In defense of Rambis

cpfsf · Post #1 » by **cpfsf** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:42 pm

It's time for a knee jerk reaction thread! First off, I just want to emphasize that Rambis needed to be fired, he doesn't need to return, and I wouldn't trade Adelman for any past Timberwolves coach.

None of this is really news. Rambis and Kahn were both promised a 3 years to turn the team around. As we all know, Rambis got fired after two. That only happened after the team kept Rambis hanging for weeks, Kahn even explored reassignment jobs (I'm sure Rambis would love that), and Kahn even went so far as to make Rambis write an essay asking, "What would you do with a head coaching position." That really sounded more like a contest. First prize gets 8 million dollars. Second place gets a signed poster of Anthony Randolph. Third place gets tickets to a Wolves basketball game. Don Nelson came in second.

The team loses Ricky Rubio and other All-Star caliber players like Ridnour and Beasley, and the team suddenly has a losing record in addition to having a 6 game losing streak with really no incentive to lose. Getting consistently blown out isn't helping much either. Obviously Rambis had to go since he lost the support of the players and the team needed a clean slate. I'm just writing this because I always felt that Rambis received all of the blame for the teams failures even though he didn't draft Johnson, Ngombo, or Flynn. He wasn't the reason why Rubio stayed in Spain for two years. He was just the easiest person to throw under the bus. I believe it was McHale who said it's easier to get rid of the coach than it is to get rid of the team.

Post #2 » by **C.lupus** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:04 pm

Rambis never got buy-in from the team. He was tuned out by scrubs. That is a sign of a bad coach, heck a bad leader of any kind.

Adelman had basically the same team + Rubio at a couple games over .500 and in the plyoff race until injuries decimated the team physically and emotionally. The players bought into Adelman's system immediately and he had them overachieving. That is a sign of a good coach and a good leader.

Also, I'm pretty sure Rambis had a lot of say in the Wes Johnson draft. He's also the one that advocated for Sasha Pavlovic to be on the team.

Yes We Kahn · Post #3 » by **Yes We Kahn** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:27 pm

32-132 (.195)

Post #4 » by **Worm Guts** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:42 pm

C.lupus wrote:Also, I'm pretty sure Rambis had a lot of say in the Wes Johnson draft. He's also the one that advocated for Sasha Pavlovic to be on the team.

He was also a huge Darko fan.

cpfsf · Post #5 » by **cpfsf** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:54 pm

C.lupus wrote:Rambis never got buy-in from the team. He was tuned out by scrubs. That is a sign of a bad coach, heck a bad leader of any kind.

Adelman had basically the same team + Rubio at a couple games over .500 and in the plyoff race until injuries decimated the team physically and emotionally. The players bought into Adelman's system immediately and he had them overachieving. That is a sign of a good coach and a good leader.

Also, I'm pretty sure Rambis had a lot of say in the Wes Johnson draft. He's also the one that advocated for Sasha Pavlovic to be on the team.

I don't understand the first sentence, but I agree players weren't his number one fan. Who would be when your team isn't winning?

I would note that it was Williams plus Rubio plus experience minus Flynn minus 25 lbs off Love's body. Furthermore, I suspect the Wolves were tanking when Kevin Love was benched for the remainder of last year in order to secure a better pick.

I never actually heard anything about Rambis pushing for Johnson. If anything, Cousins attitude probably held more weight than anything else. Even in the year before that, Kahn waited until after the draft to hire a coach.

cpfsf · Post #6 » by **cpfsf** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:40 pm

Worm Guts wrote:
C.lupus wrote:Also, I'm pretty sure Rambis had a lot of say in the Wes Johnson draft. He's also the one that advocated for Sasha Pavlovic to be on the team.

He was also a huge Darko fan.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=991715

so were we

Kahn was just as big of a fan of Milicic as Rambis was. We traded Brian "The Custodian" Cardinal to get him. Just let that sink in for a second. This trade just reminded me of the Beasley and Randolph trades which were virtually low risk, high reward moves. We got a free look at the guy. In the end, Kahn got to evaluate Milicic, and it was Kahn who offered that contract. Kahns interviews showed the expectations he had for the big man.

Post #7 » by **Worm Guts** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:56 pm

Maybe you were. I didn't mind the trade, but I hated the contract. Kahn may have been the one to offer the contract, but I think Rambis had a say in it. And Rambis was the one who decided it was good idea to run the offense through him.

Esohny · Post #8 » by **Esohny** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:12 pm

Just because Kahn is awful too doesn't mean that Rambis isn't an embarrassment as a coach.

Mr Dew · Post #9 » by **Mr Dew** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:56 pm

cpfsf wrote:
C.lupus wrote:Rambis never got buy-in from the team. He was tuned out by scrubs. That is a sign of a bad coach, heck a bad leader of any kind.

Adelman had basically the same team + Rubio at a couple games over .500 and in the plyoff race until injuries decimated the team physically and emotionally. The players bought into Adelman's system immediately and he had them overachieving. That is a sign of a good coach and a good leader.

Also, I'm pretty sure Rambis had a lot of say in the Wes Johnson draft. He's also the one that advocated for Sasha Pavlovic to be on the team.

I don't understand the first sentence, but I agree players weren't his number one fan. Who would be when your team isn't winning?

I would note that it was Williams plus Rubio plus experience minus Flynn minus 25 lbs off Love's body. Furthermore, I suspect the Wolves were tanking when Kevin Love was benched for the remainder of last year in order to secure a better pick.

I never actually heard anything about Rambis pushing for Johnson. If anything, Cousins attitude probably held more weight than anything else. Even in the year before that, Kahn waited until after the draft to hire a coach.

Adelman actually had Rubio, Williams and JJ... three key pieces to this season.

With that said, I certainly don't intend to support Rambis because he was just awful and he was horrible at idenitfying the talent he did have. He had Pek and never played/developed him; he started Hollins over Love for a while instead of trying to make Love and Jefferson work; he tried to fit the players into the triangle system which was a terrible fit; Sessions has looked good everywhere he's played except here; etc., etc.

Post #10 » by **C.lupus** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:13 pm

I don't think I would go so far as to call Williams and JJ keys to the team's success this year.

Foye · Post #11 » by **Foye** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:14 pm

Rambis deserved to be fired for the mess that he called inbounds plays alone.

Vindicater · Post #12 » by **Vindicater** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:32 pm

No...

Just no...

Rambis was beyond horrible.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #13 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:43 pm

Rambis wasn't helping things out, but after seeing this team post-Rubio, its probably safe to say very few coaches are going to be doing much winning with this roster.

Post #14 » by **Klomp** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:13 am

Devilzsidewalk wrote:Rambis wasn't helping things out, but after seeing this team post-Rubio, its probably safe to say very few coaches are going to be doing much winning with this roster.

So instead of having one of the best coaches of all-time, you'd rather go back to one of the worst coaches of all-time?

Post #15 » by **Klomp** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:14 am

The lack of practice time and days off is one factor of this season that is often forgotten.

AQuintus · Post #16 » by **AQuintus** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:49 am

Devilzsidewalk wrote:Rambis wasn't helping things out, but after seeing this team post-Rubio, its probably safe to say very few coaches are going to be doing much winning with this roster.

I'm not sure that's a fair assessment. The team sans-Rubio isn't much better than they were last year, but I think that's as much a factor of the compressed season limiting Adelman's impact as anything. Give Adelman a full training camp and regular practice time, and the offense at least should be significantly better.

shangrila · Post #17 » by **shangrila** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:57 am

"Rambis" and "defence" in the same sentence made my computer crash

Devilzsidewalk · Post #18 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:54 pm

Klomp wrote:
Devilzsidewalk wrote:Rambis wasn't helping things out, but after seeing this team post-Rubio, its probably safe to say very few coaches are going to be doing much winning with this roster.

So instead of having one of the best coaches of all-time, you'd rather go back to one of the worst coaches of all-time?

Yes that's exactly what I implied. Though Rambis wasn't helping things out, most of the problem is the roster, so logically we should fire Adelman and re-hire Rambis.

Swimmer · Post #19 » by **Swimmer** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:37 pm

Devilzsidewalk wrote:
Klomp wrote:
Devilzsidewalk wrote:Rambis wasn't helping things out, but after seeing this team post-Rubio, its probably safe to say very few coaches are going to be doing much winning with this roster.

So instead of having one of the best coaches of all-time, you'd rather go back to one of the worst coaches of all-time?

Yes that's exactly what I implied. Though Rambis wasn't helping things out, most of the problem is the roster, so logically we should fire Adelman and re-hire Rambis.

^ (green font, as necessary for some)

Post #20 » by **The J Rocka** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:45 pm

shangrila wrote:"Rambis" and "defence" in the same sentence made my computer crash

You're making a bigger deal out of it than it is.