Minnesota Sports Forum

bleedspeed177 wrote:When Ryan starts coaching games when Flip takes a day off then we know Flip's plan is to make him HC.

That would be an indicator, but I don't see it happening. Mitchell and Lowe are ahead of Ryan in the pecking order, and Flip respects them too much to do that to them. Coaching SL isn't an honor, and I don't think either Sam or Sid wanted it.

longstrangetrip wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:When Ryan starts coaching games when Flip takes a day off then we know Flip's plan is to make him HC.

That would be an indicator, but I don't see it happening. Mitchell and Lowe are ahead of Ryan in the pecking order, and Flip respects them too much to do that to them. Coaching SL isn't an honor, and I don't think either Sam or Sid wanted it.

Coaching SL is a lot of times basically treated like an internship Ryan was the only guy that hadn't done it yet. David Adelman has already done it and the other guys have been head coaches so they didn't need the experience. Maybe they will give Calvin Booth will get a shot at it next year if he has any interest in doing more of a coaching role.

If it takes the hiring of Ryan to get us out of the stone age of the NBA then I really don't care because playing more towards advanced stats and less towards what players are "comfortable" with will see a bump in play regardless. Add to that his already positive relationship with Wiggins and Lavine because he's their primary development coach right now and I don't think it'd be the worst move. I'd certainly rather have Ryan than Sam or Sidney coaching this team. Ryan is all in on advanced analytics at least as a way to play smarter basketball so it would be a positive move towards a culture that includes advanced stats in the operation of the team which is important in today's NBA. I highly doubt he'd be given the job this early in his coaching career, but he brings enough to the table where I want him on the coaching staff over guys like Lowe and Mitchell if the regime changes moving forward.

I played against Ryan Saunders in high school, he didn't have a ton of talent but he played his ass off and pestered the shit out of you on defense. I could be completely off on this one but if he still has that work ethic and by all accounts it sounds like he does, then I'd be cool with giving him a shot.

Someone from MN with strong ties with in the organization as our head coach, I like that! What's the worst that could happen? We wind up with the worst record in the league and get the top pick :)

Great article and great comments. My two cents:
1) Sometimes it backfires and sometimes its embarrassing, but it's pretty refreshing to have a straight shooter as coach/PBO. He doesn't always make perfect sense, but it's nice how honest and open Flip is with the media (and therefore the fans).
2) The Pek stuff is so worrisome. Flip seems so irritated by the injury, which makes me think Pek is going to be sidelined for a LONG time. I know we amnestied Darko, but can we use the stretch provision on Pek? I really like his game but I almost fear it's a lost cause.

Those counting out Ryan as the successor assume it will be in the upcoming season it seems. It seems flip is grooming him right along with these young players. He'd likely want to have developed the team into a playoff contending one, make sure his son is ready, then hand it over. Flip also seems to love his power/control in this organization. What better option does he have to play puppet master? I'm sure he's either going to want this rebuild solely for his own legacy, but the only other choice is likely his sharing it with his son and sending him into the league as a HC with a quality team. If Sam, hoiberg, thibs, Malone etc were going to be the next coach, they would be here. I also give no credit to Glen about having a say. Flip has that guy around his finger. Glen already said he only wants Flip as the PBO, but Flip can obviously convince an old man otherwise.

This season is huge for Flip. Honey moon is over in a lot of ways. Last year was looked at as his first year in a lot of ways. Which is was for him coaching and the rebuild. He has done a great job of rebuilding the roster since Love left. Only trades I have issue with are Payne and Jones trades, but they are not franchise damning moves. I hope we see the team and players taking the next step this season. I think for me I need to see near 30 wins this year to be happy with the progress. More importantly I want to see Wiggins, Town, LaVine, and Shabazz taking the next step.

The KG quote is awesome. That sort of mindset is what you want around the guys. That's the reason you want veteran leadership mixed in with the young guys.

TRKO wrote:The KG quote is awesome. That sort of mindset is what you want around the guys. That's the reason you want veteran leadership mixed in with the young guys.

I agree. It reminds me of the Teddy Bridgewater comment in camp this week. You might not win a Superbowl in the preseason, but you can surely lose one. I think KG and Miller will help this team a lot both on and off the court. On the court they just know how to get it done and will help speed up that learning curve with the youngsters, by allowing them to play with some mistake free vets instead of other mistake prone youngsters.