Rambo: Eye of The Spur

I'm very tempted to change my blog name to "5 techs 10 seconds" as a homage to the Pacers blog "8 points, 9 seconds"

This is the first time all year that I have actually found myself getting bored with this club. A friend and I were talking about what the over/under that Kurt Rambis is fired by the end of the season: I said 40 percent chance he's gone at the end of the season. That seems a little high now that I think about it. Khan really believes in Rambo and for him to be canned mid-season would be fairly surprising. So I will change my prediction: I think there is a 40 percent chance that Rambo will be fired before the start of next season. There is far too much at stake for this franchise to keep Rambis around if the results don't start to come. Love and he don't see eye to eye, Rubio coming next season, draft picks busting all over the place (part of this can be attributed to Khan's drafting, however it's pretty clear at least in Flynn's case he is being mismanaged).

I like Kurt Rambis, and I think that Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and Darko have all played extremely well under him which is a positive sign. Corey Brewer has developed under Rambis too. I think in terms of "talent management" he's got it down, but the in game stuff, the not consistent rotations, the poor play calling late in game, the questionable defensive scheme he is not there yet.

Like any young player, they need to be allowed to make mistakes and I think that should also remain true with Kurt, however the coach has a much shorter leash than the players. I think it's fair to say if we don't top 20-23 wins he should easily be on the hot seat.

This team is literally a ball-handler away from being a 30 win team I believe though. While that isn't saying much, it's a giant step up. If they had a guy to properly manage those tight situations the team often finds themselves in late in games, they would probably have 4-6 more wins this season.

So I'm putting Kurt's job on Khan. If he likes his coach so much he has to go get a ball-handler. Jerryd Bayless and OJ Mayo have been two popular names and I would sign off on either. Sure handed ballers who are able to both score and distribute and are also both tough as nails defensively.

This team has a front court you can win with. Darko, Love and Beasley is a playoff caliber front court, no question. But it's the guard play that will determine how far a team goes.

It really is a shame Johnny Flynn has fallen so far. The guy has borderline regressed since being here, his first game as a Wolf was so promising. He's not a terrible shooter, he can hit the open shots. He has a good handle, and is super fast. Those are good qualities

Well lets hope the Wolves don't snooze away the second half of the season. They have the talent to win, and I believe they can get to about the 22+ mark still, which would be about where they would need to be for the season to not be a failure.

Kevin Love:30

I've been writing facebook opines on the Wolves for awhile, and I plan to get my sports website going soon. But in the meantime I want to have a formal blog to collect my Wolves opinions.

This first blog post is an interesting question I have about Kevin Love:

Interesting question I've been thinking about for awhile, what to do with Kevin Love?

The guy has made a name for himself in the NBA with his outrageous rebounding preformances, and has helped put Minnesota on the map a little bit more from a basketball perspective, however he clearly doesn't get along with Kurt Rambis very well, and he really really enjoys talking about himself.

His last bit of information on hiself has him saying "i don't know if i'll be here long term or not." he doesn't even give the courtesy "I'd like to stay here' comment, no he basically says 'if they don't pony up the cash, I'm out of here.'

And thus the great Kevin Love debate. How good is he actually, and how much is he worth?

He at his best season, I believe can MAYBE be a no. 2 player on a championship team, however he will largely float around being a 3rd best player on a top team. He doesn't have that consistant offensive go-to scorer game, and isn't a great defensive player.

I would price a fair contract out for him in the neighborhood of 5 years/55 million. Not max money but not chump change either...essentially this is what Rajon Rondo, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah are making.

Now, what if he wants more? What if he can get more? 20/15 averages are no joke, and too the naked eye are pretty elite power forward numbers. On a team like Orlando he could be insanely valuable playing along side an elite defender in Howard. Lebron is basically making overtures for Love....will Love be able to resist the limelight? I'm actually betting not. So, maybe trading him while his value is sky high is the correct way to go about it.

Options:

Love to Cleveland for JJ Hickson, Anderson Verajo and a draft pick: We instantly fortify our interior defense, while getting two very completementary role players down low.

Love, Devin Harris, and a combination of picks from Min and NJ to Denver, Anothny and Al Harrington to Nets, Derrick Favors and Nene to the Wolves: Put Love in a larger deal to the Nuggets, and again we fortify the interiror defense and get a power forward in Favors whom a lot of insiders believe will be a periennial all star

Love to Atlanta for Al Horford: Al Horford is the better player but doesn't like playing the 5 role in Atl. Love would fit in the run and gun style well at the 5, since defense is not the priority.

Love, Brewer, and Flynn to the Blazers for Lemarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews: This is a dicey one, because it is the one trade that turns us into a poor rebounding team, but it might give us the best lineup possible