A Letter from Kahn

[Klomp]

David Kahn has written another letter to Wolves followers, this time with his team off to a 1-9 start that includes a nine-game losing streak.

Here it is…

Dear Timberwolves Fans and Supporters:

I am writing this to you while on the plane from Minneapolis to Memphis, on Friday night following our loss to Dallas. We are 1-9, having lost nine in a row. Our record was to be expected – but it will not be accepted.

Big difference, I think.

What matters most to me is how we respond to adversity this season – knowing it will come in heavy doses occasionally. Our last nine opponents are a collective 51-30, and there will be similar tough stretches throughout the season.

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It has been hard for us to sustain a running game without our best rebounder, Kevin Love, and with Al Jefferson still not all the way back from his ACL knee injury. And our defense has been poor at times. It is extremely difficult to run when you are taking the ball out of the basket. But make no mistake – this will become a running team and that will be our identity.

I also don’t want to use Kevin and Al as excuses. Everybody has injuries. Everybody has tough parts of the schedule. Everybody has adversity. We will not be a team that makes excuses.

At times like these, I am motivated to work harder. I want to scout more, watch more film, crunch more numbers, ask more questions. I know Kurt and the coaching staff feel the same. The coaches are the strength of our ballclub right now – I am proud to be working with them. We all recognized when we signed up for this mission that it takes a Herculean effort, from all corners, to turn around a franchise and make it championship-caliber.

We obviously are not working hard enough yet. We need to do more. And we will.

Best regards,

David Kahn

http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wol ... avid-kahn/

[B Calrissian]

I was reading this earlier. Seems a little early to be sending out a letter such as this.

[casey]

Our record was to be expected

1-9 is what he expected? Wow.

[deeney0]

And here I was thinking he wrote you a congratulatory letter for being mod-ified.

[echuzer0]

It is extremely difficult to run when you are taking the ball out of the basket. But make no mistake – this will become a running team and that will be our identity.

he should re-sign carney if this is his plan...carney fits in the running game...he had some nice games last year and he got a decent outside shot also...but unfortunately has low bb IQ..

[cpfsf]

I also don’t want to use Kevin and Al as excuses. Everybody has injuries. Everybody has tough parts of the schedule. Everybody has adversity. We will not be a team that makes excuses.

Yet you use it as an excuse anyway.

[Steve_Holiday]

I still don't understand the obsession with transforming the Wolves into a "running" team. Fans care about the team winning games, not the style of play.

[Breakdown777]

I also don’t want to use Kevin and Al as excuses. Everybody has injuries. Everybody has tough parts of the schedule. Everybody has adversity. We will not be a team that makes excuses.

Yet you use it as an excuse anyway.

+1

[funkatron101]

he should re-sign carney if this is his plan...carney fits in the running game...he had some nice games last year and he got a decent outside shot also...but unfortunately has low bb IQ..

I was one of the few who wanted us to keep Carney. Now he is riding the bench in Philly.

[The J Rocka]

I also wanted Carney on this team, I personally thought he would've been way better this year than last year and would've been better than Brewer

[Basti]

I still don't understand the obsession with transforming the Wolves into a "running" team. Fans care about the team winning games, not the style of play.

I'm not trying to compare our team to the Showtime Lakers squad but it shows you that you can win by playing the running game. all we need is a sound defense with great rebounding (the latter shouldn't be a problem with Love and Jefferson being back at full strength). now we only need good-great perimeter defenders and a real defensive presence in the middle.

oh and of course, we still need a go-to-guy swing man who can take over once we're "forced" into playing the half court game.

all we need to avoid is to make them a Phoenix Suns/Golden State Warriors team v2.0 with bad defense and rebounding.

edit: and once/if Rubio puts up a Wolves jersey we have our (very) poor man's Magic who sets up the running system. I just hope by that time our players are familiar with the triangle and use that only when we're forced into set play.

[C.lupus]

I still don't understand the obsession with transforming the Wolves into a "running" team. Fans care about the team winning games, not the style of play.

Anyone who has watched any true-story movie about an underdog sports team knows that's the way to go.

"They are bigger than us. They are faster than us. They are more experienced than us. But there is no team in the country that will be more conditioned than us or have a bigger heart than us. We will run them and run them and run them until they can't run anymore and then we will run some more. Because we are the Minnesota Timberwolves! Now get out there and RUN!"

[Devilzsidewalk]

don't apologize, just go fix the lamest offense in NBA history. Love will help the rebounding problem, but even the great Kevin Love can't fix the nonexistent offensive flow. I can't remember ever saying to myself "that was a nice pass" this season.

[Foye]

Too bad Rubio didn't come over. He'd throw lots of nasty passes but finish with only 5 assists per game because nobody is able to knock down an open jumper

[Dewey]

Maybe it's appropriate to write a letter back to the Kahn Man and explain that to run the Triangle offense, as well as a running team, you need the right type/style of player ... it's like he believes Rambis can take "any" group of young players and have a magical ending.

I look back an wonder how the draft would have went if we had hired Rambis before the draft...

[Devilzsidewalk]

Maybe it's appropriate to write a letter back to the Kahn Man and explain that to run the Triangle offense, as well as a running team, you need the right type/style of player ... it's like he believes Rambis can take "any" group of young players and have a magical ending.

I look back an wonder how the draft would have went if we had hired Rambis before the draft...

I think the draft would be the same. And I'm sure Kahn like everybody else including the players themselves know the majority of these guys aren't part of the foundation, but reading between the lines he's saying the problem is the effort and that we can't run because we don't get defensive stops. And I agree, but ultimately I have to admit it's probably hard to get 100% effort from a patchwork roster of guys that know for certain they won't be here in the future, and the rest of the guys know they can be traded. Those defensively intense teams are fueled by their identity, but building an identity seems to conflict with the status of the players on the team.

[john2jer]

Rodney "Freakin" Carney? That's seriously the complaint some of you guys have? If only the Titanic had a couple more life preservers...

[Steve_Holiday]

Steve_Holiday wrote:
I still don't understand the obsession with transforming the Wolves into a "running" team. Fans care about the team winning games, not the style of play.


I'm not trying to compare our team to the Showtime Lakers squad but it shows you that you can win by playing the running game. all we need is a sound defense with great rebounding (the latter shouldn't be a problem with Love and Jefferson being back at full strength). now we only need good-great perimeter defenders and a real defensive presence in the middle.

Not saying the chosen style is not the answer. My point is that it's odd that Kahn attempts to reassure fans by saying, "it's ok, we'll start running soon!" as if that's the main thing fans care about.

Everyone loved rooting for the Suns and Warriors because of their style of play, and their games drew large television ratings. But if the Suns and the Warriors weren't in the playoffs, no one would care to follow their games.

The Wolves don't need to run more, they need to win their second game.

[funkatron101]

Rodney "Freakin" Carney? That's seriously the complaint some of you guys have? If only the Titanic had a couple more life preservers...

I don't think anyone here is proclaiming him as the savior. But if Kahn wants this to be a running team, Carney fits that. He would be a great athletic spark off the bench, and as sad as it is, he would be one of the best outside shooters.

Unfortunately, I can't imagine him "getting" Ramis's plan for the triangle.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I don't really even care about exciting open court basketball, I'd happily take a team that can grind out 85-75 wins w/ stingy defense and smart offense