Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor answered “that’s right” when asked by Sports Headliners if coach Kurt Rambis has job security with him. Rambis reportedly is in the second year of a four-year deal with the Wolves.
The Wolves’ 11-39 record is the second worst in the NBA, and during the 2009-10 season, Rambis’ first year coaching here, the team finished at 15-67. That record was worse than only one other team, New Jersey, 12-70.
But Taylor expressed support for his coach, formerly a long time assistant with the Lakers whose previous head coaching experience was a 23-14 record with Los Angeles during the 1998-99 season. “I’ve had talks with Kurt,” Taylor said. “Mostly I just feel for Kurt, knowing how hard he’s working.”
The Wolves have the youngest roster in the league and Taylor agrees with observers who believe the team is playing better than last season. The club has lost several games that could have been wins if the Wolves had finished with better execution in the closing minutes.
Taylor said the team needs to eliminate costly turnovers, not so much travelling or three second lane violations but mistakes like bad passes that lead to easy baskets by the opposition. Team defense is often also a concern.
However, Taylor is encouraged by team attitude. He said Rambis has told him “he couldn’t be prouder of the guys’ efforts in practice.” The coaching staff emphasizes teaching with a young team that often has three players 23 or younger in the starting lineup, 22-year-olds Kevin Love and Michael Beasley, and Wes Johnson, 23.
“He (Rambis) sees the guys not quitting on him,” Taylor said. “That would be a big concern if that were true. On any team when you lose a lot of games, you don’t want players to stop believing in themselves. Our guys are not there.”
The Wolves are within a few games of having played two-thirds of the 82-game regular season schedule. Taylor views the season in one-third increments and is hopeful of improvement between now and the last game on April 13.
He said defining improvement is somewhat subjective but he and knowledgeable fans will recognize whether the club is playing better. He’s never told a coach he had to win a specific number of games because of many variables that can determine the win total including injuries and schedule. Still, Taylor will evaluate his team’s effort, execution and togetherness.
“We want the team in the last third of the year to look and show improvement,” he said. “We won’t be content if what we have today is the best we get. We went into this (rebuilding the club) with looking for year after year improvement, asking the players and staff to find answers.”