The bright side of Flip

[thedoper]

As much as this pains me I am going to give it a shot. Well where is the silver lining?

1. He really was the only one who is an experienced winning coach who can handle the Love situation regardless of what happens. Only desperate candidates were likely to take the position with the uncertainty of the Love situation.

2. Bazz will play. He was my guy going into the draft and as many of you realized I had a hard time watching him on the bench for most of the year in favor of Cunningham, crippled bud etc.

3. He is creative with talent. Remember the Conference finals against LA when he went to a full court press and The Mayor was playing point. I always thought Flip would do well with a full roster of legit talent. Now everything is in his hands.


All that said I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end, but why not? I think somehow this fits perfectly into the narrative of Minnesota sports history.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

heres a thought...No other person in NBA history has been given as much power as Flip. Can you think of another person who was coach/GM/and part owner?

If there was other ones who would you guess? Phil? Pop? Riley? NOPE FLIP SAUNDERS BABY! Can we make him the PA announcer too?

[thedoper]

heres a thought...No other person in NBA history has been given as much power as Flip. Can you think of another person who was coach/GM/and part owner?

If there was other ones who would you guess? Phil? Pop? Riley? NOPE FLIP SAUNDERS BABY! Can we make him the PA announcer too?

Just more evidence as to what a horrible owner Glen is. All of our problems are exemplified by Glen's efforts. I can't blame Flip for taking what he could, it is insane though.

[repplile [enjin:8691898]]

I'm actually in favor of the Flip hire, as I think it's the best hire we could have realistically made given our situation.

1) Kevin Love's likely departure cast a sort of pall over the position in the near term and the uncertainty surrounding Love/ the head coaching vacancy were feeding into each other. One of the two uncertainties is now eliminated and we can figure out where we stand in reference to Love as soon as possible

2) Owing to that uncertainty we would have likely been forced to make a sub par coaching hire with a multi-year contract absent Flip. I'd rather have Flip groom someone for a year or two than be locked into a 3 or 4 year contract with Sam Mitchell or Vinny Del Negro.

3) Flip taking the position should make it more attractive for an up and coming assistant/coaching prospect, several of whom have already been reported to be interested. I know this is a debatable point but if you're Blatt, Hoiberg, Billups, or any other up and coming head coaching candidate do you really want to rush into a rebuilding job immediately and tank your early career coaching record due at least in part to having fewer resources to work with? If it's your career on the line poor records early can make it very unlikely you're ever going to get another chance.

If I'm one of them, especially Blatt or Billups and I want to have a successful career as a head coach I'd rather come on and get groomed as a lead assistant for a set period of a year or two during which the team is being shaped into something more competitive. I have the option for promotion to head coach written into my contract then I let Flip's record take the hit the next few years. If two years from now the team is not to my liking I can pack my bags and work elsewhere but if they're looking better I can exercise my option and step into the role of HC of an improving team.

4) Flip's actually a decent coach who is going to have every incentive to develop the players he had a hand in drafting. He was pretty successful in all of his stints besides the dysfunctional wizards team. As an interim coach we're not relying on him to win a championship or anything and he's better than a lot of other coaches we were looking at in a lot of respects.

5) The perverse incentive problem that is normally there with guys who fill both the coach and GM role is not there in this case. Stan Van Gundy and others assuming dual roles have been criticized on the grounds that the incentives of the two positions are sometimes at cross purposes. While it's a valid criticism much of the time it's less clear that that will be an issue in this case. To begin with, Flip is a part owner whose job is not really on the line. He's well known and respected around the league and, as a fixture in the franchise is not going to have an incentive to mortgage the future in order to win a few more games now. Second, it's pretty clear that unlike other situations, he's not taking the job on a permanent basis but is planning on grooming an up and coming coach to take the reigns. The names mentioned so far, and particularly the negotiations reported with Blatt are really encouraging to that end.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the news today. It could be the beginning of the end as you say but I'm more inclined to think it's the beginning of a brighter chapter for the wolves going forward.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I think Game of Thrones sums this up perfectly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT4_Fefew78

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

heres a thought...No other person in NBA history has been given as much power as Flip. Can you think of another person who was coach/GM/and part owner?

If there was other ones who would you guess? Phil? Pop? Riley? NOPE FLIP SAUNDERS BABY! Can we make him the PA announcer too?

While I agree that Flips PBO/coach role gives him a lot of power, there is no power involved in his piddly minority ownership interest. There are several of these minority owners (one of them is a good friend of mine...no, he never has any inside info :( ), and it means nothing other than a chance for them to get a great return on their investment when Glen sells. Glen's giving a small stock ownership to Flip is akin to company's giving stock awards to its execs...it's a good way to align interests.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I'll admit it...I was hoping for more. Maybe one of the college guys like Hoiberg, maybe an out of the box choice like Blatt. All in all, this was an uninspired choice. However, I think Doper and repp have brought up some valid "bright side" points. I fully agree that Flip is a better choice than getting locked into a long-term contract with the retreads that were available.

I would add a few more positives.

1) Flip is an energetic in-game coach, a welcome change from Rick Adelman's passiveness. I was a season ticket holder during all of Flips 9+ years here, usually averaging about 35 games a year, and I generally enjoyed Flip's active, involved style.

2) Flip seems to me to be better suited to coach young players than Rick. I watched Flip coach several inexperienced players during his tenure here, and he never showed the eye-rolling disdain that we occasionally saw in Rick. This has to be a positive for our young guys that we will be counting on.

3) Sam Mitchell will add some toughness to a culture that needs it. Maybe he wasn't the best choice to be head coach, but to get a respected guy like Mitchell to be an assistant coach is a positive.

4) Nobody has been more critical of Sid Lowe than me (okay maybe cool :) ), but my criticism of Sidney comes from the years I had to watch him as a PG and a head coach, both disasters. But the skills needed to be an assistant coach are different than what a head coach must have, and there has to be a reason that Lowe is never out of a job. Plus he is familiar with Flip's system, so there will be no learning curve.

5) There have been no reports about whether Flip's compensation will be increased due to wearing two hats, but I suspect any increase will be nominal, meaning Taylor has decreased his administrative payroll about $4 million. While I don't think Glen has ever been reluctant to spend money on players to make the team better, this can't hurt in making it easier for him to spend in the right situation.

6) Flip has been to the conference finals 5 times, and made it to the playoffs 11 of the 13 full years he coached. He has won before, and we Wolves fans are starved for a winner.

I still think the success of this move will be ultimately be determined by who succeeds Flip, perhaps as early as 2015-6. But I think we will be in good hands until that happens.

[mrhockey89]

I don't see why Lip (who is Flip without the "F") or anyone else has a problem with the Flip 'signing' at this point. Like everyone else, I wanted a handful of other coaches above Flip, but they all turned us down, except for Blatt, who may or may not have turned us down too.

Let's face it, with all the unknown on the Love situation, noone outside of George Karl (who wasn't going to be hired because Flip obviously wanted a coach who would bring a fresh view) of any interest was going to take the job. Flip didn't plan this...he was his own 5th-6th choice, but they swung for the fences, and hiring himself allows for flexibility going forward at the coaching position to hire someone at any point, even midseason, to add to the staff in order to become coach. That's leaves for a ton of flexibility in our coaching search...What if Hoiberg is ready in a year or two, or what if Izzo changes his mind...what if Joerger gets canned on a whim? Better than hiring a lame duck coach.

The one negative I'll put on this is that he hired the same old guys. I'd like to see some fresh blood, but I guess there's familiarity.

Also, there won't be a fight amongst himself as to the direction of this team.... Flip, the President of Operations is not going cut corners for this franchise as a head coach. He's got no conflict of interest like there would be had we hired another coach, so that's good too. He's going to try to develop players, something that a short term lame duck coach wouldn't be as concerned about. Also, he'll help Rubio develop, and we know that's his main focus.

Love will likely be traded, but I don't mind that Flip is taking offense to people saying it's a given. We DO hold the keys to the Love train (pun totally intended), and it's good that he reminds both the media and other teams of that.

All in all, it's not an ideal situation, but I think outside of hiring Blatt, it was the best option we had given the circumstances as they stand.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I don't see why Lip (who is Flip without the "F") or anyone else has a problem with the Flip 'signing' at this point. Like everyone else, I wanted a handful of other coaches above Flip, but they all turned us down, except for Blatt, who may or may not have turned us down too.

Let's face it, with all the unknown on the Love situation, noone outside of George Karl (who wasn't going to be hired because Flip obviously wanted a coach who would bring a fresh view) of any interest was going to take the job. Flip didn't plan this...he was his own 5th-6th choice, but they swung for the fences, and hiring himself allows for flexibility going forward at the coaching position to hire someone at any point, even midseason, to add to the staff in order to become coach. That's leaves for a ton of flexibility in our coaching search...What if Hoiberg is ready in a year or two, or what if Izzo changes his mind...what if Joerger gets canned on a whim? Better than hiring a lame duck coach.

The one negative I'll put on this is that he hired the same old guys. I'd like to see some fresh blood, but I guess there's familiarity.

Also, there won't be a fight amongst himself as to the direction of this team.... Flip, the President of Operations is not going cut corners for this franchise as a head coach. He's got no conflict of interest like there would be had we hired another coach, so that's good too. He's going to try to develop players, something that a short term lame duck coach wouldn't be as concerned about. Also, he'll help Rubio develop, and we know that's his main focus.

Love will likely be traded, but I don't mind that Flip is taking offense to people saying it's a given. We DO hold the keys to the Love train (pun totally intended), and it's good that he reminds both the media and other teams of that.

All in all, it's not an ideal situation, but I think outside of hiring Blatt, it was the best option we had given the circumstances as they stand.

This take is so right on, you need to change your name to Mr. Basketball! I completely agree...not ideal, but perhaps the best job Flip could do to crawl out of the box David Kahn put him in.

[mrhockey89]

This take is so right on, you need to change your name to Mr. Basketball! I completely agree...not ideal, but perhaps the best job Flip could do to crawl out of the box David Kahn put him in.

Wait...this isn't the hockey forum?