Forgive me if I go a little light on the discussion of the Wolves' season finale tonight - I've gotta talk about the memorable experience of getting press access for the game. 

Long story short, Timberwolves.com ran a contest called "Battle of the Bloggers" a little while back, where the winner would receive a press pass for a Wolves game.  Every week, myself, and a bunch of other Wolves bloggers (including College Wolf, Sonia, and Derok) responded to a Wolves-related question, and these responses were awarded points based on the arguments they made, how well they backed up their claims, etc.

Lo and behold, I came out on top at the end of the competition.  And I decided to utilize my press access prize for the Wolves' final match of the season, against the Milwaukee Bucks.

I arrived to the Target Center at about 5:30 and received my press credentials.  I hung out for a couple minutes in the media room before heading out to the court, where a couple players were warming up and hanging out.  As a lifelong fan of the Wolves, simply walking on to the Target Center court was amazing...and to be in the presence of guys like Michael Doleac, Mark Madsen, Corey Brewer, and Kirk Snyder was the icing on the cake.

Matt, an intern for Timberwolves.com, was kind enough to speak with the PR guys and score me a quick one-on-one interview with Madsen.  Mad Dog walked up to me and we shook hands...then, we walked over to some nearby seats to have a chat.

After spending ten minutes talking with Madsen, one thing became clear: You'll never find a nicer, classier guy in the NBA than the Dog.

(Click "Read More" to continue) 

First of all, I asked Madsen about his offseason plans; Mad Dog replied that he's looking forward to unwinding after the season, which I'd assume has been quite a grind for these players.  I then posed this question: If you had to single out a specific area that the team has made the biggest improvements in during the season, what would it be?  To that, Dog informed me that he's been most impressed with the Pups' improved performance in the fourth quarter.

His message to the fans, now that the 2007-08 campaign is in the books?  Focus on how this team finished the season, and take note of the improvements they made throughout the year.

What are Madsen's thoughts about racking up roughly 60 DNPs this season?  Obviously, no one enjoys sitting on the bench, he said, but he has the utmost confidence that his absence from the majority of the Wolves' games has been for the greater good (aka: more playing time for the younglings).

One issue that bothered me early in the season was the team's effort (or lack thereof) on the defensive end.  I asked Dog if he's noticed a significant jump in the defensive intensity the Wolves have played with during the season, and indeed, he informed me that he's been impressed with the effort this team has displayed on defense.  In praising the improvements on the defensive end, Dog noted that he believes Al Jefferson has become one of the league's elite shot blockers.

At that point, I thanked Madsen for his time, and he asked for the URL of T'Wolves Blog.  He told me that he'd check it out - so Dog, if you're reading this, thanks again for the interview.

I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but I honestly can't say enough nice things about the way Madsen conducts himself with the media and fans.  A class act, in the truest sense of the term.

After that, I strolled back near center court where Wittman was holding his pregame press conference.  Honestly, I was still too mesmerized by the whole experience to pay much attention to what Witt was saying. I heard him joking a little about the Wolves' newest promotion to improve ticket sales (the amount you pay per game for season tickets in 2008-09 corresponds to the result of the Draft Lottery; for example, if the Wolves get the first overall pick, you'll pay a buck per game for upper level season tickets next year), but other than that, I didn't catch much of his pregame address to the media.

Once Witt was done, Matt and I headed to the Target Center's media room.  There, a pasta dinner with some excellent cheesecake was provided (the media buffet was a little different than I had originally imagined; I'd pictured myself elbowing Sid Hartman to score the final chicken wing, but that wasn't exactly the case). 

Jim Peterson was sitting at a nearby table, and I noticed that was eating an extraordinary amount of food - but for a dude his height, I'm guessing the portions he piled on his plate were just about normal. I spotted several recognizable members of the media while I ate: Billy McKinnie, Jerry Zgoda, Britt Robson (the best beat writer in the biz)...all in all, it was cool to see so many respected basketball voices congregating in the media room.  I also saw the dude who throws t-shirts into the crowd during the games, and bears a striking resemblance to Wally Szczerbiak.

Before I departed for the press seating, Rob Babcock (an assistant general manager for the Wolves, formerly the GM of the Raptors) took a seat at my table, but I didn't exchange too many words with him - I suspected that any efforts to coax him into revealing the Wolves' current draft board would prove futile.

So, when game time came along, I headed out to the press seating and took a place beside the guys from Timberwolves.com.  I'll admit this: It was kinda hard to remember that it would probably be a bad idea to clap during the game, since cheering is frowned upon among those seated on press row.  That, I believe, is a significant downside to receiving press access...you can't act like a rube when you're seated among reporters.

In the first quarter, the Wolves shot a ridiculous percentage from the field: 60.9%.  Randy Foye had the hot hand in the opening period, shooting 5-6 from the floor and notching 12 points, and the Wolves exited the quarter with a 32-24 lead.

However, things drastically changed as the game headed into the second quarter.  Ramon Sessions, a Milwaukee point guard who spent most of the season in the NBDL, played the primary role in helping the Bucks climb back into the game and build a decent-sized lead.  Many doubt the D-League's ability to develop players into guys who can compete at the NBA level, but Sessions is obviously a tremendous success story of the NBDL.  After shooting 5-8 from the field and posting 11 points in the second quarter, Sessions had helped lift Milwaukee to an eight-point halftime lead.

Funny story: During the first half, I noticed College Wolf talking with some people on press row - so, I called out to him, "Hey Dave!"  CW looked up at me, and declared to his friends, "Hey, it's f***ing Anthony!"  That's officially the funniest greeting I've ever received.  And I do mean ever. 

CW informed me that he'd downed - ahem - a couple drinks, and was perhaps too intoxicated to be attending the game.  I concurred, and CW went on his way.

Anyways, back to the game.  Sessions and Andrew Bogut continued being the focal points of Milwaukee's offense in the third quarter, while the Wolves woke up from their second quarter snooze and remained down by single digits when the period came to a close.

Even though Al Jefferson only played one minute in the fourth quarter, the Wolves still managed to climb back and ultimately tie the game with 26 seconds remaining in regulation, after Corey Brewer nailed a pair of free throws.  The game headed to overtime, and that's when Randy Foye completely took control - with 10 points in the extra session, Foye headlined a dominant overtime performance by the Wolves.  Our squad outscored Milwaukee 16-7 in overtime, finishing the season with a 110-101 win.

Although my status as a member of the non-mainstream media prevented me from getting postgame locker room access, I was still able to attend Wittman's postgame news conference in the media room.  Interesting statement Witt made: He feels like it was ‘two years ago' when the Wolves started their season in Instanbul (in reality, his squad participated in training camp and exhibition games in Turkey last October). Try as they might to sugarcoat the struggles their team encountered, the coaches of this squad certainly aren't immune to the disappointment and discouragement of a 60-loss season.

He also gave a weak reason for Jefferson's lack of playing time in the fourth quarter and overtime; Big Al simply wasn't playing at a high energy level, according to Witt, so he was placed on the bench for the final 16-ish minutes of the ballgame.  Of course, the benching of Al had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the Wolves could have secured the third slot in the Draft Lottery with a loss. (Excuse me while I roll my eyes.)

I sat in the row behind Sid during the press conference, and noticed something pretty funny following Witt's comments to the gathered members of the media.  Grandpa Sports rushed up to Wittman as the coach left the podium, asking if he'd have time for an interview in the coming days.  I've never seen an 88-year-old move so fast as Sid did when he tried to arrange a conversation with Witt...I'm roughly one fifth of Sid's age, and would be hard-pressed to move so swiftly.

That wrapped up the evening.  I can't thank Timberwolves.com reporter Mike Trudell and everyone else from the organization enough for allowing a blogger to get a taste of the access that the folks from the mainstream media receive.  For an average rube like myself, it was an amazing experience.  And Mad Dog, in exchange for graciously agreeing to do an interview with me, I hereby promise that I'll stop making fun of your dance moves.

Comments (3)

2. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 18-04-2008 01:35 Thanks sir...and yeah, I assumed you'd limited yourself to one or two Report

3. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , on 18-04-2008 02:26 Absolutely... that's what I always do. Report

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