STrib profile on Flip...former Gopher talks return to coaching, recruiting & more

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BleedGopher

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per the article:

"I'm keeping my options open," he said. "If the right situation comes along? I'll evaluate that. I want to be able to build something, want to go to a place where something can be accomplished.''

Asked if recruiting would be a problem, Saunders laughed, citing his success recruiting when part of Jim Dutcher's staff at Minnesota.

"I'll say this. Recruiting is basically selling yourself, your organization," Saunders said. "When you go into a home, talk to these guys, most of the players are coming out of AAU situations. They all think they'll play in the NBA. ...I can say I know what it takes to be in the NBA. I scoff at the idea that I wouldn't want to go to college because I couldn't recruit."

"I want something where I can make a mark," he said. "That is the biggest thing. I want to build something that can flourish.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/193724121.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

Go Gophers!!
 

He basically says all he can say about the Gophers job without saying. Unless we're to believe he'd take a college job somewhere else.
 

howeda7 said:
He basically says all he can say about the Gophers job without saying. Unless we're to believe he'd take a college job somewhere else.
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At first i just figured Flip to be a fun speculation like so many others but i don't think it gets any more obvious that he's selling pretty hard there. I'm not saying i'd necessarily want him but he is clearly interested in the job were it to become available.
 

WhoFellDownTheGopherHole? said:
At first i just figured Flip to be a fun speculation like so many others but i don't think it gets any more obvious that he's selling pretty hard there. I'm not saying i'd necessarily want him but he is clearly interested in the job were it to become available.
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You could certainly do worse than Flip as a 'fallback' option. Somewhere Joel Maturi has him on a list in his sock drawer.
 

How about Flip as the coach with Kevin McHale, Quincy Lewis and Kevin Lynch as his assistants. It would be expensive but i bet you could land the big three. :cool02:
 


I don't have any doubt Flip could recruit, IF he's passionate about a job/program and not looking at a retirement job. His comments about kids thinking they are going to the NBA is spot on.

As it relates to the Gophers:

Would we want another older coach whose best years may be behind him and where effort/desire could be questioned?
Would Norwood Teague want to hire another basketball coach with a higher profile than him who may be able to go over his head if wanted to?
Would Norwood Teague want to hire the "Minnesota guy" knowing the perception would be that ANY A.D. at Minnesota would have been able to get Flip?

From Norwood's perspective, I just don't see why he'd want to hire a guy who he'd get little credit for IF that hire succeeds. It seems like there is a lot of downside to a Flip hire for Norwood, but little upside.

One of my own biggest concerns about Flip is that he'd likely want Ryan on his staff and I wouldn't want another Saul Smith situation where the fan base perceives that we only have 2 assistant coaches because Dad got the U to pay $X for his son to sit on the bench.
 

This sounds like Flip is in...holy crap would that be huge. As I say that, I remember how I first thought when Tubby came here.
 

Flip won't bring in his son.
Flip will be THE BEST at fundraising for a practice facility.
Flip is a big name, at least here in Minnesota & last I checked, the Big 3 are from Minnesota.
Flip is our best chance of bringing in someone who is AS concerned about the health of the program as he is his wallet.

Flip seems to want the job, as it looks like he's already interviewing for the job.

And lastly, Tubby's legacy is already made, he's already headed to the HOF someday, whether he succeeds here at Minnesota or not. The same is not true for Flip. What are the chances that Flip will land that perfect NBA coaching job where the team has potential and Flip gets em to an NBA title?! If that doesn't happen, Flip will never make it into the Hall of Fame. He has a much better chance turning to college coaching at a place like Minnesota that has so much potential. And being as we have not yet even been to the FF, and only got to the Elite 8 once, and to the Sweet 16 three times, it wouldn't take much to be considered a big success here at Minnesota. And Minnesota is not only primed and ready for SOMEONE to take us to the next level, from Flip's perspective, its HIS BEST chance of being seen as a great HOF worthy coach. If he went to Kentucky and won, they'd say, yeah so what, anyone can win at Kentucky. But winning at Minnesota would be more impactful and could any situation be any more tailor made for Flip?! He's knows EVERYONE that could help his situation out. He'd get the practice facility up and operational quicker than some new unknown who will need time to get the locals feeling comfortable with them. Some of the bandwagon fb fans around the state still don't know who our football coach is. And a lot of them still haven't figured out the progress that Kill has made since coming here. And Minnesota parents would know who Flip is. Recruits outside of Minnesota might all of a sudden think of Minnesota as an option.


Well, I still think that Tubby still has to screw up to lose his job, and its very possible he won't do that.



One last comment. And its almost a waste of time and energy even making this comment, because I don't think it EVER would work or come to pass. But wouldn't it be nice if Tubby could get Flip to replace Saul on his staff?! lol The best of both worlds!!!! Then take the 2.5 mil and put it towards the practice facility.
 

1. I want Tubby to stay and win.
2. I want a state of the art practice facility regardless who is the coach.
3. If Tubby ends up gone for any reason, I want Flip and the practice facility.
4. I want the big three + to be Gophers.
5. I want a lot and that includes legit non-cheating Final Four appearances.
6. Money talks and BS walks.
7. Contact Teague and donate!
8. Make the day count.
 



When you follow some of these kids on twitter, it really is suprising how much they do follow the NBA. IT would be a huge benefit to have a coach that had success in the league talking to these kids. As Rashad tweeted, he would skip college if it was still legal.

It's laughable to think that flip couldn't handle recruiting as many have posted on here. Like the NBA schedule is a piece of cake...
 

If the lack of a practice facility will truly make many/most potential coaches shy away, Flip moves up the list.
 


This year may have taken a tole on Tubby. He looked totally beat after the Indiana game. You wonder how much gas is left in the tank of the 61 year old Smith?
 



From the Barn --

Flip is openly lobbying for ANY good head coaching position. Sounds like he's open to a GM position as well. So though he is hinting that he'd like the Gopher's job if it opened up, he's also made it clear that he's leaving his options open. My thought is that Flip actually wants Tubby to be very successful.


I'd love Flip to be the Coach of the Gophers, but to be honest, in a PERFECT world, I'd much rather see Tubby get us to the Final Four and heck, since this IS a perfect world, and then win the Natl Title. Then I'd like to see Flip get a Head Coaching job for some NBA team that's only missing what Flip can bring to the team, and they go on to win an NBA title, and then we get the Big 3 to commit, and then Tubby brings in the best asst coach on the planet, and just as the Big 3 are getting ready to start their freshman season for the Gophers, Tubby chooses to retire and turns over the reins to this greatest asst coach ever, who ends up being the greatest Head cbb Coach ever known to have ever existed, with people claiming that he's better than John Wooden.


So, 20 years from now, Flip gets inducted into the HOF after winning 3 NBA titles for whoever. Tubby gets inducted into the HOF with his leading the Gophers to the Natl Title being what punched his ticket and convinced all his doubters, and our new coach, who is still coaching at the time, basically already being called a HOF coach despite having a good 20 more years of coaching the Gophers ahead of him. Oh yeah, and we've got 6 Natl Titles in his 18 years, SO FAR.


Craziest thing is that perfect world could actually happen.
 

"I'll say this. Recruiting is basically selling yourself, your organization," Saunders said. "When you go into a home, talk to these guys, most of the players are coming out of AAU situations. They all think they'll play in the NBA. ...I can say I know what it takes to be in the NBA. I scoff at the idea that I wouldn't want to go to college because I couldn't recruit."

Could Flip sell himself and the program to the big three, followed by Ellenson, Coffey, Jarvis, Illikainen, etc.? Absolutely.
 

Here's hoping Tubby takes this present team to a miraculous Natl Title. That he has a press conf declaring he's going to retire on top. We then hire Flip Saunders. Within the first week, The Big 3 and Tyus' buddy from Chicago all verbally commit to Minnesota and are dubbed the Fantastic Four.

Or maybe? The Flip Four?!


Now I'll really push the limit, and win FOUR NATTIES IN A ROW. lol
 

EG#9 said:
I don't have any doubt Flip could recruit, IF he's passionate about a job/program and not looking at a retirement job. His comments about kids thinking they are going to the NBA is spot on.

As it relates to the Gophers:

Would we want another older coach whose best years may be behind him and where effort/desire could be questioned?
Would Norwood Teague want to hire another basketball coach with a higher profile than him who may be able to go over his head if wanted to?
Would Norwood Teague want to hire the "Minnesota guy" knowing the perception would be that ANY A.D. at Minnesota would have been able to get Flip?

From Norwood's perspective, I just don't see why he'd want to hire a guy who he'd get little credit for IF that hire succeeds. It seems like there is a lot of downside to a Flip hire for Norwood, but little upside.
One of my own biggest concerns about Flip is that he'd likely want Ryan on his staff and I wouldn't want another Saul Smith situation where the fan base perceives that we only have 2 assistant coaches because Dad got the U to pay $X for his son to sit on the bench.
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Is Teague that vain? I think Teague wants to move the program forward. If that happens while he's AD, Teague will get his due "credit".
 

How about the downside of not recognizing the best option and going with that option when that option is there and ready and willing to come here, but instead taking a risk and hoping that some generally unheard of new hire comes in and pulls off some miracles.

You have to remember, its going to take more than good coaching alone to get us to move up into the upper echelon of one of the top and arguably the deepest conferences in the land.


Who thinks Iowa or Purdue are going to be down for much longer? Who thinks MSU, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana or Ohio St are going to all of a sudden start sucking?! Illinois as well?! And if Nebraska just hired them a good coach, they could be moving up as well.

And who friggin knows, PSU just pulled off a big upset, and with their fb troubles they might choose to focus on improving their cbb situation?!

And NW always teeters on the edge of being almost good.



It's not going to get easier to compete in the Big Ten in the future with the introduction of Maryland, a school that likes its bb, and Rutgers who has been competitive in the past and is used to playing in a top notch deep as hell conference.


This is not the time to be taking a chance on someone who isn't a big name. IMO. Flips got the connections, I just think he could really turn things around here in a real short period of time.
 

I can't say for sure, but based on the timing of his assistant coaching job with the Gophers, he would have had a hand in recruiting some pretty good players including Willie Burton, Melvin Newbern and McDonald's All-American Kevin Smith. Not to mention almost reeling in Glen Rice and Tommy Hammonds.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I can't say for sure, but based on the timing of his assistant coaching job with the Gophers, he would have had a hand in recruiting some pretty good players including Willie Burton, Melvin Newbern and McDonald's All-American Kevin Smith. Not to mention almost reeling in Glen Rice and Tommy Hammonds.
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well based on his time at the u there is a much greater likelihood that he recruited mitch lee, george williams, todd alexander and the boys than burton, coffey, shik, and crew. so he does have that going for him.
 

Go4 said:
well based on his time at the u there is a much greater likelihood that he recruited mitch lee, george williams, todd alexander and the boys than burton, coffey, shik, and crew. so he does have that going for him.
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Even though it ended badly, obviously, Smith and Williams were highly sought-after players.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Even though it ended badly, obviously, Smith and Williams were highly sought-after players.
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Kevin Smith was an amazing talent. He cam in at 6-7 with ball handling skills like a point guard. If he could have kept his head screwed on straight he could have been a star here. Somewhere along the line he got off track. It could be that Mitch Lee was the bad apple that spoiled the whole batch- despite his talent. Just a theory, but that group had some real talent.
 


EG#9 said:
From Norwood's perspective, I just don't see why he'd want to hire a guy who he'd get little credit for IF that hire succeeds. It seems like there is a lot of downside to a Flip hire for Norwood, but little upside.
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I can't say I agree. Flip isn't a "you absolutely hire this guy if you can" type of coach. Tubby Smith was that kind of guy when Maturi hired him. If Flip were to be hired and does a great job, Norwood would get some credit if you ask me.

Either way, I don't think Norwood should care about getting credit or not. His job is to hire the best person he can if Tubby leaves or is fired.
 

Last year Flip endowed 2, 250k scholarships to the U. That may help him land The Job if it opens
 





I'm a firm believer if you are passionate and you work hard enough you will succeed. Flip has been pretty successful at nearly all of his stops. I think Flip would be a safe and great hire. I don't think many outside of Minnesota know he is from Minnesota. I bet 95% of the basketball community would ask what Flip's connection to the U is and they would say that he coached the Timberwolves for a long time. Also, I think it would be a different story if he brought his son into work with him. His son has already made a career as a coach.
 

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