From Chad Hartman/KFAN:
How do we evaluate Kevin McHale as a Head Coach? He has disdain for certain parts of the job which are unavoidable including travel and dealing with the media. Insiders tell me McHale almost walked away from the coaching position during the 31 games he coached ending the 2005 season. The 19-12 finish after replacing Flip Saunders sounds good but lets not forget Cassell and Sprewell had pouted throughout the year over contract talks and conveniently played better when the final decision maker was now the Head Coach.
Click here to listen to Hartman and Mark Rosen’s interview with Wolves owner Glen Taylor from this afternoon.
This is the 14th season that McHale has had his job. Fourteen. From one Lions fan to the Minny faithful, I can only say, “This too shall pass. It’s got to, right?”
T-Wolves owner Glen Taylor “convinced” McHale to relinquish his front-office duties in order to take over the club and concentrate on coaching.
Reading between the lines, a rather long honeymoon is finally nearing an end for McHale in the Twin Cities.
In contrast to his interim head-coaching role three years ago, McHale will relinquish his position as vice president of basketball operations to focus on the task at hand. Despite four wins on the season, the Wolves feature a roster with an all-star caliber player in Al Jefferson, sharpshooter Mike Miller, along with a stock of youthful talent.
“I truly believe that we have a talented group of players in our locker room who have a great amount of potential,” said McHale. “I’m confident that we can get this turned around and get back to playing a brand of basketball that our fans can be proud of.”
From Tom Ziller/Fanhouse:
If becoming a coach is the only way McHale scrams out of Minneapolis, then it’s what must be done. Really, this is a victory for Wolves fans who’d like to see McHale go. Unless you think the guy can whip these kids into shape and finish strong, McHale looks to be gone at season’s end.
There will be a familiar face coaching for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday for Jerry Sloan’s 20th anniversary game.
The Timberwolves fired Randy Wittman on Monday and replaced him with Kevin McHale, the team’s vice president of basketball operations. It was the 223rd coaching change around the NBA since Sloan took over for Frank Layden on Dec. 9, 1988.
From Dime Magazine:
But in some ways, it really makes sense to have the former Celtic great on the bench. Think about every time you’ve heard about the Timberwolves interests in the free agent market or in the NBA draft. It always seems as if McHale is drafting a team under the auspices that he’s going to help develop the players.
The Timberwolves are not a good team, but it doesn’t seem realistic to put all the blame on Wittman. He didn’t put the roster together, and the Wolves are right about where everyone outside of the organization expected them to be. Firing Wittman is just about finding a scapegoat instead of addressing the real issues.
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