FanShot

from David Aldridge: The Morning Tip

6

Regarding recent rumors about Love and effing Kelvin Sampson... From article: 3) Don't doubt that someone may have told CBSSports.com that Kurt Rambis is in trouble in Minnesota. But if that's so, that stinks. For two years, the Wolves have done nothing but turn over their roster, bringing in younger and younger players, and asking Rambis and his staff to teach and live with all those Ls on their ledger. You don't win with young in this league; you win with talented veterans, and other than Kevin Love, the Wolves barely have enough talent to compete on a nightly basis. (Michael Beasley can score, no doubt, but his defense, like Love's, is, uh, a work in progress.) Lottery picks Jonny Flynn and Wes Johnson have been slowed by injuries, and the big man combo of Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic has been decidedly meh. "This team plays hard," Rambis said last week, "and they have moments where they play extremely well together at both ends of the floor. But they haven't connected it for 48 minutes. They allow teams to get on runs. Clearly we lack the composure and experience and savvy, and maybe in some extent, personnel, to finish out games when things are tight. You know, that veteran, calming influence." A team source insisted this weekend that it would take a major collapse down the stretch for management to even consider replacing Rambis, who got a four-year contract with the Wolves for that very reason -- to take a lot of losses while developing the team's young talent, including still-in-Europe Ricky Rubio. (The Wolves can buy out Rubio's contract in Spain next season for $500,000, with Rubio paying the remainder, and Minnesota still expects Rubio will come over next year, regardless of whether there's a lockout.) The Wolves have already won more games this season than last, with a month left in the season. Love, who clashed with Rambis last season, has seen that playing on a really bad team won't keep him from individual accolades like making the U.S. World Championship team last year and the All-Star team this year -- and as such, the source claims, Love isn't going anywhere when and if he becomes a free agent.