Homecoming, Part II
Posted on April 12th, 2008 – 7:32 PMBy Jerry Zgoda
Last night it was back in Florida, the state where he won two NCAA titles with the Florida Gators. Tonight, Corey Brewer is back home in Tennessee for a game against the Grizzles in the Memphis.
“I told him Memphis is not in Tennessee,” Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. “I told him it’s in Florida. We’re in Florida again tonight.”
Such are the tricks of the mind you consider employing in such an inconsistent, baffling rookie season such as the one Corey Brewer has had. Some nights, you see a jump shot that spins sideways and conclude the Wolves brass have done it again with their personnel decisions. Then there are games such as Friday’s at Orlando, where Brewer was aggressive and athletic and made as many shots as he missed (believe it or not).
He was one of five Wolves to score in double figures with 12 points, and had nine rebounds, three steals, a block and a couple of assists, too.
“He’s just going to have to learn from a confidence standpoint that hsi game isn’t based on making or missing jump shots,” Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. “I talked to him after the New Orleans game (on Wednesday) about that. After he missed the eight-foot jump shot, the rest of the night, he was done. He was done. I told him, `I hope you can get an eight-foot jump shot every time and if it doesn’t go in, I don’t care. I tell him his game isn’t based on that. When he missed that shot, he didn’t do anything the rest of the night. He really let it affect him.”
Btw, 22 residents of Portland, Tenn. — Brewer’s hometown — were spotted spread out at a famous Memphis barbecue joint before tonight’s game. They made the 3 1/2 journey to Memphis, gnawed down some ribs and then walked over to FedExForum wearing their black Corey Brewer 22 t-shirts. Included was Brewer’s mother and high-school coach.
Game stuff:
Mike Miller isn’t playing tonight because of back spasms that caused him to miss Friday’s victory at Miami. Last Sunday at Target Center, he had a season-high eight three-pointers and tied a season-high with 34 points in the Grizzlies 113-101 victory.
That’s an omen for Wolves fans wishing for a loss that would guarantee the Wolves the third-most chances in the May draft lottery. The Wolves have 20 victories after Friday’s comeback victory over the Magic and the Grizzlies have 22, but they finish the season on a two-game Western swing to Portland and Denver and the Wolves finish at Detroit and with Milwaukee at home.
A victory means a tie between the two teams is quite possible, which would lead to a blind draw such as the one that Portland won with the Wolves last season. In case you forgot, the Blazers then got the No. 1 pick and Greg Oden.
57 Responses to "Homecoming, Part II"
Twolves Suck
Thanks for the thoughtful contribution.
[…] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football, Basketball, and Recruiting Front Page wrote an interesting post today on Homecoming, Part IIHere’s a quick excerptLast night it was back in Florida, the state where he won two NCAA titles with the Florida Gators. Tonight, Corey Brewer is back home in… […]
Its nice to see some wins…. but i mean come on Twolves we have to start losing!!!! we need to play mad dog and doleac the next two games to make sure we lose those games
If the Timberwolves win this game it will just show that as tired as my comments might be that I’m still right!
Wittless is a moron. McHale couldn’t manage his way out of a paper freaking bag, and Glen Taylor doesn’t know squat about how to put together an NBA front office.
Now more importantly… if we cannot get Rose or Beasley… What does everyone think is the next best player overall, and the best player for the Wolves?
Mayo, Bayless, Lopez, or someone else?
If Rose and Beasley are out of the question, I think that the Wolves have to pick Lopez. Bayless is too undersized. Mayo would be ok, but we’ve already got a point guard that scores more than he assists. Although Lopez isn’t super athletic, he’s got a great skill set. He’s got a touch, he’s large and long, and he’s got a sense of timing for some inside shot blocking. Perhaps most important is that he can play center and take some inside pressure off of Big Al and let him do his thing.
If we did have a chance to get Beasley or Rose I think that Rose is the player to get. Although Beasley is great, Rose has more of that killer mentality that the Wolves desparately need. I think that he could end up being one of those big time players when the game is on the line. He may also be able to ignite some fire the the Wolves by keeping the ball in his hands and making some plays- like this year’s MVP-to-be, CP3.
I agree with Andy. If the wolves dont get rose or beasley, I think they have to go with brook lopez. Hes a big 7 footer and would help the wolves on the defensive side of the ball, which they could really use because Big Al isn’t the best post defender in the world.
I agree on Lopez…but if they end up with the third pick, do they take him there, or could they trade down a few spots and still get him? I have a feeling he might last until pick 6 or 7 at least.
I say if Lopez is who we want, I would just take him at 3. Do you trust McHale to pull off some sort of trade down and not screw it up? Plus, nobody’s going to give up much just to move up to number 3.
If the Wolves don’t get a top 2 pick I look at trading it for an established player. After the top 2 the rest of the field is a complete crap shoot and I don’t like McHale throwing darts in the dark.
Ya i agree with you Jama. After the top two picks it would be tough to decide what player to take. But the problem is that the other teams probably feel the same way and it would be tough to get an established player that is actually worth anything.
well they do suck look at there record. They have one of the worst records in the NBA. Terrible Operator of basketball operations, terrible team. Only good players they have is Jefferson and maybe McCants but he so selfish when he has the ball. Besides that I am even surprised that even one person shows up to watch this bad team. I am a Twolves fan, I have only been to like 3 or 4 wolves game in my life. I have no reason to go watch them right now until they get get rid of Kevin Mchale. And the Attendence will be what it is until they get another good player like KG. That were my two words to describe the Wolves the last years or so. Twolves Suck.
I bet the Twins will have better success downtown then the Twolves will.
Ya the twins will have better success downtown because they have a wayyyy better front office than the twolves. But anyways i liked going to the twolves games this year because you can buy the really cheap tickets and sit about 4 rows from the court!
Jama.
What established player would be better AND CHEAP enough to fit for the 3rd pick in a “weak” “crapshoot” draft?
I want to hear your ideas before I comment further on it.
__________
I am in agreement that if they get the 3rd pick that Lopez is the player they should go after. However, if we had a savy GM I would trade with the Clippers, and try and get the rights to our future pick back in the deal.
ya but u watched a lowsy team who can’t beat any bad teams in the fourth quarter
I’d take one of the KU big boys over Lopez if they declare.
BC: even if they lost last night–they’d still be in the same spot. Wittman is a moron for winning a game, for trying to win a game, for playing to win a game? thats just brilliant commentary there.
Mayo could be a steal, of course i’d want to be at the interview and have him psycho analyzed thoroughly first. problem w/him is even if they took him i see him leaving as soon as possible.
I think Jamison would be an option for a trade, FA pickup. I don’t think he’ll demand ridiculous $$.
I hope they have at least prelim talks about resigning those they want to before the draft takes place.
ya they were lousy, but i really enjoy getting to see the other teams good players. going to the mavericks game was sweet to be able to see Dirk and Kidd and Stackhouse. and getting to see Kobe and lakers was awesome. but yes it would be nice to have a good team one of these years.
And arenal, i don’t think there is any way that Jamison would sign here with the wolves. He’s a veteran thats not getting any younger and i think he would want to sign with a team thats not rebuilding. but i sure would like to have him because he’s a baller
Arenal,
At this point in time with just a few games left, and the lottery being as close as it is WHY would you want your team to win, and screw up the amount of ping pong balls you get? If the team wins the last two games by some miracle and misfortune, and the Grizzlies lose both their remaining games we end up with the 4th most ping pong balls, and while you can call all the bad luck crap into play in the past… why make it easier to have bad luck?
If you are going to be in the lottery, you need a top 3-4 pick or you are destined to be in the lottery again the next season… unless you are Portland. Portland gets Oden back, and picks up a Darrin Collison or something like that with the 14th pick they will be set for 5-10 years as one of the best teams in the NBA.
By positions the Wolves grade out as:
Center - F (they have to play their power forward at center)
PF - B (they play their power forward who is an A- PF at the 5 leaving the 4 volunerable.)
SF - D Gomes and Brewer both need a lot of work, but I like the both… Gomes should be starting at the 3 with Jefferson at the 4, or another PF and leaving Jefferson to develop as a 5. Brewer needs the Michael Jordan practice routine on his shots.
SG - C- McCants can’t play defense, and settles for jump shots, and 3’s. Foye is too small to play the 2 guard consistantly, Jaric is a bench player in the NBA, Buckner shouldn’t be in the NBA, and Brewer is a quality 6th man of the year candidate next season provided we draft well, and Wittman resigns, or is fired.
PG - C+ Foye is an Average PG in the NBA, still too many turnovers, and far too much of a shoot first point guard. Jaric is a quality 4th guard. Anything more than that and he is too inconsistant, but he has the ability to play the NBA game. Telfair improved remarkably in my eyes, but is not a starting PG, and is an offensive liability on the court.
We are still not going to have the money to go after Jammison this year, but I agree, he’d help this team a great deal. I just don’t want to see them overspend for a player this year yet either. Make the cap room work for you, and that won’t be until next offseason when Walker, Howard, and McCants (if they don’t resign him) come off the books) then the team will have some money.
Craig Smith if he can be resigned for about 1.75-2.25 million this next year resign him to be the backup PF again.
Gomes is going to be 3.5-4.5 million this next season to resign
Let Telfair go unless you can get him for the same 1.75-2.25 million that you get Smith for.
Kirk Snyder would have to come back as a free agent for the NBA minimum or he’s gone too.
It’s not that I want to see those players all leave, I don’t hate them, but resigning them would kill our cap room situation for after this season.
We are going to have Walker who might have some value.
Jaric is still an albatross, and Mark Madsen might have limited value.
This team is still a very big mess Arenal, and Jammison would not make this a playoff team, so I think we have to let him go even if we could get him.
Next year is going to be a growing year… I don’t expect them being a playoff calibur team for another 2-3 seasons with 5 1st round picks in the next 6 1sts in the next 4 drafts maybe we can do something, but that’s still an aweful young team.
Bring Beasley, DJ White, and Joey Dorsey in and then it’s going to get better in a hurry.
Jefferson, DORESY, Richard,
BEASLEY, (smith), DJ WHITE
Gomes, Brewer, Walker
McCants, *Brewer
Foye, Jaric
……………….
Jefferson, DORSEY, Richard
Gomes, DJ WHITE,(smith)
Brewer, Walker,
Foye, McCants, Jaric*
ROSE, Jaric
——————–
LOPEZ, DORSEY, Richard
Jefferson, (smith), DJ WHITE
Gomes, Brewer, Walker
McCants, Brewer*, Jaric*
Foye, Jaric
——————–
Jefferson, DORSEY, Richard
Gomes, WHITE,(smith)
Brewer, Walker
MAYO, McCants
Foye, Jaric
………………….
Beyond that I’m not liking the other players in this lineup…
Hoping someone can tell me more about this European Small Forward that everyone has ranked about 5-8th in the draft.
32-50 .390
30-52 .366
12-30 .285
21-59 .262
(with 2 games left) it could go up to .284 with 2 wins, .274 with 1 win, or it could drop to .256 if we lose both games.
Randy Wittman looks like a pretty great coach now doesn’t he Arsenal?
And you lose the games now because he wasn’t good enough to get them to win when winning was what would make this team better. Now losing is the only way to make this team have a shot at getting better, and as you can see by the players I projected us drafting this team is not going to be more than a 25 to 30 win team next year… unless Rose or Beasley is at All Star level right off the bat.
Arenal, not Arsenal… lol.
BC;see you are up to your 78 posts/day again. Yes Witman is a good coach, no one else won in Cleveland before LBJ. No one else would’ve wone more games w/the this wolves team. I mean not even Phil won in LA w/o shaq…he must be Phil Jackoff…right?
i mean he couldn’t even win a series w/the best player on his team.
right?
There are three options for the wolves to prove they are concerned about losing their fans;
1-Fire McHale
2-Fire Wittman
3-Sell the team
Anything less, and anyone dumb enough to get sucked into this “franchise” shouldn’t expect anything but continued failures by proven losers.
There are three options for El Doucho:
1-shut up.
2-say something intelligent
3-say something new
anything less is just mindless diatribe a neanderthal wouldn’t be proud of. they suck, wittman sucks……they win–god they are dumb.
retarded chimp. we need to bring back natural selection.
arenal. You are the idiot. How much money and wasted time have you spent trying to convince yourself that “they are on the right track”, they can “mold” this player, the will get a “great player” in the lottery.
Give it a rest you fool.
Why bother to discuss any aspect of this current group of failures?
Keep wearing your T-Wolve jammies, and paying money to watch that crap, then look in the mirror and tell me who’s the moron.
this is for you, arenal…..Go Wolves!!!!! We’ll get em next year!!!!
Loser.
hahahaha
If the twolves try to win these last two games, and i mean try to win by playing Big Al, Foye, McCants, and Gomes more than 15 to 20 minutes each, i am going to be very upset. I might even have to start agreeing with BC and say that McHale and Whitman are the worst GM/coach combo in the history of the NBA. Memphis is only 1 game ahead of us and the Knicks and Clippers are only 2 games ahead of us. The wolves need to play Mad dog and doleac to make sure we stay in the 3rd spot for the lottery
Douche: personally haven’t wasted any money, second of all i don’t consider it wasted money. how much money and wasted time have you spend trying to convince people to listen to your broken record of BS?
give it a rest you fool. why do you bother to discuss any aspect of this current group of failures? why do you waste your time on something you claim to despise?
keep wasting your time on here, screaming the same BS and then tell me who is the moron. kettle meet pot. jackass.
b/c you have clearly shown yourself to be nothing but a winner douche? kettle meet pot. kettle meet pot. hilarious. i agree w/twinsfan32.
Arenal,
You have provided no proof that Wittman is a good coach. You had me provide you with facts as to why I thought they were terrible, and other than the last 200 games that the team has played as fact enough I provided you with information.
You say that Cleveland sucked before LeBron? They were a playoff team a season before the Wittless one arrived.
His winning percentage gets worse every year. Explain how he’s a great coach, and we have all this great talent, and things are so wonderful with him and McHale, and the numbers keep proving that the team gets worse, and he keeps getting worse!!!
You point out Craig Smith as his 2nd round accomplishment in 12 freaking seasons… how many picks has he wasted in the 2nd round?
You point out Foye as his great pickup? Roy was better than is better now, and will be better for the duration of their careers.
You point out bad luck like how we lost the coin flip with Portland…
Well had we not beaten Portland in April of that year we wouldn’t have had to tie with them, and we could theoretically have a team of.
Oden, Garnett, Roy, McCants, and Jaric as our starters. Jaric sucks, but that’s a playoff team.
Oh and Arenal, if you don’t like my multiple posts, please feel free to never come back here again. I can’t think of anyone that would miss your charm, and your complete ASS KISSING ability towards McHale, Wittman and Taylor you brown nosing bottom feeder.
I did my research. Before Wittman The Caviliers had 2 losing seasons since 1988. One was due to Illgauskus breaking his foot, and the other was when PG and perenial all star point guard Mark Price was hurt in November and lost for the season along with their starting C Daugherty being hurt, and backup Center Williams being out for 38 games as well.
Wittman is as much of a clown running a team as you are Arenal for being one of his disciples.
BC, you are not seeing the genius of Randy Wittman. If the Cavs hadn’t hired Wittman, they never would have been in the position to get LeBron. The Cavs should be thanking Randy Wittman every day for their good fortune.
BC: you have provided no proof that Wittman is not a good coach. Again you have to look at what he had to workd with. Phil didn’t even win in LA w/Kobe Bryant just a few years ago. So bad, kobe wanted out. remember? Did Wittman ever have a kobe-talent type player? Phil did, and still couldn’t win….so phil must suck, right?
Numbers alone are, or at least can be, very misleading. Common sense. Yeah and the Wolves were a playoff team as well, suppose you forgot to mention they traded KG, again simple example of how numbers alone can lie. Cleveland was complete, absolute horse shit before Lebron. They’ve been terrible for the past 20yrs.
Look at his talent every year. Again, you think another coach would’ve won 35/40 games w/this wolves team? please. again your expectations are absurd. Never said he was a ‘great coach’ just that he doesn’t suck. We have talent, not great talent. especially when you consider we are in the Western Conference. How have things gotten worse? Season is over, we’re in good position for the lottery, no serious injuries this season, appears Foye’s knee has healed, Telfair can play–a bit. Green is gone and Snyder can play, with a pick and cash. etc.
How many other teams have made 2nd round steals? oops. Psst–i thought we were talking about Wittman? why the sudden switch to McHale and Smith?
Pure speculation. Everyone’s and expert. What if Roy shreds his knee…great trade. I’m sure you are aware of how assanine it is to compare a trade after 1.3 seasons. I mean John Stockton would’ve been a bust by that measure. Scottie Pippen–out of the league. etc. keep screaming BC.
So first you blast Wittman for having this horrible record as a coach, how the wolves suck…then in the next breath you chastize them for winning? so lets only play hard against dallas/SA/houston/Phx/LA and lets tank the rest of the games? brilliant.
Lots of teams have had multiple good second-round picks. (My standard for a good second round pick is someone who becomes a functioning NBA player, playing regularly. If the player was traded on draft day, I’m giving credit to the team that traded for him.) In 14 years of McHale, Craig Smith is all we have to show for out efforts.
In the last 10 years…
Cleveland has selected Carlos Boozer, Jason Kapono, Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson.
San Antonio selected Manu Ginobli and Luis Scola.
Golden State picked Gilbert Arenas and Monta Ellis.
Milwaukee picked Michael Redd, Ronald Murray and Rafer Alston.
Seattle picked Rashard Lewis, Earl Watson, and Bobby Simmons.
Dallas picked Gordon Giricek, Greg Buckner, and Eduardo Najera.
Chicago picked Chris Duhon, Roger Mason, Trenton Hassell, Jake Voskuhl, and Lonny Baxter.
Washington picked Juan Carlos Navarro, Steve Blake, Aundray Blatche, and Calvin Booth.
Philadelphia picked Kyle Korver and Willie Green.
Detroit picked Mehmet Okur and Brian Cardinal.
Miami picked Eddie House and Rodney Buford.
The Lakers got Ronny Turiaf and Luke Walton.
Orlando picked Keith Bogans and Travis Diener.
Boston picked Glen Davis, Leon Powe and Darius Songaila.
Denver picked Ryan Bowen and Francisco Elson.
Houston selected Cuttino Mobley and Carl Landry.
Half the league has been able to find two or more such players in the last decade. If you were to go back for the entirety of McHale’s term it would be even more.
So it’s hardly impossible to find players (even very good ones) in the second round. You just have to have a person in charge who can find them.
And, arenal, check your facts on Scottie Pippen. He averaged 8 ppg as a rookie (10 ppg in the playoffs, starting over half the games) and was a fixture in the Bulls lineup early in his second season, where he averaged over 14 a game. He was nowhere near being “out of the league” early in his career.
You should also credit McHale when you steal his John Stockton line from Jerry’s story this morning.
Sean: clearly yours and my idea of a 2nd round steal varies greatly. Boozer, Arenas, Ginobli are the only notables i would consider. How many other GM’s obviously screwed up in not picking those players higher? must mean they are all horseshit, right? how many of those GM’s have scouting experience, guard experience, etc? i’ll also say i thought we should’ve taken Davis over Richard.
I agree Hoiberg will be a great asset being a former player and a guard. Not to mention he wasn’t athletic, he understood how to play.
Brewer is a fixture in our lineup as you say Pippen was. Brewer avgs close to the same points. Of course Pippen also had the huge benefit of playing next to MJ–lot of attention diverted, left him wide open to roam. Not to mention having one hell of a teacher.
Yes that is where i got the Stockton comment from.
Pippen was drafted by Seattle, draft day trade if i remember. Obviously they didn’t think much of him. Put him on the Bulls w/o MJ in that 2nd season and what does he do? nothing.
You may think the rest of these players don’t count for anything, but McHale hasn’t found anybody else even at the level of these other guys. Rick Rickert? Marcus Taylor? Blake Stepp?
McHale wasn’t overly athletic and he knew how to play and he ain’t done squat either.
I’m not comparing Brewer to Pippen — you are. I think Brewer will be fine. It’s your Pippen facts that are wrong, though.
Pippen likely does more with the Bulls if MJ isn’t there, because he would have the ball more. But the fact that Pippen did accomplish what he did (on a good team) is worthy of note.
Arenal
Wittman did have a decent player last year, KG. When he took over for Casey the team was 20-20. What was Wittman’s record after taking over that year?
You say McHale couldn’t scout Guards because he played in the post, does that mean Hoiberg is going to be a bad evaluator of post players because he was a guard?
right..other than those mentioned the rest i don’t consider 2nd round ’steals’.
what are you talking about–mchale ‘ain’t done squat either’? he did quite alot actually.
I’m saying Pippen was a bust after his first season, i’m using that to illustrate how utterly stupid it is to make such predictions after one season. I mentioned Brewer b/c their rookie stats are similar, they play the same position(s) and they have the same body/mold. mentioned as much earlier.
Pippen facts aren’t wrong. At best he was avg as a rookie. nothing special.
Ha ha ha ha, yeah b/c he sure as hell did a lot w/o Jordan those 1.75yrs. Not to mention that took place well into his career. Imagine rookie Pip on that team w/o MJ. then you have your comparison.
McHale hasn’t found anybody in the second round other than Smith, though. You can’t tell me there’s not a big difference between Monta Ellis and Marucs Taylor. Or between Mehmet Okur and Rick Rickert. Or between Cuttino Mobley and Louis Bullock.
McHale hasn’t done squat. Two playoff series wins in 14 years. That’s pathetic.
Pippen wasn’t a bust in his first year, though. That’s the point.
And Pippen played great the two years without Jordan. He was first-team NBA both years, and led the Bulls to the Conference Semifinals both years. Given that the team lost the best player in the game, that’s a pretty good accomplishment.
arenal,
What’s that on your nose? Oh, I see, it’s fecal matter from McHale.
Some people just don’t know when to shut up.
Hey Einstein, how many other teams would consider McHale as a GM?
NONE!!!!!!!!!
Sean: and how many other GM’s have? not many at least by my standards. Not to mention those GM’s had experience. That makes alot of difference. hindsight is always 20/20. I, and a great many other ‘experts’ though Avery was a solid draft pick. oops. Green was supposed to be a solid pick…oops. Starbury was a solid pick..oops. Len Bias was a solid pick…oops. need i go on?
Averaging 8pts doesn’t make him a bust, doesn’t make him a steal either. Not to mention he was playing w/MJ. Look at Tayshaun Prince…landed in the perfect situation. Think he’d have had such a rookie/2nd season if Charlotte had drafted him? most likely not. Look at BJ Armstrong–stud w/the bulls, dud with everyone else. MJ made Pippen, especially in the formative years. Would Pippen have become Pip w/o MJ? who knows? he wouldn’t have had his 2nd season w/o him, that much is certain.
2 great years…well past his rookie/2nd years…after he had learned/been taught, etc. Thats a huge difference. Huge. Considering the teammates he still had…
Doucho: same junior high BS. i agree, some people, you namely, just don’t know when to shut up. The lose, they suck. They win, they are dumb. ha ha ha. You went to a public HS didn’t you?
Hey Einstein how many GM’s were coming to MN before McHale took the job? what was the situation before McHale? would a different GM have drafted Garnett in that same spot? NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
see i can do it to. retard.
Sean: side note…its kind of like how Kobe is making Odom. Odom was a HUGE BUST, horrible…same situation. We don’t have a Kobe or MJ.
How many other GMs have? I listed them for you this morning? Well over half the league has done better than McHale at second-round draft picks over his tenure.
The experience argument is irrelevant. You get judged based on your results, not your experience. The most experienced GM in the NBA is Elgin Baylor, who has been at it more than 20 years. Do you want him running the Wolves?
I never said Pippen was a steal, so I don’t really know what you are getting at. You’re arguing a point that you made up in your head. Sure, Pippen landed in a good spot. I don’t know where you’re getting that Pippen would have been out of the league after his first year, though.
I wouldn’t call Odom a huge bust before getting to LA. He was traded for Shaq so he must have been doing something right.
Arenal- I still don’t understand why you think that nobody else would go have accepted the GM job here. Didn’t Colangelo just go to Toronto? Would you rather GM in Toronto or MN? Is Seattle that much of a better job than here?
MN is a GM’s dream job. You report to nobody, you get tons of cash to spend and the expectations are as low as they could possibly be. That is the situation now and that was the situation when McHale took over. What GM wouldn’t want that job?
Sean: you listed what YOU consider to be steals, most of those i do not as i stated previously. what about those other half whom YOU say haven’t had such steals. are they all bad GM’s as well? Experience is irrelevant? um, ah, ok. i thought it was a huge bonus when taking on a job. Huge.
I think Baylor’s problems come from Sterling, much like Ryan’s problems came from the Pohlads.
I’m getting at the fact that its absurd people calling busts after a year or two in the league. that is absurd. go back and re-read if you need to. No i’m not arguing what i made up in my head. People call Brewer a bust already. Call Foye a bust. Simply pointing out other players who did quite well after not having stellar rookie/2nd years. If he had stayed in seattle…things would’ve been very different…for the entire NBA.
Jama: Odom was a bust, he was thrown in the deal for contract and money reasons. Kind of like Ratliff. sorry. Where was Colangelo 15yrs ago? right, not an option. What does toronto have? Bosh and a PG w/SC probs. wooooo, not to mention they are in the EC, much easier to ascend faster.
We are a GM’s dream job? ha ha ha, yeah thats why they are all screaming for a shot for the job right? it is a dream job in the sense that you can’t screw up, only leave it as you found it. But then again we have a core of youngin’s that look promising. We have a slew of picks coming, the current FO boys have shown a recent history of making ALL the right moves. Now you want to blow it up and start all over, take a chance on someone else…just when things are turning the corner?
Wrong–McHale reports to someone. If all MN sports FO’s operated the way you wanted them to Ryan would’ve been run out a decade ago…i mean loss after loss…joe mays, milton, lohse, batista, ortiz….how many draft picks have the twins lost? tons of cash? actually not, you get the same every other GM does. The expectations are reasonable. Like the those of the Twins in the early-mid 90’s.
That is what YOU deem the situation to be. The expectations are rising…MN fans are reasonable. We expect progress, we expect hard work, we expect no BS off the field problems. The players are working hard, they are progressing, and they are good people. What does the future hold…lots of draft picks. i just hope we don’t get to good to quick and those later year picks wind up being 15-25. that would be a problem. Then again, package them in a trade for a stud or something.
If i was SA’s FO i wouldn’t leave for the wolves job. PHX, LA, Dallas, etc…i’d like to think i’d be very happy where i was.
The wolves had the same record, or within a win or loss as their first season. arenal, what the hell are you talking about?
They suck a little more each year with McHale, Taylor and the rest of the idiots.
What are you watching?
Sure, there’s lots of bad GMs in the league. The problem with McHale isn’t just that he has a bad record with second-round picks. His record with first-round picks isn’t very good, either. His record of free agent signings isn’t very good, and his record of trades isn’t very good. There’s not a single area in McHales’s record that you can point to as a strength. It’s all been below-average. And when you are below-average in all areas, that means you don’t deserve to keep your job.
No one has said that Foye’s a bust — just that we should have kept Brandon Roy instead.
seeing as how we started over and the WC being as it is, are you that surprised? the fact that you are states a great deal about your hoops knowledge.
The problem McHale had, Sean, is he had no experience. none. We had good 1st round picks before him? hardly. FA is an entirely different matter. Bball is a winter sport, we are MN. those are HUGE factors. HUGE. Howard himself stated he made a HUGE mistake in not coming here year ago and opting for Orlando as well. If you had the option of Orlando or MN for a winter sport…which would you choose? MIA or MN? LA or MN? hmmm…
I point to post player development. He, McHale made Garnett. Difference is KG was willing to put in the work. Kandi man wasn’t. The post players who have left here haven’t made it anywhere else. that tells you something.
of course its below average…a virgin CEO would have a similar record behind him. Recent history indicates he has learned. Total history tells you he has learned alot.
Wrong–plenty of people have said Foye is a bust. Plenty of people have already indicated Brewer is a bust. which is how this started. There it is…idiotic comparisons after 1 season…really. absurd.
Has McHale done better than those who came before him? Yes. But considering the record they accomplished, that’s not saying anything.
You can keep spouting the experience nonsense all you want. I don’t care about it and never will. I judge based on results. If McHale is overmatched for the job, he should quit or be fired. Period. His recent history means nothing because this batch of Wolves have accomplished nothing. The Wolves are a 20-win team this year while the guy who should be the cornerstone of this franchise is winning 65 games in another town, and you want me to throw McHale a freakin’ parade? Give me a break!
Post player development? KG never developed a go-to move on the low post. KG is my favorite player, but the fact of the matter is that was one piece that was always missing. And it shouldn’t have been a surprise to McHale that Olowokandi was lazy. That was his reputation with the Clippers! How can McHale not be familiar with common knowledge around the league? The post players here never developed because, for the most part, they weren’t really post players — they were jump shooters in big bodies. Nesterovic is a key example — much more comfortable shooting little jumpers than banging in the post. The Wolves, for the entire length of McHale’s tenure have lacked a true banger who is a rebounding and defensive monster on the inside. That shows a fundamental failure to evaluate talent.
McHale is not a good GM. Sorry Arenal, you must be related to McHale or something because there is no other reason why you would still be defending him. The Twolves need a new GM because what McHale’s done as the GM is obviously not good enough
Sean: its saying he did a better job. you people act like he destroyed the franchise. Its done alot more under his watch than under the previous GM’s. He’s done better than some GM’s in the league right now. Washington, Knicks, Clips, Seattle, Denver–all that talent and they still suck, Bucks, Grizzlies, etc.
Back to experience being nonsense. Sorry Sean but thats just stupid. So you would expect the same results from a rookie pilot as a veteran pilot? tell me which plane would you rather get on? That old cornerstone also has different teammates in a different conference and he did what here? w/a group more talented/experienced than the one we have now? you want to stay in that 6-10, 1st round selection routine? Keep hoping for 1yr fixes…or just start over w/a collection of young studs and a pile of draft picks. I’ll go w/the later. KG was done here, it was time for both to move on. Did i say you should throw him a parade? don’t get stupid or irrationale..Sean i’m assuming is a man’s name…act like one.
Sorr again Sean, KG’s go-to low post move was the 8ft fade-away. Watch some of McHale’s games…you’ll see. Notice the footwork. Notice the team defense, notice the little things. Notice the passing, etc. Who doesn’t have a bad rep coming out of the clips? Cassell had a rep as did Spree–that worked quite well. for year–then they both got stupid. real stupid, real fast. ironically, not their reputation.
You think GM’s talk honest about players they are trying to get rid of? Dear god, do you remember what coaches/teammates/everyone said about Griffin? they tell you what you want to hear, idiot. Besides, maybe he was thinking KG would motivate him, as MJ did the entire Bulls team. Thats what leaders do, thats what cornerstones do. Or they never developed b/c they never put the time in. Lacked a true banger? gary trent, dean garrett, oliver miller, brown bear, etc. A fundamental failure for those who have experience, i agree.
Twinsfan32: never said he was a good one, just saying he’s not as bad as these idiots portray him to be. its never as good as people make it out to be, never as bad either. No there is no relation. My mothers side is from the Range though.
Who is to say this new GM will do any better? Would another GM have gotten AJ for KG, would he have even taken that trade? i’d take AJ over the entire Bulls package they offered…every one of them are quitters. This year has proven that. Going gets tough—they fold like lawn chairs. They pack up like a blonde at 6am, and head home.
A new GM probably would have gotten Al, Rasho Rando, and 3 first round picks. There was no reason to trade for Gerald Green or Telfair. Who would you rather have right now Al Jefferson or Amare Stoudamire? Just curious.
The list of folks that McHale has done better than is pretty short. As I’ve said a zillion times, people who achieve so little usually get fired. Only Elgin Baylor matches McHale’s combination of ineptitude and longevity. Isiah Thomas is going to get broomed after four and one-half seasons. Is it too soon to pass judgment on him? Maybe if the Knicks give him another decade, he’ll figure it out!
I expect that people given the job of GM or Coach of a professional sports franchise aren’t learning on the job. They are supposed to know their stuff already and they should be prepared to deliver results on day one. People in learning mode should be assistant GMs or assistant coaches.
Actually, I think McHale waited too long to trade KG. My lament is that McHale failed in 9 of the previous 10 years to build a team around KG that was capable of contending for a championship.
Cassell and Sprewell both had reputations, and lived up to them — just as Olowokandi did. McHale knew he had a ticking time bomb on his hands with Sam and Latrell and then he chose to light a match and throw it at Cassell by not extending his contract after the most successful season in team history.
Let’s talk about Garrett, Miller, Brown, and Trent. All season long you’ve been saying the one position that McHale knows inside and out is big men. All of these players were failures. Why is that the case? Are there any moves McHale can make that you won’t make an excuse for?
+1 Sean. If McHale judges big guys so well, why have the Wolves never had a good big guy?
