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Wolves Updates 2/21

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If the Wolves do anything before today’s 2 p.m. trade deadline — Kevin McHale said something small is possible, but he’s not holding his breath — they’ll likely swap Gerald Green for another player whose contract expires after this season and maybe a draft pick and/or some cash.
 
  
 
Wittman said there are no plans to trade Ratliff, who is a free agent at the end of this year. "We are going to hold on to Theo and see what he can do," Wittman said.
 
 
 
Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune on Theo Ratliff:
Whether the man with the expiring $11.6 million salary slot plays again for the Wolves beyond this season, his return to good health after knee surgery for the season's final 30 games would allow management to see how a bonafide shot-blocker fits among the pieces the team has assembled in its rebuilding efforts.
 
"If you say it fits beautifully, then it becomes a major, major priority," said Kevin McHale, Wolves vice president of basketball operations. "If you decide it's not a monumental change, then you say, 'OK, there are a lot of teams who are very successful who don't have that shot-blocker in the middle.' It's going to be a chance for us to see what impact that particular type of player has on our team."
 
   
 
Previews of tonight's game against the Spurs:
 
 
Click here for the forum's game thread 
 
 
 

Wolves Updates 2/20 Part 3

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Rick Alonzo/Pioneer Press on Thursday's 2pm trade deadline: 
McHale said he thinks a couple more big trades will happen involving other teams, but he minimized the influence of any potential deal that might involve his club.
 
“The sweepstakes that are out there right now, we’re in much smaller stuff, trying to see if we can pick up a (draft) pick here, a pick there,” McHale said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if something happens by tomorrow, but I’m certainly not holding my breath.”
 
McHale said he understands Walker’s plight and Green’s. But that doesn’t mean either player will be traded.  
 
 
 
Wolves Center Theo Ratliff told assembled media Wednesday after shootaround that that he will "definitely play tomorrow" against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs at Target Center.
 
"I feel great and I look forward to getting back out on the floor tomorrow," said Ratliff. 
 
 
Coach Wittman on whether Ratliff will play tomorrow:
"I don't see it as 100 percent yet," said head coach Randy Wittman. "He was better again today. It's close, I just want to make sure we're giving him the right opportunity at the right time, so we'll see."
 
 
 
With a tough stretch of games coming up with San Antonio, Dallas and Utah all coming to Minneapolis, the Timberwolves have their work cut out for them. While Wittman sees this as a wonderful opportunity to gauge player's intentions, Jefferson looks at it a different way. Minnesota can now be playoff spoilers to teams fighting to make the postseason or teams fighting for positioning.

"That's what we did last year," said Jefferson. "I think we beat the Timberwolves in a game last year to help knock them out of the playoffs, so that's what we're going to do this year."
  
 
 
The word is the Minnesota Timberwolves Gerald Green has requested a trade. And Wolves coach Randy Wittman spent the All-Star break watching his son Ryan play a pair of games at Cornell. Normally he watches the game on the Internet. 
 
 
 

Wolves Updates 2/20 Part 2

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Fifty-two games into this season, Telfair is the Wolves player who has most aggressively seized this campaign by the throat, not so much surpassing the low expectations his previous play had engendered as lapping them, stoking his energy and intelligence in the process. In the past 30 games or so, Telfair has finally learned how to do more than simply turn the key in the offense and try to steer the wheel. He's discovered how to regulate pace with the throttle and the brake, how to draw and kick, how to make opponents cover him because of his dribble penetration or initial probes in the modified fast break where the Wolves may or may not have the numbers...
 
 
 
As Foye sat on the sidelines, teammate Sebastian Telfair took advantage of his absence, putting together a career season as Minnesota's lead guard. With Foye back in the mix, Head Coach Randy Wittman must use the second half of the year to determine what position suits him best: the point guard or the two-guard. To Foye himself, the distinction between the two is minimal. 
 
 
 
Stephen Litel/Hoopsworld also talks to Chris Richard about the player's recent stint in the D-League.  

 
 
Basketbawful on last night's win: 
Some Minnesota fans - most of whom will probably never have sex with a woman without the use of a major credict card - saluted Green's now famous cupcake dunk. Too bad Green never got off the bench. For all you stat geeks out there, that means he played 8 fewer minutes than Antoine Walker. 
 
 
 
When the two teams played in December, Sixers center Samuel Dalembert came within one blocked shot of a triple-double. He swatted away Al Jefferson’s potential game-tying shot with fewer than seven seconds remaining to preserve a victory.
 
Jefferson, who delivered his 38th double-double (19 points, 14 rebounds) of the season Tuesday, was asked after the game about Dalembert’s influence on that game and his lack thereof more than two months later (6 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block Tuesday).
 

“I don’t remember that game,” he said...

  
  
If Minnesota makes a deal, it will not be anything monumental. Although they do hold interesting pieces for trade bait in the expiring contract of Theo Ratliff, the unfulfilled potential of Gerald Green and the unhappy, but professional veterans Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner, more than likely nothing will come of these pieces.
 
 

Wolves Updates 2/20

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But everything changed for him during the first set of two-a-day practices before the start of the Las Vegas summer league. He reached back for a loose ball, fell and landed hard on his knee. He played in five games, averaging 18.4 points, knocking down 14 of 26 three-point shots.
 
And then everything changed again. Foye was resting before it was time to start preparing for camp when the Wolves traded Kevin Garnett, their gemstone, to the Boston Celtics. The franchise, just like that, was starting over.
 
"I had to amp up my workouts, because they called and [said] they expected big things from me, that they wanted me to come back 2 weeks earlier," Foye recalled. "I wanted to impress them, show how hard I had been working. That's when I aggravated [the knee]."
 
 
 
 
Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune on a visit comedian Bill Bellamy made to the Target Center on Tuesday:
He arrived wearing fur-lined tundra boots and before he switched into sneakers, somebody said if Gerald Green really wanted to impress with a dunk, he’d do a between-the-legs windmill slam wearing those boots rather than just stocking-footed, as he did in Saturday’s NBA All-Star slam dunk contest in New Orleans.
 
“Gerald Green?” Bellamy asked. “Cupcake plays for this team? Cupcake’s here?…Is he a starter?”
 
 
 
Wittman said he would tweak his starting rotation over the final 30 games for a broader overview of what the Wolves have to work with. He eagerly awaits the impact of forward Theo Ratliff, who has missed all but six games recovering from knee surgery but is inching closer to returning.
 
"I want to see what happens when Theo comes back and when he plays alongside Al (Jefferson) and how Al reacts to Theo," the coach said.  
 
 
 
Wittman said he expects to play Richard more the rest of the season than he did playing 9.2 minutes a game in 24 of the Wolves' first 51 games. The rookie dressed for but didn't play in Tuesday's 104-88 victory over Philadelphia.
 
"Even in practice, he's more confident, more active," Wittman said, referring to Monday's practice and Tuesday morning's shootaround. "He's looking for the ball more than he had before. I think that time there should be a big help."
 
 

Wolves 104, Sixers 88

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From the AP recap:
Reserve Rashad McCants scored 20 points, Al Jefferson had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 104-88 on Tuesday night. 
 
 
 
Wolves record: 11-41
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It also introduced Randy Foye into the starting lineup for the first time this season. In his ninth game back after missing the season's first three months and 43 games because of a kneecap injury, Foye, the Wolves' 2006 first-round draft pick, moved in at shooting guard alongside four other players age 25 or younger.
 
Three of those -- Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes and Sebastian Telfair -- were acquired from Boston in the Garnett trade. The other: rookie Corey Brewer, 2007 first-round pick. The reconfigured rotation brought Rashad McCants, Marko Jaric and Craig Smith, among others, off the bench and produced the team's 11th victory of the season.
 
 
 
Al Jefferson was back to his double-double ways with 19 and 14, while six of his teammates scored in double figures. Rashad McCants (20), Marko Jaric (15) and Craig Smith (11) were big off the bench, while Corey Brewer played terrific defense in holding Andre Iguodala to 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting (37.5 percent). Furthermore, Randy Foye started his first game of the season and went for 13 points with five assists.
 
 
 
The combo of Sebastian Telfair and Randy Foye showed glimpses of great play this evening. Coach Randy Wittman stated after the game the players themselves would determine if that two-some plays much for the remainder of the year. Although productive, it seems to be an indication the Timberwolves do not look at Randy Foye as a point guard. 
 
 
 
With seven impending free agents on the Wolves' roster, the NBA trade deadline looming Thursday and few jobs guaranteed, Wittman said the meaningless games in the standings would be a character test for players who want to be a part of the Wolves' long-term plans.
 
For one night at least, the message resonated.
 
"It's important in my mind, and I think probably in management's mind, where we're going and how we're going to continue to build this," Wittman said. "There are 30 games to go, and we're going to get the best effort from everyone."
  
 
 
23.0 Average age of the Wolves' starters Tuesday.  
 
 
 

76ers Not Good

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WOLVES BEAT SIXERS 104-88

If you're a regular on this site, then you probably know that the Wolves have been better lately.  The three losses following the Boston effort leading into the the All-Star Break were a downer (especially the Toronto and LA Lakers losses), but nothing compared to the putrid effort in November and December.  Right before the season, I looked at certain factors I would be watching for and winning wasn't on the list.  However, reviewing the list tonight, I'm starting to see some positive results in relation to what I was looking for.  This brings us to tonight.  In my lust to see the team just pull out a game or two, I totally forgot what it was like to win a boring yawner.

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"Turbo" Brewer taking it to the hoop in the first quarter.  (AP Photo)

I have had the fortune of attending all 9 of the Wolves home wins this season and for the previous 8 wins, there was some serious energy in the Target Center, no matter how small the crowd was.  Tonight, the crowd started to empty out with 3 minutes left in the fourth in the same manner they emptied out of Target Center in the blowout losses.  Looking at the box score, I see that the Wolves outscored the 76ers in all four quarters and also somehow shot nearly 50% from the field.  When the game ended, I asked my buddy Ryan, "How did they score 100 points tonight?"  I still really have no idea.  At the conclusion of the game, I think the lineup was Foye, McCants, Jaric, Gomes and Smith and all five were in double digits.  Further review reveals that the Wolves put 7 players in double digits.  Then I realized something: I think the Philidelphia 76ers I saw tonight are the worst team I've seen play so far this year.  If nothing, they're easily in one of the worst situations in the NBA.

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Wolves Updates 2/19 Part 2

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Minnesota has made available veteran Mark Madsen, a defensive-minded power forward who isn't playing in their youth movement. 
 
 
 
Nathaniel Friedman/Sporting News on some "bold -- highly unlikely, but not impossible -- predictions" for the second half of the season. 
Every season, some young team comes together and racks up a few extra wins or at least becomes a tougher matchup. It's tough to make a case for the T-Wolves because they live in the Western Conference. But after seeing Gerald Green and Rashad McCants in the dunk contest last weekend, I believe anything is possible.
 
    
 
Here are comments by an Eastern Conference scout about the five rookies from the University of Florida. The scout requested anonymity because of team rules:
 
Corey Brewer: "You've got to keep working [on the outside shot]. It's much easier to get where he wanted [in terms of shooting consistency] when he was in college."
 
Chris Richard: "Needs more work [to become a consistent player]."
 
 
 
Rashad McCants (Timberwolves guard, UNC): McCants missed 44 games last season after having microfracture surgery on his right knee. Back at full strength, he’s averaging 15 points and shooting 45 percent for a Minnesota team that’s adjusting to life without Kevin Garnett. McCants is also adding plenty of tattoos and souvenirs to his collection. This season, McCants has snagged signed jerseys from Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, Baron Davis and Marvin Williams to add to his walls at home. As far as the new body ink, the former Tar Heel, whose “Born to be hated, dying to be loved” tattoo was a source of much discussion in his college days, now has more than 20 markings. A “Lucky” tattoo is on his right forearm, “Fearless” runs down his right leg and a massive “Vicious” tattoo is stamped on his stomach.
 
   
 
Gerald Green kind of got undersold on the blow-the-candle dunk. That was a really, really cool dunk and worth a perfect score.
In the end, however, the best man won.
 
 
 
UPDATE:
After Tuesday's shootaround at Target Center, center Theo Ratliff told reporters he was a "game-time decision," but Wittman did not confirm if Ratliff will be on the active roster against Philadelphia.

After Monday's practice, Wittman said he did not expect Ratliff to play in the next few games.
 
 
 
 

Wolves Updates 2/19

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Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune on Thursday's NBA trade deadline: 
The interesting question is whether the Wolves could use their only real valuable bargaining chip — Theo Ratliff’s expiring $11.6 million slot — and a couple of their young pieces to fetch something substantial (say, Memphis’ Miller, who just turned 28) rather than save it for down the road for free-agent signings or to pay for new contracts for the likes of Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes or Sebastian Telfair.
 
 
Veteran forward Antoine Walker is a proven shooter who won an NBA title with Miami two seasons ago, but his limited game and his $8.5 million salary makes him difficult to trade.
 
Young, little-used guard Gerald Green -- the runner-up to Dwight Howard in last weekend's NBA All-Star slam dunk contest -- wants to be traded because he figures his days in Minnesota are over when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer anyway. But Green has little value unless packaged in a bigger deal.
 
 
 
 
Forward Theo Ratliff, sidelined since mid-November and recovering from knee surgery, practiced and is on track to being able to play again sometime in the next two weeks.
 
"He's heading in the right direction," Wittman said.
 
 
 
Mike Trudell/Timberwolves site talks to Greg Buckner about a variety of topics. Buckner on the funniest and least funniest players on the team:
The funniest dude would have to be myself. Wait, you know what? The funniest dude is Dog. Mad Dog (Mark Madsen), and the least funny is probably Theo Ratliff. He's not much of a jokester.
 
 
 
NBA interest in the Twin Cities is at its lowest point in the 19 seasons since the league re-emerged here with the expansion Timberwolves in the fall of 1999.
 
This has been demonstrated not only by the sections of empty seats in the home arena, but also horrendous ratings both for the Wolves' local telecast and the NBA's national events.
 
 
 
Sebastian Telfair, the Minnesota Timberwolves guard, was sitting a few rows behind the scorer's table at Madison Square Garden during the St. John's-Villanova game Saturday night. 

The kid from Brooklyn, N.Y., was asked about his hometown team, which has clearly fallen on hard times.
 
"I can't ... I can't talk about it," said Telfair, who skipped college to go pro. "I can't do that to them. I'm sorry, man."
 
 
    
Previews of tonight's game against the Sixers:
 
Click here for the forum's game thread.  
 

Carnival of the NBA #54

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Head over to SportProjections to check out the Carnival of the NBA, a collection of recent great posts from various basketball blogs.  
 
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More on Green's dunks

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Click here for a photo gallery of Green's dunks.  
 
 
Speaking of the Cake, we learned a lot about Gerald Green this weekend, too. Namely, that his motivation/innovation comes only in short bursts. One dunk? A year to plot your title defense and you bring out one dunk? The rush of air on that candle put Green in a position to take the trophy. Instead he offered green socks, the false Statue of Liberty, the standard thru-the-legs fare ... and that was it. And I have a feeling Green didn't even frost the cupcake himself; that thing had Rashad McCants written all over it.  

 
 
Well, sure Dwight Howard is creative. Great. Has anyone noticed that he's 7-feet tall?
It makes a difference.
In a better, saner world, no one over that 6-6/6-7ish range could enter a dunk contest. Period.
It's that simple.
I was more impressed with Gerald Green. Love that cupcake thing.
 
Also from Ryan: 
As for Gerald Green, would that he spent as much time learning the T-Wolves plays or figuring out how to defend the pick-and-roll as he does conjuring up dunks involving edibles.
 
 
 
Now, because life is not fair, and also because the NBA has decided (not unfairly) to anoint Dwight Howard as one of its new superstars, Gerald did not win this year. But there was some real beauty, as well as some impressively channeled melancholy, in his performance.
 
 
 
Even 1988 didn't advance the event as much as Saturday's dunk contest did. The props, the teammates serving as magician's assistants, made it even more enjoyable. I loved the look on Rashad McCants' face as he climbed a ladder to carefully place a cupcake on the back of the rim, then lit a candle. He took his job so seriously, like Jerome holding Morris Day's mirror. 
 
 
 
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