Thibs FIred

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Sure, the timing of this is peculiar, but I just couldn't be happier. Long overdue.

I was at the game Friday with a former minority owner and close friend of Glen's, and of course we talked a lot about Thibs at dinner. When I asked my friend if Glen wanted to fire Thibs, he said "absolutely...he's not happy with either the team's performance or Thibs' behavior". But when I asked if Glen was likely to absorb the contract hit, my friend said "unfortunately, not likely". So that's how close to the vest Glen kept this decision...one of his best friends didn't even know.

This is going to be terrific for the franchise. Again Friday it was clear to me that Thibs had lost this team...very little attention paid to him during timeouts. And I think Thibs knew it was coming...his sideline behavior in the last two games was abhorrent. We don't know how Ryan will do as coach, but I strongly believe he will be an upgrade over Thibs. I hope he works out and coaches here a long time, but if he doesn't, his replacement will also be an upgrade over Thibs. I can't wait to see how this team responds to Ryan, and what changes he plans to make.

[Duke13]

My biggest concern is having a front office not concern about saving their job this years and worried about grinding out every win to save their job. The likelihood of making the playoff is in the 15% range, that's for the 7-8th seed. Not something I'm particularly interested. I hope this team can get some future flexibility and assets with getting anything for Rose, Teague, Taj, and even to a lesser degree Tyus. I think that's the most important thing for the rest of the year.

[kekgeek]

We are about to find out for all the guys who called for thibs head was the grass greener on the other side.

I hope it is

[Monster]

Why not fire thibs before the magic game? It would have given saunders a head start with a couple of winnable games? Now he gets the thunder as his first test.

Something must have happened not basketball related for an abrupt firing.

I agree that there must be a backstory here -- some event that precipitate this move at this odd moment. Was it several players approaching Glen and saying, enough is enough? Or did Thibodeau have a tirade behind the scenes that served as the last straw. We all recall the reports of Thibodeau's heated argument with Layden last year in which Thibodeau purportedly through a chair through the goal window. I've heard from people inside the organization that the report was true, that things were thrown but that the glass office window wasn't shattered. A friend of mine who works for an IT firm did contract work for the Wolves and he recently told me that Thibodeau launched into a profanity-laced tirade against his colleague regarding a computor problem he was experiencing. So who knows. Maybe another recent tirade at Layden, a minority owner or perhaps Glen was the straw that broke camel's back.

I just have no confidence in Glen to make the right decision. The timing seems indicative of a clueless owner. Poor Ryan has some though games coming up, starting with the Thunder in OKC.

I think the basic theory so far is that business was not good attendance was not good people weren't tripping season tickets and while the product on the floor wasn't bad it wasn't like it was inspiring either. Glen has said things in the past that make it pretty clear he thinks Thibs should be looking at playing more players. Maybe there was something that was the last straw or maybe Glen finally relented and realized Thibs wasn't the right guy and he wasn't really helping the team enough and he was hurting the other aspects.

Really that's why so many wanted Thibs fired. It wasn't whether he was gonna help us win games or not but many thought he was gonna hurt the team and the roster more than help right? I mean I get that arguement it's not hard to make. I've been one to give Thibs the benefit of the doubt and would have had no problem doing so if he was still here but some of the same reasons people were unhappy with him were still there even though there was various changes and improvements. It's also worth wondering if Thibs typical inflexibility about the roster in season was a bit of a problem. He and or Layden hardly ever made any type of move in season unless they were forced to. This may open up making possible deals of a guys like Tolliver, Taj or Rose depending on where we are sitting in terms of playoffs. I don't exactly have full confidence in Layden but we really don't know what role he really played while working under Thibs. Maybe there are moves he would have made (good and bad) but Thibs did not want to do. To me Layden is a bit of a mystery...which probably isn't inspiring. Lol

Also...if Thibs got pissed at a computer because it was giving him problems...I don't blame him to some extent. Technology is incredibly frustrating at times and so get more mad than I should. Lol if that is true it makes Thibs bringing up and joking about Steve Clifford's lack of technology kinda um...ironic. I mostly added that because the whole idea cracked me up not as a defense of Thibs. It's gonna be interesting to hear the stories that come out later hopefully they are not as damning as some of the ones we have been hearing the last few years about David Kahn. I'm sure there will be some stories though.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

My biggest concern is having a front office not concern about saving their job this years and worried about grinding out every win to save their job. The likelihood of making the playoff is in the 15% range, that's for the 7-8th seed. Not something I'm particularly interested. I hope this team can get some future flexibility and assets with getting anything for Rose, Teague, Taj, and even to a lesser degree Tyus. I think that's the most important thing for the rest of the year.

Yeah, I think without a doubt Ryan is going to try to win every game and make the playoffs in order to keep his job, and I guess I don't know if that is a good thing or not. Last year I was on record as not wanting them to win that last game against Denver...I knew that a loss would have been the death knell for Thibs, and also would have given us a lottery pick, and I thought those were both better rewards than a first round exit against Houston. But this year feels different to me, and I'm going to cheer for them to win every game and make the playoffs. I think they will sneak into that 7th or 8th spot if they can stay healthy, and use that as a springboard to a successful 2019-20.

[bleedspeed]

Why does everyone assume Ryan wouldn't be back if we hire another coach? I assume he wouldn't be against being an assistant again.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Why does everyone assume Ryan wouldn't be back if we hire another coach? I assume he wouldn't be against being an assistant again.

I agree, bleed. I think it's likely that Ryan will either be our head coach or back in his role as assistant coach on opening night next season...I don't see Ryan as having a big ego that would make him unwilling to go back to being as assistant.

[Lipoli390]

Why not fire thibs before the magic game? It would have given saunders a head start with a couple of winnable games? Now he gets the thunder as his first test.

Something must have happened not basketball related for an abrupt firing.

I agree that there must be a backstory here -- some event that precipitate this move at this odd moment. Was it several players approaching Glen and saying, enough is enough? Or did Thibodeau have a tirade behind the scenes that served as the last straw. We all recall the reports of Thibodeau's heated argument with Layden last year in which Thibodeau purportedly through a chair through the goal window. I've heard from people inside the organization that the report was true, that things were thrown but that the glass office window wasn't shattered. A friend of mine who works for an IT firm did contract work for the Wolves and he recently told me that Thibodeau launched into a profanity-laced tirade against his colleague regarding a computor problem he was experiencing. So who knows. Maybe another recent tirade at Layden, a minority owner or perhaps Glen was the straw that broke camel's back.

I just have no confidence in Glen to make the right decision. The timing seems indicative of a clueless owner. Poor Ryan has some though games coming up, starting with the Thunder in OKC.

I think the basic theory so far is that business was not good attendance was not good people weren't tripping season tickets and while the product on the floor wasn't bad it wasn't like it was inspiring either. Glen has said things in the past that make it pretty clear he thinks Thibs should be looking at playing more players. Maybe there was something that was the last straw or maybe Glen finally relented and realized Thibs wasn't the right guy and he wasn't really helping the team enough and he was hurting the other aspects.

Really that's why so many wanted Thibs fired. It wasn't whether he was gonna help us win games or not but many thought he was gonna hurt the team and the roster more than help right? I mean I get that arguement it's not hard to make. I've been one to give Thibs the benefit of the doubt and would have had no problem doing so if he was still here but some of the same reasons people were unhappy with him were still there even though there was various changes and improvements. It's also worth wondering if Thibs typical inflexibility about the roster in season was a bit of a problem. He and or Layden hardly ever made any type of move in season unless they were forced to. This may open up making possible deals of a guys like Tolliver, Taj or Rose depending on where we are sitting in terms of playoffs. I don't exactly have full confidence in Layden but we really don't know what role he really played while working under Thibs. Maybe there are moves he would have made (good and bad) but Thibs did not want to do. To me Layden is a bit of a mystery...which probably isn't inspiring. Lol

Also...if Thibs got pissed at a computer because it was giving him problems...I don't blame him to some extent. Technology is incredibly frustrating at times and so get more mad than I should. Lol if that is true it makes Thibs bringing up and joking about Steve Clifford's lack of technology kinda um...ironic. I mostly added that because the whole idea cracked me up not as a defense of Thibs. It's gonna be interesting to hear the stories that come out later hopefully they are not as damning as some of the ones we have been hearing the last few years about David Kahn. I'm sure there will be some stories though.

Good analysis, Monster. As for the computor problem, the issue with Thibodeau wasn't the fact that he got frustrated and angry about the problem; it was the fact that he took out his frustration on some 23-year old computer guy who was trying to fix the problem. Getting pissed is fine; I get pissed everytime the Wolves lose. Thibodeau's issue is the way he treats people - his players, officials, colleagues and even the young IT guy trying to fix his computer. But Thibs is gone now so we need to look ahead. Although, as you suggest, we might start to hear a lot of back-stories about Thibs. :)

[Coolbreeze44]

I've been reading anti-Thibs rhetoric on this board for months, years now. And with the possible exception of Kek and Camden, we all wanted this guy fired. Now we finally get our wish and all i read are people pissing and moaning about how it was done. Breakups in the middle of the year are never clean and easy. We can finally move forward as an organization now. I don't have confidence in Glen making the right decision either, but at least the trash is in the dumpster now. Let's goooooo!

[60WinTim]

I am taking this as the first player's comment on the change... ;-)

Anthony Tolliver @ATolliver44
40m40 minutes ago
"Husband's are not to rule like a dictator over their wives and children; instead, they should lead by influence and by example. They should exemplify, with their voice and their actions, attributes that bring glory to God and value to their spouse and family."