In anticipation of the 2007-08 Minnesota Timberwolves season, TWolvesBlog is counting down the days 'til tip-off by featuring some of our team's players.  These player articles were written by several of our forum members, as well as the site's regular contributors.  The seventh piece in this series was written by yours truly, C-Dub.  I'd like to present to you our Jack-Of-All-Trades, largely unknown, third-year small forward Ryan Gomes.

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Ryan Gomes, Jack of All Trades [image2]

I've gotta be honest...Craig Smith probably wouldn't have been my first choice of Wolves players to preview for this upcoming season.  He does the dirty work...and we all value the superstars over the cleanup crew, right? 

Well, with that said, Craiggers deserves some serious respect. 

A scene at last week's Wolves/Bucks game really impressed me- Craig was matched up against Yi Jianlian.  Yi happens to be five inches taller than Craig.  Despite the height disparity, though, Craig absolutely manhandled Yi...Craig did a phenomenal job of boxing out Yi, and his defensive effort against the rookie was spectacular.

Welcome to the NBA, Yi Jianlian.  You just got eaten alive by the Cookie Monster.

Let’s be perfectly honest; I am not an objective writer. I root for the teams I like, boo the teams I don’t, and become overly connected to players that will probably never, ever know that I even exist. Hell, if we’re talking standard writer’s guidelines, I’m hardly a writer at all. I falsify information, openly generate stats and rumors, and make outrageous claims that can hardly be backed up or substantiated. Research? Pfft, for homos. Ethics? Yeah right, terds. Morals? You can keep them. I am a fan, and as such, I am going to write like one.  

Now, I understand that some people do not enjoy that. Some people like facts and figures and objectivity and blah, blah, blah. (Ugh) So in the spirit of friendliness, I have written two types of profiles -a super lame one and a totally rad one- for Corey Brewer. Enjoy. 

Super Lame Style

Corey Brewer: An Exercise in Versatility 

Corey Brewer, the 21 year old, 6’9”, 185 lb swingman has already generated a lot of buzz these past few months and enters this season as the Timberwolves’ second most anticipated new recruit. Back to back NCAA Championships (and countless individual awards) have already established Corey Brewer as an unfamiliar commodity (read: a winner) and he will likely play an important role in bringing the Timberwolves franchise to prominence in a Western Conference that is heavily saturated with all-world talent.  

I went to last night's scrimmage with a few buddies.  Here are some observations:

1) The team was split into the black squad and the white squad.  The black squad included all five starters, Foye, McCants, Gomes, Jefferson, and Theophilus, plus Antoine Walker.  The white squad was everyone else.

2) We had our first Antoine Walker sighting.  He was in a suit for Friday night's scrimmage, so tonight was the first chace to watch him play on the court.  He took the majority of his reps with the first team, spelling either Al Jefferson or Ryan Gomes when it was his turn in the rotation.  First thing, after hearing Riley's comments on Antione's conditioning, I was expecting Walker to resemble the mom on What's Eating Gilbert Grape? but he looked like he's always looked.  On a positive note about Walker, I know he chucks up a lot of threes, but he also knocks a lot of them down.  For a team with no real three point shooting, Walker, who typically is guarded by a small or power forward, can draw that defender out of the paint and spread the defense a little bit.

3) The players, in general, still have a tough time consistently hitting the wide open jumpers, including mid-rangers.  If these players can develop the mid ranger, I think it could easily translate to a couple Ws this season and compliment the strong post play this team has demonstrated this preseason.

4) Michael Doeac looks like he can be a competent reserve to spell the center.

5) We noticed that Juwan Howard was absent, and it turns out there was good reason as the team bought his contract out (only because I haven't put up old news yet, so there it is).

6) Gerald Green, who I've been down on, played very well in the second scrimmage session.  He hit his open jumpers and looked generally better than he did in the preseason, although that's not a huge accomplishment.  If he can play like he did in yesterday's scrimmage, he will be able to contribute.

7) I don't think point guard play can be accurately measured in this scrimmage.  Not too many avoidable turnovers from that position, though I think Bassy turned it over once by trying to be flashy instead of efficient.  Overall, I like Bassy's play in the last game and during last night's scrimmage.  Not much penetration into the paint by the PG position this season, but I don't if that's a reflection of the team's scheme or the point guards.

That's all I've got.  Looking forward to the season.

Print your playoff tickets, Timberwolves fans, the Wolves win 106-85 over the Bucks of Milwaukee.

I had the privilege of attending this evening's game and I am doing my inaugural game recap for this site.

First off, here's the Box Score off of ESPN to get the statistics.

Now to the recap, for things you care about pertaining to the game:

- Al Jefferson continues to look tough in the post.  He had 24 and 12.  If you're not accustomed to my expectation, I won't heap praise on Jefferson for those numbers.  I expect 18-25 and 10-15 every night.  HOWEVER, he did it on 9-12 shooting, which deserves praise.  What can't you see from the box score?  He played excellent D tonight on Charlie Villanueva, who has a dangerous inside-out game and he also passed better out of the double team tonight than he did on Tuesday night against the Pacers.  I'm also McLovin' the 10 free throw attempts in 30 minutes.

- Theophilus (yes, that's his name) Ratliff hopped in his DeLorean, hit the pedal to 88 mph, and turned the dial back to 2001 on 6-8 shooting.  It's nice to have a center playing center after a season and a half of Mark Blount moonlighting as a shooting guard that can't dribble, rebound or play D.  He had several blocks, the most notable of which was a two-handed rejection of a full-speed (and out-of-nowhere ripped!) Daniel Gadzuric.  Although I think 13 points is more than we should expect from him, watch for smart, blue-collar play out of the center position when he's in the game.

- I am no Rashad McCants apologist, but he had a good game that goes beyond the statistics.  His shots were mostly smart-open looks or created shots in one-on-one situations.  His four turnovers were probably all easily preventable (including a two on one fast break where he tried to do a behind-the-back-pass-fake-layup that was stolen).

- In the limited time Brewer was on Michael Redd, he did an excellent job.  Redd did hit a three in Brewer's face, but he's Michael Redd.  Brewer played good transition defense and his four steals were more the product of him than bad offensive play by the Bucks.  He did have a couple of rookie turnovers.

- For those with Ryan Gomes' crushes, it got more attractive tonight.  He's the type of player that can spread the defense and defender's have to pay constant attention to him because he moves around a lot.  He brings a serious inside-out threat and, if he's not paid attention to, he'll sneak by post players for an offensive board on missed jumpers.

- Bassy looked better than Foye tonight at point.

- Gerald Green continues to look as scared and lost as a sophomore in high school whose girlfriend just uttered the phrase, "I'm pregnant."  He should be worried that his future is about as unsure as that sophomore right now, too.

- Toine Walker (I think "Hot Pudgy" is a good nickname) was in the building in his suit.  Doleac either (a) was not or (b) I just didn't see him (possible).  I read in one of SG's news post's links that Doleac and Walker were to report, Simien was not.  Is Doleac one of the cuts?  We still need to shave this thing down.

Please click "Read More" to go after the jump if you want to read stuff that virtually no one cares about that can't be ascertained by box scores.

Yeah, I sacrificed a Friday evening to preseason NBA basketball...here's some observations from the game:

*Good Lord, Rashad McCants was on fire (20 points, 8-8 from the field).  And what I liked about McCants, tonight, was that he played an extremely active role in the offense...he really did a stellar job of moving without the ball.

A nice sign, considering that Rashad tended to stand around waaaay too much during the KG era...when KG got the ball in the post, Rashad would often plant himself on the perimeter, and he'd barely move a muscle.  

Also in today's game, Rashad did a phenomenal job of penetrating and creating his own shot.  While Rashad's jumper will be on-target one night and off-target the next, he should always be utilizing his athleticism to attack defenses.  He may be a streaky shooter, but he can still make a consistent impact on offense. 

One more thing...Rashad was very opportunistic, with regards to pushing the tempo.  I like.

*Rough night for Gerald Green...the kid had five turnovers in only nine minutes.  He was noticeably frustrated with himself- on one occasion, he slammed his headband to the court when he took a seat on the bench. 

*One play that sticks out- Telfair almost had a clean block of a Yi Jianlian shot.  Telfair is a foot shorter than Yi, so it would've been the coolest thing ever if the refs had let the play go...but unfortunately, Telfair was called for the foul. 

Telfair had a solid game, by the way...he made great decisions when distributing the ball, and he was impressive on the fast break.  I'm very pleased with his play in camp and the preseason- the better Telfair performs, the fewer minutes Marko ("worst point guard ever") Jaric gets at point.

On another note, I hope Yi's been able to cope with the small Chinese population of Milwaukee.  Man, the struggles these professional athletes have to go through!

*How about a tip o' the hat to Theo Ratliff?  Who woulda thunk that he'd still have some gas left in the tank?  Nice evening for Theo- tonight, he looked very much like a serviceable center who will do just fine in the starting lineup.  Grabbed a few boards, made some easy baskets...in short, he did exactly what we need him to do this season.

In anticipation of the 2007-08 Minnesota Timberwolves season, TWolvesBlog is counting down the days 'til tip-off by featuring some of our team's players.  These player articles were written by several of our forum members, as well as the site's regular contributors.  The third piece in this series was written by yours truly, C-Dub.  I'd like to present to you our high-flying, sweet-shooting, illmatic-dunking, third year shooting guard Gerald Green.

Gerald Green – “The Sky Is The Limit”

By: College Wolf

Gerald Green, Jr. was born January 26th, 1986 in Houston, Texas.  He did not play high school basketball until his sophomore year at J. Frank Dobie High School.  He made the varsity team his junior year, but was unfortunately cut from the team due to academic issues.  Gerald then transferred to an alternative school in Houston, Gulf Shores Academy, which began his ascent to stardom.  He averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks per game, and was named to the 2004 McDonald’s All-American team.  He won the McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk Contest that year, defeating Josh McRoberts (who would go on to star at Duke University.)  This was a pre-cursor of things to come, as Gerald also won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2007 during All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.  He’s got the body (6’8”, 200 lbs) and the physical ability to succeed in the NBA, but can Green put it all together?

(Click "Read More" to continue...)

THIS IS 100% SPECULATION AND NOT A LOT OF SALARY CAP RESEARCH WAS INVOLVED. 

I was cruising the Wolves' sites and I noticed this trade speculation post from the Timberwolves Today blog.  It involved Eric Snow for Marko Jaric and it threw my mind into speculation mode.

If the Timberwolves don't sign Al Jefferson, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be the perfect place for him.  Does anyone know if the Cavs would have the cap room for this move next year?

Read this article from the Willoughby-News Herald in northeast Ohio about James' disappointment with management for not signing Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao.  The King is pissed that other teams in the east get better while his stood pat or even downgraded.

The Cavs have to keep the King sated.  Why not try to draw Al Jefferson to that team?  Can you imagine those two on a team for 6 or 7 years moving forward?  I'm not sure how a max deal would work for Jefferson with the Hughes and Ilgauskas contracts taking up a huge chunk, but I definitely see this being a possibility, and a very frightening one if the point of getting Jefferson is to build around him.

If you're Jefferson and an offer is made to go play with the King, why wouldn't you go?

At least he's restricted.

You have to wonder about the NBA sometimes.  When your team trades it's leading scorer and their serviceable starting center, who combined for 29.3 ppg last season, and all they get in return is an 8.5 ppg scorer with conditioning issues, two scrubs, and a conditional future first-rounder, you shouldn't be happy about that.  But when WFAN did their sports update on my way home from school and announced that Ricky Davis and Mark Blount had been traded to Miami for Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, and Wayne Simien, I was ecstatic.  It really is a shame when most of a league's player movement revolves around swapping your team's syphilis for some other team's chlamydia, and the big selling point of the deal is how fast you can get rid of the players you just traded for.  Yet that's the state of the current NBA with it's nonsensical salary cap and luxury tax.  Oh well, at least at the end of the day I feel my team came out ahead in the deal.  No amount of Valtrex in the world is going to cure Miami of the Mark Blount Herpes for the next three years.

With that being said, here are some things I like about the trade:

1. No more Blount! "Cancer" does not begin to describe Mark Blount.  As I mentioned above, painful genital ulcerations is more like it.  I was certain we were stuck with him for the next three seasons, and now we're free.  This must've been like what Elizabeth Hasselbeck felt like when Rosie quit The View. 

2. As a Wolves fan, any time the words "Kevin McHale" and "trade" are used in the same sentence, and you actually gain a draft pick, you should be doing backflips.  Unbelievably, this deal now marks two consecutive transactions in which this has happened.  I feel like I'm living in bizarro world. 

By the way, you may now mock me for using a "View" analogy on TWolvesBlog.  Seriously, that had to be a new low point for me. 

3. We got to spread out our expring deals. The Wolves had Theo's 11.6 million and Ricky's 6.8 million set to expire at the end of this season.  Seeing that losing all that salary still wouldn't have put Minnesota under the cap, it's good that we won't be taking over 18 million off the books this year.  We'd never use all that salary space as leverage in a trade deadline deal this season.  It's simply too much money.  We'll be much better off losing Theo's 11.6 and then another four from the Doleac/SimienWilkins combo this season, while being left with Walker's 8.3 and Howard's 6.8 to play with next year.  This trade effectively gives the Wolves two seasons in which they can be major players at the deadline.  Having that much money tied up in expiring deals could put them in the position to make the next blockbuster trade, much like the Iverson and KG deals. 

4. Wolves fans now get to witness Antione Walker and Gerald Green go head-to-head in an all-out war to see who can chuck up the most ill-advised shots.  As there may not be very many close games in the 4th quarter this season, at least fans will have a reason to stick around and watch this incredible sub-plot play out.  I can only imagine how many times this season a highly-contested three by Green will be followed up by an "Antoine Special" from the bullseye in the Target Center logo.

5. You just have to appreciate the dark humor of the Wolves, already one man over the limit, completing a 2-for-3 trade, days before the deadline to trim rosters.