04/16/24
January 23, 2007
Timberwolves Fire Coach Dwane Casey.: The Wolves are currently 20-20, and have a tenuous hold on the 8th and final playoff spot. Assistant Randy Wittman will take over as interim coach.
posted by lilnemo to basketball at 04:44 PM - 9 comments
If only this were the year that Kevin McHale got moved, too. He and Flip got the team off the mat when they came here initially, but ever since then, McHale has made enough mistakes that any other GM would have been fired multiple times over. But for some reason, Glen Taylor (the owner) think the Wolves can't do better. Apparently he's the only one.
posted by TheQatarian at 05:20 PM on January 23, 2007
It does seem like it's time for McHale to go, right after he gives Danny Ainge KG for a handful of magic beans.
posted by yerfatma at 05:34 PM on January 23, 2007
That might be the only thing that McHale could do to get Taylor to fire him. Doesn't it seem like McHale's been trying to get himself fired for the past 7 years? What, is he bored? Not getting enough golf?
posted by lilnemo at 05:44 PM on January 23, 2007
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 by cobra! at 07:06 PM on January 23, 2007
Unfortunately for Wolves fans, Taylor has also said that McHale will leave whenever he wants to. It is hard to blame the Wolves situation on the coach. Trading a first-rounder and Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric? Not the coach's fault. Trading another first-rounder in the Szczerbiak deal in order to get Marcus Banks? Not the coach's fault. Signing Mike James, Troy Hudson, Trenton Hassell and Eddie Griffin to over-inflated deals? Not the coach's fault. Losing four draft picks to illegally sign Joe Smith (not even someone good)? You get the idea...
posted by TheQatarian at 08:12 PM on January 23, 2007
I agree that Casey is not the problem, but Casey was by no means a great coach. While I think he has done a decent job in terms of motivation (the team does play hard), his coaching was marginal. His rotations during his rookie year and early this year were extremely questionable (with him often pulling the hot hand for no apparent reason other than to give the sub a shot). The team did not run very efficient sets on offense (it's like the philosophy was "just go get open"). Until there was enough clamor for it, he severely underused his rookies (McCants did not see a lot of time and is a great deal behind in terms of development; Foye did not start seeing PT until some weeks into the season, and I maintain that Craig Smith is STILL underused considering his per 48 figures). Lastly, I believe a great barometer of a coach is how his team performs after a timeout, and the Timberwolves were miserable to watch; when opposing teams called timeouts, it was a sure bucket because of sloppy defending, but when the Wolves came back from a timeout, it seemed like the strategy was to let Ricky Davis take a shot with the shot clock on 3. Casey was also not known for managing his timeouts wisely, often letting a run get out of hand before choosing to take a break and hopefully qualm momentum. Despite all of this criticism, I do think he was a mediocre coach rather than a bad one, and simply had to work with a lot of poor management decisions (though he was a proponent of Marko; not sure how he felt about the cost.). I will agree with the above posters when I say that he was not doing so bad that he should have been replaced mid-season, especially if his contract guarantees him another year and a half. Perhaps this is just giving Whittman a look, and if he underperforms again, a new face may come to town. ..at least I hope for the Timberwolves.
posted by PublicUrinal at 08:21 PM on January 23, 2007
I like Marko. Well, not all of him. Just the mustache.
posted by ridadie2005 at 08:29 PM on January 23, 2007
Damn, Q, I'd forgotten about that botched Joe Smith deal. McHale should have been fired after that nonsense. Of all the guys in the league you would break the rules for, McHale went for Joe Smith? Joe Freakin' Smith?
posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:33 AM on January 24, 2007
Casey had managed to improve the teams defense some, but I never really got the sense that the team bought into his philosophy. Having said that, the Timberwolves (KG aside) are pretty thin talent-wise. Firing Casey isn't going to solve that particular problem. The timing of this decision couldn't be worse. Why fire a coach halfway through the season when you're fighting for playoff contention? Does Wittman's 62-102 record inspire you to make the switch? With the prospect of another year without a post-season, and no help coming via the draft or free agency, one can't help but wonder if this is the year KG gets moved.