McHale's biggest regret from "hoopus" article

[Wolves2011]

http://www.canishoopus.com/2009/11/28/1 ... ?ref=yahoo

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Kevin McHale talked about what he regretted most from his tenure with the Wolves:

McHale was on SI's podcast this past week, and it ended up being a very interesting listen.

First up, he spoke about this summer's free agency and what teams look for in building a roster. He brought up the example of Chris Bosh, and how to build a team around a player who's not quite a one-man franchise (he said only Kobe, Wade and LeBron qualify as that), but who is significantly better than "just a second option". He noted how Andrea Bargnani perfectly compliments Bosh on offense, but leaves the team vulnerable on defense, and even mentioned that he thinks Bosh and Al Jefferson would make a great frontcourt (even though we wouldn't be much better defensively than Bosh/Bargnani...)

He also noted that Jefferson is a big lure for free agents, pointing out that the Knicks have nothing to offer free agents in terms of quality teammates.

So you can see his trademark come to the front...he's primarily concerned about fitting together an offense and almost completely ignoring defense...his MO while he was here.

McHale then talked about his playing days, saying the hardest guys for him to guard were Barkley and Rodman, because they did so much without the ball and crashed the offensive glass for easy putbacks. He also noted that players and coaches talked basketball a lot more in his era, versus watching movies or listening to music now, and feels that's why so many players from his era are coaches now, and why players now struggle more with fundamentals and basketball IQ.

Finally, the question came up about if he would have done anything differently while with the Timberwolves if he could go back and get a second chance on one thing. His answer:

"I would have kept Ray Allen."

I'm sure that when you read this at the top of this update, you immediately thought "Roy/Foye", or maybe Sprewell, maybe Jaric. But for those of us who are old enough and have been around the team long enough, this is exactly the right answer.

The Wolves drafted Ray Allen 5th overall in 1996, then immediately traded him and Andrew Lang to the Bucks for the #4 pick, Stephon Marbury, because the team, as McHale said in the podcast, "needed a point guard". (We really did)

McHale says he was and is a fan of Marbury, but said that because of the rookie pay scale being implemented and Marbury being a year behind Garnett, that KG's big contract started off a "streak of jealousy" in Starbury that...well, we know how the story ends. McHale said that Allen has been "solid his whole career", while things "just haven't worked out for Steph".

Undestatement of the decade there...

Certainly there's an element in that of having watched Allen and Garnett win a title together in Boston, but the truth is, had McHale known the jealousy Marbury would develop and had therefore kept Allen, the Wolves probably would have been perennial contenders from about 1998 to possibly all the way up to right now, and McHale would have been hailed as one of the best GM's in the NBA. It's the ultimate mix of regrets and unfulfilled potential, both for what KG and Allen could have been, and for what KG and Marbury nearly became, and the guy who made the call that probably ultimately cost him his job and possibly his reputation

[Devilzsidewalk]

makes sense. Hard to top a rookie Ray Allen, college sophomore KG as the foundation of your franchise.

[Foye]

I agree. KG and Ray Allen (my favorite player btw ) would have been a scary duo.

Surround those two with solid starters and some roleplayers and we would have been great.

[funkatron101]

How much of picking Marbury was influenced by KG, I wonder?

[Worm Guts]

How much of picking Marbury was influenced by KG, I wonder?

If you're talking directly, then probably none. I don't think 20 year old KG was telling McHale who to pick.

[TheProdigy]

Letting Gugliotta walk out the door without getting anything in return was a huge blunder as well. LA was offering us Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell and we turned them down.

Drafting Wally instead of Rip... drafting Will Avery instead of Artest...

Actually I'm just going to stop there because I could keep going all day.

[funkatron101]

How much of picking Marbury was influenced by KG, I wonder?

If you're talking directly, then probably none. I don't think 20 year old KG was telling McHale who to pick.

I'm just thinking about KG and Marbury's "strong friendship" that pre-dated Marbury even joining the Wolves. At that time, KG and McHale seemed to have a bond, and all it could take was KG clamoring about how Marbury is going to be a stud in the league, and how well they would play together for McHale to think about it.

It's all heresy, but didn't KG heavily push for Hudson and Hassell too?

[Wolves2011]

Letting Gugliotta walk out the door without getting anything in return was a huge blunder as well. LA was offering us Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell and we turned them down.

Drafting Wally instead of Rip... drafting Will Avery instead of Artest...

Actually I'm just going to stop there because I could keep going all day.

If we had KG and Ray Allen, then everything else would have been noise. It would have been easier to get "cheap" free agents, if we had two prime pieces for a championship.

If we had KG, Ray Allen and Chauncey, thats 3 championships minimum.

[Worm Guts]

How much of picking Marbury was influenced by KG, I wonder?

If you're talking directly, then probably none. I don't think 20 year old KG was telling McHale who to pick.

I'm just thinking about KG and Marbury's "strong friendship" that pre-dated Marbury even joining the Wolves. At that time, KG and McHale seemed to have a bond, and all it could take was KG clamoring about how Marbury is going to be a stud in the league, and how well they would play together for McHale to think about it.

It's all heresy, but didn't KG heavily push for Hudson and Hassell too?

McHale may have thought that KG and Marbury's friendship would be beneficial, but it would have been based on the McHale's evaluation of the situation, not anything KG said or did.
KG did directly push for Hudson and Hassell, but KG was older, more confident, and had an established place in the league at that point.

[karch34]

There's a lot of moves that were regretful, but Allen has to be the biggest. A lot of the other moves probably don't even happen.

We have KG and Allen, without the Marbury situation we probably keep Googs, have Andrew Lang at Center, and don't do the Joe Smith deal. Also without the pick from NJ in the Marbury deal, Wally over Rip and Co, doesn't happen. We probably still take Avery as we'd be looking for a PG. But we'd also be in a position for a long time where we have late round draft picks, and with our record Brandon Roy-Randy Foye doesn't likely happen either.

There was an article about 2-3 years after Chris Webber got traded to Golden State and it listed all the things that wouldn't have likely happened if that trade wasn't made. It affected significant moves of at least a dozen teams.

[Worm Guts]

I never thought of that. If we don't draft Marbury, maybe Googs doesn't leave, and if Googs doesn't leave, Joe Smith doesn't happen. Wow.

[C.lupus]

Yep, it's a great example of the Chaos Theory. Sensitive dependence on initial condiitions.



IMO, McHale's biggest mistake wasn't a single mistake but a recurring mindset. He seemed to always make personnel moves based on fit instead of talent. He was obsessed with getting a PG to play with Garnett (and later Jefferson) - hence the Allen/Marbury and Roy/Foye swaps. If he had stuck with talent, thing may have been totally different for this franchise. This is a big reason why I like Kahn's moves so far, even though the wins aren't coming yet.

[Worm Guts]

I think Marbury was the more talented player though, that's why I have a hard time criticizing that pick. It just turned out that Marbury was a nutjob.

[jade_hippo]

drafting A instead of B is silly. We actually had Allen, thats a whole different situation. Every team should get failing grades for not drafting guys like Manu and Parker, you can't think like that.

[Worm Guts]

drafting A instead of B is silly. We actually had Allen, thats a whole different situation. Every team should get failing grades for not drafting guys like Manu and Parker, you can't think like that.

What? How else do you evaluate general managers? Everyone's going to miss sometimes, but drafting the right player (especially with high picks) is incredibly important.

[funkatron101]

I think Marbury was the more talented player though, that's why I have a hard time criticizing that pick. It just turned out that Marbury was a nutjob.

Right. I can't really fault McHale either. Not for that. From what I remember, Marbury did have more hype.

But it did wake me up to the idea of picking guys with good character, who want to play in Minnesota. Looking back at that draft, it seems that Marbury was more like Jennings, while Allen was more like Flynn, as far as attitude goes.

It will be interesting to see if history repeats itself with Flynn ending up being a solid foundation for years to come, while Jennings becoming a force early, only to become a problem later.

[john2jer]

I don't think you can fault McHale for making the move for Marbury, but it easily has to be his most regrettable, the entire franchise changes based on that move. Googs, Brandon, Joe Smith, etc...

Pretty tough to tell that Marbury would turn into a spoiled, jealous brat.

[C.lupus]

I'm not so sure it was clear cut that Marbury was the more talented player. He was definitely a talented player at a position of need and a great fit next to KG (all of that on paper, at least) but Ray was a very talented player, too. Anyway, looking at this in hindsight, which is all we can do and what McHale was doing in the interview, that deal was a mistake because Marbury did implode. It's not McHale's fault as every GM in history has made similar defendable mistakes. But, it was a mistake nonetheless.

[tvwolves7]

I don't think you can fault McHale for making the move for Marbury, but it easily has to be his most regrettable, the entire franchise changes based on that move. Googs, Brandon, Joe Smith, etc...

Pretty tough to tell that Marbury would turn into a spoiled, jealous brat.

Yea, would we have kept Googs if we had Ray Allen instead? If we kept Googs would we also have signed Joe Smith? Obviously we would not have had T. Brandon since he came in the trade with Marbury.

Oh well...

[Calinks]

I can't fully agree with the articles take on JHennigs. Jennings is extremely impressive and I don't what system you are in, 55 points in 3 quarters is 55 points in 3 quarters. A lot of great player couldn't pull that off if they tried.