The Wolves had their first practice with interim head coach Ryan Saunders leading the way on Monday.
Saunders, GM Scott Layden, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns addressed the media. It was a pretty compact media session with the team traveling to Oklahoma City later in the day, but there was still plenty to unpack.
Here are a few takeaways from what we were able to hear in the media availability:
The first thing said by both Layden and Saunders was how much respect they have for Tom Thibodeau. There were no negative things said about the team’s former POB and head coach, and that’s how it should be. Thibodeau was one of the hardest-working basketball minds in the league. It didn’t work out here, but there’s no sense in looking back. As Layden said time and time again (including at the Timberwolves’ all-staff meeting in the morning), it’s about moving forward in a positive way.
“The important thing is that we’re making an organizational change,” Layden said. “It’s a major change and we stand behind that and we look forward. I promise you I will never say anything negative about anything that’s happened before. My focus is strictly forward and strictly on getting this team to win and strictly on getting it to play to the best of its abilities.”
The team also relieved assistant coach Andy Greer of his duties. That means the team is without two assistant coaches with Saunders being elevated. The remaining assistant coaches are Malik Allen, Ed Pinckney and Larry Greer. Layden said there are no immediate plans to add an assistant coach, but also wasn’t against the idea in the future. With everything happening so fast over the last 24 hours, there are a lot of moving parts.
“You know what, what we’ll do is, we’re studying a lot of different things of that nature,” Layden said. “Right now, I think the complete focus is on the group here and just getting moving and getting off to a good start that way. If we need other assistants, other help, other players, trades what have you, we’ll look at everything. There’s nothing we won’t look at to make the team better. That’s the thing about Glen Taylor is that he’s committed to winning.”
Saunders has an uncommon relationship with his players. A good portion of the team attended Saunders’ wedding two summers ago. The biggest reason for that? Saunders’ ability to communicate with players. That was one reason why Layden said the team decided on Saunders as an interim head coach, and it is also something that Saunders takes great pride in.
“It’s a special relationship,” Saunders said. “Communication is extremely important inside a relationship. I’m looking forward to growing that communication with these guys, because I really do think if you can get guys to really listen and really be in touch with you, they’ll be willing to do more for you out on that court.”
With Saunders being here since 2014, he has the trust of players.
“I’ve known Ryan for a long time now. He’s the only coach who’s been here since my rookie year. There’s been a lot of changes, but I trust him. I have a good relationship with him. I think he’s going to do a great job, especially because you can talk to him and he’s not much older than me. I think we’re going to go in the right direction.”
How will the team change? We probably won’t see anything drastic right away. Saunders said he has some ideas of things he wants to switch up, but it will likely take time and practice reps.
“You have ideas,” Saunders said. “You have ideas when you’re not in the position of making the decisions and then it’s your chance to implement those ideas, so I’ve got a lot of ideas but you’ve got to see what’s best for the team.”
One thing that we could see sooner rather than later is a faster pace. Derrick Rose said that was something stressed in Monday morning’s film session. The Wolves currently rank 13th in pace of play.
Of course, the late and great Flip Saunders was mentioned. When you think of coaches in Timberwolves history, he’s the coach that comes to mind.
The younger Saunders learned plenty from his father and many of those lessons will likely be kept private, and rightfully so. But Saunders shared what his dad would say if he were here today.
“The life lessons that he taught and the basketball lessons, you don’t necessarily know they’re lessons until someone’s gone and I just look forward to re-jog my memory a little bit and putting those on paper,” Saunders said.
“He’d tell me he’s proud of me. He knew this was a goal . . . He’d say he’s proud.”
Saunders makes his head-coaching debut on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports North Plus, NBA TV and 830 WCCO.