Today I read that Theo Ratliff will be the T-Wolves starting center. All I can say that this made me smile very big. I have always loved watching him play. He also looked very good in the pic too. Very buff and healthy, which is also a pleasent suprise.

the starting line up:
C Theo Ratliff
PF Al Jefferson
SF Ryan Gomes
SG Corey Brewer -- i rather have bucky start due to his experienc...
PG Randy Foye

If this really happens, I will be pleasantly surprised...and I mean BIG TIME!

Ratliff is still one of my all-time favorite players to play the center position and having him on my favorite team is really great. It saddened me that he was so often injured the last years and that he was often traded not becuase his abilities but purely because of his contract numbers. I have to admitt that I thought his career was over for good with all those injuries, but as it looks like now, he still has a few games left in the tank.

That makes me one very happy man !

Wow Mad Dog... props to you for sticking up for Theo's Corpse all off-season long!

I guess I shouldn't have been ripping on him so much. Honestly, I'm amazed he'll be playing. However, let's see if he can play consistently without getting injured.

I think it'll be this lineup:

Ratliff
Jefferson
Gomes
McCants
Foye

I'm hoping that maybe Jefferson will play center and Smith at the PF as well. So, then we can have Gomes, Smith and Big Al all in at the same time.

TwinsTerritoryFor what, creating the most undersized lineup available? I've posted plenty of times that I believe there will be some small-balled played in Minny this year, but hopefully just for stretches. Big Al's talents are at waste at the center position, especially since we do have more than one serviceable player able to play that spot (unlike many of the KG-days). And Cookie Monster is just too undersized defensively to take on the big boys, while he will be a great addition to bring of the bench. Why force a player onto a rolle he is not suited for just to play him or a special system, when his talents are better used in another way?


EDIT: Oh, and imo, McCants will no way be starting, especially if you consider the comments made by McHale and Coach Witt regarding him.

I'm hoping that McCants starts.

TwinsTerritory wrote:
I'm hoping we trade him.

Trade him and Jaric for something. Anything.

cw couldnt agree more on trading jaric n MCcants, tho i truly believe if Jaric played the position he is meant or he will do well...

Doogie from KFAN is saying that nobody wants Jaric. He also said that there is talk about a Howard-Doleac deal for something.

Now, you can only trade multiple players in a deal up until the player has been with the team for 48 hours. After that, there can be no package deals, just a 1 for 1 deal. The deal reportedly didn't get finalized until yesterday, so the Wolves have a little time to still do a package deal with the two players.

I can understand that nobody wants Jaric. His contract is completely undesireable, not that big, but it simply runs far too long. And I fear that all GMs have finally given up hope that he will someday show the same performances on the NBA court he regularly brings to his national team. Although being a regular follower of international competition, I have to admit that I am completely clueless on how he can be coaxed into better performances, and I fear that is the case with all coaches and GMs in the NBA.

Usually, there is always some coach or GM who sees something in some player, no matter how badly he has performed in the NBA. But in Jaric's case, even the promises he offers in international competition won't be enough for anyone to gamble on him and his contract.

Hmmm...looking at what places could be desirable for Marco (who has already said multiple times he wants out), maybe Golden State would be a nice fit for his skill set. If anyone could bring out the best in a 6'7 PG with a (supposedly) good stroke, it is Nellie. They still have unsigned restricted-FA Michael Pietrus on their roster, who could be a nice addition to the young Wolves via sign-and-trade.

In my dream world, this would happen: Both exchange versatile but disgruntled players, but I don't know if Pietrus would welcome such an arrangement.

Sanyarin wrote:
Link to said comments please! No way that an unproven rookie starts over McCants who has been great this preseason.

EDIT: Unless he is really injured.

I just figured that McCants would start if healthy. He put up three stellar games before sitting out the last two. I just don't see Brewer or Green starting in front of him to start the season.

@ McCants:
I beg the pardon of all Shaddy-Supporters (College Wolf will confirm that I am more on of you, anyways), but he has been like WHAT this preseason?

MNPupsTwinsTerritory
Great? Stellar?

Correct the unaware German with no NBA acess if he is wrong , but Shaddy's statistics over the last games look like this:

vs. San Antonio:
22 mins, 5-10 FG, 4-8 3PT, 2 Rebs, 0 Ast, 0 Stl, 14 Pts.
vs. Golden State
14 mins, 1-4 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2 Rebs, 0 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 Pts.
vs. Memphis
16 mins, 0-8 FG, 0-4 3PT, 0 Rebs, 0 Ast. 0 Stl, 0 Pts.

This guy should be starting?? When his performances in the summer league and the preseason prove anything, then that he is an extremely streaky, inconsistent player that has an equal chance of delivering a solid if not good night as of producing a just plain ugly one. Someone like that has no business starting for an NBA team, but is best brought from the bench to see if he has caught a good or a bad night and then left in or pulled from the game again.

MNPupsNoooo, but Brewer (who I guess you are refering to)is projected to play more SF as far as I know anyways, so I expect Gerald Green to take the starting point.I am referring to the Wolves media lunch, which I do not have a link to (maybe some other member can help out) - but the essentials can be found at Britt Robson's Blog where he reported about the obvious lack of enthusiasm Wittman displayed about McCants and how McHale was quick to add that Shaddy still lacks his main feature, his athleticism (along with those weird religious things I have already railed against in an earlier post). While both were so extremely high and enthusiastic about so many other guys, chances at a starting spot for McCants appear rather slim.

I think this should be the line-up:

C - Ratliff
PF - Jefferson
SF - Brewer
SG - McCants
PG - F(Oy!)e

I think I'm quickly becomming/already am the resident Curmudgeon here at TWolves Blog, but here's my reasoning for this lineup.

Ratliff - Because Al Jefferson is a Power Forward and has an opportunity to become a dominant post-up power forward. Ratliff still has savvy D and knows how to outlet on a defensive board.

PF - Jefferson - See above, he's a power forward, and he has all the makings to be a dominant one in the league with his size and his moves.

SF - I like Gomes, but this team is young. I don't think Brewer is a tweener, either. He's 6-8 and lengthy; he's a small forward. He can't score like you need at shooting guard and we need to groom this guy like he's going to be a starter in this league. Gomes is a bench player and somone good teams want coming off the bench to provide energy and, at the same time, if he's hot he can give you 30 minutes if that's what you want out of him.

SG - McCants. I am unconvinced that he can play in the NBA, but I think we have to give him a chance. Casey used to yank him if he made the smallest mistake. That said, I also think people's expectations of the guy are ridiculous. At his best, he's a solid contributor on a good team. There's not much room in the league for undersized shooting guards with streaky jump shots and no explosiveness (I'll take this back if he shows he got his explosiveness back from Micro surgery). Again, I think he deserves a shot to show what he can do, but I think this guy ends up in Europe. There's no questioning his basketball pedigree, his IQ, or his work ethic, I think all that is there. However, to succeed in the NBA as an undersized shooting guard, you either need lights-out shooting, which I haven't seen out of him, or other-wordly athleticism, and there's plenty of guys with McCants level of athleticism.

PG - Foye, mostly because we don't have one.

MOST LIKELY PLAYER TO GET OVERPAID IN A SWEEPSTAKES - Craig Smith. I love the guy, but someone is going to overpay him. If he was a Knick, he would already have 60 million.

Interesting. I share most if not all opinions TheOldLogo has stated above and have brought up nearly the same arguments in earlier post. Especially about Jefferson and McCants, I believe to have used even almost the same words as he did.

But in my argumentation, giving Shaddy a chance leads to \"bring him of the bench to see what he brings that night\" instead of \"bury him on the bench until his contract expires\"...but with all the downside and questionmarks on him, how can he be starting, when the team will probably be sticking with Green anyways?

Interesting how the same arguments can lead to completely different conclusion with different people. I'm far from saying one's better than the other, just stating the obvious !