I like to do a Google Images search before I write my post to see if there's anything interesting that I can use to spice up my posts.  In the past, I've had mixed results.  For example, a few weeks back, I happened to stumble upon the awesomeness that is Courage Wolf.  Today, while searching for "Iggy", thinking that I'd find a picture of an iguana or one of the Koopa Kids from Super Mario Bros. 3, I was treated with this...

Now that you've been sufficiently horrified this Monday morning, we'll get to the point of this post.

Rumors have begun to swirl that Andre Iguodala may be on the trading block.  As anyone who's visited the forum lately knows, this is a pretty big deal here at TWB as College Wolf has been lusting for Iggy to join the Wolves for months. A lot of the forum conversation (a.k.a. bickering back and forth between Dave and Mike) has centered around whether an Iggy/Love deal would be a worthwhile move to persue.  However, the thinking there was that the Sixers were content with Iguodala and the Wolves would have to give them a pretty sweet package to convince them to part ways. If, as this article suggests, Philadelphia is actually a bit disenchanted with Iggy and looking to move his rather sizeable contract, then it's entirely possible that Minnesota could acquire him without handing over K. Lav. 

So what do you think the play should be here for the Kahn man, you know, assuming he's willing to break the mold and pursue someone who's not a European or overly smiley? 

I personally think the aforementioned Love/Iguodala swap might be a slight upgrade, but not enough to get the Wolves over the hump, so we won't even go thre.

As CW mentioned in his forum post on the subject, a deal involving anyone other than Love, Rubio, and the #1 pick this year if the Wolves win it (yeah, right) would probably be good value for the T-Wolves.  I'd tend to agree, as a core of Rubio/Love/Iggy could be a solid foundation for a playoff team. 

What are your thoughts on a potential trade?  Discuss away either in the comments below, or the forum.

 

 

Rajon Rondo dislocated his elbow on the cheap takedown by D-Wade above... and yet he came back and helped lead the Celtics to a 16 point victory over the Miami cHeat tonight.  Good thing we didn't get him in the KG trade, we didn't need a warrior like this on our team.

Is the End of the Bermuda Triangle upon us?

Leave it to Little Birdies to provide the first hint or lick of Rambis news in weeks. While it is only one sentence from Shooter Walters that should be taken with an Oliver Miller-sized portion of salt, it is at least something. And it's great news for the 87.5% of Wolves fandom (7 of 8 people) who would like to see a changing in the guard on the sidelines:

 A little birdie says the Timberwolves are negotiating a buyout on the remaining two years of coach Kurt Rambis' contract. 

This is encouraging, to say the last. But who would replace Rhombus? There are likely going to be several much more attractive coaching jobs opening up this offseason, and the Wolves will surely be left out to dry if Rambis gets canned. And will Taylor break the bank and make a major investment in a high priced replacement? History says absolutely not. Despite the candidacy implications (or lack thereof), can it get much worse than Rambis? 32 wins in two seasons would say no. Personally, I am inclined to try a young, energetic rising assistant in the Dwayne Casey mold. A workhorse who knows his players and builds an offense around what they do well.

Or Rick Adelman, but he probably would cost far too much.

Either way it is maddening this process once again is taking forever. Who knows how long this will take or if it will be done before draft day. 

This could be a significant month for us. With the draft lottery weeks away, a potential new coach in the works, and the Rubio saga finally perhaps reaching its conclusion, this could all turn out very good, or very bad. Stay tuned.

 

 

Just wanted to catch up to post a few thoughts/musings/bullet points now that the dust has settled on the Wolves' horrendous season. There will be little-to-no focus in the following, so if you are sensitive to that sort of thing, please raise your nose even higher.

-It has been about sixteen days since the Wolves' season ended. Lockout be damned, we have now traversed through about 12% of the offseason and have already demonstrated our continued incompetence by doing absolutely nothing. I find this eerily similar to a family member I have who has a "harsh" car-accident history, including one doozy where she managed to initiate an accident in a parking lot while her car was completely empty and she was shopping inside. How this came to be I will leave a mystery, but it happened.

-It seems reasonable to assume that following the season, most Wolves fans expected immediate action in the firing of head coach Kurt Rambis, which would include finally unearthing the great Bermuda Triangle mystery and putting it to rest. Glen Taylor recently stated he was taking time to complete evaluations of his staff, but yet we hear nothing as the draft approaches. Speaking of coincidences, this is exactly what happened two years ago when we went into the draft without a coach or system in mind. We then drafted Jonny Flynn. It is reassuring that management has learned from their mistakes. Or we can assume the worst: Rambis is staying.

-In what seemed to me like an un-smart move, The Warriors fired head coach Keith Smart the other day, mere weeks after he lead the Warriors to a 10-win improvement vs. 2010. 36 wins gets you fired in today's NBA. Rambis is not far behind, at 32 wins. Oh wait, that's how many wins Rambis has in two seasons combined, yet here he is seemingly still ready to return to the sidelines. Absolutely baffling, on both accounts. How can you fire a coach who leads your team to a ten-win improvement? 40% more wins than last year! On the flip-side, how can you keep a coach running a system meant for carrier pigeons who coached the Wolves to one of the worst 2-year stretches in NBA history? What I would give to have a normal front office.

-Recent reports have surfaced that Ricky Rubio's team has given him the green light to sign with Minnesota. Noted in this article is that it would be best if Ricky signed with Minny before the end of May. As for "green lights" and "go aheads" I must have missed it within after Google Translating. Here is a forum link where you can view the translation. All this seems to be is a statement of the CBA deadline spun into a story by a Spanish reporter. Oh well, at least we have news other than Kahn's word (and like Peter Banning in "Hook," Kahn's "word is his bond"). So, hopefully we will learn his fate within the next thirty days. It is strange that it has already been nearly two years since Ricky was drafted by us. The end to the saga could be nearing. However, with the lockout looming I am having a tough time seeing him come over. The kid will have to pay his way in order to play for Kurt Rambis while simultaneously being called a "special person" by David Kahn. Doesn't Kahn's tonality and day-care-leader-esque phrasing bear a striking resemblance to Mr. Rogers? Kahn even "Plays Make Believe" regularly to the press. It is all too suspicious.

-Kevin Love has been a hot topic around here, whether he is worth a max contract or not. No one seems to think so, while some seem to think it is a mandate to gain his long term commitment. Some want to trade him for Andre Iguodala, some want to keep him for fear of losing their odd man-crush. The basis of the 'trade-Love' argument is that the team needs more defense on the perimeter. Also,  Love "does little to help the team win" because he is a poor defender, a problem that, apparently, Beasley/Randolph can solve. These collective benefits are "better than signing Love to a long-term, expensive deal." That may be. Nobody knows for sure. But, does the source of the qualm stem from player ability to defend on the perimeter, or is this a Rambis issue? We have competent defenders. Who is to say Iguodala's presence would suddenly give Rambis the idea that, "hey, maybe closing out on three point shooters is a good idea. That way, I can prevent Ty Lawson from hitting ten straight threes, the most consecutive in the history of the National Basketball Association."

I'm just saying.

And Beasley/AR are better post defenders than Love? They would fill the void with their consistency? Please. Look, there are some deals for Love worth getting behind, but the bottom line is this: he is not and should never be a scapegoat for this team. He is the last thing wrong with our roster as it stands today.

-The lottery is approaching. We will have a 25% chance of nabbing the #1 pick, and a 100% chance of coming away with Jan Vesely, Jonas Vonaskfocweiocjweiojefowejdiowjdiweygyhuincnefjio$$$^^^&&&^^^^!123456weiojdewious, or Enes Kanter. Buckle up! More coverage there in the coming weeks.

-Lastly, enjoy the playoffs. Just watching the intensity of these games reminds me, sadly, of just how far the Wolves have to go, even with considerable upgrades in talent. Would Wes Johnson ever have hit a shot like Gary Neal did? No. It just breeds with a winning culture, something we are so far from right now. Anyhow, there have been some fantastic games only March Madness can replicate. Some surprises as well. Tune in and enjoy some real NBA basketball. 

When it comes to the young Spanish "Superstar" there remain so many intangibles....not  including his eyebrows. 

These beco me more and more confusing as time passes......so let's rewind to summer 2009, just after the NBA draft.

David Kahn, according to ESPN, has spent all summer trying to carve out some sort of solution to the Rubio contract complexities and eventually has to abandon hope of Rubio joining the Twolves in the immediate future.

"Of course there's disappointment, but I don't think that disappointment should overshadow the big picture, which is, he's still so young," Kahn told ESPN. "It appears now we will have a two-year wait. But if you frame it as he'll be 20 years old and he'll have two more years to develop, I can think of a lot worse things to happen to us as a franchise."

"Two more years to develop.." hold that thought and let's push the fast forward button to 2011.

Please click "Read More" to continue...

 

Photo Source

From the Timberwolves' Twitter Feed:

Form vs. Function, Funk vs. Fusion... the aesthetic of the game vs. the utility of the win. This is what Ben Polk describes in his post here: "Charming ruins: David Kahn and Kurt Rambis in Springtime." Ultimately you need to find that zen as a team where you are playing the game as it is meant to be played, to the greatest degree you can (whatever degree that is), and you are still able to accomplish your function- that is, winning enough.

For our team this year, enough would have been around 30 wins. We were an up and coming young team with some good pieces. Ultimately for me the aesthetic was decidedly off. Beasley's early season scoring binge took the eye off the team as a whole before Love's double-double streak permanently ended any semblance of a team mission.

There are a million satellites on the blogosphere where we can deconstruct the various sources of failure for the Team this year. The bottom line to me is that the concept of Team failed and that is that.

As far as a productive discussion moving forward goes, the better questions to ask are, "what needs to be done in order to strike the balance between trying to win, and playing the game right?" Or, more importantly, "what changes need to be made in order for us to start to play the game right?"

Harrison Barnes, the one prospect that I really wanted to see join the Timberwolves next season, in the year where we finally have the most ping pong balls, has decided to forgoe the NBA and potential #1 overall status to return to UNC for his sophomore season.  You can't make this stuff up.  Just when you look to the heavens for a sign that things will get better, a bird rains turd down on your face. 

Of course, my disappointment regarding this situation is based on the assumption that the Wolves would actually end up with one of this year's top picks, so I could be getting worked up about nothing.  (And given history, I likely am).   Still, the absence of Barnes makes this already weak draft class that much weaker.  When the Wolves do end up picking 4th, it will be like they were picking 5th in a draft that contained Harrison Barnes. 

Remind me to stab myself in the eye when Barnes is starting for the Clippers in 2012, Rubio is still in Spain, and we've got some smiley Euro sitting on the bench for us that we picked 4th overall. 

As you can see, it's easy to let any bump in the road lead to a downward spiral of self-pity when you're a Wolves fan.  That's why I've enlisted the help of Courage Wolf to keep our spirits up during these rough times.  I initially found Courage Wolf on a random Google Images search for the post below this one.  I had no idea who or what he was until Roundhouse filled me in on his story.  After doing a little research of my own, I think he's a good companion to keep around to keep us all mentally tough. After all, if Harrison Barnes prance around in his powder blues against inferior competition instead of finally taking his shot at Kobe, LeBron, and Durant, he's probably not the alpha dog this team needs anyway.  How many guys who deferred entering the NBA in the past 10 years ended up being super stars? 

In my Google Images search to find some sort of humorous "last place" image, I stumbled upon the picture above.  I have no idea why that phrase has anything to do with a snarling wolf, but I figured it was close enough to the topic of this post that we could roll with it.  After all, it makes about as much sense as half the lineups that Rhombus rolled out this season.

So the T-Wolves finished in last place for the second time in franchise history.  The last time they held this distinction, Shaquille O'Neal was ripe for the drafting.  Today, Shaq is 480 lbs. and limping around the court with Minnesota's only legitimate franchise player, who happens to be playing alongside another perrenial all-star that the Wolves drafted but traded away before he ever played a game for them, and they are all playing for the team that our former Vice President of Basketball operations used to play for.  Confused?  Well, that about sums up the past 19 years of Timberwolves basketball. 

At any rate, the Timberwolves now own a pretigious 75% chance of getting screwed yet again in the NBA lottery, and they will without a doubt keep their streak of 22 years without improving their draft positioning alive.  If by some miracle their ping pong ball combination does come the winner, they will get to select first in one of the weakest drafts ever.  David Kahn will likely draft a power forward, make that a European power forward, with the belief that the Euro and K. Lav will absolutely be able to play together on the court.  Adding insult to injury, Ricky Rubio will finally be able to get out of his contract with FC Barcelona, only to have the owners lock the players out, which makes him decide to stay overseas. 

Are you pumped yet?

Look, I know that this post is just brewing with negativity, but I really mean this all tongue-in-cheek.  The Minnesota Timberwolves are a sad-sack NBA franchise if there ever was one, but I love them all the same.  Everyone just keep hanging in there.  Things will get better.  After all, they can't get any worse.

And with the first pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers, using their pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves, select...

Oh, wait.  They can.

 

Excellent forum post from very valued TWolves Blog member "Wolfenstein."  We'll let him take it away from here...

(Check out this post and much, much more, in our TWolves Blog Forums)

 

First of all, credit where credit's due: from Simmons via ESPN.com (about halfway down, read the Rockets write-up):

...The Law of Too Many Guys. You only need eight and a half guys to win in the NBA: five starters, three bench guys, then an 8½th man who doesn't mind playing 0-10 minutes a night and being on call if a rotation guy gets into foul trouble, gets hurt or whatever. Of those eight and half guys, ideally, you need two scorers, one ball handler, one perimeter defender and one rebounder. You need to be able to play defense. You need everyone to know their roles. You need to know who's playing crunch time and who gets the ball in those last few minutes. And you need a coach competent enough not to screw things up. That's it.
...
It's a common-sense thing. Ask any NBA starter how many minutes would make them happy and they'd say 36 to 38 (one rest per half). There are 240 minutes available in a basketball game. That means you need to allot 180-190 minutes for your five starters to be happy. Now, ask any bench player how many minutes they need to play well and you know what they'd say? Two stretches per half for 8-10 minutes. They need time to run around, break a sweat, get a feel for the game and get comfortable. That means you need to allot 50-60 minutes for your three bench guys and your 8½th man.
...
So let's split the difference: 185 minutes for five happy starters, 55 minutes for the three and a half bench guys. That adds up to … wait for it … 240 minutes! What a coincidence.

Deep, deep insight from Simmons. If you line up 2 scorers, a ballhandler, an excellent rebounder, and an excellent defender in a pickup game, you know you can run the court for a few games, until you either tire out or until someone brings a better team with similar balance and better talent. I would argue that it is possible for your best defender to be a post defender, as long as you don't have substantial gaps with your perimeter defense. If you are letting guys penetrate all game long, you will have a problem with just a great interior defender. Otherwise, with decent perimeter defense a guy like Mutombo or Garnett as your plus defender is good.

Let's assume this bit of basketball knowledge is accurate, as I think it is. Let's also go one step further and say that you can have a MAXIMUM of one defensive liability in your starting 5, and one in your 3.5 backups. Usually this is one of the scorers, but if you think back to some of the great teams of the last 10 years you realize at times it is a ballhandler, at times a big man; in no case is more than one starter a defensive liability.

So, to recap:

• One Ball Handler
• One Rebounder
• One Elite Defender
• Two Scorers
• Three Bench Contributors
• One Serviceable Sub
• MAX one Defensive Liability as a Starter, one as a Sub

Let's now take this theory back to our dear Wolfies. Keep in mind that everyone at the NBA level is versatile to a certain degree- i.e. Love is a solid scorer as well as rebounder, but since we must categorize him as one or the other, the dominant role takes precedence; obviously Love gets classed as a Rebounder. I'm also going to list each player's overall score as I see it at this point in their career. ++++ would be your perennial All-Stars, +++ is top 10 at his position, ++ is a legit starter, + is a contributing role-player, = is a replacement level player and - is sub-par. I will also note those players that I believe are significant Defensive Liabilities. This is obviously a subjective exercise so there will be those that disagree with details, but it's useful nonetheless for sorting purposes.

Please click "Read More" for the in-depth analysis and insight from "Wolfenstein"...