Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Welcome, Rick Adelman

As a blogger, I like having something new to say. But in this case, all I can say is, Ditto.

Most of the Twin Cities press, among many others, is saying that Rick Adelman was the right man to coach the young and struggling Minnesota Timberwolves. Ditto.

As Kevin Love has said, the Wolves need a great coach and now they've got one. Ditto.

Some have even noted what a surprise this is, given the Wolves and David Kahn's sorry record in hiring coaches, and also given that Adelman commands a real salary, probably somewhere in the vicinity of $5 million. Ditto.

Ditto, ditto, ditto. Me, too. Great hire.

Jim Souhan went so far yesterday to say that Adelman will double the Wolves win total into the 30s. OK, now I'm a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure if I can ditto this.

The fact is that Adelman is only the 2nd proven building block for a franchise turnaround. Love, Minnesota's basketball player of the year for 2010-2011 according to a vote among readers of this blog, is of course #1.

The rest is all unknowns. Can Ricky Rubio play in the NBA? Don't know. Will Derrick Williams be a star or a journeyman? Don't know. Will Michael Beasley mature enough to become a night in-night out threat, or will he continue to mix in those half-hearted efforts? Ditto. Even if Beasley does mature, do we have a bona fide shooting guard who can take some of the pressure off of Love and Beasley? Ditto. Are the Wolves going to be improved just enough to get a bunch of useless draft picks in the next few years? Ditto.

But if Glen Taylor's Lynx can turn it around, surely Glen Taylor's Wolves can do it, too. But, by that analogy, the Love and Adelman are the Wolves' Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus. Who is going to be their Mya Moore and their Rebekah Brunson? Ditto. No idea. But Adelman at least injects into the equation a modicum of hope--something that Rubio's signing, unfortunately, didn't do after a couple years of mediocre play in Europe. Now at least we can get an accurate reading of how good this roster is, knowing that they're being led by a qualified coach.


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