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Minnesota Timberwolves Daily News
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 20:59 |
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How do we evaluate Kevin McHale as a Head Coach? He has disdain for certain parts of the job which are unavoidable including travel and dealing with the media. Insiders tell me McHale almost walked away from the coaching position during the 31 games he coached ending the 2005 season. The 19-12 finish after replacing Flip Saunders sounds good but lets not forget Cassell and Sprewell had pouted throughout the year over contract talks and conveniently played better when the final decision maker was now the Head Coach.
Click here to listen to Hartman and Mark Rosen's interview with Wolves owner Glen Taylor from this afternoon.
This is the 14th season that McHale has had his job. Fourteen. From one Lions fan to the Minny faithful, I can only say, "This too shall pass. It's got to, right?"
T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor "convinced" McHale to relinquish his front-office duties in order to take over the club and concentrate on coaching.
Reading between the lines, a rather long honeymoon is finally nearing an end for McHale in the Twin Cities.
In contrast to his interim head-coaching role three years ago, McHale will relinquish his position as vice president of basketball operations to focus on the task at hand. Despite four wins on the season, the Wolves feature a roster with an all-star caliber player in Al Jefferson, sharpshooter Mike Miller, along with a stock of youthful talent.
"I truly believe that we have a talented group of players in our locker room who have a great amount of potential," said McHale. "I'm confident that we can get this turned around and get back to playing a brand of basketball that our fans can be proud of."
If becoming a coach is the only way McHale scrams out of Minneapolis, then it's what must be done. Really, this is a victory for Wolves fans who'd like to see McHale go. Unless you think the guy can whip these kids into shape and finish strong, McHale looks to be gone at season's end.
There will be a familiar face coaching for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday for Jerry Sloan's 20th anniversary game.
The Timberwolves fired Randy Wittman on Monday and replaced him with Kevin McHale, the team's vice president of basketball operations. It was the 223rd coaching change around the NBA since Sloan took over for Frank Layden on Dec. 9, 1988.
But in some ways, it really makes sense to have the former Celtic great on the bench. Think about every time you’ve heard about the Timberwolves interests in the free agent market or in the NBA draft. It always seems as if McHale is drafting a team under the auspices that he’s going to help develop the players.
The Timberwolves are not a good team, but it doesn't seem realistic to put all the blame on Wittman. He didn't put the roster together, and the Wolves are right about where everyone outside of the organization expected them to be. Firing Wittman is just about finding a scapegoat instead of addressing the real issues.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 19:14 |
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A comment Rick Bonnell/Charlotte Observer left on his blog about rumors of McCants being traded to the Bobcats for Gerald Wallace.
I asked a source about that Minnesota stuff. He didn't totally dismiss the idea of some trade with the Timberwolves, but he sounded like Wallace for McCants and Collins would be pretty hard to justify.
In my mind, that would be nothing but a salary dump. What does this team need with another shooting guard and another $6 million center of limited ability? The only incentive for such a deal would be acquiring short-term contracts in exchange for Gerald's long-term deal.
But what a terrible message you'd be sending to the fans; Gerald plays as hard as anyone in this league, and you'd exchange him for some future cap room?
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 19:07 |
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It was hard to check scores from Saturday's games and not have the Clippers' 107-84 victory at Minnesota and Denver's 118-85 victory at Sacramento catch your eye, especially if you're getting ready to write a 20th anniversary story this week about Jerry Sloan taking over as Jazz coach.
For the record, there have been 222 coaching changes since Sloan took over for Frank Layden on Dec. 9, 1988. The question is if there will be a 223rd before Tuesday's game at Minnesota, with the leading candidates being Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman and Sacramento's Reggie Theus...
Memphis' Marc Iavaroni and Philadelphia's Maurice Cheeks also have to be considered on the hot seat, but it looks like a two-coach race between Wittman and Theus to become No. 223 (maybe we'll have 223 and 224). Wouldn't it be something for Sloan's anniversary game to come Tuesday against an interim coach?
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 18:05 |
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This is a mass email I received this afternoon.
Dear Sonia,
As a valued member of our Timberwolves family, I want to inform you of a decision that I reached regarding the future of our team. Earlier this morning I relieved Randy Wittman of his coaching duties. I hold Randy in the highest personal regard but believe that a change was needed to get our team back on track.
To replace Randy on the bench, I have decided to name Kevin McHale as our new head coach. Kevin will relinquish his role in basketball operations so he can devote his full time and energy to his head coaching responsibilities. No one knows this team better than Kevin and this new opportunity allows us our best chance to develop our young group of players.
I know many fans have been frustrated at the pace of our rebuilding and our challenges in the win and loss column. As a fan first and foremost, I share this frustration. But I also know that our young team is incredibly talented. I continue to have high hopes for this group of players and believe that this coaching change is our best opportunity to accelerate the rebuilding process and make significant gains for the remainder of this season.
Know that I continue to be passionate about Timberwolves basketball and remain committed to building a franchise that we can all be proud of.
Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you at Target Center.
Regards,
Glen Taylor
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 18:01 |
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Tune into WCCO.COM at 2 p.m. for a live press conference with the Timberwolves.
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.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 17:19 |
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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 solely on coaching.
As reluctant as McHale was to coach the first time around, this sure seemes like Glen Taylor’s move to finally send the franchise in a new direction.
Randy Wittman, the eighth head coach in Timberwolves history, was fired today and will be replaced by Kevin McHale, the team will announce at a 2 p.m. news conference.
McHale, who said the team said would relinquish his front-office duties to concentrate on coaching, was expected to lead his first practice today at 11.
The Wolves were 38-105 under Wittman. He coached one full season and parts of two others.
"There were certain goals and expectations that we had for this team at the start of the season, and we have not lived up to them," Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said in a statement.
"I am disappointed in our record and believe that we have more talent than our record indicates. A change had to be made and with three-fourths of the season remaining, there is still time to make substantial progress this year. I want to thank Randy for all of his contributions to the Timberwolves through the years as both a head coach and an assistant coach, and wish him the best in the future."
It is the NBA's fourth firing already this season, following dismissals in Oklahoma City (P.J. Carlesimo), Washington (Eddie Jordan) and Toronto (Sam Mitchell).
"I truly believe that we have a talented group of players in our locker room who have a great amount of potential," said McHale. "I'm confident that we can get this turned around and get back to playing a brand of basketball that our fans can be proud of."
This will be McHale's second stint as an NBA head coach, the first coming on an interim basis for the final 31 games of the 2004-05 season. McHale guided the Wolves to a 19-12 record during that stint. He started with the Timberwolves front office in 1993-94 as a special assistant before moving to assistant general manager for the 1994-95 season.
UPDATE:
It is not known whether assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg, who has been groomed as McHale's replacement, would immediately be elevated to his former front-office position...
Interestingly, Tuesday's game will mark the 20th anniversary of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's hiring.
The Wolves, who are celebrating their 20-year anniversary, have gone through eight head coaches during that time: Bill Musselman, Jimmy Rodgers, Sidney Lowe, Bill Blair, Saunders, Casey, McHale and Wittman.
“I want to thank Randy for all of his contributions to the Timberwolves through the years as both a head coach and an assistant coach, and wish him the best in the future,” Taylor said.
Now it’s up to McHale to try and turn things around, and he has experience in this kind of situation. He went 19-12 in the final 31 games of the 2004-05 season after firing coach Flip Saunders.
“Kevin has assembled the players on this team, and believes in their talent and skill level,” Taylor said. “It is my expectation that Kevin will be able to get the most out of our team and our players in his new role as head coach.”
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 December 2008 08:53 |
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Sunday apparently came and went with Randy Wittman still officially coach of the Timberwolves, a franchise that even an NBA rookie realized hit "rock bottom" with Saturday's desolatory loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center.
ESPN.com, citing NBA coaching sources, reported Sunday night that Wolves owner Glen Taylor wants Kevin McHale, vice president of basketball operations, to agree to coach the team before Taylor will agree to fire Wittman, who is 38-105 in less than two full seasons as Wolves head coach.
McHale reluctantly coached the season's final 31 games after he fired Flip Saunders during the 2004-2005 season.
McHale was the target of some unhappy fans during that game as some in the Target Center crowd shouted out the names of O.J. Mayo and Brandon Roy, two players the Wolves drafted and McHale traded away.
That could have something to do with his reluctance to go back to the bench, and ESPN.com reported that general manager Jim Stack is another option.
By all these yardsticks, Randy Wittman is having a terrible year. What is the current identity of the Minnesota Timberwolves? Are they an offensive-oriented team or a defensive-oriented team? Do they prefer an uptempo pace or more half-court? Do they pound it inside or promote ball movement for midrange and long range jumpers? What is their substitution rotation? What players do they regard as most integral to their current success and how much does it overlap with the players they are most trying to develop? Bottom line, this is a team with absolutely no identity. And that makes them very difficult for fans to embrace. Even last year's square-one rebuilding push, when Jefferson was more dominant in the team's personality makeup, was more coherent than this year's.
To a man, the Wolves claim that they are still energized and positive, that their foremost goal is to "stay together" as a team. But it's pretty clear from their exasperated on-court expressions and body language, from their timid offense and basic lack of competitiveness (not to mention the fragile shell that was once Rashad McCants) that the team is suffering from a major crisis of confidence...
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Written by College Wolf
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Monday, 08 December 2008 05:47 |
From Marc Stein/ESPN:
The Minnesota Timberwolves are on the brink of firing Randy Wittman after Saturday night's 23-point home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to NBA coaching sources.
But Wolves owner Glen Taylor, sources say, wants Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale to agree to take Wittman's place on the bench before going ahead with a coaching change.
Yet it's believed that McHale is resistant to coaching again, even on an interim basis, despite the fact that Minnesota's much-maligned vice president of basketball operations has been successful as an interim coach before...It would appear that Minnesota's in-house options for replacing Wittman would appear to be limited if McHale declines to return to the bench, but sources say another possibility is general manager Jim Stack, who has expressed interest in coaching in the past.
College Wolf Muses: I guess I could live with McHale coaching, only because he wasn't terrible in his first go around. At least I'd like to believe he'd do a decent job of developing Kevin Love. But Jim Stack??? That would be a disaster. What does he know about coaching? I have given up hope that Taylor will bring in an actual NBA coach like Avery Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy, Flip Saunders, Sam Mitchell, etc... because there is no way he pays a THIRD person to coach the Wolves for this season (Casey, Wittman, and new guy.) I 100% guarantee the new coach would be McHale or some other assistant/Front Office person. This should be interesting.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 07 December 2008 19:54 |
Judging from all the chatter in their locker room, the Timberwolves are convinced that Gerald Wallace will be coming on board from Charlotte, with Rashard McCants and Jason Collins heading to the Bobcats.
East scout on the recent firings of Oklahoma City's P.J. Carlesimo, Washington's Eddie Jordan and Toronto's Sam Mitchell
"The number of people who've been fired already means that the next few guys that are teetering -- [Reggie] Theus, [Marc] Iavaroni, [Randy] Wittman -- will probably get axed soon, too. The earliness of the firings makes it easier for teams [to follow] because there's no surprise factor. It won't look like you're jumping off a cliff. But Minnesota probably has a little bit more patience being so young. It would be more dangerous for Wittman if he had a good veteran player or two to make more of a ruckus.
Usually chatty owner Glen Taylor, clearly unhappy, turned me down in a hallway afterward when I asked to talk him, surely knowing I wanted to ask if he planned any management changes. In the team’s locker room, you could look back into the training room and see Kevin McHale hugging both Al Jefferson and Randy Foye, an odd sight indeed.
You’ve got to believe something’s going to happen, probably with coach Randy Wittman, but who knows?…And perhaps as early as Sunday, or Monday, when the team resumes practice, at the latest. The right thing to do if they decide to fire him and still keep McHale is to make McHale coach this group. Asking, say, Jerry Sichting or Fred Hoiberg to do so is the ultimate cop-out.
Watch the players when they interact with their head coach. They don’t care and they only listen in an obligatory manner. Although they like Randy Wittman as a person, they have little respect for Coach Wittman as their leader. With coaches such as Sam Mitchell and PJ Carlesimo already fired during this young NBA season--coaches who actually have had some success in the league at times--the question remains…why again does Wittman have this job?
Peter J. Schwartz/Forbes.com includes Al Jefferson on their list of "the best clutch players for the buck." He's listed as #1 among Centers. Click here for the explanation on how players were chosen. Click here for their info on Jefferson.
The road ahead for the Wolves doesn’t look much better as Utah comes to town, followed by a trip to Denver, back home for a healthier San Antonio than the team saw earlier in the year and out to California to play that other Los Angeles team. I would say that the Wolves let a winnable one slip away tonight, but the bad news is that they are all starting to look like tough games for the Timberwolves.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 07 December 2008 08:53 |
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Miller missed his second consecutive game because of a sprained right ankle suffered Wednesday in a game at Orlando. He spent many minutes shooting before the Wolves' game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center, then said he needed a breather.
"It feels decent, but I can't get a full spring,'' Miller said. "When I jump and cut, it really hurts my toes. Jumping and cutting is a big part of the game. I am ready to play, but at the same time, I have to listen to the trainers and my body.''
Wolves coach Randy Wittman said Miller is day to day, but Miller hopes to return Tuesday when the team plays host to Utah.
With Miller out, Wittman put veteran center Jason Collins back into the starting lineup and returned Al Jefferson to his natural power forward. But he sent rookie Kevin Love, Friday night's starter, out to begin the second half after Love had a nine-point, eight-rebound first half. He finished with a career-high 15 rebounds.
Believe it or not, Wittman apparently warned his players about taking Saturday's opponent lightly. "We reminded that team obviously is struggling, but they have Baron Davis, who has been an All-Star, and Marcus Camby, I believe, has been an All-Star," Wittman said. "I don't know if Zach Randolph has, but he has been close. We don't have an All Star"
Zgoda on Kevin Ollie:
It says a lot about the state of the team that a 35-year-old guard comes straight off a six-game injury absence and becomes featured and a starter because he plays defense and follows the game plan.
Why did this trade go down? Kevin McHale fell in love with Kevlar. He loves big men that listen to the Beach Boys while battling weight problems.
The short version: After they hit their tee shots during a round of golf in California on Sept. 8, Collins' brother, Jarron, was driving the cart at around 12 to 15 mph on a slick path and didn't anticipate a sharp left turn that was unmarked. The cart rolled over, and Jason landed flat on the concrete, elbow first.
Result: a ruptured triceps tendon, which required surgery.
"My brother (also) had an elbow injury -- he fell on top of me," Collins said. "And the cart fell on top of us. We were very fortunate that's all it was -- especially with what happened to Rodney Rogers."
Lesson learned?
"We were just in Orlando, and I went out (Tuesday) for the first time to play golf," Collins said. "And I drove. From now on, I drive."
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