Patrick Reusse: A tactical decision

Dwane Casey is out because he wasn't the strategist Kevin McHale wanted him to be, not because of his team's erratic play.

By Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune

Last update: January 23, 2007 - 10:18 PM

Kevin McHale decided on a theme to explain Dwane Casey's firing on Tuesday and he did not vary from it. Casey was dropped as Timberwolves coach because of his team's inconsistency, said McHale, again and again.

He said this during a conference call with beat reporters late in the afternoon, and repeated it perhaps a dozen times during a 40-minute session with reporters and in front of TV cameras at Target Center.

When it was pointed out to McHale that teams of marginal talent are inconsistent by definition, he went into a comparison of shooting 68 one day and 78 the next on the PGA Tour.

"We go out and play at a high level one night, and I don't look at that as us playing over our heads," McHale said. "I look at it as a level we should be able to replicate every night."

Yet, when McHale was asked about the enigmatic Ricky Davis, he talked about a night Larry Bird was so out of things that he threw a pass to a player checking into the game.

"Some nights, the ball is square for everyone," McHale said. "If Larry Bird can have a game like that, Ricky Davis sure can have that kind of game."

All of which left at least one member of McHale's media audience with this reaction: Huh?

Inconsistent play from a team with a roster far removed from the league's elite can't be explained, but inconsistent play from the team's second-most talented player can be dismissed as part of the NBA grind.

Here's the reality:

McHale chose the Wolves' inconsistency as his explanation for firing Casey because he has a fondness for him as a person. The other option was full candor -- that McHale did not believe Casey was up to NBA standards as a tactician.

It was clear that McHale came to that conclusion during the 2005-06 season, when the Wolves went 33-49 with Casey as a rookie coach.

Yet, it would have been beyond outrageous to fire Casey after last season, particularly when he was made to tank the last few games (and play without Kevin Garnett) to guarantee the Wolves would land in the NBA lottery.

What McHale did was bring in two veteran coaches, Randy Wittman and Bob Ociepka, to give Casey assistance with X's and O's and practice preparation. McHale didn't flat-out mention those aspects Tuesday, but he did admit he brought in veteran coaches "to give Dwane some help."

The popular reaction will be that McHale fired Casey because he's delusional over the quality of his team. This delusion was on display when McHale was asked:

"What's accomplished by finishing eighth in the West and getting Phoenix or Dallas in the first round?"

McHale's response was, "I think we can be better than a No. 8 seed."

This would require a surge -- to surpass teams as talented as Houston and Denver -- and there's only one fellow we all know willing to attach such outlandish hope to a surge.

Bottom line: It's not complete delusion about his flawed roster that led McHale to make this move. He fired Casey because he doesn't think he is a good coach.

He's energetic, he can get effort from most of his players, but McHale fired Casey because of the basics: the way the Wolves defended the pick-and-roll, the plays they ran coming out of timeouts with games on the line.

"Randy Wittman is a demanding, exacting guy," McHale said.

And today, that's what McHale wants -- a coach to show his players exactly how to defend a pick-and-roll in practice, and demand they defend it that way in the next game. He wants a coach to design a clutch play that could result in better than Garnett bricking an 18-foot fallaway jumper.

You look at this imbalanced roster and say, "Why does McHale still have a job?" and there's no real answer.

But he does, and now after 1 ½ seasons of relying on Casey's hunger and energy, the basketball boss is back to wanting a tactician ... a Flip Saunders type.

And so it goes, until owner Glen Taylor decides to remove McHale's attachment to his hip.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com

Recent Sports stories

Henderson continuing to strive toward peak - January 23, 2007

Henderson continuing to strive toward peak - The Vikings middle linebacker is not at top form since his injury layoff, but he still sets a high personal standard for his performance. More