khandor’s sports blog

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Kahn: Rubio not ready to jump to NBA 
“This morning I met with Ricky and his parents and told them that I understood Ricky’s decision,” Kahn said in a statement issued by the Wolves. “It was clear to me yesterday and in this morning’s meeting that the pressure surrounding Ricky and his family to remain in Spain for at least two more years had only intensified as the summer wore on and was weighing heavily on them.

“The NBA is the best basketball league in the world, by far. As an 18-year-old man, Ricky would have been challenged on a nightly basis to a degree he has never experienced. In order for Ricky to meet this challenge fully, I believe it is important that his family and other people important to him were comfortable with the move to the NBA and fully supportive.

“I also agreed with Ricky’s position that two more years of competition in Spain and the Euroleague will only aid his development and that he will be much more ready for the NBA when he joins us” at age 20.

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is the best possible outcome for the T-wolves, in a sticky situation.

At-present, Minnesota is entrenched at the bottom of the NBA.

Ricky Rubio … given his age [18], the state of his physique [skinny], and his present skill-set [can't really shoot it consistently] … simply isn’t ready to make a significant contribution to an NBA team, over the course of an 82 game season.

Minnesota:

- Just hired an entirely new coaching staff
- Has its star Big Man in the process of recovery from ACL surgery
- Has its best SF in the process of recovery from ACL surgery
- Has a current roster which looks like this … and,
- As of right now, has a fairly high probability of landing the No. 1 [overall] Selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, and at least one other high 1st Round Draftee from the 2011 NBA Lottery, given their prospects for success in the Western Conference these next 2 seasons.

If Rubio arrives in the NBA, from Europe, in time for the 2011-2012 season, the T-wolves franchise will be in a much better position to take full advantage of his unique package of skills, at the PG spot, when:

Kevin Love [PG] will be 22 years of age,
Jonny Flynn [PG] will be 22 years of age,
Wayne Ellington [OG] will be 23 years of age,
Corey Brewer [SF] will be 25 years of age,
Aleksiy Pecherov [C] will be 25 years of age,
Ryan Hollins [C] will be 26 years of age,
Al Jeferson [PF] will be 26 years of age,
Ryan Gomes [SF] will be 29 years of age, and,

Kurt Rambis [and Co.] will be in his 3rd season as their head coach.

If David Kahn is truly serious about building a championship basketball operation in Minnesota that’s the type of roster - with an eye towards the future - which can get the job done in the long run … provided the plan includes adding a high calibre 1st Round draft pick next summer, a 2nd high calibre 1st Round draft pick the summer after that, and a dominant, pass-first PG, with good size, and skill, and charisma, like Rubio, for the 2011-2012 season.

After rolling “craps” for quite some time, the T-Wolves may have finally been able to “make their point”.

Courtesy of BlazersEdge [via TrueHoop's Thursday Bullets] …

What’s Next for LaMarcus Aldridge
… time and again during the second half of last season — you remember the stretch when every home game seemed like a twenty point blowout —  I was sitting there dumbfounded (as Brother Wendell and the Mercury’s Ezra Caraeff can attest), watching LaMarcus do things we’d never seen him do before: truly take over a game, glare at the opposing team’s bench after a big dunk in traffic, get in someone’s face and have that person back down first.

On more than one occasion this spring, I found myself thinking (often thinking aloud, spraying spit with excitement) that Aldridge is really not that far from becoming the single most entertaining Blazer in franchise history.

His combination of pure skill, hustle, length, determination and intelligence is arguably already unmatched.  

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The choice of this corner?

At the Power Forward position, in today’s NBA … there is no player in the game with more straight-up basketball talent than Josh Smith.

When it comes to this specific choice, he’s the player yours truly would take from this list … believe it or not.

If he’s ever fortunate enough to find NBA employment with [I] the RIGHT organization and [II] the RIGHT head coach, who knows how to use his numerous skills properly, within the team concept … still younger than many others realize … Josh Smith has more Capacity For Dominance, at the POWER FORWARD position, than any other, in conjunction with all three phases of the game [i.e. Offense, Defense and Rebounding].

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PS. Alternate choices, as well as your expanded thoughts on the subject, are welcome in the comments section.

McHale out as Timberwolves coach
During 15 years in charge of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kevin McHale forged two distinct reputations.

There was McHale the gifted teacher, beloved by players and staff for his relentlessly positive demeanor and an unending eagerness to share his wealth of basketball knowledge. Then there was McHale the mistake-prone executive, vilified by fans for a series of blunders and the failure to make his team into a consistent championship contender.

New president of basketball operations David Kahn dumped McHale as coach on Wednesday, praising him as a “great man” who deserves respect. But offered no specific reasons during a press conference for his decision, saying instead that “this is going to be a transition period. And with the changes that have occurred, and with the changes that are still going to come, it would have been difficult to put him in the middle of that again.”

McHale, a northern Minnesota native and Hall of Fame player who won three NBA titles with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s, met several times with Kahn before the decision was reached.

“I was willing to come back, but they never offered me a contract,” McHale told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “They told me last night they were going in a different direction. I said, ‘I think you’re making a mistake, but that’s up to you guys.”’

Players lamented the loss of the teacher.

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Wrap-up of McHale
After a day to think about it, my thoughts on the matter are kind of mixed.  On one hand, I think McHale has the goods to be an outstanding NBA coach.  He is, as Kahn mentioned several times during the press conference, a fantastic communicator and he seemingly has a wonderful way with NBA ego management.  We also know that he’s a let’s-take-care-of-it-in-practice kind of coach and I think that is the best way to handle things in a players’ league.  Say what you will about the importance of January or whether or not the team he put together has any promise, but McHale got solid improvement out of Al Jefferson, Randy Foye, and Kevin Love during the time at the end of the bench.  There was promise there and it was a bird in the hand, not the bush.  On the other hand, I had the feeling that McHale simply didn’t have the makeup to properly adjust to the new responsibilities that being a coach, not a GM-type, entailed.  He just seems like a stubborn ass in this department and I completely agree with Kahn’s assessment that it would have been an uncomfortable fit for everyone involved to have McHale coach a team that, by all of Kahn’s statements, will look very different from the vision the Iron Ranger had in mind. 

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If your organization is run by individuals who know what they’re doing … what you do NOT do is what was done yesterday to a person like Kevin McHale.

There are any number of different ways that GLEN TAYLOR & DAVID KAHN could have [and SHOULD have] handled this situation … with class.

What they chose to do, instead, was act in a way that can best be described as Lacking Basketball Acumen.

This viewpoint has nothing to do with Kevin McHale’s track record as the embattled former General Manager of the Timberwolves … a team that he once led to 8 consecutive playoff appearances and, in 2004, to the Western Conference Finals … it has to do with who Kevin McHale is, as one of the NBA’s Top 50 Players of All-Time AND one of the few solid head coaches in the Association today who was responsible for turning around their team’s on-court performance in the middle of last season before Al Jefferson went down with a serious knee injury.

When your organization has one of the Top 50 All-Time Best Players in the History of the NBA, as arguably the No. 1 Power Forward on the list, working on its behalf every day … you DO NOT hang that gentleman out-to-dry by refusing to offer him a contract to return as the coach of your team, with a group of key players headed up by Al Jefferson [PF-C] and Kevin Love [C-PF].

You might WANT to do that. You might FEEL like doing exactly that. You might even have a NEED to do just that, on a personal level … BUT, THAT, IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO, if you are someone who knows what you’re doing at the head of a 1st-class organization in the NBA, and are trying to WIN.

The fact is … THIS IS A PLAYERS’ LEAGUE.

Period.

If you want to have major success in the NBA … i.e. by hoisting this trophy one day in the future during a parade down main street in your particular shanty-town … you need to [MUST?] conduct your business with this Prime Directive in mind at all times.

This is a PLAYERS’ LEAGUE.

Period.

What you do MUST BE in the best interests of the PLAYERS on your team.

It is not an owner’s league.

It is definitely not a 1st time General Manager’s league.

It is not a David Stern’s in-house-boy league, by any stretch of the imagination … at least, if your ever want to win the League Championship.

Shame on GLEN TAYLOR & DAVID KAHN for NOT having the intestinal fortitude to return Kevin McHale to the sidelines next season, as their team’s head coach, devoted to teaching the game properly, and instead continuing the lunacy that has been responsible for putting the T-wolves franchise in the place it finds itself today, in the nether region of the NBA … sleeping with the fishes.

Mr. Taylor … as the owner of this team, YOU will get precisely what YOU deserve.

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PS. Zero sympathy goes out to T-wolves fans who cannot distinguish properly between having a solid head coach on their sidelines, responsible for directing the future development of their team’s best players, and a former GM who was rightfully scrutinized for the relatively poor job he’s done in recent years. Holding grudges like that and making largely inaccurate assessments of a person’s basic character gets you nowhere fast in this life.

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Related:

Who is David Kahn?

‘I think you’re making a mistake,’ McHale tells Kahn as he is ousted 

Kevin McHale and the Cult of Reason

Coming out of the annual All-Star Break and heading toward this week’s Trade Deadline  [Feb 19, 3:00 PM] … as different trade rumours swirl about the NBA [on-line & elsewhere] … it can be instructive to assess where certain marquee players rank amongst their brethren, at the specific position[s] they play the best.

When considering Big Men [i.e. Centers/C and Power Forwards/PF], it is also imperative to understand what their fundamental role is within the NBA game and what qualities are the most important for them to exhibit on a consistent basis, if their respective team’s are going to have a legitimate chance to win a League Championship, now or in the not-too-distant future.

Big Man Ranking Criteria

* Leadership
* Rebounding [which includes: i. Defensive; ii. Offense]
* Team Defense [which includes: i. Interior Rotations; ii. Perimeter Rotations; iii. Execution of Pick & Roll Techniques; iv. Transition Effectiveness; v. Shot blocking off the ball; Switching off the ball]
* Low-Mid Post Scoring
* Passing Effectiveness
* Individual Low-Mid Post Defense [which includes Shot blocking on the ball]
* Individual Perimeter Defense
* Screening Effectiveness
* Picking Effectiveness
* Perimeter Scoring
* Offensive Transition
* Physical Traits: i. Quickness; ii. Agility; iii. Explosive Power; iv. Size & Strength
* Psycho-Emotional Traits: i. Stability; ii. Intelligence; iii. Intensity; iv. Toughness 

These are the current rankings, according to this corner:

Use the “comments” section to provide your feedback.

The Anatomy of Wins and Losses in the NBA:
Breaking Down Key Possessions

Game 18 - TOR 107 vs Min (11-43) 85, W 12-6 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 17 - Tor 102 @ IND (22-34) 98, W 11-6 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 16 - TOR 115 vs Nyk (17-38) 92, W 10-6 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 15 - Tor 99 @ NYK (16-38) 103, L 9-6 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 14 - TOR 127 vs Orl (34-21) 110, W 9-5 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 13 - TOR 109 vs Njn (22-30) 91, W 8-5 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 12 - TOR 88 vs Sas (33-17) 93, L 7-5 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 11 - Tor 105 @ MIN (10-38) 82, W 7-4 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 10 - TOR 98 v Lac (15-31) 102, L 6-4 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 9 - Tor 114 @ MIA (9-36) 82, W 6-3 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 8 - TOR 101 vs LAL (28-16) 121, L 5-3 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 7 - TOR 122 vs Was (24-19) 85, W 5-2 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 6 - Tor 104 @ WAS (23-19) 108, OT, L 4-2 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 5 - TOR 106 vs Mil (17-26) 75, W 4-1 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 4 - Tor 114 @ BOS (33-6) 112, W 3-1 … Boxscore 
Game 3 - Tor 95 @ PHI (15-25) 99, L 2-1 … Full Play-By-Play
Game 2 - TOR 89 vs Atl (17-18) 78, W 2-0 … Boxscore, Full Play-By-Play
Game 1 - TOR 116 vs Sac (15-21) 91, W 1-0

Record vs >.500 Opp: 3-3 (.500)
Record vs ≤.500 Opp: 9-3 (.750)

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Key Possessions which determined the W-L result:

Some NBA games are decided during a specific ’sub-set’ of possessions during the 2nd Quarter … like this one, when

(after Jose Calderon subbed back in for TJ Ford … 04:10)

during these 7 trips up & down the floor …

TOR 44, Min 41

02:53 … (1) TOR/Bosh was fouled & made 1 of 2 FTA’s
02:40 … (2) Min/Jefferson made a 2FGA
02:24 … (3) TOR/Moon made a Layup (Assist, Parker)
02:09 … (4) Min/Jefferson made a TO (Steal, Calderon)
01:57 … (5) TOR/Bargnani made a Layup (Assist, Calderon)
01:39 … (6) Min/Jefferson made a TO (Off. Foul)
01:33 … (7) TOR/Bosh was fouled & made 1 of 2 FTA

and the Raptors extended their lead to 8 pts (TOR 51, Min 43 … prior to Halftime … a deficit from which the T-Wolves never recovered)

Key Raptors: Jose Calderon (1 Ast; 1 Stl), Andrea Bargnani (1-2, FGA/50.0%; 1 Rb), Anthony Parker (1 Ast), Jamario Moon (1-1, FGA/100.0%) & Chris Bosh (0-1, FGA/00.0%; 3-4, FTA/75.0%) 

Vital Components:
- Toronto scored on 4 consecutive possessions (4-4, 100.0%) while allowing the T-Wolves to convert only 1-5 possessions (20.0%/1 made 2FGA) during this critical stretch at the end of the 2nd Quarter vs an inferior opponent.

Next Game:
vs Indiana, 22-36 (Fri Feb 29)