We might as well jump right into this, it's the long awaited First TWolvesblog Open Mailbag.  (Ok, so maybe it wasn't "long awaited"... heck, perhaps it wasn't even "awaited.")  Regardless, I got some quality questions from eight people, covering a very large and diverse range of topics from: meeting players after games, potential massive Wolves/NBA trades, my favorite and least favorite players, and which I like more... Patron or Grey Goose.

(Click "Read More..." to dive into the MailBag.)

Note: This article appears at the Minnesota Timberwolves Den at DeROK.Net

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Kevin Garnett is back! [image2]

I had been here before.

Though my memory had been clouded by years of disappointment, apathy, and broken dreams, I could still faintly remember standing in this place. The electric atmosphere and pulsing energy seemed so familiar. And the man in the center of the crowd, orchestrating it all, had a face I knew almost as well as my own.

The place was the TD Banknorth Garden. The event, a regular season game between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. The man in the center, of course, was none other than Kevin Garnett. But as I sat there in front of my TV screen watching the C's improve their record to an astounding 22-3, I may as well have been seated in the lower level of the Target Center in April of 2004, watching Garnett's other "Big 3" take down the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. Everything about this game just seemed that monumental.

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With the Wolves killing the Pacers one night, and then getting killed by the Hornets the next, it seems like the perfect time to bust out another edition of "Tips o' the Hat, Wags o' the Finger."  So, who will be getting the presents, and who will be getting the lumps of coal?  Let's find out...

*A wag o' the finger to back-to-back games.  Back-to-back games are a bitch, aren't they?  After an inspired final three quarters of basketball on Friday, the Wolves came into New Orleans and were flat for pretty much the entire game.  I can't make excuses for the horrible effort we saw on Saturday, and a well-rested Wolves team would have still been beaten decisively by New Orleans.  But playing back-to-back nights certainly played a role in the blowout loss.

*A wag o' the finger to Wolves' transition defense.  This has been an achilles heel all season, and it's a concerning problem because poor transition defense often signifies a lack of effort.  The Wolves are doing a brutal job of getting back on defense...the Hornets had 35 fast break points last night, while the Wolves only had five points on the break.  This has been a huge problem throughout much of the season, and things only seem to be getting worse.

*A tip o' the hat to Tom Hanneman.  I'll admit it...Hanny's starting to grow on me.  His ridiculous "Hannemanisms" are so bad, they're good...for example, when we were playing Golden State and Monta Ellis drained a jumper, Hanny actually used the phrase, "the full Monta."  Here's another good one I spotted on the KFAN boards: ""The rhinoceros is preposterous!"  I still miss the Harlan-Tucker announcing team, but I don't mind Hanny.

A wag o' the finger to turnovers. Another issue that's been a problem all season, and seems to be getting worse.  Turnovers are killing this team...the Wolves will often go through stretches where they don't take care of the basketball, and that gives opposing teams an opportunity to make a run.  More often than not, this careless, stupid play by the Wolves occurs in the latter parts of the game...thus, we blow leads in the second half.   Again, it's another problem that's gone unchanged throughout the season.

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Hey everyone,

I am running an Open Mailbag for anyone that is interested in sending any questions and/or thoughts, and I'll anwer them next week.  Heck, I promise that I'll even answer them all... I'm like an Equal Opportunity Employer.

There's tons of things to talk about at this point in the season:  The Wolves roster, our awesome record, the Head Coach/Front Office situation, any previous or upcoming games, what you like or don't like... the possabilities are endless!

Or you can just email me and tell me that I suck.  It's all good.

Email all inquiries/Mail Bag questions/comments/hate mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

T-Wolves -vs- Golden State Warriors (12.19.07)

BOXSCORE: 

http://www.nba.com/games/20071219/GSWMIN/boxscore.html  

POSTGAME PODCAST:

http://www.timberwolvestoday.com

WARRIORS POST GAME COVERAGE:

http://goldenstateofmind.com/story/2007/12/19/15710/538#commenttop  

Well well well.  Shockingly we blow an early 14 point lead and lose again.  Ok, not shocking at all.  I didn’t actually go to tonight’s game because I’m kinda rundown and not feeling too well.  This did allow me to watch the game from the couch, which was rather warm and comfortable.  I might cut this “Musings” a little short as I’ve got the Detroit-Boston game queued up on the DVR.  Honestly, I can’t believe I’m even sitting here typing this and foregoing the Celtics game for the time being.  That’s ol CW… I’m here for my fans. 

The Wolves only had 10 active players tonight, which resulted in a much smaller rotation.  Out tonight was Randy Foye (with a knee booboo), Antoine Walker (broke shot), Marko Jaric (lonely), the Expiring Contract Formerly Known as Theo Ratliff (Old Age), and Greg Buckner (may or may not still be alive.)  Two other guys garnered DNP-CD’s, which resulted in an 8 man rotation.  Those two dudes were Madsen (too white) and Doleac (too ugly.)  In the forums I predicted that we would lose 111-99.  I was only off by one point, which is nice. Props to me I guess.  (If only gambling were legal…)  Anyhow, if you want to read more, just hit the jump button below.
 

(Click "Read More..." for thoughts and analysis.)

Wassup guys...getting set for the Celtics game, which is coming up in a few minutes on ESPN.  Boston has won nine-straight, and currently stands at 20-2...meanwhile, the Pistons enter tonight at 17-7.  KG's stat line for the season, thus far: 18.5 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 3.7 APG.  Should be an excellent game, without doubt.

*KG has a ridiculous +/- rating-- he's a + 26.9 this season.

*More Celtics stats: Pierce is averaging 20.9 PPG, and Allen is averaging 19.2 PPG. 

*Looking forward to seeing Flipnosis, as well...man, if you'd have told me in 2003-04 that Flip would be coaching the Pistons and KG would be playing for the Celtics in four years, I'd have called you crazy. 

*Doris Burke is no Erin Andrews.  Anyways, the game's about to tip-off:

First Quarter:

*Just looking at KG's reaction after drawing the Sheed foul, the revitalization of the Big Ticket is immediately apparent.  You wouldn't have seen that fist-pumping reaction last season. 

*How do you stop this team?  If you have KG covered, Ray Allen will fly in and nail a floater in the paint. 

*Love the move by Rajon Rondo...and on the next possession, he hits a jumper.  He's gotta be taking the media's coverage of the Celtics personally...Rondo's really gone under the radar. 

*What's gotten into Rajon Rondo?  More importantly, what the hell has happened to Detroit's guards?  Why aren't they getting a body on Rondo?  Rajon leads all scorers with eight points, as Flipnosis takes the timeout. 

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I'll be flipping back and forth between the Celtics and Wolves games tonight (though I'll more than likely spend most of the time on the Celtics game), and will be live blogging those two games.  Boston takes on Detroit at 6:00 CST on ESPN, and the Wolves play Golden State at 7:00 on FSN. 

So stop on by, and hang out as we keep tabs on a 20-2 team and a 3-20 team tonight.

What's up everyone...thanks for dropping by.

First Quarter:

*Agreed with Pete on turnovers...that's been a huge problem all season.  Here we go...

*Man, Micheal Redd has a sweet stroke...there's not much you can do when the ball's in his hands.

*Haha, since when did Craig Smith become our go-to player?  But who am I to make fun...the Rhino's playing stellar basketball as of late, as the coaching staff is finally giving him the minutes he deserves (it would kill me everytime I looked at the boxscore, and saw that Craig got 15-20 minutes).  Keep feeding Craiggers!

*Anyone else really like the Wolves' starting lineup?  Jaric, Brew, Craig, Al, Bassy...that's a young, energetic lineup that'll play hard.  That's really what I've been waiting to see...forget the vets, let's give the pups a chance for some serious minutes.

*Craig got the ball poked away, but I like the idea.  Force a mismatch, and let Craig go to work.  And Michael Redd continues to shoot the ball very well.

*I'm VERY interested to see how this lineup plays...McCants, Bassy, Craig, Richard, Al. 

*Bassy got bailed out there...he was trying to do too much on that possession.  I'd just keep feeding the hot hand...Craig Smith is making positive things happen when the ball's in his hands. 

*Ah...keep driving Corey.  Those will start dropping eventually...keep being aggressive.

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Note: This article appears on www.DeROK.Net/wolves

Show me that smile again.
Don’t waste another minute on your cryin’.
We're nowhere near the end.
The best is ready to begin.

As much as I'd like to echo the sentiments of that 80's sitcom theme song above, the 3-18 start by the Minnesota Timberwolves indicates that "the best" is anything but "ready to begin". Through this first quarter of a season, the T-Wolves have managed to meet even the most pessimistic of expectations.  I knew that pegging the Wolves for the 8th seed as I did in my NBA Season Preview was very "homer-ish" on my part, but I never imagined 3-18.  Normally, I like to reserve my DeROK.Net Timberwolves spots for my more  inspirational articles, but so far, there's been very little to wax poetic about this year.  So I've decided to make this NBA Quarterly Report a more straight-forward and analytical piece.  I'm going to glean whatever positives I can from the first twenty one games and take a look at what they mean for our future. Hopefully by the end I'll have been able to talk myself, and you as well, into the idea that we'll be "sharin' the laughter and love" in the not-too-distant future.

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