The NBA coaching body count continues to rise as the Knicks fired Derek Fisher yesterday in the midst of a terrible slump. I can't say I saw that one coming, since Fisher was Phil Jackson's hire and overall I didn't think things were going horribly. Nonetheless, Fisher is out, and to all Wolves' fans great amusement, Kurt Rambis is taking over as interim for the rest of the season.
Rumor has it that Tom Thibodeau wants to coach the Knicks, but that seems like an unlikely Jackson hire to me; another younger guy with whom he has experience seems more his speed. My guess is Luke Walton is a serious contender for that job this summer.
Meanwhile, rumor has it that George Karl is all but out in Sacramento, a year after taking the job. Things remain dysfunctional with the Kings under Vivek Ranadive, the team seems to have checked out in recent weeks, and that organization still can't get out of its own way, with rumblings that the minority shareholders are not happy with Ranadive, and a complete inability to pick a direction and stick with it.
The more teams do this in season, the less I understand why. Does having an interim coach for a few months do you any good at all? I guess if you are absolutely done with a guy, fine, but I'm not sure what it buys you in the long run. I suppose if you feel you have to be ready to act fast to secure the guy you want next it doesn't hurt to clear the decks, but you can do that as well the day after the season ends.
Though of course this is what I'm concerned with regarding the Wolves, a franchise that rarely misses an opportunity to make decisions slowly. Whether or not they can get one of the top available guys remains to be seen, but if they don't act with some alacrity it's even less likely.
Speaking of the Wolves, here's a fairly tepid trade deadline article about them from Yahoo. The conclusion is they shouldn't do anything but maybe move Martin, which, while true, is pretty boring. And what will almost certainly happen. Hard to see the Wolves doing much of anything before the deadline on the 18th.
Tomorrow night is the Wolves' last game before the All-Star break. The Raptors, who are a fun team to watch, will be at Target Center before the nine day break between games. I'm glad the players are getting the extra few days rest mid-season now; the schedule takes a huge toll. As a fan, it's a tough drought though. The Wolves resume action a week from Friday at Memphis, then have a relatively soft part of the schedule through the first week in March when things get really tough again.
Meanwhile, we'll keep you updated with the schedule for all things all-star weekend once the real games end after tomorrow.
No today in history. Too tired/lazy.
Today's musical birthday is Carole King, born in 1942
Have a great Tuesday