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Minnesota needs to flip Flip, and get their Phil, if he wants to come. The Wolves are mired in an awful losing streak, where they're losing leads late (to Washington, Memphis, New York, Charlotte and now Los Angeles), losing any sense of an offense, any idea of a rotation, and losing their defense. But the one loss that hurts the Wolves most, is that Flip Saunders has basically lost his players.

Saunders, last year, got everybody on the team to hustle. From Madsen to Sprewell, everybody on Minnesota ran after loose balls, played tough defense, closed out on three-point shooters and ran the offense crisply. Now, it's a total joke. There are loads of one or no-pass possessions, the defense is lazy, and half the time, Kevin Garnett is sitting on the bench while these comebacks occur.

Now, certainly there are plenty of problems outside of Saunders, but the fact that Minnesota's rotation goes 10 deep is his doing. Nobody gets an idea of when they'll be out on the floor, and you often get the feeling that even the players on the floor don't know who is out there with them. Slowing the tempo down when you have Michael Olowokandi and Eddie Griffin in the post doesn't make any sense, nor does running and gunning when you can run a real offense through Kevin Garnett. Saunders has lost the ear of the players, he's lost their focus, and lost his own idea of what is going on in Minnesota, and so, because of all of that, the Wolves need a coaching change.

Who could they bring in for this job? They could try an assistant that has never been a head coach; they could get George Karl, who has experience. Or they could try to pry Phil Jackson out of retirement. And don't think it's going to be that hard. Jackson wants to win that 10th ring and pass Red Auerbach as the all-time winningest coach.

These days, Jackson is traveling on the other side of the planet. But the chance to coach Kevin Garnett and company could lure him back in a hurry.

The Wolves have just what Jackson likes: An MVP, solid role players, and a city basically in the middle of nowhere. It's the best of both worlds for Jackson, who played in New York, and coached in Chicago and Los Angeles before retiring to Montana. Jackson's coaching strengths fit right in to the faults of the Wolves.

- No Rotation: Jackson always kept a strict time count on all of his stars, and not only did he know how long they would play, but everybody knew when they were going to get in the game. A consistent rotation helps the players.

- No Teamwork: Jackson always got the most passing out of his team. Everybody in Chicago shared the ball, and when the Lakers were winning titles, they were doing the same; there is no reason he can't get this team to do it, too.

- No Defense: Jackson has said numerous times that he always believed in Red Holzman's basketball theory: Play defense and share the ball.

Also, the triange offense he employs would work perfectly in Minnesota. Kevin Garnett is one of the few players in NBA history that could run both forms of the triangle; the elbow triangle that Jordan was the anchor of, and the low block or sideline triangle that Shaq dominated. KG has the talent and skills to work both triangles, and it would be extremely difficult to stop with players who can shoot like Wally Szczerbiak, Fred Hoiberg, Troy Hudson and Griffin, and players who can cut to the basket like Cassell, Hassell and Sprewell.

Give Phil Jackson the rest of this year and all of next year, and he can transform the Wolves into a champion. Give Jackson until next June and he'll have Kevin Garnett playing basketball better than you have ever seen before. Give Jackson until 2006, and he will pass Red Auerbach and win his tenth ring. Give Jackson that chance, if he wants it.