TWolves Blog - Minnesota Timberwolves News and Articles
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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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Written by Anthony Hall
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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
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So, didja know that it's Unsung Player Day? You know, the special day organized by With Malace to commemorate players who are often overlooked and deserve a day in the sun? No? Well, click the link to read about the favorite unsung players of many NBA bloggers from around the internets, but I'll start your day by discussing two of my favorite unsung guys on the Timberpups: Greg Buckner and Michael Doleac.
What makes Greg Buckner an unsung player? Well, first of all, his Wikipedia article reveals that he ranked third in the league in points per shot attempt in the 2004-05 season. Why hasn't he received more props for being one of the best in the league in this category? It's an injustice, I tell you! (OK, OK, I'll admit it...I'd never heard of that statistic before today, either.)
Buckner's Wikipedia article also informs us that he played for the Grand Rapids Hoops of the CBA from 1998-1999. First of all, I'd like to congratulate Grand Rapids for being home to the most unoriginally-named basketball team I've ever heard of, but more importantly, I've gotta credit Buckner for paying his dues early in his career. Anyone who started their basketball career in freaking Grand Rapids clearly deserve props for attempting to take a rather unglamorous route to The Association.
What else makes Greg a worthy candidate to recognize today? Simply put, he's a good guy. He started the Greg Buckner Foundation to empower youth, and he's widely regarded as a strong locker room player.
And finally, you've gotta give Buckner credit for racing out of the gate this year. Yeah, at this point, Witt has pretty much given him a permanent seat on the bench -- but when Greg received a chance to play earlier in the year, he typically made a positive impact. The Wolves struggled mightily in November, posting a record of 2-12 for the month, but Buckner was one of the definite bright spots on the team during that time period.
To start the season, the majority of our guys had difficulty meshing, playing sound basketball in the fourth quarter and playing the fast-paced style of offense we knew they were capable of. It was discouraging, but Greg emerged from those struggles as a stabling influence -- a vet that wouldn't make silly mistakes and would serve as a calming presence in the midst of rattled youngsters.
Wow, that was more serious than I'd initially planned. Let's move on, shall we, and talk about another favorite unsung player of mine: Michael Doleac.
Why does Doleac deserve our praise? First, you've gotta admit that it takes some serious balls to have a haircut like this...Doleac looks like he should be selling programs at the Daytona 500, not playing in the NBA.
Also, Doleac's NBA.com profile mentions that he "has no pregame superstitions or rituals." Give the man credit for that, people! There is no shortage of ridiculous pregame rituals in professional sports: Ron Artest listens to his own music prior to games (yikes!), many NFL players are known to puke before hitting the field, and Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end John Henderson gets slapped on the face several times before every game by the team's assistant trainer (no, I'm not joking about that last one). Kudos to Doleac for resisting the pregame rituals of professional sports that have become increasingly bizarre over the years.
Doleac also aspires to go to medical school after he retires from the NBA. Yep, an NBA player is considering becoming a doctor after his playing days are over. Well, at least we've spotted ONE guy that goes against the general line of thinking that NBA players aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
Want to get a better idea of how cool Doleac is? He has his own freaking widget -- and once you have your own widget, you know you've made it in life.
Need even more convincing of the sheer extent of his awesomeness? Well, his name is extremely unique...according to this website, there are only six people in the United States named "Michael Doleac." Compared to that, the communists here at T'Wolves Blog have fairly unoriginal names: There are 2,199 Anthony Halls in the country, 192 Dave Kelseys, 73 Derek Hansons, 22 Jeremy Knutsons, and seven Sonia Grovers.
So there you have it. A brief moment in the sun for Greg Buckner and Michael Doleac. And now, we return to your regularly scheduled praise of the superstars.
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
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Telfair, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, has said he would like to stay with the Wolves.
Regarding his ankle injury, Telfair said he feels
about 85 percent recovered. He said he will wait to see if he is able
to practice Monday and said he will try to play again this season if
possible..
Despite playing the best basketball of his short career with the Timberwolves, averaging 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, Snyder is unsure if staying in Minnesota would be in his best interests.
"That's something that's going to have to be discussed at the end of the season with who they have coming back, what they plan on doing and what type of basketball are we going to be branded with playing," says Snyder...
In the wake of the news that Mike Montgomery, his former coach at Stanford, has taken the head coaching postion at UC Berkeley, Mark Madsen blogs about the rivalry between the two schools:
All I can remember about UC Berkeley is hostility. One time one of our
walk on players from the East Bay almost got into an altercation with a
UC Berkeley fan even before the game started! I think the fan
threatened a lawsuit or someting. Then last year someone actually
hijacked my Gmail email account! The sad thing was that I could see
when he was online through the "Chat" functionality from another one of
my gmail accounts. I "chatted" with him online to my "old" account and
threatened to get the FBI, CIA and every law enforcement agency
possible on his tail unless he gave me back my account. Finally he
releneted and sent me a message: "You can have your email account
back, the new password is "UCBerkeley."
In other words, Dwane Casey - he of former lead assistant and head
coaching status - is not going to come to the Blazers to work out
players and sit behind the bench. The only way Casey - who is a dear
friend to McMillan - would come is if Demopoulos would land a head
coaching job he so covets. In other words, Casey will probably only
take a head coaching job or a lead assistant job.
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
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But by any measure, their Friday night outing was a
disappointment, and Shaquille O'Neal had a lot to do with it. The
Wolves fell behind by 23 points in the first quarter and suffered a
117-88 undressing by the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.
The Suns improved to 11-3 in their past 14 games
with O'Neal in their lineup. The Wolves dropped to 1-5 in their past
six games, including four losses by double digits.
Wolves record: 19-56
Al Jefferson scored 20 on 11-of-26 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who fell to an NBA-worst 5-32 on the road. The Timberwolves shot 38 percent.
O'Neal helped control Jefferson but Amaré Stoudemire fared much better against Jefferson defensively as the Timberwolves center missed 12 of his first 16 shots Friday. It was his 2-of-8 first quarter start that did all the damage in Phoenix's seventh consecutive home winning streak, its longest of the season. Minnesota managed only 15 first-quarter points, tying an opponent low for the slowest start of the season against the Suns.
Ryan Gomes was the only Wolves starter who made as many field-goal
attempts as he missed. The team's starting backcourt -- Randy Foye and
Marko Jaric -- shot a combined 10-for-31. The first two players off the
Wolves' bench -- Corey Brewer and Rashad McCants -- combined to shoot
5-for-18.
Phoenix went 1-2 in the first three games this season against Minnesota before the Suns acquired Shaquille O'Neal.
"We struggled against them because we were a different team back then, and that was not with Shaq," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Shaq's presence in there, especially with guys like (Al) Jefferson and (Craig) Smith, people that beat you up inside, he just kind of negates all that and makes it a lot easier."
After being outrebounded by 54 (153-99) and yielding 56 offensive
rebounds in the first three games, the Suns enjoyed a 52-39 edge on the
glass Friday with O’Neal, Grant Hill and Stoudemire getting 11, 10 and
nine, respectively.
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Written by Jon Marthaler
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
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(Note: When not discussing failure here, Jon Marthaler can be found living it at TNABACG.)
The Timberwolves have just eight games to play in what is certainly their worst season in quite some time. The team sits at 19-55 for the year, thus guaranteeing that for the first time since 1996 (and not counting the shortened lockout year), Minnesota will finish with fewer than 30 wins.
With that in mind, let's take a look at Minnesota's goals for the end of the season - and just where in team history this team could end up ranking.
More after the jump...
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Written by SG
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
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While McHale was overseas, he attended a game in
Sweden that featured NBA draft prospect Rudy Mbemba, according to a
Swedish television report.
Mbemba is a name you probably haven't heard. He's a
20-year-old point guard who is known for his athleticism, quickness and
leaping ability, though he doesn't have great size. He's listed at 5
feet 11 and 176 pounds, according to his player profile on DraftExpress.com.
Mbemba might become Sweden’s first NBA player if he’s drafted this summer. McHale said “it won’t be long” before Sweden produces an NBA player. ESPN.com projects Mbemba as a late first-round to early-second-round pick this summer.
“There will be Swedish players in the NBA,” McHale told SVT. “Too many good athletes over here for it not to happen.”
Chad Hartman/KFAN talked to Britt Robson about the team yesterday afternoon. Click here to listen to the interview.
I confess that Foye has genuinely raised my ire more often this season,
despite the fact that he's played fewer games than Shaddy, and I think
it's because I believe Foye is more a part of the future firmament for
this franchise than is McCants. I don't imagine the Wolves are going to
keep both players around for the next two or three years and if a
choice is made, McCants will be the one packing his bags.
After having gone through the tedious 2007-08 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the chemistry and camaraderie between Gomes and his teammates continues to grow. Because of that, Gomes would prefer to stay in the Twin Cities.
"I'd like to be," says Gomes, when asked if he prefers to stay with the Timberwolves. "With the guys we have here already, we're gelling together and becoming a team. I think when you look at the teams that are really, really good, they had the players they had on their team for a significant amount of years. It was four or five years before they really started taking off into that next direction."
Former Sonics assistant and Minnesota head coach Dwane Casey could be
an intriguing coaching candidate this summer. The consensus among
league executives is that he was unfairly fired in Minnesota and should
have edged out P.J. Carlesimo for the Seattle job. He and Larry Brown
will both get their share of interviews.
If given the right opportunity, people enjoy helping other people. And
at Target Center from Wednesday to Friday last week, five different
departments within the Timberwolves and Lynx organizations competed in
a food drive from which all items were donated to Minnesota FoodShare,
which in turn allocated the food to PRISM (People Responding In Social
Ministry).
Wolves coach Randy Wittman was disappointed in the
body language he saw from his players after the Jazz began hitting shot
after shot.
Previews of tonight's game at Phoenix:
The Wolves have beaten the Suns two out of three times this season, and
remember Minnesota has won only 19 games. In those two victories at
Target Center, Wolves young star Al Jefferson exposed the Suns' soft
underbelly with a 32-point, 20-rebound game the first time, a 39-point,
15-rebound game the second time.
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Written by SG
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
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The Wolves could face a tough finish to the season
and land closer to the bottom of the league standings than their
success in recent weeks would indicate.
Wednesday night's game at Utah was the first of six
remaining road games for Minnesota, which has struggled on the road all
season. Only three home games remain...
Also from Alonzo:
Wolves point guard Sebastian Telfair is running
fairly well straight ahead on his sprained left ankle. But "laterally,
he's still a little tender," Wittman said. Asked if he's hopeful
Telfair will play again this season, Wittman said, "Yeah, we'll see."
Timberwolves Vice President Fred Hoiberg, who has been scouting the NCAA and NIT tournaments, figures June's NBA draft will be deep enough for the Wolves to get three quality players from their trio of picks (one first-round and two second-round). "If all the players declare who we think will declare," he said.
Saunders was impressed by Al Jefferson, who continues to dominate opposing centers. He scored 26 points against the Pistons.
"Al's a load down there," said Saunders, whose team has all but
clinched the No. 2 seed in the East behind the Celtics. "Al's got great
ability to score. What people don't understand is he's got such quick
feet. He's a very, very explosive offensive player."
Click here for info on the first annual Run With the Wolves 5K.
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Written by SG
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
The Timberwolves, who beat Utah on Sunday in Minnesota, gave the Jazz fits
again—if only for a half. Utah led 53-50 at the break after allowing Minnesota
to shoot 59 percent from the field in the half. It didn’t take long, however,
for the Jazz to pull away after intermission.
Wolves record: 19-55
Wolves coach Randy Wittman worried the Jazz -- now 35-4 at home and
16-22 on the road -- might knock his team out early on the second half
of challenging back-to-back games in a dwindling season. Afterward, he
said he was "proud" his team held tough through halftime, when the Jazz
led by three points.
The debilitating uppercuts arrived early in the third quarter, when a
59-56 Utah lead quickly became a 79-61 bulge in a five-minute span. The
Wolves never climbed up off the canvas until the fourth quarter and by
then, it was far too late.
After giving up 110 points
to Minnesota in Sunday's loss, the Jazz came out in an aggressive,
gambling defense. They trapped off the pick-and-roll and ran a second
defender at Al Jefferson every time the Timberwolves center caught the
ball inside.
They did the job on
Jefferson (12 points, 2 rebounds) but struggled to contain Minnesota's
other players. Rashad McCants and Randy Foye combined for 18 points in
the first half and the Jazz took just a 53-50 lead into halftime
despite Kyle Korver's three three-pointers.
30 Days since Wolves center and new dad Michael Doleac played. He had three points in nine second-half minutes.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 02 April 2008 |
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There is more than one goat in a game where the Wolves blew a 21-point
lead and wilted down the stretch against a Detroit Pistons team resting
arguably their top three starters--Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace
and Rip Hamilton. But in a contest that was obviously Minnesota's for
the taking, point guard Randy Foye was especially noticeable in his
inability to deliver at either end of the court...
Jefferson: When we played Boston here and they had that standing
ovation for Kevin Garnett, and then they called starting lineup for us,
it kind of looked like they were showing Kevin Garnett that they
appreciated everything he did here. But they also showed me so much
love. Like, 'OK, we thank you Garnett, but here is our new leader, and
we have his back too.' That made me feel really good, knowing how they
cheered for me and represented me too. I love the fans here, and I'm
glad that the fans are patient and understand that this season is one
that we're not looking to have again. It's a learning process. We have
to work really hard and get the fans what they want and get us back to
the playoffs.
From RandBall: The fab five who knocked out the Wolves
Now you can find
a serviceable player with that selection. The last three No. 14 picks –
Minnesota's Rashad McCants, Utah's Ronnie Brewer and the Clippers' Al
Thornton – all average between 12 and 15 points for their teams.
But those aren't franchise-changing players, which is what a team that misses the playoffs needs to find.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 02 April 2008 |
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Saunders said his relationship with Taylor hasn't changed in light of some of the owner's comments about him since he was fired.
"I haven't talked to him a whole lot," Saunders
said. "I think sometimes when you try to justify things that have
happened, it can also get you in trouble. These are businesses. You
make decisions you hope are going to be good decisions and when you
look back, sometimes they are good and sometimes they're not good."
Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair (sprained ankle) participated some in
Tuesday's morning shootaround but still doesn't appear ready to resume
contact practice.
“It’s a little bit different, no question,” he said, referring to the
Wolves without Kevin Garnett. “I saw No. 5 (Garnett’s uniform number
with the Boston Celtics) enough already. I saw him three times with No.
5 on it. There’s no question Kevin is going to go down as the face of
this franchise, the best player who ever played here and probably will
ever play here.
“Knowing he’s not here with his enthusiasm (is different). But watching
their team, they’ve been very competitive here lately. I give Randy
(Wittman) a lot of credit. He’s got the guys playing hard. They’re not
playing out the string.”
When Kirk Snyder, a Minnesota Timberwolves guard, defended Bryant for
the first time, he was left trailing behind, many times. "As a
basketball player, you try to come up with little things you can do to
stop somebody and when he covers all those areas, it makes it really
hard," Snyder said.
Wolves coach Randy Wittman said he thinks Tom Crean will succeed as the new coach at Indiana University, Wittman's alma mater. Crean reportedly is leaving Marquette for Indiana, where Kelvin Sampson resigned as Hoosiers coach in February amid five major recruiting allegations by the NCAA.
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Sonia Grover started her Wolves site, "I Heart KG", in 2006. In the wake of the big trade, she moved over to TWolvesBlog and brought her column,
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"In the Paint"
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