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34-491: Former Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders began his basketball coaching career here in 1977 and never lost a home game as coach, going 56–0. Former pro wrestler (and now evangelist) Nikita Koloff played football at the college. Pro wrestler Road Warrior Animal also played football here. In 1967 the school was changed into a two-year junior college and renamed Golden Valley Lutheran College. The school closed in 1985. Most of

68-646: A 53–29 record, good for first in the East. Once again the Pistons were able to reach the Eastern Conference finals, but they were defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. The 2007–08 season saw the Pistons finish with their third-best record in franchise history at 59–23. Detroit did not finish first in the Eastern Conference as they had the previous two seasons, instead finishing as

102-512: A larger hotel operation. In most professional sports , the general manager is the team executive responsible for acquiring the rights to player personnel, negotiating their contracts , and reassigning or dismissing players no longer desired on the team. The general manager may also have responsibility for hiring and firing the head coach of the team. For many years in U.S. professional sports, coaches often served as general managers for their teams as well, deciding which players would be kept on

136-739: A permanent banner was unveiled in the Target Center honoring Saunders. A little over three years after his death, Flip's son Ryan Saunders took over as the Timberwolves' head coach following the firing of Tom Thibodeau . On January 4, 2020, the south gymnasium at Cuyahoga Heights High School in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio was renamed in Flip's honor. The event was attended by Flip's wife Debbie Saunders, Flip's son and former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders, other members of

170-428: The management of an executive team, which consists of individual department heads, who oversee various hotel departments and functions, budgeting and financial management ; creating and enforcing hotel business objectives and goals; sales management ; marketing management ; revenue management ; project management ; contract management ; handling of emergencies and other major issues involving guests, employees, or

204-755: The Golden Gophers to the Big Ten championship that season. After five seasons at Minnesota, he became an assistant coach at the University of Tulsa where he worked for two seasons before heading to the pro ranks. Saunders became the coach of the Rapid City Thrillers of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in the 1988–89 season, where future Kings and Warriors head coach Eric Musselman served as

238-569: The Pistons have not won a division title or playoff game since his firing, and have only had one season above a .500 record. On April 14, 2009, Saunders reached an agreement to become the new coach of the Washington Wizards . The deal was reportedly worth $ 18 million over 4 years. On January 24, 2012, Saunders was fired as the coach of the Wizards. Replaced by former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Randy Wittman , Saunders departed

272-547: The Saunders' family as well as by the entire 2020 Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team. Source: # denotes interim head coach # denotes interim head coach # denotes interim head coach General manager A general manager ( GM ) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement , known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of

306-746: The University of Minnesota and was a member of the dance team. Flip's twin daughters, Kim and Rachel, also attended the University of Minnesota. Together, they danced on the University of Minnesota Dance Team for 4 years – winning 8 national championships and a World Championship. According to Saunders, he was about 20 yards (18 m) (60 feet) away from the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse on August 1, 2007, in Minneapolis. On August 11, 2015, Saunders announced he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma , for which he

340-582: The Western Conference finals, they struggled in the 2004–05 season . On February 12, 2005, McHale fired Saunders and named himself head coach for the rest of the season. McHale was unable to right the ship, and the Wolves finished one game out of the playoffs, the first time they had missed the playoffs in nine years. Many fans believed that Saunders' firing was unwarranted, citing instead the contract troubles of Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell as

374-584: The Wizards with a record of 51–130. On June 6, 2014, Saunders was named the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, returning to the franchise for a second stint. During his second stint with the Timberwolves, Saunders was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma . During his recovery, he delegated his coaching position to assistant coach and former NBA Coach of the Year winner Sam Mitchell . His 427 wins during parts of ten seasons in two stints are

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408-685: The Year honors (1989, 1992) and 23 CBA-to-NBA player promotions. Saunders would leave after seven productive seasons as a head coach in the CBA, where he ranks second with 253 career victories. Saunders joined the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on May 11, 1995, as general manager , working under his former Minnesota teammate, Kevin McHale . On December 18, 1995, Saunders

442-500: The Year, leading the state in scoring average with 32.0 points per game. At the University of Minnesota , he started 101 of his 103 career contests and as a senior, teamed with Ray Williams , Mychal Thompson , Kevin McHale , and Osborne Lockhart. Saunders began his coaching career at Golden Valley Lutheran College where he compiled a 92–13 record, including a perfect 56–0 mark at home, in four seasons. In 1981, he became an assistant coach at his alma mater, Minnesota, and helped guide

476-670: The best record in the NBA that season. The Pistons defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round , and the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games to reach the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual NBA champions Miami Heat . The following season, despite losing four-time All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace to free agency, Saunders led Detroit to

510-657: The campus is intact and is used as the Perpich Center for Arts Education , a public high school. 44°59′01″N 93°21′32″W  /  44.983682°N 93.358845°W  / 44.983682; -93.358845 This article about a university or college in Minnesota is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to Lutheranism is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Flip Saunders Philip Daniel " Flip " Saunders (February 23, 1955 – October 25, 2015)

544-432: The desires of the team's ownership and its ability to pay. General Managers are usually responsible for the selection of players in player drafts and work with the coaching staff and scouts to build a strong team. In sports with developmental or minor leagues , the general manager is usually the team executive with the overall responsibility for "sending down" and "calling up" players to and from these leagues, although

578-563: The facility; public relations ; labor relations ; local government relations; and maintaining business partnerships. The extent of duties of an individual hotel general manager vary significantly depending on the size of the hotel and company organization; for example, general managers of smaller boutique-type hotels may be directly responsible for additional administrative duties such as accounting, human resources, payroll, purchasing, and other duties that would normally be handled by other subordinate managers or entire departments and divisions in

612-558: The fifth team in NBA history to have four All-Stars in the same season ( Ben Wallace , Rasheed Wallace , Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups ). After a 70-point first half performance from the Western Conference All-Stars, Saunders notably played all four Pistons for majority of the second half, to propel a defensive turnaround that allowed the East to overcome a 21-point deficit and win the game. The Pistons finished 64–18—their best record in franchise history—and

646-433: The firm's marketing and sales functions as well as the day-to-day operations of the business. Frequently, the general manager is responsible for effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain desirable profit making results for an organization. In many cases, the general manager of a business is given a different formal title or titles. Most corporate managers holding

680-480: The front office to the team's general manager Milt Newton . Saunders and his wife Debbie had four children. Their son, Ryan , is a former guard for the University of Minnesota, Flip's alma mater, and later became an NBA assistant coach for the Wizards and Wolves, the head coach of the Wolves and won an NBA championship as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets in 2023 . His daughter, Mindy also attended

714-499: The head coach may also have significant input into these decisions. Some of the most successful sports general managers have been former players and coaches, while others have backgrounds in ownership and business management. The term is not commonly used in Europe, especially in football , where the position of manager or coach is used instead to refer to the managing/coaching position. The position of director of football might be

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748-437: The hotel industry, the general manager is the head executive responsible for the overall operation of an individual hotel establishment including financial profitability. The general manager holds ultimate managerial authority over the hotel operation and usually reports directly to a regional vice president, corporate office, and/or hotel ownership/investors. Some of the common duties of a general manager include are hiring and

782-511: The most in franchise history and, until the 2017–18 season, he was the only coach to lead the Timberwolves to a winning season or coach a playoff game. On April 29, 2012, Saunders joined the Boston Celtics as an advisor. On May 3, 2013, Saunders was named the Timberwolves' President of Basketball Operations. On June 5, 2014, Saunders was named head coach as well. During his recovery from Hodgkin's Lymphoma, he delegated his duties within

816-659: The reasons for the team's failure. However, many also acknowledged that Saunders had coached ten years in Minnesota, and perhaps a new voice was needed. Saunders replaced Larry Brown as coach of the Detroit Pistons on July 21, 2005. In his first season in Detroit, Saunders coached the Eastern Conference All-Stars in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, Texas , and the Pistons became just

850-477: The respect of the Pistons locker room, and was unable to get them to raise their game at crucial moments. Chauncey Billups, who played for Saunders in Minnesota as well as Detroit, refuted Sheridan's report. In his three years in Detroit, Saunders led the Pistons to three consecutive Central Division titles and three consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference finals (part of a run of six consecutive Conference finals appearances dating to 2002–03). As of 2023,

884-498: The second half of the season. He guided with difficulty the Timberwolves to their first-ever playoff berth in the 1996–97 season , his first full season as an NBA head coach. A year later, he led the Timberwolves to their first-ever winning season. They went on to a franchise-record 50 victories in 1999–2000 which was duplicated in 2001–2002 . After the Timberwolves' success in the 2003–04 NBA season , in which they won their first (and to date, only) division title and advanced to

918-639: The second seed for the playoffs. Saunders did still lead them to the Eastern Conference finals once again, but they lost to the Boston Celtics , who went on to win the NBA Finals that year. On June 3, 2008, just days after the loss to the Celtics, Saunders was fired as head coach. Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said the team needed a "new voice". According to a post-mortem by ESPN 's Chris Sheridan, Saunders never really earned

952-626: The team and which ones dismissed, and even negotiating the terms of their contracts in cooperation with the ownership of the team. In fact, many sports teams in the early years of U.S. professional sports were coached by the owner of the team, so in some cases the same individual served as owner, general manager and head coach. As the amount of money involved in professional sports increased, many prominent players began to hire agents to negotiate contracts on their behalf. This intensified contract negotiations to ensure that player contracts are in accordance with salary caps, as well as being consistent with

986-752: The team's general manager. Musselman's father, Bill Musselman , had recruited Flip when Bill was head coach at the University of Minnesota. Saunders then later moved to the La Crosse Catbirds for five seasons (1989–94), where he won two CBA Championships, before coaching in 1994–95 with the Sioux Falls Skyforce . He also served as general manager (1991–93) and team president (1991–94) of the Catbirds. Saunders' impressive CBA tenure included seven consecutive seasons of 30 or more victories, two CBA championships (1990, 1992), two CBA Coach of

1020-446: The title of general manager when they have the full set of responsibility for the function in that particular area of the business and are often titled vice president and general manager. In consumer products companies, general managers are often given the title brand manager or category manager. In professional services firms, the general manager may hold titles such as managing partner, senior partner, or managing director. In

1054-568: The titles of chief executive officer (CEO) or president , for example, are the general managers of their respective businesses. More rarely, the chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO), or chief marketing officer (CMO) will act as the general manager of the business. Depending on the company, individuals with the title managing director, regional vice president, country manager, product manager, branch manager, or segment manager may also have general management responsibilities. In large companies, many vice presidents will have

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1088-457: Was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds , Minnesota Timberwolves , Detroit Pistons , and Washington Wizards . Saunders was born in Cleveland, Ohio . He was an All-state basketball player at Cuyahoga Heights High School in suburban Cleveland . In his senior season, 1973, he was named Ohio's Class A High School Basketball Player of

1122-469: Was named head coach of the Timberwolves, replacing Bill Blair . This happened shortly after McHale had taken over the basketball operations for the Timberwolves. He then added the coaching duties to his GM responsibilities after the team had gotten off to a 6–14 start. The Timberwolves went 20–42 the rest of the year, but the emergence of young Kevin Garnett as a front-line NBA player was a huge plus over

1156-468: Was undergoing treatment. Saunders planned to remain the Timberwolves' head coach and president. However, after Saunders was hospitalized for more than a month following complications in September, team owner Glen Taylor announced that Saunders would miss the next season. Saunders died on October 25, 2015, at the age of 60. On February 15, 2018, the Timberwolves held a "Flip Saunders Night" during which

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