Jesus Christ
More coming soon...
UPDATE: Shoals weighs in immediately.
Labels: Kevin McHale, Randy Wittman, timberwolves
posted by Dr. Lawyer IndianChief @ 12/08/2008 12:55:00 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
As a Wolves fan, I'm cautiously optimistic that McHale will be a good coach without the core that took us to the 2004 WCF.
More importantly, I'm hoping this is the moment where The Mayor takes shit over.
E. Jordan/F. Hoiberg in 09!
The Isiah Thomas strategy. Force the historically inept GM to prove the team he built can be coached, by putting him on the bench. It's better than doing the opposite (the "Mike Dunleavy", in which you let the inept coach become the GM).
Kevin McHale could care less, since he will likely end up Boston's front office, anyway.
An issue with all of these ex-star player GM's: do they really give a tinker's poop about their gigs? Nobody's coming to throw them out of the HoF. They generally already have their rings. They generally already have enough mattress stuffing to see them through. Why should they care?
Just casting a quick eye over the field, you get the Isaiah/McHale/Elgin/MJ rotation that has kept Simmons in free jokes for years. The only exception that springs to mind is Jerry West. Maybe Bird too, as I can't remember whether he had a front office role in the Reggie-Rik era Pacers. But, in general, it's bleak.
Maybe that's why these guys are starting to fade away, with Elgin and Isaiah gone, and McHale appearing to be on double top secret--the PR boost isn't worth a lengthy performance downturn.
great point, teddy. i'm trying to think of some other good players that made good GMs...not many. dumars, west.
actually, i bet barkley would be good.
wes unseld sucked. wait, was he gm? or just coach. i don't have time to look it up.
steve kerr was great...
amirite?
youarerite.
Steve Kerr IS great.
It's always refreshing to see a GM who'll make a potentially risky trade that can pay off in the end, and also be willing to battle with the LuxTax.
Steve Kerr doesn't count. Neither do the Paxsons. It has to at least be a GM with an actual legacy as a player... if not a HOF, at least a significant player (like Joe Dumars). Not Steve Kerr.
Interesting... is Dumars even a HOF? If not, doesn't that make Jerry West the only HOF player who ever made a decent GM? Maybe you have to be someone, like Dumars or Kerr, who contributed to championships as a second banana or role player, to really understand how important those players are. At least in Zeke's case, the argument can be made that he thought he could build a team around several alpha dogs, and not caring too much about getting the right amount of role players....
Dumars is in the HOF.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Basketball_Hall_of_Fame
I think the jury's out on Bird's front office rep. He saw his best team go up in flames at the Malice in the Palace, & he's just now cleared out the burnt timber. The moves he's made thus far this year are coming up roses (they are better than that 7-13 record) and, with a little luck, the P may actually find the playoffs this year. After the 2004 implosion, finding the playoffs after such a dramatic makeover would make Bird look pretty good in the short term.
Kupchak wasn't an absolutely horrible player:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kupchmi01.html
So then--
Mutombo: good or bad for a front office role?
And then, of course, there's Future Bron.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/08/nuggets-need-be-wary-minnesota-wednesday/?partner=RSS
"He was trying to draw plays, and it was like a little Etch and Sketch. Like a kid just messing around." – Anthony Carter
Bron was raving about Chris Paul after playing with him at the Mickey D's game. And he loves Stephon Curry. He picked up on both of them fairly early, although it doesn't take a genius to know those guys are good.
Don't forget, Isiah's one talent was drafting. It didn't add up to success as a GM. There's more to the job than talent evaluation, like not trading away your first round picks or locking up mediocre players for massive salaries.
Isiah picked some decent players (Ariza, Nate Robinson, Lee, and his earlier Raptors picks) but also some dogs - Mardy Collins? Renaldo Balkman? And, as I discovered in doing some wikipedia research just now, why did Toronto trade away its second-round pick in both the 1996 and 1997 drafts? Not a smart move for an expansion team.)
I know you guys are busy with the book and everything, but...how 'bout some reasonably ambitious FD analysis of what's going on in Minny?
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