Sorry, here it goes: MLive.com: Everything Michigan Owner blames Pistons' Saunders for Timberwolves' woes
Agree that they should not blame Saunders for the t-Wolves woes, but can we still blame him for past two seasons Pistons ECF flameouts??
When he eventually gets fired from the pistons in february, the unnamed sources in the pistons organization will get him..............it is just a matter of time.
As is most of the time, McCosky twists things to Flip's defense. However, I don't think Taylor did his franchise any favors with his comments.
The West has been tough (Lakers, Spurs, Mavs, etc.) and the T-Wolves never had enough pieces to win it all. I think you have to give Saunders credit for taking over a very weak team 10 years ago and then leading it to 8 consecutive playoff appearances in a very deep conference.
I would would not have been happy as a Wolves fan with the 5 straight 1st round losses. Then having the best record and losing in the WCF in the one and only playoff run they had. They had a heck of lot more talent when Flip was the coach. He was actually fired when they started sub .500 that last year. Flip seems to be the type of coach that is happy with just making the playoffs. That could be where some of the problems are. He seems to be coaching to win 50 games and not to win it all. Why develope players when guys like Murry and Hayes are good enough.
I don't think he expects it, but he hasn't shown enough coaching savvy to make playoff adjustments to keep it going. When the team stumbled in the playoffs players only had themselves to count on since Flip was of no more use. I wonder if that's what Sheed was sensing when he told everyone to defy Flip's orders.
Just getting to the playoffs has been very good to Flip. He has had a nice, well paid run as an NBA coach and he is pleasant enough that he stays employed despite his dismal record.
That doesn't mean he is happy with his playoff record, though. Coaches have egos. They want to win titles and be measured against the best. Saunders is no different. He wants to win a Championship. I guarantee it. Whether he is a good enough coach to actually pull it off, that is debatable.
He needs to show he can make adjustments. So far he religiously stuck to his playbook and that is not good enough to get the team into the finals.
I thought the team was following Sheed's play book in the playoffs. (see thread on "Who Coached the Pistons".
The year they lost to the Lakers in the WCF Finals, Sprewell played in that series only limited minutes and during those minutes he played on basically one leg. If Sprewell had been healthy the T-Wolves would have beaten the Lakers. Most coaches can not adjust their team well enough when they lose their top guard during the Conferenece Finals to wind up winning it. The other years the T-Wolves would never have made the playoffs without Flip coaching them and were seated 8th in the West. I believe in each of those years the team that beat the T-Wolves in the playoffs went on to win the NBA title or at least get into the Finals.
I can't buy that. Instead of this guy living up to the standard he set during his regular seasons, his teams routinely disappointed in the playoffs. That trend is continuing here. I think people need to take 'disappointed' for what it really means. His team SHOULD have performed better in the post season based on their regular season performances, and they consistently did not. I think that's the key here. His teams didn't have to play the same team every year. No matter who they faced, they consistently failed to get the job done. You don't fail to get out of the first round for 7 straight years just because you keep getting the short straw. You fail because you aren't doing something right.
