For anyone who began analyzing the Timberwolves eight months ago,
Friday was a red-letter day.

It was the first day you could say, without snickering, that the
Wolves looked smart.

We may never know whether they hired Dwane Casey for the right or
wrong reasons, whether they hired him to save money or save the
franchise, whether they hired him because of -- or in spite of --
Kevin Garnett or Kevin McHale's urgings, whether they really think
anybody can win with this group of unathletic underachievers.

Whatever their motivations, the Wolves' braintrust (please, hold the
jokes for a year) may have hired a guy who can help them overcome a
decade of bad personnel decisions and one year of utter embarrassment.

They could have hired P.J. Carlesimo for obvious reasons -- his vast
experience, his association with the model-franchise San Antonio
Spurs -- and it would have been a mess. This franchise needs someone
who can both woo and command players, and I'm not sure Carlesimo can
do either at this level.

They could have hired Marc Iavaroni because of his association with
the trendy Phoenix Suns -- and that would have been pointless. This
team has few players athletic enough to run and shoot.

They could have hired a retread or a college coach, two of the worst
decisions an NBA franchise can make.

They could have hired one of their current assistants, indicating to
their players that what happened in Target Center last year was
acceptable.

Instead, they chose the best of the available, reasonable options --
a personable but tough NBA assistant who has paid his dues and
possesses that lean and hungry look.

"He was as hungry as anybody," Wolves owner Glen Taylor said. "I
liked that."

Taylor said Casey already has plans to work hard this summer, to use
every day and avenue to improve the team. Without mentioning any
names (like Flip Saunders or McHale or the current assistants),
Taylor then said: "We lost something this last year."

His point: The Wolves got too fat and happy after making it to the
conference finals last year. We already knew this, but it's good to
hear the boss admit it.

(I actually wrote a column a month ago recommending Casey. But then
Whizzinatorgate broke, and the column got shelved while I spent
quality time with my NFL marijuana source, Deep Toke.)

Taylor admitted Casey has asked for more speed and one-on-one
playmaking ability. Casey himself even lauded Troy Hudson because
he's one of the few Wolves who possesses both speed and ballhandling
skill.

If Casey can get Threepoint Troy to actually run an offense, he'll
get my vote for NBA coach of the year.

The average Wolves fan might not be impressed with Casey because he's
never run his own show. That's fine -- the best NBA coaching hires
often fail to make a strong first impression.

Of my favorite NBA coaches -- Scott Skiles, Gregg Popovich, Stan Van
Gundy, Nate McMillan and Mike D'Antoni -- only Skiles had head
coaching experience in the league before getting his current job. A
fresh perspective, on this team and on this league, is eminently
desirable.

This does not mean that, even if Casey does good work, he will
succeed. I remember watching the Wolves play Charlotte this winter. I
was in a sports bar on the road somewhere, so the sound was turned
down, and I kept thinking that, if you didn't know anything about
those teams, you would come to the conclusion that the team in red
was much more talented.

Casey is facing a tough chore here.

As is often the case, the most intriguing aspects of this hiring are
what happened behind the scenes. Did McHale fight for Carlesimo? Did
Garnett throw his weight around? Did Taylor run the show?

McHale didn't look all too comfortable at the table next to Casey
Friday, while Taylor looked like he had just made another billion.

It is a curious pairing -- Taylor, who got caught making an illicit
deal with Joe Smith, and Casey, who was implicated in a recruiting
scandal when he was an assistant at Kentucky.

Taylor admitted his guilt. Casey has maintained his innocence.

This is the beginning of your honeymoon, Mr. Casey. Until you lose to
the Bobcats, we believe you.

All you really have to do to win our loyalty is work harder than
McHale and run a tighter ship than Flip.

Hmmm ... maybe this job won't be that difficult, after all.