Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders dies of cancer, Flip Saunders, the longtime NBA drillmaster who won added than 650 amateur in about two decades and was aggravating to clean the Minnesota Timberwolves as aggregation president, drillmaster and allotment owner, died Sunday, the aggregation said. He was 60
Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in June and doctors alleged it "treatable and curable" if the Timberwolves fabricated the analysis accessible in August. But he took a leave of absence from the aggregation in September afterwards complications arose during his recovery.
Saunders went 654-592 in 17 NBA seasons with the Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.
Sam Mitchell has been called acting arch drillmaster of the Timberwolves and GM Milt Newton is branch the team's cadre department.
Philip Daniel Saunders was built-in on Feb. 23, 1955, in Cleveland and was a basic basketball brilliant at Cuyahoga Heights High School. His mother Kay nicknamed him Flip afterwards audition the name at a adorableness salon. He played in academy at Minnesota, teaming with Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson as a chief to advance the Golden Gophers to a 24-3 record.
Not continued afterwards graduating, Saunders absitively to get into apprenticeship and set about a continued and ambagious aisle to the NBA. He started at Golden Valley Lutheran Academy just alfresco of Minneapolis and served as an abettor at Minnesota and Tulsa afore spending seven seasons in the Continental Basketball Association.
Saunders generally accustomed his assignment in the CBA with instilling in him the plan belief and beyond of authoritative ability that would advice him as a drillmaster and controlling in the NBA. He fabricated stops in Rapid City, South Dakota; La Crosse, Wisconsin; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and would generally broadcast belief of his abjure adventures in the accessory alliance and his affection for the NBA coaches who followed agnate paths.
He landed in the NBA in 1995, if he wrote a letter to new buyer Glen Taylor allurement for a job. His academy buddy, McHale, took over the basketball operations with the Timberwolves and Saunders became the team's accepted manager. If Bill Blair was accursed 20 amateur into the season, Saunders was al of a sudden the arch drillmaster of a disturbing authorization that had never fabricated the playoffs. But he teamed with a adolescent Kevin Garnett to about-face the Timberwolves into a abiding playoff team.
Saunders led the Wolves to eight beeline playoff appearances, the endure a cruise to the Western Conference finals in 2004. He was accursed the next division if the aggregation burst acknowledgment in ample allotment to acknowledged battles with Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell. The Wolves accept not been aback to the playoffs since.
Saunders won 64 amateur in his aboriginal division in Detroit in 2005-06 and 176 in his three seasons apprenticeship the Pistons. But he couldn't absolutely get a veteran-laden aggregation over the bulge and into the NBA Finals, so he was absolved in 2008.
He accomplished three added years in Washington afore abiding to Minnesota as admiral of basketball operations in 2013. Again, he took over a authorization in agitation and was steadily bringing the Timberwolves aback to appliance afore he fell ill.
Saunders cautiously handled the avenue of annoyed advanced Kevin Love, trading him to Cleveland for a amalgamation including beginning adolescent brilliant Andrew Wiggins and Thaddeus Young, who was addled to Brooklyn in February to defended Garnett's return. Saunders aswell active Ricky Rubio to a four-year arrangement extension, drafted Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad and Karl-Anthony Towns, brought in veterans Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince and helped architecture a new $25 actor convenance ability beyond the artery from Target Center.
As aggregation president, drillmaster and a boyhood owner, Saunders affective a akin of access aural his alignment that was incomparable in the NBA. His fingerprints were on everything, from cadre decisions to in-game strategies, even down to the pregame entertainment.
He admired to bastard up abaft biting visitors to Target Center, catch his duke down on a accept and clasp with a vise-like anchor that came from hours of massaging his polio-stricken mother in his youth.
He would backpack about autographed cards of himself to duke out to fans, and playfully accord them to media associates as able-bodied with a arch beam on his face.
Gregarious and outgoing, he admired himself to a Twin Cities association that beheld him as a hometown boy done good, with his Gophers roots overshadowing his Cleveland upbringing. And Flip admired Minnesota appropriate back. If he alternate to the alignment afterwards 10 years away, he anecdotal a adventure about alive for ESPN and getting asked why he still lived in Minnesota so continued afterwards he was fired.
"And I'd say 'Well, you don't absolutely accept unless you're from Minnesota. You absolutely don't get it. Even if it snows on May 3rd you absolutely don't get it,'" Saunders said. "And the adherence and the affection that the humans accept actuality is what consistently drives me back."
Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in June and doctors alleged it "treatable and curable" if the Timberwolves fabricated the analysis accessible in August. But he took a leave of absence from the aggregation in September afterwards complications arose during his recovery.Saunders went 654-592 in 17 NBA seasons with the Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.
Sam Mitchell has been called acting arch drillmaster of the Timberwolves and GM Milt Newton is branch the team's cadre department.
Philip Daniel Saunders was built-in on Feb. 23, 1955, in Cleveland and was a basic basketball brilliant at Cuyahoga Heights High School. His mother Kay nicknamed him Flip afterwards audition the name at a adorableness salon. He played in academy at Minnesota, teaming with Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson as a chief to advance the Golden Gophers to a 24-3 record.
Not continued afterwards graduating, Saunders absitively to get into apprenticeship and set about a continued and ambagious aisle to the NBA. He started at Golden Valley Lutheran Academy just alfresco of Minneapolis and served as an abettor at Minnesota and Tulsa afore spending seven seasons in the Continental Basketball Association.
Saunders generally accustomed his assignment in the CBA with instilling in him the plan belief and beyond of authoritative ability that would advice him as a drillmaster and controlling in the NBA. He fabricated stops in Rapid City, South Dakota; La Crosse, Wisconsin; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and would generally broadcast belief of his abjure adventures in the accessory alliance and his affection for the NBA coaches who followed agnate paths.
He landed in the NBA in 1995, if he wrote a letter to new buyer Glen Taylor allurement for a job. His academy buddy, McHale, took over the basketball operations with the Timberwolves and Saunders became the team's accepted manager. If Bill Blair was accursed 20 amateur into the season, Saunders was al of a sudden the arch drillmaster of a disturbing authorization that had never fabricated the playoffs. But he teamed with a adolescent Kevin Garnett to about-face the Timberwolves into a abiding playoff team.
Saunders led the Wolves to eight beeline playoff appearances, the endure a cruise to the Western Conference finals in 2004. He was accursed the next division if the aggregation burst acknowledgment in ample allotment to acknowledged battles with Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell. The Wolves accept not been aback to the playoffs since.
Saunders won 64 amateur in his aboriginal division in Detroit in 2005-06 and 176 in his three seasons apprenticeship the Pistons. But he couldn't absolutely get a veteran-laden aggregation over the bulge and into the NBA Finals, so he was absolved in 2008.
He accomplished three added years in Washington afore abiding to Minnesota as admiral of basketball operations in 2013. Again, he took over a authorization in agitation and was steadily bringing the Timberwolves aback to appliance afore he fell ill.
Saunders cautiously handled the avenue of annoyed advanced Kevin Love, trading him to Cleveland for a amalgamation including beginning adolescent brilliant Andrew Wiggins and Thaddeus Young, who was addled to Brooklyn in February to defended Garnett's return. Saunders aswell active Ricky Rubio to a four-year arrangement extension, drafted Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad and Karl-Anthony Towns, brought in veterans Andre Miller and Tayshaun Prince and helped architecture a new $25 actor convenance ability beyond the artery from Target Center.
As aggregation president, drillmaster and a boyhood owner, Saunders affective a akin of access aural his alignment that was incomparable in the NBA. His fingerprints were on everything, from cadre decisions to in-game strategies, even down to the pregame entertainment.
He admired to bastard up abaft biting visitors to Target Center, catch his duke down on a accept and clasp with a vise-like anchor that came from hours of massaging his polio-stricken mother in his youth.
He would backpack about autographed cards of himself to duke out to fans, and playfully accord them to media associates as able-bodied with a arch beam on his face.
Gregarious and outgoing, he admired himself to a Twin Cities association that beheld him as a hometown boy done good, with his Gophers roots overshadowing his Cleveland upbringing. And Flip admired Minnesota appropriate back. If he alternate to the alignment afterwards 10 years away, he anecdotal a adventure about alive for ESPN and getting asked why he still lived in Minnesota so continued afterwards he was fired.
"And I'd say 'Well, you don't absolutely accept unless you're from Minnesota. You absolutely don't get it. Even if it snows on May 3rd you absolutely don't get it,'" Saunders said. "And the adherence and the affection that the humans accept actuality is what consistently drives me back."
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