Stephen Curry. Please.

If indeed this is true, then finally Kahn is making decisions and moving forward with some sort of plan – we hope.

The coaching search from here should be interesting. I wouldn’t put too much stock into Laimbeer’s walking away from the Detroit Shock job just yet. While I do think he left to try to get in on interviews in the NBA, I don’t think it means the Wolves have offered him a job or anything like that. If it does, then I am sure the League Office probably would have a few things to say about it (and not nice things, I can assure you).

If Love’s other tweet is also correct, and he’s not getting traded, that makes me breathe a little easier as well. However, I won’t assume Love’s going to be a part of this team next year until we see them in training camp and he’s still in a Wolves jersey.

In the end, I think this was probably the only decision to make. Fair or not, McHale’s presence, to most of the fan base (particularly the “casual fan”), his presence would have signaled that no real change was occuring here. And any move Kahn tried to make after the fact would be tainted by the fact that the man who doomed this franchise to years of mediocrity still not only held a job in the organization, but held arguably the most visible job possible.

As to possible replacements, they’ll probably look at Mitchell and maybe even in Laimbeer. But I’d like to see them bring in assistants from other playoff/championship teams who might be ready to take on the reins as the Head Coach, like Lakers assistants Kurt Rambis or Brian Shaw (though Shaw might need more seasoning before getting his first HC gig).

Perhaps, since this seems to be the direction they’d like to go, they could bring in an Orlando assistant not named Patrick Ewing?

Did some quick interwebs research in trying to answer the question—is Laimbeer more of a player’s coach or an X’s and O’s coach? Since the Shock don’t have an SBG blog that I know of, it was difficult getting some fan’s view of him.

However, I did stumble upon two recent articles that paint, I think, a good picture of what he brings to the table: the guy knows basketball and how to win, and the big unknown is whether he can get along with today’s players/whether people in the NBA still hate him. Quotes at the end of the comment.

My personal take is that he has shown enough to warrant consideration as a head coach, and that he wouldn’t be a bad fit for the Twolves at all. He knows the pick and pop game, understands how to get foul calls and play defense, and for all the people that don’t like him, well he certainly seems to be well liked by his team mates (one of those guys you hate to play against, but love when he’s on your side). What’s most impressive to me are the three championships he won with the Shock. Dude can put it together from the sideline.

The big question is—can he massage the egos? It might take him a season or two to get his kind of guys, but players respect former players, and who can argue with championships? I don’t think he’s a Wittman-esque type coach, but then again I could be wrong.

Three games into the WNBA season, Laimbeer resigned from the Shock. He said he wanted to focus on getting an NBA job. Apparently he thinks that by declaring himself a free agent now, he can line up something before NBA training camps open.

Laimbeer has it backward. He thinks the NBA won’t hire him because he has been coaching women. In fact, he has been coaching women because the NBA won’t hire him.

…

I think I know what the problem is.

People in the NBA do not like Bill Laimbeer.

In an e-mail, ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler wrote: “I think he will be received well because he is a guy with an NBA pedigree and he won at the highest level possible. Plus, the guys he may have alienated as a player are long gone, so the new generation will only care about what he brings to the table as a coach.”

…

“Having played will help, but whether he can get along with today’s players remains to be seen,” Legler wrote.

and It seemed that the players wanted McHale to stay around, but it is probably for the best to move in a completely new direction. My concern is that hopefully this doesn’t set us back any further. McHale definitely had the players playing with more effort, hopefully the new coach can get that out of these guys as well.

Link.

The Wolves have called a 1 p.m. press conference at which new team president of basketball operations David Kahn will announce McHale’s departure. McHale will not attend.

the players loved McHale, but that comfort level isn’t necessarily a good thing, when you’ve been winning 20-25 games for the past couple seasons.

A new coach, like the new GM, holds no ties or loyalty to past decisions or personnel, and can evaluate this situation with his own vision of how to make a winning team.

I’d much rather have a proven winner like Jeff Van Gundy or even Sam Mitchell than someone else’s assistant. Those guys, and maybe others out there, have proven that they know how to coach at the NBA level. It’s not rocket science, but there’s clearly a difference between a competent coach, like those two, and an incompetent coach, like Randy Wittman. You risk hiring the latter when you bring in a guy without head coaching experience. Since talent—and not coaching—is going to allow us to become a great team, I’d rather just make sure that there’s a guy that won’t make things worse by standing on the sidelines.

Three cheers for Kahn being analytical. I say there’s plenty of evidence that McHale is delusional about players and their potential. Further, I didn’t think too much of his coaching. I, for one, am glad that he is done.

Now, let’s get real. Bring it on, Kahn.