McHale to Coach Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves have gotten replaced Randy Wittman with Kevin McHale as coach of the team. McHale is leaving the Timberwolves' front office to coach. McHale has stated that this is not just an interim year. He has stated his long-term plans as being coach for this squad.

McHale was been the vice president of basketball operations for Minnesota since he first received the position in 1995. The Timberwolves, however, have not been doing well. After the first nineteen games, the Timberwolves have a record of 4-15. Randy Wittman was the fourth head coach to be fired within the first twenty games of the NBA season. The other coaches were P.J. Carlesimo, Eddie Jordan, and Sam Mitchell, former coaches for Oklahoma City, Washington, and Toronto. The final straw seemed to be when the Wolves lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, a team also with a embarrassing record.

Randy Wittman had posted a 38-105 record with the Timberwolves since taking over the team in 2007. Last year, Wittman went 22-60.Wittman may be among the worst coaches in the league when looking at his career record trends. His teams have been progressively getting worse. He coached the Cleveland Cavilers to a .390 winning percentage four years ago and a .366 winning percentage three years ago. Then, when he got his job at Minnesota, he finished the season leading Minnesota to a .286 record. Last year, the Timberwolves posted a .268 record under him and at the start of this year, they are .211. All his numbers have been progressively getting worse.

McHale is no rookie when it comes to basketball. He had a 19-13 record as a coach when he took over for Flip Saunders in the 2004-05 season.

The season started, although with many losses, with a sense of hope. They lost five games by six or less points and have a couple rookies that are still developing. Still, as the season progressed, it seemed like this season would not turn around. The Timberwolves were off to a miserable 3-16 start last year and after noting the 4-15 start this year, McHale thought it was best to let Wittman go.

The Timberwolves will have a long way to go until they make the playoffs. They are in the same division as the Portland Trailblazers, Utah Jazz, and Denver Nuggets - all of which have the potential and are expect to win at least 50 games this year. Minnesota does have a bright spot, though - they are in the same division as the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are likely to post a worse record than them.

Wolves Replace Wittman with McHale, ESPN.com