Jerry Zgoda's Sunday Insider: Flip shares his thoughts

Flip Saunders, his Detroit Pistons possibly headed toward an Eastern Conference playoff confrontation with the Boston Celtics and the superstar whom he coached for nine-plus seasons, on Tuesday visited Target Center for the third time since the Timberwolves fired him three years ago. In a morning-shootaround conversation with reporters, he talked about Kevin Garnett, outspoken Wolves owner Glen Taylor, his beloved Gophers and that August day last summer when he witnessed the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

Q What's it like coming back here without No. 21 around?

A It's a little bit different, no question. I saw No. 5 [Garnett's Celtics jersey] enough already. I already saw him three times with No. 5 on it. There's no question Kevin is going to go down as the face of this franchise, the best player who's ever played here and probably will ever play here. Knowing he's not here with his enthusiasm [is different], but watching their team, they've been very competitive here lately. I give Randy [Wittman] a lot of credit.

Q So, is there hope for Wolves fans?

A There's hope. It's going to take some time as usual. Right now in the West, there are a lot of young teams. Portland is going to be great next year. They're getting [injured No. 1 overall draft pick Greg] Oden back, they're getting another lottery pick. You can get a lot better and you might not see it in wins and losses.

Q What was your reaction when Glen Taylor said Kevin Garnett tanked it at the end of last season by refusing to play?

A I told some people, Glen is not malicious in what he does. You guys only have so many lines you can write. I don't think Glen ever thinks that. Maybe it was taken a little bit out of context. Anybody who knows KG knows the competitor he is. Maybe frustrated was the word that should have been used. More than anything else, he wants to win.

Q With the Final Four here, would your 1976-77 Gophers team [that went 24-3, but NCAA sanctions kept it out of the NCAA tournament] have won the national championship?

A We had the great post-up player in Mychal Thompson. We had Kevin [McHale] at the power forward. We had a guy who could get his shot whenever he wanted in Ray Williams. Then with myself and Oz [Osborne Lockhart] in the backcourt, we could shoot the ball and we didn't turn it over. People didn't realize we led the country in rebounding that year. We had the ability to score, but we also had the ability to defend.

Q So would you have won the title?

A That's what Al [former Marquette coach and 1977 champion Al McGuire] said. So I said I'll take his word for it.

Q What'd you think about Tubby Smith's first season as Gophers coach?

A I thought he did a hell of a job, if I can say that. I think Tubby has rejuvenated the enthusiasm for Gopher basketball in the city. Everyone knows when the Gophers are riding high, they're the No. 1 basketball team in town. I think in a couple years, they'll compete for Big Ten championships. I'd be very surprised if they aren't in the NCAA tournament next year.

Q Did you see the drunken driver who killed Malik Sealy was arrested again last weekend?

A Yeah, that's the second time [since Souksangouane Phengsene was convicted for Sealy's death]? That's sad. That's the one thing I notice whenever I come into this building: Malik's number [Sealy's retired jersey No. 2].

Q Did you go by the fallen Interstate 35W bridge on this trip?

A I went down to pick up my daughter at campus last night. It's something kind of surreal. You almost don't want to remember, but you almost can't forget. [The freeway entrance] was closed or I would have been on it. So I ended up on the 10th Avenue bridge. When I looked over, it was there. I kind of turned away and then all I saw was this smoke and then you heard this explosion and it was gone.