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Kevin McHale's Got a Decision to Make

Posted: Apr 9th 2009 1:43PM by Matt Steinmetz (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, Interviews, NBA Press Box

Back in December, Kevin McHale had a decision made for him. Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor fired coach Randy Wittman, and told McHale to get down to the bench to guide the team he had assembled as vice president of basketball operations.

It was an unkind blow for McHale, who had been in on the franchise's highs and lows as the team's top decision-maker for the previous 13 seasons. At the time, most figured McHale would ride out the rest of 2008-09 season, then move on.

Now, McHale's got a decision to make.

Continue Reading Kevin McHale's Got a Decision to Make

Neither Randy Wittman Nor Jesus Christ May Be Able to Successfully Coach the T'Wolves

Posted: Dec 7th 2008 4:05PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, NBA Gossip

4 COMMENTS

Randy Wittman may be hitching a ride out of Minnesota very soon.

A few weeks ago, Ziller brilliantly discussed the many ways in which Randy Wittman was failing in his attempt to coach the Timberwolves. And if you can believe it, things may have actually gotten worse for Wittman since then.

The ridiculous headline comes courtesy of Al Jefferson's post-game comments, following his team's thrashing at the hands of the (excited!) L.A. Clippers. The press was beginning to prod about whether or not Wittman should be allowed to stay around much longer, when Jefferson basically said that it didn't matter who was running the show if the players didn't fix things on their own.

"They could do whatever they wanted to do," Jefferson said of Wolves management. "But it starts right here in this locker room with us. Jesus Christ himself could come out here and coach us, but if we don't go out there and play hard and play together, it won't mean nothing."

Kevin McHale is not walking through that door! Jesus Christ is not walking through that door! Fantastic. Wittman himself sounded like he half expects to be fired anyday now, saying "when you get hired, you're bound to get fired." Really? I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain that Phil Jackson has never made that statement.

Telfair Suspended Three Games

Posted: Oct 14th 2008 4:33AM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, Western, NBA Police Blotter

0 COMMENTS

Update: the league announced today that Bassy got three games.

Remember that one time when Sebastian Telfair ran afoul of the law? Wait, let me clarify. Remember the last time it happened? Well, as Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reports, it's time to pay the piper:

Telfair was sentenced last month to three years' probation for misdemeanor possession of a loaded .45-caliber handgun, speeding and driving without a license in Westchester in April 2007. He was a member of the Celtics at the time of his arrest. Since his case has been resolved, his suspension by the NBA is automatic. The league needs only to determine how many games he'll serve, with sources indicating it will be for a minimum of two.

If this is true, no one's bothered to tell Randy Wittman or the Timberwolves. From Don Seeholzer of the Pioneer-Press:

"Nope. Haven't heard anything from the league or anything," Wittman said. "Sebastian hasn't heard anything. I would think, if that's the case, we would know. So I don't know. We'll see."

Here's a question for Wittman and Telfair: when's the last time a player has been convicted of possessing a loaded gun and not be suspended? Sure, it happened over a year and a half ago, but Telfair had to have seen this coming, especially since the sentencing was just last month. It's a little odd the NBA has been slow to pass the word along (maybe the guy in charge of relaying the news was busy updating his resume) but Wittman comes across as naive if he really thought the league would look the other way.

Your Cinderella Is Cornell!

Posted: Mar 8th 2008 7:06PM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)

0 COMMENTS

Not many schools can say they are "smarter" than Stanford, but the Cornell Big Red probably can. Cornell is the first Ivy League school other than Penn or Princeton to make the NCAA tournament since 1988.

The Ivy League has won just two tournament games in 23 years. Still, the Big Red have been dominant ... going 21-5 and sweeping the conference slate. Their main man is Ryan Wittman ... son of Randy Wittman, the former Indiana Hoosier who is currently the head coach of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

For you zany people, you just like rooting for the Big Red. That's what is so cool about the Ivy League anyways: the Big Red, Dartmouth Big Green, Harvard Crimson and the Brown Bears. Colors everywhere!

Also, they are a smart bunch ... obviously ... and they are playing another smart bunch. But only the Big Red players can say they are Ivy Leaguers. So, turn in your sheet and tell 'em, "Go Big Red!"

You can learn more about the Big Red here in their FanHouse preview.
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Want to start over? Click here to Choose Your Own Cinderella again.

Randy Wittman Gets a Bizarre Vote of Confidence

Posted: Feb 12th 2007 9:00PM by mjd (author feed)
Filed under: Timberwolves, Western

4 COMMENTS

Dwane Casey started the year as the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Through 40 games, Casey had the 'Wolves at 20-20, a .500 record. That's not too shabby considering the lack of polished basketball players surrounding Kevin Garnett.

So Randy Wittman steps in and takes over for Casey, and he's 4-7. And already, 'Wolves owner Glen Taylor has decided that Wittman will return as head coach next season.

20-20 record ... fired.

4-7 record ... job security.

Can't fault that reasoning.

This isn't about Wittman's 4-7 record... you can't judge a guy 11 games into his career. He might be a great coach, and it looks like, at least in some ways, the team is responding to him. More than anything else, this is about Dwane Casey and how he got the shaft. A 20-20 record is probably above where the 'Wolves talent indicates they should be.

It just seems like, for some reason, Glen Taylor had it in for Casey, and was in love with Wittman. From the second he hired him as an assistant, he was itching for an opportunity to insert him as a head coach, and he will clearly have more leeway than Casey did. That's pretty much already guaranteed.

Fantastic management up there in Minnesota. Just go ahead and kill yourself, Kevin Garnett. It's not going to get any better.