Kander out

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

The fucker got rid of Kander and cleaned house in the front office today. Well goodbye hope for long-term success. Our team will be shells in a couple years now because of all the injuries.

Edit: Kander being here was the only reason I was on board with Thibs. Kander is one of the best in the business keeping guys on the floor and healthy which is a major necessity next to Thibs. I'm off the Thibs bandwagon now though.

[Lipoli390]

Not a good sign. I had concerns about Thibs. But I'll stay on the Thibs bandwagon for now unless we see some rash short-sighted personnel moves. Kander was reluctant to come here and finally agreed out of his loyalty to Flip. So I'm not surprised by his departure.

I'll want to learn more about the circumstances of Kander's departure before judging Thibs. If we learn that Kander was willing to stay but Thibs let him go over a philosophical difference then I'll be concerned because that will suggest Thibs doesn't want anyone around him challenging his use of players. It would tend to validate the narrative from the Chicago front office of Thibs as a bullheaded soloist who does not work well with others.

[Monster]

Other than Kander who on that list are you really surprised is gone? I think we all wanted Milt to stay but it's not crazy for them to move on. Maybe Lip can shed some light on Rob Babcock but it seems like a guy that was part of the old crew and was here forever was bad in Toronto and heck may have been part of the problem. Where is the list of people that stayed in the organization? Keep in mind Thibs has a relationship with Farnam since he is the team USA trainer.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I've been coming to the forum less and less often as of late and that will probably continue, but I think I'll transfer some information before the Thibs detractors spew comments that they shouldn't.

William Bohl (@BreakTheHuddle): "So Arnie Kander is out. I'd love to know what happened there."

Jim Petersen (JimPeteHoops): "@BreakTheHuddle Arnie was great...but wanted to consult from Colorado...not optimal for the daily grind of an 82 game schedule."

Seems like a good decision from both sides if that's the case, and Petersen is more informed than any of us on the matter. You don't keep guys around that can't do their job on a day-to-day basis, no matter how good they are at their individual job. Kander probably leaves regardless of who the new coach is, especially considering he really only came here because of Flip Saunders, God rest his soul.

As for the others that were let go, I don't see that as a big deal at all. This franchise has been incompetent for so long and part of the problem has been because the decision makers had the same ideas, same losing methodology. With Thibs, Layden, and co., there's finally some fresh minds and fresh ideas in the Wolves front office and faculty. Either you're buying in on the new change, which likely means winning, or you're not.

There you have it. I'll step aside now for those of you who weren't supporting the Thibs hire from the beginning to use this news as means to critique him.

[Monster]

Also another thought on Kander and Thibs. I read an article a few weeks ago that in Chicago Thibs wanted to bring in someone else to be in charge of working with players health and Chicago said no. Thibs was just a long time assistant at that time so he didn't have that pull. With all the injuries the Bulls had over that stretch maybe Thibs guy would have done better. We will never know but I think that's worth mentioning.

[Lipoli390]

Cam -- Good information. I trust Jim Petersen and what he said is consistent with what we already knew about Kander's reluctance to come here in the first place.

I would have liked to see Milt stay, but I'm not surprised by his departure and I have no problem with any of these front office moves.

I've had a number of conversations with Rob Babcock over the years. He's a really good guy. But I don't know what he's contributed to front office decisions other than the fact that he was instrumental in drafting Crag Smith many years ago. Rob told me himself that Smith was his guy and that he was responsible for drafting him in the second round. Smith wasn't a bad 2nd round pick, but I remember wanting us to take a guy named Millsap with that pick in the second round. I didn't know Millsap would turn out to be as good as he's become, but drafting college basketball's leading rebounder in the 2nd round seemed a smarter move then drafting Craig Smith. If we had drafted Millsap back then at Babcock's suggestion, then I might feel differently about letting him go. But I do feel bad for him. As I said, he's a nice guy and was very loyal to this organization for a long time.

[Lipoli390]

Cam -- Hope we see more of your posts. I for one enjoy them even if I disagree. Your last post is a good example of how you bring good information and analysis to the discussion.

[Monster]

Zgoda had some quotes from Milt and Babcock both being classy on their way out which isn't surprising based on what I know of those guys. I know Lip liked Babcock (thanks for the info Lip) I just wasn't sure about what he though of him as a basketball mind in general. Let's remember Flip axed some people too this stuff is pretty normal. It's interesting there are some names not on that list like all the other assistants and people like Booth and Chones.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I don't buy that Kander couldn't do the job from Colorado part of the time. I have to believe he's professional enough to be here when we actually need him here. Otherwise he's pretty much making his professional market the Nuggets and that's it which makes little sense to me. Why does a guy who worked here last year all of a sudden say he needs to be able to work more from Colorado especially if he doesn't think he can still do a good job? It doesn't add up to me that he would ask for something that would affect his ability to do his job that if leaked would prevent him from being able to work anywhere but 1 city unless he's stepping back all together to just be a consultant again.

[Monster]

I don't buy that Kander couldn't do the job from Colorado part of the time. I have to believe he's professional enough to be here when we actually need him here. Otherwise he's pretty much making his professional market the Nuggets and that's it which makes little sense to me. Why does a guy who worked here last year all of a sudden say he needs to be able to work more from Colorado especially if he doesn't think he can still do a good job? It doesn't add up to me that he would ask for something that would affect his ability to do his job that if leaked would prevent him from being able to work anywhere but 1 city unless he's stepping back all together to just be a consultant again.

The guy had no intention of working for an NBA team last year before Flip convinced him to come here. Arnie plan was to retire and be in Colorado before that happened. He is basically just turning back to his original plan when he left the pistons. Arnie was pretty hands on i don't see how he could have done anywhere near the job he normally would do living somewhere else. It was not exactly likely he was going to come back no matter who was coaching so while Iwish he was still going his thing I am not surprised or upset he is gone.