Timberwolves looking at Nelson as Rambis replacement:

bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Looks like the Wolves are looking at Don Nelson and possibly Rick Adelman as their new head coach. I really doubt Adelman would be interested. On the other hand, I could see Nellie taking the job. He has all the pieces there to run his uptempo no defense type of game.

Note to Kahn! Big career mistake hiring Nelson. By the end of the year, Nellie will be headcoach and GM, and you'll be flipping burgers somewhere. Here's a link:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/6...erwolves-list-coaching-candidates-sources-say
 
I wonder how long it took for Nellie and Rick to laugh Kahn off the phones. After the way he treated Rambis (no matter how terrible he was as a coach), he'll be lucky to generate much interest from top tier coaches unless he offers them a ridiculous contract (which of course with Kahn isn't out of the question)
 
Tetsujin said:
I wonder how long it took for Nellie and Rick to laugh Kahn off the phones.
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The story in the original post says that Nellie is interested.

Then again, I liked how Kahn insisted multiple times in his Rambis-firing presser that he wanted his team to play an up-tempo game "on both sides of the ball", which really does suggest to me that his preferred defensive scheme is to allow a layup and then quickly get back up the floor.

No wonder Nellie is interested.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
The story in the original post says that Nellie is interested.

Then again, I liked how Kahn insisted multiple times in his Rambis-firing presser that he wanted his team to play an up-tempo game "on both sides of the ball", which really does suggest to me that his preferred defensive scheme is to allow a layup and then quickly get back up the floor.

No wonder Nellie is interested.
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Nelly is interested because he sees the opportunity to create another ridiculous, everyone is a SF offense.

C: Love (at least until Martell Webster is comfortable enough to play the 5)
PF: Beasley
SF:Williams
SG: Johnson
PG: Rubio
 
Nellie is desperate and has no other suitors, he might actually go there so he play Love at C and Beasely at PF. It will be a huge step into permanent irrelevance for Minny, but hey, its Kahn, who cares.

Rick probably didn't even pick up the phone once he saw hwo it was on caller ID. Well, unless he wanted to get a chance to coach the next Vlade of course.
 
I kinda want to see Nellie with Minny. Their team will have a lot of offense, little defense, and intriguing drama. Make it happen KKKKHHHHAAAANNNN!!!!
 
I would go with Adelman. The Wolves roster is a similar but less talented version of what the Kings had back at the end of the lockout of '98. Flashy PG (JWil v. Rubio), an all star caliber PF (Webber and Love) and a Serbian C but I'll stop the comparisons there:) (Vlade v. Darko). I'd even argue that the Wolves have better wing options in Beasley, Wes Johnson and Williams as opposed to Corliss, Tariq and a young, unproven Peja.

Does this mean that the Wolves can be as good as the Kings were? I seriously doubt it. Love and Darko aren't on par with Webber and Vlade but the chemistry can be similar albeit less talented. IMO, Rambis was a bad coach and with someone like Adelman at the helm, they can at least begin to scratch the surface.
 
Trueblood said:
I would go with Adelman. The Wolves roster is a similar but less talented version of what the Kings had back at the end of the lockout of '98. Flashy PG (JWil v. Rubio), an all star caliber PF (Webber and Love) and a Serbian C but I'll stop the comparisons there:) (Vlade v. Darko). I'd even argue that the Wolves have better wing options in Beasley, Wes Johnson and Williams as opposed to Corliss, Tariq and a young, unproven Peja.

Does this mean that the Wolves can be as good as the Kings were? I seriously doubt it. Love and Darko aren't on par with Webber and Vlade but the chemistry can be similar albeit less talented. IMO, Rambis was a bad coach and with someone like Adelman at the helm, they can at least begin to scratch the surface.
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While I agree, that on paper, Adelman would be a good choice, I just don't see Adelman accepting the job. And not because of the players on the team, but because of Kahn. Nellie is a different matter. He's used to turmoil, and is usually the creator of the turmoil. As I said, if Kahn is stupid enough to let Nellie get his foot in the door, Nellie would probably have his job by the end of the year. Which actually would be a step up.
 
bajaden said:
While I agree, that on paper, Adelman would be a good choice, I just don't see Adelman accepting the job. And not because of the players on the team, but because of Kahn. Nellie is a different matter. He's used to turmoil, and is usually the creator of the turmoil. As I said, if Kahn is stupid enough to let Nellie get his foot in the door, Nellie would probably have his job by the end of the year. Which actually would be a step up.
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It would be a step up although I have to think that Glen Taylor has finally learned his lesson. McHale was a bad GM but got through the door due to local ties and then he made another bad hire when he brought in Kahn. I have to think that he'll listen to outsiders this time when deciding on a new GM and they'll tell him to say no to Nellie as a GM but give him a "maybe" as a possible coach.

Most posters on this board seem to think that Adelman would never accept the job but he did have an interview. Was he doing that just to leverage himself against other possible jobs or is it possible that he may actually be interested due to the roster? Afterall, that has to play a role with Rick. He had success in jobs where there were high character players that he got along with in Portland, here and Houston but struggled big time with a low character team (Sprewell/GS) and even feuded with another star (Hardaway). I have to think that coaching non headaches like Love and Rubio is appealing while I could see him hoping for a Beasley trade.
 
Trueblood said:
It would be a step up although I have to think that Glen Taylor has finally learned his lesson. McHale was a bad GM but got through the door due to local ties and then he made another bad hire when he brought in Kahn. I have to think that he'll listen to outsiders this time when deciding on a new GM and they'll tell him to say no to Nellie as a GM but give him a "maybe" as a possible coach.

Most posters on this board seem to think that Adelman would never accept the job but he did have an interview. Was he doing that just to leverage himself against other possible jobs or is it possible that he may actually be interested due to the roster? Afterall, that has to play a role with Rick. He had success in jobs where there were high character players that he got along with in Portland, here and Houston but struggled big time with a low character team (Sprewell/GS) and even feuded with another star (Hardaway). I have to think that coaching non headaches like Love and Rubio is appealing while I could see him hoping for a Beasley trade.
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With Adelman, the older the roster, the better the coach he is. Adelman is called a players coach. His method of coaching is to trust the players to make the right decisions during a game. Most of his coaching is done prior to the game. So players love having the ability to make decisions for themselves on the floor. The problem of course is that it really only works with experienced and talented players. The younger the team, the more likelyhood of mistakes being made. So the heart of his best teams has always been experienced leadership. With the Kings it was Vlade and Webber. At Houston he had Yao, Martin, Scola, and until traded, Battier.

The roster at Minny, while young, is very talented in some areas, so it might work. I still question whether he would be willing to rub elbows with Kahn on a daily basis.
 
I'm frankly shocked Adelman even took the phone call, let alone the interview. He has just got to have had better opportunities than this this summer.
 
Frankly, I would be sad for Adelman if he took the Minny job. I think the T-wolves would definitely improve under his coaching, but I don't think they will be a championship contender for a long time. Who knows what Khan will do to that team in the future. The only way they'll get really good is if they win the lottery (or lotteries) and obtain sure-fire talent that way.
 
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Good luck Minni. They need to be relevant again in some sort of fashion, they have been horrible for longer than us and that's saying something.
 
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