a head coach). Until McHale is fired, this team is dead. Dead. Dead. At least the Lions fired Matt Millen. How long can Glen Taylor possibly stick with this buffoon? He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst executive in American professional sports. Bar none. I will root for the Wolves to lose every game they play until he’s gone. And believe me, I consider myself to be a better fan than those of you who want this team to win this year.
Hoiberg is not the answer at GM. We need to go outside of the organization to find a General Manager. I think Hoiberg and Taylor should lead the team interviewing general managers. Hire Flip Saunders as interim head coach. Build around Al Jefferson.
McHale isn’t our GM anyway. He’s VP of operations, so he’s higher up than the GM (our GM is Jim Stack).
I wouldn’t mind Hoiberg being promoted to the GM position, but I agree that we need to go outside the organization for a new VPO. I hear Charles Barkley is looking to get into a front office somewhere (I’m serious, he is).
Jerry this blog is going to prematurely age you if you’re making an effort to wade through these comments.
No Flip Saunders ! He isn’t a good coach for big men and that is the vocal point of our offense. He is a guard coach. Plus he isn’t known for being a good defensive coach. Offense isn’t the problem..its the defense. If Witt is to be gone, get a defensive minded coach. Not Flip.
well that rules out Avery Johnson also…not defensive minded…well at least in Dallas he wasn’t
Wow - I’d take Billy Crystal’s brother from Mr. Saturday Night aka Jeff Van Gundy. Got the squad playing good team defense. No Flip, No Avery.
I think that the Wolves need a few more games to be sure. I like the ideas of Jeff Van Gundy to bring in a proven coach. Would he be willing to come here unless he could have control of the personnel? He would also probably cost $4-5 million per season which might be too high to risk with the lack of attendance for the financials. Of course it could bring more people to the games right away and after especially if they started to be more competitive.
Wow
Avery Johnson is actually a defensive minded coach. The personel in Dallas was the problem. He is definitely more of a defensive coach than he is offensive coach.
I really don’t think that Jeff Van Gundy is the answer. The style of play he likes does not fit with the current way basketball is played in the NBA. With the rule changes that don’t allow as much defensive ‘harrassment’ his defensive philophies are not as successful. If McHale is still in control after this season(God I hope not, but we know Taylor won’t fire him) I think the Wolves will look hard at Tom Thibodeau . He has the Boston connection with McHale and I’m sure Ainge has put in a good word. Plus he is the defensive mastermind behind the Celtics. I’m not saying he would be a good or bad hire but that would be my guess.
Kevin McHale isn’t going to hire a known quantity to coach for him. If he fires Wittman, he’ll either coach the team himself or hire Jerry Sichting to do it.
Why? He’s not going to hire someone with more credibility on the basketball operations side than him. Look at the kind of guys McHale his hired over the years. He’s never gone out and brought a guy in a with a real track record of success at the NBA level. Flip was a CBA coach. Dwane Casey was an lifelong assistant coach. Randy Wittman and Sidney Lowe came back to the organization after bad stints elsewhere. Rob Babcock is back in the front office after failing in Toronto. Fred Hoiberg is a newbie. Jim Stack is a career assistant front office type.
He’s not going to risk Taylor seeing someone in the building with more savvy than he’s got.
So if the team doesn’t improve he can pass the buck again.
jama,
That is a good take on Van Gundy. I am sure that he would not care for our current team to play his style. I just want to support the idea of bringing in someone with proven success and a ton of experience in managing an NBA team and NBA players.
I think Avery Johnson fits the majority of our needs. He is a defensive minded coach, he just had players in Dallas who didn’t like playing it. Also, he is a leader and someone who these young guys can get behind and learn from.
Johnson is really nothing special as a coach. He rode some good personnel to early success but that’s about it.
My solution:
1.)Taylor sells the team (or at least majority ownership) to someone who cares more about the franchises success that the profit margin.
2.)This new owner replaces McHale and Wittman with a competent GM and coach.
3.)A decision on the teams direction is made and stuck to. This should include the acquisition of a legitimate defensive minded center and PG who can perform all aspects of the game (Telfair runs the offense well, but needs to score when presented with the opportunity either at the basket or on a jumper, and his defense is average at best).
The team has solid pieces at PF, SF and SG, but nothing worth keeping at C and only one PG, who needs to keep improving (remember Telfair came out of high school and is still very young for the number of years he’s been in the NBA).
Triebark - Taylor cares about profit margin ? Then why did he buy all new seats for the entire place 3 years ago ? Why did he buy the giant new scoreboard ? Why did he buy a new floor ?
I don’t think he is the profit margin guy here, he has spent money when he needs to.
triebark
Why do you think Taylor is about profit margin? He has lost money running this team for about the last decade. Other owners in this market can be called cheap but I don’t feel Taylor is one of them. Can you blame Taylor for not firing McHale and letting him run this franchise into the ground? Sure, and I’m not saying he is a great owner either. But cheap is not a fair assessment.
I do think one can fairly criticize Taylor for being cheap in recent years. Taylor hasn’t gone out of his way to spend any money the last three years. He fired Saunders and has had cheap coaches ever since. He’s done numerous trades where the Wolves have received cash as a part of the deal (Roy-Foye included). He put his team on a low-power radio signal because they offered a couple more bucks than KFAN. They’ve let several cap exceptions go unspent.
Sean
On the flip side of that. The Wolves have been at or above the cap basically since KG signed his first big deal. I understand what you are saying about the trades but really the Foye-Roy trade was McHale saying, “Ha we got the guy we wanted anyway plus you gave us a couple million” Money wasn’t really the motivating factor in any of those trades. The exceptions are a different monster. There wasn’t really much of a reason to use those exceptions. The team was already over the cap and were looking to rebuild. Not using those exceptions helped with cap space for the future by not bringing in more contracts.
I’m not saying he is spending like Mark Cuban or Paul Allen but for all the things you can call Glenn Taylor, cheap wouldn’t be in the top 10.
Sean - Taylor being “cheap” in recent years in regards to contracts ? Good ! He isn’t shelling out big dollars and long term deals that hamstrung us during the KG era ? Oh mercy ! KG’s salary took up an average of 45% of the cap…great he spent money for one guy and now he couldn’t spend money on others.
Being “cheap” right now is the best thing the Wolves can do.
A couple of more losses and McHale has to put himself on the line.
Become coach himself and make them win!
I say that as someone who believes McHale has done a good job in drafts and trades starting with the KG deal.
The wolves have talent.
They are in good shape as far as the salary cap goes.
They need a good coach to bring it all together - quickly.
The wolves can’t afford another “lost year”.
These young players have to learn to win.
It is hard to get coaches this time of year.
I don’t want to leave it to a “newby” like a current assistant.
McHale should step up show the team can win.
McHale its on you!!
Two more losses and its your turn.
only McHale, the guy who drafted or traded for all these guys has the credibility to quickly get the wolves players to listen to them.
Thats why its must be McHale to take ove as coach!
I would say that Taylor spent more money in the past and did not get the results that he expected, and therefore has tried to run things a little more tightly. He doesn’t want to spend any more money than he has to since attendance is currently very low. Improvements to Target Center are probably to try to market the arena for basketball as well as attracting other events to compete with the Xcel Center. He has talked about not spending as much as it is probably hard for a good business man to lose so much cash on this product. The value of the Wolves will probably make him a few bucks when he does eventually sell the team, as he got it at a good price.
I want Wittman to be fired, but come on. You can’t fire a guy after 7 games. Give him 15 more games, and if things still aren’t improving, get rid of him, and make McHale coach.
Practically every team in the NBA is above the cap, so Taylor gets no points from me for that. They didn’t use their exceptions consistenly even during the KG era.
I would argue that the rebuiliding “plan” is just as much about saving money as trying to build a winning team for the future. They could have tried to trade KG for players to help them win now. They chose to be really, really bad and really, really cheap for a couple of years. And Taylor was one of the principal architects of that plan. Now it may prove to be the right thing to do. But it wasn’t the only option.
The Foye-Roy trade was pennywise, pound foolish if you buy the Wolves’ logic on why it was made. If you liked Foye better, why would you draft Roy and force a trade? The Wolves are going to get pounded for years over the fact that they picked the better guy and traded him for cash and an inferior player. Think the organization is better off with the money and the incessant comparisons of the two players? I don’t.
And I don’t buy the “Glen Taylor is losing money” story. Yes, he’s losing some on operating the team yearly now, but he will more than make that up when he sells the team down the road. The value of the team has increased roughly 4x from when he bought it in the mid-1990s, and he hasn’t lost anywhere near that amount to operate the team. He’s only taken significant losses in the last couple of years.
How about me as coach? First thing is Jefferson does not come out of the game for 7 minutes at a time. Secondly, the minute a team goes on a 6-0 run on me, I call a timeout. Thirdly, I tell the guards to run into the paint and create fouls and freethrows. Fourth, if you can’t make a uncontested 20 foot jumpshot, you will stay on the court after the game and shoot them all night for practice. Finally, decide who your starting 5 players are and let them play, and keep playing them until they absolutely need a rest. The end.
Jama,
Thibodeau was Van Gundy’s top assistant and was in charge of all of his defensive schemes. It makes no sense, then, to say that Van Gundy’s schemes won’t work in today’s game, but that we should hire Thibodeau. They have the exact same phil. I would be happy with either one. It would give the Wolves a clear cut style of play. Right now they don’t really know who they are, and as D’ Antoni has shown in NYC that’s half the battle.
Roy is overrated.
Overrated or not, he’s been a lot better than Foye thus far.
So ? I wouldn’t want to be stuck having to pay the contract he’s gonna get, which I don’t think he’s worth.
After next season we Foye is restricted and probably won’t get a giant offer….if he does we can let him go. Someone is gonna sign Roy to a max offer sheet and Portland will have to match it.
So we’re better off having a player we’re going to maybe get rid of than slightly overpaying a player who’s going to be at or near All-Star caliber for the next 10 years? Really?
Financially yes. Plus I’m not as big on Roy as everyone else it seems. Should have traded that pick away for a first rounder last year or this year.
