The Wolves didn’t practice Monday after playing back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday. They will practice today in preparation for a tough four-game stretch before Thanksgiving that includes home games Wednesday against Elton Brand and Philadelphia and Friday against Kevin Garnett and the NBA champion Boston Celtics. The Wolves travel Sunday to Detroit and are back home Nov. 26 against Phoenix.
Wittman is 35-98 (.263) as coach of the Wolves and 97-200 (.327) including Cleveland. That’s the fourth-poorest winning percentage in NBA history for a coach with 290-plus games.
This woebegone operation needs credibility. Firing Wittman and replacing him with Fred Hoiberg as coach offers none. Firing Wittman and continuing to cede all personnel power to McHale offers none.
It’s time for Taylor to call Medina and make this offer to a coach with a .597 winning percentage in the NBA: Flip, you come back as coach…
Center Al Jefferson remains the team’s best player, but his season averages of 22.3 points and 10.6 rebounds aren’t much different than last year’s final figures of 21.0 and 11.1.
Rookie forward Kevin Love has had an up-and-down first month, from a 20-point, eight-rebound effort at Sacramento to an 0-for-7 shooting performance the following night at Portland.
Shooting guard Mike Miller, the other player brought in to ease Jefferson’s burden, has attempted more than 10 shots in just three games and topped 20 points only once, scoring 25 in a 129-125 double-overtime loss to San Antonio.
Taylor had sanctioned free agent Joe Smith’s secret side deal eight years ago, a clandestine contract that would cost the Wolves three future first-round draft picks and a $3.5 million fine. Taylor didn’t just show his dishonesty by cheating on the salary cap, but his incompetence for doing so with a player whose talent never justified the risk.
The owners cheered David Stern’s harsh punishment. They condemned Taylor as a crook. And then, three weeks ago, Stern would celebrate Taylor’s choice as chairman with a you-have-to-be-kidding declaration that his selection would “ensure the same high standards” of his predecessor.
The sad-sack Timberwolves can’t do anything right, but it hasn’t affected the bottom line: Forbes said last year that the team’s value remained flat, but ranked 22nd out of 30 teams in the NBA. Owner Glen Taylor had a good year, too: At $3.3 billion, he was No. 123 among the 400 richest.