MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves best days came with Flip Saunders on the sideline. Joe Biagini Jersey . Now that the organization is shrouded in uncertainty surrounding the long-term future of star forward Kevin Love, Saunders is returning to the bench to try revive a franchise that hasnt made the playoffs in 10 years. With the teams coaching search complicated by Loves status, the Timberwolves decided the best course of action was to have Saunders, who was hired last season as president of basketball operations, step in for a second stint as coach until the situation stabilized, Saunders said in a text message Thursday. The official announcement will come at a news conference on Friday afternoon. Saunders previously coached the Timberwolves from 1995-2005. He won 411 games in 10 1/2 seasons in Minnesota and guided the Wolves to the only eight playoff appearances in franchise history, including the Western Conference finals in 2004. He has a career record of 638-526 in 16 seasons as an NBA head coach, a career that also includes stops in Detroit, where he coached the Pistons to three straight Eastern Conference finals, and Washington. Saunders is joining a short list in the NBA of coaches who also have final-say executive authority, one that includes newly hired Stan Van Gundy in Detroit, Doc Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers and, to a certain extent, Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. Saunders will continue to work closely with GM Milt Newton in the front office while handling coaching duties. When Rick Adelman retired at the end of the regular season, he did so in part to try to help the Timberwolves move forward with a plan to show Love, a three-time All-Star who can opt out of his contract next summer, that there was a long-term plan in place for success. But Loves tenuous situation didnt help the search process, with trade rumours serving as a caution sign for several high-profile candidates. Saunders was in the market for a coach with extensive head coaching experience, either in the NBA or at a major college program, one that could command the respect of a young locker room and also handle the media scrutiny that comes with the questions surrounding Love. Names like Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan and Fred Hoiberg came and went without any traction. The Wolves hosted Memphis coach Dave Joerger for an interview two weekends ago, but Grizzlies owner Robert Pera sweetened his contract to keep him around. Sam Mitchell, Lionel Hollins, Scott Skiles and several others received consideration as well. Unable to find what they felt was the right fit for a delicate job, Saunders and owner Glen Taylor met this week to reassess the situation, according to two people with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team was not publicly discussing the search process. Taylor said when he brought Saunders back as team president that he would not put him back on the bench. He fired Saunders as coach once before, in 2005 when Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell, unhappy with their contracts, submarined the follow-up to the teams stirring run to the Western Conference finals. Saunders was also hopeful that he could find someone other than himself to take over the team. But with Loves status preventing them from pursuing the coaches they felt would fit best, the two decided that Saunders should take over for at least this season if not longer. The Timberwolves have not given up on convincing Love to play out this season in Minnesota and re-sign next summer to a contract that can pay him and extra year and about $26.5 million more than any other team. It was not immediately clear what the appointment of Saunders would do for Loves desires to stay or go. The Timberwolves planned to meet with Love to see where he stands now that the head coaching vacancy has been filled. Love has yet to make the playoffs in his six seasons in the league and is believed to be growing impatient with the Wolves, who finished 40-42 and in 10th place in the West this year. Love created a stir when he spent last weekend in Boston, where the Celtics are rumoured to be making a run at trading for the 25-year-old power forward before the June 26 draft. Just how long Saunders will coach remains to be seen. There is the possibility that Saunders will add assistants to his staff who could be groomed to eventually take over. The Wolves were expected to reach out to Mitchell, a former Timberwolves player and Raptors head coach, and David Blatt, who has spearheaded Russias return to Olympic relevance and coaches in Israel, to gauge their interest in joining his staff. Fake Astros Jerseys . Mike Babcock has turned to the Montreal Canadiens goalie over Roberto Luongo, who backed Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, for Canadas final preliminary round game against the ailing Finns. Roberto Osuna Jersey . -- Orleans Darkwa ran in from 1 yard with 1:45 left, and the Miami Dolphins rallied from two scores down in the final minutes to beat the Dallas Cowboys 25-20 on Saturday night. https://www.cheapastros.com/433o-jose-urquidy-jersey-astros.html . Thats what he did over the past 2 1/2 years with the Washington Wizards. Wittmans approach helped turn the Wizards from pushover to playoff winners.Lawrence, KS - Perry Ellis poured in 18 points in eighth- ranked Kansas 78-68 win over No. 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. The Jayhawks have won five in a row and eight of nine overall. "I thought that even though our defense wasnt great tonight I thought it was nice to have energy feeding our run. If we could have secured a defensive board we would have put up some numbers, but we couldnt secure anything," said Kansas coach Bill Self. Baylor (13-5, 1-4) meanwhile has dropped four of five after entering conference play with a 12-1 mark, which included a Dec. 6 victory over then third-ranked Kentucky. "Im proud of our effort. At the end of the day losing is tough, well keep working to get better," said Baylor coach Scott Drew. "Thats what you have to love about the Big 12, though. Every night you get a chance to play against a great team and a team that is going to help your RPI out." Brady Heslip hit six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 19 points while Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson donated 16 points apiece in the setback. Baylor made its first four shots from the arc, including a pair of Heslip treys on consecutive possessions for an early 13-8 advantage. Heslip hit two more triples in the period, which featured 12 lead changes. Joel Embiids thunderous alley-oop from Frank Mason at 3:55 gavee Kansas a 31-28 edge. Joe Smith Jersey. The hosts then took their biggest lead of the first half on Wayne Seldens 3 with less than a minute to play, but Jefferson answered with an outside shot of his own. Wiggins split a pair at the line and Kenny Cherys runner missed long as the half came to a close with Kansas in front, 37-35. Neither team led by more than five points in a balanced first 20 minutes. The lead stretched to 41-35 as Baylor was held without a bucket over the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half. Austin hit a pair of jumpers, including a triple that he banked in, to cut into the deficit, but Kansas responded with nine straight points for a 55-44 margin. Ellis scored seven during the spurt, and Selden made the play of the game when he launched himself out of bounds to save the ball for Embiid, whose hook shot was pure at 11:19. A pair of Selden free throws two minutes later gave the Jayhawks a double digit lead, and it held until Jeffersons jumper at 2:01. The Bears never got closer than nine though. With 59 seconds to play, Frank Mason drove late in the shot clock and snuck a pass to Ellis, who slammed it home with two hands to put an exclamation mark on Kansas triumph. Game Notes Kansas now leads the all-time series, 20-4, and improved to 12-0 in Lawrence ... Embiid had 12 points while Mason finished with nine points and six assists ... Chery handed out a game-high eight assists ... Baylor shot 13-of-27 from 3-point range. The Bears have made at least one 3 in 712 straight games ... Both teams had 16 turnovers. ' ' '