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Written by SG
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Thursday, 28 January 2010 06:16 |
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Wolves record: 9-38
Brewer gave his second strong showing in two nights, leading the Wolves with 22 points. Kevin Love scored 20 in a reserve role, and Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes had 14 apiece.
Still, none of it was enough to keep the Cavs down for long.
"Cleveland's length, size and driving capabilities gave them way too many points in the paint and that that was the telling sign of the ballgame," said Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis. "It's awful tough to stop a team that has that much."
Ultimately, predictably, they were overcome by a tall, talented team that plays a brand of basketball with which these Wolves are utterly unfamiliar.
The Timberwolves played much better after being blown out by 33 in New York and 27 at Milwaukee in their previous games, but gave up 60 points in the paint and lost their fifth straight.
"I was much more pleased with their effort," Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said. "I was happier with the way they played. A lot of it has to do with their mental approach and focus. I like the way our guys fought."
James recorded another of his signature chase-down blocks in the first quarter. The latest victim was Brewer, who appeared to be on his way to an easy breakaway bucket when James raced down the floor, caught the unsuspecting swingman from behind and swatted his shot out of bounds.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 18:39 |
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Dime: You told me that over the summer.
AJ: I did say that!? What I say?
Dime: You said that you thought you guys could maybe compete for the playoffs.
AJ: I said that!? Oh man…it was too hot there in Mississippi (laughs). Nah…you know, I don’t think it’s too much of a disappointing season, it’s more of a learning season. There’s a new offense, new coaches, new players. So, we’ve been just trying to get used to everything. We’re getting used to it now though.
From FSN: Love, Flynn to participate in All-Star festivities Joining Flynn on the Rookie team this year are Chicago's Taj Gibson, Detroit's Jonas Jerebko, Golden State's Stephen Curry, Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings, Oklahoma City's James Harden, Sacramento's Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi and San Antonio's DeJuan Blair.
Love's teammates on the Sophomore squad are Chicago's Derrick Rose, the L.A. Clippers' Eric Gordon, Memphis's Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo, Miami's Michael Beasley, New Jersey's Brook Lopez, New York's Danilo Gallinari and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook.
From TrueHoop:I also can't help but note that Flynn has put up some box-score stats, but by dribbling the ball almost all game long for one of the NBA's worst teams. If you were to switch their teams -- put Flynn on the solid Nuggets, and have Lawson play long minutes running the Timberwolves -- I can't help but think Lawson would be playing on All-Star Friday.
9. Jonny Flynn, Timberwolves | Rookie card
Flynn is experiencing an up-and-down month. Want proof? Over a seven-day, five-game stretch recently, he made just 6 of 37 shots in three of the games. And in the other two, he made 11 of 23.
The Knicks have long coveted Rubio as their point guard of the future. Kahn contends he expects Rubio to play two seasons with Barcelona, which is one of the top teams in Europe. A person familiar with the situation said if Rubio somehow signs with Minnesota this summer, Kahn will shop Sessions.
Timberwolves president David Kahn fielded a call from his Knicks counterpart, and former boss in Indiana, Donnie Walsh, the day after last year’s draft and said he delivered a message he maintains to this day about Walsh bringing teen-age point guard Ricky Rubio to New York.
"What kind of trade could you possibly even propose?" Kahn said Tuesday he told Walsh.
In other words, the Knicks didn’t (and still don’t) have anything he wants for the 6-foot-4 Spanish guard, whom Kahn drafted fifth overall last year, one pick ahead of his current point guard, Jonny Flynn.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 17:54 |
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Minnesota Timberwolves rookie guard Jonny Flynn and second-year forward Kevin Love have been selected to play in the 2010 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Friday, Feb. 12 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
"Our entire franchise is pleased Jonny and Kevin have been recognized for their play this season and have been selected to the Rookie-Sophomore Game," Wolves head coach Kurt Rambis said. "This is a testament to the commitment and hard work they put into developing their games every day. It is a well-deserved honor that they both should be extremely proud of. Jonny and Kevin are talented young players who have bright futures in front of them."
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Written by College Wolf
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 06:44 |
 Invitation to the Mailbag Party...
Time for the next TWolvesblog Open Mailbag for anyone that is interested in sending any questions and/or thoughts, and I'll anwer them as soon as I get a sufficient amount of submissions. Don't be afraid to send stuff in (I don't want to have to make stuff up!) Heck, I promise that I'll even answer them all... I'm like an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Well my friends... it has been a looooooooooooooooong time since the last mailbag, so I apologize for that. Otherwise, I hope you all don't hate me, and let's get it poppin! The NBA season is in full swing and the Wolves don't even have the worst record in the league! There are almost limitless talking points for our awesome and exciting, uptempo, fan-favorite team, so there's no excuse for not sending SOMETHING in. Since the last mailbag, we even have a real coach and GM (at least, I think they legit. Maybe.) Actually, I don't even care what you send to be honest. Personal questions, dating advice (not recommended, for your sake), pointless questions, school homework, anything. I'm here for you. The talking points are endless... The more you send me, the better the mailbag...
P.S. If all else fails, just email me some funny Haiku's.
P.S.S. Or you can just email me and tell me that I suck. It's all good.
Email all inquiries/Mail Bag questions/comments/hate mail to:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Previous Editions of the Mailbag can be found:
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here
And here (First edition. Ollllld skool)
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 05:47 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game at Cleveland
Game previews:
From Chris Sheridan/TrueHoop: Kahn won't trade Al Jefferson, unless ... Kahn acknowledged that the Wolves have received offers for Jefferson, but he emphasized that he is not looking to trade the 25-year-old cornerstone of the franchise.“I think Al actually backed up exactly the conversation we had face-to-face in Denver a couple of weeks ago, and that was as follows: ‘Al, I am not looking to trade you, and that’s the truth. I haven’t made one phone call all year long proposing a deal that involved Al Jefferson, and I won’t do so this year,’ " Kahn said.
“I also said ‘At the same time, Al, you know, though, that I can’t control this totally. If somebody calls and makes us an offer that is so obvious, we have to do it. And he said ‘Of course, I know that, David. You can never promise that.’”
• Kahn reiterated to New York reporters he expects draft pick Ricky Rubio -- whom the Knicks sought and who wanted to play in New York -- to wear a Wolves uniform someday. "I mean no disrespect to the Knicks and Donnie, but what kind of trade could they propose?" Kahn asked.
• Flynn unveiled a pair of blue suede basketball shoes Tuesday. He called them "throwback" sneakers that follow the theme of the 1989-90 jersey the Wolves wore once again.
From Alex Raskin/Hoopsworld:
When asked about Flynn before the game, Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said that he thought the rookie out of Syracuse was "good" but added, "I don't think he was really in our mix (in last year's draft).
"Not because he wasn't good," D'Antoni continued. "It was just we had other ideas, but he's turned out to be a very nice player."
From the Timberwolves site: Jonah Ballow and John Focke discuss the Wolves' upcoming road trip, reaction to the All-Star voting results, the improving Bobcats, and the Lakers' recent struggles in this week's edition of 5-on-5 (AUDIO)
SS: Who is the toughest player you've had to guard so far?
Jonny Flynn: I'd have to say Deron Williams. He has size, strength, the ability to switch directions, shoot the ball off screens, and post up. He has every facet of the game.
Part of the reason the Knicks were so gung-ho on Sessions was his relationship with assistant coach Dan D'Antoni, who coached him in Myrtle Beach AAU ball.
"Like any player, he feels he could be playing more,'' Wells said of Sessions. "But w e're happy with the deal he got. In my heart, he should be getting more minutes.''
A Cannon Falls, Minn., man best known as the public address announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves will vie for a state Senate seat this fall.
Rod Johnson announced Tuesday that he will seek the Republican endorsement for the seat being vacated by Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 05:45 |
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Wolves record: 9-37
Corey Brewer made 9 of 10 shots for 22 points in yet another lopsided defeat for the Timberwolves, who lost by 33 at Milwaukee on Saturday. They have surrendered 120 points 12 times this season and lost by 20 or more 11 times.
Ramon Sessions finished with 20 points and fellow reserve Sasha Pavlovic had 16.
``We knew that they just lost by 50 at home, so we knew they were going to come out with some kind of start,'' Sessions said. ``But that start didn't end. They kept it up for the whole game.''
Tonight, the Knicks started by scoring the game's first 15 points, a burst that convinced Kurt Rambis to make practically a complete line change (sorry, I'm mixing my sports and perhaps my metaphors) by removing every starter but Jonny Flynn and inserting four subs just three minutes into the game.
The starters got clobbered -- Al Jefferson scored a season-low four points in fewer than 24 minutes -- and the reserves didn't fare much better.
"I don't know, man, I really don't know," starting small forward Damien Wilkins said. "We've got to get off to better starts. For some reason, I think we think we're the '92 Bulls. We don't get on the floor quick enough to warm up. We stay in the locker room and procrastinate. We joke around and play around too much at shootarounds."
Is that symptomatic of a young and unprofessional team?
"That may be," Wilkins said. "But I hate to blame youth for anything. All of us have been in situations before where we've won. Jonny won in college. Wayne [Ellington] won in college. Everyone on this team has been on teams where they've won at different levels. To me it has nothing to do with youth.
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 26 January 2010 02:13 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game at the Knicks
Game previews:
Flynn has started all 45 games for the Wolves (9-36) this season. He started both seasons at Syracuse, so New York fans will be used to seeing him on the floor for extensive minutes.
Flynn's 14.2 scoring average is third in the NBA among rookies, behind Sacramento's Tyreke Evans (20.7) and Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings (17.9). He ranks fourth among rookies in assists (4.2), behind Jennings (6.2), Evans (4.9) and Golden State's Stephon Curry (4.5).
You can bet the Knicks will be ready to play tonight, and not just because of Flynn's return. Dallas dealt the Knicks a 50-point beating Sunday night at the Garden; the Mavericks' 128-78 win was the Knicks' worst home defeat in franchise history.
Earlier this month, Yahoo! Sports reported the Pacers had turned down the Wolves' offer of Jefferson for Danny Granger, a report Wolves boss David Kahn vehemently denied. On Monday, the Arizona Republic named the Wolves as one of three teams -- Cleveland and Golden State were the others -- who have inquired about Amare Stoudemire.
Kahn says he will use this entire season to evaluate the team. Jefferson knows, though, that the Wolves will consider all options to leverage the vast salary-cap space cleared for this summer now if they can add the correct star player.
"He has been honest with me," Jefferson said of Kahn. "We both know you can be traded. He doesn't come telling me, 'Al, we would never trade you.' Last conversation I had with him, he told me he wasn't talking about trading me to Indiana. But he's not going to make a promise that he'll never trade me because this is how the business is.
Expect Kahn to inquire about all the possibilities -- don't believe him when he says he's going to take all of this season to evaluate his team -- before Feb. 18 in an effort to leverage that approaching salary-cap space with a fire-sale player now.
Stoudemire, Kevin Martin, Andre Iguodala, Monta Ellis, all those guys and more likely will be dangled in the coming 24 days.
Oh, yes, add Jefferson to that list as well.
Despite a published report indicating the Knicks are showing renewed interest in Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, a representative for Rubio's agency in Spain says he isn't likely to land at Madison Square Garden anytime soon.
"Minnesota knows what they have so I don't see his rights getting traded so easily," said Tim Shea, a former Knicks European scout and a representative for Rubio's agency in Spain. "The New York Knicks are not any better off in getting him than anyone else in the league."
Lots of teams have interest in Amare - Cavs, Pistons & Wolves have strong interest. But he'd have to agree to stay.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 25 January 2010 18:04 |
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Some teams are hesitant to trade for Stoudemire for fear he won’t want to re-sign with them this summer. The Minnesota Timberwolves lead that group of teams, sources say. The Wolves are mostly eyeing small forwards, including the Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay(notes), the Bulls’ Luol Deng(notes) and the Washington Wizards’ Caron Butler(notes). No one is untouchable on the Wolves roster, sources say.
From NBA.com: NBA Style with Kevin Love (video)
Ricky Rubio, whom the Wolves drafted sixth, is playing in Spain this season, switching teams to FC Barcelona. That actually turned out well for the Knicks, who are still marking his progress.
Knicks international scout Kevin Wilson, who's responsible for their pick of Danilo Gallinari, lives in Barcelona and the Regal Barcelona team is his hometown club. It has been well-documented Wilson is friends with the Rubio family and Ricky's parents would love to see the Timberwolves deal him to New York.
Wilson is in town this week as the Knicks have their scouting meetings as a prelude to the Feb. 19 trading deadline and discussing available point guards will be a priority.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 25 January 2010 04:33 |
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A league source said Golden State, Minnesota and Cleveland have shown interest in acquiring Suns power forward Amar'e Stoudemire.
Major hang-ups in a possible deal are the Suns' need to get good value in return and the other team's need to feel secure in knowing it has a chance to keep Stoudemire, who can opt out of his contract this summer.
From Howlin' T-Wolf: Building a Champion… Without Signing a Big-Time Free Agent
In fact, only the Suns (eight) and Warriors (10) have surrendered 120 points even half as often as the Wolves, but those teams have a reasonable alibi. Phoenix (No. 1) and Golden State (No. 3) rank among the NBA leaders in scoring; for them, allowing plenty of points is a side effect of their go-go style. But Minnesota ranks 25th in scoring. The Wolves, who had only four 120-point games allowed last season, give up points simply because they have trouble stopping anyone.
"Our guys aren't able to sustain the energy and the focus and the intensity," coach Kurt Rambis said after Saturday's loss. "We have a difficult time being able to muster up the energy."
Particularly on the road, and particularly lately...
When the Timberwolves' schedule was released last August, Jonny Flynn searched for one date before any other. "I had to see when we go to Madison Square Garden, first thing," the rookie said. "I've been looking forward to it ever since."
Lots of NBA players anticipate their moment on the league's most famous court. But Flynn has already had several, most notably his 34-point performance in Syracuse's six-overtime victory over Connecticut in the Big East quarterfinals last March.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 24 January 2010 19:07 |
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After a scoring lull on the Wolves' last road trip, rookie point guard Jonny Flynn averaged 19.7 points during Minnesota's three home games last week, and it's not a coincidence. Flynn has added a new weapon to his scoring arsenal: a teardrop floater.
"Being a little guy, I realize now it's a shot I have to have in this league," the 6-foot Flynn said of the on-the-run jumper, designed to take a high arc toward the basket. "A lot of times big guys were coming across the lane, putting their hands up. And even if I jump, I'm still not as high as they are. So I decided to work on a teardrop to deal with it."
The coaching staff suggested the addition, Rambis said, because Flynn frequently charged into the lane, mostly in hopes of drawing fouls. "He was absorbing a lot of contact when bigs were coming over," Rambis said, "and he wasn't having much success with it."
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