cobra!’s profile

Last night, at least, I was really struck by how much the Celts looked like the KG-led, outside-shooting Wolves teams I used to watch fall apart under Flip Saunders in the playoffs every year. So if the Celts do go on to play the Pistons, I'm kind of afraid of some sort of reality-destroying Flip-Saunders-induced feedback loop. Watch out.

posted at 12:56 PM on May 15

Actually, now that I've had a day to digest, I like the trade a little more. It'll suck not having KG as a Wolf, but I really find myself looking forward to seeing what he can do with legitimate help in the East-- Pierce and Allen are head and shoulders above Sam Cassell and the ghost of Latrell Sprewell, and that combo was enough to get Garnett to the WCF. And on the Wolves side, maybe it's not a disaster. It's a gamble, a huge one, but the truth is that they were going nowhere. It's still hardly a sure thing that they'll go anywhere (and no matter what, I think I'm looking at at least one season where 30 is about as many wins as you can expect from the Wolves), but at least they've taken the big step. One local sportswriter summed it up: maybe it's better to watch a 20-win team with some hope for the future than it is to watch a 30-win team that's doomed for the long term.

posted at 11:00 AM on July 31

Oh, and it disappoints me to hear that this doesn't look good from the Celtics' perspective, either. I was sort of hoping to balance out the next few years of Wolves suckage by at least getting to watch KG kick some ass in the East.

posted at 04:50 PM on July 30

There was also some discussion of the Wolves getting the Celtics draft picks for the next hundred years. No, the Curse of Herschel Walker is pretty clear about stating that draft picks are only allowed to hemorrhage out of Minnesota, not in.

posted at 04:46 PM on July 30

Bad. I guess it's good that the Wolves are getting out of the "we're just one piece away" mentality. But still, I don't think they're getting equal value, and I don't trust McHale to use these new pieces and the draft pick to build anything. Basketball in Minnesota's going to be a drag for a while.

posted at 04:39 PM on July 30

All I know is "you can't roller skate in a buffalo herd." posted by tommytrump at 8:42 PM CDT on May 16 Nor can you take a shower in a parakeet cage. Or drive around with a tiger in your car. But someone should tell Stern that he can be happy he's a-mind to.

posted at 09:25 AM on May 17

I'd totally swallowed the "Flip Saunders is coming back" hype, and was excited about it. Felt a little let down when this news came out; but, stepping back, it actually seems surprising that the Gophers could lure a coach with any sort of pedigree who didn't have local ties. I dunno. If nothing else, it's hard not to get behind a guy named Tubby.

posted at 08:55 AM on March 23

Unless there's some sort of serious locker-room trouble that we haven't heard about, this is a pretty horseshit firing (although not quite as horseshit as Flip's was). The team's not great, talent-wise, but they're not total washouts-- and things were looking up before this four-game skid. I don't think McHale will be around much longer than the end of this season. Glen Taylor pretty much admitted earlier this year that Fred Hoiberg was being groomed for the GM job. It's tough to say whether Hoiberg would be a good GM (especially if McHale's doing the grooming), but it'd be nice to at least have someone new to bitch about.

posted at 07:06 PM on January 23

If I was KG, I would be ticked off. The one chance for the T'wolves to bring in a player that can make a big enough impact to possibly make a huge playoff/championship run, and Kevin McHale fails, YET AGAIN. According to the (very possibly full of shit) Minneapolis media, the sticking point with the Wolves was that Philly wouldn't consider any deal that didn't include Foye, and McHale refused to put him on the table. I actually think this shows unusual savvy on McHale's part, for once thinking about the mid-to-long term instead of sacrificing everything for right now. I like Iverson, but hate the Nuggets, so I guess at this point I just have to hope that we see a lof of gears grinding into each other.

posted at 09:08 AM on December 20

And thus began the Great Joe Smith Comeback of '07. Just watch as he leads Philly to the promised land.

posted at 03:06 PM on December 19

I have been hearing that too, but assumed the price was high and the likelihood of AI being happy in Minnesota was low. I only give it a shred of credence because Robson at City Pages has been one of the talkers, and he usually has some sense (his argument is that KG would be the big draw for AI). But yeah, the price just doesn't seem worth it-- on top of losing Foye, the Wolves would wind up without a bench. And while KG and AI aren't that old, they're old enough that they'd need some support. On the other hand, if losing the bench included Troy Hudson, maybe it would be worth it.

posted at 09:43 AM on December 13

It's funny. The local media in Minneapolis are frothing over with talk of Iverson landing here (me? I say it'd be sorta cool, but we'd have to lose the first signs of a nucleus for future growth that the Wolves have shown in a long, long time), but we never get mentioned nationally. I assume I'm just the victim of homeristic sports journalism.

posted at 08:49 AM on December 13

Yeah, you're friends are no officionado's, man.

posted at 01:19 PM on October 17

When Childress makes this sort of statement, it's extra-effective because he's a dead ringer for Major Dad.

posted at 01:29 PM on October 10

Ah, Hostetler. I still vividly remember the sheer unadulterated terror in his eyes every time he lined up under center. The quivering little mustache didn't really help his tough-guy look, either.

posted at 08:47 AM on September 12