Randy Wittman Is Not Getting the Job Done
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by user Leslie Monteiro
When Glen Taylor and Kevin McHale fired Dwane Casey on January 23rd, the team was 20-20 under him. Randy Wittman is 6-12 so far as the new head coach. By the looks of things, this team is not better under the new head coach. They are not only just losing, but they are not playing for him. Their recent performances against Charlotte, Phoenix, Dallas, and Utah speak for itself.
Coach Wittman has had enough games for anyone to make an evaluation. The bottom line is that he has been awful as a coach. There are many factors that support this theory.
He is just overmatched on game nights. He never makes coaching adjustments or adapt to what the other coach does at halftime. There is a reason why the Wolves are unprepared in the second half of their games. That other team starts out on an 11-2 run against the Wolves to start the second half.
He has done a horrible job of getting the best out of his rookies. He tends to have a short fuse on them if they make a mistake. Randy Foye has regressed under him. This can not be a good thing for the coach. The last thing he needs is his prized rookie to lose confidence in himself.
What is indicting about him is that the team has quit playing for him. It is very obvious if anyone has bothered to watch them lately. They are just going through the motions out there. Guys are not passing the ball to each other. When a player has the ball, he just shoots right away or just looks for a position when he can score rather than find an open guy out there. There is no communication out there. It is like they are freezing others out. A primary example is Ricky Davis, who has been a bust for the Wolves.
No one expects the Timberwolves to beat very good teams. They are just not talented enough. With that said, they are good enough not to roll over through these teams as they proved in the first two months of the season. It is not too much to ask to show their competitive pride every night especially when they are at home. Now guys just give in easily when the other team makes a run. The Wolves never recover after that. Isn’t this the coach’s responsibility to have them prepared and play hard? As bad as they were last year, Casey got his team to do those things at least. Now a player should be professional enough to do these things on their own since they are old enough to be accountable, but a mark of a good leader would set the tone to make sure that it does not happen. Could anyone envision Avery Johnson letting his guys goof off or play out the season?
The current head coach talks a good game, but then he fails to back it up. He rips his players to the Twin Cities writers after every loss. Wouldn’t it be nice if he took a hit for these problems? It is not like he is John Wooden, Red Auerbach, or Phil Jackson. He has not coached like one. Also if he is going to threaten to bench his star players, he should back it up rather than say it and not live up to promise. He had an opportunity to bench Kevin Garnett, Davis, and [[Mark Blount]] on Tuesday night against the Mavericks, but he never did. He was within his rights to do so because they all stunk. He failed that night. It is hard to respect him as a coach or even take him seriously after this.
I have ripped Casey for the job he has done as a head coach. I have come to the realization that he may not been as bad as I thought. He has made mistakes, but he was a rookie head coach that was learning on the job. He could have called his players out at times this year, but he probably did the right thing because he can not afford to alienate his guys and lose them like Wittman has done already. He did some good things. It was an accomplishment in itself that his team was in a playoff hunt not to mention they were a .500 team under his stewardship this year. The difference between him and the present head coach is easy to tell when Timberwolves fans watch the games.
This team is not going to make the playoffs this year. If any optimistic Wolves fan really think that way, either that person is delusional or that person works for Taylor. Optimism is a good thing, but realism is even a better thing.
The only good thing that is coming out of this is that the Wolves could get a high draft pick in what should be a deep NBA draft. They got as good of a chance as Memphis, Boston, and Philly in getting either the #1 or #2 pick, which would likely feature Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. Either of those two could be the bridge to a new era of Wolves basketball.
What happens next year? Taylor talks about how he is going to retain Wittman and that McHale has this job for life. It is not a good idea to retain those two men. McHale obviously has to go because this franchise needs a new vision and a new leadership. He is the architect of this roster, which represents players that do not give a damn. There has to be a new head coach who can lead and provide direction for the players. He has to command respect in the locker room.
The Timberwolves owner has to realize that he can not hire friends and family to operate this team. In sports, family business should be a no-no. Owners should be hiring people that know the sport. They need to hire guys that know the business of the game. Taylor has to understand that. He also has to pay good money to get these people because they are not going to work for cheap. This could be one reason why he would prefer to hire guys that he is comfortable with at the 600 First Avenue Country Club.
In a perfect world, Taylor would sell the team to Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, who will win at all cost. This franchise can start anew with new leadership, new management, and a new core of players.
This is the only way the Timberwolves will ever be a quality franchise.
