TWolves Blog - Minnesota Timberwolves News and Articles
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Written by Jeremy
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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
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Q&A with "@ the Hive"
College Wolf and I recently exchanged some Q & A (the title of this post isn't just a clever name) with atthehive of the aptly named and superb N'Orleans Hornets blog: @ The Hive. We square off against the Hornets tonight, looking to throw a little wrench into their #1 seed quest.
Again, I'd just like to thank atthehive and urge you guys to check out @ The Hive, if you don't already. If you're looking to read a blog about a team that has something to play for besides the latest college studs, check it out.
Let's get to the Q&A... (Our questions for atthehive):
The Old Logo: Things in the Western Conference are tight, but most are presuming New Orleans will finish at or near the top. What teams does the fanbase want to see in the first round, and if you could pick the one team that scares the fanbase the most for a first-round upset, which team is it?
atthehive: Yeah, it looks strongly like we will see one of Dallas, Denver, or Golden State in the first round. I think match-up wise, New Orleans is least likely to get upset by Dallas, which is ironic since Dallas plays far better D than the other two. Tyson Chandler's length allows him to play Dirk Nowitzki reasonably well, and the emergence and acquisition of Julian Wright and Bonzi Wells, respectively, gives us the ability to slow down Josh Howard. I really don't think much of Jason Kidd (and I don't think I'm in the minority in calling Devin Harris the better point guard), but Jason Terry will be a wildcard. Quick point guards like Tony Parker, Monta Ellis, and Terry have been difficult covers for New Orleans, and I don't expect that to change. I couldn't pick between Golden State and Denver because both are scary for the same reason- matchup problems. The Nuggets' size at every position save the 2 allows natural mismatches to occur all over the court. Don Nelson, meanwhile, produces "artificial" mismatches via screens and the like, that can be equally as deadly.
Please click "read more" for the rest of @theHive's answers, plus College Wolf and I answer some Wolves related questions.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
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Wolves guard Randy Foye said he will take the last
week of the season seriously because he wants the team to finish strong
and wants to prove he can be a leader. Wittman met with the team Monday
and then alone with Foye and Al Jefferson.
"You can lead by example," Foye said. "That's the thing he explained to me yesterday."
Wolves point guard Sebastian Telfair, who hasn't played since spraining
his ankle March 7 at Sacramento, is back practicing and could return
Friday at Orlando.
New York won its 22nd game, which means the 19-victory Wolves probably
won't finish any worse than having the fourth-best chance in the May
draft lottery. They trail Memphis by two victories and lead Seattle by
one. Miami (14 victories) is a lock for the most lottery chances.
As of Tuesday, the odds of the Timberwolves winning the No. 1
pick in the NBA draft lottery were 13.7 percent. Miami was at 24.7
percent, followed by Seattle at 19.4 percent.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
Wittman played Rashad McCants just 3 minutes, 11
seconds Tuesday night at Charlotte because of what the coach described
as a lack of professionalism. Wittman replaced McCants with veteran
Greg Buckner.
Buckner had appeared in just one game since the
all-star break, but he played 31 minutes and scored 13 points to spark
the Wolves' comeback attempt, which fell short in a 121-119 loss to the
Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Wolves record: 19-58
Buckner played the entire fourth quarter and Jefferson supplied 29 of
his 40 points -- which tied a career high -- after halftime.
"Greg Buckner, he was the reason why we had the chance to win tonight,"
Wittman said. "Nobody else. He hadn't played in a couple of months and
he didn't mope. We called and he was ready to play. Our young guys
should learn a lesson from that. We're not going to let guys go out and
play with no effort or purpose."
Wolves forward Al Jefferson came alive as tonight’s game
progressed, but his slow start contributed to his team’s big hole
early. He tied his career-high with 40 points, but it wasn’t enough as
the Wolves lost 121-119 at Charlotte.
“He
was just going to go through the motions in the first quarter,” coach
Randy Wittman said. “We get down (almost) 20. He’s got to learn. He’s a
young kid. We all get paid for 82 games. There’s no games you just take
off. We don’t do it that way. He got embarrassed a little bit and then
he wakes up and plays pretty hard.”
The Wolves are firming up the third-best chance in the NBA draft
lottery after losing their fifth consecutive game on Tuesday in
Charlotte. Trailing by 18 points in the second quarter and by five in
the final minute, the Wolves had two chances to lead or tie in the
final 1.4 seconds, but squandered both: Randy Foye’s pass for Al
Jefferson on a pick-and-roll was behind the big guy and went off his
hands out of bounds with 1.4 seconds left. They still had life and the
ball back with .7 seconds left, but Jefferson’s baseline jumper hit the
front of the rim and bounded away.
The Bobcats let the Timberwolves, who entered the night with the
third-worst record in the NBA, back in the game with an anemic defense
and poor execution.
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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The Timberwolves have begun the process of hyping Jefferson as this year's Most Improved Player, handing out pamphlets claiming, "In Big Al We Trust." Yet, Jefferson endears himself by his graciousness when the discussion of his chances of winning the award occurs.
"I just think LaMarcus (Aldridge) is more deserving than anybody because he wasn't even playing last year," says the gracious Jefferson. "No minutes or slim to none. What he did this year has just been incredible. If anything, I should have gotten it last year. This year, if I get it, it would be a wonderful honor, but I just think LaMarcus deserves it more than anybody."
His time in Minnesota may be unjustly brief, but if choosing to let Telfair walk is the path taken by the Timberwolves, he will justly have an opportunity elsewhere. Either way, this summer will be full of work for the pint-sized point guard.
"Well, it's going to be different this year for me because I won't be able to play a lot of five-on-five until I sign a contract," says Telfair. "Usually, I get back into it by lifting, running and I bike. Then you get back onto the court, get in the gym every day and taking shots, getting individual workouts and then playing five-on-five. Every day."
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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Wolves point guard Sebastian Telfair practiced Monday for the first
time since spraining an ankle March 7 in Sacramento. He said he will
play again this season, but coach Randy Wittman said it won't be until
Friday at Orlando at the earliest.
"I want them to be leaders," Wittman said of Foye and Jefferson. "Are they leaders yet? That’s debatable. I want them to be leaders. That’s what I’m trying to find here, too. I’m putting a little bit of a demand on those two right now, No. 1, to see how they handle it, and, No. 2, to see if they have the ability to do that."
Until this season, Jefferson never had played more than 71 games in an
82-game NBA season, and that was in his rookie year with Boston when he
averaged 14.8 minutes a game.
This time around, he has played in all 76 games so far, placing 36
minutes a game under his feet and a franchise upon his shoulders.
His body, his mind, his demeanor and his statistics all recently have
displayed the demands of approaching a goal that both Jefferson and
Wolves coach Randy Wittman set for him.
Explaining the slide, Jefferson said his rebounding
numbers are down because he said his teammates are doing a better job
of helping him.
But he believes he has to improve his conditioning
this summer. Before his breakout performance last season in Boston,
Jefferson lost weight, and he attributed that as part of the reason for
his success. Now he has to take the next step.
Basically—and I know the sample is still pretty small considering the
injury that kept him out for most of this year—he has not yet shown
whether he can be an NBA point guard. He could play the two, but the
Wolves already have an undersized, ball-dominating, defensively average
shooting guard in Rashad McCants. How long should the team wait for
Foye to figure things out? It’s a tough call and one that will be made
even tougher if the Wolves find themselves in a position to draft a
serious point guard, like, say, Memphis’ frighteningly good Derrick
Rose.
Pssst: The Timberwolves have been focusing on Memphis freshman guard Derrick Rose, should they end up with the No. 1 overall pick in June's NBA draft, since the start of the season.
Previews of tonight's game at Charlotte:
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Written by Derek Hanson
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
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Some of you TWolvesBlog faithful may remember the article I posted in October about my friend Dan Occhiogrosso running the New York City Marathon while dribbling a basketball to raise money for AIDS orphans. Well, Dan successfully completed the marathon in a solid four and a half hours, despite multiple attempts by fellow-runners to strip him of the ball, and managed to raise $3,000 for the Bethsada Outreach in South Africa. However, the story does not stop there. After hearing about his escapades, someone at Spalding decided to enter him into a photo contest run by the company. The rules were that the photo had to show you using a Spalding basketball. Unsurprisingly, the photo of Dan dribbling his way through the streets of New York won the contest and he was awarded the prize of a trip to Washington D.C. to attend a Wizards game and have a pre-game meet and greet session with Gilbert Arenas.
Dan was allowed to select a friend to go on the trip with him, and it just so happens that I was the person who got to tag along with him to meet Agent Zero. Before the game we got to enter the Verizon Center through the VIP entrance and take an elevator ride down to the bowels of the stadium. We then walked out through the tunnel and onto the Wizards' court where several of the Miami Heat players were warming up. This was my second time down on an NBA court before a game, thanks to the Wolves' generosity back in 2004, and let me tell you that it's a surreal experience every time. You can't fully appreciate how enormous the players in this league are until you're standing right next to them. There were two things worth noting from our time on the floor. The first was that a loose ball came rolling right by my feet as we were walking past the Heat shoot-around. I picked it up and passed it back to Stephane Lasme, who said "Thanks" and continued to warm up. I know what you're thinking - "Who's Stephane Lasme?". Yeah, I had no idea either until I got back home and was able to figure it out via the internet. However, the point is that I passed a basketball to an NBA player, and even if that player is only one rung above Ndudi Ebi on the NBA totem pole, that's still pretty cool. The other thing of note is that I was shocked to discover that the Miami Heat apparently have a 12-year old on their roster.
It's Chris Quinn, their rookie PG from Notre Dame. I know that Quinn could easily be pushing 14 based on the above photograph, but he looks even younger in person. Much to my surprise, Quinn started the game for Miami and played a good game, scoring 24 points. I have a feeling that his playing for the Heat had a lot to do with his scoring output, as somebody's got to put the ball through the hoop, but he was fairly impressive nonetheless.
Anyway, after taking in the shootaround, we were ushered into the hallway just outside the Wizard's locker room and out came Gilbert Arenas. He was nice and gave both me and Dan the hug/handshake move and talked to us for a bit. Although, I do have to wonder how much attention he was actually paying to the encounter, because he gave me the hug/handshake move three different times over the course of our three minute encounter. The first was when he came out - he gave Dan one and then me one. Then like fifteen seconds later, I think he forgot that he already did it and gave me another one. Then after Dan told him about winning the photo contest, he said, "And this is my friend, Derek, who I brought along with me." Gilbert, then said "What's his name? Berek?" Dan said, "No, it's Derek", and then Gilbert gave me the third hug/handshake. After spending just a few seconds with him, you could definitely tell that Gilbert was the funny/quirky guy we've all come to know him as. Unfortunatly, I never did get to ask him about his thoughts on joining the Wolves in 2008-09. I could tell that this wasn't going to be a long ordeal and wanted to let Dan have his chance to talk to Gilbert seeing as he was the guy who won the contest. After signing a ball and a t-shirt for Dan and taking a photo with each of us, it was over and he headed back to the locker room.
One thing that did surprise me about Gilbert is that he's not that big of a guy. When I met Garnett and Duncan they were both just monstrous. Even T-Mac was surprisingly large. Gilbert just seemed like a "tall" guy, not this massive hulking giant. As we exited the hallway, Caron Butler was heading towards the locker room and he was suprisingly massive. I would have never guessed him to be as tall and bulky as he was.
The game itself wasn't overly exhillerating, as the Wiz trounced the lowly Heat. We had seats in the second row all the way in the corner and one of the Wizards security guards kept saying "I didn't know we were playing a CBA team tonight!" Probably the biggest highlight of the game for me was getting to boo Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. The Wizards home crowd is far from loud, so I'm pretty sure my voice carried enough to where they could hear me. The best was when Blount put up a shot which, I kid you not, missed the rim by a good five feet. I just sat in awe the entire time, wondering how Kevin McHale was able to fleece the Heat of a 1st round pick for these two locker room malignancies.
So that basically sums up the night. It was a cool experience, but meeting Gilbert definitely shouldn't overshadow the real reason why we were on the trip - the orphans in South Africa that Dan was trying to help. You can find out more about the various ways he's using basketball to raise awareness and funds for AIDS orphans on his site, www.ballforlives.com. It's a real problem in this world that often gets overlooked. I encourage any of you who are reading this to take a moment to learn more about the Bethsada Outreach and consider making a donation. We have it amazingly good in this country and there are millions of less fortuate children out there who's lives can be changed through just a small amount of generosity.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 07 April 2008 |
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Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson said he has to get
in better shape during the offseason because he wouldn't have been able
to handle the playoffs this season.
"I feel like if we were to start the playoffs in two
weeks, I'd have a mental breakdown," Jefferson said today at practice
for the Timberwolves, who are 19-57 and out of playoff contention.
"That's why I've got to do a better job this summer of getting my body
in great shape because I plan on being in the playoffs real soon.
"I really feel like if we started the playoffs this year, my body would break down and I would have a mental breakdown, too."
Foye's most egregious mistakes this year--some weird statements about
the point guard position, for example, and a lack of deference and
feeding of Jefferson at crunchtime in favor of taking the shot--make
more sense if you consider that he's had to grapple with a setback in
the pecking order as well as physically with his own body this season...
Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace is out for Tuesday’s game
against the Minnesota Timberwolves and it’s possible a doctor’s
appointment Tuesday could end his season.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 07 April 2008 |
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Wittman said he doesn’t know if G Sebastian Telfair (ankle) will return to action before the season ends. Telfair has missed the past 15 games since injuring his ankle March 7 at Sacramento.
Wittman said he believes Jefferson is fighting late-season fatigue.
Jefferson had a season-low two rebounds Wednesday
night at Utah. Coming into Sunday, he had averaged only 17.3 points on
44.5 percent shooting and 8.1 rebounds in the previous eight games. His
season averages are 20.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 49.8 percent
shooting.
Also from Alonzo:
The Timberwolves handed out kits to select
media members Sunday promoting Jefferson for the NBA's most improved
player award. A coin bank molded in Jefferson's likeness was the
highlight of the package and also will be handed out to the first 5,000
fans at the season finale April 16 at Target Center.
2 Victories that separate the 19-victory Wolves from 21-victory
Memphis and New York for the third-most combinations of chances in the
May draft lottery.
Brewer's biggest transition has been the quality of defense that needs to be played every moment on an NBA court.
''My first game we played New Orleans, Peja Stojakovic made like six
straight jumpers in my face,'' Brewer said. ``That was the first time I
played against a guy, playing the best defense I could play, that made
six straight jumpers in my face.
``In the NBA, if you're playing Kobe [Bryant], every single moment
you're on the court you have to be ready, because he can attack you at
any time. The other night, I got torched by Tracy McGrady.''
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Written by SG
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Monday, 07 April 2008 |
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Minnesota got a terrific effort from its bench to stay in Sunday's game
against Memphis early on, but couldn't collectively slow Mike Miller
and Rudy Gay in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 113-101 loss at
Target Center.
Wolves record: 19-57
Jefferson took just one shot in the first half of Sunday’s loss to
Memphis at Target Center and still finished with 18 points and eight
rebounds, a drop-off in offensive production that began to show in
mid-March.
That’s about the same he began to show interest in developing, at coach
Randy Wittman’s urging, his defensive and playmaking skills. In the
second half Sunday, Wittman saw what he considered the real offensive
Al Jefferson.
As I mentioned in the pregame post, Al Jefferson is fighting some sort of illness and didn't play well (or much) in the first half. Obviously, with Jefferson's condition, it's a good thing this game is even close. Randy Foye, in particular, is having a decent game tonight compared to his recent play, so it's good to see him be able to do so.
Wolves coach Randy Wittman lamented his team's lack of concentration
and toughness after it trailed its lottery-bound brethren by 11 points
in the first quarter, then pulled ahead late in the second quarter only
to succumb to the inside-out combination of Rudy Gay and Mike Miller.
Together, they scored 57 points, including 23 in the Grizzlies'
decisive 32-20 fourth quarter.
Miller was remarkable in finishing 12 for 20 and
missing only four of 12 three-point attempts. His second three-pointer
of the third quarter put Memphis ahead 72-64. But the Wolves used a
12-0 run to reverse the momentum, with Randy Foye hitting a couple of
key shots. He finished with 17 points for one of his better offensive
games in some time.
Miller's layup and then three-pointer tied the score
88-88 with 8:37 remaining. Then Gay, who scored 23 points, took over,
playing a key role in handing the Wolves their sixth loss in seven
games.
Jaric and McCants were each hit with a technical with
3:16 to play in the first half after Jaric argued a non-call. McCants was on the
bench...
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 06 April 2008 |
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Can you hear that up in the Twin Cities, Kevin McHale? If the
Timberwolves happen to get lucky in the lottery for the first time in
franchise history, there's no decision to make.
The pick has to be Derrick Rose, the Memphis freshman who would turn Al
Jefferson into an All-Star and the Wolves into a team worth watching
again.
Given Al Jefferson’s low-post proficiency, that’d be some inside-out
combination for the Wolves, but after that all these years, are Wolves
followers even allowed to dream about lottery luck? Rose already abused
Texas point guard D.J. Augustin in a regional final; now we get to see
him against UCLA’s Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook.
At stake in the season's final 10 days: anywhere from a 15.6 to 8.8
percent chance of getting the draft's No. 1 pick, depending on how the
Wolves, Grizzlies and Knicks finish the season.
While some Timberwolves players riding the bench have done some complaining, Mark Madsen, who saw a lot of action in previous seasons, will not. "I'm just going to have patience and see what happens," he said.
Previews of today's game against the Grizzlies:
I told some people, Glen is not malicious in what he does. You guys
only have so many lines you can write. I don't think Glen ever thinks
that. Maybe it was taken a little bit out of context. Anybody who knows
KG knows the competitor he is. Maybe frustrated was the word that
should have been used. More than anything else, he wants to win.
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