Kurt Rambis conference call synopsis

Temporarily perched between the Olympic Peninsula and a campsite in eastern Oregon, I was graciously afforded an opportunityby the Wolves' staff to participate in the out-of-town media's conference call with new Wolves' coach Kurt Rambis late this afternoon. Yes, the healthy LA contingent in the crowd wanted to know more about why Rambis didn't keep waiting around for Phil Jackson to keel over so he could snag the Laker job, but there was some decent info unearthed overall--even on the Laker front, where Rambis obliquely conceded that if he'd had an inclination that Jackson was stepping down soon he might have stayed put. The most important information divulged--and it may have already been stated in the initial press conference back home for all I know--was Rambis's statement, in answer to a perceptive question by True Hoop's Henry Abbott, that if the season were to commence tomorrow and he had both players in camp, he'd start Ricky Rubio at ...