Saunders still has soft spot for Minnesota

But coach excited about Pistons job

BY RICK ALONZO

Pioneer Press


Flip Saunders made sure he was there last weekend for the University
of Minnesota's big football game at Michigan.

He attended as a guest of the Wolverines but rooted for the Gophers.
That was a risky venture for a man who now coaches the Detroit
Pistons and whose team owner is an avid Michigan booster.

Saunders' office address has changed, but he isn't straying from his
roots. So one can imagine the pride Saunders felt when his alma mater
stunned Michigan and took home the Little Brown Jug for the first
time in almost 20 years.

"They said to me, 'You must be pretty brave,' because I was sitting
in the Michigan athletic director's box wearing a maroon sweater,"
Saunders said Friday. "We had a little bit of fun with it. I told
them you can take me out of Minnesota, but you can't take the
Minnesota out of me. I still bleed maroon and gold."

For the first time in 10 years, Saunders is coaching an NBA team not
named the Timberwolves. Saunders' Pistons — still sounds a little
strange, doesn't it? — face his former team in an exhibition game
today at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Know this about Flip Saunders: His allegiance to the Gophers and
Minnesota is undying, his relationship with the Wolves is now more
complex, and his excitement about his new opportunity is abundant.

Saunders, fired in February, said he feels a range of emotions about
his Wolves tenure and his future with the Pistons.

Wolves owner Glen Taylor and vice president of basketball operations
Kevin McHale gave Saunders his first opportunity to coach in the NBA,
and for that, he's grateful.

Saunders helped Minnesota win at least 50 games in four seasons,
including an ascent to the Western Conference finals and a franchise-
best 58 victories in 2003-04. But less than a year later, he was let
go with the team 25-26.

"I think I was surprised," Saunders said of his dismissal. "I guess
in this business you should never be surprised. Last year, 10 or 11
coaches were fired or replaced. Most jobs, unless you retire, when
the relationship ends, it ends bad."

That might best describe the Saunders-McHale relationship. College
teammates and roommates at Minnesota, a bond that led them to a
decade together with the Wolves, they haven't spoken since McHale
informed Saunders he was being relieved of his coaching duties.

Entering this weekend, there were no plans to talk before or after
today's game. They each talked only briefly about the status of their
once strong friendship.

"I really don't talk to anyone on opposing teams before games,"
Saunders said. "I'm sure afterward, if I run into him … anybody
you've been friends with that closely, you don't throw that away.
Time is a healer."

Said McHale: "I have no ill feelings toward Flip at all. I like Flip
a great deal. Flip's a good guy. I've known him and his wife since
college. Ryan, his son, is a great young man. It's just one of those
deals in business where sometimes it's tough."

There were disappointments, to be sure, on both sides. The team never
reached the NBA Finals.

Last season, the Wolves were thought to be a strong contender.
Instead, with McHale coaching the team down the stretch, the Wolves
missed the playoffs by a game and finished with a 44-38 record. The
final ledger included losses to bottom-of-the-barrel teams such as
the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks.

Saunders pegged part of the problem on injuries. Sam Cassell, Troy
Hudson, Mark Madsen and Michael Olowokandi were hampered last season.

"I do think it will be an emotional day a little bit for everyone
(today), only because as players, I really believe that we felt
responsible that Flip was released," Madsen said. "Unfortunately, we
weren't getting the job done on the court."

Saunders said the most difficult aspect of his departure from
Minnesota has been the separation from his family. He still has a
house in Wayzata for his wife, Debbie, and his four children. Mindy
is a senior at Wayzata High School. Ryan, who plays basketball for
the Gophers, goes home when he can. And then there are the twins,
Rachel and Kimberly.

"Our whole family is very much entrenched in Minnesota," Saunders
said. "It made it very difficult when everything went down, and how
it went down. Sometimes, things happen for a reason and they happen
for the best."

It was Ryan Saunders who encouraged his father to be patient this
summer as NBA jobs opened and Saunders consistently ranked at or near
the top of candidates. Saunders said he was hesitant about a return
to coaching so soon, but it was Ryan who pushed his father to return,
but only for the right opening.

"He said, 'Dad, you talk a lot about winning championships, and you
owe it to yourself to wait.' "

And then the Pistons called. Saunders was hired July 21. He takes
over a readymade roster.

Detroit won the 2003-04 NBA championship and made it back to the
Finals last season under former coach Larry Brown.

"Some people can say it is pressure," Saunders said. "What you're
trying to do is build and win a championship no matter where you are.
Fortunately, I've walked into a situation where we have those tools
from the players standpoint. It's a positive situation all around."