KEVIN GARNETT

Let the McHale Homecoming Speculation Begin

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mchaleHouston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale was fired this morning after the Rockets got off to a 4-7 start after making the Western Conference Finals last season. JB Bickerstaff, University of Minnesota alumnus & former Wolves assistant, takes over as interim head coach.

McHale found himself out of a job after the Rockets had a players-only meeting and were embarrassed by the Boston Celtics. From the sounds of it is that McHale lost control of the team and they could not play defense. This comes after McHale received a contract extension last season.

This isn’t a Rockets blog. But it is important to discuss Kevin McHale. Can’t say McHale is an amazing coach. But also can’t say the exact problem was him. Lots has gone on recently. James Harden has shot the ball terribly along with many other Rockets. But the blame came on McHale and he is gone. Immediately, many Wolves fan saw a member of the ‘Country Club’ available and made the linkage. Will he come back? If so, in what capacity?

One has to imagine McHale will take some time away from the game. He has experienced a difficult last few years. He lost his daughter in 2012 which triggered an emotional meeting with KG after a nationally televised game as seen below:

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You also have to imagine McHale took the loss of his Gopher teammate Flip Saunders hard, regardless how they parted ways professionally.

The Wolves seem to be fine with Milt Newton and Sam Mitchell for now, being that they are only 11 wins away from matching last season’s total. But the Timberwolves do seem to be a Country Club with the return of Kevin Garnett as a mentor and Sam Mitchell as the current Head Coach. Glen Taylor also has been interested in selling the team and usually only works with people he trusts.

That said, it is unclear to know what the relationship is like between Taylor and McHale. You would believe Taylor would reach out to McHale. In what capacity? Its unclear. But there has to be a possibility there. Kevin McHale is a huge factor in the development of Kevin Garnett’s post game. It would be interesting to see McHale work with Karl-Anthony Towns. McHale coached the Wolves in random stints that weren’t good. He could potentially even join an ownership group with Garnett in the future, that could be the successors for Glen Taylor. I can’t imagine him joining eventually as a GM but I believe he could be a consultant sooner rather than later.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. He was just fired and nothing may come of it now, but in the future…. you never know…

Wolves won last night in Miami and take on one of my favorite young teams tonight, Orlando Magic.

Game 1 Recap: Wolves Win Thriller over Lakers in Season Opener

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The Wolves opened the season against the Lakers with heavy hearts still from Sunday’s news. The Wolves wore ‘WE’ shirts that said ‘Flip’ on them as well, that the Timberwolves should absolutely sell to the public and donate a portion of the profits to Cancer Research. Yup, quick tangent.

Anyways, the Wolves were down by 16 in the second half and were brought back into the game by the same bench that put them into that deficit. The Wolves were led by Ricky Rubio’s career-high 28 points and 14 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns added 14 points and 12 assists in his NBA debut. Many Wolves were emotional after the game and dedicated the game to the late Flip Saunders.

I got to watch the game, so my thoughts below.

The Good:

Ricky Rubio. Ricky hit a few early 3-pointers that the Lakers were giving him because of his reputation. Rubio also showed that he can finish around the rim by being aggressive and finishing with contact. Ricky put the team on his back, scoring 28 and then distributing out 14 dimes. It was the kind of game we have been dreaming about for years. The Wolves can’t expect Rubio to score this much every game, but if teams can respect his ability to get the ball in the basket, it will open up the floor for the rest of the guys. Defensively, Ricky as usual looked good. As Amin Elhassan pointed out, all he needed was a fade.

Karl Towns. He played fairly mistake-free basketball. A double-double is always a great thing to get out of your starting big man. He was the most consistent of the bigs rotation. He will start getting some offense run through him. His three point attempt looked forced, but once that gets going, sky is the limit. i loved that he didn’t look passive out there. He made the adjustments necessary defensively down the stretch and stayed out of foul trouble. 14 points and 12 rebounds, way to go rook!

Kevin Martin. While I am not the biggest endorser for K-Mart, he provided a much needed lift of the bench. He played like a savvy veteran. He did what the Wolves needed him to do, that was to score. He got to the line a ton and the best was where he forced himself to three free throws by staying aware of a dumb fould coming his way. I worried a lot having a LaVine-Martin backcourt for the simple fact that defensively, the Wolves aredisastrous. But the Wolves adjusted and for the first time in his career, Kevin Martin was applying a full court press that sent a message to the rest of the team. If K-Mart is trying defensively, everyone should.

LaVine, Shabazz, Bjelica off the bench in second half. In the first half, Bazz couldn’t get going, LaVine looked like he never played point guard before, and Bjelica picked up 3 fouls in first quarter. These three played a crucial role though in the second half. The Wolves made a run back into the game with the support of hustle and scoring by Shabazz, decent play by LaVine, and some versatile play from Bjelica. They didn’t fill up the stat sheet but each had a couple plays that changed the momentum. If they can figure out their roles and hustle as much as they did in the second half, they can be very reliable pieces for the Wolves.

The Bad:

Defense. Man the Wolves still suck defensively. It felt like a video game in the second quarter where just because the Lakers were playing the Wolves, its like everyone got better and couldn’t miss. Lou Williams dominated. Kobe couldn’t miss. We all knew the buzzer beater was coming from Swaggy P. The issue was players didn’t rotate and didn’t contest any shots. The Lakers got every shot they wanted. If KG still had hair last night, he would’ve lost it all watching that defense. This needs to be addressed quickly. We can’t win games letting opponents score 112 points.

The Rotation. Please Sam Mitchell, we don’t need to go Platoon to make KAT feel comfortable. The Wolves brought in their entire bench in the first quarter and everything collapsed. Pairing is going to be important. Bjelica couldn’t guard Randle or Hibbert. LaVine and Martin is the worst defensive backcourt combination in the NBA. Staggering guys in and out is essential. Wiggins and Martin are not good pairs. Wiggins needs to find a scoring rhythm early in the game before K-Mart enters. Its early in the season, its time to experiment with which combinations and substitutions work and which don’t.

The Ugly:

Andrew Wiggins. Unfortunately, Wiggins has the highest expectations on the team. And I often believe its not that he can’t meet them, its almost like he doesn’t want to meet them. My biggest issue is his passiveness, and I believe many agree. An adjustment for Friday’s game is to look to get Wiggins involved. Whether it be off ball screens or posting up. What he has to do is become more aggressive. Take a note out of K-Mart’s book. Get to the line and get going. All I could imagine was Wiggins in a Waldo outfit. Creepy, but where was he?

The black long sleeve jerseys. My hope is if I complain about these enough, they will disappear. They were cool when they first came out, but I can’t stand them anymore. Jersey redesign needed ASAP.

The Road Ahead

The Wolves take on the Denver Nuggets on Friday where they get to see rookie Emmanual Mudiay, who was relatively impressive in his NBA debut, although he turned the ball over 11 times. The Nuggets won their season opener in an upset over the Rockets. The Wolves will also get to see a deep and young front court of the Nuggets which has a guy from basically every European country in Gallinari, Nurkic (out until November), Lauvergne, and Jokic.  Also, former Timberwolves Randy Foye and Mike Miller play for the Nuggets.

A Season With an All New Purpose

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The Timberwolves team and fans are still grieving over the loss of the most powerful person in the organization, Flip Saunders, just two days before the beginning of the season. Thus, the Timberwolves have been left scrambling for direction. The season was about development. But now the season has an entirely new purpose. The Wolves want to make Flip proud. The young nucleus of this team was hand-picked by Flip Saunders and now they must try to figure out, ‘Why me?’ without the direction of their leader.

The interim Head Coach Sam Mitchell and GM Milt Newton will take immediate responsibility of the young Wolves. Many fans rightfully worry if they have the vision that Flip had. So the question has to arise, who will be Flip’s successor? Who will assume his responsibilities? The answers remain unseen, but for the time being Mitchell and Newton will lead. Milt Newton was Flip’s right-hand man. Flip commonly credited Milt with personnel decisions and explaining he made the deals happen. Sam Mitchell on the other hand will have to work for his job security. This season will serve as an interview for him. You have to imagine if Flip or Milt felt Mitchell was ready for the job, he would’ve been hired for the head coaching vacancy instead of as an assistant coach. Sam Mitchell was a great mentor for Kevin Garnett throughout his career and also won Coach of the Year as the head coach for the Toronto Raptors. That said, he has been criticized for the lack of development of former Number 1 pick Andrea Bargnani, which doesn’t help his case to be the long term coaching candidate in Minnesota.

When Kevin Garnett was brought in at the trade deadline last season, no one would’ve imagined that this season would hold such emotional value. KG was brought in to serve as a mentor for the young guys on the roster. Now many will turn to Garnett as the emotional leader and ignitor of this team moving forward. The Timberwolves need Garnett more than ever. Garnett lived through the Malik Sealy tragedy and you have to imagine, this one carries just as much weight. Kevin understands what Flip was trying to do in Minnesota. He wanted to win a championship. I think its safe to say, KG will not be satisfied until the Timberwolves bring home a ring.

The Franchise cornerstones, Andrew Wiggins and Karl Towns, will have tremendous pressure on them to help see Flip’s vision through, but you have to believe they have greater ties and greater passion to turn this organization around. This season was beginning to feel like a year to develop with low expectations. But the desire to win immediately for Flip is growing by the day. It will be interesting to see these two players become leaders as Flip helped bring them and had tremendous faith in both players.

As the Wolves kick off a new season against the Lakers tonight, mentalities have shifted. Flip was a man who was entirely humbled and had a great love for the Timberwolves. The 2015-2016 season will forever be known as the season dedicated to Flip.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Saunders family. Lakers vs Wolves in LA tonight. Here is to another season.

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Rest in Peace Flip

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News broke while many Minnesotans were watching the Vikings game that Flip Saunders lost his life from Cancer at the age of 60. A huge shock to all Minnesotans. Flip’s impact goes beyond his responsibilities on the team, having the most responsibility of any individual on any NBA franchise being the President of Basketball Operations, head coach, and minority owner. He is a Minnesota faithful. Someone that has been trusted by guys like KG. A man who dedicated his life to the game.

Flip is a great example of persistency and hope. Flip, who played college basketball at the University of Minnesota with Kevin McHale & Mychal Thompson, took the long route to an NBA bench. He started his career in the CBA and then finally joined the Wolves in 1995. He led the Wolves to their first playoff birth. Coached the Wolves through the Malik Sealy tragedy and to the Western Conference finals. Kevin McHale would fire Flip during the 2005 season and Flip would find a job with the Pistons and Wizards before his return to the Wolves. He led the Pistons to many Conference Finals and responsible for the development of John Wall. Flip had success with the other NBA teams, but it was clear Minnesota held a special place in his heart.

When Flip returned to the Wolves, it wasn’t clear in what capacity. Many thought he would be just the owner. He would become President of Basketball Operations and then after a failure in the search for a head coach, Flip hired himself. Flip would turn an unhappy Kevin Love into Andrew Wiggins, orchestrate the return of Kevin Garnett, and draft Karl-Anthony Towns before he would announce that he had cancer.

Looking back, the scariest part was the turn of events from planning on coaching this season to Glen Taylor announcing yesterday that Flip would not return this season.

Our hearts are heavy and our prayers are with the Saunders family. Flip turned this team around from the franchise around from what inspired the name of this blog as a rebuilding team year after year to one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. The timing couldn’t be worse as the season just starts as this will spark a new and emotional meaning this season for the Wolves.

Play For Flip.

Rest in Peace.