Former Gophers great and Minnesota fan favorite Flip Saunders passed away today

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This just makes me sad beyond words. Flip passes.JPG
 



Very sad and feels unexpected, but can't say why. Explains the reports from fellow coaches about how tough it was to get info. Maybe there just was never any good news there.

Pray and hope the family heals.
 

Thoughts and prayers to the Saunders family. Flip will be missed.
 


Wow. Minnesota has lost a great man.
 

Man that sucks - Flip was at the U at the same time I was. Really hits home when its someone from your era.
 

God bless you Flip and family
 





What a bummer. I loved going to T-Wolves games as a kid and watching him and KG.

This sucks.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

Very very sad day for the state of Minnesota. RIP Flip. You will be missed.
 



I was a student at Augsburg when Flip was coaching at Golden Valley Lutheran Junior College. He would bring his teams to Augsburg to scrimmage against the Auggies. I had a couple of chances to talk to him, and he always came off as a real down-to-earth guy.

Later, I went to some games when he was coaching the La Crosse (WI) Catbirds in the CBA. always put a good team on the court.
 

MRJ said:
Very very sad day for the state of Minnesota. RIP Flip. You will be missed.
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Reminds me of when we lost Herbie. Flip left his mark as a coach, husband, father, friend and U of M legend. I hope we figure out a way to get his name on/in the new Athletic Village. You'll be missed and mourned by many, Coach. Show the boys upstairs how the game is played, Flip.
 

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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="5" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:33.6% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/9RxMYARyHO/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">My heart and all of my love goes out to Flip Saunders Family as your leader leaves this earth in the flesh. His spirit lives in the present as we speak. In 1996 Flip became a father figure and my first #NBA coach. Wow how fast time blows by. Our conversations were so meaningful in ways that helped me understand the game of life by explaining the game of basketball. Your kind soul and loving ways helped me understand how to play the most important position in the sport of basketball. You gave me not only the chance to perform at a high level but a chance to communicate my thoughts on the game. You taught me how to play the pick and roll but you also taught me how to pick up and roll with the good and bad in the life. As a rookie we had so many conversations in such a short time period. You said "The point guard has to be the extension to the coach" These words lived inside of me as I've had my share of ups and downs with coaches. I guess when I left you I went on a journey to end up with a similar coach 7,000 miles away. I thank you for giving me my foundation in how to play the professional way. I thank you for giving me unconditional love as if I was your son when I was so young. It was so needed as KG and I needed all of it to get where we are now. What an impact you've had on so many humans on earth. What a father you've been to your children as I can remember Ryan aka RyeKnow when he was a little boy. We will miss you as a piece of your children's hearts have been taken but we will celebrate you forever. Thank God that love is the most powerful thing to give and receive. The love from all will be shared to help the healing process from the pain of your flesh not being present. I know you will RIP because you did all of what you did on earth in your lifeline. I say #FlipForever as we all grow from your teachings and messages. I LOVE YOU and I'll miss you until we meet again. #LoveisLove P.S As for your amazing Wife Debbie and girls Mindy, Rachel, and Kimberly thank you for sharing your dad with all the people who's lives your dad touched. I can feel your pain because I know your love for your dad. I pray for peace in your heart.</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Stephon X. Marbury (@starburymarbury) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-10-25T22:39:01+00:00">Oct 25, 2015 at 3:39pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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GophersInIowa said:
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="5" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:33.6% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/9RxMYARyHO/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">My heart and all of my love goes out to Flip Saunders Family as your leader leaves this earth in the flesh. His spirit lives in the present as we speak. In 1996 Flip became a father figure and my first #NBA coach. Wow how fast time blows by. Our conversations were so meaningful in ways that helped me understand the game of life by explaining the game of basketball. Your kind soul and loving ways helped me understand how to play the most important position in the sport of basketball. You gave me not only the chance to perform at a high level but a chance to communicate my thoughts on the game. You taught me how to play the pick and roll but you also taught me how to pick up and roll with the good and bad in the life. As a rookie we had so many conversations in such a short time period. You said "The point guard has to be the extension to the coach" These words lived inside of me as I've had my share of ups and downs with coaches. I guess when I left you I went on a journey to end up with a similar coach 7,000 miles away. I thank you for giving me my foundation in how to play the professional way. I thank you for giving me unconditional love as if I was your son when I was so young. It was so needed as KG and I needed all of it to get where we are now. What an impact you've had on so many humans on earth. What a father you've been to your children as I can remember Ryan aka RyeKnow when he was a little boy. We will miss you as a piece of your children's hearts have been taken but we will celebrate you forever. Thank God that love is the most powerful thing to give and receive. The love from all will be shared to help the healing process from the pain of your flesh not being present. I know you will RIP because you did all of what you did on earth in your lifeline. I say #FlipForever as we all grow from your teachings and messages. I LOVE YOU and I'll miss you until we meet again. #LoveisLove P.S As for your amazing Wife Debbie and girls Mindy, Rachel, and Kimberly thank you for sharing your dad with all the people who's lives your dad touched. I can feel your pain because I know your love for your dad. I pray for peace in your heart.</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Stephon X. Marbury (@starburymarbury) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-10-25T22:39:01+00:00">Oct 25, 2015 at 3:39pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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Beautiful words from Steph. Thanks for sharing.
 


per Sid: Even as a player, Flip was a coach

This column doesn’t have enough space to tell a lot of great Flip Saunders stories from when he played and coached for the Gophers and coached the Wolves.

It was a phone call you never want to receive, but you knew it was just a matter of time before it would come. Flip Saunders died Sunday after being in a coma for close to six weeks at the University of Minnesota Hospital, on life support and with little chance of surviving.

He had contracted Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had one more treatment to go at Mayo Clinic when he contracted pneumonia, sources said, was hospitalized and never recovered.

This column doesn’t have enough space to tell a lot of great Flip Saunders stories from when he played and coached for the Gophers and coached the Wolves. We spent a lot of time together over the 43 years I’ve know him.

One long conversation we had was when he was going through treatment. He was feeling so good, he was confident he would be back at Target Center shortly after the first of the year.

From the time the 2015 draft was held and the Wolves were fortunate enough to get the first pick in Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns, Flip was the happiest coach in the NBA. All he would talk about is how lucky the Wolves were to add Towns to 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins and predicted a title in three years.

Close friends speculated he would coach for three or four years and then he hoped his son Ryan, a Wolves assistant coach, would be ready to take over as head coach and Flip would concentrate on his job as president of basketball operations.

http://www.startribune.com/even-as-a-player-flip-was-a-coach/336974901/

Go Gophers!!
 

Reusse: Flip Saunders 'was our point guard'

The Indiana Hoosiers were the defending national champions. The Gophers were feeling the heat from the NCAA and were ineligible to participate in a postseason tournament.

On Jan. 27, 1977, the Gophers went into Assembly Hall and put a 79-60 whipping on the Hoosiers. There were 10 seconds left and Flip Saunders, the Gophers’ senior point guard, was at midcourt, jumping up and down and shouting, “I can’t believe this! I can’t believe this!”

That was as happy an occasion as a Minnesota basketball lifer could experience: watching the Gophers blow out a Bobby Knight team in Bloomington, Ind.

Sunday, there was a far different emotion for Minnesota basketball lifers as they shook their heads in anguish and said, “I can’t believe this.”

http://www.startribune.com/flip-he-was-our-point-guard/336924321/#1

Go Gophers!!
 

per Amelia: Gophers fans remember Flip Saunders

“In sports, when you get recognized by one name, that’s how you know you’ve really made it,” said Quincy Lewis, who played for the Gophers from 1995 to 1999 and now works for the U. “You can just say ‘Flip’ and everyone knows.”

Saunders, who passed away Sunday a few months after beginning chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, came to the Twin Cities as a 6-foot, scrappy teenage guard, playing at Minnesota under Bill Musselman and Jim Dutcher from 1973 to 1977 before embarking on a 38-year coaching career that included stints at Golden Valley Lutheran Community College in St. Paul and as one of Dutcher’s assistants from 1981-86.

Lewis was a freshman with the Gophers when Saunders began his first stint as Timberwolves coach. Later, he played for Saunders when the Timberwolves signed him as a free agent for the 2003-04 season.

“We always had a sense of pride, having a Gopher on the bench,” Lewis said of Saunders, tears threatening. “It wasn’t until I really played [for] him that you really got the full genius that he is as a basketball coach and a basketball mind.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-fans-remember-flip-saunders/336976821/

Go Gophers!!
 

per Marcus: Flip Saunders always had Gophers in his heart, even if he wasn't their coach

Flip Saunders' legacy mostly will be about his impact as Minnesota Timberwolves coach.

But his dream job was to coach at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. And although he was offered the position a few times, it never happened.

As Saunders was remembered Sunday after his death from a battle with cancer, his passion for Gophers basketball was evident.

"He was offered the job three times," former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher said. "And he thought one time he was absolutely going to take it."

The Gophers' all-time leading scorer, Mychal Thompson, always thought Saunders was going to coach the Gophers one day after their playing days together in college for three seasons from 1974-77.

"He always told me that was his dream job," Thompson told WCCO-AM on Sunday. "Even though he coached the Wolves, Detroit and Washington, and NBA teams of that caliber, he used to talk that someday his dream job was to be the coach of the Gophers. Never got to achieve that, but I'm sure he wanted to. If the NBA didn't get in the way, I'm sure he would've been the coach there for many years."

http://www.twincities.com/timberwolves/ci_29022551/flip-saunders-always-had-gophers-his-heart-even

Go Gophers!!
 

per Tomasson: Flip Saunders' death touches other Minnesota teams

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman visited the Timberwolves practice facility this month to drop off a game ball for Flip Saunders.

Saunders was in the hospital battling cancer, and Spielman wanted him to know the Vikings were thinking about him. Saunders, the Timberwolves' head coach, died Sunday at the age of 60.

"I considered him a friend," Spielman said after the Vikings' 28-19 victory over the Lions on Sunday in Detroit.

Spielman, who came to Minnesota in 2006, presented the Vikings ball to Wolves general manager Milt Newton. It then was taken to Saunders in the hospital, where he was battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"From our ownership to our organization, we went and presented him with a game ball to keep fighting," Spielman said. "He came up to our training camp a few times, and we spent some time together. He was just a great man and a great individual."

http://www.twincities.com/wild/ci_29022472/flip-saunders-death-touches-other-minnesota-teams

Go Gophers!!
 

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