Wolves News Nothing today. We Wolves fans are spared any further agony, if only for one day.
The NBA was off last night, in case you missed it. The Wolves next play Wednesday the 7th at home vs the Golden State Warriors. Nellie is going for the career coaching wins record. My bet is he gets it if Darko doesn't play, or is still limited from his minor concussion. Nelson tied Lenny Wilkens for the most wins by an NBA coach when the Golden State Warriors held off the Toronto Raptors 113-112 on Sunday night.
- Say what you want about Don Nelson and his coaching style, but 1,332 is a hell of a lot of wins.
Sota is stuck down in the No. 30 basement for a second successive week -- with only one more Monday to get out -- even though its record isn't worse than New Jersey's. That's pretty much the worst of both worlds.
- Well, that's disheartening. We are ranked below the Nets, one of the worst teams of all-time. Then again, we aren't very good either.
Good chemistry means so much more in college. That’s about 50 percent of the reason Duke is playing for the championship Monday night. Over the weekend Mike Krzyzewski told CBS, “I love my group. They’re as close as any team that I’ve ever coached. They enjoy being together.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told ESPN.com Monday morning that "I wouldn't have any interest in the job," even if incoming New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov offers to make him the highest-paid coach in the NBA.
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is currently the NBA's highest-paid coach with a $12 million salary, and the Record said Prokhorov might be willing to offer Krzyzewski in the range of $12 million to $15 million annually.
- And why would he? He is set for life, and is a GOD in the NCAA. It's not always all about the money.
1992 Olympic Champs inducted into the Hall of Fame From the AP:
Scottie Pippen considers himself a double winner. He'll enter basketball's Hall of Fame as an individual and a member of the Dream Team on the same day.
"I'll be able to take one trip and kill both," Pippen said with a laugh.
Pippen, Karl Malone and two of the best U.S. Olympic teams -- including that famed 1992 Dream Team -- were selected Monday as part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's class of 2010.
Malone and Pippen, both eligible for election for the first time, were part of that '92 Olympic team.
- Glen Taylor was seen crying when informed he would only be receiving about $3.7 million, insead of over $4 million, for the TWolves being under the Luxury Tax threshold this season.
Go directly to jail, do not pass Go.
The AP reports that Gilbert Arenas must first report to jail for 2 days.
Today's daily links will include of coverage of the OKC game. But let's be honest - no matter how die-hard of a Wolves fan you may be, the 62nd loss of the season isn't anywhere near as interesting as the game that's going down tonight in Indianapolis. I'm not a college basketball fan by any means. In fact, I didn't even fill out a bracket this year. But Duke/Butler is a matchup that I find absolutely captivating.
On one side, you've got the title-winning machine that is Duke. We're it not for the fact that Duke's roster doesn't contain a bunch of ridiculously overpaid steroid-using sellouts, they'd basically be the New York Yankees of college basketball. Then, on the other side, you've got Butler, who, if we're keeping the baseball analogy alive, are essentially the AAA Rochester Redwings. It's a rare thing to get a championship matchup that is this unbalanced in terms of pedigree. To call this a battle of David vs. Goliath would be an understatement. At least David had some stones to throw. In the world of NCAA basketball, this may as well be Stephen Hawking vs. The Undertaker. I think that its safe to say that unless they're a die-hard Duke fan, everyone in America will be pulling for Butler.
Well, everyone, that is, except the guy writing this article.
You may be shaking your head in disgust. After all, rooting for Duke is like cheering on the 180 lb. 8th grader as he steals a 7 year old's lunch money. However, when it comes to basketball, I'm a Wolves fan first and foremost. With that in mind, I find myself unable to root against the Blue Devils and the rich tradition they share with our Timberpups. I mean, just look at some of the all-time great Dukies who have gone on to wear a Wolves jersey...
Yes, we easily could have had Shaquille O'Neal or Alonzo Mourning in the 1992 draft, but instead the Wolves were blessed with Duke legend, Christian Laettner. Say what you will about the pretty boy, but it was his lack of NBA-caliber skill that paved the way for three additional seasons of ineptitude and the Wolves landing the #5 pick in the 1995 draft. Would you really rather have had Shaq, who would've fled from Minnesota after 3 years, or Alonzo Mourning's bad kidney over 11 seasons of KG? I think not. Thank you Duke!
Will Avery may be considered a bust by many, but in my book, he's a success. It's all about putting things in context, and considering the track record of the man drafting Avery, McHale definitely hit above his average in the 1999 draft. Avery's career 2.7ppg and 1.4 assists absolutely dwarf the contributions made by other McHale 1st round draftees like Paul Grant and Ndudi Ebi.
Yet another Duke great, Shelden Williams may be the only NBA player ever to get beat by his wife in a game of basketball. Still, you gotta give the man a hand for giving Oompa Loompa's everywhere hope that they can make it to the NBA one day as well.
So after reading that, Wolves fans, how can you NOT root for Duke tonight? Goooooooooo Blue Devils!!!
Minnesota led by as much as seven in the first quarter, but after sitting on the bench for the first six minutes of the second quarter, Wade scored 13 of his 26 points and keyed a 20-6 run which gave Miami a 53-44 lead at halftime.
Miami extended their lead to 21 with a 16-4 run to open the second half until Minnesota responded with a 21-6 run of their own to cut Miami's lead to six.
"(Minnesota) provided a fight, especially there in the third and fourth quarter," Dwyane Wade said. "We relaxed a bit and didn't play as aggressive. We got a lot of fouls and missed a lot of shots from the seven minute mark of the third quarter up until the nine minute mark of the fourth quarter."
Wade and Udonis Haslem were key in turning the tide in the fourth quarter.
Milicic's absence seemed to open up the Wolves' defense. When he went to the locker room with 7:51 left in the second quarter, the Wolves had a 33-31 lead. Four minutes later, Dorell Wright hit a three-pointer to put Miami up 41-38. The Wolves never led again.
Milicic had made 5 of 8 shots from the floor and was the game's high scorer with 10 points when he was injured.
The Wolves also lost an inside scoring option and one of the team's best passers.
Without Milicic, the Wolves' offense suffered a major breakdown in the third quarter, allowing Miami to build a 69-48 lead.
Rambis saw his team go nearly six minutes without a field goal, miss eight free throws and commit four turnovers.
During one stretch in the third quarter, the Wolves committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions, two by Ryan Hollins, who was filling in for Milicic.
The Wolves finished the quarter with only 14 points and five baskets.
Wade scored 39 points and simply took over whenever his team's offense bogged down, earning the Heat an eighth consecutive victory, 97-84 in Target Center, almost by himself.
"Everybody else on his team, they were OK," said a seemingly unimpressed Kurt Rambis, the Wolves' coach. "But he just separated them from us."
He did, but the separation was a little easier once Darko Milicic, who somehow has become an impact player after just six weeks in Minnesota, was nearly separated from his jaw. Check this 90-second sequence in the second quarter for proof: Milicic nails a short hook shot in the lane. Milicic hits a 10-foot jumper. Milicic knocks away Udonis Haslem's in-close jumper. Milicic takes a Jamaal Magloire elbow in the jaw.
Please click "Read More" to see the rest of today's links
Wade has scored 30 or more points in three of his last four games - all against teams below the Heat in the standings. He has shot better than 60 percent in those three contests.
A solid defense has also helped spur the Heat's seven-game run. Miami (42-34) has allowed 82.7 points per game during the streak - its longest since taking nine straight from Feb. 28-March 16, 2007.
With a 5 1/2-game lead over ninth-place Chicago and six games remaining, the Heat can clinch a playoff spot for the sixth time in seven years with a win or a Bulls loss to Charlotte on Saturday. Chicago has seven games left, but Miami owns the tiebreaker.
Minnesota needs one more win to guarantee it won't match the franchise's worst season, set in 1991-92. The Timberwolves went 19-63 the next season and haven't finished with fewer than 20 wins in any campaign since.
• Minnesota Timberwolves, $62.8 million payroll, $4.19 million per win. By signing coach KurtRambis to four years and using the No. 5 pick on Ricky Rubio, who won't be available to leave his Spanish club until 2011, the Wolves proved they are rebuilding patiently for the long term. Going into the draft, they'll shed almost $28 million in payroll with as many as 10 names vanishing from the books next season. They'll have space to make an anticipated run at Gay or another free agent this summer to go with another high pick in the draft. And in the meantime, they've continued to develop KevinLove, rookie point guard JonnyFlynn and Corey Brewer, a candidate for the Most Improved Player award.
Not exactly surprising stuff here.
Phil Miller reports that Ramon Sessions is perfectly fine with his role on the team
Then he came to Minnesota, and began running coach Kurt Rambis' triangle offense as the backup to starter Jonny Flynn.
The result? Sessions, who plays seven fewer minutes per game than he did in Milwaukee, has scored 20 points only twice all year. He's reached eight assists twice as well, and he has zero double-doubles.
And he swears he's just fine with that.
"That's not what they want me to do here," said Sessions, who averages 7.8 points and 3.1 assists with the Wolves. "I wouldn't say it's been a down year. I wouldn't say last year was better. It's just a different offense."
"I'm always going to make sure I stay positive. It's still living a dream, for me to be out here playing every day," Sessions said. "If that's what they want me to do and we win with that, I'm happy."
The Big Lead ponders whether the Wolves can make the playoffs next season
HA. What? A team with this depth chart and ranked dead last in “expert” Marc Stein’s Week 22 Power Rankings – replacing the suddenly-semi-hot New Jersey Nets – is going to contend for the playoffs in the stacked West next year? Well, probably not. But this is our way of initial foray into the 2010 NBA draft, commencing in just 85 days.
So, statistically at least, Brewer deserves some serious consideration. And its certain that nobody in the league has come so far, so fast in terms of developing his game. But the sad fact is that Andrew Bogut and George Hill will both be playing in the playoffs. Aaron Brooks's Rockets have won 37 games and for a while were the semi-darlings of the league for their plucky play in the absence of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Corey Brewer plays on a team that has won 15 games this year, hasn't once been seen on national TV, and is seen as a strange joke by most of the rest of the league. Hate to say it, but it probably ain't gonna happen.
Please click "Read More" to see the rest of today's links
I'm not a huge supporter of April Fools Day. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the good joke or the satisfaction that comes from not falling for the joke, but I'm just not very good at pulling the pranks myself. I'd like to think that yesterday I pulled off a pretty good gag with the whole TWB/Hoopus merger post. It was nothing amazing, but I did manage to fool a handful of people, which is better than usual. Anyway, with April 2nd now on the calendar, I thought I'd spruce up the daily links with a recap of some of the better internet gags from yesterday. Here they are, followed by your Wolves Daily News...
Google becomes Topeka - Unless you live under a rock, you had to have seen this one yesterday. I saw through it, but I can't tell you how many people at work were utterly confused by this.
"I like it here," he said after the Timberwolves practiced Thursday. "There's nothing they've done to not make me stay here, but you never know. If these guys want me to stay, be on the same page for next year, why not stay here?"
Of course, there's the little matters of negotiation and money for a 24-year-old center whose contract and $7.5 million salary expire after this season, which has only seven games left.
"You never know, it's the NBA," Milicic said. "You never know what will happen in the summertime, how things can go. Next year? Until I sign it, I can't tell you if I'll be here or not."
Bringing back Darko would be a good move - at the right price. You gotta remember that this is a kid who fizzled out every other place he's played, and that the Wolves haven't been necessarily setting the world on fire with him on the roster. I don't think there's much demand for Darko outside of the Twin Cities, so the Wolves should keep the offer close to the vest. If Milicic wants to bolt for Europe, I certainly wouldn't stop him.
Kirk Snyder convicted of burglary and assault yesterday
Snyder broke into the home of dentists Brad and Eugenia Roberts in Deerfield Township, north of Cincinnati, on March 30, 2009. He smashed their rear French doors with a landscape rock and charged through the house to the master bedroom, shoving Eugenia Roberts aside before pummeling Brad Roberts with his fists and then with an alarm clock, prosecutors said. He could receive up to 18 years in prison at his sentencing next month.
I'm guessing the excuse "April Fools!" wouldn't get him off the hook...
And to think all of this could've been avoided had somebody just listened to Bonk!
Glen Taylor losing patience, ready to pounce this off-season
"We're going to start meeting immediately at the end of the season to put the opportunities in place to improve this team next year," Taylor said. "We have a lot of them. We have the opportunities for our draft (currently three first-round picks); we'll see what (lottery) positions we get.
"We'll have the opportunity to look at other players, and possibly trades if we feel that will help our team.
"So (management) is going to be really active and we're going to start really early to prepare ourselves. We have a lot of work to do; I'm excited about working with the guys on that."
Now that's truly a titilating bit of insight from our owner! I've never heard anything like this before from our front office! Finally, something's going to change!
I'd say April Fool, but nobody actually believes this... do they?
This guy is giving Wolves managment waaaaaaaaaaay too much credit
I didn’t start out looking to slam the Timberwolves’ social media program. I started out writing a post about a fantastic ad. But then I pulled on a loose thread, and the Timberwolves’ messaging sweater unraveled instantly.
This is a pretty good article, so instead of having me pasting excerpt after excerpt, you should just click the link and read the whole thing. The guy basically harps on the Wolves for having a horrible social media strategy. He's got a good point, but, um, this is the Timberwolves. We traded Roy for Foye. We signed Joe Smith to an illegal deal. We drafted a guy named "Doody" Ebi.
At the end of the day, I'm just glad if this franchise has got its dial-up connection working.
Ray Richardson, Pioneer Press reports Reggie Theus may be leaving the Wolves for a more talented squad: An NCAA team?
Theus said he was unaware of which schools had expressed interest in him. He said he plans to talk with his agent, Lon Rose, who had received the inquiries.
"Right now I don't know anything," Theus said. "All I know is what I've heard from other people."
The Chicago Tribune reported that DePaul, which has a coaching vacancy, had confirmed that it would interview Theus today.
In honor of Theus, here is a link to the Hang Time Wikipedia page.
Zgoda's Take
Jerry Z posts his take on the situation, and also runs down the biggest Wolves news in ages: Nate "The Grape" Jawai has been sent to the D-League where he will attempt to shatter his D-League average of 6.0 points per game.
Seldom-used backup center Nathan Jawai was sent to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Wolves' Development League affiliate. The Wolves sent the 6-foot-10 Jawai to Sioux Falls for a two-game assignment in February.
Rambis said the move was made to give Jawai playing time. The Australian native spent five consecutive games on the bench before being reassigned.
"We think he's an intriguing player because of his size," Rambis said of Jawai. "He needs to play."
Oh That's Right, the Wolves won last night
Jerry Z's game recap. Darko had a fantastic game: 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. The 15-game losing streak has been snapped, and unfortunately we do not get to chuckle about a winless March for the Wolves.
The Wolves used their size advantage -- that's right, Jefferson, Darko Milicic and Kevin Love all produced double-double games -- to outrebound Sacramento 46-33 and build a 20-point lead with eight minutes to play.
But they, almost right on cue, nearly gave it all back, allowing the Kings a 16-2 run that chopped their lead to just six points with a little more than three minutes remaining.
Also be sure to check out Jonah Ballow's take on the game here.
Rookie Points Making Impact
Jerry Zgoda was busy last night. Posts a write-up on the impact rookie point guards are having this year. Jonny Flynn is nowhere to be found.
Ten point guards -- 11 if you count Sacramento`s 6-6 hybrid Tyreke Evans -- were chosen among the draft`s first 25 picks.
Evans and Golden State`s Stephen Curry are the favorites for Rookie of the Year and steaming toward stardom.
Milwaukee`s Brandon Jennings scored 55 points only seven games into his career and has helped the upstart Bucks fuel the season`s best battle cry: Fear the Deer.
More on the "Brewer's Blend" Most Improved Player Campaign
The "Brewer's Blend" campaign site can be found here. I was pretty skeptical when I first heard about this, but I have to say I'm pretty dang impressed. He doesn't actually have any shot of winning the award over guys like Aaron Brooks, Andrew Bogut, Josh Smith, or Kevin Durant, but it's a good gesture on the Timberwolves part that says, "we support our players". For a franchise that for so many years was the model for ineptitude (with all respects to the Clippers), this is a step in the right direction. It's the second best campaign they've ever done, that I can remember, behind the awesome KG4MVP campaign (those KG4MVP license plates were frickin sweet!). With that thought on my mind, I had to watch Derok's awesome "Can You Feel It?" video that the Wolves played on the Target Center scoreboard before games during the 2004 playoff run. It still gives me goosebumps.
The Gainseville Sun takes a look at the former Gator's career thus far
The 6-foot-9 Brewer has flourished at shooting guard in the triangle offense that Rambis brought from the Los Angeles Lakers. In the process, Brewer has put together some YouTube highlight-reel dunks over Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher and Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez.
"That's why I loved Florida because we pressed, I got to get out on the break, got a lot of dunks," Brewer said. "Now to be able to do it in the NBA, to actually get some highlights, it's good."
Click Read More to view the rest of today's links...
"No doubt the losing wears on you," Wolves guard Ramon Sessions said. "We need a win. Nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for us."
The Wolves (14-60) also had 16-game losing streaks in 1991-92 and during a stretch that covered the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The team has not won since a 91-88 victory at Miami on Feb. 23. Unless the Wolves find a way to beat Sacramento on Wednesday night at Target Center, they will finish 0-14 in March.
Well... we need to win Wednesday night to stop the streak, as well as stop a winless month of March. Is it possible? We play the Sacto Queens at Target Center, so if not now... then never.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The New Jersey Nets notched their 10th victory Monday night, avoiding any chance of tying for the worst record in NBA history by beating the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 90-84.
Bummer. We at least had that to fall back on, for a while.
Don't feel bad if you haven't been watching the games...
Here's a recap of the last three losses from Howlin' T-Wolf:
So how bad is bad? Well it’s pretty bad. The Wolves will need to find a way to pull themselves together and win one more game of the last 8 to not finish with the lowest win total in franchise history. If it doesn’t come Wednesday night against the Kings I really don’t know where they’re going to get it.
Tell it like it is. I can't blame you there. And to answer his question, it's been VERY BAD.
Corey Brewer for Most Improved Player??? Wait... what?
Yet that's what the team will propose today when it launches a campaign with voting media members to promote third-year guard Corey Brewer for the league's Most Improved Player award.
Call me a "Hater", but I just don't really see any scenario where this possibly happens. Nice show of moral support by the Wolves organization though! Better than nothing, I guess.
Interview with Jonny Flynn from NBA.com:
Please click "Read More" for more Wolves news and info from Around the NBA...
It's been a week since TWB 3.0 launched, and while our members are enjoying the new style and we're seeing better traffic numbers than ever before, not everyone has been thrilled with the new format. You see, the fact that TWB has upped its game and found new life has apparently drawn the ire of our so-called "friends" over at Hoopus who have been working to subvert this blog for quite some time. Not only did their plan to lure away our leading writer and rule Timberwolves-blogdom backfired by creating an even more formidable competitor for them to deal with, but they also took issue with the fact that we called them out on their charades publicly. Apparently, we were supposed to just sit here and take their betrayal quietly.
A lot has been made over the past week about the brewing "feud" between TWB and Hoopus. To be quite honest, my initial post last week was pretty mild and hardly something to start a war over. I didn't name-call. I didn't insult. I simply stated that after we helped build up their site and had worked amicably along side of them, Hoopus made a play to poach our lead writer, nothing more. I'd be happy to leave it at that, but frankly, with the way some of my friends have been treated this past week by the boys at Hoopus, it's time to set the record straight and lay the smacketh down. And who better to help me do the job than the greatest, most-electrifying man in sports entertainment: The Rock!
So, Rock, what do you have to say to Wyn and Stop-n-pop?
Interesting... I never knew the Hoopus guys were French, but now that I do, everything that happened this past week makes a whole lot more sense. You see, in America, we value Freedom of Speech. If somebody posts something in the comments on TWB, we let them have their say. As long as it's not expletive-laden, racist, or some other form of extremely offensive material, we let it slide. Heck, we even let the spambot have his say about home mortgages last week! Unfortunately, for us Americans, over at the Napoleonic Crepis Frenchus, you're only allowed to speak if they deem you "worthy" of commenting. They pick and choose who can contribute. Sure, when they ban you or delete your comments, they'll say it was because you were "being mean or name-calling". Yet the proof is in the pudding, and when they let this comment about Roundhouse stand...
Are you serious??? You can’t make stuff like that up. I thought there was something very bizarre about what he was saying and then you show up to take his side!! I was going to comment on what he said, but obviously there’s no need. I actually was starting to feel bad that I wasn’t taking him seriously. But then, who is that on the horizon? It’s the man who couldn’t sell steak in a famine! The man who couldn’t argue that Hitler was a bad guy without offending every Jew on the Internet! Please! Tell me more about the way things are! I need to know! I NEED TO KNOW!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Seriously, thank you that was maybe my personal favorite moment on this site. Hey, I have a request! Could you come up with another funny, pottymouth name for this site? Anus Poopus was great, it was. But I know that with such tearjerkingly unique insight into everyday life, such as what you possess, that was just a t-shirt in Liberace’s closet. More. MORE. MORE MORE. I WANT MORE. I WANT MORE. I WANT MORE!!!!! MOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOR
...and then proceeded to ban Roundhouse for life for the rather mild, and frankly, appropriate, response: "Looks like somebody forgot to take his meds", it's pretty clear that there's a double standard. Also, in the spirit of "not being mean" it's apparently kosher for Stop-n-pop to repeatedly refer to Dave and Mike as dogs. Maybe that's some sort of French compliment that I'm not aware of, but in the good ol' U.S. of A., that comes across as highly hypocritical. The argument will probably be made that Dave, Mike, and Roundhouse are commenting "off-topic". It's difficult to tell after all the deleting and manipulating of the thread that's been done, but this whole incident started with some very on-topic discussion of NCAA basketball. It was the maniacal rant above that moved the conversation away from basketball. Oddly enough, that person continues to be allowed to comment at will. Clearly the posting policies at Hoopus have little to do with the quality of what's being posted and quite a bit to do with whether or not Stop-n-pop likes you. Stop-n-pop will counter that it's his site and he can do what he likes. It's his game and he can decide who to gets to play ball.
Rock, what do you have to say about that?
Here at TWB, we've posted thousands and thousands of posts. We have thousands and thousands of forum comments. I don't even need one hand to count the number of people we've policed or banned, because that number is zero. You want to say something that we think is idiotic? Go ahead. You want to call us out on something? Be our guest. The lunatic who ranted above has visited our site and trashed us in our own comments and we let it stand. Why? Because we built this site for the fans and we believe the fans should be allowed to speak their minds. This concept is in stark contrast to Hoopus where Stop-n-pop openly admits, and I quote...
It [Canis Hoopus] was created first and foremost for Wyn and I
And that, right there, sums it all up. It explains why we were happy to co-exist with Hoopus and work side by side, while they felt the need for years to make several "sneak" plays to poach our lead writer at the expense of severely hurting this site and the people who did everything possible to help them out when they were a young blog. It wasn't good enough that Wolves fans had several good blogs to read, several good forums to chat in, and a thriving online community overall. No. It all had to be on their site, using their rules, where they could dictate who and what was discussed.
That right there is the fundamental difference between Hoopus and TWB. We've absorbed other blogs in the past, but we've always taken the entire group. We've never cherry-picked one writer and screwed the rest over. We've never built this blog at the expense of other fans who were doing their best to also cover the team. We've never silenced those who disagree with us. We've never tried to control the direction of a discussion to suit our purposes Every decision we make, we make for our fellow fans, and we make it out in the open without any hidden agenda.
Before I move onto the Daily Links, I'd like to address a couple of points that have been brought up this past week...
Isn't this just sour grapes on the part of TWB?
I've heard so many people say this. It's ridiculous. If you're going to use a term, at least know what it means. "Sour Grapes" is a term used when somebody bad-mouths something good, just because they can't have it. "Sour Grapes" would be if we said things like "Sonia wasn't that good anyway". We never said that. Quite the opposite, actually, as we've done nothing but thank her for the solid work she put in for nearly three years. All we said was that we were stabbed in the back, which is the truth. Otherwise, in the post last week, nothing negative was even said about Hoopus.
Why go public with the "behind-the-scenes" action?
Because TWB 3.0 was created as a direct result of Hoopus' betrayal. We're dedicated to not holding anything back, and you can't explain the new version of this site in full without bringing up that topic. It would be like explaining the Celtics 2008 title without mentioning the KG trade.
Why do people have to side with TWB or Hoopus? Can't we just all get along?
We aren't asking anybody to take sides. We aren't asking anyone to stop visiting Hoopus. Whether I agree with the philosophy behind the site or not, it's still a good site. In fact, it's even better now that Sonia's on board. Honestly, the end result of all of this is that Wolves fans win. They get both the Hoopus/Sonia combo, as well as the new and improved TWB 3.0. It's more quality coverage than ever.
So what's the point of this post then?
To call out the Hoopus guys for their ridiculous treatment of Roundhouse, Dave, and Mike the past few days. As fellow members of the TWolves Nation, Wyn and Stop-n-pop have free reign to come over to this site and say pretty much whatever they want. Why aren't my fellow bloggers shown the same respect? Hoopus states they have no beef with us and are taking the "high road". Prove it. Man up, unban Roundhouse, and stop deleting their fairly benign comments. That's the high road.
Umm... Does this really need to be a front-page post on your site?
Maybe not, but I can guaranteed you that this post is far more interesting to read than a recap of our 16th straight loss. At TWB 3.0, we're breaking up the mundane flow of depressing Wolves news with colorful commentary and off-topic fun. Today's off topic fun just happens to involve vintage video clips of the Rock mocking French people. If you don't care about this stuff, then don't read it. Chances are that if you've made it this far into the post, you're at least a bit intrigued.
And now, your daily links, after the jump. Click on "Read More" to view them...
Rambis Behind the Darko Acquisition, Envisions Al-Darko Frontcourt
(AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)
This is very encouraging news. Sounds like Darko wants to be here and Rambis envisions a Big Alcoholic-Darko frontcourt. The way he has yanked Love's minutes around seem to support this theory. I wouldn't be opposed to trading Love this offseason if the right trade comes along, especially with Al showing flashes of pre-injury Al lately.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are making plans to offer enigmatic center Darko Milicic a new multi-year contract this summer when he becomes a free agent, believing they can tap the potential that others saw but never could convert consistently.
"He has provided us with something we sorely needed. He has the height and size and mobility,'' Wolves coach Kurt Rambis told FanHouse Friday. "He can play well at both ends of the floor. He gives us what we need at center. We've shown him that he could fit in well here.''
Rambis is the one who pushed the front-office to take Milicic from New York, even though the Knicks had soured on him. Rambis made it clear he wants him back next season. And a Timberwolves source confirmed their plans to try and re-sign him this summer.
His tone about leaving for Europe has changed dramatically since coming to Minnesota, and he said Friday that returning to the Wolves next season was looking more likely.
"This is a good thing for me here right now. I think me and Al (Jefferson) can work well together next season,'' he told FanHouse Friday. "I've always just wanted the chance to play, and play the right way. It looks like I can get that here. They trust me. If they are going to play me this much, and have any kind of goals to be a winning team, then I would like to come back.''
