Denver Nuggets assistant Ryan Saunders returns to Minnesota with chance to get last laugh
Apr. 23—Ryan Saunders and the Nuggets could leave the series against Minnesota with the last laugh.
Saunders is the son of the late Flip Saunders, who tops the Timberwolves franchise chart for wins by a coach with 427. Minnesota's current coach, Chris Finch, is second on that list with 104 wins heading into Sunday's Game 4 against the Nuggets. Ryan Saunders sits a couple of spots lower, amassing 43 wins as coach of the Timberwolves.
After joining the Timberwolves as an assistant in 2014, he started as an interim coach in the wake of Tom Thibodeau's firing during the 2018-19 season but shed that title ahead of the next season. He was the youngest head coach in the NBA during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and was fired after a poor start to the following season.
"When you talk about Ryan in this building, you think of his father, Flip, and his legacy and what he meant to so many people. Ryan, following in his footsteps, got a chance to be the head coach here," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said prior to Sunday's game. "It didn't work out. It was an easy decision to bring him on board."
Saunders filled the role of de facto defensive coordinator vacated by Jordi Fernandez when he joined Mike Brown's staff in Sacramento in the offseason. The Nuggets finished the regular season with the 15th best defensive rating — right in the middle of the league. That figure would likely be closer to 10 if not for the Nuggets lackluster close to the regular season where they allowed 128 points to the Spurs, 125 points to the Raptors and 124 points to the Rockets — all teams that missed the playoffs.
"He knows the (Timberwolves) players, but he's been really good the whole year. I think we did a really good job, especially in spurts, this year," Christian Braun said at Sunday morning's shootaround.
"This whole year, we've gone into games knowing teams' tendencies and knowing what players do. Obviously, with this team, coach Saunders really knows what he's doing."
Using Aaron Gordon as a back-up center is one wrinkle the Nuggets have successfully utilized against Minnesota's dueling 7-footers, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. Saunders coached Towns and Anthony Edwards, Minnesota's star guard, while Gobert was acquired in the offseason. With Gordon at the five, the Nuggets can switch defenders on every screen, something they can't with Nikola Jokic on the court.
