The Minnesota Timberwolves will interview their third head coach candidate Saturday with Pres. of Operations David Kahn & Owner Glen Taylor.  Another elderly coaching candidate: Rick Adelman will get an interview.

Most are considering Rick Adelman a ‘dream hire’ for the Timberwolves that could very well be the answer to all their problems.

Rick Adelman, 65, began in the NBA as a player when he was selected in the 7th round of the 1968 NBA Draft—79th overall.  He spent just six season in the League before retiring in 1975, but that was only the beginning for Adelman.  In 1988 he returned to the NBA as a head coach for the Portland Trailblazers he was there from 88-93, from 1995-97 he coached the Golden State Warriors, from 1999-2006 he was the head coach of the Sacramento Kings and most recently from 2007-2011 he was the head coach of the Houston Rockets, before being ‘let go’ earlier this summer—and replaced by former Wolves GM & Head Coach—Kevin McHale.

In his 20 year coaching career, Adelman has amassed a 945-616 record (.605 winning percentage).

In my opinion this would definitely be the ideal hire for the Timberwolves, the other VERY intriguing candidate seems to be Don Nelson.  My only concern with this process is that with the Wolves still owing Rambis over $4M, is owner Glen Taylor willing to shell out some cash to get a great head coach, or are we going to start all over again with  bargain coach that’ll get the Wolves nowhere….?

That’s all for now, remember to check daily for all your TWolves news, information & updates—EVEN THROUGH THE LOCKOUT—though it will likely be just coaching candidate updates :)  Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES!

The Minnesota Timberwolves are about to interview their third NBA head coaching candidate.  

Bernie Bickerstaff follows interviews of Terry Porter & Mike Woodson.

The Portland Trailblazers assistant will interview on Friday with President of Operations David Kahn & Owner Glen Taylor.

Bernie Bickerstaff is the father of former Timberwolves assistant J.B. Bickerstaff—who recently joined the coaching staff in Houston with former Wolves GM & Head Coach Kevin McHale.

Bernie is 67 years old and has ben a head coach with Seattle, Denver, Washington & Charlotte.  He last coached for the Bobcat in 2007 when the team went 33-49.  Bernie’s overall record stands at 415-517 in 13 seasons—with a .445 winning percentage.  Bernie also has experience as a General Manager and a Team President.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are expected to interview Don Nelson as well as a number of other candidates early next week.

That’s all for now, remember to check back daily for all your up-to-date TWolves news, information & updates all year round!  Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES!

Yesterday the Minnesota Timberwolves decided to let go there coach of two years: Kurt Rambis after a tumultuous two seasons that resulted in a 32-132 record. 

As such, the Timberwolves are again on the coaching hunt and names have begun to surface recently.

The first of course being Bernie Bickerstaff.  We’ve had a few different stories on Bernie, but that idea can basically be scrapped.  The idea was that the Wolves would hire Bernie and keep his son J.B. (already an assistant in Minnesota), in hopes that after a few years Bernie would throw the reins to his son, however news broke today that J.B. Bickerstaff had accepted an assistant coaching job with the Houston Rockets under Kevin McHale.

Now, yet another name has surfaced.  Don Nelson-formerly of the Golden State Warriors (before he was basically forced out, then they hired Keith Smart—fired him this summer and now analyst Mark Jackson is the new Warriors head coach).  Don Nelson is reportedly showing interest in this Timberwolves roster that is loaded with young talent.  There are a few big questions on Don Nelson.  1.) Is he the right fit?  Anyone who has won the most games as a coach in NBA history should be the right fit for any team…right?  Well, the bigger question is—at 71 years of age, is Nelson the right coach for such a young inexperienced team?  2.) How much money is Nelson going to demand?  Glen Taylor is already having to shell out the remaining salary on the remaining 2 years of Rambis’ contract, so the thought is—they’ll likely look for a cheaper option…unfortunately!

Nelson became the most winningest coach in NBA history late in the 09-10 season and has an overall record of 1,335-1,063 (.557) as he’s coached in Milwaukee, New York, Dallas and of course Golden State—which links him to two current Minnesota players—Anthony Tolliver & Anthony Randolph who both spent a year with Nelson before he was let go.

Of course Don Nelson isn’t the only veteran coach the Timberwolves could/should look into—Rick Adelman (formerly of the Rockets), Larry Brown (formerly of the Charlotte Bobcats—was fired earlier in the 2010-11 season) and Jerry Sloan (formerly of the Utah Jazz and currently retired in the midst of the 2010-11 season). 

The sad truth is that David Kahn will make a move that he’ll love as he leaves the entire organization and fan base left, scratching our heads.  Beaming with pride he’ll introduce him and puzzled we’ll continue to question why Glen Taylor lets him call the shots…

That’s all for now, the coaching list is likely to grow in the coming weeks and we’ll be here to bring you all the updates as it’s likely there won’t be much else TWolves news to discuss.  Thanks for reading and check back daily for all TWolves news and updates.  GO WOLVES!

Former GM and head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Kevin McHale was hired as the new Houston Rockets head coach-replacing Rick Adelman.  McHale has now begun filling out the remaining assistant coaching spots.

Kelvin Sampson (former Milwaukee Bucks assistant) and J.B. Bickerstaff (former Minnesota Timberwolves assistant).

Kurt Rambis was officially fired earlier today and the Timberwolves have already begun to search for replacements—J.B. & Kelvin were both early candidates for the head coaching gig, but it doesn’t seem likely now.  Kelvin was also a candidate for the Houston job before Kevin was hired, he was also being considered for the Detroit head coaching job.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were rumored to be looking to interview current Portland assistant—Bernie Bickerstaff, for the Timberwolves head coaching gig, then retaining J.B. as the main Timberwolves assistant—the idea being that after a year or two, J.B. could take over as the head coach of Minnesota from his father.

The main news here is: You can take two solid coaches from the list of potential candidates for Minnesota.

That’s all for now.  Thanks for reading and remember to check daily for news, updates and information on your Minnesota Timberwolves.  GO WOLVES!

UPDATE: Another candidate that’s being thrown out their is Portland assistant Bernie Bickerstaff—the father of current Wolves assistant J.B. Bickerstaff.  The idea being J.B. would take over in a couple years with help from his father. 

UPDATE: Lorenzo Romar reportedly didn’t want to speak to the Wolves about the job when asked about it.  ”I love Seattle.  My wife loves Seattle and it’s a place that when we first got there—even though some were skeptical—I thought it was a place where we could be successful.  It’s awkward, maybe, more than flattering.  For one, there is a current coach there.  So that makes it awkward.”  Romar told the Seattle Times—obviously before word of Rambis’ firing ‘broke’.

According to Yahoo! Sports, league sources have said: David Kahn has decided to fire head coach Kurt Rambis!

It’s expected Kahn will not make this official until after tomorrow’s NBA Draft, however, he’s apparently already begun looking at replacements.

One such candidate is apparently: Lorenzo Romar (coach from University of Washington).  However, the Wolves are behind after numerous other teams have hired replacements, it may be slim pickings-LA Lakers: Mike Brown, Raptors: Dwayne Casey (a coach the Wolves were VERY interested in having return), Warriors: Mark Jackson, Rockets: Kevin McHale (Kahn wouldn’t be dumb enough to re-hire him after firing him 2 years ago…right?), Indiana making Frank Vogel their official coach and also, with the Pistons still looking at coaches like Kelvin Sampson, Mike Woodson & Lawrence Frank.

I would really like to see the Wolves take careful looks at such candidates as: Kelvin Sampson, Lawrence Frank, Mike Woodson, Patrick Ewing, Sam Mitchell and/or Mike Budenholzer.  Information on all these coaches can be found within the link at the bottom of this post.

Kahn has wanted Rambis to be more of a communicator with the team as well as with him and apparently their relationship had seriously deteriorated this past year.  Kahn also wanted Rambis to change his offensive & defensive systems, giving the Wolves a more open-court system for their new point guard Ricky Rubio, to roam free in, rather than the complex triangle—that reportedly, not all the players even learned—AFTER TWO YEARS!  His uneasy relationship with Kevin Love—the Wolves current ‘face of the franchise’ doesn’t help his cause either.  Neither did the 32-132 record!

As stated before, Kahn isn’t expected to make this official until after tomorrow’s draft, but it looks as though Kurt Rambis’ time in Minny has come to an end.

ALSO!!!  If you haven’t seen the April 23rd post on this site of possible coaching options for the Wolves, you should definitely check it out, link is down below (of course a few of those names have found destinations already).

http://minnesotatimberwolves.tumblr.com/post/4851796107/possible-coaching-options-for-the-wolves

That’s all for now, get ready for tomorrow’s draft as we’ll have up-to-the-minute updates throughout the night.  Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES!

Former Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach and Vice President Kevin McHale has officially become the Rockets’ next head coach after Rick Adelman was let go after this past season.

McHale was of course a long-term fixture in the TWolves organization from 1995-2008.  McHale went 35-55 as a head coach for the Timberwolves during his tenure.

McHale has never been an assistant coach and doesn’t have much experience, however the Rockets feel they got the strongest candidate available.  GM of the Boston Celtics Danny Ainge (and former teammate of McHale) said that Kevin’s intelligence level about basketball is as good as anybody’s also stating that McHale knows how to communicate, whether it be with the front office, ownership, his players etc.

Time will tell if McHale is a good fit down in Houston.  The one thing I know, is that the Rockets (if Yao isn’t healthy) will be looking to acquire some big bodies (something McHale obviously specializes in: one of the best low-post scorers to play the game).

Stay tuned all summer long for your TWolves news and information.  Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES!

In a recent report, All-Star forward Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves talked briefly about his future as well as Coach Rambis and how he’ll effect his decision.

Apparently, Kevin Love can see himself staying in Minnesota long-term.  Love told the Star Tribune: “If it all works and and it’s all right, I think I definitely could.  I enjoy the city, I like the people here, I like the organization.  I like a lot of things about it besides the cold winter…I could definitely see myself here.”

Love is eligible to sign an extension between July 1-Oct. 31 if there is a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the owners and players.  Otherwise he could become a restricted free agent in 2012, where the T’Wolves could match any offer from another team.  Love insists he’ll keep his options open.

There is a possibility Love could sign a one-year contract in 2012, after which he’d become an unrestricted free agent in 2013, when he could sign with whoever he’d want.

Then of course there’s the coaching element.  Every T’Wolves fan knows there has been plenty of friction since Kevin McHale was fired and Kurt Rambis was hired to take the helm.  McHale and Love were very close, Rambis and Love; certainly not as much.  Love agreed in an earlier report with reserve Wolves forward Anthony Tolliver, when he said that not all of the players seem to buy into Rambis’ system.  You’ve got to think if it comes down to Love or Rambis, the Wolves organization would make the obvious choice.  

That being said, I don’t think this is like the Deron Williams-Jerry Sloan “debacle”.  I feel that Rambis and Love get along well enough to work together, but time will tell.

Another obvious factor will be the talent Minnesota brings in to complement Love & Beasley.  One big name is quite obviously Ricky Rubio.  As noted in a previous post “Ricky Rubio taking his talents to Minny” the word is currently, that Rubio intends to join Minnesota for next season-as long as there is a season.  The T’Wolves also have a high lottery pick once again this summer, so if they can get some talented youngsters and possibly a big veteran presence, they could be in good shape going forward, which will hopefully be enough to hold on to K-Love, otherwise Minnesota may get spurned as Cleveland did this offseason.  Obviously LBJ is a more-talented player, but you get the idea.

The fact is simple, unless the Wolves make some big improvements as a team, you can expect Love to move on sooner rather than later!

More details to follow.  The Wolves play the New Jersey Nets tonight at Prudential Center.  Tipoff is set for 6pmCT.  A full-gameday preview can be found on the previous post on this site and a full-gameday recap can be found here, following the final horn.  As usual: Thanks for reading and GO WOLVES!