longstrangetrip wrote:lipoli390 wrote:longstrangetrip wrote:Kevin McHale is a Minnesota basketball hero, but his time has passed...and I suspect he has no more interest in coaching here than I have in him coaching. I agree that this team needs some younger blood on the sidelines. Ideally that would be one of the many college coaches that have been discussed here many times. But as others have pointed out, it's very unlikely that a good college coach is going to desert his program when its almost October. That's why I think the next Wolves' coach will wear the "interim" label like Mitchell did after Flip died. I suspect Glen will move on Thibs and Leydon soon and name as interim coach whatever assistant coach he deems best for the job. Because he has been selected to coach the past two summer league teams, I think the most likely candidate will be Saunders.
Unfortunately this team will likely struggle next season without Butler, just like they did last year when he was hurt. The Thibs apologists will look at the decrease in wins and attribute it to the departure of Thibs rather than the departure of Butler. Glen and the new POBO will determine that Ryan is not experienced enough to lead a team, and will spend the season compiling a list of the best young college coaches out there...hopefully the one they choose will be interested in the job and we will have by April what many of us wanted two years ago...a young, modern coach who can take this team to the next level with KAT, Wig and whatever Butler brings us.
So some delayed optimism here. As a season ticket holder, I know home games will be more fun next season than last with Thibs no longer roaming the sidelines...even despite a drop in wins. And maybe a new coach can return us to the playoffs in 2020-21.
LST - I hope you're right that the Wolves will replace Thibodeau before the season starts. It would be strange if they didn't do that under the circumstances. I also agree with you that it's time to move on to a younger modern head coach, which can't be done responsibly until after this season. But I still like the idea of hiring McHale as an interim head coach for this season. I don't know whether he'd have any interest in it, but he could be a stabilizing force and I think he'd help KAT.
I don't know if it will be before the season starts, Lip. There are too many moving, interrelated parts (fire just the coach, fire Thibs and Leydon together, the Butler situation) and Glen is a deliberate guy. I think he will get his minority owners involved in next steps. It may be that he lets Thibs start the season and then replaces him when the Wolves start out slow because of the absence of Butler, a new cast of characters getting used to each other, and Thibs' continued out-of-step coaching. In any event, I think most of us would be surprised if Thibs isn't gone by the end of the calendar year. Unfortunately, I also think most of us would be surprised if the Wolves made the playoffs this season. I think KAT and Wig are good enough to get us close to 40 wins, but not quite good enough (yet?) to take us to the playoffs in the loaded west.
I hope you're wrong about the delay in removing Thibodeau from this organization. I don't think the "moving part" are all that complicated. I'd keep it simple. You fire Thibs from both his positions, but retain Layden for now as GM. You then name an interim head coach -- either McHale if he's interested (my first choice) or Ryan Saunders. If Glen doesn't think Ryan is ready or Ryan doesn't want it, then you give the interim position to Any Greer or Ed Pinckney. Glen should already be discussing this with the few remaining limited partners. It shouldn't take more than a couple weeks to get this done.
