Former Gopher PG Flip Saunders likely named new Pres of Ops of Wolves

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Hates Monikers said:
I'm not quite sure how you connected those dots. You may be right. But it may also be the case that Flip preferred the Gopher job, didn't get it, and now is on to his second choice.
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Or more likely that he was very interested in both, but passed on the Gophers because he preferred the Timberwolves job and thought it was a better fit (as I do).
 

... said:
Or more likely that he was very interested in both, but passed on the Gophers because he preferred the Timberwolves job and thought it was a better fit (as I do).
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It's also more money, you don't have your fate in the hands of recruiting 15-18 yr old HS students and kissing their butt, you have more control, etc.

It's not surprising that Flip preferred the Wolves job, especially for an NBA guy like him.
 

... said:
Or more likely that he was very interested in both, but passed on the Gophers because he preferred the Timberwolves job and thought it was a better fit (as I do).
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Or not likely. According to Aschburner he and Taylor have been discussing this for several weeks. So Flip was genuinely interested in the Gopher job while talking to Taylor AND representing potential investors in the Wolves. Ya, right.

The Gophers are better off. Not so sure the Wolves are, especially if Adelman doesn't come back.
 

Mulligan said:
Or not likely. According to Aschburner he and Taylor have been discussing this for several weeks. So Flip was genuinely interested in the Gopher job while talking to Taylor AND representing potential investors in the Wolves. Ya, right.

The Gophers are better off. Not so sure the Wolves are, especially if Adelman doesn't come back.
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It's not possible to be interested in two jobs at the same time?
 



Mulligan said:
Or not likely. According to Aschburner he and Taylor have been discussing this for several weeks. So Flip was genuinely interested in the Gopher job while talking to Taylor AND representing potential investors in the Wolves. Ya, right.

The Gophers are better off. Not so sure the Wolves are, especially if Adelman doesn't come back.
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The Wolves are probably much better off if Kahn is gone no matter who his replacement or the coach are.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...-the-t-wolves-screwed-up-the-2009-draft-right
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Take it for what it's worth, but the Timberwolves season ticket holder community is a REALLY small one, and amongst Twolves fans and people claiming to be "in the know", Flip was a sure thing for this position for a really long time. I think the Gopher thing was leverage, but I could be wrong, who knows?

Also, don't be shocked if it STILL doesn't end up with Hoiberg as coach. If Adelman retires to care for his wife, people are talking like it's a sure thing that Hoiberg is the next coach of the Wolves.
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Uh oh. Cue the 'Pitino to Iowa State' rumors. I wonder if his wife has decided Minnesota is too cold yet? :cool:
 


RockinRanger said:
The Wolves are probably much better off if Kahn is gone no matter who his replacement or the coach are.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...-the-t-wolves-screwed-up-the-2009-draft-right
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We'll see. . .

The lineup that Kahn built should have been:

C: Pek / Steimer
PF: Love / DWill
SF: Kirilenko / Cunningham
SG: Budinger / Shvyed
PG: Rubio / Ridnour / JJ

2 First Round picks, decent salary cap situation.

Kahn was atrocious at drafting players, but if that team doesn't have a freakish amount of injuries, they are a playoff team. I'm not sad to see Kahn go, it'll be nice not having him around come draft time, however, he shouldn't get too much blame for this year. I actually think we're in a much better position today than we were when Kahn was hired (there is light at the end of the tunnel rather than facing the other way).
 



howeda7 said:
Uh oh. Cue the 'Pitino to Iowa State' rumors. I wonder if his wife has decided Minnesota is too cold yet? :cool:
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Here it comes. . .

It'd be pretty surprising to see Flip and Adelman both around next season. They are both control guys and I don't think Adelman will have much of an interest in not being involved in the decision making process. I also doubt Flip takes the job while allowing another person (Adelman) to have control of the process. That was such a failure for him in Washington.
 

Dr.Don said:
Every beauty contest must also have a last place finisher.
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Good post Bob. I agree with your take. This team is close to being very good, if - if - all of the current players come back healthy that is.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Here it comes. . .

It'd be pretty surprising to see Flip and Adelman both around next season. They are both control guys and I don't think Adelman will have much of an interest in not being involved in the decision making process. I also doubt Flip takes the job while allowing another person (Adelman) to have control of the process. That was such a failure for him in Washington.
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I see where you're coming from, but I think it can work in the short term. Adelman won't be here much longer anyway. But I think they have a mutual respect for one another when it comes to their basketball acumen. Plus, it's pretty clear what the goals are right now, and that's all about building up a team to make the playoffs now, no more rebuilding stuff, and I'm pretty sure both guys can get on board with that track.
 

"@FSNtylermason: Flip recalls his days with #Gophers and said Sid would take the players out to eat."

Close, personal friend of the program, Sid.
 



I love how people on here laugh/scoff when I call Gopher basketball a dirty program. Flip casually reveals major (if I'm not mistaken) NCAA violations during a press conference, and it's not a big deal because the relevant games were already vacated by other cheating anyway.
 

A classic win-win: Flip turns down the U, which ends up with a young and hungry coach who infuses energy into the program, and the Wolves get rid of Kahn. A good day all around for Minnesota basketball.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
A classic win-win: Flip turns down the U, which ends up with a young and hungry coach who infuses energy into the program, and the Wolves get rid of Kahn. A good day all around for Minnesota basketball.
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I highly doubt Flip was ever offered the Gopher job.
 

station19 said:
I highly doubt Flip was ever offered the Gopher job.
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It seems pretty obvious that he was offered the job. He says he was turned down the job and Teague pretty much came out and made it clear. Why would they lie about the situation?
 

WindyCityGopher said:
A classic win-win: Flip turns down the U, which ends up with a young and hungry coach who infuses energy into the program, and the Wolves get rid of Kahn. A good day all around for Minnesota basketball.
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Not a big Kahn guy, but I can't imagine many TWolves fans (outside of the real casual) would consider today a success. It's Taylor doing what he has always done, he sticks with what is comfortable. It's why McHale lasted so long and why he went back to Flip. Any coach/GM that has the kind of injuries the Wolves had last year (Love, AK, Rubio, Pek) is going to struggle. Take Steph Curry, David Lee, Klay Thompson and Bogut out of the GS lineup, they don't make the playoffs. Despite all of our injuries, this year was our best non-KG season ever (31-51).

Kahn was unlikeable, he had poor draft choices and he hired Rambis. So I really don't mind him being canned. However, he did put together the kind of roster that you can build off of (young, cheap, draft picks, talent), so Flip is walking into an ideal situation.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
It seems pretty obvious that he was offered the job. He says he was turned down the job and Teague pretty much came out and made it clear. Why would they lie about the situation?
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To my knowledge Teague has never said who was offered the job and who wasn't. Several media types have suggested all the 'leaks' about Flip have come from the Flip camp. If Teague were to come out and say he did not offer the job to Flip what good would it do? It would just look like putting down an M man and local favorite.

Seems quite apparent the Teague's type is a young, up and coming, high energy type with strong college BB ties and connections. This T-wolves situation has obviously been in the brewing for quite awhile.

Seems pretty obvious to me he was not offered the job.
 

No fair using logic, station19.
 


station19 said:
To my knowledge Teague has never said who was offered the job and who wasn't. Several media types have suggested all the 'leaks' about Flip have come from the Flip camp. If Teague were to come out and say he did not offer the job to Flip what good would it do? It would just look like putting down an M man and local favorite.

Seems quite apparent the Teague's type is a young, up and coming, high energy type with strong college BB ties and connections. This T-wolves situation has obviously been in the brewing for quite awhile.

Seems pretty obvious to me he was not offered the job.
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Flip didn't just "leak" the news. He flat out said he was offered, and turned it down.
 


Flip is out as Gopher Coach. Who cares. Rich Pitino is in as Gopher Coach. We all care. Flip is in as Puppies man. Some care, some don't . Go Gophers, and oh well, go Goldencents. I care.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
We'll see. . .

The lineup that Kahn built should have been:

C: Pek / Steimer
PF: Love / DWill
SF: Kirilenko / Cunningham
SG: Budinger / Shvyed
PG: Rubio / Ridnour / JJ

2 First Round picks, decent salary cap situation.

Kahn was atrocious at drafting players, but if that team doesn't have a freakish amount of injuries, they are a playoff team. I'm not sad to see Kahn go, it'll be nice not having him around come draft time, however, he shouldn't get too much blame for this year. I actually think we're in a much better position today than we were when Kahn was hired (there is light at the end of the tunnel rather than facing the other way).
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That looks like a team that might be able to contend for a 7 or 8 seed. Plus they could end up losing Kirilenko or Pekovic this of season, and if they keep Pekovic they really don't have a good cap situation. They'll probably have to over pay him to match another teams offer and they're sure to offer Rubio way more money than he deserves. So they will have making near max deals and still no decent solution at 2 or 3.
 

Is there a team in the NBA that drafts players worse than the Timberwolves? Can't think of one.
 

XMan said:
Is there a team in the NBA that drafts players worse than the Timberwolves? Can't think of one.
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The Wolves have actually drafted very well. The problem has been that the draft choices did not turn out to be very good NBA players.
 

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