<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Contrary to Timberwolves tradition in recent years, Kevin McHale won't retreat to his second home in the Minnesota north woods to ponder his future, keeping the team on hold while he decides whether to return as vice president of basketball operations. That decision already has been made by McHale and Wolves owner Glen Taylor. "I've already talked to Glen. I'm coming back," McHale said in an hour-long news conference with head coach Dwane Casey on Thursday while wrapping up one of the NBA franchise's most disappointing seasons. The Wolves (33-49) missed the playoffs for the second season in a row and, in fact, tied for the league's sixth-worst record. "I said, 'Glen, this is not the way I want to leave the Timberwolves, a 33-win season,' " McHale said. "I'm coming back and I'm really excited about getting this team back online." McHale, 49, a native of Hibbing, Minn., and a basketball Hall of Famer for the University of Minnesota and the Boston Celtics, has taken more criticism this season than perhaps at any other time in 35 years in basketball. He said he understood the disappointment of Wolves fans. "It was a very frustrating year, a very bad year for us," McHale said. "I'm in charge of the basketball department, so everything that happened is on me. The bad year was my fault, and we've got to go out there and try to improve this team. "The buck stops with me. There are absolutely no excuses for anything. I wish we had had a lot better year." McHale and Casey talked and answered questions about numerous Wolves issues, including: ? McHale's relationship with franchise player Kevin Garnett. "We argue sometimes, don't see eye-to-eye on some stuff. But he tells me how he feels and I tell him how I feel, so I don't think that's ever going to change," McHale said. "There [have] been many summers where Kevin has hardly talked to me because he's been mad at me, because at the end of the season I said 'We need to work on this or that or whatever.'... Speculation on how we get along is speculation." ? Garnett not playing or even sitting on the bench at the end. The decision to use young players and improve draft position prompted Garnett to excuse himself, basically, from the final six games. Casey said Garnett didn't like having to sit while fans taunted the coaches to put him back in. "The most important thing for me, as a coach, was the fact that Kevin was here for his teammates," Casey said. "He was in the locker room pulling for them." ? The upcoming summer of Garnett trade rumors. "Kevin Garnett is staying here," McHale said. </div> Source
