Thats what it says on the bottom of ESPNEWS

I want Flip as our next coach



[Edited by - NYK3 on 02/12/2005 17:11:48]

we dont have to worry about dolan's mediocrity level going off-scale high anytime soon. further reading at startibune.com:

Struggling Timberwolves could be headed for shakeup
Jon Krawczynski
Associated Press
Published February 12, 2005

Kevin McHale doesn't hesitate to characterize the first half of the Minnesota Timberwolves' season as a disaster, and a big one at that.

``This is not a tornado,'' said McHale, Minnesota's vice president of basketball operations. ``This is an avalanche. It's coming down the side of the mountain and everybody's in its path. Everybody has to battle up and fight.''

If they don't, one of the most stable franchises in the NBA could be in for a significant shake up, with McHale and coach Flip Saunders getting buried in the process. The two college buddies have been in their jobs for 10 years.

Heading into Sunday's game against Chicago, the Timberwolves were 25-26, a mark that was once unthinkable for a team coming off an appearance in the Western Conference finals.

``I don't like what I'm seeing,'' McHale said. ``It starts with me. I have to do my job better, the coaches have to do their job better, everybody.''

Wolves owner Glen Taylor hinted this week that it could be time to make some changes around here, and he's not just talking about veterans trading Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell.

Taylor said he stands firmly behind McHale and Saunders, for now, but he made it clear that he is growing more and more impatient with mediocrity.

``If by the end of the season we don't have it figured out by then, then we might have to take a look,'' Taylor said of McHale and Saunders' job status.

That seems to be the biggest concern in Timberwolves land - nobody has an answer for why the team is struggling.

Saunders has used 12 different starting lineups and has bewildered his players at times with his substitution patterns, all in an effort to get the magic back.

``You try and push different buttons to get the players excited and motivated,'' Saunders said.

All that seemed to be happening, however, is more losses. The Timberwolves have lost seven of their last eight, which suggests Saunders is still struggling to get a grasp of who he should play and when with the All-Star break approaching.

The rotation isn't the only problem. McHale, a hard-nosed player the Boston Celtics championship teams in the 1980s, said he was annoyed at his team's lifeless performance in the first half of the season.

``By far, the most frustrating period I've ever had in this job, by far,'' McHale said. ``Not even close.

``The first couple years, I knew we weren't that good. I knew we had a lot of stuff to work on. I know we have talent on this team and I know there are things we can do a heckuva lot better, but knowing it and doing it are two different things.''

How things went so wrong so quickly is anybody's guess.

``I think we've been trying to figure that out,'' Sprewell said. ``Everybody's pretty much searching, but I don't think anybody has the answer right now.''

One of the answers may be a trade, and Sprewell and Cassell are at the top of the list.

Both players grabbed headlines in the preseason for griping about their contracts, and neither has played at the level they did last season when the Wolves won a franchise-record 58 games and earned the No. 1 seed in the West.

``We probably feel that's got to be one of the things that we've got to pursue a little bit more,'' Taylor said of trade scenarios. ``I would just say that we're more active.''

Sprewell said he doesn't worry about rumors and Cassell said the speculation didn't bother him, but he thought it did have an adverse affect on the team.

``It affects the team because they're wondering, 'Is he going to be here? Are we going to be here?''' Cassell said. ``You just have to explain that things happen, they just happen. Trades can be for the better, or they can be for the worse.''

The sense of urgency is growing.

``I wouldn't use the word panic, but definitely time is running out, but you just gave to keep going at it,'' Sprewell said. ``You can't quit. That's the one thing you can't do.''

Saunders says the team's short-term goals - like having the best record at the All-Star break - have been scrapped.

But he was quick to point out that it wasn't too long ago that his team was being criticized for seven straight first-round playoff exits.

``You guys told me for seven years, whatever you do in the regular season didn't matter, it's what you do in the playoffs,'' he said with a frustrated chuckle.

There is hope. Saunders inserted Eddie Griffin into the fourth-quarter lineup, and the reserve helped spark the Wolves to an emotional win over the Nuggets on Wednesday. But they followed that with an uninspired effort in a loss at Utah on Friday.

There is still plenty of work ahead, and that's just how McHale likes it.

``The farther you run away from the avalanche, the more it builds up and it kills you for sure at the bottom of the mountain,'' McHale said. ``If you stop half way or three-quarters of the way up the mountain, the snow's going to hit you hard, but you might be able to dig your way out of it and live. You can't run away from hard work.''

Posted by rvhoss:

Isiah should be as bold as mchale and take it over for the rest of the season. See up close and personal who is and isn't pulling their weight.

word.

I don't blame saunders much at all for the twolves' mess of a season. When your GM is enough of a dumbass to trade for sprewell, you know you cannot have too much sustained success. I know most of us here were envious when we saw sprewell and cassell magically playing younger than they were deep in the playoffs last year, but when your core consists of KG (29) and two loud mouth, disrespectful free spirits, you shouldn't think that your coach is the problem.
flip has shown that he is a great, if not excellent coach in the league. With this many distractions, a .500 record in the west is not bad at all. You have your maxed-out SG averaging 12 ppg, and your whiny, trash talking pg having another sharp drop averaging 14 ppg (and recently even lower).
I'd love it if we hired him.

Posted by diderotn:

I totally agree with that.. I thought that Isiah was a little scarred to assume the coaching position, because HE IS here in N.Y. hE IS affraid about what the N.Y media may say or do if he fails. McHale is in Minesota folks, that is not a big market at all. When he makes mistakes, folks will not even know about it....In one hand, I agree with his decision for not coaching, in another, I disagree. However, when you look at Minesota, McHale has been out there for at least 10 years, he puts all of the roster together. When you have a big man like KG and the supportive cast that he has around him, it is very easy for one to take this team and lead it. Let's see how successful they are with him as headcoach....

Should we consider Saunders as headcoach, and why??????? Frankly, I wouldn't mind keeping Williams around.....

Posted by rvhoss:

Isiah should be as bold as mchale and take it over for the rest of the season. See up close and personal who is and isn't pulling their weight.

Isiah isn't scared. He's just worried about the NY traffic, remember he said so himself. That's why he didn't want to coach after he "resigned" Lenny.

Posted by teslawlo:

I don't blame saunders much at all for the twolves' mess of a season. When your GM is enough of a dumbass to trade for sprewell, you know you cannot have too much sustained success. I know most of us here were envious when we saw sprewell and cassell magically playing younger than they were deep in the playoffs last year, but when your core consists of KG (29) and two loud mouth, disrespectful free spirits, you shouldn't think that your coach is the problem.
flip has shown that he is a great, if not excellent coach in the league. With this many distractions, a .500 record in the west is not bad at all. You have your maxed-out SG averaging 12 ppg, and your whiny, trash talking pg having another sharp drop averaging 14 ppg (and recently even lower).
I'd love it if we hired him.

excellent post, but one question I have is why is Garnett not taking any heat, it is funny, marbury takes a ton of heat here by haters because the knicks are losing, not even taking into account all the injuries, I mean what is minny's excuse?

Posted by tkf:

Posted by teslawlo:

I don't blame saunders much at all for the twolves' mess of a season. When your GM is enough of a dumbass to trade for sprewell, you know you cannot have too much sustained success. I know most of us here were envious when we saw sprewell and cassell magically playing younger than they were deep in the playoffs last year, but when your core consists of KG (29) and two loud mouth, disrespectful free spirits, you shouldn't think that your coach is the problem.
flip has shown that he is a great, if not excellent coach in the league. With this many distractions, a .500 record in the west is not bad at all. You have your maxed-out SG averaging 12 ppg, and your whiny, trash talking pg having another sharp drop averaging 14 ppg (and recently even lower).
I'd love it if we hired him.

excellent post, but one question I have is why is Garnett not taking any heat, it is funny, marbury takes a ton of heat here by haters because the knicks are losing, not even taking into account all the injuries, I mean what is minny's excuse?

because Marbury comes across as more of a me-first type of guy since he's been in the league, starting from his demand to be traded from Minnesota when they had the makings of a superstar tandem for years to come.

plus the fact that Marbury plays in NY now adds to that i'm sure, though he's been under the microscope since he asked out of Minnesota.

[Edited by - TMS on 02/14/2005 10:08:28]