How long do we have to put up with Rambis?

[shangrila]

We're talking about this game. Wednesday, Jan 5 vs. Charlotte Bobcats. Don't try to weasel your way out of the argument by generalizing. Look again at Charlotte's line-up, their record and their offensive stats. Then tell me again with a straight face, that the Wolves lost this game cause they had only two legit scorers. And the Bobcats had how many of those? And btw, Kobe's Lakers circa 2004 would've killed this team.

Did the Wolves lose this because only Love and Beasley showed up to play? Yes. I don't understand why that's hard to understand.

There is a difference between "optimist" and "delusional". Oceanary is pretty much the former.

What are you talking about?

Beasley and Love combined for 63 points, 27 rebounds, 7 assists and only turned the ball over twice Did they drop the ball? Point is, when your stars produce like that and you still lose the game against shorthanded and overmatched opponent, thetre is something seriously wrong with the system. And who's in charge of the system? Who's responsible of putting "the other guys" in position to score and produce?

No, they didn't. But everyone else did. Are you intentionally being thick here or what? When your 3rd leading scorer is at 10 points on lousy efficiency you aren't winning the game no matter who you're facing.

[Esohny]

bah, humbug.
A coaching staff consisting of the apostles couldn't get this team to .500 this year

Well, of course not. The players don't speak Aramaic.

Jeez...

[[RCG]]

Don't put too much on the coach. The players are the ones out there playing the game. Kurt Rambis doesn't make the bad passes or poor shot attempts. If you want to gripe about minutes or rotations that's one thing. but Rambis isn't out there playing defense. When it comes to close games you have to look at the players.

[LordBaldric]

Rambis is directly responsible for our stupid ass defensive philosophy of doubling everyone in the post (even Kwame Brown!!!) and not defending 3 point shooters. It's f'ing insane and I've had more than enough of it. An open 3 is the most efficient shot in the game after a dunk/layup, and Rambis' gameplan is to concede them. Embarrassing. Kahn can pack his bags too.

[C.lupus]

[eyeteeth]

Rookie.

I know this is an American sport (even if there's a lot of international fans on here), and impatience and immediate gratification are as American as Madison Avenue, but take a chill pill people. Rambis is a rookie. All, and I mean all rookies make dumb mistakes.

It is frustrating. I was at the game, and it made no sense and I was pissed off. So what. Grow up. It will get better.

Think about Rambis as the guy who got the team to outscore the opponent by 18 in the 3rd. Understand that he will get more consistent as the years pass, just like the team.

[Krapinsky]

I still think Rambis is a very good coach and is better than any other options out there.

[funkatron101]

Rookie.

I know this is an American sport (even if there's a lot of international fans on here), and impatience and immediate gratification are as American as Madison Avenue, but take a chill pill people. Rambis is a rookie. All, and I mean all rookies make dumb mistakes.

It is frustrating. I was at the game, and it made no sense and I was pissed off. So what. Grow up. It will get better.

Think about Rambis as the guy who got the team to outscore the opponent by 18 in the 3rd. Understand that he will get more consistent as the years pass, just like the team.

When does the "rookie" label go away? Year 4? 5? 10?

Based on his experience with the Lakers: one year of coaching, years under Phil Jackson, filling in for Phil on a number of occasions and last season with the Wolves, it's hard for me to look at him as a rookie.

Dwayne Casey certainly didn't get that exemption. Wittman, as much as we disliked him, didn't get the rookie exemption either.

[Worm Guts]

Why would anyone call Rambis a rookie? This isn't even his first stint as a head coach.

[the_bruce]

This team gets killed by other teams PG's and our PG play.

This team gets killed by long athletic bigs (like Tyrus).

While Ridnour can play he solves nothing. He's modestly priced and a solid backup. He's just as bad as flynn defensively.

Get randolph somehow.

Find a PG solution.

[GopherIt!]

I still think I am a very good coach and am better than any other options out there.

I think your avatar just spoke.

[TMo519]

Why would anyone call Rambis a rookie? This isn't even his first stint as a head coach.

His first stint was a short period of games wasn't it? It's not like he had another job for a couple years or anything. I wouldn't call him a rookie, but he is definitely still learning all the pieces of the job, he's gonna screw up, and probably more than we ever could want. But I mean really, even the most veteran coaches screw up all the time with their stuff, they just usually have better talent on their roster to get around it and still get plenty of W's.

The blown leads are the most classic sign of a young team that hasn't played together very long. Beasley hasn't played the role of alpha scorer on an NBA team more than 30 some odd games, he's still learning how to be that kind of player. If he figures it out, and how to get the ball consistently in his spots when he wants it, it'll make this team all the better at finishing games. Guys are playing in roles they aren't completely comfortable with yet, give them time to jell and figure each other out before we go into panic mode about the coaching aspect. It's hard to coach a young team while trying to negotiate who needs more playing time to grow, and who just needs to take a seat for a while and watch and learn that way. DIfferent player react to different styles of learning. I think Rambis is still trying to figure that out with this team.

[UK-Wolf]

I'd give him to the end of the season, without doubt.

It's been an incredibly frustrating season so far but there are positives, we don't suck half as much as last year. He seems to have a decent bond with the players, Love and him seem to have sorted out the minutes issue, Beasley's not causing any trouble and is playing good ball so the locker room seems fine.

Most of the roster seems to have improved under him, Beasley's average 20+ a game and has been very good in the clutch. K-Love's come on leaps and bounds, 20 points and 15 rebs a game are unreal numbers. Darko's playing some really good b'ball when he's not in foul trouble.

I really don't think there's anyone else who'll do a much better job out there, it could unsettle the team sacking him and that'll only cause a morale drop. We're better off being a bit patient (yes, we've been incredibly patient already) and seeing what the rest of the season brings.

[Foye]

At this point, I would love to bring in a Euro coach who emphasizes D more and takes everyone who doesn't defend with passion and heart out immediately.

I don't think we have worked on defense at all in the preseason. At least it doesn't look like that.

I give Rambis till the end of the season. If it doesn't work out by then he has gotta go.
We've brought in a whole lot of players and it still doesn't work out. He's been our coach for 1 1/2 seasons now and I would have expected more improvement.

What we're doing right now is building a poor man's Denver Nuggets team and that doesn't suit me at all.

[Worm Guts]

I was thinking he coached the entire lockout shortened season for Lakers, it was only 37 games, but still it's his 2nd season with the Wolves. He can't be called a rookie. I don't even like using the term "rookie" for coaches, he's 50+ year old man who was hired for his ability to make decisions. It's not the same as being a 20 year old rookie player who was drafted for his athletic ability and/or skillset.

[AQuintus]

Don't put too much on the coach. The players are the ones out there playing the game. Kurt Rambis doesn't make the bad passes or poor shot attempts.

No, but Rambis is responsible for using an offensive system that takes a bunch of young, inexperienced players and tells them to read what the defense is doing and make the correct play based on that. It's not too surprising that they make tons of mistakes. This desperately needs a few good set plays (and not ones that involve dribble hand offs at the top of the key until the shot clock runs out).

Rambis is also responsible for the fact that they play at a ridiculous pace despite being a terrible fast breaking team. If the team is moving so fast that they dribble the ball of themselves or jack up some crap with 20 seconds left on the shot clock, it's up to the coach to tell them to SLOW DOWN.

[Foye]

When you got a 20-15 guy on your team and another solid scorer in Beasley and a group of talented young players together and your team still doesn't figure out how to win games against teams that miss 3 starters something has to change.

[TMo519]

When you got a 20-15 guy on your team and another solid scorer in Beasley and a group of talented young players together and your team still doesn't figure out how to win games against teams that miss 3 starters something has to change.

Well obviously last night was a complete F-up on the part of the entire team. That, and DJ Augustine was mad clutch for them, he's the sole reason they won. But for a team in the middle of a 2nd year with a coach, a MAJOR roster overhaul the past summer, full of youth, and showing potential for the first time since 2004, is this really the time for a coaching change? I think not. Let this thing play out this season, you gotta be at least a little patient with this. Let's not charge the previous botched years of rebuilding WCF season on this current rebuild. Last year was a purge, this year is time to give this team some room to grow and learn and Rambis is a part of that process.

[eyeteeth]

Rambis will be here through next season almost no matter what. Kahn is sold on the long game and the attitude in the locker room is by all reports still very coherent and upbeat.

I call Rambis a rookie because last year was year zero. They weren't trying to win, so it hardly mattered what he did as long as it gave them a chance to evaluate talent. Comparing any of his time with the Lakers to this is simply ridiculous. They did not have the youngest and least experienced roster. Period.

What Rambis is trying to do now is like driving a Zamboni through an obstacle course while bonobo monkeys are swarming all over you. It's a miracle he can keep the team pointed in the right direction. To his credit, it seems he is doing this. If they still suck half this bad past the halfway point of next season, I'll eat my hat.

[shangrila]

No, but Rambis is responsible for using an offensive system that takes a bunch of young, inexperienced players and tells them to read what the defense is doing and make the correct play based on that. It's not too surprising that they make tons of mistakes. This desperately needs a few good set plays (and not ones that involve dribble hand offs at the top of the key until the shot clock runs out).

Set plays are even harder to learn. If they're struggling with a movement based offence like the Triangle then I doubt they'll get any better.

Also, maybe I was the only one that saw this, but didn't they run a hell of a lot of PnR for most of the game? I distinctly remember Ridnour and Love using it a LOT in the 3rd, Darko and Johnson did it a bit and even Jonny got some opportunities with it. So, considering it's one of the easiest things to run and both the point guards are apparently masters at it, I don't think it's necessarily the offensive system at this point.

Rambis is also responsible for the fact that they play at a ridiculous pace despite being a terrible fast breaking team. If the team is moving so fast that they dribble the ball of themselves or jack up some crap with 20 seconds left on the shot clock, it's up to the coach to tell them to SLOW DOWN.

Maybe you're right but none of these turnovers seem to come from the pace. Well, not really.

The ones I can remember were Darko pass to Beasley he wasn't expecting, Wes' no look to Tyrus Thomas, Wes bouncing it off his knee out of bounds in the half court, Flynn throwing it to no one down the court, etc, etc. If they were doing a lot of them on the fast break then maybe it'd have something to do with the pace but, at least to me, most of them seem to come from the half court and sloppy plays and that's directly related to the youth and experience of the team.