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Phil "Flip" Saunders was announced as the Head Coach of the Detroit Pistons on July 21, 2005. He arrived in Detroit after a 10-year tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He spent the last nine-plus years with the Minnesota Timberwolves, guiding the club to eight consecutive playoff appearances and a franchise-best 58-24 record in 2003-04 the top record in the Western Conference. During his tenure in Minnesota, Saunders won NBA Western Conference Coach of the Month honors four times (April ’04, February ’03, January ’01, January ’00). As a head coach in the Continental Basketball Association for seven years, he was named CBA Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1992 while coaching the La Crosse Catbirds to two CBA Championships. In September 2001, Saunders guided the United States men’s basketball team to a perfect 5-0 record and gold medal at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia.
Saunders’ time with Minnesota represented the best years in the franchise’s 16-year history and placed him as the organization’s winningest coach. He posted a winning record in six of his nine full seasons as head coach, won 50-plus games in a season four times and compiled a career record of 411-326 (.558). From 1997-2004, Saunders guided the Timberwolves to eight consecutive playoff appearances, culminating in a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2004. During the 1997-98 season, he guided Minnesota to its first winning season in franchise history (45-37) and its first postseason victory.
Saunders’ impressive CBA coaching resume includes seven consecutive seasons of 30 or more victories, two CBA Championships (1990, 1992), two CBA Coach of the Year honors (1990, 1992) and 23 CBA-to-NBA player promotions. He ranks third all-time in the CBA with 253 career victories during stops with the Rapid City Thrillers (1988-89), La Crosse Catbirds (1989-94) and Sioux Falls Skyforce (1994-95).
The Cleveland, Ohio native began his successful 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 joined the coaching staff at this alma matter. The University of Minnesota as an assistant and helped the Golden Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten Championship. After five seasons at Minnesota, Saunders moved to an assistant coach position at the University of Tulsa, where he worked for two seasons before heading to the pro ranks.
Saunders, 50, was an All-America basketball player at Cuyahoga Heights High School in Cleveland. During his senior season, 1973, he was named Ohio’s Class A High School Basketball Player of the Year after averaging a state-high 32.0 points a game. He continued his basketball career at Minnesota, where he teamed with Kevin McHale and led the team to a then all-time school-best 24-3 record and started in 101 of his 103 career games.
Saunders was born February 23, 1955, in Cleveland, Ohio. He and his wife, Debbie, have four children: Ryan, a current member of the University of Minnesota basketball team, Mindy, and twins, Rachel and Kimberly. | 