Tough Task Could Mean Short Stay For Rambis

Most accomplished coaching candidates were not going to take the job of coaching the Timberwolves, as they typically wait for a better job that would make them more successful.

David Kahn settled with an up-and-coming coach in Kurt Rambis as his coaching choice few days ago, and Rambis was officially named the head coach at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

This choice excited Wolves fans a few days ago because a big-name candidate took the job in the tundra, rather than stay in a good situation in Los Angeles and biding his time to be Phil Jackson's replacement as the Lakers head coach.

From this point of view, it's hard to get excited or outraged about this hire.

Let's face it. It's hard to tell if any of the up-and-coming candidates would be a great choice right away.

Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw would have made sense, but then again, who knows if he would have done a good job? That's the feeling we should get with Rambis.

It's easy to rip Rambis for not doing a good job when he had his first shot of coaching with the Lakers in 1999. He had Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to work with, but he was dealing with a tough situation with those two.

The two hated each other at the time, and Phil Jackson did all he could to make them tolerate each other when Jackson took over for Rambis in 2000.

But despite the championships, it was a matter of time until O'Neal and Bryant had enough of each other, and that's what happened after the 2004 season, so O'Neal was sent packing to South Beach.

Rambis had no shot of winning with O'Neal and Bryant's personal agendas torpedoing the team's chances of winning a championship in 1999. He also had to deal with Dennis Rodman, who was a nutcase that signed with the Lakers for the purpose of fooling around, rather than winning a championship.

The Lakers should have never put Rambis in a position to fail by hiring him to lead a troubled team after they fired Del Harris that year in a panicked move.

Rambis gets a true shot of actually leading a team, and he will be here for at least two years. The question is, how long will he last with this organization after that?

While Rambis' situation with the Wolves is much better than the one he took with the Lakers in 1999, this is not going to be an easy ride for him.

The Wolves' roster features good young players to build around in Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Johnny Flynn, and Wayne Ellington—but they have to know how to play defense and how to win.

Randy Wittman and Kevin McHale coached these players poorly, so this is going to be a long process until it gets better.

Will Kahn have patience for Rambis after three years if things don't work out to Kahn's liking? Kahn comes out as a general manager that demands excellence, and he can be impulsive if things don't go his way.

It will take at least three or four years until the Wolves start winning at least 40 or more games, which is why Rambis wisely asked for a four-year contract as the team's coach. If Kahn fires him after three years, at least Rambis will get paid for it.

Honestly, it will be shocking if Rambis lasts past three years, unless the players get it right away to the point they are ready to contend for a playoff spot in Rambis' third year with the club.

By then, Kahn might get his ideal guy in Rick Carlisle, who has a history of wearing out his welcome after several years with the club, and that could be the case in Dallas. It's hard to believe Carlisle and Mark Cuban will tolerate each other that long.

For now, Rambis deals with building a team that would get to Point A.

Time will tell if he gets an opportunity to get his team from Point A to Point B.