The wind-twisting of Kurt Rambis (above, shown back in the days when he was treated with respect) came to a conclusion earlier today, with a David Kahne press conference to announce that after two years, Rambis and the Triangle Offense were deemed surplus to requirements in Minnesota. Since it would be somewhat unseemly to dump all over a coach who just lost his job — even a coach with a 32-132 record — The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda has F Anthony Tolliver do the honors.
“We do have a lot of firepower,” Tolliver said. “But at the end of the day, in order to win you have to play defense. No one ever won by just scoring…I think we did spend enough time on it. Kurt definitely taught it and we did it in practice, but with different coaches’ styles and different coaching personalities, sometimes certain people respond in different ways to different people.
“I don’t think his message ever got across to some of the people. To some of us, it did. Some guys bought in and some guys didn’t.”
Asked what kind of coach the team needs to hire next, Tolliver said, “Someone who’s going to be a disciplinarian. Kurt’s a really nice guy. Sometimes that got in the way. I’m not saying he’s too nice, but sometimes it’s good to have a coach no likes to be a jerk.
“I know several players on the Bulls and nobody really liked Tom Thibodeau, but that’s O.K. You don’t have to like the coach. You just have to be able to play for him.”