Flip Saunders legacy was rooted in Minnesota but e from seestyle's blog

The Minnesota Timberwolves have a basketball game to play Wednesday night, but that won't be on anyone's minds.Flip Saunders, the Timberwolves Masahiro Tanaka Jersey ' team president and head coach,died Sunday at age 60.His battle with cancer was brief, but the as Saunders was inlife.MORE: | His impact went beyond coaching, but it beganthere.Saunders was at the helmfor more than half of the Timberwolves franchise's wins (427 out of 818) and all eight of their postseason berths. No other coach won 100 games or has a winning record with the Timberwolves.He played a major role in developing Kevin Garnett in Minnesota and John Wall in Washington,and he guided Detroit to three consecutive Eastern Conference finals.But Minnesota was where Saunders made his mark. He was the point Aaron Hicks Jersey guard for a 24-3 Golden Gophers team in 1977 as a senior, teamed up with Mychal Thompson and Kevin McHale. In 1996, he was paired again with McHaleand led a young Timberwolves team to playoff prominence, all behindyoung Garnett.The Timberwolves made their first and only appearance in the Western Conference finals in 2004. Saunders left Minnesota a year later, but the franchise faltered until he returned in 2013 as president, adding coaching duties a year later. Among his moves were trading for Andrew Wiggins anddrafting Karl-Anthony Towns, Luis Severino Jersey the bedrock for the Timberwolves' future. He also brought back the franchise's greatest player.Forever in my heart....Posted by onGarnett isn't alone. As time has gone on, the public, from fansto coachesto playersto former ESPN colleagues, has Greg Bird Jersey extended condolences to the Saunders family and all that were close to him. And more praise of his character will continue to make its way through social media and other outlets as time goes on.But it wasn't his coaching abilitythat warrantshim this sort of praise. It was him as a person.Yes, the Timberwolves will open their regular season Wednesday on the road against the Lakersat the Staples Center. Garnett, Wiggins, Towns,coach Sam Mitchell, Ricky Rubio and all the other Wolves who Saunders brought in, will be there to try to bring in a win. But it's going to be impo sible for anyone to think about just the game, and that's okay.Saunders said back in August that the support he received "has truly reminded me that the goodne s of people should never be questioned,"but that only came because of the number of lives Flip impacted in his tragically short lifetime. The goodne s of people Brian Roberts Jersey was exposed because of the goodne s of Flip Saunders.