Minnesota Sports Forum

I'm watching it now. But had to stop it fir a moment to share with all of you my Gersson comment:

"We're going to challenge these guys not only go be the best players they can be, but the best people they can be."

You can already see Gersson challenging Beasley with a $60 million contract. Lol.

By the way. I'm not mocking Gersson's decision to give Beasley that contract from a basketball standpoint. I've been really high on Beasley from the moment he got here and the contract seems in line with the market for someone with his abilities. But, Gersson, please stop the sanctimonious platitudes!!

I watched the intro as well, Lip. Oddly enough, the most interesting speaker there was the 19-year old Anthony Edwards and mainly because he kept it real.

Gersson Rosas just regurgitates the same "we're a family" rhetoric and platitudes. I don't get the feeling that he's a basketball mind whatsoever, but rather a guy that can handle the business and administration aspect of the job while having the "smartest guy in the room" complex.

Also, Ryan Saunders is a tough interview to listen to. He, like Rosas, says a lot of nothing. That doesn't surprise me considering he's completely overwhelmed with the head coaching position. The lack of coaching experience shows even with the media.

Needless to say, I have little to no confidence in the two most important managerial positions on this Wolves team. The team is going to have to win in spite of them or suck so badly that the new owner cleans house.

A few thoughts on the presser:

1. The whole thing was pretty much a non-event. It was really short with shallow questions and shallow answers. Yes, every shallower than typical info press conferences.

2. Edward and McDaniels both seem like good kids. I still don't get a particularly competitive vibe from either one, but of course you really can't tell from someone's answers to inane questions in a short press conference. Interesting that they both referred to KAT and DLO as "superstars." Wish they had a slightly higher standard. :)

3. Ryan seems like a really nice guy. But, as always, he sounded more like a young rookie player than the two kids the Wolves just drafted. And that's not because of the maturity or gravitas of the two incoming rookies. Maybe it's just me, but I just don't see an NBA head coach in Ryan with his demeanor and lack of any gravitas along with his really poor communication skills. He has absolutely no presence.

4. Gersson remains a platitude machine and continues to be obsessed with the organization's process as well as the team's "system" and "style of play." Having said that, he sure seems like a nice guy.

5. No doubt Gersson believes in the upside of Anthony Edwards. And it sure seems like his workout and interview played a significant role in their decision to draft him. Gersson just beamed when Edwards talked about the workout and mentioned rejecting his trainer's directive to take mid-range jumpers in favor of 3-point shots "because that's the Wolves style of play." Some advice to all of you - if you want a position with the Wolves organization, just tell Gersson how much you love the Wolves' system. :) But seriously, I can't argue with Gersson's assessment of Edwards' upside. However, I will quibble with his repeated references to how much Edwards attacks the rim. Truth is, he failed to attack the rim at anything close to the volume he should have given his talent.

6. I got the sense from Rosas that drafting Edwards had a lot to do with the decision to trade for Ricky.

Overall, nothing significant came out of this press conference. But that's not surprising. :)

I don't have much to add to what ever one else said. I actually liked how McDaniels came off in the press conference not that I put much stock in any of this.

As for the press conference being a whatever event with mics not working particularly well and meh questions...I'll just say it's hard to have high expectations considering all the circumstances. I'd guess they are working with a smaller group of people setting up the technology and everything else. It's a different level of course but A few weeks ago my church did a multiple evening event and to engage with people joining online they came up with a good idea to have commentators to greet people, make some comments maybe share a story etc before and after. I was selected to be one of those for a few of the nights which was kinda fun. The first night we did it the person that's usually in charge of all the technology had to quarantine because of covid exposure and everyone found out just a couple hours beforehand. Some other folks that normally would help aren't really available do to COVID concerns. So let's just say things...didn't go smoothly there was basically no audio for the first couple minutes of our exceptional commentary. Lol

Look I get it that the a Wolves are a billion dollar organization and the local media people have their jobs but I'm gonna give them all a pass to some extent. Its hard to not be there to ask the questions live. Who knows what stuff went on leading up to all this. That said I've never seen Alan Horton stumble and bumble so much though I'm not sure what was up with that.

I've learned to tell people that I can tell you how great whatever is or how I will fix whatever is wrong etc etc but nobody is going to believe something is different till it changes. That doesn't mean communicating well doesn't matter but I'm looking more at the product and results. Any media availability right now is more wanting to get a sense of what these players are actually like especially since there are questions about them.

You guys are bigger fans then me, I haven't and won't watch the press conference, mainly I think drawing any conclusions from these are meaningless, whether pandemic or pre-pandemic.

I commented on this a number of times before Ryan was hired but I was always surprised how overwhelmed and nervous Ryan was during the halftime interviews he used to do when he was an assistant. It was striking to me. I always compared him to David Adelman, I was always pleasantly surprised when David would do the interviews, he was sharp, well spoken and talked in an educated manner about the game plan, etc...

I agree with you guys about Rosas and Saunders. Rosas is so full of platitudes that I seldom listen to him- a lot of words with no discernible value And Ryan seems so uncomfortable in these press conferences that I find him almost unlistenable. But maybe the issue is really about me. I don't appreciate Saunders because he is not smooth enough, and I don't appreciate Rosas because he is a little too smooth for my taste. But I guess what is important is whether Ryan can communicate with his players, not whether I enjoy listening to him. And for me the jury is still way out with both Saunders and Rosas- I'm giving both a chance, but I'm far from convinced they are the right guys for this franchise.

For what it's worth, I agree with all of you that Edwards and McDaniels both handled themselves well in this press conference.

Was Rosas wearing that cheesy Mr. Rogers cardigan thingy again?

Q12543 wrote:Was Rosas wearing that cheesy Mr. Rogers cardigan thingy again?

Not this time. Suit without the tie. Top button undone. Tried to keep it cool for the kids.

Camden0916 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Was Rosas wearing that cheesy Mr. Rogers cardigan thingy again?

Not this time. Suit without the tie. Top button undone. Tried to keep it cool for the kids.

Rosas isn't keeping up Kindness Cardigan Day was actually on Friday the 13th...this is not a joke.