OT: McOutsted

[Minstrel]

Not exactly a stellar GM resume... along with those other gaffes he's made.

That was my conclusion, as well. Far from stellar. But leaving Garnett out is hardly a balanced view. You can't say "He had Garnett and all he accomplished with him was a bunch of playoff appearances and one deep run as a title contender." He didn't inherit Garnett. He inherited a nothing team and, largely due to one move, made them a playoff fixture with one title contention year.

So, sure, it was just one move. But it was a brilliant one that created a certain level of success. You can't just discount that because it's inconvenient. The team he inherited was not even close to a playoff team, it was a 20 win team.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

To be fair, he also drafted Kevin Garnett, who was an extremely risky pick at the time...not at all a slam dunk. Many people weren't sold on Garnett, as one of the first prep-to-pro players (I think the first one other than Moses Malone much earlier).

Wasn't Shawn Kemp a prep-to-pro?

 

[BlazersBlood]

Wasn't Shawn Kemp a prep-to-pro?

Nope. He never played college ball, but he wasn't considered a true prep-to-pro. Here's the wiki entry:

During his senior year, Kemp signed a national letter-of-intent to play basketball at the University of Kentucky. However, he left the team before the season started because of Kentucky's Eddie Sutton scandal. He transferred mid-season to Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, but was too late to suit up for the squad. After a semester at TVCC, 19-year-old Shawn Kemp declared himself eligible for the 1989 NBA Draft without any collegiate experience.

 

[andalusian]

Wasn't Shawn Kemp a prep-to-pro?

Given Shawn Kemp's procreation prowess he was probably a rabbit-hole to pro.

 

[Draco]

Does it seem kind of shady from the Minny side? Asked the guy to fire the coach and to coach the team himself and give up his managerial duties, then hired a new GM that relieved him of his coaching duties? I dunno, it all seems like a passive aggressive way to fire someone.

Glen Taylor was good friends with McHale, he had trouble letting him go.