As the Timberwolves’ losses add up this season, vice president of basketball operations David Kahn shares in the disappointment with his coaching staff. But he’s not ready to activate a quick-fix plan.
Kahn is holding firm on his preseason objective to avoid major trades to generate immediate improvement. Despite the Wolves’ 5-23 record, Kahn believes the NBA’s Feb. 18 trade deadline will pass without the Wolves making a move.
“I haven’t made one trade call since we started the regular season,” Kahn said Monday. “I really feel the players we have deserve to be evaluated on a season-long basis. I would be content if we don’t make a move.”
“He doesn’t look 100 percent to me,” Rambis said. “Starting, stopping, cutting, stepping back – those hard angle things” are still difficult for Gomes.
“I have no confidence. I’m thinking too much, but at the same time, I’m not focusing, and it’s getting me into trouble,” the 23-year-old Sydney native said. “I know I can play here, but I’m finding it terribly hard, and it’s because my confidence is so low.”
Funny thing is, the Wolves aren’t particularly unhappy with Jawai’s performance thus far. Rambis makes it clear that the Aussie needs a lot of improvement, particularly in his physical state, just to become a useful role player — but he also points out that Jawai is just getting started, that his background puts him a few years behind his born-for-the-game American teammates.
KL: (Laughs) Yeah, I was working with Russell [Westbrook] and D-Rose this summer in Santa Monica (CA), and with a guy named Rob McClanahan. We’d do spot up jumpers; we started out at 15-foot and moved it out from there to 18-foot, 20-foot. It’s something I worked on all summer. My threes really came from shooting (half-court) shots last season. Coach [Rambis] has confidence in me to shoot it.
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