Kahn's uptempo desire and what it could mean for the future

[Krapinsky]

Once again, this time in an interview with David Aldridge on nba.com, Kahn spoke of his desire to play uptempo. Kahn, as his usual forthcoming self, went on to state how this style of play has been an important topic in the ongoing head coach interview process, even going so far as to say that Al Jefferson will not be featured as much on offense. When Aldridge pointed out that Rubio was an asset that could be traded, Kahn stated he intends to have Rubio play for the wolves and that he is no more an asset than Kevin Love or Al Jefferson. This exchange raises several questions about the state of the T-Wolves and the future of the franchise.

1. How committed is Kahn to an uptempo system?

It's possible that next year Kahn sees us as an uptempo team merely based off our personnel next year. Conceptually, this makes sense, sans Jefferson (who will be coming off an ACL anyway). Love rebounds and outlets to Brewer, Flynn, or Ellington, all of whom possess the speed to run up the floor and make plays in transition.

It's also possible that Kahn's long term goal is to continue adding pieces that will succeed in an uptempo system. This is evidenced by Kahn's man love for Rubio from day 1 (allegedly #1 on our draft board), and from what it sounds like, an up tempo style of play may be a required qualification for any new coach. It makes me wonder if Kahn wants to put all his eggs in the Rubio basket and create an uptempo team around Rubio along with the aforementioned players that project to succeed in an uptempo system. Another line of reasoning to run an uptempo system is that it is more player friendly. For a destination as cold as Minneapolis, perhaps Kahn realizes the team needs all the help it can get attracting free agents, and an uptempo system may help in that regard.

2. Does this mean Mark Jackson is going to be our next head coach?

I am reminded of draft day. Right after Flynn was picked it seemed everyone was shocked except Mark Jackson. Mark Jackson defended the pick, stating something to the extent of "they are going to play a new brand of basketball, by playing uptempo and pressure defense." This begs the question -- how did Mark Jackson know this when everyone else was looking around waiting for a trade announcement?

3. Does this mean Al Jefferson could be traded?

Obviously, Al Jefferson's old school low post game and healing ACL are not going to mesh with an uptempo game. Is it possible that Kahn's long term vision for the franchise is to trade Jefferson for players better fitted to run along Rubio and co.?

[Esohny]

Not that I couldn't see Kahn trading Jefferson if he was getting the right value(although I find that difficult to imagine happening), but I think he's smart enough to know that Big Al's value is not its highest right now due to the injury. I couldn't see this happening before Al has a chance to prove he's still his dominant self in the post, at the very least.

[Krapinsky]

Not that I couldn't see Kahn trading Jefferson if he was getting the right value, but I think he's smart enough to know that Big Al's value is not its highest right now due to the injury.

I wasn't implying he would be on the trade block now -- I'm talking long term future of the franchise. Will Kahn opt to build around Rubio and not Jefferson?

[Esohny]

We'd have to get a dominant wing player who could play uptempo I would think. Maybe Carmelo for Jefferson as the basis of a deal? Hard to imagine something like that happening, though.

[The J Rocka]

He better start by re-signing Rodney Carney

[jade_hippo]

after seeing Brewer play the last couple days. I pray we bring back Carney, at least for a year.

[revprodeji]

You have a writing skill Dr. K.

I saw the interview and talked to some people(*great, JW will love that)the concept of switching to a more up tempo team is accepted in the front office and I think Kahn is being upfront in that in order to get fans interested as well as Rubio. I would be willing to bet that Rubio will play at least one season with us before anyone is moved. I would not be shocked if one of Rubio/Flynn, Gomes/Brewer, Love/Al is moved. But it also would not surprise me if we kept all of them. I think Kahn wants to see his assets in action in order to assess them for our future. If there are 2 things we know about Kahn it is that he has a very good work ethic and will look into every option. He also seems to have a brass set after what we saw draft night.

so to answer your questions.

1.) I think very committed. It fits our players, it brings back the casual fan. I do not think this means Al is gone. What Al lacks in lateral speed he is hardly a plotting big man. He can run the floor. But also, many teams run what is considered a "2 team" system which will have runners that push tempo first, but when that does not work they have to have a half court weapon. This works perfectly with us. Ricky/Flynn/Wayne/Brewer all will run and run hard. Love is a very good outlet passer and Love/Al are both very effective rebounders. By pushing tempo and controling the board we can make up for our lack of defensive strength and our projected low EFF from jump shooting. Pushing tempo is the classic way to increase positions and make up for those other weak spots. It is also much easier to coach a younger team to run.

1b.) The plan for this year and next summer is to add assets. Value is the key mostly regardless of fit. (some would argue) The idea behind it is that our overall value is very low so if we increase that value we can move pieces around for a fit much better than just grabbing fit and hoping they have value. There were 3 players on the top of our draft board. 1.)Harden/Rubio/Thebeast and we wanted one of those guys with the 5th and Flynn with the 6th. It is debatable which one of those 3 was truly the top of our list. (*obviously Griffin is #1 but be serious)

2.) Why the deuce would you think that? Using the line of reasoning from pt.1 you could make an argument for Turner or Williams as well. Turner has experience with Aldeman(sp) which uses a dominate post player but specializes in uptempo read-react offense. Williams in portland is very aware of the 2-team offensive concept as that is what they work with. Either of those guys have experience with an up-tempo system. Jackson was a relatively low-tempo pg as a player. But, Mark Jackson was a pg so perhaps he knows that 2 pg's can work together. Heck, in crunch time he used to share a backcourt with Travis Best.

3.) No. I do not think so. I think Jefferson is a rare player and Kahn knows that. I also think Al has never had a chance to play with a dominate pg and it would be interesting to see what he can do with this team.

[revprodeji]

after seeing Brewer play the last couple days. I pray we bring back Carney, at least for a year.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=921551&start=30

Carney vs Brewer is not the argument. Carney vs Ellington is. And the difference is that Carney is a chucker that is extremely inconsistent with a very low BBIQ. He is athletic, and he can get hot, but he can hurt a team just as fast. Carney does not move without the ball. This is not because of effort. (Kid does try hard) He is just not a smart player. He should have killed on the back door cuts and we never saw it. He has 2 offensive moves. 1.) spot up baseline 2.) leak on a rebound and dunk in transition. Only excuse for this after his time in the league is his low BBIQ. He does not think when he plays

There was an article a little bit ago that had Carney as the least passing player at his position. To prove that point he has a Ast-r of 5. Yes. 5. with a To-r of 8.3 Those are waiveable numbers. For all his athletic ability his Reb-r was a 6.1. Yet per 36 he avg more FGA then Love. (He was 4th in FGA per 36) He also led us in 3pA per 36, yet was one of the least in FTA.

he also carried a negative number at both SG and SF with a net -5.6 SG and a -4.1 SF.

Good kid, but just a chucker last year.

Brewer is raw. He looks out of control sometimes. But he is also a glue player that has shown signs of an improved jump shot. he has had the bad luck of only playing Under Wittman as a coach in the NBa. What happens with a real coach, a real pg and up tempo?

[Howler21]

Also Gives those Amare rumors alittle more clout, even if the proposals were ridiculous.

[Frozen3161]

How would you describe playing uptempo, besides quick in transition (which would almost always be off turnovers, defensive stops/rebounds) ?

[Biff Cooper]

You have a writing skill Dr. K.

I saw the interview and talked to some people(*great, JW will love that)the concept of switching to a more up tempo team is accepted in the front office and I think Kahn is being upfront in that in order to get fans interested as well as Rubio. I would be willing to bet that Rubio will play at least one season with us before anyone is moved. I would not be shocked if one of Rubio/Flynn, Gomes/Brewer, Love/Al is moved. But it also would not surprise me if we kept all of them. I think Kahn wants to see his assets in action in order to assess them for our future. If there are 2 things we know about Kahn it is that he has a very good work ethic and will look into every option. He also seems to have a brass set after what we saw draft night.

so to answer your questions.

1.) I think very committed. It fits our players, it brings back the casual fan. I do not think this means Al is gone. What Al lacks in lateral speed he is hardly a plotting big man. He can run the floor. But also, many teams run what is considered a "2 team" system which will have runners that push tempo first, but when that does not work they have to have a half court weapon. This works perfectly with us. Ricky/Flynn/Wayne/Brewer all will run and run hard. Love is a very good outlet passer and Love/Al are both very effective rebounders. By pushing tempo and controling the board we can make up for our lack of defensive strength and our projected low EFF from jump shooting. Pushing tempo is the classic way to increase positions and make up for those other weak spots. It is also much easier to coach a younger team to run.

1b.) The plan for this year and next summer is to add assets. Value is the key mostly regardless of fit. (some would argue) The idea behind it is that our overall value is very low so if we increase that value we can move pieces around for a fit much better than just grabbing fit and hoping they have value. There were 3 players on the top of our draft board. 1.)Harden/Rubio/Thebeast and we wanted one of those guys with the 5th and Flynn with the 6th. It is debatable which one of those 3 was truly the top of our list. (*obviously Griffin is #1 but be serious)

2.) Why the deuce would you think that? Using the line of reasoning from pt.1 you could make an argument for Turner or Williams as well. Turner has experience with Aldeman(sp) which uses a dominate post player but specializes in uptempo read-react offense. Williams in portland is very aware of the 2-team offensive concept as that is what they work with. Either of those guys have experience with an up-tempo system. Jackson was a relatively low-tempo pg as a player. But, Mark Jackson was a pg so perhaps he knows that 2 pg's can work together. Heck, in crunch time he used to share a backcourt with Travis Best.

3.) No. I do not think so. I think Jefferson is a rare player and Kahn knows that. I also think Al has never had a chance to play with a dominate pg and it would be interesting to see what he can do with this team.

Very very good post Rev.

Last year, McHale was always trying to get the Wolves to play with pace. The Wolves seemed like a much better team whenever they actually did this. Conversely, the Wolves looked like a bad team whenever they didn't push the ball and let the opponent easily get back on D. This uptempo theme really isn's something new that Kahn is trying to implement. The trade with Wash and the draft perhaps give them a few more weapons and maybe players that can finish around the hole to try to implement this system.

Playing uptempo also makes sense in that the Wolves on paper don't look like a very good perimeter shooting team right now. If playing uptempo lets us minimize the distance shots need to be taken away from the hoop, then its a good thing for this team.

[Devilzsidewalk]

we should be strive to do both like San Antonio. Gomes can do both, Flynn probably can though I haven't seen enough to be certain. Rubio can probably do both too. Jefferson and Love I'm not sure about. They probably need to improve their stamina or they'll be running themselves off the court instead of the other team.

[MN Die Hard]

Also Gives those Amare rumors alittle more clout, even if the proposals were ridiculous.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[NO-KG-AI]

I'm with Devilz, even the b est fastbreak teams need a guy like Al Jeff during games.

I don't know why people started thinking you have to have 4 super athletes to run a great fastbreak. The Spurs are excellent at pushing the break and getting 3's because their bigs know how to get the ball out quick, and the back court players run it perfectly.

[Devilzsidewalk]

another significant thing about the Spurs is they run off of defensive stops, whereas the Suns, Wiz and Warriors run off of makes, but after a bucket they usually run offense. I like that the best, seems the most efficient on paper. If our plan is to just run all the time to try and give us an advantage since we can't defend or because our halfcourt offense sucks, then we're probably just making things worse

[john2jer]

I think it's a combination of the 1st point by Kraphead. Supposedly the frozen tundra of Minnesota makes it IMPOSSIBLE to attract free agents. A running style is more fun, as mentioned above, thus helping attract free agents. Plus, considering we'll never attract good free agents, this at least makes our games fun to watch, thus fans will come out. It's kind of the Phoenix model. They'll never win a championship, but at least they'll sell out because the games are entertaining, and they're good enough to make the play-offs.

My question is, why aren't we going after D'Antoni's assistants, then?

You can't just hire a coach, and then tell him to run if that style isn't part of his philosophy. He won't know how to coach it, then you end up looking like the Warriors, who run, but suck.

I don't think this means Big Al gets traded, Kahn wants him to get more athletic, and faster. Obviously he'll never be an Amare or Tyrus Thomas, but he can at least be a younger Duncan, with the ability to move in the half court with the pick and roll/pop.

[revprodeji]

Very very good post Rev.

Last year, McHale was always trying to get the Wolves to play with pace. The Wolves seemed like a much better team whenever they actually did this. Conversely, the Wolves looked like a bad team whenever they didn't push the ball and let the opponent easily get back on D. This uptempo theme really isn's something new that Kahn is trying to implement. The trade with Wash and the draft perhaps give them a few more weapons and maybe players that can finish around the hole to try to implement this system.

Playing uptempo also makes sense in that the Wolves on paper don't look like a very good perimeter shooting team right now. If playing uptempo lets us minimize the distance shots need to be taken away from the hoop, then its a good thing for this team.

Problem with last year is the idea of running an uptempo team without a quality pg is like running a west coast offense without an accurate QB. Devil makes a great point that San An is another team that runs the 2-team concept. It is a successful model.

J2J, there is a difference with how houston, San AN, Portland run their up-tempo and Pho runs it. Pho does not play defense and just pushes the 7 second offense as fast as possible. That system would be bad for us. But we should be interviewing assistants from Hou, SanAn, and Portland. From what I hear we have 2 of the 3 interviewed.

[Howler21]

I'm with Devilz, even the b est fastbreak teams need a guy like Al Jeff during games.

I don't know why people started thinking you have to have 4 super athletes to run a great fastbreak. The Spurs are excellent at pushing the break and getting 3's because their bigs know how to get the ball out quick, and the back court players run it perfectly.

I hope it would work out like that because I want to keep AL on this squad as long as we can if he comes back healthy, hes is a fun player to watch. Something tells me we would be looking at a similar situation to Philly with Brand.

[Krapinsky]

Very very good post Rev.

Last year, McHale was always trying to get the Wolves to play with pace. The Wolves seemed like a much better team whenever they actually did this. Conversely, the Wolves looked like a bad team whenever they didn't push the ball and let the opponent easily get back on D. This uptempo theme really isn's something new that Kahn is trying to implement. The trade with Wash and the draft perhaps give them a few more weapons and maybe players that can finish around the hole to try to implement this system.

Playing uptempo also makes sense in that the Wolves on paper don't look like a very good perimeter shooting team right now. If playing uptempo lets us minimize the distance shots need to be taken away from the hoop, then its a good thing for this team.

Problem with last year is the idea of running an uptempo team without a quality pg is like running a west coast offense without an accurate QB. Devil makes a great point that San An is another team that runs the 2-team concept. It is a successful model.

J2J, there is a difference with how houston, San AN, Portland run their up-tempo and Pho runs it. Pho does not play defense and just pushes the 7 second offense as fast as possible. That system would be bad for us. But we should be interviewing assistants from Hou, SanAn, and Portland. From what I hear we have 2 of the 3 interviewed.

I read this and thought it rather odd. Off the top of my head I've always thought the three teams you mentioned were three of the more half court set based teams in the league, especially Portland, where McMillian is known for his very methodical approach to offense. This, to me, is not uptempo. I could be wrong, but if we're talking pace, San Antonio and Portland seem like two of the slowest teams in the league to me. They do get a lot of points in transition, but that is largely in part because they are teams that stress defense in the half court first, and as a consequence get those points off turnovers. This is not the type of system I think Kahn is talking about. I think he's talking about a Denver/Golden State type system.

[john2jer]

I'm just thinking of the up-tempo for the sake of attracting fans/free agents, as in what Phoenix and Golden State do. Now if people want to win and do well in the play-offs, which is just crazy talk, then sure, hire someone from Portland, SanAn, or Houston. But you'll all be regretting it when you're forced to watch basketball in June instead of getting excited by draft hype. Don't come crying to me because I'll be the guy saying, "I told you so!"