Jerry Krause lays into Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn – NBA Update
David Kahn came under fire from Jerry Krause, who was General Manager of the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan era, when the later gave his take on why the triangle offense failed at the Minnesota Timberwolves. David Kahn, by
the way, is the Timberwolves current General Manager.
Krause of course knows all about the triangle offence. Krause was the GM who brought together Tex Winter and Phil Jackson in Chicago. Tex Winter was the creator of the Triangle Offense which Phil Jackson and the Bulls used to win
6 NBA World Championships.
Michael Jordan seemed to thrive in the hitherto unknown system, alongside Scottie Pippen, and the Chicago Bulls tore apart the league for six years. Phil Jackson also used the system to great success with the Los Angeles Lakers
where he won 5 NBA titles with players like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. However the system has not been successfully implemented by other people.
Krause was often at the wrong end of some criticism by Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, but there is no denying the fact that he had a great understanding of the triangle offense, as well as a great relationship with Tex Winter.
Krause was the man who put all the pieces around Pippen and Jordan that the team needed to implement Winter’s doctrine to maximum effect, such as Steve Kerr and Dennis Rodman.
David Kahn wanted to do the same with the Minnesota Timberwolves but failed spectacularly. He hired Kurt Rambis, an untested coach but a disciple of Phil Jackson, to head a project in Minnesota based on the triangle offense. It
was an unmitigated disaster for a number of reasons, chief among them though is Kahn picking the wrong personnel, according to Krause,
“But when you take on the triangle, you have to have your whole organization geared toward it. It takes a very specific kind of player to play in it. I saw the Minnesota guy [GM David Kahn] hire [Kurt] Rambis, after he took two
players in the draft who couldn’t possibly ever run the triangle. I have no idea if Rambis is a good coach or not, but [Kahn] screwed him right off the bat.”
Krause is the expert on the subject and one has to respect his opinion. Even if he hadn’t come out to criticize Kahn, it was clear to many observers that the players in Minnesota were simply not suited for the triangle offense.
Of course it took David Kahn two years to realize the fact and finally put Rambis out of his misery. That affair too was handled with absolutely no class, giving further reason to the fact that David Kahn is among the most incompetent
and ridiculed GMs around the league.
At least since Isiah Thomas left the New York Knicks.
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