Photo courtesy of the Timbertrolls

The Wolves return home from a 2-game road trip, going 1-1 and losing two men in battle, to face the not-AS-lowly-as usual Charlotte Bobcats at home tonight. The problem with analyzing the Bobcats (a team that has a better record than the Los Angeles Lakers), is that the team is still "in development" and inconsistent. I mean, among the team's best players is something called Byron Mullens. As an east coast team, games generally start earlier, and the team isn't exactly featured on national TV too often. However, aside from the Wolves, there really isn't a team that is off to a more surprising start, so we can at least get a gauge on who matters and who doesn't by looking at box scores. Some keys: 

-Injuries. The Wolves will be without Brandon Roy, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Chase Budinger, JJ Barea, and Nikola Pekovic tonight. This is almost humorous. I hate to stir up controversy and totally understand that injuries are fluke, but what on earth is going on with the training staff? Are they taking every precaution to identify muscle weakness/areas of risk and doing their diligence? This is too unusual for comfort. SIX injuries, all starters or big role players. Not ok. I refuse to believe the training staff is doing everything they can. Refuse. Evidence I have of this: none.

-Malcolm Lee vs. Kemba Walker. This is officially your hot matchup of the night. I am eagerly anticipating some quality Malcolm Lee minutes guarding Kemba. Malcolm did a fantastic job against OJ Mayo in Dallas the other night. Tonight Lee will have his chance to prove himself against another volume scorer, and should he be successful, may be well on his way to a regular role in the rotation.

-Will the Wolves sign someone? Pietrus and Josh Howard are the hot names. Thoughts on either? Worth an add? I think so. If for no other reason than to prevent AK47 from overdoing it and getting hurt himself. He should not be playing 44 minutes on a nighty basis. Conroy adds nothing to this team basketball-wise, while the aforementioned two players would. An easy decision. 

-The Rise of Shved. You know things are dire/weak when Alexey is going to have to single handedly command the bench offense tonight. Expect big minutes from Alexsey. He is probably the barometer for the game. Should the starters flop at the start, Alexey's production is going to be the key to victory tonight. He had a terrific outing in Dallas on both ends of the court and is gaining confidence by the game. The one thing we have to get excited about in this juncture of the season (aside from an inexplicable record) is Shved generally playing far above expectations as someone who is still a relative unknown. Root for him.

-Upcoming Schvedule. The Wolves play Golden State on Friday and then receive a very welcome 5-days off until Denver at home next Wednesday. Hopefully after this 2-game stretch, some of the hurt Wolves will get enough rest to return.

-Love time-table update. It has officially been over 4 weeks since Love broke his hand. All signs point to him being ready before we know it. The injury timetable was 4-6 weeks, so hopefully he plays on the upcoming west coast road trip at the end of the month. His welcome back party can't come soon enough.

And yet through all of this nonsense, the wins keep coming! A victory tonight would be huge. 

-Prediction: I just can't see the Wolves losing this game unless the shooting percentages are completely out of whack. Wolves move to 6-2. That being said, it is NOT going to be an easy win. When you have to rely on Will Conroy and Lou Amundson as more than spot-duty guys, the game will be a difficult out. The Bobcats could easily win this game. They are not the Bobcats of last year and have a generally healthy roster (aside from Henderson and Ben Gordon potentially our for personal reasons), whereas the Wolves obviously do not.

Put this team in the witness protection program, it isn't safe for them to be playing basketball. 

• Love - Dead
• Rubio - Dead
• Budinger - Dead (Out a couple months with knee surgery this week, source)
• Roy - Dead (maybe, really hard to say.)
• JJ Barea - In stable condition but not out of the woods yet

Ladies and gentlemen we've given Shved 5 games to get aclimated to the NBA, he should be ready to go 38 minutes a game for the next 2 months right? 

Wow, what a game last night. Let us first bask in the glory of AK47's unbelievable poise and unselfishness, Budinger's brilliant cut, and Gerald Green's great fantastic defense.

Tonight the Wolves face a similarily undermanned Chicago Bulls squad in Chi-town. Some brief keys to the game.

-Bench Play. Yet again. The Wolves' depth and team efforts have been critical in this shocking early season run through 5 games. The Bulls have more depth than some of the other teams the Wolves have faced to date, but still got worse this offseason. With Budinger likely getting the start in place of Roy tonight, and Barea out, our depth is starting to suffer a touch. It will take a complete team victory and another big game from Shved off the bench to get the dub tonight. HAM is slowly becoming sort of a poor-man's Taj Gibson here in Minnesota, and his role tonight vs. Taj will be crucial. But we have Stiemsma, and the rest of the league does not.

-Boozer/D-Will. Probably the Bulls' best offensive weapon tonight with a favorable matchup against D-Will. Derrick will have to hustle early to contain him, and keep working hard. Is it just me, or is Derrick looking like a more well-rounded contributor thus far to start the year? His defense has been passable and he is not forcing his shots as much. As a D-Will cynic, his play of late is encouraging for his future as a contributor. Even Adelman has been singing his praises

-Back to Back #2. The Wolves' 2nd back to back effort of the season starts tonight. While the schedule-makers were kind in terms of the opposition to start the year, the games to date have been rather condensed. Last week had tilts against Toronto and Brooklyn on back to back nights with the Wolves obviously emerging victorious in Brooklyn. Let's see how they respond on night 2 on the road tonight with fewer options. 

-Prediction. Embrace Homerism. I am forever conditioned to expect the worst from this team, but this unexpected run to start the year is starting to change the mantality. While predicting a win tonight is very tempting, the Bulls have more firepower in the starting lineup and thus will likely emerge victorious. If the Wolves do win tonight, it's time for a full-on switch to blind homerism. Especially with the Bobcats coming to town in a few short days.

Not much else. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and tune in at 7:00 tonight to catch the game. 

in 2010, Kahn preferred Wes Johnson over Paul "Mr. First Names" George

Ed Note: TCSnyder is a new contributor to TwolvesBlog.com. He resides in Phoenix with his wife who, while working for ASU, once recieved a phone call from Rob Babcock wanting to know if James Harden had any character issues. As Beard ended up elsewhere, we can assume she issued Babcock a terrible review, and thus we can blame her for the start of the OKC non-dynasty, and the subsequent trade to Houston. TC resides in Phoenix where he spends his days eagerly anticipating nightly hall-of-fame performances from Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson and Sebastain Telfair. Welcome, TCSnyder (no relation to Kirk Snyder)!

Familiar Foes. Both Indiana and the T-wolves have played at Toronto and against Sacramento at home. Indiana emerged from two close games 2-0. The Wolves got the W vs. Kings to open the year, but received a bare-bottom, pants at the ankles spanking in the 4^th quarter as Toronto pulled away to win by 19. It is hard to draw anything conclusive from playing identical opponents, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Worth every penny. AK-47 is proving his worth. The season is young, but everyone who watched a game last year and beyond can appreciate the fact that Martell Webster and Wes Johnson’s respective reigns of terror are over, and in Johnson’s case, relocated to Phoenix for me to appreciate for 82 games. You are a special, special player, Wesley! I digress. AK-47’s line vs the Nyets is a thing of beauty:  7 of 11 FG, 16 pts, 10 boards, 6 assists, 4 blocks, 1 steal. Without K-love, he might be the most important player on the team.

Paul George: two first names, one tall fellow. Paul George is leading the Pacers in rebounding at a healthy 10.5rb/game through 5 games. As a team, the Pacers lead the league in rebounding per game. George is also averaging nearly 40 minutes per game. AK-47 will likely draw defensive duties here. Mr. Masha Lopatova needs to chase Mr. 2 first names off the 3pt line and keep him off the boards. If George has a big scoring night, the wolves are in trouble.

Length vs. Strength. Pekovic did not play his best basketball against the Pacers last year. I think part of it is due to Hibbert’s length (his overall play wasn’t bad either) and part is due to the injuries Pek had last year. This time, I see Pek putting up his first dbl-dbl of the year.

Prediction.  These are two teams missing key pieces (K Love/Ricky for wolves and to a lesser extent Danny Granger for the Pacers). The wolves are winners of 2 straight, seemingly hitting stride, while the Pacers have dropped 2 in a row. Can the Timberwolves build off an extremely heartening comeback against Brooklyn and strong performance against Orlando? I think they can. Buoyed by big games from AK, Pek, and a solid game from D Will (14-18pts), the wolves win at home. 

If the Timberwolves win tonight it will be the best record through four games since 2000-01 when they went 6-0.  A 3-1 start to this season would not only be historic but a great boost of confidence for this squad after one week of play.  Let's look at some of the X-factors for tonight's match up against the Orlando Magic.

*Bench play:  Amazingly enough it's been the play of the backup unit that has earned the Wolves their two wins thus far.  Last Friday JJ Barea led the charge with 21 points in the defeat of the incredibly lousy Kings.  This past Monday it was the leadership of Barea matched by the outstanding play of Alexey Shved, Chase Budinger and Dante Cunningham that helped the Wolves overcome a 22 point deficit against the Brooklyn Nets.  The Wolves bench in both outings provided a necessary boost in energy and an agressive defensive effort to put away either opponents.  With Ridnour's healing back and Roy's inability to move laterally and closely guard his opponents the Wolves starting five has yet to leave their mark on any contest so far.  Roy's shot will soon fall and Pekovic will continue to become more comfortable leading his unit as he demonstrated on Monday, however, if these changes happen later rather than sooner it's possible Adelman may soon switch up the starting 5.  If Roy continues to be a defensive liability and Williams fails to convert his shots at the rim we may see Budinger and Cunningham enter as their replacements.  That being said, I still expect Roy to finally have a noteworthy performance tonight with Pek destroying Gustavo Ayon and Glen Davis leading to noticably less playing time for the bench.

*No Türkoğlu:  After recently breaking his left hand the Magic are now searching to find a replacement at small forward.  It's likely Afflalo will play more minutes at SF as he did last night against Chicago.  Affalo found success in this role putting up a nice little stat line (28-5-5) yet it's hard seeing him and the rest of the Magic continuing to battle each night without one of their key veterans.  Kirilenko will be able to put up a fight against Afflalo which means the ownest will be on the likes of Reddick, Davis and Moore to carry the weight of this team.  The Magic's impressive run thus far is sure to be derailed, especially in the midst of injuries to Türkoğlu and Nelson, I wouldn't be suprised if that process starts tonight.

3 Point Attack:  After the first half of Monday's game the Nets were shooting 61.5% from beyond the arc while the Wolves continued to encounter shooting woes from long range.  Things changed for the better in the second half with Budinger and Shved draining 3 pointers in clutch moments no less.  Adelman's system heavily relies upon good floor spacing, although the Wolves proved they have been able to implement this style of play they have not been able to drain their shots.  Hopefully the change of pace seen in their comeback on Tuesday will be a continuing trend.  Guys like Budinger and Shved fit perfectly into Adelman's schemes and once they convert it becomes very difficult for oppotents to handle the wide array of talent of this team.

Predictions:  Wolves Win 104-91.  MVP: Pekovic 19 PTS, 11 REBS, 2 BLKS. 

The Wolves will be energized by their huge win on Monday in addition to playing at home and Roy and Pekovic will start finding their grooves.  Remarkably, the Wolves will sit atop the Northwest Division for a little longer.

The above human is an actual NBA player

Sorry, not much time for a preview today. A few quick bullets.

-Take Care of the Ball. Last night was an outlier in every sense of the word in terms of turnovers (and the dreadful transition D after said turnovers). 24 total. Let's hope the Wolves can take care of the ball a bit more tonight. While last night was abysmal, we can rest on our laurels that the carelessness is highly unlikely to happen often.

-B-Roy Needs a Redemption Game. Easily one of the worst NBA stints I have ever seen, and watching this team since 2009 has yielded a mountain of suck. Brandon Roy looked absolutely terrible. Let's continue to hope he still has something left and can redeem himself tonight. Give it a few more games before overreacting.

-Shved got a haircut. This is neat, yet makes him look slightly less interesting.

-No G Wallace tonight. Crash crashed. One less threat out there. Keep an eye on that Net's backcourt fronting the scoring load (and I definitely lump Disney Lopez into the backcourt category, since he plays like a shooting guard). But if Kyle Lowry is any indication, get ready for a huge night from Deron Williams. If Rubio is considered an "ace" defender, then Ridnour is more like a two of hearts.

-Barea Concussed. Will be a game-time decision as our *gulp* leading scorer. 

-Rick's Rotation. Odd that he is still tying to 'find his way' in terms of minute management. I am a little confused why Pek isn't getting the ball more or playing more as our obvious go-to scorer. Hopefully this isn't a trend. 

Prediction: A tough trip to 1-2. Brooklyn will be a tough team with above average options all over the court. It would take a sudden Zen moment and some help from the Russian Mafia to win this one. Love can't get healthy soon enough.

Tonight I will be making an appearance on Buffalo, NY blog talk show Making Sense with Mike and Tom at 6:30 central to talk Wolves. You can listen to the show here. Be sure to tune in!

Jonas, perhaps on his first day of 8th grade

Use the comments here to discuss the game as you wish, or as always, join and chat in the forums in the game thread that you should hopefully be able to find. Also, there is still plenty of time to get involved in the very fun TIMBERPUP GAME this season, so post your game predictions and get involved in the challenges that the wise sage roundhouse presents to those fortunate participants each game. 

Forums

TimberPup game rules (forum registration required)
 

On to the game. Well, the Wolves head to Toronto today to face off against former coach Dwayne Casey and easily the Eastern Conference's #1 sleeper team: The Raptors. Tip off at 5 central on NBATV and local TV as well.  Here are 5 pre-game bullets. Unlike the King's game preview, hopefully the bullets show up in this post. I swear they are at least there in the site editor. Because, as always, who doesn't love bullet points?

-Kyle Lowry. Look out for this fantastic, all-around, Swiss Army knife, stat sheet stuffing, extremely underrated guard. Good Lord did the Raptors land a steal in this guy. Conlangelo, the league's all-time most overrated GM, made a good move here with Houston. One-on-one, Luke Ridnour is going to have some huge challenges with him, and it will take some good help effort from the other four starters to contain him and his shot creation. PS...remember when him and Randy Foye starred at Villanova together? Remember when Foye was "the better player?" It is weird how these things work out. Why do things like this happen? So odd.

-Rookie Spotlight: Jonas Valanciunas. Jonas will have his work cut out for him. Pek had a very rare off night and clearly struggled being double and triple teamed in the post against Sacramento. Jonas has the length to get a hand up vs. Pek and this should be an interesting length vs. girth matchup. But Jonas has the makings of a solid all-around center. Not much else is known about the guy just yet, so keep an eye on him as the marquee rookie of the game.

-Pek in the Post/DWill at the 4. Pek struggled in game one, plain and simple. You would too if you were triple teamed by three guys who were 6-feet 10 inches tall every time you received a pass. What would help a bit here is if Lord Adelman at least attempted to get Derrick Williams a consistent offensive role while Love is out. The floor need be stretched, and D still showed us nothing special in the first game (to no one's surprise). Pigs need to fly here. We really need a stretch to get Pek some room down low or he could struggle early on. He is no longer a surprise player and has earned the respect of opposing scouts. When Love does get back from injury, look out. The best stretch 4 and an elite post scorer is a rare and awesome thing to have. But I can't help but wish Lord Adelman would try to implement Derrick's (underachieving to say the least) ability as a stretch 4 a little more. At least give the guy a chance.

-Depth. The other night, against the Kings, the Wolves (and the Kings for that matter) basically shot like a WNBA team. That isn't meant to be derogatory, that is simply what happened. The Wolves had to basically adjust and win the game at the free throw line (a great sign, by the way, that the team can finally get there). If not for Barea playing like Derrick Rose (!!) and getting to the rim at will...and finishing...the game would have been an even more hideous spectacle to behold. This presents two points. 1. How awesome are Wolves games going to be when those shots are falling and the team is shooting over 50%?  2. The Wolves' depth has improved so dramatically by purging the garbage from Kahn's 2nd reign that the starting lineup can throw up a steaming pile of 33% FG% and JJ Barea can will us to victory on offense. This is just...there are no words. The days of Beasley one-and done- 22 footers are over.

-Greg Stiemsma. Gets his own bullet. Screw DeRozan. His $40 million contract makes him unmentionable and not worth a bullet. Greg was just awesome in his Wolves debut and let's hope the trend continues. He made a positive play seemingly every few seconds. Blocking shots, getting pissed, and generally acting like Darko Milicic after seeing his first naked boob. Keep it up Steemer, and keep proving your worth.

Prediction: Even though the Wolves seem to always dog it in Canada, I can't predict a loss until they lose a game. Embrace Homerism. Wolves win it...probably thanks to a 15 and 10 night from Cunningham or something weird/awesome.

Tonight, after what seemed like a 200 bajillion-year wait, the Wolves open the year at home vs. Sacramento (doesn't it feel like we always open against the Kings?). Finally. No Love or Rubio of course, but Roy and AK47 will be ready for active duty and immediate fan judgement. That being said, since everybody LOVES bullets, here are ten random musings/bullets to look out for as you either trudge to Target Center, or nestle into your carefully hand-crafted, 3-month aged butt groove on the couch with an ice cold IPA/lager/brown ale/O'Doul's etc. and a pizza. And hopefully some company. Also, to tease the palate, there is exactly one Richie Frahm reference below amidst the rubble. Excited yet?

• Pekovic vs. Cousins. This matchup quietly became one of the more interesting battles ever since Pek first set foot (and destroyed) the Target Center Floor as a Rambis project. Cousins, as many know, has a bit of a temper and thus Pekovic is the perfect kahndidate to get under his short-as-a-peppermint-tic-tac fuse. With the starters on the floor for both sides, expect to see a lot of interior and mid-range plays on offense early on as Pekovic and Cousins battle in the post. The two will go at it early and often, and will likely lead their respective teams in scoring. Tonight will be an interior battle and if history repeats itself, expect Pekovic to destroy Cousins as he begins his campaign for Most Improved Player. Cousin’s has more range on his shot so keep an eye on Pek defensively 10-15 feet out.

• Thomas Robinson. The marquee top pick suits up for the Kings and immediately becomes this years’ Enes Kanter/Derrick Williams/Derrick Favors – the player who will be buried behind more talented, crowded front court players and thus will have a tough time making a stamp on the league….probably indefinitely. It will be enjoyable to watch the off-the-ball physical battle between Robinson and the Wolves’ backup bigs Lou Amundson and Greg Stiemsma.

•  Alexey Shved’s NBA Debut – I’m predicting a Richie Frahm throwback debut performance from Alexey. 5 or more 3’s and an immediate fan favorite. I doubt it is something that will happen nightly, but Alexsey should hopefully be able to make mincemeat out of Jimmer Fredette off of the dribble and can a couple of threes. Two of my favorite parts of Alexsey’s game is that, 1. He goes left more than he goes right, which is confusing to defenders and, 2. He can shoot threes off of the dribble! Have the Wolves had that in recent memory (Barea just….doesn’t count)? Not all will fall and some will be Barea-esque in their rage-induction throughout the season, but when they drop, he will be a spark. I suspect he starts off strong.  

• Brandon Roy as a primary offensive option. With Love out, Roy will likely be doing most of the play-making on offense from the perimeter, relying on his mid-range game to add a scoring boost when needed. But the Roy situation has really been an under-the-radar story this offseason. I think seeing him on the court for the first time in a real game should garner some attention from pundits. With Love out, the Wolves need to get 25 points from somewhere, and Roy seems poised to pick up the slack. It is slightly concerning that Lord Adelman may have to rely on him more than he would like early on in the season, but Brandon will have a chance to prove Kahn’s decision to sign him as right or wrong nearly immediately. The intriguing part is no one has any idea how it will turn out.

•  The Triumphant Return to Target Center. One of our writers, Bonk, always loves to chime in on the “in-arena and around Target Center” fan perspective of the game, and it is probably one of the more under-discussed fun parts of following this team. How have the pre-game happy hour spots changed? Did a new bar materialize? If so, do they have a good special, or did they make the idiotic decision to not offer pre-game happy hour deals on game day events  and guarantee a closing like Smalley’s and the rest of the forgotten 1^st Ave. pre-game (former) watering holes? Do they have boneless wings or the immensely overrated bone-ins? Interesting sauces or just the lame Buffalo or Honey BBQ? Beer selection? Henney for a quick boost before departing to Hubert’s? Do 508 and Brother’s remain the best spots for pre-game merriment? Will SILENT ABABU, a rotund non-English speaking, yelping die-hard fan, make his return and lead eager fans post-game on journeys of the unknown? Is B-Wright still going to be shouting his 90’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air-like lingo into the microphone ? Which lucky 3^rd grade church choir will have the honor of singing the national anthem? What lame gag will Crunch play on a planted opposing team fan? What will the “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” challenge be? With all of the Caucasians on the team, will the player intro music be a Counting Crows medley? Which Viking’s players will be sitting courtside? Who was spotted darting around Hubert’s before entering in through the tunnel? “Should we high-five all of the players as they enter from the tunnel like we’re in first grade again?” These questions, and their relevant answers, are just some of the thousands of constant amusements that frequent visits into Target Center provide.

• Anyhow, back to the Kings game. Budinger’s Shooting. Remember last year when Wes had an open look, shot it with his overly quick and flat release, and you shielded your eyes in horror as if you were about to prevent yourself from watching a torture scene from the latest addition to the Saw Anthology? Those days are no more. Chase had some huge games in the pre-season offensively from beyond the arc, but proved to be like just about 90% of the league: inconsistent. However, Bud will quietly have a huge role on the team this year (when injuries to the wing guys start to happen :/) and look for him to start off hot as a spark off the bench.

• D-Will. Does he have anything? His time is now. The pecking order is going to be established quickly with Love out, and if Derrick doesn’t ditch his deer-in-the-headlights approach to an NBA offense, he is going to head straight towards DNP-CD territory (along with Wes Johnson in Phoenix). Seriously. I predicted DC would take his minutes very early and if D-Will doesn’t get his head out of his batoot, he is in for another long year.

• Cunningham. Energy, hustle, length, athleticism and an underrated shooting touch. Really a perfect backup big and I suspect he will start opening night. Cunninghamsandwich is a really nice matchup against the sizable Jason Thompson and I would expect an efficient night from Dante’. Like him right away. You should. The Mayans have arrived: Kahn won a trade!

•  Kirilenko. Forgot about him until now. I was disappointed with how smiley he seems but, alas, battles must be picked. It is a shame he doesn’t have a tougher matchup than James Johnson on opening night to show his skills, but he will be quite helpful on the help D in the post against Cousins, Thompson, and when Evans breaks Roy’s ankles for the 9^th time in the opening quarter (see what I did there?)

• Lord Adelman’s Smile Count. Adelman has been smiling more and more this season, potentially up to 8-10 whole smiles (partial grins excluded). He even made a joke the other day that he would be watching NCIS instead of the opening games that came and passed on Tuesday. If the Wolves win, will Rick be pleased, or will he continue his campaign as the human-version of an Easter Island Statue? Dreadful  filler jokes aside, I am super pumped to watch Lord’s squad run a few more of his patented motion sets this year. Expect to see some new creativity as Adelman’s coaching wizardry begins to pay off. Rick seems to have a much better attitude about his squad this year, probably because he has had a full camp and pre-season to fart around with lineups, and I think very soon the nightmares of the Rambis biangle will be forever forgotten.

Prediction: Wolves take opening night and snag the dub. 

With the start of the new season, the TWB staff decided to pool our heads together and pool together our early predictions for season-ending awards. Here are the results:

Most Valuable Player:

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