In the turbulent 48 hours between the time he became the interim Timberwolves coach Sunday and earning his first victory Tuesday, Ryan Saunders said he was trying to limit the amount of time and energy he devoted to his constantly buzzing phone.
In the interest of sanity, he tried only to respond to family, close friends and those within the Wolves organization.
One call he took was from one of his father Flip’s good friends, Tom Izzo.
The Michigan State coach said he could sense the nerves in Saunders’ voice.
“All he was talking about was getting the team ready, doing this, doing that,” Izzo said.