The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Any And All Things T-Wolves Related
User avatar
Camden [enjin:6601484]
Posts: 18065
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:00 am

Re: The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Post by Camden [enjin:6601484] »

longstrangetrip wrote:Definitive statements like "Love will stay" or "he's gone" are a little foolish right now...we just don't know, and it's likely that Kevin doesn't even know. As I see it, the Wolves have two things going for them if they want him to stay. Money, and the excitement and promise of a new coach. The second factor could prove to be the one that keeps him here. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that Flip would sit down with Kevin and say "K-Love, we want you here. Rick is retiring and we're looking at these three guys as possible replacements. Who would you like as your coach for the next five years?"

The relationship between player and coach can't be overstated, and this could be enough to convince him to stay...along with the presence of a pass-first point guard who is always going to help maximize Kevin's stats.

Now, a hypothetical. Zgoda tweeted yesterday that Flip would replace Rick if Rick were to retire. How would you guys feel if Kevin told Flip "I want you"? Professional athletes tend to prefer the known to the unknown.

So, the hypothetical is: What would you choose...Kevin here with Flip, or Kevin gone and a new coach?


I'll take the Love/Flip combo and run. Obviously just hypothetical, but I'd rather have Love here. I don't think Flip has intentions to coach here, though. I think he'll find a new coach and stay in his current position.
User avatar
Papalrep
Posts: 1068
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:00 am

Re: The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Post by Papalrep »

don't know if that is necessarily true. The top 4 teams right now are San Antonio, Indiana, OKC, and Portland...all small markets--

I agree with this . We don't suck because of cap rules not under our control, we suck because of years of poor judgement, starting at the top
User avatar
Lipoli390
Posts: 15297
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:00 am

Re: The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Post by Lipoli390 »

Papalrep is absolutely right. We are where we are because of years of mediocre to poor front office management. It has nothing to do with our market size or geography.

I used to think that Flip intended to coach when he took the GM position. But someone I trust in the organization said that Flip doesn't want to coach and that he has his sights set on someone else as Adelman's replacement. So I'm with Cam on this. I'm also with Cam in that I'd favor Flip coaching if that was the only way to make sure Love stays. But although Flip appears to have a good relationship with Love, I doubt Love would stay to play for Flip -- Adelman maybe, but not a Flip. I think we all know that Love's decision will turn on money and wins. We can pay more than any other team. The question then is whether we can win enough therest of this season and before the trade deadline next season to persuade Love to re-sign with us after next season. What we don't know is how many games we'll have to win or what sort of team dynamics will be enough.
User avatar
AbeVigodaLive
Posts: 9966
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:00 am

Re: The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Post by AbeVigodaLive »

kms789 wrote:
AbeVigodaLive wrote:
[Note: I said it the day the new CBA was signed... the one max contract rule would hurt smaller market teams. And the NBA also hurt smaller market teams by not letting the current franchise pay even more than other teams. If the NBA really wanted parity (as they claimed), they'd have made it a tough decision to stay in MN or MIL or Utah for A LOT more money vs. going to a winning team in a warm climate.]


I don't know if that is necessarily true. The top 4 teams right now are San Antonio, Indiana, OKC, and Portland...all small markets. The CBA definitely made it so spending smart and drafting well were imperative. Large market teams like the Lakers, Knicks, and Nets haven't been able to buy their way out of dumb moves, though, which is good.

I don't think you could set up a system that would allow the Wolves' front office to thrive. Honestly, they run this team like a mom-and-pop shop, but they're surrounded by billion dollar organizations doing everything to get one step ahead of the rest.




It's still in its infancy. And that's just coincidental. I don't think any of those teams have been directly helped by the new CBA. But we do know at least one is probably worse because of it (as crazy as that is to imagine... OKC.)

We'll see how it all plays out. But there are very real problems facing small and mid-market teams. Can they overcome them? Sure. But that doesn't mean they might not be working uphill.

Bottom line: The league's crack PR team claimed everything was for parity. In reality, it was for parity on the ledger sheets... which is fine. But let's not pretend that they had some altruistic "let's give every team the same chance" mission with the new CBA.
User avatar
AbeVigodaLive
Posts: 9966
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:00 am

Re: The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Post by AbeVigodaLive »

papalrep wrote:don't know if that is necessarily true. The top 4 teams right now are San Antonio, Indiana, OKC, and Portland...all small markets--

I agree with this . We don't suck because of cap rules not under our control, we suck because of years of poor judgement, starting at the top




I didn't write that the Wolves suck because of the new CBA. Remember, I've watched the Wolves since 1989... religiously. I am very well aware of the Wolves ineptitude and its place as the 2nd worst modern NBA franchise.

In fact, my comments were about the NBA in general... not just the Wolves. It's obvious that certain markets are less desirable for players. Restricting (1) how many franchise contracts these teams can offer to the players they wisely drafted and groomed, (2) shortening max years on contracts and (3) not making the "hometown bonus" significant enough to make a player think twice about leaving are all detriments for these less-than-desirable locations.
User avatar
longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]
Posts: 9432
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:00 am

Re: The Rebuild with Love or with out Love? & Evaluation of our roster

Post by longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564] »

lipoli390 wrote:Papalrep is absolutely right. We are where we are because of years of mediocre to poor front office management. It has nothing to do with our market size or geography.

I used to think that Flip intended to coach when he took the GM position. But someone I trust in the organization said that Flip doesn't want to coach and that he has his sights set on someone else as Adelman's replacement. So I'm with Cam on this. I'm also with Cam in that I'd favor Flip coaching if that was the only way to make sure Love stays. But although Flip appears to have a good relationship with Love, I doubt Love would stay to play for Flip -- Adelman maybe, but not a Flip. I think we all know that Love's decision will turn on money and wins. We can pay more than any other team. The question then is whether we can win enough therest of this season and before the trade deadline next season to persuade Love to re-sign with us after next season. What we don't know is how many games we'll have to win or what sort of team dynamics will be enough.

Lipoli, thanks for repeating what I thought I had heard you say before...that someone you trust says Flip doesn't want to coach. Zgoda tweeted just the opposite last week, that Flip would replace Rick if he stepped down, and that was disturbing to me because I don't see Flip as the right coaching choice for this team. It's a sad commentary on our beat writer that I trust someone on a message board more than I trust him, but I think he's lazy and generally provides no insight into this club.

I still think that Love's decision and the selection of a new coach will likely be concurrent, and the latter will have an impact on the former. We need to be certain to choose a coach who is the right guy for this organization, but also someone that Love will see as improving our chances of becoming a winner. The Phoenix Suns example demonstrates the enormous impact a new coach can have on a team.

Fred Hoiberg is the knee-jerk choice of Wolves fans currently, and while I'm usually cautious of subscribing to knee-jerk reactions and fearful of organization moves that might be perceived as being "country club", I'm really warming to the idea of the Mayor as our next coach. Initially I was concerned about his laid-back sideline demeanor and lack of emotion, thinking that this squad needed someone completely different from Adelman to get to the next level, but after reading more about Fred I'm convinced he would be an excellent choice. I read recently about his relationship with Royce White. Royce, who has conflict almost everywhere he has played, talked about his love for Hoiberg and how he would walk across fire for him, and I can't help thinking that Freddy could have a similar impact on another, albeit lesser, knucklehead like Muhammad. Hoiberg seems to possess a quiet confidence and leadership that brings out the best in his troops. In addition, the offense and defense he uses at Iowa State has been described by some as being more pro than college style, an indication of where his heart is. I know that Lip has heard some insider info about who might be on the Wolves' wish list and I respect his promise to keep it confidential, but I suspect and certainly hope that they have their eyes on Hoiberg.
Post Reply