2019 Minnesota Timberwolves Off-Season Thread

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GopherWeatherGuy said:
When Saunders was first named the interim coach I was against keeping him long term. However, as the season played out I became more impressed with him as a coach. I thought the Wolves performed pretty well with a lineup of Towns and mostly scrubs. I think Saunders offense fits well with the players Rosas will bring in.

NBA coaches are the most overrated coaches in professional sports. It's all about accumulating 2-3 star players and putting the pieces around them. The 30 coaches in the NBA are not the 30 best basketball coaches in the world.
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Saunders was the right move.
 

More interested in the staff that Saunders is surrounded with than him actually getting the HC gig. It's not a bad move at all, making him permanent, if he has the right staff.
 

It's a stars league and KAT went to bat for Ryan Saunders, so I don't hate the move.

That said, Ryan Saunders wasn't overly impressive last year. Under Thibs, we were playing outdated basketball (our shot chart would have made sense circa 2010) and unfortunately that continued under Ryan Saunders.

We don't know much about Ryan Saunders. This is the first job he has gotten in basketball that didn't involve nepotism. His "try-out" last year wasn't very inspiring and yet we were to assume that he was the best man for the job (despite interviewing other qualified candidates).

Hopefully he has a short-leash.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It's a stars league and KAT went to bat for Ryan Saunders, so I don't hate the move.

That said, Ryan Saunders wasn't overly impressive last year. Under Thibs, we were playing outdated basketball (our shot chart would have made sense circa 2010) and unfortunately that continued under Ryan Saunders.

We don't know much about Ryan Saunders. This is the first job he has gotten in basketball that didn't involve nepotism. His "try-out" last year wasn't very inspiring and yet we were to assume that he was the best man for the job (despite interviewing other qualified candidates).




Hopefully he has a short-leash.
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Are you sure?
 



The need to shoot more 3's but they also need more people who can actually make them.
 


per STrib:

Among the key takeaways from a Tuesday morning news conference at Target Center:

• Rosas started out the news conference working to dispel any notion that Wolves owner Glen Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune, mandated that he hire Saunders as his head coach. “That couldn’t be any further from the truth,” Rosas said, adding that interviewing outside candidates was part of his due diligence. “We have to maximize our resources in this market.”

• Rosas, 40, was introduced with Saunders as the youngest top executive/coach combination in the NBA. Rosas stressed that he thought Saunders was the best fit in terms of relationships with existing players and his overall approach. ”We want to do things that haven’t been done,” Rosas said, reiterating his mantra of “questioning the norm.”

• ”Today is not about me,” Saunders said. “It’s about the people that have helped get me in this position.” He gave a shout out to “the six incredible women in my life” — his three sisters, his grandma, his mother and his wife, Hayley, who is 38 weeks pregnant. After that, he paused and got choked up while saying, “And I want to make sure I acknowledge my dad, Flip.”

• Asked whether the assistant coaching staff from last year will return, both Saunders and Rosas sidestepped and said they want to bring in the best staff possible.

• Among the Wolves players in attendance: Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Josh Okogie and Tyus Jones. Saunders’ relationships with Towns and Wiggins in particular played a significant role in his hire as permanent coach.

• Rosas: “This is a different market, and we have to win our fans’ trust back.”

• Saunders talked about different defensive schemes he wants to implement, such as more switching and possibly some zones. Rosas indicated he needs to surround Saunders with specific coaches and players to help the Wolves improve on defense. That was an area the Wolves struggled with under Thibodeau and even more so under Saunders.

http://www.startribune.com/ryan-sau...es-over-as-timberwolves-head-coach/510215632/

Howl Wolves!!
 

Ryan Saunders seems like a great guy. But does anyone think he’s one of the top 50 basketball coaches in the country? Top 100?
 



Here's a list of this season's NBA playoff head coaches. How many of these coaches did you know when they were hired? How many of these coaches can you match with their correct team without looking it up? The bolded are the conference finals coaches.

Mike Budenholzer
Nick Nurse
Steve Kerr
Terry Stotts
Brett Brown
Brad Stevens
Nate McMillan
Kenny Atkinson
Steve Clifford
Dwane Casey
Michael Malone
Mike D'Antoni
Quin Snyder
Billy Donovan
Gregg Popovich
Doc Rivers
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Here's a list of this season's NBA playoff head coaches. How many of these coaches did you know when they were hired? How many of these coaches can you match with their correct team without looking it up? The bolded are the conference finals coaches.

Mike Budenholzer
Nick Nurse
Steve Kerr
Terry Stotts
Brett Brown
Brad Stevens
Nate McMillan
Kenny Atkinson
Steve Clifford
Dwane Casey
Michael Malone
Mike D'Antoni
Quin Snyder
Billy Donovan
Gregg Popovich
Doc Rivers
Click to expand...

Saunders was never previously a head coach and I wasn't that impressed with what I saw from him last year. Would he be an NBA coach if dad didn't hire as an assistant with the Wizards? Maybe he turns out to be great, it just seems like it was the path of least resistance.
 

This is a good sign:

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Howl Wolves!!
 

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Howl Wolves!!
 



With the players expected to be available around 11, does anyone feel strongly about a specific player?

I do not. This draft is garbage. Right now I want the french guy because he appears to have a lot of potential. But I have no clue if he will be good or not.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
With the players expected to be available around 11, does anyone feel strongly about a specific player?

I do not. This draft is garbage. Right now I want the french guy because he appears to have a lot of potential. But I have no clue if he will be good or not.
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Honestly even if it was a deeper draft it's a crapshoot at 11 and the chances of getting someone good are really low. Might as well swing for the fences.
 

bottlebass said:
Honestly even if it was a deeper draft it's a crapshoot at 11 and the chances of getting someone good are really low. Might as well swing for the fences.
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yes you are correct. But at least in other drafts I could get excited about a couple of players, even if they ended up sucking.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
With the players expected to be available around 11, does anyone feel strongly about a specific player?

I do not. This draft is garbage. Right now I want the french guy because he appears to have a lot of potential. But I have no clue if he will be good or not.
Click to expand...

bottlebass said:
Honestly even if it was a deeper draft it's a crapshoot at 11 and the chances of getting someone good are really low. Might as well swing for the fences.
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The beautiful thing; it only takes one. The odds of them finally hitting have to finally catch up with them, right? I'm cautiously optimistic.
 


JimmyJamesMD said:
With the players expected to be available around 11, does anyone feel strongly about a specific player?

I do not. This draft is garbage. Right now I want the french guy because he appears to have a lot of potential. But I have no clue if he will be good or not.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on the French guy. If not him, I like Hachimura. I also like Herro as a 3 point shooter off the bench.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I'm with you on the French guy. If not him, I like Hachimura. I also like Herro as a 3 point shooter off the bench.
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I like Herro a lot too. Impressed me during season. But I've only seen him in the 20's. But I would be happy with him
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Here's a list of this season's NBA playoff head coaches. How many of these coaches did you know when they were hired? How many of these coaches can you match with their correct team without looking it up? The bolded are the conference finals coaches.

Mike Budenholzer
Nick Nurse
Steve Kerr
Terry Stotts
Brett Brown
Brad Stevens
Nate McMillan
Kenny Atkinson
Steve Clifford
Dwane Casey
Michael Malone
Mike D'Antoni
Quin Snyder
Billy Donovan
Gregg Popovich
Doc Rivers
Click to expand...

I follow the NBA pretty closely, and this actually proves how Wolvesy the hire was. The only ones without a ton of name recognition to even the most casual NBA fan are.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I'm with you on the French guy. If not him, I like Hachimura. I also like Herro as a 3 point shooter off the bench.
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I do not like Hachimura at all. I'd like to avoid him at all costs.

I like the French guy and I like Herro a bit. His "do stuff" stats are better than just a shooter, I think there might be more well-rounded player in there.

I'd really like the following players:
Kevin Porter Jr
Luka Saminic
Nickeil Alexander-White
Goga Bitadze
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I do not like Hachimura at all. I'd like to avoid him at all costs.

I like the French guy and I like Herro a bit. His "do stuff" stats are better than just a shooter, I think there might be more well-rounded player in there.

I'd really like the following players:
Kevin Porter Jr
Luka Saminic
Nickeil Alexander-White
Goga Bitadze
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Doesn't seem logical to draft players on whether you want to "do stuff" with them or not but whatever floats your boat I guess.
 

per Shama:

If new Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas wants the inside word on Ricky Rubio, he can probably get it from Jazz boss Dennis Lindsey. Rosas and Lindsey worked together with the Rockets before being hired to work for the Wolves and Jazz respectively.

Rubio is a free agent who the Wolves traded to the Jazz in 2017 and it seems possible he could end up back in Minneapolis. His name is being conjectured with multiple NBA destinations, and the Wolves might like to replace the point guard he was traded for, Jeff Teague.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

Wolves save themselves $5MM or so a year due to KAT's omission from the All NBA Team:

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Howl Wolves!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Wolves save themselves $5MM or so a year due to KAT's omission from the All NBA Team:

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Howl Wolves!!
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well all 3 centers that made all nba made playoffs
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

If new Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas wants the inside word on Ricky Rubio, he can probably get it from Jazz boss Dennis Lindsey. Rosas and Lindsey worked together with the Rockets before being hired to work for the Wolves and Jazz respectively.

Rubio is a free agent who the Wolves traded to the Jazz in 2017 and it seems possible he could end up back in Minneapolis. His name is being conjectured with multiple NBA destinations, and the Wolves might like to replace the point guard he was traded for, Jeff Teague.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
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Shama is worse than Walters and Sid.

This isnt a rumor at all.

Although i would like to start one. Rubio sign and trade (for just one season) for Teague (since he only has one season left)
 




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