Thoughts on the McHale Era

It was a long run. There were some good times. There were a lot of bad times. The ending was a little awkward. That's the three second summation of the Kevin McHale era.

The good times came mostly in the beginning. The McHale Era started roughly when Glen Taylor rescued the team from the swindlers in New Orleans and appointed McHale the Vice President of Basketball Operations. McHale promptly made the genius move of drafting Garnett and what appeared to be a good move in drafting Marbury. Things were looking up for McHale and his promising young squad.

Unfortunately, the plan went very wrong once the team lost Gugliotta and Marbury turned out to be a crazy man. This led to about five years that could be known as the tedium of mediocrity. McHale didn't look so smart but I don't remember many calling for him to be fired at that point.

Then there was the one year blip of greatness that every Wolves fan remembers more fondly than any other year. I still maintain that getting Cassell and Sprewell was a great move. No one knew those two would provide one great year and then complain about everything and become clubhouse cancers.

After that great year, everyone knows how quickly things deteriorated. We have now been stuck with five seasons that have been far too similar to the franchise's first five season. Poor players, mounting losses, and call for McHale to be fired have been the norm.

David Kahn heeded that last point yesterday and pulled the McHale Era off of life support.

It was time for McHale to go. I find that I am not as elated as most fans, but I'm also not disappointed. McHale showed some promise as head coach, but not enough that any would reasonably entertain keeping him employed in this situation. It's a little sad just because McHale was a beloved Minnesota sports figure for so long and he seems like a very nice guy.

Of course, NBA basketball isn't about being a nice guy. It's about winning and giving the fans what they want. McHale certainly couldn't meet those demands so now we get to turn our attention to a new era. Will it be the Kahn era or the insert-new-coach's-name-here era? Only time will tell. For now, I think it is the era of possibility, as in there is a possibility the Wolves could become a good team in a few years.

For the meantime, though, the draft being one week from tonight will put the whole coaching situation on hold. As I mentioned in a post just after the season ended, there is plenty to keep Wolves fans interested this offseason.