Minnesota Sports Forum

Here's my favorite SVG moment -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08gvGpGCwA

There's no question that SVG is entertaining. And he also has had some success as an NBA coach. But I wonder if, like Rick Adelman, he is better suited to coach a veteran playoff team...not a relatively young lottery team. The Wolves have a lot of talent, but some of the young talent...Love, Rubio, Shved, Muhammad...seem to me to be the kind of guys who need positive reinforcement. Rubio in particular...his entire demeanor and style of play would change whenever Adelman went into his scowling, arms folded, disapproving act. SVG seems to me to be a more animated version of Adleman, and even less able to hide his public disapproval.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owi62unJUpo

I want a coach to teach and try to make players better, but this openly disapproving style doesn't seem to work with...okay, I'll say it...more sensitive players like Love, Rubio, Shved and Muhammad. And the Wolves are not going to get better unless they find a coach who can bring out the maximum talent in our younger players.

This is what Hornacek did this year with the Suns. Many of us didn't know Phoenix had a talented roster, but Hornacak was able to get the most out of his young team, and they showed remarkable improvement. The guy out there who I think best fits this profile is Hoiberg. What he was able to do with a nutcase like Royce White was nothing short of astonishing, and White talks about him like he is a god. Imagine what Hoiberg could do with the Wolves' younger players.

I don't think SVG is the right guy for us, and I also don't think the Wolves are looking at him. There are no preclusions on interviewing him right now, and the fact that the Wolves haven't says a lot. I want a younger coach, and my hopes are still riding with Freddy.

You have a valid question Long. I wonder if any coach will be able to get Love to buy in on the defensive side of things without alienating him. I have the same questions about a guy like Hollins, but I don't think the wolves can ever have any real success without addressing the defensive toughness.

sjm34 wrote:You have a valid question Long. I wonder if any coach will be able to get Love to buy in on the defensive side of things without alienating him. I have the same questions about a guy like Hollins, but I don't think the wolves can ever have any real success without addressing the defensive toughness.

Funny, I was just wondering the same thing about Love, sjm. He's got a complex personality, and I'm afraid needs to be coddled...I actually think Adelman did a good job with this, and got the most he possibly could out of Kevin offensively. But defense was another issue. We don't know how Adelman coached Love behind the scenes on defense, but at least openly we didn't see the same kind of Adelman disdain for Love that was visible sometimes for Rubio, Shved and Muhammad. Frankly, I fear that if a coach really got on Love about his lack of effort on the defensive side, he might lose him. I have resigned myself to being happy with Love's enormous scoring and rebounding contributions, and think our interior defense will be much improved as Dieng develops and gets more minutes...regardless of how much defensive effort Kevin provides.