OKLAHOMA CITY -- Already Ryan Saunders has it down.
In his first post-shootaround meeting with the press, about to conduct his first NBA game as a head coach, with the history of the Saunders family with the Timberwolves organization as an emotional backdrop, Saunders was asked what will be going through his mind in the moments before Tuesday night's tipoff against the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
"Russell Westbrook and Paul George are going to be there,'' said Saunders, talking about the Thunder's stars, sounding just like the coach he is. "But my father will also be there.''
On Monday Ryan said his father, Flip Saunders, who died in 2015, would be proud. Tuesday, operating on very little sleep, Ryan Saunders started getting about the business of coaching the Wolves.
In a way, the immediacy of having to focus on an opponent so quickly after the events of the weekend -- when Tom Thibodeau was fired Sunday evening and Saunders, 32, was promoted to interim head coach -- is a good thing.
He has begun putting thoughts of how he wants to steer the team on paper, he said, but he's not going to flood this team with too much. Moderation, he said, is the key.
"I've said it a number of times,'' he said. "But until you're ultimately making the decisions, all those ideas sound great. But then you have to see them play out. So I'll be careful in terms of how much I want to implement.''
Saunders had one-on-one meetings with every player Monday and also talked to the team. Players who feel strongly about something will have a voice, but Saunders stressed that he and the coaching staff will make the decisions.
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