1. It’s funny that Rodney Carney can go 7-8 from 3 and post a -9 in 32 minutes. This has to be a rather rare for an NBA player especially one in a reasonably low-scoring game.

2. Some might think this will be the stupidest point ever made on this blog which is fine. I do think McHale gets a bad rap as a GM to a degree. Since he traded KG he has generally made positive moves. He was also pretty highly thought of until the Western Conference finals team fell apart. . It’s funny to think how different his rep might look if Cassell never gets hurt in 2004 or Marbury doesn’t bolt town.

 The majority of his really poor moves occured in trying to make a run when the pieces weren’t going to be in place (Foye as a 1, Marko trade, Ricky Avis/Wally trade).

It’s also generally unfair to evaluate draft picks against the best possible pick in a spot. For example in looking at the 2005- the Three players picked right before McCants have little to no NBA value along with 4 of the 6 picked right after him with Joey Graham a mediocre entity.

While Foye isn’t great-the 3,4,5 picks were all major busts along with the 9-12 picks. Also say what you will about Craig Smith-he’s one the better number 2 picks from the second round in 2006. I think Smith’s a decent backup 4 if you surround him with a 5 that can actually control the paint somewhat. The player I described though currently doesn’t exist on the Wolves roster.

I’m not trying to argue that I’m a fan of McHale’s draft record only that often expectations are somewhat unrealistic in this area.

3. The point is often made and rightly so that the Wolves lack talent out there. The starting lineup tonight I question “if it could win a D-League title?” It’s also true that McHale put this team together- while most acknowledge he’s done a solid job since the KG trade in collecting pieces, draft picks and contracts. I do wonder how much blame can go to McHale for Injuries, Inconstiency (Foye), Implosions (McCants) and the bizzare( Mike Miller)?

The basic plan for this team that inspired hope in people like Hollinger before the season was strong rebounding combined with good outside shooting. When these things worked in January the Wolves looked like a .500 team. When the shooting has been awful and the rebounding mediocre they look like a .150 team.

I would never argue for McHale being a great NBA coach at this point in time. I just figure take a 30-35 win team to begin with and lose the pieces he has during the season- how successful any coach would be?

  A better question to ask is “What would be the upside with great coaching for the team they’re currently putting out there?”

  Considering they’re an awful defensive team that’s undersized with no one better than a number 3 scoring option on the team. On a Championship team you have 1 starter and he played 22 minutes tonight.

A different question is if McHale were to be gone- “What direction should the team go in it’s coaching search?”

What exactly was the point of this nonsense?

"He has to go now just as much as he had to go when Witt was fired. Papa Glen cannot continue to kick the basketball karma gods in the teeth; this has to end. "

But the team was starting to show a lot of promise under McHale before Jefferson’s knee injury….. Was that “karma” too?

“The second I turned on the game, the first thing that came to my head was not "Gee, McHale is going old school by benching his starters to get them play harder.” Nope, it was “Gee, I wonder what sort of old school move fans could pull to get Papa Glen to yank his coach and front office?” Consistent standards? On the Wolves? "

WTF does this even mean? These two thoughts aren’t connected and don’t make any sense.

"It isn’t a perfect analogy but when the guy who put the damn team together is demoted to coach and then has to bench his starters in favor of players who are well below replacement value, perhaps the irony of quality control isn’t lost on the high draft picks who started the game in the cushy seats. "

Two of the team’s best players are out for the season with knee injuries! What are you expecting? Do you think Spurs fans were apoplectic when Robinson was out for the year?

"Of course, as is the case with a franchise that pretty much tells karma to go F herself, there is an ugly side to even the events that should be considered as necessary goods. Should McHale get fired (or walk away) what does it say about the players who remain and whom he collected? Epic. Fail. "

Except Jefferson and Love both look great… Does McHale not get credit for Love at all?

The Timberwolves have been positioned to have cap room in 2010 and amass young talent. Their best player went down with a knee injury. This is not a situation in which fans should expect a winning season The rebuilding of the Timberwolves began less than two years ago, and it shouldn’t be judged by a 20 game stretch in which the best player is sidelined.

But I guess that’s how it is with some fans when it comes to McHale. I remember when Dan Barreiro said McHale should have been fired because we didn’t draft Chris Porter.

ahh, January.

It was fun while it lasted. The Wolves were actually relevant for a short while. I won’t deprive anyone of their desire for starting over and getting rid of McHale.

If all we have is January for an argument to keep him, well, I’d have to say we don’t have much. I have always hoped McHale could redeem himself. I saw him play high school Basketball in the state tournament with my father when he was an assistant coach at Anoka HS and was scouting Hibbing for the State Tournament. I followed him all the way through his pro career, just as I did Randy Brewer, Jack Morris (He played HS basketball, too for Highland Park) and others through the years. I got a soft spot for him. I can’t hate him. Damn, I wish he could suceed. But, I have to admit, the case is strong for firing him once again and I’m not foolish enough to put January up against all the evidence others offer for getting rid of him.

But, I still think he could have coached the Wolves back to respectability this year if not for Big Al’s injury. It all came apart at the seams. I also don’t find much optimism in Papa Glen finding a replacement FO and Coach for next year. Here is what I see. Papa Glenn calls in McHale after the season ends and they have a little talk. He tells McHale its time and asks him to resign. McHale says no problem. The announcement is made the day after the season is over.

I don’t think Glenn fires Stack and Freddy, though. Sam Mitchell is a phone call away.

Papa G. strikes me as a small town guy who does business with people he can trust. Who he has had face to face conversations with. Duane Casey never got a chance becaue Papa G. never had a chance to get to know him. I don’t see Papa G. Doing interviews for G.M.‘s with guys from other organizations to take over. Papa G. still reembers what he inherited with Trader Jack. He’s go a working relationship with the Mayor and Stack and he’s loyal to those who are loyal to him. Mchale will go quietly away and Papa G.. will make small incremental changes. There will be no large scale overhauls of the FO and a new coach this off season, in my opinion. If you want wholesale changes, you gotta get rid of Papa G.

Thier are solid points all around in this dicussion. I should clarify that my point is that I’ll be heartbroken if McHale or the Front-Office isn’t retained.

I just wish to evaluate the issues at hand in the fairest way possible. I think McHale’s track record is more difficult to evaluate than just simple platitudes as offered on Talk Radio. I also think it’s easy to dismiss the coach with the personnel shortfalls in place. The issue can easily be brought up well McHale brought in these pieces onto the team. This is true as opposed to the Dwane Casey situation. At the same time- he’s basically had to do a 180 switch of roster objectives from the KG trade- reloading (best term to us) to rebuilding. When the KG trade occured you were probably looking at a 3-4 year time frame to rebuild the roster for playoff contention barring exceptional luck (Franchise Players). I do wonder about blowing up the objective two years into with the injury circumstances that have occured. Right before there is a honest to goodness chance to actually rebuild.

As a fan seeing what has happened this year has been frustrating. I could never blame anyone for wanting to see this thing blown-up.

I think Taylor might need to make serious changes just for the sake of getting more than 4,000 people in there a night. Although I doubt hiring Ty Corbin or Dennis Lindsay is going to generate a ton of fan interest. The only way this occurs is by winning games. The only way we win games is by improving the roster. When the Front Office has generally made decent moves since the roster objective shifted I’ll ask “Is it fair to abandon their plan now?”

The issue isn’t being apologetic to Mchale when in the grand scheme of things I’ve haven’t defended every transaction or stated’ he’s for sure a “Great Coach”“. I will say he’s got a more mixed record as GM than some have you believe. I will also say that as a "Coach” I’m unsure how to judge the situation at hand. I’m also unsure if upheaval just for the sake of upheavel is the best course of action.

As far as this being “Whack” in seeking to defend McHale’s judgement would you have been calling for his head in the Springs of 1997 or 2004 if he’s incapable of building a team?
 
If this is “Whack” would you have been calling for D’Antoni’s head his year in Denver or Doc Rivers head Pre KG-Trade?
 
The issue we need to consider is that circumstances are more complicated than “McHale’s a Idiot” or “The Wolves Suck”?

My second sentence should read “that I won’t be heartbroken if McHale or the Front-Office isn’t retained.”