SURPRISE! Not Really — Ryan Saunders

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Jon K: The Timberwolves and Ryan Saunders are in negotiations to make him the permanent head coach, league sources tell @TheAthleticMIN

Can't say I'm surprised. Disappointed, yes, but far from surprised. I thought maybe a real coaching search would take place, but I've been dooped, hoodwinked, led astray, BAMBOOZLED. Played me like BooBoo the Fool.

Do I dislike Ryan Saunders? Not at all, quite the contrary, actually. I just don't believe him to be ready or qualified to be an NBA head coach at this time. Welp. At least our superstar player likes him. Saunders is very likable. And he has grade-A style. Super solid haircut too. And can't forget about the family name. I guess that's enough for Glen Taylor.

[Monster]

Jon K: The Timberwolves and Ryan Saunders are in negotiations to make him the permanent head coach, league sources tell @TheAthleticMIN

Can't say I'm surprised. Disappointed, yes, but far from surprised. I thought maybe a real coaching search would take place, but I've been dooped, hoodwinked, led astray, BAMBOOZLED. Played me like BooBoo the Fool.

Do I dislike Ryan Saunders? Not at all, quite the contrary, actually. I just don't believe him to be ready or qualified to be an NBA head coach at this time. Welp. At least our superstar player likes him. Saunders is very likable. And he has grade-A style. Super solid haircut too. And can't forget about the family name. I guess that's enough for Glen Taylor.

It's easy to feel duped. It's alao possible this was at least a semi legit head coaching search. Let's be honest the fact that they interviewed other candidates was a bit of a surprise. We may never know the real truth.

I think the thing that could redeem this hire for the people that are feeling like you is who they get to fill out the staff. So they add a legit defensive assistant? What about a high level associate head coach? If they make a couple big time hires to fill out the staff then not could make things look better and actually help the team going forward.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Surprised. Woth all his talk about building around kat, I thought finch was the clear frontrunner.

Maybe finch as the lead ast?

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think the thing that could redeem this hire for the people that are feeling like you is who they get to fill out the staff. So they add a legit defensive assistant? What about a high level associate head coach? If they make a couple big time hires to fill out the staff then not could make things look better and actually help the team going forward.

Yep. The Wolves have not had many high-quality assistants... and that's been part of the problem.

If guys like Randy Wittman and Sidney Lowe are sitting behind Saunders next season... a real head coaching search will be reopened in 2020.

I want a defensive specialist on that sidelines. A guy who's out of here in a year or two... or capable of taking over. Even if that guy leaves, hopefully the young and impressionable Saunders learns from him along the way.

[Coolbreeze44]

No surprise here. Would have been shocked if they went another direction.

[Lipoli390]

I'm not surprised, but like Cam and others I'm disappointed by a hiring process that doesn't appear to have been serious about considering other candidates. That said, I feel better about this hire than I did when the Wolves hired Thibodeau. And I agree with Abe that the key for Ryan will be who he brings in as assistants. If it's the Randy Wittmans, Sidney Lowes and Jerry Schistings of the world, then I'll be extremely unhappy with this hire.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

I think the thing that could redeem this hire for the people that are feeling like you is who they get to fill out the staff. So they add a legit defensive assistant? What about a high level associate head coach? If they make a couple big time hires to fill out the staff then not could make things look better and actually help the team going forward.

Yep. The Wolves have not had many high-quality assistants... and that's been part of the problem.

If guys like Randy Wittman and Sidney Lowe are sitting behind Saunders next season... a real head coaching search will be reopened in 2020.

I want a defensive specialist on that sidelines. A guy who's out of here in a year or two... or capable of taking over. Even if that guy leaves, hopefully the young and impressionable Saunders learns from him along the way.

Jeff bdzelik was just let go and he has a history with Rosas.

Hes been Houston's defensive coach.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think the thing that could redeem this hire for the people that are feeling like you is who they get to fill out the staff. So they add a legit defensive assistant? What about a high level associate head coach? If they make a couple big time hires to fill out the staff then not could make things look better and actually help the team going forward.

Yep. The Wolves have not had many high-quality assistants... and that's been part of the problem.

If guys like Randy Wittman and Sidney Lowe are sitting behind Saunders next season... a real head coaching search will be reopened in 2020.

I want a defensive specialist on that sidelines. A guy who's out of here in a year or two... or capable of taking over. Even if that guy leaves, hopefully the young and impressionable Saunders learns from him along the way.

Jeff bdzelik was just let go and he has a history with Rosas.

Hes been Houston's defensive coach.

That's who I was just thinking of him to add as a good guy to target... I even looked up "Denver assistant coach leaves" on Google. Oops. I must have been thinking about his short stint in Denver as the head guy. They actually improved a ton... but he was still canned. Karl ended up with that group of players.

But he's also been with the Grit N Grind Memphis teams before Houston. He has a pretty solid track record being a key assistant on playoff teams. Would he be content to be an underling to a guy less than 1/2 his age and 1/2 the age of his last head coach (D'Antoni)?


[Edit: Maybe nevermind... Bdzedik retired at the beginning of the season. Unless you're president or potential president... a lot of people actually do still want to retire in their 60s... maybe he really wants out.]

[WildWolf2813]

He'll need an experienced staff.


Now if anyone was disappointed in the process, nothing was more of a ruse than the coaching Flip conducted... for himself. We'll see who Ryan's assistants will be.

[Lipoli390]

He'll need an experienced staff.


Now if anyone was disappointed in the process, nothing was more of a ruse than the coaching Flip conducted... for himself. We'll see who Ryan's assistants will be.

Good point. Flip naming himself head coach was the last straw that prompted my angry email to the Wolves front office criticizing that decision as well as Flip's decision to draft Bazz. And it was that angry email that led to Flip calling me and then having lunch with me. At lunch, Flip told me that he had offered the head coaching position to Izzo. He said Izzo accepted but then changed his mind the next day. Flip also told me that day that he didn't think Hoiberg was ready to be an NBA head coach at the time. Bottom line in my view is that Flip wanted to coach the team.

Now back to the current situation. While I wanted to see a sincere thorough search for the best head coach available, I'll offer these positives about hiring Ryan:

1. He's had a lot of NBA assistant coaching experience in spite of his young age. And he grew up around the NBA in an NBA basketball household. He's not much younger than Brad Stevens was when he was hired as Boston's head coach. And although Stevens, unlike Ryan, had experience as a head coach (in college), he had no NBA coaching or playing experience. Stevens has, of course, been an excellent head coach for the Celtics.

2. The Wolves one star player around whom the team will be built love Ryan and really wanted the Wolves to hire him as the team's head coach. That's a big deal. Getting buy-in from the team's best player is always in important consideration for any NBA team. It's particularly important for the Wolves now because this organization needs to do everything it can, within reason, to ensure that KAT is fully invested in being here so the organization has enough time to build around him. His long-term contract is the most important part of that, but keeping him committed to staying here is also important to help avoid an Anthony Davis situation. Considering KAT's sentiments in major decisions like this is part of that.

3. Ryan's stint as interim head coach was generally positive in that the Wolves spacing and pace of play on offense improved noticeably. We looked much more like a modern NBA team on offense under Ryan than we did under Thibodeau. The team's record under Ryan doesn't tell us much in my view because of all the injuries, especially the fact that the team was without it's best defensive player and 3-point shooter, RoCo, the entire time. There were other injuries as well and the fact that the team was out of the playoff hunt for most of Ryan's short tenure, which can't help but impact the team's competitive intensity at some level. That said, I thought the team played really hard under Ryan.

4. Beyond KAT's obvious affection for Ryan, it's clear that all the players like and respect Ryan. That's important. The candidates to avoid are those with a history of alienating players. Kurt Rambis is a good example. The main reason I disliked the decision to hire Rambis was his brief stint as interim Lakers' head coach. It was widely reported that the players eventually rebelled against him during that stint.

So I'm not down over this decision. I'll be looking for positive signs in who he hires as his assistants.