Kurt Rambis has Been Fired!

I feel like I wrote this a long time ago, but Kurt Rambis was officially fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday following a David Kahn press conference. Everyone and their mother saw this one coming. There was an ESPN report right before the NBA draft that the Wolves had decided to fire Rambis. Then there were rumors of David Kahn reaching out to other coaches even though he hadn't fired Rambis yet. Okay, so this was all done in the most unprofessional manner possible, but let's explore the Timberwolves options.

Let's discuss the parameters of someone who ends up coaching the Wolves. This person has to know how to teach defense and teach it well. The Wolves were ranked near the bottom in all defensive categories last season. Ideally, this coach would also be young so that they could grow with the team. The problem here is that Kahn never mentions defense and only wants to play up tempo and push the ball so you can scratch what I said above. Kahn wants someone he can control. He couldn't control Rambis, who believed that winning basketball teams don't play up tempo, so he fired him.

David Kahn, can you name a past NBA champion that played up tempo? neither can I. Sure, Phoenix got close, but they had Steve Nash running the show and I don't see a Steve Nash on this team, Ricky Rubio needs to average more than 3 points for me to even consider him.

Hopefully Kahn hires someone who is just a flat out stud of a coach, but this isn't likely. There's a big problem here, who on earth wants to work with David Kahn. All the high profile coaches just witnessed what he did to Kurt Rambis and how he left him in limbo for weeks only to embarrass him and then fire him. That's why I would cross out names such as Rick Adelman and Jeff Van Gundy.

That leaves us with Kahn either finding a desperate coach who will do whatever he says or a young coach who will do whatever he says. Either way, I don't see this working out for the Wolves because Kahn's philosophies are pretty flawed.

There was an ESPN report that Don Nelson, the NBA's all time winning coach is intrigued by the Wolves roster. This would be a great hire as he has a history of being a very good up tempo coach. The only problem is that he is 71. Still, it would be a better hire than any other hire Kahn would likely make. Adelman would be the best hire, but I can't see him wanting to coach this team.