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Archives For David Kahn

Hold me close

Myles Brown — January 25, 2012 — 11 Comments

Kevin Love just signed a four year contract for $61 millon. So he isn’t to be pitied. However, I’d like to think we can still discuss our misgivings without someone doling out cliched quips regarding men being paid to play a kid’s game. Right?

Our Wolves have recently enjoyed national attention for the captivating play of their stars and not the bumbling ineptitude, which fair or not, has come to be synonymous with this franchise. Yet with the eyes of the basketball world upon us, we’ve managed once again to dampen the forecast of what should be a bright future by slighting our best player.

It can’t be repeated enough. We’ve made it out of the first round just once in our 23 year history. We’ve posted just 32 wins in our last two seasons. We are a small market, cold weather franchise with no prestige and little realistic hopes of championship contention. Kevin Love wanted to stay here anyway. For five years, the maximum allowed. Management offered him four with an option to leave in three. Why?

The answer would seem to be in the doe eyed media darling, Ricky Rubio. As we know, only one five year extension can be offered per team and if it isn’t for Love then we’re left to assume that it currently belongs to Rubio. Now while Kevin is surely happy to have Ricky as a teammate, he must also find this insulting on some level.

Regardless of the complications of his buyout, the fact remains that Rubio was initially hesitant to join us here in Minneapolis. It was clear to anyone who saw him cross that stage on draft night, who listened to his uncomfortable conference call shortly after or read his tepid quotes of freezing weather. Now considering the complications of his buyout, we still had to wait two years for his arrival, whether he was excited to be here or not. In that time, Kevin Love grew from a dubious draft pick into a superstar.

In NBA Free Agency David Kahn, Kevin Love, misgivings, Ricky Rubio

When decisions are made for you

Zach Harper — January 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

In June of 2009, the Sacramento Kings were faced with a very tough decision. Do you draft for flash and marketability or do you try to change the culture of your organization?

At the time, the Kings were known as a “soft” organization, incapable of being consistently tough enough both mentally and physically. This identity, whether correct or not, had been stamped on the organization for the past decade. They were a wonderfully skilled team back in the Vlade-Webber-Peja triumvirate days, but as they continued to lose to the Lakers and couldn’t contain the power of Shaquille O’Neal year after year, they were tagged with the label of not being tough enough and not being a strong defensive team.

Looking back on this stigma, it was complete and utter guano. The early aught Kings were as good and as tough as any team in the NBA. Just because they couldn’t push Shaq out of post position time and time again had nothing to do with measuring just how macho they were as a unit. And yet there they were, labeled with being weak. After Chris Webber blew out his knee, the Kings struggled to find an identity. They traded C-Webb for more manageable roster parts, and tried to shift certain players here and there. After learning that Adelman wasn’t the problem (thanks for that, by the way!) and that turning Peja into Ron Artest wasn’t the solution, the Kings went back to the drawing board.

They had a tough decision to make. Do you draft the hype surrounding Ricky Rubio or do you take on a new identity with the soft-spoken and hard-driving Tyreke Evans? Continue Reading…

In NBA draft David Kahn, DeMarcus Cousins, Jonny Flynn, Rick Adelman, Ricky Rubio, Sacramento Kings, Tyreke Evans

Great heights

Benjamin Polk — December 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

For all of the strange and bewildering things that David Kahn has done in his tenure as Wolves’ GM, I would argue that the national media has actually managed to overstate his ineptitude. But in the case of Ethan Sherwood Strauss’ Truehoop piece on height exaggeration in the NBA, I’d say that the rep is well-earned. As Strauss says, “perhaps I am cynical and paranoid, but I could easily envision a dystopian future where David Kahn successfully trades ’7-1′ Michael Beasley.” Yeah I guess I could too.

Anyone who has spent any time in the Wolves’ locker room knows that Kevin Love is about as close to 6’10″ as I am to six feet, which is to say not close. Strauss even presents some damning evidence: a photo of K-Love standing next to the 6’8″ Derrick Williams. Strauss generously says that Love is at Williams’ “height-level,” but it looks to me like Love is a even whisp shorter. And J.J. Barea at 6’0″? I have stood next to J.J. Barea and I will tell you now that he is not a hair taller than I am. I’m pretty proud of this.

In Miscellaneous News David Kahn, height exaggeration, J.J. Barea, Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves

Rick Adelman is the Timberwolves’ new coach

Benjamin Polk — September 13, 2011 — 6 Comments

It’s official. From the Wolves:

The Minnesota Timberwolves oday announced the team has reached an agreemnt in principle on a contract with Rick Adelman to become the 10th head coach in franchise history. Adelman ranks eighth all-time in NBA coaching wins with a 945-616 (.605 winning percentage) career record in 20 seasons as a head coach.

It’s not yet known if Adelman got the five years and $25 million he was after. Let’s not mince words. This is a major coup for Kahn and Taylor. Even before the months-long Kurt Rambis fiasco, I was of the belief that Adelman was the best case scenario for the Wolves. Hiring Adelman gives them legitimacy when the desperately need it; it gives them a coaching mind creative and experienced enough to blend the Wolves’ strange mix of talent; and it gives Kevin Love at least the beginnings of a reason to hang around. Not too bad. Let’s have a party.

In Coaching changes a glimmer of hope, David Kahn, Glen Taylor, Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA coaching changes, Rick Adelman

Adelman updated

Benjamin Polk — September 12, 2011 — 4 Comments

Update: This is still very much in rumor phase, but folks are saying here and here (and maybe more importantly, Kevin Love is tweeting) that Adelman has agreed to a deal. More later.

This from Jerry Zgoda at the Star-Tribune:

The Timberwolves have started negotiations to sign Rick Adelman as their next coach, league sources with knowledge of the search said Sunday.David Kahn, Timberwolves president of basketball operations, might know as soon as Monday whether he can land the man who has a .605 winning percentage in 20 seasons as a NBA head coach. Adelman, 65, is believed to be seeking a five-year contract worth at least $25 million.

That’s a lot of cheddar to give somebody if you don’t even know whether there’ll be a season. But considering the Wolves’ low payroll and the probability that every team’s basketball-related expenditures will be lower in the coming years, I say it’s a good investment. On the other hand, I have less than $100 in my checking account at the moment so I guess it’s easy for me to say.

In Coaching changes coaching searches, David Kahn, Glen Taylor, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA lockout, Rick Adelman

Ronzone shuffles

Benjamin Polk — September 4, 2011 — 8 Comments

So while I spent the early part of Labor Day weekend attempting to avoid being devoured by hawks and bears and mountain lions in the wilds of western New Mexico, Tony Ronzone and the Wolves went and “parted ways.” Jerks. Here’s what the AP has to say about it:

Philosophical differences between Kahn and Ronzone on the direction of the franchise started to surface around draft time in June and may have contributed to the split. It remains unclear what the Timberwolves will do, if anything, to replace Ronzone going forward.

Ah, good ol’ “philosophical differences.” Friends, this troubles me in a number of ways. It had always seemed to me that the two people in the Wolves’ upper-echelon who really, deeply knew the game were Kurt Rambis and Ronzone. Through all the surreality of the past year, it was nice to know that, somewhere near the top of the chain, was a guy whose decisions were based on things like data and close observation and experience. Now they are both gone and, as commenter Mac says, Kahn has “nobody left to fire other than himself and the owner.”

Let’s be clear; we don’t know what these “philosophical differences” really amounted to. But it is beginning to look like Kahn has a pretty generous view of his own expertise. The man seems to believe that he has a vision, but that vision is as inscrutable as ever.

In Miscellaneous News David Kahn, international scouting, Minnesota Timberwolves, strange decisions, Tony Ronzone

Adelman in the flesh

Benjamin Polk — August 23, 2011 — 4 Comments

Multiple sources (here and here) are reporting that Rick Adelman is in town today to have an actual face-to-face interview with Kahn, Taylor and Moor. Jerry Zgoda says this: “The Wolves brass worked for weeks to get Adelman to come in for more than a phone interview. If he wants the job, and they can agree on a salary, the job is probably his.”

This is good; to my mind, Adelman is easily the best candidate on the team’s docket (with Sam Mitchell coming in a moderately distant second). Plus, you and I both know phone interviews are for suckers. It’s amusing how the Wolves seem to be teetering here between making an actual, substantial, good decision (hiring Adelman) and making an utterly rotten one (hiring, like, Don Nelson or Larry Brown).

In Coach Interviews coaching searches, David Kahn, Don Nelson, Glen Taylor, Larry Brown, Minnesota Timberwolves, Rick Adelman

Do the Dinosaur: Nelson, Adelman and Brown queue up

Benjamin Polk — July 26, 2011 — 2 Comments

After dallying with Terry Porter, Bernie Bickerstaff and Mike Woodson last week, the Glen Taylor and David Kahn appear to be getting into the heart of the order as it were. The affable, Yeltsin-esque Don Nelson interviewed with the Wolves on Sunday while Rick Adelman spoke with the team on Saturday. If you’re an Adelman fan, it is probably not a great sign that he chose the phone as his preferred interview medium. Kind of like when I spent an entire day of fifth grade psyching myself up to ask L____ to “go with me” and then when I finally did she responded by telling me she’d “think about it.” (Twenty years later, and I’m still married to her (not true).)

Word is, too, that Larry Brown lurks on the horizon. I very much hope that this never becomes enough of a reality that I’ll have to explain why its a nightmarishly bad idea. And does anyone else get the nagging feeling that flirting with all of these Living Legends of Coaching seems to make the team somehow less credible? Doesn’t it kind of feel like the Wolves are trying a little too hard to look cool?

As for my analysis on the situation, I’ll defer to commenter Biggity2bit who hopes that the Wolves “make Adelman a contract offer today, and if he pauses when looking at it that Kahn or Glen lean over and add an extra ‘zero’ to the end of the number and give it back to Adelman.”

In Coach Interviews coaching search, cool dads, David Kahn, Don Nelson, Glen Taylor, Larry Brown, middle school romantic disappointments, Minnesota Timberwolves, Rick Adelman

Rambis, the bullets

Benjamin Polk — July 13, 2011 — 1 Comment

Photo by Will Keightley

These days, Wolves fans have to instinctively wince a little whenever we find our crew in the national media. But thanks to the Kurt Rambis odyssey (“fiasco” or “debacle” could also suffice), here we are. So here are some more tidbits:

Earlier today, I participated in the ESPN 5-on-5 on Rambis’ firing. Some words used to describe the process: “Unethical,” “lugubrious,” “embarrassing” (two times), “entertaining,” “KAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!”
At Hoopspeak, Beckley Mason shreds David Kahn’s assertion that the team needs a coach with “uptempo DNA”:

Thing is, the Wolves were already the fastest team in the league last year, averaging 96.5 possessions per 48 minutes. They were also one of the very worst in the league at converting fastbreak opportunities and turning the ball over…If Kahn is in fact trying to model his roster after these rare speed demons [early decade Kings, '08 Lakers, D'Antoni-era Suns], he’s doing a miserable job. Those teams were built with play-making veterans, unselfish offensive philosophies, deft passing from all five positions and consistent 3-point shooters. These elements of efficiency and execution were necessary to win by imposing an uptempo style of play night in and night out against top competition. Kahn’s teams have not even approached a single element of what made these offenses so great.

True enough. I would also add: the Wolves played at such a high pace largely because they so deeply loved turning the ball over. Lots of quick turnovers means lots of possessions that end before they begin, which means more possessions per game.

This is hilarious: rumor is that Don Nelson is interested in the Wolves’ coaching vacancy (thanks to College Wolf for the tip). In some ways, this makes a little sense. David Kahn wants that “uptempo DNA” and holy smokes, Nellie certainly has that. What’s more, with his knack for dissolving positional distinctions in order to create matchup anarchy, he would seem somehow suited for the Wolves’ oddly sized front court mishmash. On the other hand, its hard to see how the Wolves would address their defensive problems by hiring a coach who almost literally stopped coaching defense in Golden State. (Also, does Nellie know that Anthony Randolph plays for the Wolves?).
The Wolves’ rumored plan to hire Bernie Bickerstaff to mentor his son J.B., would seem a bit more complicated now that J.B. has agreed to join Kevin McHale in Houston. Seriously, what are they going to do?

In Coaching changes Beckley Mason, Bernie Bickerstaff, David Kahn, Don Nelson, J.B. Bickerstaff, Kurt Rambis, Minnesota Timberwolves

Harper on Rambis

Benjamin Polk — July 13, 2011 — 5 Comments

Over at Truehoop, Zach has the definitive account of the Rambis era:

Rambis was not a very good coach over the past two years. His teams were inefficient offensively and abhorrent defensively. Last season, it seemed that he was one of the worst fourth-quarter coaches in the entire league because of how the Wolves seemed to kick away leads. (Yes, they actually had fourth-quarter leads.)…However, the way he’s been treated by Kahn and the Wolves organization in the past two months might be the most embarrassing part of this entire era. Rambis should have been fired right after the regular season ended. There was no real reason to drag this out. It’s just another case of the Wolves mismanaging a personnel decision within the organization. The Wolves already should have a head coach and be ready to make roster decisions once the lockout ends. Instead, they’ve once again been making moves without a head coach in place for the upcoming season.

All true. Here’s what I would add, though. Zach points out that, partially because Rambis was hired after the roster was set in 2009, this team was never temperamentally or compositionally cut out to run the triangle. But its widely known that Tex Winter’s offense requires an exceptionally steep learning curve for young players. My impression was that, by hiring Rambis and giving him a four year deal, the Wolves were taking the long view, acknowledging that this would take some time and patience, that no team as young as the Wolves could ever have learned the system in two short years. Given that Kahn and Taylor appear to have run out of patience after just two seasons, one wonders why Rambis was hired and given such a vote of confidence to begin with.

In Coaching changes coaching changes, David Kahn, Kurt Rambis, Minnesota Timberwolves, Zach Harper