Minnesota Sports Forum

http://www.foxsports.com/north/story/q-a-with-minnesota-timberwolves-owner-glen-taylor-040715

Interesting tidbit on Pek. They might go in and remove or shave down a bone that is pressing on the Achilles. I'm pretty sure it's very similar to what a friend of mine went through. She had this extra bone little bone (which is common) that the tendon rubbed on causing a lot of pain. That sounds WAY better than detaching the tendon and everything else. Lets hope there is no additional damage in there.

Sure sounds like Glen would prefer to have Flip only having the PBO duties if they can find the right coach.

SMH....Glen is such a dinosaur. I love the fact he's kept the squad in Minnesota and been a loyal owner, but my goodness, I don't think he's ever taken the time to truly understand the game enough to ask the right questions. As a result, people like David Kahn and Flip Saunders can totally pull the wool over his eyes and snow him.

Flip was the right person to oversee the first year of Wiggins development. I agree with the sentiment to throw him in the fire right away. I also believe that having the GM evaluate the talent so closely gives Flip a great perspective on his needs and opportunities for deals moving forward. If he decides that he should coach beyond next year I will be gravely disappointed though, once we are ready to compete the super GM coach work against eachother. As for Glen.....why does he even talk? Letting Flip talk him into this situation raises eyebrows, but anyone with the supposed business acumen Mr Taylor has should realize that our management/coaching situation is in no way sustainable.

Every interview from Glen seems to be flooded with "Minnesota nice" qualities (basically not taking a true, hard-edged stance on anything), but it really does seem like Glen wants a full-time head coach and a full-time PBO, and that those two people should not have the exact same DNA makeup. I think he was OK with Flip this year because Plan A, B, and C didn't work, but you just get the feeling he wants (and will get) a new coach to take the franchise to the next level.

zigzag22 wrote:Every interview from Glen seems to be flooded with "Minnesota nice" qualities (basically not taking a true, hard-edged stance on anything), but it really does seem like Glen wants a full-time head coach and a full-time PBO, and that those two people should not have the exact same DNA makeup. I think he was OK with Flip this year because Plan A, B, and C didn't work, but you just get the feeling he wants (and will get) a new coach to take the franchise to the next level.

But to your earlier point on him being "Minnesota nice", he pretty much gets all mealy mouthed and states that Flip might convince him that he can keep on doing both jobs.

Q12543 wrote:

zigzag22 wrote:Every interview from Glen seems to be flooded with "Minnesota nice" qualities (basically not taking a true, hard-edged stance on anything), but it really does seem like Glen wants a full-time head coach and a full-time PBO, and that those two people should not have the exact same DNA makeup. I think he was OK with Flip this year because Plan A, B, and C didn't work, but you just get the feeling he wants (and will get) a new coach to take the franchise to the next level.

But to your earlier point on him being "Minnesota nice", he pretty much gets all mealy mouthed and states that Flip might convince him that he can keep on doing both jobs.

I still think it's encouragig that Glenn is sticking to his idea that Flip runs the team and they get a coach. I think when Flip told Glen he was the man for the coaching job I think it was a somewhat easy sell. JVG had said the same thing and really the coaching options at that point weren't that impressive. People were calling like crazy last year about the open job and you can bet people will call about the Timberwolves coaching job this summer even if it's technically not open. What if a guy Glen knows both he and Flip really like shows interest or they know are interested? Glen may stick to his guns there we will see. I think it will be hard for Flip to give up the reins now that he is back in it but you never know whee he is at with it.

Also to Flip's credit no one wanted to step into a coaching situation with a disgruntled Love on the roster. I think the roster situation right now is more appealing to a higher profile coach as Wiggins has shown some real potential and there are a lot of projects that an eager coach may believe he could mold. But let's see if Flip will actually go ahead and do it. Would be hard to give up all of that power once you've had a taste of it.

thedoper wrote:Also to Flip's credit no one wanted to step into a coaching situation with a disgruntled Love on the roster. I think the roster situation right now is more appealing to a higher profile coach as Wiggins has shown some real potential and there are a lot of projects that an eager coach may believe he could mold. But let's see if Flip will actually go ahead and do it. Would be hard to give up all of that power once you've had a taste of it.

I think there were plenty of people that would have taken the job. The guy with the best resume available George Karl obviously would have if they even interviewed him he clearly wanted the job. He took the Kings job and that's not exactly a super attractive gig.

I think there's a huge difference though between "a bunch of guys would have taken the job even with the Love mess" compared to "the RIGHT guy would have taken the job."

George Karl was so thirsty for a head coaching job he would have gone anywhere, including one of the worst rosters in the league (outside of Cousins its hard to like ANY of those pieces). Same can be said for numerous (older) candidates who know their biological coaching clock is ticking. Once things broke down with Joerger and heated up with Love, any GOOD candidate seemed turned off by the situation.

Thanks for posting the interview, Grey...I found it very optimistic.

First, the Pek news is much more favorable than what I had read and posted about a few days ago, assuming Glen knows what he's talking about. I had read that the surgeon was going to go in there and clean away the damaged tissue, but if the damage was too severe, might have to replace the entire tendon (a la Tommy John surgery). The recovery period in this case would be a year, and there still wouldn't be any guarantee that Pek could play without pain. Now Glen is reporting that the surgeon may be able to shave down the offending bone, thereby relieving Pek of the constant pain he feels. What terrific news it would be if Pek were able to play next year without pain. It became clear this season that his size really helps the Wolves' defense, and he has 20-10 potential if healthy. I hope I'm reading Glen correctly and that he is accurate.

Secondly, as others have said, Glen continues to say his preference is to have a new coach and leave Flip as just PBO. As Zigzag mentioned, Glen plays up the "aw shucks Minnesota nice" act big time. But make no mistake about it...Glen didn't become a billionaire by being weak. And with a value of over half a billion, his ownership of the Wolves is more than a hobby...it's both a passion for him (he's at almost every game) and a very significant investment. He is savvy enough to know that his team is on the doorstep of making a big leap forward, and I don't see him standing idly by twiddling his thumbs if he thinks things are going in the wrong direction. He talks in the interview about 2014-5 being a year of patience, and I don't expect that patience to continue. I now see the chance of a new coach next year at 60/40, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them actively pursue Freddy and Donovan this spring.