alamo50
03-18-2005, 01:37 PM
Kent Youngblood, Star Tribune
March 18, 2005 WOLF0318
MEMPHIS -- Kevin McHale admitted to some frustration. The term "maddening" came up, too.
McHale, the Timberwolves' interim coach, was talking about his team's loss Wednesday in San Antonio. A litmus test of a game that came out a little too acidic for McHale's tastes.
Particularly when it came to the energy his team entered the game with. The fight his team displayed, especially early. This far into the McHale era he had hoped at least that much would have changed.
"I thought it was a regression night," McHale said after Thursday's practice in the Memphis Grizzlies' practice facility. "Whatever happened, we did not have it. We were mentally not sharp."
Tonight's game against the Grizzlies will be the 16th since McHale stepped to the bench to take over for Flip Saunders. The team was a game under .500 when McHale took over, one game over .500 (8-7) since. One of the things he has stressed from his first game as coach was a consistent energy level. Perhaps that's why McHale was talking about his frustration with Wednesday's effort.
"We went out there and they got after us and it was like we were surprised," McHale said. "But that's how [the Spurs] play. They come out and they're ready to go. Of the teams we've played lately, the teams I was really impressed with were them and Miami. ... We watched the first-quarter film. We had five, six possessions where nobody on the team knew what set we were in, what we were running."
McHale shook his head. Perhaps some of this frustration has come in the past month. Clearly McHale was hoping he could kick-start his struggling team by making the change. So far, that hasn't happened.
"I knew coming in that this was the toughest stretch [the team] had, playing all the Western Conference teams," McHale said. "The season goes in a rhythm. And it's time to make hay, and you don't make hay, it usually bodes very poorly. Overall I've been trying to get the guys playing at an energy level, to play better. I'd like to get everybody healthy and see how we could finish up the season."
What's interesting about tonight's matchup is that both teams used a coaching change to get their teams out of a rut. So far, the Grizzlies have had better luck with the move.
Memphis, a surprise 50-game winner under coach of the year Hubie Brown, was struggling when Brown retired. But since Mike Fratello took over, the Grizzlies have gone 22-9. Wednesday the team moved seven games over .500 for the first time all season. The team's 21-9 record in its first 30 games under Fratello is the seventh-best start in history for a coach taking over during a season.
And it has come in the face of significant adversity. Multiple injuries have forced the Grizzlies to go with 20 different starting lineups this season, second-most in the league.
Wolves assistant Sidney Lowe spent two-plus seasons coaching the Grizzlies and spent five seasons working for Fratello in Cleveland. So he has kept tabs on the franchise and is not surprised by Fratello's success.
"He can take different players, different lineups, and put guys into the right positions to do well," Lowe said. "He's always gotten his teams to play hard and play the right way."
Whether the Wolves will make a push into the Western Conference playoffs remains to be seen. Once again injuries are an issue, with guard Sam Cassell (hamstring) and forward Mark Madsen (right wrist) questionable.
But so far, McHale still appears to be working to change the Wolves' fortunes. Has he had an impact?
"That's a tough question," said Latrell Sprewell. "I think definitely he has changed some things, tried to do some things differently. Resultswise, it is about the same. There is no denying that. But guys are still playing hard. And I think the one thing is we're competing a lot better. Last night we got [beat handily]. But, overall, we've been competitive. In games we've lost, we've been right there. I can see some positive out of that."
March 18, 2005 WOLF0318
MEMPHIS -- Kevin McHale admitted to some frustration. The term "maddening" came up, too.
McHale, the Timberwolves' interim coach, was talking about his team's loss Wednesday in San Antonio. A litmus test of a game that came out a little too acidic for McHale's tastes.
Particularly when it came to the energy his team entered the game with. The fight his team displayed, especially early. This far into the McHale era he had hoped at least that much would have changed.
"I thought it was a regression night," McHale said after Thursday's practice in the Memphis Grizzlies' practice facility. "Whatever happened, we did not have it. We were mentally not sharp."
Tonight's game against the Grizzlies will be the 16th since McHale stepped to the bench to take over for Flip Saunders. The team was a game under .500 when McHale took over, one game over .500 (8-7) since. One of the things he has stressed from his first game as coach was a consistent energy level. Perhaps that's why McHale was talking about his frustration with Wednesday's effort.
"We went out there and they got after us and it was like we were surprised," McHale said. "But that's how [the Spurs] play. They come out and they're ready to go. Of the teams we've played lately, the teams I was really impressed with were them and Miami. ... We watched the first-quarter film. We had five, six possessions where nobody on the team knew what set we were in, what we were running."
McHale shook his head. Perhaps some of this frustration has come in the past month. Clearly McHale was hoping he could kick-start his struggling team by making the change. So far, that hasn't happened.
"I knew coming in that this was the toughest stretch [the team] had, playing all the Western Conference teams," McHale said. "The season goes in a rhythm. And it's time to make hay, and you don't make hay, it usually bodes very poorly. Overall I've been trying to get the guys playing at an energy level, to play better. I'd like to get everybody healthy and see how we could finish up the season."
What's interesting about tonight's matchup is that both teams used a coaching change to get their teams out of a rut. So far, the Grizzlies have had better luck with the move.
Memphis, a surprise 50-game winner under coach of the year Hubie Brown, was struggling when Brown retired. But since Mike Fratello took over, the Grizzlies have gone 22-9. Wednesday the team moved seven games over .500 for the first time all season. The team's 21-9 record in its first 30 games under Fratello is the seventh-best start in history for a coach taking over during a season.
And it has come in the face of significant adversity. Multiple injuries have forced the Grizzlies to go with 20 different starting lineups this season, second-most in the league.
Wolves assistant Sidney Lowe spent two-plus seasons coaching the Grizzlies and spent five seasons working for Fratello in Cleveland. So he has kept tabs on the franchise and is not surprised by Fratello's success.
"He can take different players, different lineups, and put guys into the right positions to do well," Lowe said. "He's always gotten his teams to play hard and play the right way."
Whether the Wolves will make a push into the Western Conference playoffs remains to be seen. Once again injuries are an issue, with guard Sam Cassell (hamstring) and forward Mark Madsen (right wrist) questionable.
But so far, McHale still appears to be working to change the Wolves' fortunes. Has he had an impact?
"That's a tough question," said Latrell Sprewell. "I think definitely he has changed some things, tried to do some things differently. Resultswise, it is about the same. There is no denying that. But guys are still playing hard. And I think the one thing is we're competing a lot better. Last night we got [beat handily]. But, overall, we've been competitive. In games we've lost, we've been right there. I can see some positive out of that."