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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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I know my posts have been few and far between this season.  Hopefully I haven’t been missed too much since the rest of the TWolvesBlog crew have been picking up the slack with a constant barrage of posts.  Between school, residency interviews, my 13-0 Patriots, catching some Celtics games, and our 3-15 record heading into this evening, there’s been a lot that’s keeping me from diving into this Wolves season head first.  There’s also a major redesign in the works for DeROK.Net as well that’s been consuming most of my free time.  Things will get better and I’ll be able to post more frequently and make some tweaks to improve this site here and there in the near future. I’ll cut to the chase now…

I’m firing up my TiVo tonight to catch the Wolves/Wizards game.  I’ll hit the pause button after each quarter and make some observations.  Seeing as I just finished the first, I’ll delve right into that.

Sebastian Telfair is maturing before our very eyes, and with this season, and perhaps another under his belt, he may be able to be a legit starting point guard on a contending team.  He’s definitely doesn’t look like he’ll become a Chris Paul any time soon, but if the Wolves do get to pick first in the draft this year, they may not have to take Derrick Rose.  They may just be able to select the best player on the board, regardless of position, because Bassy can hold his own.

Brewer needs to learn how to shoot.  Desperately.

You can’t put a price on the unintentional comedy of having Antoine Walker on your team.  Right now he’s putting on a “how NOT to play basketball” clinic.  And you know what, I’m not even mad.  If anybody else was playing that way, chucking up awful shots and passing the ball right to the other team, I’d be fuming.  But not with ‘Toine. 

Long live the Shimmy.

Big Al finally got his first points with about four minutes left in the quarter and then put up a couple more.  I didn’t catch the Phoenix game, but I’m guessing tonight’s performance is a far cry from his 30 and 20 night.

Some guy named Roger Mason Jr. is putting the hurt on the Wolves.  He has the Mark Blount “sleepy” or “chronically high” look going on.  Medical school has definitely dropped my NBA I.Q. a good 20-30 points as I really only have time to follow the Wolves. I used to know everybody on every team.  Now I have Roger Mason Jr.’s popping up every night and it’s driving me crazy. 

On a completely random note, the Washington Wizards may be the team I know the least about.  I think it’s because I refuse to view them as a legitimate team after they changed their name.  “Washington Wizards” has got to be the worst name in the NBA, yes, even worse than the “New Jersey Nets”, “Utah Jazz”, and “Toronto Raptors”.  What really does it for me is that they used to have a cool name, but then opted for a totally lame one to be politically correct.  People have got to learn that Bullets don’t kill people, Chuck Norris does.

On a more random note, how ridiculous is it that the Bullets had to change their controversially “violent” name, while the Redskins are allowed to keep theirs while playing in the same city?  That’s got to be the most racist name going. 

And on an even more random note, if the Skins ever do change their name and it ends up being something lame, like, say, anything to do with politics, would Washington have officially wrapped up the title for the city with the worst team names?  They’ve already got the Capitals, Nationals, and Wizards.  I get that the Caps and Nats fit with the whole theme of the city, but they’re still lame.  We’ve already covered the Wizards lameness.  I don’t think any other city could contend with that. 

Can you tell it was a bad quarter for us?

Needless to say, I watched the entire third quarter in just over six minutes.

Since things were moving a bit too fast for me to make any valid points, here’s a question I’d like to bring up.  Does Randy Wittman get credited with Wednesday’s win in his head coaching record?  I would think you’d have to be physically present to get credited with a victory. I’m very fascinated with Wittman’s head coaching record, mostly because I can’t wait to hear how Kevin McHale and Glen Taylor justify bringing him and his .259 winning percentage back for next season after not even making an attempt to contact Jeff Van Gundy or any other coach who’s had any ounce of success at this level.

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I know I haven't written about the Wolves much lately, but I kind of take the stance of "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all" when it comes to my teams.  Yes, there are several Wolves players who are working their butts off and showing a level of dedication you can't help but tip your hat to, but overall, there's a whole lot of issues this team has to deal with and I just don't feel like getting into them right now. 

So on a brighter note...  Kevin Garnett... Wow!  The moment you start feeling glum after checking out the Wolves standings at 1-10, just take a peek over to the Easter Conference and check out the Celtics flying high at 11-1!  If that doesn't put at least a smirk on your face, you obviously didn't live through the KG era in Minnesota. Truth be told, I'd gladly see the Wolves go 8-74, if the C's go 74-8.  That might not be the politically correct thing to bring up, but the Wolves could use a good draft pick, and it would be incredibly satisfying to watch Kevin have that kind of success. 

Let me tell you something, if you haven't ordered NBA League Pass yet, you're doing yourself a huge disservice.  For example, tonight I got to watch KG put up 23, 11, and 5. To top it off, the Celtics were down 93-95 with 4.7 seconds to go and Charlotte was inbounding on the Celtics side of the court.  What happens?  Eddie House knocks away Jason Richardson's inbounds pass, Pierce comes up with the ball and has the presence of mind to find a wide open Ray Allen, who drains a three at the buzzer!  Watching KG leap through the air, charge down the court, and jump into a pile-on full of joy is something I haven't seen in a good four seasons.  After enduring the past three years, it did me a whole lot of good to see that. 

For several months after the trade, I kind of had the "happy for KG, but sad that he's not here" vibe going on.  That's completely gone now.  I'm just happy for KG and I'm happy for myself because I get to see him win.  I don't care that he's not doing it in a Wolves jersey.  Nights like tonight just weren't going to happen for him here, and nights like tonight make that 1-10 over in the standing for the T-Wolves much, much less painful.  In many ways we're all better off.  Garnett gets to be relevant again and possibly win a title.  The Wolves get a chance to rebuild and maybe draft another superstar this spring.  And us, we get to experience both of those things at the same time...  If you've got League Pass, that is.

So seriously, get League Pass.  The Timberwolves are 1-10, and it's much cheaper than a therapist. 

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Note: As a result of my incredibly hectic schedule, I'm just getting around to my season preview for Kevin Garnett and the Celtics. However, you can rest assured that these predictions are legit as they're the exact same ones I made when I did the Wolves season preview. Also, this article is from the new "Kevin Garnett and The Boston Celtics" section at DeROK.Net

"Kevin Garnett, who crawled through a river of **** and came out clean on the other side. Kevin Garnett, headed for Boston. Those of us who knew him best talk about him often. I swear, the stuff he pulled. Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Kevin being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice, but still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend."

My favorite player. My favorite movie. For some reason Kevin Garnett and The Shawshank Redemption's Andy Dufrense have always seemed connected to me. They were two innocent men who found themselves trapped in a prison. And despite the impossible circumstances they faced, they never gave up hope. In Andy's case, it only takes two and a half hours of film for him to burrow through a wall and make his escape. In the real-life tragedy of Kevin Garnett, it took twelve painful years before he was finally sprung free.

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Fresh off an early morning TiVO viewing, here are my thoughts on the Wolves' season opener...

1. This team is fun to watch! 

When this game began, I really wasn't sure what to expect.  We were facing a Nuggets team that should be in the post-season and features big names like Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony.  The Wolves, on the other hand, were basically composed of youngsters and veterans who had been tossed aside. The optimistic part of me wanted to believe we'd play harder than the Nuggets and hustle our way to a victory.  The realist inside of me thought we were horribly outmatched and were due for our first home opener loss since before the Kevin Garnett era. 

In actuality, this game was a little bit of both.  There were times when the Wolves play was a thing of beauty.  The offense was flowing with good passes and smart shots.  The defense held strong and the Wolves cleaned up the boards.  And then there were times when our inexperience was fully on display as the Thuggets, er Nuggets, completely overpowered us. Regardless, this is clearly the most fun Wolves team we've gotten to watch in years. We've finally got an inside game going - something we've haven't had for over a decade.  We've also got a fair amount of players who can stroke the three in McCants, Buckner, and occasionally Gomes and Telfair.  But perhaps the most fun part of watching this team is that they just make you feel good when they're playing well.  When guy who have been tossed aside and criticized for so long like Ratliff, Telfair, and McCants start making things happen on the court, it's exciting.

I might be getting ahead of myself here, but there were times during the first three quarters where this team made me thing, "The playoffs aren't out of the question".  They would make me debate between, "Is it better to be an 8th seed, or take our lumps this year and add another top rookie to our roster?".  After what we've been through the past three years, the fact that I can have those thoughts is a very good thing.

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In the aftermath of the Kevin Garnett trade, Wolves fans were left with a roster full of strangers.  In addition to losing KG, the Timberwolves cut ties with Mike James, Bracey Wright, Troy Hudson, Trenton Hassell, Ricky Davis, and Mark Blount.  As the roster currently stands, only Mark Madsen, Marko Jaric, and Rashad McCants were Timberwolves two seasons ago.  And counting players who suited up for the team last year only takes one hand as Randy Foye and Craig Smith are the only players to join those three.  What's even more mind-boggling is the fact that after Wednesday's trade which sent Davis and Blount to Miami, the T-Wolves had managed to add eleven new players to their roster this off-season.  In order to make the "getting to know you" period a little easier, the folks here at TWolvesBlog decided to put together a set of profiles on some of the Wolves up-and-coming players.  We posted a new profile each day as a countdown to the start of the season.  This post contains a link to each of those articles so that those of you who missed the pieces during their original run can view them.

Al Jefferson
Randy Foye
Ryan Gomes
Craig Smith
Corey Brewer
Rashad McCants
Gerald Green
Chris Richard
Sebastian Telfair

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Garnett is gone, but we'll still fight on.

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

For the first time in my life, I'm about to experience a Timberwolves season without Kevin Garnett. Yes, I've been a fan of the team since its inception, but for all intents and purposes, Friday night will be the first time I watch a season begin without No. 21 pounding his chest and making a chalk cloud. You see, in the era before Garnett, things like the internet and NBA League Pass were futuristic technologies. If you lived in New Jersey and liked the Timberwolves, you were forced to follow the team through a box score in the paper. The only way you even knew what the role players on your team looked like was if you were fortunate enough to get one of their basketball cards in a pack. Back then, being a fan of the Timberwolves meant owning a t-shirt and always picking them on NBA Live '95, even though they were awful. Eighteen years later, things are extremely different. Kevin Garnett isn't able to sneeze without a complete play-by-play of the event being instantly sent to someone's cell phone. Hardly a minute passes by without some fan making a blog post about his thoughts on the team.  If I had the time, I could easily plunk myself down in front of my computer and spend a solid two-hours every day reading all the latest Timberwolves news.  Being a fan of the Timberwolves has a completely different meaning in medical school than it did in elementary school.  And so that's why I say that Friday, November 2nd will be my first time that I truly begin a Timberwolves season without Kevin Garnett.

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I apologize for interrupting your regularly scheduled Timberwolves programming, but I felt that what I have to share is something that all of us need to hear. 

As basketball fans, we're all well-aware of how powerful this game can be. There just something about basketball that can take a group of 40,000 strangers and unite them towards a single cause.  Often times, that "cause" is something as simple as cheering on the Timberwolves to victory. But if we limit the game to something that gets our pulse pounding every now and then, and serves no other purpose than to make the players and owners rich, we're doing the world a great disservice.  The game of basketball can be used to accomplish something so much bigger...

My best friend and high school basketball teammate, Dan Occhiogrosso, has made it his goal to do just that.  He's decided to take his world-class ball handling skills and use them to accomplish something that will change lives.  Through Dan's website, www.ballforlives.com, he's been able to sell instructional videos with 100% of the donations going to the Bethesda Outreach in South Africa to help AIDS Orphans.  Dan has also spent time doing performance demonstrations for teenagers with the goal of educating them about poverty and the AIDS epidemic. 

Dan's next activity with Ball For Lives will be to dribble the entire NYC Marathon, this coming November 4th, in the hopes of rasing $10,000 for the Bethesda Outreach and Meals on Wheels.  This latest fundraiser is the reason I'm telling you all about Dan and his website.  I don't want to put a guilt trip on anyone, but none of us think twice about plunking down a ton of cash to go to games, order NBA League Pass, or buy jerseys and other merchandise.  Yet by donating only $10 to support Dan and his cause, you'll be able to change the life of a child whose parents have been taken from him by AIDS.  You'll be able to help give that child food, shelter, education, and a future.  I apologize for going all Sally Struthers on you, but this problem is real and there's something that we actually can do about it. 

If you'd like to find out more about the Bethesda Outreach, Ball for Lives, and what you can do to help children who have been orphaned by AIDS, you go to http://www.ballforlives.com/.  Again, 100% of your donation goes directly towards helping the children. 

Thanks for hearing me out.

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