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Wittman Out, McHale Down, Wolves Better
So, how many accounts of today's Timberwolves' shakeup are leading with the news of Jim Stack becoming the go-to guy for the team's personnel decisions?
At this afternoon's lengthy press conference announcing the ouster of Randy Wittman, Wolves' owner Glen Taylor and new coach Kevin McHale went to great lengths avoiding the elephant in the room, the thing that only an accretion of increasingly blunt questions made even partially clear: Taylor has demoted McHale. He will no longer have the clout of being the lead guy in determining how this franchise's roster is assembled. If you don't think that is significant, consider that the last time McHale's hand wasn't directly on the rudder of this team, Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury were still in high school, Sean Rooks was the starting center, and Glen Taylor was best known for printing wedding invitations while original owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner still held on to the ballclub.
That's right, McHale has been running the show longer than Taylor has owned it. For that matter, McHale has been making personnel decisions for the Wolves longer than he played basketball for the Celtics. Never one who has been able to conceal his mood--his face has always been a weather map of sun, clouds, and storms--he walked into today's press conference looking exceptionally downcast. By contrast, there was a firm calmness and clarity to Taylor's mien.
And yet they danced. The demands of coaching were too great not to sacrifice some of his front office duties, both men said. McHale would report directly to Taylor, and the two would continue to have a close-knit relationship that would involve McHale in the decisions of the ballclub, both men said. And yet in their answers, there was a slight difference in emphasis, a shift in tone on certain phrases. It was apparent that this time was very different than the 31-game period when McHale served as interim coach in the wake of Flip Saunders' firing, only to bounce back upstairs to his lofty perch once the season was over. In his offhand, Iron Ranger way, McHale was trying to leave the impression that his sway over the ballclub had merely shifted emphasis, but that the weight of his opinion on the future course of the franchise was just as heavy as it has always been. In his folksy, southwestern Minnesota way, Taylor was delicately trying to say that McHale had been kicked downstairs, that his only career option in this organization was to rescue the mess and justify the manuvers he had made since the fateful decision to part with Kevin Garnett 18 months ago.
Still, both men were working hard to leave wiggle room in the minds of the assembled media. A half-hour into the press conference, I still wasn't sure where things stood. So I asked, prefacing the question by saying that I understood that McHale would have more authority for on-court play now that he was the head coach, and that he would have fewer duties in the front office due to the extra time required for coaching. But it is unclear to me, I said, looking at McHale, whether or not your authority in the front office has been diminished, and whether you guys have discussed that, and if so, how does that pan out?
"Glen and I have discussed that, and he wants me to focus on coaching and that aspect of it. We have other people in place to take care of those other duties right now, and they have always been in place. We'll lean on them a lot more and I won't be able to work the phones and do all that stuff. But again it is going to be--as he said, it has always been more of it 'by comittee' than people think and it is just going to be part of that committee process, but without doing all of the day to day phone work and all that stuff. I am just going to be tied into the coaching aspect of it," McHale said.
Compare that elision with Taylor's response. "The answer to your question is yes, it will change. It changes because Kevin was Vice President of Basketball Development, which is basically that everybody reports to him. Eventually I guess if you analyze that, there are certain decisions that have to be made by him, that can't be made by committee or something like that. That no longer will be the case. What Kevin is saying is that we have some good tools in place. I don't think those tools will change. I have always thought that if you are going to have a coach, as I said, the same as we treated Randy, you want that coach not only to agree but to accept that responsibility. so that part doesn't change. We have a long term relationship that we are talking about too, that is always part of any decisions."
Later, when another questioner asked who picks up the phone if another team is calling about a major trade proposal, Taylor immediately responded: "Jim Stack."
It is extremely difficult--albeit not impossible--to see how McHale climbs back into the cockpit and regains control over personnel decisions now that this shift has been made. Perhaps the best argument for it is Stack, the lowest profile executive among the Wolves' braintrust, who seems much more like a placeholder than an heir apparent. Seriously, how many folks out there think Stack will be the one pulling the trigger on the four first-round draft picks the Wolves will make in the near future? The most voluble and volatile I have ever seen Stack was in the wee morning hours of this summer's draft, when he excitedly defended the Wolves trading of OJ Mayo by talking about Kevin Love's 35-inch hops in rookie camp, and all the cap space the draft-day deal had cleared so the Wolves could pursue free agents in 2010. Well, whether you like or doubt Love's potential, pogo-stick leaps have not been a part of the package: reports of those nearly three-foot high leaps were bad data, and in hindsight did Stack no favors when he passed it on.
Even so, if Stack is a mere placeholder, it is more likely that he's keeping the seat warm for Fred Hoiberg, or someone outside the Wolves' organization, than for McHale. Kevin McHale the front office guru has come to the end of his reign. But the tenure of Kevin McHale the non-interim, full-time head coach, has only just begun. And for the short term, at least, the Wolves are better off on both accounts.
For fans, media and players alike, Coach Kevin McHale will be a breath of fresh air after the clenched, constipated tenure of Randy Wittman. It is no secret that McHale doesn't like the travel involved in coaching, and no secret that his wife Lynne hates him getting back into that end of the profession--another sign that he only took the job because Taylor left him no other choice--but his 31 games on the sidelines during the second half of the 2004-05 season showed him to be a smart, capable coach, probably second only to Flip Saunders in Wolves' history.
There is no question that McHale is going to shake things up. He talked about moving positions around, having McCants and Miller bring the ball up on occasion, and putting the ball in the hands of Smith, Love and Gomes and watching them go to work creating shots for themselves and others. He repeatedly emphasized that the Wolves will run more--"pace" was a word spoken at least a dozen times--and force the action before opposing defenses can get set. Otherwise, he will run a lot of the offense through Al Jefferson, and use that pounding in the low block to set up open jumpers for others, primarily Miller.
More than once, McHale stated how much he liked this group of players. That's no surprise there, since he assembled them, but it wasn't hard to see that McHale, as he did during his first stint, is going to make the ballgames fun again for the Wolves.There will be no sideline histrionics a la Wittman. If you are yelling at people on the sidelines for anything other than lack of hustle, than you haven't done what you needed to do in practice, McHale said, a blatant, if not wholly intentional, shot at Wittman's glares and tirades.
The Wolves will almost certainly play better under McHale than they have under Wittman. But what that may mean is something akin to a 25-38 record over the next 63 games. That might be enough to get Taylor to believe the team is headed in the right direction, enabling an extension in McHale's coaching contract , even as it costs the team a few precious spots in the lottery lineup.
The immediate schedule is brutal, with Jerry Sloan's Jazz coming in, followed a trip to Denver and then a home game against Tim Duncan's Spurs, Only West Coast road tilts versus the Clips and Sactown Sunday and Monday seem winnable.
Oh well. Maybe Jim Stack is working the phones.
64 Reader Comments
Taylor is saying, you brought this gal to the party so you dance with her.
Good news, good news. I think Britt is right that McHale will be a better coach, but I won't be entirely comfortable until they have decisively named a new VPBO/GM. Who is any good that is available and a real possibility? I find it hard to believe they would hire Flip for that, as righteous as it would be to see him fire McHale. JVG? Rudy T? I know, I'm dreaming, but please don't say Fred Hoiberg...
This news made my week. Right before my 2 week christmas break (the only time I can actually watch games since games start between 2 and 4 AM here).
I believe McHale will improve a lot of players by just believing in them. Telfair, Foye, McCants, Jefferson, ... all haven't been in on a winning team in the NBA and I think they could really benefit from a confidence boost. Since McHale so firmly believes in those guys he'll bring out the best of them.
And of course if he doesn't: with the new job comes more power but also more accountability.. if he doesn't improve we "can" finally start with a clean front office (let's hope we also "will").
Sorry for double posting-
I don't think it's true that Jim Stack will be the one pulling the trigger on everything.
In the Hartmann interview Glen said that Hoiberg has always been the one in charge of "Scouting" (which I think means "the draft") while Stack is the one watching players from within the NBA (i.e. "trades").
I think they've all had their department and just talked it through with the others, McHale was ultimately the one taking the decision while now I think it'll just be the one in charge of his department... So I think Hoiberg will now have final say over the draft picks while Stack has the final say over trades.
At least, that's what I understood from the interview.
Needless to say as long as they agree on everything that's not a problem but when the time comes they don't, let's hope we have a new chieftain by then.
Amen.
Regardless of your point of view on the situation, a new stick to stir the pot will be greatly appreciated.
This brings McHale one step closer to getting out. No matter how the results turn out, I highly doubt that McHale will come back in any capacity. If he doesn't come back, I believe it will be his choice.
I am praying that Babcock doesn't find his way into any significant role. The last thing we need are more Rafael Araujo's running around.
One more tidbit on the Wolves in general. As one who didn't hate the Mayo/Love trade, but didn't love it either, I must admit that Mayo's success rather than Love/Millers production really stings. Up in the north country, we have to draft super stars because heaven forbid that we will get them to come here by choice.
McHale was actually a pretty good coach. Flip probably would have turned it around in the 2004 season, but it was McHale who finished strong with a 19-12 record, and I think he lost his first two games as a coach.
I think this is McHale's swan song. He's not coaching beyond this year and he's not going to have a significant role in the front office. For what it's worth - you will know for sure if the much maligned Randy Foye and Kevin Love are permanent fixtures of the Wolves future.
BTW - I've been reading the Memphis Grizzlies boards and you could swear, by half of their fans, that Rudy Gay is a selfish, overrated ball hog. I just find it funny how we in Minny believe Randy Foye sucks beyond belief and anyone else would have been a better pick, but in Memphis they get to see Rudy up close and their critiscm is just as strong for their former lottery pick.
Patrick Reusse: "He's lost his VP title, but Kevin McHale still looks like he will have the final say on Wolves moves."
No supporting evidence is supplied, other than past history. I'm going with Britt's take on the current reality.
It is clear that Kevin McHale just cannot let go. If you hate the road and your wife hates that you'll be on the road, well, why are you accepting this "demotion" and going out there?
I like the fact that this move puts McHale in the only position that has a guaranteed position out of the Country Club (the coach) but this is nothing more than a golden parachute. It's not just desserts. They couldn't find anyone else to coach this damn thing and they didn't trust him to make any more front office decisions. Pardon me while I don't cheer an obvious decision that has been several years in the making and as of November 20th of this year publicly stated as not being a possibility by the owner. Does everyone not remember last month when Papa Glen said that Witt's job was safe and that he wouldn't fire him because "If I worried about the short term, and I looked at the economy and all my companies, if I based things on that, then I'd fire all my presidents because they had a bad month."? Yesterday, he was up on the podium telling everyone how his special business sense led him to fire his head coach. Somehow, even in this economic climate, "I'm a businessman" still has the power to pacify the yokels.
If there were a Daily Show that followed the NBA, they'd have a field day with the similarities between the Casey firing presser and the one held yesterday. Hell, throw in Flip's. This team is talking about the exact same things they need in a coach as they were in 2005. The only difference is that McHale has had his own head slid into the noose. Again, I find it hard to get worked up about golden parachutes. Yeah, we ran Wall Street into the ground but we all have fantastic retirement packages and our understudies will take over!!!
There may very well be the horse's head placed at McHale's bedpost. This may very well be his exit plan. This may very well be a demotion. But it's not the BS line that they're feeding their remaining couple thousand fans who have all seen and heard this song and dance before. They're still selling nonsense until the very end. They were still talking about blueprints and plans. If this is a demotion, than Witt just paid for another man's sins. Why was he fired? Because certain goals weren't being met. What goals? They weren't making the necessary steps that they set out in the offseason? What steps? They needed to improve. What does improvement mean? Well, it's not simply measured in terms of what is on the court. How is it measured? By meeting goals.
I'm glad we have that figured out.
I'm hoping that someone at the NBA offices has finally stepped in to quietly tell Taylor that he needs to hire a professional front office and that an untested Basketball VP whose only qualifications are that he smiles and is from Iowa just won't cut it right now, and here are a few "suggestions". If this really was a Machiavellian move on the part of Taylor, he more than deserves to be on the receiving end of a few limited choices of his own.
Maybe then the new GM can finally get around to following through on the shot-blocker-next-to-Al experiment we were promised last year when Theo was finally healed up.
It's still being done by the seat of Glen's business suit pants.
Glen had no choice but to fire Wittman. The couple thousand fans at Target Center on Saturday surely realize this. Hell, there were a lot of fans that came ONLY to heckle Wittman. Anyway, no matter whose fault it was, Wittman had lost the team and it's way too early in the year to have lost the team. Whether it's about Glen's dollars or the fans' interest doesn't really matter to me. A relatively big change was made, and that by itself makes tonights' game a lot more interesting than the last one.
You think the Wittman heckling was bad? Well, here's hoping it doesn't snow too much tonight because I don't think you've seen anything yet.
Witt didn't have a team to lose. He was hired specifically to be an authoritarian. That was the deal. They tuned him out because of the reasons why McHale hired him. Now McHale is coming to the rescue with tapes of Dr. Phil. Witt played Collins and Ollie because he didn't have real starting players to fill a real NBA starting lineup. This is just another part of the big grift that this team has been running on their fans for years. Don't worry fans, 4 draft picks and 2010 free agency are just around the corner!!! Pay no mind to the fact that 1/2 of those picks will probably be in the 20s and that if they can't trade them they'll have to sell them on the account of them having 14 guaranteed contracts with the current status quo.
Glen has had plenty of choices over the years. So has McHale. They've blown them all and they continue to do so. This is the Isiah Thomas/Jim Dolan show on loan from Broadway...only it can't get turned around into a D'Antoni, Walsh, Lebron happy ending in 2010.
Leave it to this group to blow one of the easiest things to do: change for change's sake. Maximized disaster...continuing to make Minny the destination of choice for up and coming coaches, front office personnel, and free agent players everywhere.
Fans won't sit and heckle the entire game if the game is actually worth watching. The Clipper game was one-sided from the get-go, and Wittman had lost the team. He was hired to be basketball coach and he showed, for the second time in his career, that he's not cut out for the top job in the NBA. A lot of people think McHale might be a good coach. I personally have no idea, but it's almost an upgrade by default over a guy who had lost the ear of his players.
Bashing McHale as VPBOs is fine, but it's no longer his job. Taylor will find a new one in the off-season. If McHale is as disinterested in coaching as some suspect, he'll also find a new coach. I don't see what's wrong with leaving McHale with this as his only option.
He built this mess, so at least we'll get to see what his vision was when he put it together. Maybe the Love trade was a good idea...at least we'll have a guy on the floor to show us why he thought so. Maybe Foye can be a point guard...at least we'll have a guy on the floor who wholeheartedly thinks that's where he belongs. Everybody has different ideas of what they would do with this team, but McHale is the only guy who would have it exactly as is--if nothing else, that should instill some confidence in the players, and that's worth something.
If you are arguing that Taylor didn't wholeheartedly back the moves that put Foye at point or believe in the product on the court, that is a losing proposition from the get-go. If he *didn't* believe that, he's even more incompetent than I imagined. On November 20th, he believed it. We know that much. They literally went with "the plan is still in place" behind the podium yesterday. Fred Hoiberg is on the radio right now talking about correct spacing with Big Al and putting the players in places where they are comfortable to make plays. Second verse, same as the first.
S+P--
I understand your bitterness, and have great respect for your appreciation of the game. And very much of what you say, on the macro level, is exactly right. But if you are going to base your mood on the rich guys who screw up getting their just desserts, you're in for a very sour existence. That bitterness is also clouding your view of some silver linings here that, as one who can't help but watch basketball, should improve the quality of your fandom.
McHale the coach will (if possible, of course), play the brand of ball you've been agitating for this season. He wants to put a lot of pace in the game, will pair Jefferson and Love quite a bit and give Love (and Smith, unfortunately) a bigger role in the offense. He won't emphasize clampdown D nearly as heavily as Wittman (in retrospect, as you have pointed out, that was always doomed by the personnel). And he won't be leaning on Brian Cardinal and Kevie Ollie.
As he said frequently yesterday, McHale likes this team. I believe he is sincere in that. Now most of us can't really figure out why he likes them so much--that's one of the reasons for all the animus--but the fact that he does like them and he does have a definite idea of how they can work together will at the very least be a confidence boost for a roster that has been beaten down like dogs.
It could be the McCants gets a legitimate last chance to prove his worth here; that Foye is put in a position that best utilizes his combo skills, that Love thrives (as he has begun to recently with a longer leash) with a coach on the bench who not only believes in him, but whose legacy is now permanently affected by his play.
In short, things have suddenly gotten a lot more interesting around here, and in a good way. Demanding the pound of flesh that will never be exacted is a self-destructive attitude. You yourself have argued that this roster is more intriguing than it has performed thus far this season. Well, McHale agrees with you--and absolutely needs to demonstrate that it is so. Those who wanted Wittman out as coach and McHale out as the guiding force behind the franchise have pretty much had their wishes granted. Savor such small rewards and consider that tonight's game is the beginning of a new phase.
This is definitely a step in the right direction, but only a small step. The roster that McHale had during his first stint was far superior to the one that he's assembled for himself for this go around. As a result, I'm not getting overly excited about the Wolves chances for this year. A bigger step will be when Tayloy finally hires a quality and permanent personel man to insure that the days of McHale draft picks and trades are over.
On the personnel front, are there any truth the rumors that we are in the Gerald Wallace sweepstakes? If so, any thoughts?
OP--
If Charlotte really is willing to send Wallace over here for McCants and Collins, there is something very fishy going on--a Jordan gambling debt or a Larry Brown brain seizure taking place.
But if that is the foundation for discussion and Charlotte is properly hedging, I'd press the case by including Corey Brewer, or think long and hard about swapping in Foye for McCants. Those at least strike me as in the ballpark of reason.
Gerald Wallace may be the best player on the Bobcats roster. But he's also expensive and has a history of concussions. A better fit might be Raymond Felton, who would automatically become the best option at the point. For some weird reason, Charlotte is enamored of DJ Augustin. This is lunacy--the guy is too short and not quick enough to compensate for it, plus seems easily abused on D.
If it was Russell Westbrook in OKC, who I think has the potential to become a star, then I see how Felton is on the block. But DJ Augustin?
I was on a Charlotte fan page yesterday and they were discussing the possible trade. I was surprised how many fans supported the idea (to be sure, there were others who didn't, but there wasn't the kind of unanimous opposition to the trade rumor as I had thought there would be). The fans who supported the rumor liked it on three premises: a) Shaddy will score 15-20 ppg, essentially replacing Wallace's offensive contribution; b) Collins will play good D and give them depth at the center position; c) they'll clear cap space/save money.
Obviously these fans weren't looking into the deeper Shaddy pathologies we've all come to loathe, but there is a rationale. I think that if we sweeten the offer slightly - maybe even just by adding one of our first rounders this year (not our own) - we might be able to steal Wallace. That would be a coup, and it's the kind of luck we need in order to get another building block and to infuse some talent and athleticism into this team that is sorely lacking in those areas.
And we'd get rid of Shaddy. I can't underscore that enough. Demoting McHale and trading Shaddy in back-to-back days would be like Christmas come early.
SnP-
I wasn't really trying to argue anything, other than just say that I'm interested to see the team with McHale coaching it. I'm a firm believer in "systems" and if McHale has one in mind that fits this personnel, then it's better than trying to fit the Randy Wittman square peg into the Smallball/Combo Guard round hole, if that makes sense. As for Taylor, I don't think about the guy very much. Unless he's signing off on illegal Joe Smith contracts, I just think of him as the guy who writes the checks and delegates the basketball duties.
Re Charlotte Bobcats: I don't know that Felton would be a noticeable upgrade over Foye or Telfair at the point. Wallace is the guy I would covet on that roster, and I'd send them one or two of our '09 1st Rounders, along with McCants and Collins, to seal that deal. Agreed with Britt, though, that it would take a few hundred too many MJ golf outings to fail to realize what a player Wallace is and what a player McCants isn't.
While extremely happy to see Wittman relieved of his duties (frankly, he never should have been hired in the 1st place), I am disappointed in the decision to have McHale coach. I am sure he will be able to get the team to play better. The team will be more watchable (which I really appreciate as a season ticket holder)
But does anyone really think that McHale will be our coach next year? My guess is that he walks away voluntary (if the season finishes well) or gets fired/promoted to "special assistant" (if the season tanks). But there is no way he coaches next year. He is just not into coaching.
So, we have a lame duck coach coupled with a lame duck front office for 60+ more games. What real benefit is that to the longer term rebuilding of this franchise?
I don't see Taylor hiring away a front line GM and/or coach from another NBA team (or top college program). I don't see him over paying by the significant amount it would take to get one of those established types to come to MN.
We are going to get an "up and comer". Why not hire him right now? The gentleman's agreement in professional sports has usually been to let an employee leave for the top chair. Why not make the move and really clean house? The type of guys we are ultimately going to get are already available (from my perspective). I really wish we would have done it right now.
You can count me more in the Reusse camp when it comes to McHale's influence. Certainly McHale's voice has lost some clout, but if Taylor were completely down on McHale, he would be out the door. After all, as bad as the first 19 games of this season have been, why would this stretch invalidate the McHale vision anymore than anything else in recent Wolves history?
Taylor must think McHale is the right guy to be the coach long term for some inexplicable reason. Otherwise, there's no point to the move. Or maybe Taylor is just more stupid than I think he is.
I can't see Taylor giving Jim Stack the authority to pull the trigger on trades without input from McHale. And McHale's continued presence here is going to make it diffcult for the team to attract a credible alternative for the VPBO position. The front office of this team is now in Viking-like disarray with no clear person in charge.
I'm not upset with the Wittmann firing/McHale demotion/McHale move to coach for two reasons: 1) we got rid of Wittman and stripped McHale of his decision-making authority and have forced McHale to show us what he was thinking when he assembled this roster; 2) we couldn't have hired a new front office and coach in mid-season. I like the idea of simultaneously forcing McHale to do some dirty work (getting this group of louts to play well) and buying time to find the right guys to turn this thing around, which will happen in the off-season. I know that SnP does not have faith that this will happen, but I'm slightly more optimistic, and I'm certainly more optimistic that we have a better chance of finding the right guys by doing research and making an off-season move than if we had desperately hired a new coach and GM right now and committed to him/them. I'm hoping that we'll end up employing Jeff Van Gundy next year, but I realize that JVG (or any sane and desirable candidate) probably wouldn't sign up to take on such a messy clusterfuck at this point in the season. Best to let the dust settle, punish McHale a little, and then try to make a clear-headed, rational hire.
Britt:
Thanks for the very thoughtful reply. I guess the whole class/bailout wording is my attempt to extend the country club language into a bailout analogy that is somewhat timely and related to current events. You are right that I'm in a sour mood about the current state of the squad but the reasons for this are more of the self-destructive nature, which you mention in the last paragraph.
I've put up the Charlie Brown/Lucy/football picture before and I think it speaks well to current Wolves' fandom; i.e. I feel like a heel for continuting to buy into what this group is selling. You're exactly right that I've been advocating for the type of ball that McHale is promising. Looking at the roster, I'm unsure how anyone could possibly come to the conclusion that these guys could play another style of ball. They are who they are and it's painfully obvious to anyone with even a passing interest in the game.
However, the decision I've made over the last week or so is that I'm done flailing at footballs. If all of this was so obvious (and it was), then how come they didn't see it? Why let a Bobby Knight disciple coach a group of guys who don't respond to the carrot/stick nonsense? Why let Randy Foye play in traditional point-based sets? The list goes on and on.
I know that there are some silver linings here. I've been asking for an increased pace with more 3fgas, an increased focus on tempo, more shots per quarter, etc. This team can rebound, shoot, and run. Volume is their friend. I just can't get past the fact that this crew took so long to see the obvious, and that they were still asking their fans to ignore the obvious as of November 20th. Now we're to believe that things have changed and that the guy who hired an authoritarian coach with no history of player development, an emphasis placed on defense, and who was charged with winning immediately is now at the helm of a group that requires more nuturing, longer leashes, long-term focus, and so on and so forth. I don't have anything to prove it, but my guess is that McHale was whispering in Glen's ear about how Witt wasn't measuring up to standards that probably no longer exist now that McHale is at the end of the bench. Yes, he's having to coach his own mess but the "plan" is still in place. Or at least it will be until McHale is publicly humiliated by failing to do what likely can't be accomplished. Is this part of the plan? If this really is a genius stroke of accountability, then isn't Taylor actively rooting for his team to fail so that he can cut the pound of flesh that...well, I'm not going to pretend that this team ever had anything approaching consistant internal logic. The genius angle only works if you believe the owner wants his team to fail this year...which would go against everything he said yesterday about wanting to salvage the 4-win squad. It's still being made up on the fly. It still will be whether or not McHale is a good coach or not.
Oh well. I'm not going to flail at any more footballs. I'm also going to end my negativity about the whole situation. It's very frustrating and I really just enjoy watching basketball, not getting a bill of nonsense sold to me by a front office who frequently change their tune with no plan or accoutability...which, in the end, means they lie to their fans on an all to consistant basis (or they ask their fans to ignore the obvious). Hopefully we will see some up tempo small ball that is up and down and in and out. Hopefully the front office will get an outside set of eyes and that the team will be able to maximize it's assets in this year's draft. This is a new beginning and I should simply take it for what it is rather than for the mistakes of the clowns who made such a move necessary. Wow, that was written like it was by a guy who wants to kick a football....and so goes my dilemma with the current state of affairs.
My God, you almost need a blackbelt in mental jujitsu to be a Wolves fan. No more over thinking it. Just enjoy the ride. That's my motto from here on out.
Shogun--
Very solid post, with which I agree pretty much straight down the line.
Meanwhile, it may very well be that quality GMs and coaches will shy away from the Wolves due to the various dysfunctions that have plagued the club over the years. But it won't be because of money or perceived interference from Taylor.
Any folks who want to label Glen Taylor as being "cheap" don't remember the history. Taylor is the guy who forced a collective bargaining agreement on the NBA by being a midwestern franchise owner willing to outbid the coasts for KG. He's the guy who ate a whopping $28 million--$14 m for the salary and another $14 m for the luxury tax--to have Sprewell on the roster for that Western Conference Finals run.
There is no question that Taylor has made plenty of mistakes as Timberwolves owner, with undue loyalty to McHale and the oft-cited "country club" cadre the most obvious. But the guy is willing to spend money if he thinks it will make a difference, and he has always been excessively honest in his public comments. That's two of the qualities I want most in an owner of a local franchise, and I guess it's why I have typically defended Taylor for longer than most of my brethren.
I agree that this scenario is probably the best Wolves fans can hope for - McHale moving away from personnel decisions, and Wittman moving away from the personnel. Hoping for the simultaneous ouster of McHale (without a backup plan) is pure sadism. McHale gets a last gasp with this roster, and the rest of the front office gets to play their executive power games without Kevin. Win-win.
The main thing that I will be looking for is in the attitude of our players. I just don't feel that Witt was getting through to guys, and I especially think his leash on McCants was completely foolish. I'm looking for aggression, and sometimes Shaddy has looked like the only player who plays with any semblance of passion.
I don't think Wallace for McCants and Collins is going to fly - Charlotte is parting with too much talent, and Taylor is suddenly shackled with another big contract. I haven't watched Wallace much this year, but reports are that he's not quite the same since his concussion problems, which is really a shame as he's a fun player to watch. Maddeningly inconsistent, too, if you're into that sort of thing.
Felton is a more realistic target, but aren't we already at carrying capacity for "PGs who can't shoot"? I do like the fact he's getting 35 minutes a night, though - he's gotta be doing something right. I'd rather see what McHale does with our current roster than part with Foye or McCants just yet.
If McHale is really going to walk away at the end of the season, what is his incentive to coach the team for the next 63 games? I don't really think there is any. He doesn't need the money. His legacy isn't going to be rescued by three-fourths of a season of semi-respectable basketball out of the current crew. So apparently this is something he wants to do and intends to do for a while.
Britt's comment to s-n-p about "Demanding the pound of flesh that will never be exacted is a self-destructive attitude" is a healthy caution for many of us.
And I am also going to opine that taking anything that a "public figure" says at a "publicity event" to be 100% truth and 100% indicative of their true feelings to be, um, naive.
So "the plan is still in place'? Yeah, sure. OK. But for how long? Many of us believe that the plan, as evidenced in the players acquired (and more significantly kept) by the Wolves to be a bad mix, generally lacking synergy and a competitive level of individual talent. In other words, "the plan" cannot work with the players that McHale has assembled. But we must ask ourselves what the goals of the plan are. Are they to be a) be competitive at the 40+ game level? b) be competitive at the 50+ game level? c) be competitive at the "make the playoffs and go no farther than the 2nd round? d) compete for an NBA Championship?
Thus, the real question is "what will it take" for Glen Taylor to completely excise Kevin McHale, architect of "The Plan" from the Timberwolves organization? I don't expect to hear the answer from Glen Taylor's lips. Nor will I be particularly distraught if McHale is never fired. The Wolves are just entertainment, not life and death.
I don't think we (should) want Felton. He's not much of an upgrade (I'm not sure he's an upgrade at all, actually) over Foye/Telfair, and he's redudant with Foye in many ways (combo sensibilities, undersized to play the two, mediocre/bad defender, hasn't shown an ability to run an offense, etc). If we would get him as part of a package with Wallace, fine, but I would be very unenthusiastic about bringing him in as the main piece of a deal (unless we traded him for Shaddy in an addition-by-subtraction kind of move). We're starved for a talented natural point guard, and bringing in Felton (and committing to him) would be counterproductive to that end.
As I wrote yesterday, I'd be on the phone with Pritchard and asking about Petteri Koponen. I've only seen him twice, but he has the moxie and size of an NBA point guard, and he looks like the real deal - the kind of player we thought we'd be getting when we traded for Jaric. I don't see how Portland can retain all of its young talent - especially the talent that isn't even currently in the US, like Koponen - and I suspect he could be had for the right price. Pritch loves accumulating first round picks. Why not send one of our four? I'd be more confident getting Koponen with one of those picks than throwing darts at a college player.
I also (still) hope we make a run at Sean Williams. He has Camby-like defensive potential, and he would be cheap. No big deal if it doesn't work out. He could potentially fill our gaping hole as a defensive shotblocking center.
Until McHale is out of the organization completely and a credible head man is brought in no one should believe that any significant change has been made. If Taylor wanted anyone to believe total change is coming why didn't he just say it at the press conference?
McHale is over rated as a coach and wno't significantly improve this team's record. His 19-12 record a couple years ago is hardly impressive since he compiled it with the same roster than won the Western Conference the year before.
"Confidence," - much like "team chemistry" and "hustle" - is overrated as well. Officials and fans talk about that when a roster isn't talented enough to legitimately compete. The bottom line is that no one on the Wolves roster is particularily athletic, long, or skilled compared with most other NBA players at their positions. Throw in a lack of point guard and center, sprinkle in an aversion to playing defense and you have a 4-16 team that probably is about to lose its next four games.
As a fan, yesterday was the happiest day I've had in a while. There are still unresolved issues with this team, this organization and this "blueprint." But those problems have been there since the day Marbury was traded. Some great and enjoyable games have happened between then and now, and I'm hoping that, at the very least, this team plays with spirit and focus. As for the rest of the front office, the fans helped make this much happen; they need to continue to press for change if that's what they think is best.
if there was any real justice, Taylor would make McHale work as a ticket sales rep, making cold calls to prospective clients, then having to hear them laugh in his earpiece.
Actually the team he coached didn't have Cassell or had him at 60% when he did play. Fred Hoiberg had is career ended due to a heart condition and Sprewell's mind and body were not good. That same team performed 25-26 for Flip prior to Mchale taking the reigns (I can't believe I'm actually sticking up for McHale!)
And chemistry is important in basketball. If you put down the chalupa and the Playstation 3 controller and go to the gym and run 5 on 5 with the guys, you would know.
Britt,
You have summed it up best of the bloggers about the positive impact McHale will have with the players on this team as the head coach. I can see the young players really flourishing under his tenure. It would not surprise me if this team plays .500 ball the rest of the season. So over 30 wins.
Taylor has made a very smart change here, he doesn't pay for another coach. He puts McHale is a position where he must perform immediately or will ultimately be fired.
I'm very curious to see how this team will perform for McHale, will it blow up in his face, or will the players come together and start winning some games.
DR_JPK
I'm excited by the move and I hope McHale does a good job with the team and then rides off into the MN basketball sunset, having proved his point that he did not singlehandedly destroy the franchise but rather left a solid foundation.
There are two things I worry about:
1. That the wolves organization is considered a bit of a laughingstock to other NBA organizations. This was most recently mentioned in an article posted today by Sonia over at Twolves blog.
2. What will be the atmosphere around the franchise in the last half of the season if McHale fails miserably? Suppose after forty games the Wolves are 8-32, McHale is coaching, but is clearly a lame duck. Will players listen, will fans attend, will I be able to keep food down while watching the team?
Perhaps it's the same problem with other interim coaches, but given that so much seems to be riding on McHale's performance, I view his failure as being particularly painful to watch (in terms of on court performance, what it indicates about the future of the team, and general front office drama).
Nate, that's a very good point and one of the biggest problems I have with this whole experiment. It has to fail to work...if "work" = McHale is finally shown the door. Even if this was a masterplan to get him out of the front office, what is the threshold for success as a coach? Is it determined by the team? McHale's family? What if he is the business as coach? It's like a much-too-complicated attempt at saving a friend from an embarassment he probably deserves. In order to get a desirable result, the team needs to fail. That's a ridiculous position to be in.
i am also happy about the move.
wins and losses-well, mostly losses-weren't as important to me this season, at least in terms of my understanding of The Plan, which seems to a good one: play and develop the kids, figure out what holes exist, and use draft picks/salary cap room to add fixes via trades. i would hope the brain trust is well aware of MN's lack of luster in free agency, and is planning on using that cap room to be able to either do Camby type deals or be a third partner in salary cap clearing/sign & trade deals for other teams. well, that's how *i'd* do it. and if we can somehow convince a top tier free agent to live in the Skyway system and commute to Target Center indoors, even better.
so the bottom line to me, right now, is let's develop these players. who better than McHale, who saw all the potential in them in the first place? and as other folks have said, if he can't, let him walk at the end of the season. bringing in a JVG type at this point in the rebuilding process would be a waste of resources, IMHO. the same as adding a Wallace type contract. i found myself nodding as Taylor and McHale talked about needing to see effort on the court, which i realized is all i really want/expect out of this team right now anyways.
I think this is obviously the right move. The biggest question to me is what to do about Al/Love. Both are PFs and will never be anything but. So here's the deal. Use the rest of this season to determine if they are going to be a running team or a halfcourt, inside out team.
Over the summer, trade the player who doesn't fit the style. Both should have pretty good trade values. If you are building around Al, which may make the most sense (I still believe he has the most upside of anybody on the roster), then I think there is a bigger overhaul in store.
To get the right pieces around Al would probably mean parting with Love and Foye--two players who don't really mesh with Al and could bring good pieces in return.
If you are going to build around Love, then trade Al for a center who can run the floor, play defense and has modicum of touch around the rim. Somebody like Brook Lopez would be ideal, though you'd want an additional piece or two from Jersey. Maybe Yi, Lopez and filler for Al and first rounder.
Wolves fans should hope we win as many games as possible, from now to the end of the year. We've built our team around these players and no front office overhaul is going to change that--at least not quickly. If McHale leads them to wins, then we'll be glad to have him as coach and out of the front office. If not, then we've probably got some major talent issues that the next VPBO and coach will inherit.
Britt,
I agree with you almost 100% of the time, but I disagree with your "Taylor isn't cheap" comment. I think from the time he first purchased the club until the Cassell/Garnett/Sprewell WCF, I felt that Taylor was an unbelieveably generous owner - as you rightly point out.
But as the loss mounted, and the seats started to be empty, I have seen a very definite change toward cheapness over the last 3 years.
Was there not $1M in our favor as a part of the Roy / Foye trade?
How many 2nd round draft choices have we sold?
How many trade exceptions have we allowed to expire without getting any players?
Did we move Theo when we could have rather than let his contract come off the books (saving Luxury tax dollars)?
Just a few off the top of my head examples where I think $$$ may have seriously impacted decision making.
I think Taylor is now operating cheaply. I believe in my own mind that McHale is coaching partly to save having to pay 2 coaches at the same time.
I don't blame Taylor - even a billionaire has limits to what they are willing to lose - but I don't think he is as generous anymore.
Hey PieMan I didn't say chemistry doesn't matter, just that it's overrated in all professional sports. Obviously it is a factor, but not as much as talent and that's a fact. I'm not sure the Chalupa reference was necessary but if people want to be that impressed with McHale's 19-12 record with KG his first go round as coach, that's fine. Just don't forgot the team was blown out by the then horrible Hawks in the most important game of the season.
I suspect this McHale as coach rerun time will be much, much worse. It's obviously unlikely he'll coach next year because he admits he doesn't want to travel. Are these players gonna go balls to the wall for a guy who they know is gonna be hunting in northern Minnesota next fall?
Here was my comment on Britt's blog after the GS loss 11/12. Which is it?1) People should listen more closely to my advise
2) I should pick lottery numbers for tomorrow
3) Even a stopped clock gets it right twice a day.
I'll leave it to you guys to answer the question. - AK
I usually love west coast swings because I get the kids (and wife) to bed and I can watch uninterrupted without already knowing the outcome. After last night, I have to reconsider. First, a quick Vikings-Wolves comparison. After blowing a lead late Sunday, the Vikings were able to pull it together and earn a win in what felt like a must-win situation. Had the Packers made the last-minute field goal they narrowly missed, Wylf and Chilly would be on the hot seat. Instead, the Vikes sit atop the NFC North. Last night, had the Wolves made their last second 3 (or any of the other eight shots down the stretch) I'd be heaving a sigh of relief and hoping for more wins in November. Instead, I'm balling up the towel getting ready to throw it in. The Wolves are a .143 ball club less than 10% into the season. What can they do right now that can actually help? I cannot remember a game in the Wittman era where the team pulled out a win because of solid coaching moves down the stretch. The dearth of actual wins in the Wittman era should make these examples, if they exist, easy to catalog, but still, I can't think of one. Contrast that with Don Nelson, down three starters, first moving big, then moving zone to force the Wolves out of their game. The moves themselves were fairly basic - a good high school coach might make the same moves. But they seem beyond Wittman's reach. How is that possible? For one thing, Nelly had to do the prep work to make sure his guys knew how to manage a zone and make Big Al inaccessible. As other posters have said, its hard to see how Wittman is developing the players and team that has been assembled. So what can the Wolves do? First, relieve Wittman of his duties. What's the next move? I agree with the posters who suggest putting McHale back on the bench. He did a seemingly nice job in his limited stint. Glen Taylor ought to give McHale two choices: coach or leave the organization. Glen's gotta be feeling some pressure, perhaps from minority shareholders, perhaps from the economic squeeze (I know, I know, but billionaires are people too) and from the disinterested fan base that will continue turning its back on a woefully substandard product. Let Freddie take over the FO (SnP I feel you on this one, but Glen doesn't have it in him to do a total remake at this point). To be honest, with McHale on the bench the slogan "See what they can do" would actually resonate for me the next 70 plus games.
Nov. 12, 2008 - 10:39am — A.K. Agikamik (not verified)
First, let me add to the accolades already much showered upon Britt for churning out strong, thoughtful analysis despite the dual indignities of constant changes in outlet/ownership of the forum, and more importantly, the Wolves execrable play and management for the past 3 years. As a regular reader and infrequent commentor for many years, I know that anytime Wolves news breaks, I get a little thrill anticipating Britt's take and the back-and-forth it's sure to foster in the comments section. There haven't been a lot of pleasures in following the Wolves lately, but one of the biggest is the ability to turn to this forum and see engaged fans discussing the team in thoughtful ways.
So in an effort to give back to the forum from which I've taken much, I'd like to share the three-pronged approach that provides the mental jujitsu I need to remain a fan. Basically it comes down to simultaneously embracing disparate elements of optimism, righteous indignation, and schaudenfreude.
Like SNP, I've lost all ability to believe in or care about what the front office says about almost everything so my optimism, if I'm to maintain any, needs to come from elsewhere. The nature of Britt's fandom (as evidenced by the "soft porn" opening of the last trey) almost guarantees a search for silver linings as he stares into the abyss. It's easy and increasingly satisfying to hate on this squad so I really appreciate knowing that I can come here and find someone who is actively looking for positives in the margins while simultaneously challenging and slyly exposing the braintrust's flaccid and cynical messaging.
I don't buy into every hopeful nugget but there are a couple of undeniable silver linings. 1) We've subtracted one obvious and over-matched component/scapegoat in Whitman; and 2) by appointing McHale, we've taken further steps to eliminate the long-running excuse of a disconnect between personnel and philosophy. Anyway you slice it, those are steps in the right direction. And with a little luck* it's going to break one of two ways. Either the team will improve, providing at least some clarity regarding direction and personnel, or, the team will languish, officially repudiating the underlying philosophy, and providing Taylor with enough righteous indignation to blow the whole mess up.
As for the schaudenfreude, McHale is the perfect target in the perfect position. I'm personally looking forward to watching him chafe at the rigors of being a coach. I'm excited to see his initial approach and how quickly it changes as he gets desparate. I'm giddy that he's now an every night public figure and that he will be forced to convey a range of emotions that extends beyond grumpy and exasperated. He's been demoted and is now squarely in the line of fire. He has accountability he doesn't want and that makes watching him squirm delicious.
We're still not a good franchise and I highly doubt that we're on the right track, but by channeling Britt and using the GBJ mental jujitsu approach, I'll be jogging alongside the bandwagon and finding some catharsis in the change.
* Assuming typical Wolves luck, they'll improve just enough to leave me embracing the emergency fourth prong (cheerfully defeated martyrdom) but I'm really wanting a silver lining today so that discussion will need to wait for another time...
As I said last month, every move made by McHale has been to lower player payroll. The fire Wittman, move McHale to coach follows the same pattern. They still have to payoff Wittman but McHale will probably collect the same salary as before and they didn't hire anyone to replace him in the front office; the net cost of all this is zero. In fact one of the probable reasons for hiring Wittman in the first place is because he didn't get a big time coach's salary. And if you think they will pay big bucks for someone like Saunders, Van Gundy, etc., don't hold your breath.
If you wan to get an idea of how cheap the Wolves are, look at the last three paragraphs of this:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Aq3zBtzD9o5omh1Oa55JLxS8vLYF?slug=...
Just A Fan,
I agree with your assessment of recent cheapness on Taylor's part. I almost think that, after opening his wallet too wide with nothing to show for it, he has gone too far the other way and is now getting too pathologically niggardly. From an article today on Yahoo by Adrian Wojnarowski:
...this kind of dysfunction always begins and ends with ownership. Over the summer, the Chicago Bulls wanted to hire Timberwolves assistant coach Bob Ociepka for Vinny Del Negro’s staff. Ociepka had been raised in Chicago, had been a successful high school coach and had family there. He wanted to take the Bulls job. For low-level assistants, this is a common transaction. Everyone expected the Wolves to give the blessing and let Ociepka go. It was common courtesy.
Well, the Wolves were willing, but there was one condition, two league sources said: Management wanted five airline tickets as compensation. This way, the Wolves could interview replacements. No one had ever heard of such a low-rent, cheap move, but whatever. This is how Minnesota runs its operation. At all the wrong times the Wolves drive tough bargains.
(The full story can be found at http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AoF2TmS8x5R2WInws6ppTE28vLYF?slug=... )
For what it's worth, though, I agree with Britt--no matter what, the Wolves are in better shape now both on the bench and in the front office than they were two days ago.
In response to Jackdaw's and BC's reference to the Yahoo article. I don't see what the big deal is. Whose complaining, the Bulls?
So Taylor asked for Airline tickets, big deal? Low rent cheap move? huh? I suppose when you are talking about big business, but business is business. I don't know what common courtesy is but if I was making a deal and I could get five airline tickets thrown into it somehow, I would.
Taylor has a lot to answer for with the Wolves but this little antidote is not one of them.
APB,
I don't think anyone is upset with Taylor trying to get something back on the deal, but the upshot of the article is that his request for tickets was remarkably odd and out of place.
If the movement of low-level assistants is really common courtesy, then it's like I hold the door open for someone behind me and then ask for some change.
Sure, it's nice to get something in return for doing someone a favor, but it would be socially odd to engage in such behavior for such small monetary returns.
anyone think Sam Mitchell would have been a better coach? or, perhaps he should be lined up for when McHale presumably leaves?
Beancounter points out a link to a Yahoo Sports article. Interestingly, there is a link there to a WCCO newscast video where we hear Mike Max opine:
"The truth is...the Wolves...have identified a small core of players...that they think are the root of this problem..."
Aw, jeez, the knives are being sharpened for the scapegoating already.
Britt, I agee, except for Kevin (No-Pogo) Love who had 15 boards tonight. I would have liked a more pro-active answer from Mr. Businessman in terms of who is making the calls as opposed to who's simply picking the phone up. Noah and Chicago are apparently still not getting along and it would be a great time to offer up Collins and one of the picks for Noah and whatever contract debris Chicago would like to dump on us.
Not to pile it on SnP, but I actually took heart when I heard the Nov 20th "news," as I saw it as the first sign that Wittman would be getting canned soon. When ownership/management have to start giving votes of confidence, it's a sure sign that someone is on very thin ice. But if the decision hasn't been 100% made yet, what else can you do but support your employee? Did you really expect Taylor to say, "yeah we're thinkin about canning Witt but we'll give him a few more games?"
I think Britt called Taylor penny wise and pound foolish a long long time ago, and it fits. Or maybe penny tight and pound loose. He'll spend big for big names if he thinks the team is on the brink of something huge, but the airline ticket incident is evidence that there are standing orders to cut costs around the edges whenever possible. This policy appears to have cost us Chalmers, who is now running the point for Miami while the Wolves don't seem to have a point guard at all.
Nate,
I am sorry, but I am not going to take the Yahoo reporters word that the Wolves asking for five airline tickets is a cheap move and "low rent." Nor that noone has ever heard such a thing because this is a common business practice. I actually heard Dan Barriero highlight this Yahoo report on his afternoon drivetime show. Of course, Dan jumped right on and said how this does go to the heart of what a laughingstock organization the WOlves are. THey'll give KG a huge contract and then make these cheap moves. Ahhh, Dan may want to spend a little more time talking to staff members at KFAN and studying how Clear channell works. Sure Dan gets the big contract and then they nickle and dime the staff.
Same thing at most major news organizations. You tell me how the WOlves asking for tickets is something for allowing someone under contract to move somewhere else is low rent and cheap. I think there are many examples of teams or organizations asking for something in return for letting a coach out of a contract. Five airline tickets actually seems pretty courteous.
This Yahoo reporter is trying to make it sound like the Wolves are somehow different than other organizations with his little antidote and all he has to do is focus on the mistakes Taylor and McHale have done to make his point. But, everyone has already heard this angle so he highlights somehting ordinary and tries to make it sound indignant.
I'nm sorry but when people make claims about bloggers and the quality of internet news they have guys like this yahoo at yahoo in mind.
icandunk,
Count me in as one who would love to see Mitchell as coach (not GM as some here have suggested)
He did a great job developing the Raptors and I felt got kind of a raw deal in his firing. (Look at how many injuries)
He is available right now and, while it is unusual for a fired coach (still being paid) to take a new job so quickly, I think Sam would have done it. People who I know that worked for the T-wolves years ago said that Sam really like the TC and wanted it to be his permanent home. If that were still true, maybe he would have signed up and spared us the McHale lame duck coaching season.
APB,
Point taken. It seems we are only disagreeing as to the extent that allowing lower level assistants to leave is a common courtesy. If it is not a common courtesy, and the Yahoo! reporter is exaggerating, then I wholeheartedly agree with you than Taylor's request for tickets is not cheap or low class.
Of course, if it is indeed common courtesy, than I think it's silly and cheap to request tickets.
I feel that I have no way to prove or disprove the yahoo! writers contention of common courtesy. I feel, however, that travel compensation in other businesses does not constitute evidence against the common courtesy argument. The environment in the super-wealthy NBA world could be very different than the environment in other private businesses.
I don't know either Nate. I'm just going by common sense business practices. Ociepka was under contract with the Wolves and wanted to go home to the Bulls, no problem. But as a business, the Wolves have a right to exploit the situation, even make a profit off of it. However, they did not. Taylor merely asked to be reimbursed for his costs - the plane tickets. That is not cheap or low rent, it is good sound business practices and I don't see why NBA organizations should act any different than other profit maximizing organizations. In fact, if they did, and merely threw money around in their day to day operations, especially in the current economic climate, I would be offended. NBA teams pay big salaries to Players for the economic benefits they expect to get in return for their services. NBA teams should operate as other businesses do in their day to day operations and that means that they seek to recover their costs when a coach asks to get out from under their contract. There is no common courtesy in business, other than profit maximization. And, in the NBA, when organizations are all in the same business, they should seek to have their expenses covered when one team does the other team a favor. If the Bulls complain about that, then they are the one not being courteous.
I should add that Wojnarowski never says the Bulls complained about it. He just makes assertions about low rent, cheap and common courtesy. I'd bet the Bulls had no problem with the Wolves request
Will Lose for Noah - have a look at this article and following comments from the Chicago Tribune:
http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/fullcourtpress/2008/12/noa...
I don't consider Joakim Noah to be an NBA center anymore than I do Al Jefferson. Listed at 6'11" and 232 lbs, he is in Marcus Camby territory (and note that the Clippers now list Camby as a forward). Plus, word is that Noah has not gotten himself into condition and seems to have difficulty remembering the playbook. Some of the comments allude to his use of cannibis leading to his memory issues and lung capacity, which I find humorous but perhaps containing the germ of truth.
Frankly, I'm at a loss to understand how trading Collins (no world beater, but serviceable IMHO) for Noah would improve the Wolves. I see it as increasing a logjam at PF, without helping the teams greatest weaknesses, which I believe to be PG and Center. If the Wolves franchise is to crawl out of the cellar, those are the positions that must be solidified.
Personally, I wonder why McHale chose not to play Collins on a night when the other team's center, Mehmet Okur, was kicking butt.
Because Collins is simply too slow do anything against perimeter-oriented big men. Noah is a much more effective player if only because he is young and quicker. Plus with his skill set (or limitations) he should never be mistaken for a 4.
Would like to see how many O boards a game we could rack up with Noah and Love splitting the minutes next to Al.
It's not like Okur is a speed demon on the perimeter. I'd say we're looking at McHale's vision (ok, hallucination, you caught me) that Al Jefferson can play the "5" in this league.
And/or maybe Collins is one of those couple-a-few players "identified" as bad seeds that seem to be lacking in the motivational department. Remember that he came into the league with the Nets - and wasn't with the Grizz for long.
But I think it's stupid to repeat what the Wolves did last year with Doleac, i.e., start the true center only when even grandma can see who outmatched Jefferson is against Shaq, Yao, etc.
As a rabid opponent of the smallball idea, let me give my latest idea (or, perhaps, hallucination) for how it could (potentially) lead to both short-term and long-term success.
Love-Jefferson is not a big lineup, but I think McHale has some (potentially good) ideas for how to make them effective, on offense. One example is the way Love is learning to crash the hell out of the glass whenever Jefferson takes a shot from any sort of distance. Eight offensive rebounds, last night, showed that to be a good strategy. Plus, as Love gains more confidence in his jumper, which is absolutely going to happen, given his technique and work ethic, he'll further space the floor for Jefferson's low block game.
But, playoff basketball has a lot of "mucking" and fights for high rebounds that a couple undersized, unathletic big men are not EVER going to win. So, my hope is that we use a draft pick or a trade to acquire a young, raw, very-big or very-athletic-big man, to develop in the time between now and when we hope to be a playoff contender. In the '08 Draft, that player would have been DeAndre Jordan. In the '09 Draft, it might be BJ Mullens, if he takes the route Jordan did, of sucking in his first college year, only to bolt to the pros on his upside potential. (Meaning, we wouldn't have to waste our top pick on him.)
We'll have another high pick next year, and unless a major trade is made that involves Love or Jefferson, we're going to use it on a perimeter player. This player should help us climb to "pretender" status and maybe 40 wins. I'm hoping that the next climb after that will occur when the developing big man (that we hypothetically select with Miami's pick, around #15) becomes competent and takes over a starting center spot, relegating Love (or Jefferson, but far-less likely) to a 6th Man role that would fill out our new contending roster. The lineup shift would be analogous to what LA has done, starting Bynum at center and bumping Lamar Odom to the second unit.
All that said, I think the easier and more reliable route was taking OJ Mayo and DeAndre Jordan in the last draft, so you had your 1-2 punch, and developing big man, in place and all you had to worry about was improvement. So it goes.
I've always been a fan of Marcus Camby and a few times it sounded like the Wolves ere going to make a run at him a couple of times during the Flip era. Now he's too old and expensive for the Wolves. I do agree that a 7-foot athlete would be a nice addition to the mix.
Hopefully they can find that guy in either the draft, free agency, or trade. Someone like Andris Biedrins.
To begin with, big men are always a project that require maturation and experience. And that was true before guys got drafted out of college -- and then high school.
But indeed, the Wolves likely will have their choice of any of these three centers (below) in the draft. I guess our "job" is to watch enough college hoops to figure out if the Wolves should draft one of them...or just go with the "best player available" ploy.
http://hoopshype.com/draft.htm
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B.J. Mullens 7-0 C Ohio State / Sophomore
Highly intriguing big man with outstanding natural tools—size, strength, athleticism, great hands, and the ability to play inside or out. Can knock down jumpers smoothly or finish with either hand around the basket. Doesn’t always play hard, fails to box out or compete defensively, seems to go through stretches of unproductiveness. Superbly gifted and appears to have huge potential, but still has a lot to prove as well.
Comparison: Chris Kaman Stats: -.
Rookie season salary*: $3,610,080 Ranking: 1st Center / 1st Sophomore
====
Hasheem Thabeet 7-3 C Connecticut / Junior
Enormous big man with outstanding physical tools, including a fantastic frame and wingspan. Mobile center who can run the floor well and get off his feet impressively. High-percentage player from both the field and the free throw line. Draws a great deal of fouls just by being on the floor. A game-changing presence defensively thanks to his outstanding shot-blocking ability. Limited offensive player with poor hands and an underwhelming skill-set. Poor passer and average rebounder. Questionable lateral quickness and balance. Only playing basketball for a few years, and made huge strides from freshman to sophomore year. True age a question mark.
Comparison: Samuel Dalembert Stats: -.
Rookie season salary*: $2,483,280 Ranking: 2nd Center / 1st Junior
====
Andrew Ogilvy 7-0 C Vanderbilt / Sophomore
True center with impressive scoring and passing ability. Has great hands and the ability to score with his back to the basket, possesses impressive touch with either hand, and draws fouls at a very high rate. Hits his free throws at an excellent clip. Fundamentally sound and capable of playing in the high or low post-- knows how to find the open man and shows some sparks of potential putting the ball on the floor or hitting a mid-range jumper. A relatively average athlete who could still improve his strength and toughness. Not a great rebounder or defender. Struggles stepping out and guarding the perimeter. Will have to wow NBA decision makers with his production, more-so than with his upside.
Comparison: Brad Miller Stats: -.
Rookie season salary*: $1,594,080 Ranking: 3rd Center / 3rd International
Thabeet is only one I've seen and I'd take him. He may have less offense than Maddog but he's big enough and does enough defensively to make an impact from day one. This draft doesn't seem too intriguing(sp?) past Rubio and Griffin, but it is early.
I checked out some of the YouTubes on Mullens, indeed he has athleticism to spare. Obviously, maturity and work ethic will determine if he will succeed at the NBA level. Mark your schedule for these games vs the Gophers:
Jan 3 / OHIO STATE- 11 am
Feb 7 / @ Ohio state-7 pm
Props to Nate and APB for both admitting that you don't know something--rare in life and even rarer on internet comment boards. I don't know either but I do find Ticketgate fascinating, even though it's incredibly minor. Is there anyone out there who can speak authoritatively on whether demanding airline tix for an assistant is common or unusual?
Also, did they really interview five guys for Ociepka's job? My gut tells me Wittman or McHale phoned up a buddy and told him to get on a plane, and they cashed the other four out to make another Don Overbeck commercial. But what do I know?
I agree that the wolves need to try harder to develop a big center or two. But they have never shown any willingness to try to develop big defensive 5's. Why didn't they give Chris Richard more of a chance? He's young and had the best physique of any center they ever had. Not super tall but a bruiser. They can afford Brian Cardinal but can't afford to develop Richard?
They have always only seemed interested in offensive big men. And there is never a real emphasis on building a defensive team. There have been some great individual defenders (KG, Hassell, Brewer), but who was the last coach who had the team playing lockdown team D? Musselman? And yet, year after year, teams like the Spurs and Celtics take home the trophy.
hope McHale coaches a team better than he manages one... McHale is going to have to turn this team around in order to keep his job.
signature (funny power tools):
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