McHale/Taylor future?

[casey]

even though he basically fired him as VP of Basketball Ops - he was still willing to let him coach the team

I don't think "willing to let him coach" is the best way to describe it. I would say "made him coach". The team was a complete failure, and Wittman was going to get fired. You're not going to go out and find your coach of the future in the middle of the season, so the best way to go was make the guy who put these players together coach them. I don't think this was Taylor thinking McHale would be a great coach. It was Taylor making McHale responsible for his decisions.

[Metin91]

who wants mchale to be full time coach now?

[Basti]

who wants mchale to be full time coach now?

relax buddy... it is January and we have an easy schedule...

[Metin91]

who wants mchale to be full time coach now?

relax buddy... it is January and we have an easy schedule...

that might be so but the change in the team since he took over is like night and day

[Basti]

who wants mchale to be full time coach now?

relax buddy... it is January and we have an easy schedule...

that might be so but the change in the team since he took over is like night and day

I really don't want to take anything away from this team right now and I certainly think McHale did a big part helping on that but let's wait at least until March or April...

[shrink]

I keep remembering what Foye said, after they lost perhaps eight in a row:

"If we could just win that first one, we could win six in a row"

I loved the confidence, but it was hard to imagine.

[Biff Cooper]

even though he basically fired him as VP of Basketball Ops - he was still willing to let him coach the team

I don't think "willing to let him coach" is the best way to describe it. I would say "made him coach". The team was a complete failure, and Wittman was going to get fired. You're not going to go out and find your coach of the future in the middle of the season, so the best way to go was make the guy who put these players together coach them. I don't think this was Taylor thinking McHale would be a great coach. It was Taylor making McHale responsible for his decisions.

Thats the way it seemed, but I'm not sure that's the way it was. Going backwards on our rebuilding plan and McHale not doing anything about it surely pissed Taylor off. Taylor needed to get a competent coach in here asap before the entire year of the rebuilding program went down the toilet.

[shrink]

Thats the way it seemed, but I'm not sure that's the way it was. Going backwards on our rebuilding plan and McHale not doing anything about it surely pissed Taylor off. Taylor needed to get a competent coach in here asap before the entire year of the rebuilding program went down the toilet.

Why would you say it was going backwards in the rebuilding plan? Because of more losses in the beginning of the 2008-09 season? MIN has a younger group of players, more 1st round picks, a terrific cap space future. We are still making major changes to the team, and the young players are growing. I think you could say that they expected more wins, but not say that the rebuilding plan was going backwards, or down the toilet. The goal of the rebuilding plan has never been lots of wins in December 2008.

[Biff Cooper]

Even if everything turns out great with the picks and cap space, the guys we currently have (or trades for guys we currently have) are going to make up at least half of our future nucleus. Half plus of our future nucleus was performing like crap and putting an un-entertaining product on the floor. If these guys were really as crappy as they were playing, then yes - Taylor was right to think our rebuilding plan might be going backwards, and he needed to put in a new coach to see what we really have.