Hartman: Give McHale Credit

[Klomp]

During the 15 years Kevin McHale served in the front office and then as coach of the Timberwolves, nobody took more criticism from the fans and the media than the former Gophers and Celtics star.

But maybe now it is time to credit McHale for the two best draft choices in the history of the franchise: taking Kevin Garnett fifth overall in 1995 and then making the draft-night trade in 2008 that brought Kevin Love to the Wolves.

Garnett was drafted out of high school and a lot of experts questioned the choice, but he has developed into one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

As for Love, this season has been remarkable for the 22-year-old as he continues his great 53-game double-double streak. He was named to the Western Conference All-Star team and is becoming one of the best players in the league.

Coming into the 2008 NBA draft, Southern California guard O.J. Mayo was considered the third-best player available in the draft behind Derrick Rose and current Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley. Chad Ford of ESPN.com had Love ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the draft. Love had played one season at UCLA and averaged 17.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

The Timberwolves drafted Mayo with the third overall pick but later that evening, McHale decided to make the trade that brought in Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins for Mayo, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner.

McHale took nothing but criticism from the media and the fans. Mayo was considered the No. 1 high school prospect in the 2007 class and attended USC for one season, averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists, and many fans thought he had a more promising future than Love.

But McHale predicted how great a rebounder Love was going to be when he spoke at the news conference introducing Love in 2008.

"You wondered how Kevin was going to do against these big guys [at his pre-draft workout], but when they started playing, Kevin got way bigger and the other guys got way smaller," McHale said at the time. "He was the biggest player on the floor. There's just certain guys that get bigger. He's one of those guys. We brought as much length to the workout as we could, and Kevin was very impressive. There were no issues whatsoever.

"Kevin played in the best conference [and] on the best team in the Pac-10, which was loaded with talent. He was the [conference] Player of the Year. He did something right in the Pac-10. You have to remember whom he was playing against. As I said before, when the ball goes up on the boards, a lot of stuff changes.

"His small-area quickness is outstanding. You don't average 11 rebounds in conference and not be a good rebounder. Some guys are plodders, but Kevin has very quick feet to get him in the right position to rebound the basketball. His small-area quickness is very, very good. His body control is tremendous."

Looking back to the 2008-09 season, it was McHale who gave Love a lot of playing time after Randy Wittman was dismissed as coach and McHale assumed the role.

In the first 19 games of his rookie season under Wittman, Love averaged 8.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game. After the transition to McHale, Love began getting more minutes, points and rebounds. In 63 games with McHale, Love averaged 11.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game.

There also were positive feelings that the team was moving in the right direction after the Wolves went 4-4 to end the season, including winning three consecutive road games. In those last eight games of the season, Love averaged a double-double with 12.6 points and 10.4 rebounds.

McHale was fired after the season, something Love was not pleased about. Love actually broke the news of the firing before the Timberwolves announced it to media outlets when Love placed a post on Twitter that read, "Today is a sad day ... Kevin McHale will NOT be back as head coach next season."

Today, McHale says he never expected Love to do what he is doing with his double-double streak, but he is not surprised Love has developed into a great NBA star.

Give McHale credit for not only doing a great scouting job on Love, but playing a big part in Love's development.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/117866214.html

[cpfsf]

We might have even made the NBA Finals if Cassell wasn't injured. Losing Hudson didn't help matters either.

[Esohny]

Didn't we see pretty much this exact angle written months ago?

[Dewey]

McHale was under-rated as a coach and wanted to stay on as coach ... he simply had leadership skills, understood the game, and valued veteran players. Taylor and Kahn, clearly not great basketball minds, made the ultimate mistake by replacing McHale with Rambis ... just because he wanted complete change. Well, they got what they wanted, but now have an organization that lacks leadership top to bottom.

Rambis has proven (all by himself) he is greatly over-rated. I don't think people really know where you stand with this guy, probably because he doesn't know himself. Riding the Zen Masters tail for so long, I really think Rambo is trying to figure things out himself, and I deeply believe he will be the Lakers next head coach. The Lakers used the Wolves as an initiation so they would not have to deal with it themselves ... thats why Phil stayed around the extra year. Rambis is learning one thing: You Win With Players! ... his ego has taken a beatdown in the process, but he should be seeing the light by now and do well next year with the Lakers.

Lame-beer as a coaching option? I'm not sold ... I've heard nothing about him good or bad, but assistants who have any ability are usually being talked about. His tough-guy history certainly has not rubbed off on any of our players.

ZERO = the chance Love signs an extension with Rambis as coach.

[weasel]

How can you go from stating Rambis has proven himself to be greatly overrated, to saying he is going to be the next Lakers coach? Me thinks that If he's good enough to coach the Lakers, we'd be absolutely (Please Use More Appropriate Word) to let him go.

[PeeDee]

ZERO = the chance Love signs an extension with Rambis as coach.

I worked with him the whole summer and built a great relationship with him," Love said. "No, [any report of friction between the two] is completely false. ... Last year we had our differences. This year there has been nothing like that. For me to say he's not good here would be blasphemy, because this is really only his first season as coach [where] he finally got the players around him that he wanted. I can't be mad. I'm shining under his system. Why would I have a problem with him?

Solid take, bro.

[Dewey]

How can you go from stating Rambis has proven himself to be greatly overrated, to saying he is going to be the next Lakers coach? Me thinks that If he's good enough to coach the Lakers, we'd be absolutely (Please Use More Appropriate Word) to let him go.

Fair enough ... me point is not as clear as it should be.
1.) Rambis is learning players win games - not coaching ego's.
2.) The Lakers knew Rambis would struggle early as a head coach
3.) The Lakers get Rambis back after he's had ther experience to fail miserably elsewhere.
4.) With Rambis' ego taking shape and learning from this humbling experience, him getting a chance to coach a real roster will be a successful coach.

We'll never have the caliber of players as LA, so I don't think he could survive here with average players down the road.

[Dewey]

ZERO = the chance Love signs an extension with Rambis as coach.

I worked with him the whole summer and built a great relationship with him," Love said. "No, [any report of friction between the two] is completely false. ... Last year we had our differences. This year there has been nothing like that. For me to say he's not good here would be blasphemy, because this is really only his first season as coach [where] he finally got the players around him that he wanted. I can't be mad. I'm shining under his system. Why would I have a problem with him?

Solid take, bro.

yeh ... okay

That pretty much guarentees Rambis will not return...

[moss_is_1]

He still was a terrible gm.

[PeeDee]

Dewey's hunch is bond. By the way, what are the lottery numbers tomorrow?

[Klomp]

McHale was under-rated as a coach and wanted to stay on as coach ... he simply had leadership skills, understood the game, and valued veteran players. Taylor and Kahn, clearly not great basketball minds, made the ultimate mistake by replacing McHale with Rambis ... just because he wanted complete change. Well, they got what they wanted, but now have an organization that lacks leadership top to bottom.

Rambis has proven (all by himself) he is greatly over-rated. I don't think people really know where you stand with this guy, probably because he doesn't know himself. Riding the Zen Masters tail for so long, I really think Rambo is trying to figure things out himself, and I deeply believe he will be the Lakers next head coach. The Lakers used the Wolves as an initiation so they would not have to deal with it themselves ... thats why Phil stayed around the extra year. Rambis is learning one thing: You Win With Players! ... his ego has taken a beatdown in the process, but he should be seeing the light by now and do well next year with the Lakers.

Lame-beer as a coaching option? I'm not sold ... I've heard nothing about him good or bad, but assistants who have any ability are usually being talked about. His tough-guy history certainly has not rubbed off on any of our players.

ZERO = the chance Love signs an extension with Rambis as coach.

Let me guess, you think McHale would have this team in the playoffs.

[Steve_Holiday]

Rambis haters lose a lot of credibility in my eyes when they wax nostalgic about McHale, Dwayne Casey, and others.

[eyeteeth]

I will gladly give McHale credit for his judgement and ability to make great moves when it comes to players who play either power forward or center and are named Kevin. He seemed to get those right.

[LordBaldric]

No way will the Lakers hire Rambis as their next head coach. No way.

[Tirion]

Give McHale credit for Ndudi Ebi, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants and Corey Brewer.

[C.lupus]

Give McHale credit for Ndudi Ebi, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants and Corey Brewer.

Exactly. And don't forget Marco Jaric, the gift that keeps on giving.

[funkatron101]

Rambis haters lose a lot of credibility in my eyes when they wax nostalgic about McHale, Dwayne Casey, and others.

McHale was questionable as a GM, but I think he was a great coach.

[mandurugo]

Rambis haters lose a lot of credibility in my eyes when they wax nostalgic about McHale, Dwayne Casey, and others.

McHale was questionable as a GM, but I think he was a great coach.

I don't know about his coaching, but it did seem better than his GMing. His play was excellent - but the best thing he ever did was color commentary. He was awesome.

[champalift]

Give McHale credit for Ndudi Ebi, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants and Corey Brewer.

Exactly. And don't forget Marco Jaric, the gift that keeps on giving.

This.
Give McHale credit for 2 solid picks throughout 15 years in the front office, solid take Sid.