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Kevin Garnett
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Written by SG
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Monday, 07 January 2008 23:58 |
Is this the worst team ever? I don’t think so, but
that’s little consolation for what’s definitely the worst team in the
league today. And I say that with as much reverence as one can muster
for such a damning statement. This is a group of generally hard working
and respectable players. I’ve seen them practicing to improve their
perceived flaws before games and I’ve seen their humility after an
upset victory. This team wants to win and should definitely have more
than four so far. Their collective talent and will kept them
competitive with some of the leagues elite early in the season, however
they continually succumbed to fourth quarter pressures that fans hoped
were learning experiences for a young crew.
10,000 Takes
has launched "The Why? Campaign", a movement whose purpose is to get
Wolves owner Glen Taylor to explain why Kevin McHale is in charge of
rebuilding the team.
The Wolves' eight-game losing streak is their longest in a single
season since dropping eight in a row in Dec. 1999. The Wolves haven't
held a lead since going ahead 8-7 early against Portland on Wednesday.
They've gone more than 139 minutes of game time without leading. During
their losing streak, they've trailed 315:45 out of 384 total minutes.
The all-time worst 82 game season belongs to the 1972 - 73 Philadelphia 76ers at 9 -73.
Long time NBA writer Steve Aschburner, who currently writes for SI.com,
does not believe the Timberwolves will break that infamous record.
"It's hard to win that few and particularly now because the
Timberwolves may end up winning games in April, simply because the
other team isn't so driven to win them,"
according to Aschburner.
ESPN is updating a page throughout the season which compares the Wolves record with the Sixers' league worst season.
I'll give Kevin
McHale all the stick in the world, I called him
the worst GM in the NBA last summer and meant it, but I don't understand
for a second how Peter May thinks McHale "caved" in signing off on the deal
that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston.
Previews of tonight's game against the Heat:
Click here for the forum's game thread.
The Timberwolves (4-29) are on pace to finish with
a winning percentage below that of the 1991-92 team's .183, the
all-time lowest winning percentage among Minnesota professional sports
franchises in a regular season. Even two straight victories would keep
the Wolves on their ignominious pace.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 18 June 2008 00:05 |
Odenized has postgame video of KG winning his first NBA Championship.
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Written by Derek Hanson
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Sunday, 06 July 2008 19:40 |
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Note: This article is a solid three-weeks out of date. I could chalk it up to a busy schedule, but mostly, it took so long because it was so difficult to write. Nothing I wrote down just seemed to compare with the actual magnitude of the moment. This is my best effort at trying to put into words what that fateful night in June meant to me. It's probably not my best piece, but it's from the heart.
I was twelve years old when Kevin Garnett put on that Minnesota
Timberwolves cap on draft night. Over half my life later, my favorite
player finally won an NBA Championship. To an outsider, that may not
seem like such a phenomenal event. Championships are won in sports
multiple times a year, and the story of a long-suffering player or fan
base finally getting a taste of glory is certainly nothing new. But to
dismiss what happened on June 17th, 2008 as something common-place or
meaningless would be an incredible mistake. To those of us
Timberwolves fans who stared wide-eyed at the television screen as a
lanky teenager stumbled across the stage and shook David Stern's hand,
that night meant everything.
As sports fans, we spend an inordinate amount of time and money
discussing the team, attending games, buying merchandise, and obsessing
over every single move our front office makes. Somewhere along the way,
most of us convince ourselves that we matter as much to the team as the
team does to us. We trick ourselves into thinking that our favorite
players will be as delighted to meet us as we are when we encounter
them. The fact that we do this to ourselves is not surprising at all.
After all the investment we make into a team, it's psychologically
devastating when we actually stop and realize the people we're adoring
don't even know we exist. Instead, we just block those thoughts from
our mind and continue our charade.
"Continue Reading"
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Written by Derek Hanson
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Wednesday, 04 June 2008 10:49 |
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Note: This article appears on www.DeROK.Net
In 91 games with the Boston Celtics, Kevin Garnett was able to accomplish what he could not in over 900 games in Minnesota: reach the NBA Finals. Yet when KG made his biggest step ever towards the promised land, not a single Timberwolves fan I know felt the least bit of resentment. There was only joy. This was something we'd been waiting for since David Stern called his name that night in June of '95, and although it didn't happen the way we'd all dreamt it would, it still happened nonetheless. Blue and green or green and white - the color of the jersey didn't matter. It was all about the man inside it; the man who shed our tears, bled our blood, and bore our pain for twelve seasons, the man who came to embody everything the Minnesota Timberwolves stood for, the man who took us all to a higher place.
Perhaps the most surprising moment in all the post-game celebration was how somber Kevin Garnett appeared. This is the man who used to slam the basketball against his skull after missing free throws, who lept up on the scorer's table and waved a towel after defeating the Kings in the semi-final round in '04, who broke down sobbing because his team was under .500 in 2005. Now that he was finally headed towards The Finals after thirteen years of striving, you would expect KG to be on the brink of a seizure. Instead, he was just the opposite: stone-faced, emotionless, and distant. After thinking about Garnett's reaction for a bit, I've come to the conclusion that this was his way of "getting down to business". He was making a conscious decision to not hoot or holler about winning the Eastern Conference, because that was never his goal. From the moment that final second ticked off the clock Friday night, Kevin Garnett was focused on nothing else but winning his title. The Big Ticket will never have a better chance to raise the Larry O'Brien Trophy than he does right now and these next four to seven games could set his NBA legacy in stone. For him, the stakes have truly never been higher.
Continue Reading...
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Written by Derek Hanson
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 11:41 |
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Boston Celtics / Minnesota Timberwolves Playoff Preview
Note: This article appears on www.DeROK.Net
"I'm ready. I can't even describe it. I feel like it's rookie season all over again, with the energy I have. You guys have been talking all that bull, so I'm ready to prove all you wrong. I'm here. Hey, when stuff got tight, when Steph [Marbury] left, I'm here. When we went through the draft pick [forfeitures], I'm here. When we got put out six years in a row, I'm here. I'm going to be here until they don't want me anymore. I'm 'Sota, man. This is where I live, 365 days. I'm here. Life is tough. You can't run from everything." - Kevin Garnett in a 2002 pre-season interview
If there was any question as to why thousands upon thousands of Minnesota Timberwolves fans will be overloading the Boston Celtics' bandwagon on Sunday night, one has to look no further than the quote above for an answer. In an league where buyouts and sell-outs and trade demands are common place, Kevin Garnett refused to do anything less than be a man, honor his contract, and play his heart and soul out for his fans. Despite a multitude of pressures from the mainstream media and close friends to force his way into a better situation, Kevin Garnett stayed true to his word through his entire twelve seasons as a Minnesota Timberwolf.
I'm here. I'm going to be here until they don't want me anymore.
As incredulous as it may seem that an NBA team wouldn't want Kevin Garnett any more, that's exactly what happened over the summer of 2007. Cap-strapped, pickless, and backed into a corner, the Timberwolves' management made the decision to trade away their lone bargaining chip for a younger foundation to rebuild upon. What followed was the largest trade for a single player in NBA history. It was a move that would break the collective heart of Minnesota and revitalize a moribound Boston franchise. Through the months that followed, Wolves fans began coming to terms with the deal and learned to love their young heroes like Big Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes, but any feelings they had for the "new guys" simply paled in comparison to what the Big Ticket had meant to them during his tenure in Minnesota. There was simply no way for Garnett's replacements to wash away twelve years of an impeccable work ethic, undying loyalty, and unforgettable memories.
Continue Reading...
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