McHale in as coach, out as boss
Posted on December 8th, 2008 – 11:03 AMBy Jerry Zgoda
The big news out of Target Center this morning is not that Kevin McHale takes over for Randy Wittman as coach, but that McHale is leaving his front-office job to concentrate on coaching.
As reluctant as McHale was to coach the first time around, this finally looks like Glen Taylor’s move to send the franchise in a new direction.
McHale’s demotion apparently is permanent. Not sure yet if assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg, who has been groomed as McHale’s eventual successor, is the new basketball boss.
The Wolves fired Wittman as head coach this morning and replaced him with McHale, who wasscheduled to lead his first practice with the group of players he has acquired at Target Center beginning about seven minutes ago.
Fox Sports North will broadcast the 2 p.m. Target Center press conference live and then re-air it at 7 p.m. as well.
Before you hear what’s said at the 2 p.m. news conference today, let’s hear what you have to say about Randy Wittman being fired and Kevin McHale taking over. What’s this all mean for this season and the more distant future.
168 Responses to "McHale in as coach, out as boss"
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3754151
“McHale will step down from his front-office duties to concentrate on coaching.”
Is this true Jerry? Hopefully he permanently stepped down and never returns…
wolves will move forward…play better…maybe not win…but the effort and heart has to improve…it absolutely has to…no more getting blown out…can’t happen
Ths will be similar to the last time McHale coached. You will see some improvement because things couldn’t get any worse. Also these guys know tha McHale has a big say in whether or not they come back, get traded, or get let go. Wittman lost this team last year and had no control over guys like McCants.
Jerry,
Obviously this is the news of the day and important but have you heard anymore about the rumors of a trade coming?
They have a great coach in their backyard who led this team to the playoffs each year for 6 straight years and then when they were having an off year they let him go. Flip Saunders should be brought back to this team. McHale should leave and join the Navy.
Fit punishment for McFail is to coach these guys. A better punishment would be for him to hire Flip back to be GM, while he gets stuck coaching.
I feel sorry for you Jerry, who did you anger to get stuck with having to cover this team?
This is great news. McHale could be a great coach but would have always been an awful GM. I hope this works out for the Wolves. I’m assuming Hoiberg takes over the GM duties?
Thank You Glen Taylor!!!!! This is the best thing to happen to the wolves since drafting Kevin Garnet (Highlight of McHale’s GM career). I am so excited McHale is not the GM anymore. Even better, now he has is resonpible to make this team a winner, and if he doesn’t we can hire Flip back as coach. I am really curious about who the new GM will be…
Hopefully this is reminiscent of the Knicks debacle and McHale gets fired soon. It is definitely fitting for the time being. I also hope that the ESPN article that ombudsman linked is correct and McHale is getting his front office duties taken away.
I wonder who they are thinking of for long term answers for VP and coach.
jim stack is the gm…hoiberg is an assistant gm…
Flip Saunders for GM!!!!!
Who’s in charge of the front office now? Based on the old org chart, I guess it would be Stack. Does that make anyone feel better?
I expect McHale will get this team to play somewhat better, probably winning on the low-30 win pace I had them pegged for, which means they will end up in upper 20s for wins.
It was definitely time for Whitman to go. He’ll always be a great assistant in the NBA, but I don’t see him getting another head coach job.
I don’t think McHale is “the answer” at coach, but the season is lost so you might as well stick him in there and save money over hiring a new coach. Plus it sounds like this is the transition he needs to step out of his GM duties without actually “quitting.”
There’s talent on this team, maybe he can find the spark to get it going. Good luck, Mr. McHale.
This is a joke, the person that put the team on the floor and now he is the coach? He already proved he is a idiot. If any one else made the moves he has they would be gone, why do we have this dragging on, bring flip back
Maybe McHale will play guys who need playing time to see if they can play full time and contribute instead of sitting young guys on the bench(McCants, Foye, Carney). We knew we would be bad last year and probably this year and I feel Wittman was too worried about wins and losses (last year mostly) than trying to see how the young talent can play together (I really think Gerald Green could have been a contributor if we would have just thrown him out there last year in significant minutes and let him work out his problems - instead Wittman said he was not ready and basically did not play him at all last year)
yuk. it doesn’t matter where mchale goes within the organization. it will matter when he finally leaves. does anyone really think this will be some sort of revelation? he should be out with wittman for an actual fresh start. how about sam mitchell? he has the right fire and drive to get this team to overachieve. this is a band-aid on a broken arm.
McHale needs to go out the door right behind Wittman. McHale has demonstrated no ability to achieve the level of performance required to develop a competive franchise for Taylor and the fans.
” . Also these guys know tha McHale has a big say in whether or not they come back, get traded, or get let go. ”
Another way to look at it is they might not play at all in an effort to get McHale fired too.
It’s good to see movement in the Timberwolves’ brain trust. However, I contend there is nothing to get excited about until McHale is shown the door. I can’t envision any experienced (qualified) NBA head coach having interest in this position knowing that McHale is still in the mix. Mr. Taylor … until you “finish the job” no legitimate GM/coaching candidates will accept your calls.
If its true that McHale is done as the GM, then this is a great move!
Too bad that Wittman was fired, but it had to be done. He seems like a nice guy but just not a very good head coach. He will get a job somewhere next year as an assistant. Or maybe a smaller college b-ball program will hire him to be a head coach.
I think this is a smart move hiring Mchale. He will be able to motivate this team and will give us a breath of fresh air….. what the hell is going on with this franchise? What move’s has Mchale made to make you think we are headed in the right direction? and although i like him, you draft Kevin Love, really good role player when you have O.J. Mayo sitting in your lap, a potential Kobe type of player, a guy who can take over games. i don’t get it. i will not spend my money or waste my time eith this team until everyone at the very top are gone. Hire Hoiberg as GM and let’s get this team on the right track.
The wolves could hire 100 coaches and get no results as long as McHale remains with the program. He should have been out the door a long time ago. He is a great person but certainly doesn’t belong where he has been. Him Coaching isn’t going to change anything.
Sadly the wolves keeps doing the same thing, hoping for a different result. Either Taylor don’t know what the heck he’s doing or got too much money to play with.
I think the move was appropriate for the time being b/c I realize it would’ve been hard to just fire McHale without a good replacement for him. I think Taylor is actually doing the right thing. A move needed to be made and this allows him some extra time to find a real replacement at VP (like the Knicks and Donny Walsh). With the amount of potential this team has in the next couple of years (cap room & draft picks), it makes sense to want to find a competent front office head. I too am hoping that Stack gets the boot as well as McHale and the whole brain trust is reassembled.
This is a two fold problem, they fixed a big part.
The second part and even bigger is to get Mcfail the hell out of Minnesota as quick as possible!
this is like changing a headlight when you have a flat tire!
McHale will be Stack’s Dick Cheney, still running things behind the scenes. I can never see McHale letting grip of his hold of the team.
Personally, this does nothing for the team.
We are still stuck with the same no-heart players, lack of any offensive threat outside of Al, and we play in a conference were teams around us keep getting better and better. Unless they move us to the East, it will be a very long time before we compete for a playoff spot.
It could of have been different (Roy, Mayo) but everyone has posted/walked down that dreamy road.
Great for Taylor to finally do something, but it’s too little too late. This will not put butts back in the seats at the Target Center. We still are a fly over state for marquee Free Agents and refuse to build ourselves in the draft by trading them away the same night.
Basically the Wolves are facedown in the snow. Nothing is going to help them this year.
lol brad
It’s about time. Hopefully when this miserable season is over, Taylor will hire a quality coach and quality GM. Stack and Hoiberg should NOT be allowed to run this team. We need new blood in this organization in the worst way imaginable.
i hear Seattle is looking for a team.
McFail with accountability, YES!!! Now it is time for the media to start the McFail bashing when this team sucks. Jerry, this means you.
Hallelujah! This is like Christmas come early. I only wish that Taylor would’ve relieved McHale of his personnel duties before McHale could trade away Mayo. But Taylor has given McHale plenty of rope, and now he’s letting McHale tie his own noose. It’s only a matter of time before McHale is extricated from the organization altogether.
To me, this really doesn’t make anything better. McHale should be gone now - not coaching, but gone completely. Hiring someone from within the organization is not the answer either. We need to clean house in management, and go get someone from outside to clean up this mess. I just don’t understand how Glen Taylor can CONTINUE to be so blind.
Ed
You can’t fire a coach and entire front office in the middle of a season. This was the first of most likely a three step process. When the season ends, the front office and McHale will be fired. Then Taylor hires a new GM who brings in his own coach.
Im just glad I was born in Houston and have another team to root for. Mchale stinks and the She-Wolves wont be going anywhere until Mc_hale is gone. It breaks my heart to know that this guy has gave away so much talent. Cure the disease not the illness. Id like to know that one day I could go into the target center and get excited about going to the playoffs. I may be dead and gone before that happens.
They will play better, coaches get paid a lot to perform just like the players, and if you don’t cut it you lose your job. Either way they won’t resemble anything close to a playoff team until everyone has a clear role. It’s a team of good athletes and decent players that have no idea how to play together.
And I thought I’d never see gas below $1.50 again. 
As nearly all of these comments have stated, it’s HIGH TIME for McHale to go. I don’t think there were a lot of other options but there are quite a few other coaches available (Avery J. anyone?) right now but perhaps early-mid season is not the best time to hire a new coach.
I agree with jama, fire all of the front office and McHale and let the new GM bring in his own coach. Although I think Hoiberg can stay.
I have no problem with the Wittman firing. Look at his record in Cleveland and Minnesota. He’s a terrible head coach who inspires nothing from his teams. But McHale to replace him? Seriously? What is Glen Taylor thinking?
Good move. Let McHale try to win some games with the team he put together. Now after a couple more dismal games, maybe McHale will be fired and the TWolves can try to get a GM and coach on board before the draft. Can’t blame Wittman too much for this team’s failures, after all, a second string DII team doesn’t stand a chance against professional basketball players in the real world.
Well from the looks of it Mchale didnt step down. He was demoted. I thinks it pretty safe to say that he is never to be general manager again. He didnt do very bad the last time he coached so we will see what happens in that respect.
Look how long it took for the Lions to get rid of Matt Millen. It’s about time to start the Fire McHale campaign.
Well stated jama. We have to remember that while it would be nice to get rid of our cancer and fire McHale, we have to make sure it doesn’t come back by putting forth a competent plan. Simply firing McHale wouldn’t be enough. We have to find a replacement with a real plan to run the front office. That will take some time to do so by taking away his power and forcing him to coach, we are buying some time.
I think this move shows that Taylor doesn’t want McHale around. If they had simply fired Wittman and allowed McHale to hire a replacement it would show that Taylor felt that Wittman was the problem, not McHale. This move makes me think that Taylor will wait to hire a new head coach until he replaces the front office. Whoever will be the long-term answer at coach will be hired by the new front office, not McHale.
This is good news, because it forces McHale to live up to his words. If this team can’t win then Mchale will be canned. I for one, hope they lose so that McHale gets what he deserves. Then they can focus on getting some talent around Big Al.
Well, let’s see, Marbury for Allen, Roy for Foye and Mayo for Love all done in the disastrous career of McHale as GM. Thank goodness, he only has one more step and he is gone.
MCHALE should be gone too. good first step.
Changing coaches means nothing. Kevin McHale has proven repeatedly that his best interest is not with the Timberwolves, but with the Celtics. Weather it’s with the Ricky Davis trade, or giving the best player in the NBA to the Celtics. The ONE season when KG got us to the second round, he had veteran help, after that McHale refused to give KG that same help.
Instead he makes moves like trading Mayo for Love? The best move is for McHale to go to Boston and work with his boy Danny, and for us (Minnesota) to get someone in the front office, who will put the same formula together that Boston has. We would’ve only needed two missing components, but with KG sporting green, we’ll need all three.
Jerry, will McHale be back as coach next year, too?
Yawn. Wake me up when this team keeps the 2nd best player in future drafts. This team is filled with stiffs. Trading Mayo for two stiffs was just the icing on the Roy/Foye / clippers trade / drafting a player 7th overall that can’t shoot last three years of fiascos.
this team really isn’t worth paying attention to at all, other than for the comedy.
How did Taylor ever make his millions? It doesn’t take a lot of common sense to see that McHale needs to go…….I think that Wittman was a decent coach who needed support from a competent GM.
Sure hope that Taylor doesn’t stop here. Stack was an idiot with the Raptors. They knew enough to get rid of him quick. The only thing the wolves do quick is trade talent before you see them in games. This has to grease the skids for Mchale to be replaced completely. Preferably sooner than later. Good Luck boys.
Babcock was with the Raptors not Stack.
My mistake, which was Stack with?
The McHale ever needs to come to an end. I was going to say I feel sorry for Taylor but he keeps that bum around. I used to enjoy going to Wolves games when KG was around, but hey on the whole the NBA is pretty much a joke these days anyways.
I looked up Stack and he used to sweep up behind Crumps
I mean Crumbs in Chicago.
Taylor is so predictable…and stupid. He will let McHale bury himself with the foolish team he was allowed to assemble, and then let him go after they post a horrible record. This all seems fine, but it will be demoralizing to the players, and once again, this pathetic franchise will begin again.
Just fire the idiot. You owe him nothing. Show the fans you have some balls, and maybe they will reward you by showing up. All this does is satify your own cowardly personality, and give you a bogus reason to let McDildo go.
What a douche bag.
Getting rid of Wittman and keeping McHale is like having colon cancer, and taking out a lung.
Wittman was worthless… his numbers spoke for themselves.
McHale however is a cancer, and should be removed.
How many horrible freaking sweaters are we going to see on the sidelines, or will the Wolves have to spend more money on hiring someone to dress the big olf?
I say you go to David Stern, and ask “Who’s the best mind out there who is currently an Asst GM but is ready to go as a GM?” You hire that person and allow him to hire the best coach available to hire, not a retread like Saunders, Mitchell, Musselman etc etc. Bring in the new blood, and let them build the team their way. No Hoiberg, Stack, McHale, and Glen, get outta the way too.
The notion that Taylor now has doubt in McHale I think is somewhat in question. Taylor apparently, in fact, believes that McHale is the only one who can fix this mess. If Taylor was really disenchanted with McHale, he’d fire McHale, not Wittman or he’d fire both of them. So he’s putting McHale on the front line to fix the team. The rest of the front office — unless there’s more to the story than what has been revealed — keeps on keeping on with their scouting process. Any trade is still going to run through McHale.
It’s going to be McHale’s success (or not) on the court the rest of the year that determines if he stays or goes.
[…] On the Wolves – […]
medschoolmatt says:
December 8th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Actually, this could (with a capital C) be an ingenious move by Taylor if this is what he’s thinking (big if):
Essentially he’ll make McHale his coach of the future, keeping him under his GM contract. Then, he’ll go out and find a legitimate GM and tell McHale to stay on the bench while he gets someone else to run the team. He’ll be backed into a corner, and he’ll eventually keep the coaching gig and realize it is where he was supposed to be in the first place (he did have some success and knows the game, just can’t evaluate talent or crunch numbers).
I can dream right?
Dreams Do come true 
I hope they don’t make Stack the GM though; he is essentially another McHale. they need new blood, plain and simple. he’ll get the players to play better though. Wittman from what I can tell was condescending and the players didn’t believe in him. I think McHale will give them some new perspective. We need a better GM though, and I think it will happen just not now
McHale’s an idiot…he was the one that put the team together and made the mistakes. Wittman just did what McHale wanted and now takes the fall and gets replaced by the big sweater wearing doof. FIRE MCHALE TOO……
Stack is the GM. Has been for several years.
No legitimate GM/VPBO candidate is going to come in here if they are forced to keep McHale as coach.
I think it will be interesting to see how McHale uses Randy Foye. Does McHale still believe that Foye is a point guard, or does he share Wittman’s view of him as more of an off-the-ball player? Will we see more of Jefferson and Love on the court together (one might think we should, since he himself said they would complement each other)?
I almost think McHale is gone even if he does a decent job of coaching. Unless something changes in the next few months, he hates coaching. So he might just quit if Taylor offers to keep him on as a coach. I highly doubt he’s going to go back to the VPO position….I expect that to be filled by either Hoiberg or someone from outside the organization, and then that opening is closed.
I actually find it kind of amusing. Taylor has McHale cornered. McHale is saying “the guys I put together are good, but they aren’t being coached right”. Taylor is saying “prove it then”. The only way out of it for McHale now is to win. If he wins, we win. If he loses, he’s gone. It’s a win-win for Glen and for us. He’s basically pinned McHale inescapably to his own mess.
McHale has to be somewhat pissed about the timing of this. The Wolves upcoming schedule is brutal. If only he could have talked Taylor into giving Wittman through the end of the month!
The writing is on the wall. This will be McHale’s last season with an actual role with the team. I just hope Taylor completely cleans house and doesn’t just promote people from within. (I completely expect him to name Fred Hoiberg as the new GM after the season and expect more ineptitude.)
Also, Stack was part of the championship era Bulls team, so his resume as an executive is impressive at least. But if we do promote someone into the VPO position, I’d guess it will be Hoiberg. He’s basically been groomed for the spot for a few years now.
If you happen to read this Jerry, is there any indication on what Taylor plans to do with the vacant VPO position?
Also, is Mike Miller playing tonight?
Tomorrow. Sorry. Is Mike playing tomorrow?
I should have noted in my last post that I know that McHale wasn’t the GM. I think Stack is gone after this year as well. You really don’t need a VP of BB Operations so I expect Hoiberg to be running the whole show. (I don’t agree with that move). They won’t have a triangle of authority anymore like the use to.
I don’t think this situation is “amusing” at all. It shouldn’t be about rubbing McHale’s face in what he did for 60 games like he’s a dog that messed the carpet.
We’re facing the prospect of essentially kicking away a critical season in the rebuilding process because Taylor hasn’t been willing to make the move that really needs to be made.
Is Kevin Love going to be a better player at the end of this season? Will we know for certain if Randy Foye is point guard or not? Will Al Jefferson become more than a guy who racks up 20-10 without making the players around him better?
You can’t win basketball games in the NBA with a team full of terrible players, regardless of who the coach is.
-te
Troy
the team does have some terrible players, but it also has talent. the problem is the balance of the talent, and how the team is ran. Jefferson is a star, but doesn’t play lane defense, he’s a weakside helper. That would mean we need a force in the middle at C, which we don’t have. Foye is a combo guard in a pg body. he’s good, but out of position. Love is just another 4 (a good one with lots of energy) but is not ready yet to defend at this level. the others are self explanatory.
the team lacks players that fit in their roles. they need a legit center, they need a true point guard which they’ve needed for years. once that happens, the team will improve greatly.
This team is not going to get remarkably better until all the management is cleaned out.
Getting rid of Wittman was a decent start.
I like the idea of finding the best Assistant GM, and hiring him. The idea of bringing in David Stern’s opinion into the mix is interesting too. It might help gain us some ping pong balls in the next fixed lottery!
I think that McFail needs to be put as a coach and relieved of his front office duties. that way when he sucks it up too we can fire him and he will be gone too. Bring back Flip. Please Glen Taylor!
doogles, that is how the Vikings ended up with childress, they asked the NFL who the best next coach was, just sayin’
Troy,
This team is not nearly as horrible as it’s been coached or managed.
This team should be capable with the talent that they have of being better than they were last year. Not saying a playoff team, but they improved dramatically by not having Marko, Walker, and our wasted 2nd round pick.
First game watching the Wolves in person since April 1994. Sure not what we expected. Thank goodness we took full advantage of the music, the pre-game and pics with the cheerleaders as the game was a total train wreck! We’re from ND and won’t be back to see the Wolves anytime soon.
Foye is a back-up guard all most teams. Love is a complete waste and not an NBA player - What up O.J.?
Al Jefferson can score. That’s it. Can’t pass/won’t pass. Can’t play defense.
The fact is they aren’t good because the player’s aren’t good. The management made horrible decisions to get the players in, but they aren’t winning because they can’t; not because the Coach did a horrible job.
remember - asking Stern his opinion might backfire (he hates us you know).
I seriously think I could play for the Wolves. They should have sweepstakes @ Cub Foods - “Who wants to play for the 08-09 T’Wolves” ?
Mayo is pretty much the only scoring option on a bad team, and all he does is shoot (alot) and score too (don’t see you complaining about that). Foye would be a backup PG yes, but he’d be a good backup; also, I can think of a few teams that would love him at the 2 and even a couple that wouldn’t mind him at PG (other teams need one too you know).
you are also throwing your credibility under the bus by simply calling Love ‘a waste’. yes he’s slow, yes he isn’t all that athletic, yes he’s a bit short, yes he has issues covering hisposition. BUT - the guy has offensive prowess, rebounds like crazy and has lots of energy, can make an outside J once in awhile AND can make good passes. he’s a solid player STILL developing (Mayo is mayo, he hasn’t show me much more than what he is - shoot and score, shoot and score, forget the rest the game). and you are also forgetting we got miller in the trade too - probably the best all around guy we have (yes he has issues on Defense, but he plays his guts out and plays good team defense).
hopefully McHale will get these guys to show a bit more of what they can do
Once McHale is fired also, I’ll start watching the Timberwolves again.
I know of a former winning coach who lives right here in the Twincities who is not currently coaching. His name is Flip Saunders.
Glen Taylor! Suck in your pride and beg Flip to come back. Admit to him that you and McHale were wrong, it wasn’t his fault, it was yours and McHale’s.
Then fire McHale’s know nothing leadership. Until you do, your fan base and team record are going to suffer.
Until then, GO GOPHERS!
“Mayo is pretty much the only scoring option on a bad team”
Rudy Gay is an awesome player.
The solution is simple. Replace ALL the coaches and front office personnel. This team is as bad as an expansion team. They have not improved in 20 years! What a sorry franchise, and it all started with McFail. Remind me again….why is he still here?
Troy,
I am not saying that this team is GOOD.
I am saying that they should be better than they are.
We have 4 6th men type ball players on this roster, and a few NBA backups, and a few players that are getting paid for no reason…
That being said, I saw what Tubby Smith did with the Gophers basketball team, and that team turned around greatly on effort and getting things in place…
This team has no system, this team has no standards, no rhyme, no reason.
I want to see a legit rotation of the players… and I want to see the players get put into positions that would be best for them. With Wittman there was no rhyme or reason.
ok, the 2nd scoring option. besides mayo and gay, they dont have a whole heck of a lot else
THE PLAN STAYS THE SAME!
Fail in every single way possible
The Kevin McFailedabortion approach!
what the team needs to do is this
figure out what each player is good at, and put him there. show improvement, but hopefully they won’t win a lot more, and get a good position in the lottery. get a decent mind in there (heck even one of us) to evaluate the best lottery guys, pick the best fit and move on. we’ll be instantly better with most of the guys available up there
matt,
If Mayo is doing well only because he’s on a sh:tty team, whats Love’s excuse?
Listening to the confrence on KFAN here I am more convinced than ever that Glen Taylor may have Alzheimers or whatever is going wrong with George Steinbrenner and Al Davis…
The problem is that they were legendary before falling apart. With Glen Taylor it’s pretty much a flatline of failure.
Pointless
because mayo plays the 2 and gay plays the 3; both love and al are 4’s on this team, and love only gets about 25 minutes a game whereas mayo gets 35+?
that help?
Pointless
That is a very good point.
However, I think that Kevin Love will be a solid NBA player. I don’t think he will ever be the star he was in college by any means, but I see him as a 12pt, 9-10 boards, and 4-5 assists a game guy that can step out a little, and can and will pass the ball.
I would be right with you in anger on this move had we not gotten rid of 12 million dollars of salary in 2010 out of the deal, and Miller could still be a great trade chip before the trade deadline.
“because mayo plays the 2 and gay plays the 3; both love and al are 4’s on this team, and love only gets about 25 minutes a game whereas mayo gets 35+?”
Love’s a 4 huh? Thats the excuse? Probably shouldnt have traded for him huh? Or if he was that good maybe you move Jefferson to the 5.
Bottom line is a great player will get on the floor and score in the NBA and do what his position requires him to do. He isnt going to be held back. If Collins/Jefferson is a better 4/5 combo than Love/Jefferson, there is a problem with Love. Or the coaching is that bad. Anyway Id rather have a scoring dynamic 2 right now than a fairly decent back up 4. I dont care abour Miller either. He isnt going to be here long term.
“I don’t think he will ever be the star he was in college by any means, but I see him as a 12pt, 9-10 boards, and 4-5 assists a game guy that can step out a little, and can and will pass the ball.”
So we traded away a future star for a shorter Brad Miller?
One thing I will give credit to Love for is he does hustle. If we had drafted Beasley somehow, he would have given up on this squad sometime in October. Probably around the 10 min mark of the 2nd qtr, game 1.
So congratulations to Love for hustling.
Pointless - this team does not have a legitimate 5. and don’t look at me for trading for him (I’m not McHale). I don’t care how tall Jefferson is, he also doesn’t play 4 type defense, let alone 5 defense. He is a weakside helper and he can fly in there and make a block, but Love needs a 5 that can play defense. put him out there with collins and guess what? he looks pretty good too.
I also disagree with BC - Love has already shown more than what you are projecting. 13 points and 15 rebounds in his latest output in less than 30 minutes against a decent front court. the problem is he is not THE 4 on this team, like Mayo is THE 2 on memphis. Love just isnt ready to defend at the 5 to move there, and Al never will be. that’s the issue at hand.
I too wouldnt mind Mayo, but whats done is done, and I am just making the best out of what we have which is not ‘a waste’ as you call it
Pointless - For a better Brad Miller !
Currently 35th in the league in rebounds and 7th in offensive rebounds.
With McHale actually coaching, I bet we see a few plays actually featured for Love. See how he does then eh ?
On another note…welcome Stack & Mayor…you have one year before the fire Stack & Mayor chants pollute this board.
“Love needs a 5 that can play defense. put him out there with collins and guess what? he looks pretty good too.”
So where do you play Jefferson then? Anyway you look at it Love might be a nice little player on another team, there is no position for him here due to Jefferson. Thats the bottom line. Unless you want Jefferson playing the 3, Love 4 and Collins 5. How much sense does that make?
“the problem is he is not THE 4 on this team, like Mayo is THE 2 on memphis.”
Mayo could have been the 2 here. Mayo and Jefferson would have been a nice base.
Love is an average to slightly above average 4. Too bad we have a potential all star franchise player there. I cant believe Love was scouted by McHale to play the 5 and move jefferson to the 4. I got a 30 second look at him game one and knew that was pipe dream. No way Love is 6′10″. So in that sense, Love is a waste. A nice kid but a piece we didnt need.
Huh ? I didn’t post that previous one…what the hell ?
“Pointless - For a better Brad Miller !”
Brad Miller is a 7′ center. Love is a 6′8″ PF. Something we didnt need. A C would make us better letting Jefferson play at the 4, his natural position. Love makes jefferson play the 5 in order to be effective. He takes away from Jefferson on the court. I cant believe you dont see that.
Wow Im swan dizzle and Im in love with Love.
Somehow Im signed in as Swan Dizzle. I guess McHale is in charge of running this blog too.
There. Much better.
they dont all need to play all at the same time.
say this team gets a legit center and we dont give up Collins in my (and the rumored) proposed trade with Charlotte. they each can share about 15-20 minutes per game. then, you play jefferson mainly at the 4 for about 25 minutes, Love the other 20 minutes. their overlapping love and jeff (jeff at the 5) for about 10 minutes a game. Use smith if fouls add up or matchups allow.
the minutes add up - between the 5 and the 4, you have 96 minutes total. you give jefferson 35 of those (mostly at 5, a bit at 5), love 25-30 of those (at the 4), the rest among the 5’s (Collins, other legit guy we need) and Smith.
its a good rotation, that can be tweaked based on matchups. its at least worth a shot - Love is good enough to give this a go.
There is no need to disagree with me on Love Medschoolmatt…
I am saying at the end of this year he will be a 12 point 9 board 4 assist guy.
As a rookie on a terrible team with lousy coaching… that is meant as a good comment on Love…
I think he could be a 17 point 10 board 5 assist guy in the future.
ah ok then well said BC
Hey you’re not me !
Oh my god, Kevin McHale found GOD?
Jesus wept, Gary Gaetti found God and forgot how to play 3rd base. Maybe that’s McHale’s problem? God didn’t want him!
“say this team gets a legit center and we dont give up Collins in my (and the rumored) proposed trade with Charlotte. they each can share about 15-20 minutes per game. then, you play jefferson mainly at the 4 for about 25 minutes, Love the other 20 minutes. their overlapping love and jeff (jeff at the 5) for about 10 minutes a game. Use smith if fouls add up or matchups allow.”
Terrible idea. Long term it doesnt work. A 5th pick should eventually be a starter. Long term you cant run this proposed rotation and expect results. You’d have your best player playing out of position half of his minutes.
Screw this Collins fad…have Mad Dog take his minutes…at least he always has the intensity !
If Jefferson is your franchise player ( a whole other discussion for another day) Love makes no sense at the 5th pick. There were other players as good as Love in that draft we could have taken that filled a need. Love wasnt SOOOOO good we just couldnt pass on him in the trade. McHale got dupped by a doe eyed kiss ass who told him he loved him as a kid. McHale’s self esteem is so low he’d do anything for a little admiration and validation.
I think it’s a step in the right direction, but Taylor stuck with Mchale so long as the GM. How bad would Mchale’s record have to be as the coach before Taylor think’s about letting him go from that position?
“How bad would Mchale’s record have to be as the coach before Taylor think’s about letting him go from that position?”
Not how bad, how long? How long until Casey is off the books?
Pointless…
Love will be a decent ball player. I will not badmouth this trade because of hte deadweight that it got rid of. Plus you also have to realize that this is Minnesota and Mayo may have sucked up here too!
Pointless
Do you get it? This isn’t about how good Mayo is, or how bad Love is. We can’t evalutate them as equals not because they are playing different positions… but because whoever plays in Minnesota will always be worse because of the coaching, the management, and everything else factored in.
When Mayo came up here and became the next JR Rider then what?
We have to concentrate on the 4 1st round picks we have and 2-3 2nd round picks in the next two years, and putting the right players in place around the players we have now could be good.
But we need new management, new coaches, and a new owner to make that work.
The snow is getting bad, I’m going to bail out on work a little early…
Talk to everyone tomorrow.
“If Jefferson is your franchise player ( a whole other discussion for another day)”
Pffffttt why not now ?!
Is Jefferson the guy ? Could be. Maybe not. I think we give him 2-3 more years here before we make that conclusion…but…if there is an opportunity for someone to toss something ridiculous (A pick, a young talent, a contract) in a couple years, I’d have no problem dropping him if we aren’t much further along than we are now.
I only really really really like 5 guys on this squad right now…Big Al, Smith, Craig, Miller and Brewer.
Quick question…anyone notice how much worse our defense is without Brewer checking one of their wings ? We need to keep him for sure. Could turn into a Battier !
“Love will be a decent ball player.”
Im not saying he isnt. Im saying he doesnt fit here. The best thing a player can do is make those around him better. He doesnt do that because his biggest weakness is he plays the four, a position that our best player, jefferson, should be in to get the most out of his talent. Jefferson, because of Love has to play the 5, making his game less effective, not more.
” I will not badmouth this trade because of hte deadweight that it got rid of.”
Thats the redeaming part. But a trade shouldnt be about dumping bad contracts. It should be about getting the best player. We didnt do that. And anyway dumping bloated contracts is just McHale cleaning up his mess. Thats not the hallmark of a good trade.
“Plus you also have to realize that this is Minnesota and Mayo may have sucked up here too!”
You got a point here. Maybe Roy in MN is a bust and Foye in Por is an All star. Dido for Mayo. There is more to this theory than you know. Like any organization its the cultre management sets. Its the tone that matters. We have a culture of losing. Period the end.
Ooops…I said Craig and Smith…duh…I meant Love.
“I think we give him 2-3 more years”
Didnt we just sign him for 5 years? I bet the conversation went like this “Heh, sign here kid, Well build around you….”
“You got a point here. Maybe Roy in MN is a bust and Foye in Por is an All star. Dido for Mayo. There is more to this theory than you know. Like any organization its the cultre management sets. Its the tone that matters. We have a culture of losing. Period the end.”
I think Roy would have done better than Mayo here. Mayo is benefiting from an offensive scheme (Iaavanrarnoni is a D’Antoni disciple) that fits his style.
It wouldn’t have worked here.
“Didnt we just sign him for 5 years? I bet the conversation went like this “Heh, sign here kid, Well build around you….””
Yeah, but with two years left on his contract seems like the best time to get some value for him as it’ll be a higher salary that we dump and we might get some bonus toss in players from a guard heavy team trying to make a final push to the playoffs / title.
By that point we might have the big Russian…Brewer / Love fitting well together…a PG from this draft and whatever we get for trading Al.
But for now…yeah build around Al…if we can’t, don’t spend an extra 2 years trying to.
“By that point we might have the big Russian…Brewer / Love fitting well together…a PG from this draft and whatever we get for trading Al.
But for now…yeah build around Al…if we can’t, don’t spend an extra 2 years trying to.”
Geezus, man. You’ve got to have a plan. A constant revolving door of maybes is what got McHale in trouble. You committed to Al and at a good price. Go with it. Thats what makes Love totally useless on this squad. You dont make a trade for PF because you think you might trade your cornerstone player in 2 years.
“I think Roy would have done better than Mayo here. Mayo is benefiting from an offensive scheme (Iaavanrarnoni is a D’Antoni disciple) that fits his style.”
Mayo isnt getting lucky. He’s taking advantage.
Pointless is right. This team needs an identity.
Jefferson is the best player on this team. He’s not that tough to build around. You just have to do it.
Jefferson is a beast in the low post offensively and suspect defensively. So what do you need?
You need a defensive minded center who can take the tougher matchups at the 4/5. You need a point guard who can run a half-court offense, and you need a deadeye three-point shooter and a slasher/guy who can create his own shot to complement on the wings.
Of those complementary pieces, the only one the Wolves have for sure is Mike Miller. And Miller hasn’t been shooting the ball enough this year, passing up many good shots.
I didn’t care about this team before and this move does nothing to change that. This franchise has no plan, no direction, and no accountability. All they’ve done is shuffle the org chart, the same crew that has proven its complete incompetence for the last 15 years is still in charge (Messers Taylor, McHale, Stack et al). Wittman can get in line behind Flip, Casey, KG, and several others as people who’ve been made the scape goat for their failures. This team is less committed to scouting than the Cincinnati Bengals (can McHale even find Europe on a map?) and less capable of creating a plan and sticking to it than a group of ADD riddled 3rd graders. Call me when Taylor sells the team, because it’s clear he’ll never hold anyone accountable and/or is too lazy to fire everyone and start over.
McCants technically is the slasher you are talking about - but he seems to have forgotten he can do it and just jacks up 3’s whenever he feels like it.
Thabeet would be a good fit here. As for the point - Felton can be had for probably a late first rounder/early 2nd and throw in Ollie.
Here’s how the team becomes instantly better with 2 simple trades that would be cost effective
Call up Charlotte - take on Wallace’s contract (which really isnt that much - in 2010 he only makes 10 mill; we’ll still have a crapload of money under the cap and if the right player is available I’m sure Taylor will pay that luxury tax to get him here) and grab Felton for:
McCants, Collins, Ollie, late first rounder (Boston pick for example)
Here’s why they do it: they need instant offense, McCants is a guy they can just hand the ball to and he will be a scorer. He just doesnt fit here - he wants his own shot, and is not willing to share with Jefferson, Love and Foye. Collins comes off the books next year, and gives them another big besides Okafor. They dump Wallace’s sallary and open the door for DJ Augustine, Ollie grooms him; they also get a 1st rounder
Then you turn around, talk to the Lakers - offer them a future 2nd round pick for Mbenga. No one has heard of him because they don’t use him - they are already big and don’t use him. He doesn’t make much, and is young. He is also a shot blocking machine and very physical; I am sure they wouldn’t mind having the extra pick for someone they don’t use.
The team becomes this:
Felton
Miller
Wallace
Jefferson
Mbenga
Bench: Telfair (now the backup PG), Foye (becomes a combo guard), Gomes, Carney, Cardinal, Booth, Smith, Madsen
You rotate out Mbenga and Jeff for Love and Madsen/Smith/Booth, and you have Gomes to backup Wallace for defense and some punch off the bench. Foye becomes a 6th man - a role he’d be great for.
You instantly become better and it didnt take much.
Sean, if you want a model for success building around Jefferson, look no further than Orlando. They surrounded Howard with 3 spot up shooters and 2 PGs who can penetrate the lane and distribute.
We have 1 spot up shooter and no one who can penetrate or distribute.
McHale is in love with 2 kinds of players - Combo guards (guys who aren’t good enough passers to be PGs and aren’t good enough scorers to be SGs) and big men who remind him of himself. As a result we have a roster full of guards who can’t score or pass well enough and unathletic big men.
I return here to say….Ha, Ha! And I thought it couldn’t get any worse.
The only thing that would bring me more pleasure in this whole mess would be the hiring of Flip Saunders as GM and his subsequent firing of his “friend” Kevin Mchale.
I am still a fan of the Wolves players but would love nothing more than to see McMillen fall flat on his face with a new string of losses.
If Mchales GM skills were as huge as his ego the Wolves would have had at least ten championships by now.
well now that i’ve got a chance to sleep on this decision made by Taylor…and w/ the acceptance of McHale…blahhh…this team is destined to a teen victory total and a lot of chances for a lot of ping pong balls in June…only to watch a team like the warriors or wizards to win the lottery…
so we should look at some trade ideas and get this roster ready for next year…starting now.
lets go out and get a Gerrald Wallace…another guy I’d like the wolves to go out and get is LaMarkus Aldridge…he’s a little lean but he could play the five…he’s long, he’s young and athletic and can block shots…
I’m pretty sure this demotion puts McHale’s future w/ the Wolves in jeopardy and will look forward to the cameras next year to be focusing on a new GM/Basketball Ops guy…and no more gaudy sweaters!!
wow
Good luck trying to trade for Aldridge. I think you’d have more luck trying to trade for Oden. Aldridge is the second best player on Portland and he is a great value because he is still on his rookie deal. I don’t think they would trade Aldridge for Jefferson straight up.
that’s just my dream jama
your thoughts on my moves gentlemen?
med…think we all agree on wallace…he’s not the shooter though that the wolves need…felton would be decent…me, personally, i’m not sure he’s an upgrade over telfair or foye…but I haven’t seem him play either. same w/ Mbenga so to roll dice on players we’re not sure would be an upgrade to our current situation looks a lot like…well…our current situation…but Mbenga does have size for a front court in much need of it.
rumormill f/ ESPN has the Raptors and Knicks looking to make deals…Knicks are looking for a shooting guard…
med
So you want to trade for a guy that can’t even get off the Lakers bench? So McCants isn’t willing to share here, but next to Augustine, Richardson, and Morrison he’ll be willing to share?
I have stated that bringing on Wallace and his contract doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I do like Felton and think Ollie and the Celts pick would get him. The Wolves would be smart to try to trade some of the late first round picks that they have. The 2009 draft has no depth. After about 5 players it’s going to be a complete crap shoot. I’d rather get a few players that are known commodities than let the Wolves waste another draft pick.
the knicks have ten players making over 5Mil per year…omg…what terrible contracts they have
Wittman out as coach and McHale out as the GM. I like it!
Now hopefully this year goes by fast so we can look forward to the draft. Thabeet would be a nice addition and a good PG
“When Mayo came up here and became the next JR Rider then what?”
What do you base this assumption on?
I just threw out Mbenga because he would be cheap in a trade, provides the defense we need. He ‘cant get off their bench’ because they have Bynum and Gasol there already, not to mention Chris Mihm when he’s healthy.
Why are we to believe that Mbenga will do anything for us? He’s been a strictly bit player everywhere he’s been.
Because he’s about as good as Collins (and he did well with him apparently) but at a fraction of the price?
Not a big fan of a Wallace trade. Yeah he is a good player but he is a mad man and injury prone…
We already have Brewer to possibly fill that role ! Plus he’s 7 million cheaper or so.
It’d also be better if we just stood pat and didn’t do anything, let the young guys do their thing. maybe trade a piece away for another draft pick.
kind of boring eh?
Not really. I still enjoy watching the games. Wallace though…nah…need a defensive PG more.
The Bobcats are denying the Wallace deal in the Charlotte paper today.
the Bobcats GM said he hasn’t even talked to anybody in the wolves organization.
well that rumor is dead.
He said he hasn’t talked to anyone in the Wolves organization about Wallace. That doesn’t mean they didn’t talk about Felton.
No on Wallace !
Felton ok !
Felton, Felton, Felton!!!!!!
NOW you guys want Felton 
He can be had for cheap, and his contract is reasonable and he fits (a True PG that can score once in awhile - something we haven’t really had since Brandon - I know Chauncey but he wasn’t a ‘true PG’ still the best PG we’ve let go though).
Med - I’d prefer getting a defensive minded PG.
who do you have in mind Swan?
I’m not Swan, but I’d love to see Earl Watson in a Wolves unform. Not sure that we really have anything of interest to the Thunder, though, unless they want Brian Cardinal’s cap space.
i suppose we could give them collins…
watson is really that much better than felton defensively?
Med - No idea. Hopefully whoever is scouting for us now finds the guy in college and we get him late first round or early 2nd round in the draft.
Do we have a total of 7 possible picks this year ? (4 1sts 3 2nds ?)
Sean - An Earl Watson type wouldn’t be bad…he can defend and he is a little thicker.
I think it is only 6, as Miami is giving us 2 2nd rounders of their own, thus one next year and one the following (please correct me if I am wrong); 3 of the 1sts (not our own) will most likely be no higher than 20 (Orlando, Boston and one more, I forget which). And 2 of the seconds (again, besides ours) will be in the 50’s I think.
We could get a chalmers type player at that point I’d think.
The Wolves 2nd round pick is going to Detroit from the Ronald Dupree trade from like 4 years ago.
Here’s a link to the Twins draft pick situation.
http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/future_draft_pick_breakdown_080709.html
Sorry not Twins but Wolves draft situation. All the Twins talk has invaded my mind.
Oh yeah, I remember that article.
ugh, ronald dupree?
This is an absolutely horrible year to have multiple first round draft picks. The Wolves will be lucky to get one serviceable player out of the 4-6 picks they are going to have.
means we should trade them
ie my proposal to get felton for a late first and ollie
we could get some serviceable vets for the picks. we should see whats out there
“3 of the 1sts (not our own) will most likely be no higher than 20 (Orlando, Boston and one more, I forget which).”
You mean Miami? We get Utah’s and Boston’s too if all the standings work out correctly. Now way we can draft 4 times in the first round. The value is in trading some of those away. You dont want 4 rookies at once.
pointless - yeah…if there is a guy who could help I wouldn’t be opposed to trading up in the draft and offering one of the 2nd rounders with a first rounder.
6 picks is a waste. Package them up and get some value.
hm well Miami is 12-9 and Utah is 13-9 (and boston is boston); so it looks like we’ll at least get Miami’s unless Utah goes on a tear the rest of the way. So Boston’s (probably in the mid to upper 20’s), Miami’s (i am guessing high teens) and ours (lottery!). not bad.
