Saunders Fired

[thegrahamcrackr]

ESPN.com news services

A season after guiding his team to the Western Conference finals, Flip Saunders is no longer the Timberwolves' coach.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press' Web site, Saunders, who had coached Minnesota since 1995, was not present at the Wolves' Saturday afternoon practice, which was instead run by vice president for basketball operations Kevin McHale and assistant coach Randy Whitman. McHale will replace Saunders.

Although most of last season's team returned, the Wolves are just 25-26 and ninth in the Western Conference standings.

Pretty sad, I always liked him. It was McHale who gave him 2 "stars" who refused to play hard. What a shame.....

 

[az1965]

Yeah, coaches take the fall of even GM's screw ups...

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Kind of a risky move on McHale's part to become the team's coach, even if only for the rest of this season.

If he can't do any better, or even does worse, than the guy he fired...that's not going to look very good.

 

[Joe Mama]

We aren't privy to all of the behind the scenes stuff, but this looks completely unfair to me. For a couple years the Timberwolves were among the best teams in the NBA until inevitably Terrell Brandon would go down with injury. When they finally made some moves to put some good players around Kevin Garnet again they made it to the conference finals. They might have gone to the finals if not for Sam Cassell's injury.

It wouldn't surprise me if he is rehired by another team as early as this season.

Joe Mama

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

McHale is trying to save his own job IMO.

If he let Saunders stay this season and they continued to suck, both would have been shown the door.

If he fired Saunders, and put an interim coach in there and the team continued to falter, both of them would be fired.

The only way McHale can keep his job is to win with this bunch/make a big trade before the deadline.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

It wouldn't surprise me if he is rehired by another team as early as this season.

Joe Mama

He is without a question the best coach on the market for the next summer.

 

[Islington]

He is without a question the best coach on the market for the next summer.

No, I don't think so. Phil Jackson, Rudy T., and Hubie Brown will be rumored to be in the market for coaching again in the summer.

Can anyone retire and stay retired?

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

No, I don't think so. Phil Jackson, Rudy T., and Hubie Brown will be rumored to be in the market for coaching again in the summer.

Can anyone retire and stay retired?

Well Rudy T said he will never coach again, and I personally think Saunders is a better coach.

Hubie has also said he is done for good.

I admit I forgot about Jackson, but he has a ton of questions. No one knows if he actually will want to coach again, and if he does it seems he is only going for either the LA or NY job. Not really on the market for every team.

 

[Chaplin]

Rudy T definitely is not THAT great of a coach--certainly not in the same echelon as Phil Jackson/Jerry Sloan. Maybe in the same category as Mike Dunleavy or Jeff Van Gundy.

 

[elindholm]

I admit I forgot about Jackson

Lucky you! If I could forget about Phil Jackson for just one day, I would be happy.

This was a very poor decision by the Timberwolves. The problem is obviously with the personnel and their chemistry, not with the coach. No one wants Sprewell at his price, and Cassell can't stay healthy, so they were hamstrung with respect to a trade. But I don't see how dumping Saunders is going to solve anything.

 

[boisesuns]

Barkley should coach the T Wolves, so he can bench the alien

 

[The Commish]

I will equate this to the firing of Bob Brenly. Brenly wasnt at fault for his team's performance, nor was Saunders. I'm kinda surprised by this move by the T-Wolves, it certainly shows the true colors of the organization.

 

[sly fly]

I admit I forgot about Jackson

This was a very poor decision by the Timberwolves. The problem is obviously with the personnel and their chemistry, not with the coach. No one wants Sprewell at his price, and Cassell can't stay healthy, so they were hamstrung with respect to a trade. But I don't see how dumping Saunders is going to solve anything.

It was a good decision to let Flip off the hook with that team of malcontents. They probably did him a favor.

Flip lost complete control of that team, especially Cassell. You can't have that.

McHale needs to blow that whole team up, Garnett included. Sometimes, organizations come to a cross-road, and need to make tough decisions. It's now or never for MINN.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

It was a good decision to let Flip off the hook with that team of malcontents. They probably did him a favor.

Flip lost complete control of that team, especially Cassell. You can't have that.

McHale needs to blow that whole team up, Garnett included. Sometimes, organizations come to a cross-road, and need to make tough decisions. It's now or never for MINN.

I'd give Johnson/Marion/#1/#2/cash for Garnett/Griffin.....

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I'd give Johnson/Marion/#1/#2/cash for Garnett/Griffin.....

LOL. So would everyone else. Of course not including the Twolves

 

[Gee!]

It wouldn't surprise me if he is rehired by another team as early as this season.

Joe Mama

Or next season. Lakers?

 

[Southpaw]

This is one screwed up franchise with one of the most screwed up owners. Glen Taylor, the future Vikings owner, forced McHale to fire Saunders. McHale and Taylor are the jerks who tried to hide Joe Smith's illegal contract and got busted for it. That should tell you something about those 2 clowns. Then they stick Saunders with Sprewell, Cassell, Olowakandi and their bad attitudes. Garnett is playing on one leg. The great Mark Madsen is coming off of the bench, yet somehow Taylor thinks it is Saunders fault. Taylor should fire himself.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

LOL. So would everyone else. Of course not including the Twolves

OK, where in the hell can MIN get a better deal than that? Remember, they will not get a James, Stoudemire, O'Neal, Duncan, Nowitzki McGrady or Bryant back in trade. Therefore, seeing as Marion is arguably the absolute best of the second tier and JJ is becoming a consistent player and still has more than potential to become a star, I seriously think that's a solid deal for both teams. The picks and the cash make it even for Griffin....

 

[Chaplin]

OK, where in the hell can MIN get a better deal than that? Remember, they will not get a James, Stoudemire, O'Neal, Duncan, Nowitzki McGrady or Bryant back in trade. Therefore, seeing as Marion is arguably the absolute best of the second tier and JJ is becoming a consistent player and still has more than potential to become a star, I seriously think that's a solid deal for both teams. The picks and the cash make it even for Griffin....

Considering that Marion's statistics might just be slightly worse than Garnett's, we're talking about a pretty lopsided trade. JJ would pretty much be icing on the cake for them. Besides the TWolves would never send Garnett to a team that would still have Nash, Amare, and Q on it, in addition to getting Garnett. That team would be a monster, and I seriously doubt Minnesota would even consider it.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Garnett will not be traded. If he was, he would not be traded to an up and coming Suns team. The value isn't close anyways. While I love Marion as much as anyone, Garnett is clearly a top 2 player in this league right now.

Look at the team that would be assembled if your deal goes down:

Garnett
Amare
Q
Nash
Hunter/JJack?

We could have a ridiculous front line with Garnett at SF, or we could put Jackson in and keep a more traditional lineup.

Our bench would be Hunter/Jackson, Eddie Griffin, McCarty, Barbosa, Voskuhl.

That team wins the championship at least 3 out of the next 5 years. I dont think another GM would ever want to help a competitor assemble that. Of course, the Hawks did trade Sheed to Detroit for garbage so who knows.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

In the end, a GM is going to do what is best for his team, period. I honestly think that no team could offer a better package of players in the league. As deep as some other teams are, none have the star power that we have. No other team would be able to make the trade and allow MIN to be competitive and develop a solid core for the future. Not DAL, not SAC, not WAS, not MIA, not ANYONE. It's all just talk now, so we should all wait until he is actually on the block, but it's still fun to talk....

BTW, I would start Nash-Q-Griffin-Garnett-Stoudemire

Bench: Jackson-Barbosa-Hunter-McCarty- Voskuhl-Bo-Shirley (same as before)

 

[elindholm]

If the Wolves decided they had to trade Garnett -- which I agree is very unlikely -- they could get a legitimate #1 player in return. Neither Marion nor Johnson fits that category. While it's true that the Wolves wouldn't be able to get a budding superstar (James/Stoudemire/Wade), they could realistically set their sights on someone in the Nowitzki/J. O'Neal/McGrady group. Neither Nowitzki nor O'Neal was available this past summer, but things can change quickly in this league.

In any case, while we're discussing fantasy trades to bring Garnett to the Suns, they can go ahead and keep Griffin as far as I'm concerned. He's more trouble than he's worth. Marion, a re-signed Johnson, a future first, and the infamous rights to Vujanic ought to be adequate.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

they could realistically set their sites on someone in the Nowitzki/J. O'Neal/McGrady group. Neither Nowitzki nor O'Neal was available this past summer, but things can change quickly in this league.

Exactly. The players you mentioned are top 10 players, but Garnett is a top 2 and still young.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

If the Wolves decided they had to trade Garnett -- which I agree is very unlikely -- they could get a legitimate #1 player in return. Neither Marion nor Johnson fits that category. While it's true that the Wolves wouldn't be able to get a budding superstar (James/Stoudemire/Wade), they could realistically set their sites on someone in the Nowitzki/J. O'Neal/McGrady group. Neither Nowitzki nor O'Neal was available this past summer, but things can change quickly in this league.

In any case, while we're discussing fantasy trades to bring Garnett to the Suns, they can go ahead and keep Griffin as far as I'm concerned. He's more trouble than he's worth. Marion, a re-signed Johnson, a future first, and the infamous rights to Vujanic ought to be adequate.

I purposely left IND out of this talk for a reason. That reason is that I believe that MIN would give Garnett veto power and I think Garnett would be QUICK to veto IND because it woulld not change his position. IND would have to give O'Neal and Artest to get Garnett because they have no other valuable pieces to give MIN. So, that leaves Garnett with a bunch of scrubs. Why, then, would he leave for that? I admit, IND would probably the most competition for the Suns. DAL would not give up Nowitzki for garnett, I don't think, because it, again, changes nothing for either party. I think at this point, MIN (in ANY trade they make) is most interested in establishing a young core and getting picks. A trade with DAL would get tehm Nowitzki and that's it. Remember, this is all just BB talk, so let's just have fun with it....

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

That reason is that I believe that MIN would give Garnett veto power

This statement conflicts real bad with

In the end, a GM is going to do what is best for his team, period.

If I had to choose between which statement is more true, I would go with the second one. In that case, a package of Jermaine Oneal and either Jackson or Artest is clearly better than JJ and Marion.