Columnists
Sonia Grover started her Wolves site, "I Heart KG", in 2006. In the wake of the big trade, she moved over to TWolves Blog and brought her column,
"Wolves Daily News"
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Derek Hanson, the founder of TWolves Blog, delivers his optimistic and often inspiring take on the Wolves in his column,
"DeROK's One Shot"
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Dave Kelsey, life-long Wolves fan, season ticket holder, and forum post champion gives his humorous take on the Wolves and life in general in
"Club Seating with College Wolf"
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Jeremy Knutson packed up his stuff from the Old Wolves Logo, drove over to the TWolves Blog, unloaded the car, and now invites you to come along for a ride through the NBA in his
"Hoop De Ville"
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Rob Brewer and Neil Olstad launched the first-ever Minnesota Timberwolves podcast back in 2007. After acheiving critical acclaim with "The Kissing Marney Gellner Show", the duo decided bring their act to TWolves Blog.
"Timberwolves Today"
Jon Marthaler considers Mark Madsen to be the absolute height of comedy - high praise, since he's been observing Timberwolf follies for almost two decades. When not watching Mad Dog brick free throws, he writes at TNABACG. Now you can find him here on TWolves Blog with his column,
"Both Teams Played Hard"
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Sonia
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Posted by SG
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Saturday, 26 January 2008 |
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Perkins' game-high 21 points and, most important, his putback with 16.6
seconds remaining ended the Wolves' only winning streak of the season
after they positioned themselves for the fourth time in a week to win.
This time, they were undone also by a rookie mistake, too many
offensive rebounds allowed and a game-ending defensive play by Garnett,
who plucked his Celtics No. 5 jersey (the league's best seller, you
know?) by his thumbs and displayed it to a joyous sellout crowd after
swatting the ball away from Sebastian Telfair.
Wolves record: 7-35
For most of the night, it was difficult to tell which team was the
inexperienced one with the worst record in the league and which was the
veteran-stacked squad with the league's best mark, as the Celtics
amassed 22 turnovers.
Down 86-83, the Celtics missed several shots near the basket before
Pierce converted on a lay-up to bring the Celtics within one with 23.2
seconds left.
In one of the rarest end-of-game plays you’ll ever see, Corey Brewer
failed to inbound the ball in time and was called for a five-second
violation, giving the Celtics a chance to take the lead.
Allen drove the lane and misfired on a floater, but Kendrick Perkins
dunked it home to put the Celtics up, 87-86 with 16.6 seconds left.
On Minnesota's last possession, the Celtics double-teamed Al Jefferson
and forced him to give it up. Sebastian Telfair couldn't handle an
errant pass, and Garnett chased the ball past midcourt and knocked it
away as time expired.
The leading vote-getter for next month's All-Star Game, Garnett
finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds despite leaving the game for
four minutes late in the fourth quarter because of an abdominal strain.
"It felt like I got sniped from the rafters or something, you know,''
Garnett said. "I just had a sharp pain come from my stomach and I just
wanted the doctors to look at it. They looked at it and said I was
fine, so I came back out.''
55 Total points for the four former Celtics players sent to the
Wolves in the Garnett trade who played Friday. Sebastian Telfair had 18
points, Al Jefferson 15, Ryan Gomes 13 and Gerald Green nine.
THIRD QUARTER, 9:47 REMAINING
Garnett and Jefferson, side by side on the
free-throw lane while Kendrick Perkins shoots, jabber at each other
enough that official Jack Nies calls a technical foul on each.
Garnett, staring wide-eyed at the man he replaced in Boston, made loud
reference to 11 years - perhaps to let Jefferson know about his string
of All-Star appearances. Jefferson, never once looking back, responded
with a, “Keep talking,” followed by a choice 12-letter expletive.
Jefferson, worked over by Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins, sat in
silence at his locker for a long time after it was over, probably
thinking about what might have been.
``We played well,'' he said. ``We just made some stupid mistakes at the
end.'' Jefferson was held to 15 points, six less than his average.
After the game, the Timberwolves were not hanging their head. Head coach Randy Wittman was proud of his team's effort -- it's hard to be disappointed when they upset the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and come thisclose to upsetting the league's best team two nights later. In the T'Wolves locker room, the players seemed ok with the loss and acknowledged their efforts against a tough opponent. There were also still plenty of smiles as former Celtics caught up with members of the Boston media.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 26 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Friday, 25 January 2008 |
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In that sense, the unwanted reunion Friday could not have come at a
better time for the Wolves. Boston is just 4-4 since Jan. 5. It lost at
home to Toronto Wednesday and has another key game at Orlando Sunday.
Meanwhile, Minnesota is basking in its first winning streak of the
season -- two in a row! -- after beating Golden State Monday in
Oakland, then dumping Phoenix (for the second time this season)
Wednesday in Minneapolis. Jefferson had 39 points and 15 rebounds
against the Suns, solidifying his status as one of just five 20-10 men
in the NBA.
"There's this whole Celtics conspiracy that McHale will be president in
two years," Rivers said. "Kevin McHale wanted to get the best young
player he could get if he was going to trade Kevin Garnett. He got him.
There was a not another young player he could have gotten better than
Al Jefferson, and he got other players with that."
As for tonight, Jefferson said: "That would be real special [to beat
Boston]. We beat the best team in the West [Wednesday]. Why not try to
go beat the best team in the East?"
Somebody asked the Big Ticket at the Celtics’ Waltham, Mass., training
center yesterday about his emotions entering tonight’s big game that
also features four young former Celtics coming back to the Garden and
he said, “I’ve got nothing for you.” Maybe he was saving it all for
tonight. “They say it’s one of 82,” former teammate Mark Madsen said.
“But if you don’t emotional for a game with meaning like this, your
heart’s not beating.”
Garnett said that other than Mark ‘‘Mad Dog’’ Madsen, Rashad McCants and Craig Smith, he just doesn’t know that team.
‘‘Mad Dog is a teammate that sticks out, but other than that, that’s a brand new team. That’s just what it is.’’
The Celts faced the Timberwolves in London during the pre-season, but
this is the first regular-season meeting. Although the Timberwolves
have won only seven games, they’re coming off Wednesday’s win over
Phoenix - their second this season. The Celts say they’re not taking
Minnesota lightly. ‘‘You can’t really look at their record and think
they’re not a good team,’’ said Perkins. ‘‘They just haven’t learned
how to win yet. I think they’ve got talent. I just think we’ve gotta
come ready to play.’’
With the Timberwolves' matchup with the Eastern Conference-leading
Boston Celtics at Target Center just two weeks away, Toyota and the
Timberwolves will offer fans a unique chance to win previously
unavailable tickets to this highly anticipated game. They will be
rewarding 50 lucky fans that tune in to watch tomorrow night's road
game against the Celtics at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston (6:30
p.m. CST on KSTC Ch. 45) with a pair of free tickets.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Friday, 25 January 2008 |
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We didn't do a whole lot of contact today because of our schedule, but
Randy has been doing a little. He's down there playing 3-on-3 and
increasing activity as his knee allows and so far he's said no pain.
I'm not sure (if he'll make the trip to Boston).
Ball In Europe asked several hoops bloggers to give a one word description of European basketball and compiled all the answers into an amusing post.
Attendance for the Wolves' victory over Phoenix on
Wednesday was announced at 15,101. For the season, the Wolves are
averaging 14,795. Last season, with Garnett, the Wolves averaged 15,999.
"I feel good for the loyal fans who have told me
they're excited about these young guys and that they're looking forward
to their improvement," Taylor said. "It was interesting looking at the
floor after the Phoenix game and seeing all those young guys out there.
I hope they continue to build on that confidence. Our goal is to build
attendance next year as these guys improve."
Taylor said he won't measure this season in wins and losses.
"And I mean that," he said. "Even though there's still a lot of satisfaction when you're rewarded with a win."
McHale and the Wolves are targeting 2009 as the
summer to lure big-name free agents with projected salary cap space. As
McHale noted, Jefferson signed for less than the league maximum, which
should give the team more flexibility.
General manager Jim Stack, who oversees the team's
salary cap, said it's too early to say how much cap space the Wolves
might have in 2009. Some of that depends on which players the Wolves
re-sign after this season.
The Wolves' restricted free agents are Telfair,
Smith, Gomes and Chris Richard. The Wolves can re-sign those players by
matching any offers from another team.
On Wednesday rookie Corey Brewer had one of his best games as a pro, hitting six of 11 shots in the Wolves' victory over Phoenix. Brewer, who has struggled with his shooting all season, apparently gave a sneak preview the day before in practice.
"I don't think he missed a shot," said assistant coach Jerry Sichting. "He must have made 10 in a row. Everyone was kind of joking, you know, saying, 'Do it in a game.' And then he went out and did it in the game."
Al Jefferson said the recent success has been because the team didn't give up like it had in some games this season.
"We didn't get that game in Denver [a 111-108 loss Saturday]; we should
have had it. It's all about not giving up," said Jefferson, who scored
39 points in Wednesday's 117-107 victory over Phoenix.
"Teams are too good in this league and so they're going to make runs.
What we were doing is when they make a run, we put our heads down
thinking it was over instead of just keep playing. So I think that's
been the difference. Plus [good] defense, helping each other."
That Minnesota is rebuilding this season is no secret; the Wolves knew
they'd face a tough challenge in bringing such a young team together.
But, as has been clear of late, the Wolves are taking steps towards
understanding how to play with one another; for example, teammates like
Jaric and Telfair have learned when to force-feed Jefferson the ball.
"(Some teams) have nobody that can guard him on the post," said
Telfair. "He's already a dominant post player in the first place, but
when other teams don't have a big guy to bang with him, we have to take
advantage."
Al Jefferson is going to be a really good player. Yes, they got
something. But he'll likely be the only one from the deal with the
Celtics left when Minnesota even has a chance to compete. And that's
assuming they don't waste their draft picks this time.
It's a shame when a team gives up like this. I believe there were many
better deals for Garnett. A team never gets value for a superstar, but
geez. The Bulls were desperate for years and one time were offering
Luol Deng, Tyson Chandler and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft.
Last summer, the Lakers offered Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, and we've
already seen that Bynum is growing into an elite center and you don't
find those often. Bynum, Odom and, say, Foye would have been a nice
three-player core to begin building around.
“In Al you get a franchise guy you can really build around - a low-post
presence, a guy who rebounds the ball,” he said. “You’ve got to
understand he came out of high school and he’s only in his fourth year.
Al has a great upside and you can tell by how he’s doing things this
year he’s going to be an All-Star definitely in this league.
“I think his work ethic has got a lot better, just learning what it
takes to survive in this league and what he has to do on a
night-in-and-night-out basis to be a great player. Al’s been playing
really well this year. I think if he was on another team he’d probably
be an All-Star. He’s putting up some great numbers. He’s just building
on what he did last season for us. He’s one of the rare 20-10 guys in
the league.”
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Friday, 25 January 2008 |
Five Timberwolves in uniform have spent significant time playing for
the Celtics, and they will certainly know their way around the building
when they get there for the game on Friday night.
"It's going to be fun, going back to Boston on a two-game win streak,"
said forward Al Jefferson, the centerpiece of July's 7-for-1 trade that
sent Garnett to the Celtics. "We have got our confidence up now and I
think we can go in there and give them a great game, maybe come out
with a victory."
All four appear happy to be right where they are, even though Boston is chasing greatness while the Wolves rebuild.
"I was glad from Day 1," Jefferson said after Wolves practice Thursday.
"Boston and Minnesota are at two different levels. They're trying to
win a championship, like right now. Minnesota is looking to rebound.
[But] being traded gave me the opportunity to become a leader and to
have a team built around me."
One thing about Kevin Garnett ... when he steps on the court, he's
going as hard as he can until the end. That's one thing that I've
always respected about him. I look at (Kevin) like I look at Amaré
Stoudamire ... When you step on the court, you have to bring your 'A'
game. You have to go one hundred and ten percent.
"I try not to think of it as a big thing. We all
remember playing a lot of home games, knowing a lot of people there,
which you have to still show respect for because of the friendships you
built."
He's not sure what the reception will be like when he
and his former teammates return to Boston for the first time since the
trade.
"You never want to be booed, but sometimes when you are
booed it's a good thing. You have to take it how it comes, but you
can't let that affect what you do on the court."
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Friday, 25 January 2008 |
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“My attitude about playing (tonight’s) game is to get back on track
winning,” he said. “Obviously, we had a slippage here (in Wednesday’s
loss to Toronto). It’s just to get back on track -- nothing more,
nothing less than that.
“I want you all to understand something. A lot of the guys I played
with in Minnesota are not even on this team. It’s like a brand new
team. The personnel -- the trainers and the people behind the scenes
are probably a little more important than some of the people that are
on the court.”
Somebody asked if he had any regrets about his loyalty to the Timberwolves and his 12 years in Minnesota.
"I have no regrets for loyalty at all," he said. "I thank the fans for
being behind me. Minnesota knows they have a special place in my heart
when it comes to the people there. That's my connection there. There
always will be a connection there. Right now, I'm in Boston and I'm
enjoying it."
When the Celtics played at Seattle last month, the Sonics gave Allen a
check for his charitable foundation in a brief ceremony. Allen played 4
1/2 seasons there.
"Absolutely nothing," Garnett said when asked what he thinks the Wolves
organization will do when he returns to Target Center for the first
time two weeks from today. "And that's cool with me."
Celtics blogs take on tonight's matchup:
While Garnett downplayed the significance of meeting his old team
yesterday, you can bet it will be significant to the former Celtics (at
least the four younger ones) and the fans who made this a premium
ticket as soon as they went on sale.
And they will have at least some company inside the Celtic locker room.
"We get worked up about it too," admitted Kendrick Perkins, a former
locker neighbor of Jefferson's and one of his best friends. "Guys want
to come in from Minnesota and prove a point why they shouldn't have
gotten traded. We want to prove a point that we've got a good team
(without them)."
Celtics coach Doc
Rivers, on the other hand, needed little prompting to talk about
Garnett with the Timberwolves and the Celtics and to reminisce about
the young players he coached and Ainge traded.
“Kevin had great
years there, and part of the hang up with Kevin coming here to begin
with is because he loved Minnesota. It wasn’t that he didn’t like
Minnesota, and it was very difficult for him to give the perception
that he was bailing. To me, that was the main reason he wanted to stay.
Fortunately, he changed his mind, with a lot of calls and begging, and
he’s here. But his heart will be there. He gave most of his main career
there, so that will be different for him to come out and play against
that jersey.”
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
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Assuming Witt maintains his version of smallball, that puts Jefferson
on Kendrick Perkins, an opponent he surely has faced, and bested, many
times in practice; and Gomes on KG, who is larger and faster, etc, etc.
How do you match up Marko and McCants on Pierce and Ray Allen? It
doesn't seem like it will be pretty, but then again the C's have hit a
bit of a trough--they lost to Toronto at home tonight--and the Wolves,
well, these Wolves are playing better than ever before. Or, as Wittman
says, We've beaten the best team in the West (at least record-wise)
twice now, let's see if we can beat the best team in the East...
Somehow one of my little sister’s long lost volleyball camp
friends wanted to line me up with her friend who lived in Indianapolis.
Well, I ended up talking to Brea on the phone (fake name of
Indianapolis girl) but it didn’t ever work out that we were going to be
in the same place to meet in person. We kind of lost touch until her
dad then e-mailed me a year later and invited me out on a date with the
WHOLE FAMILY (including Brea) as a surprise for everyone...
I think we were on a long road
trip at the time and I didn’t have any nice clothes to wear to the
Dad’s favorite formal restaurant in Indianapolis. If my memory is
serving me correctly, I told my Lakers teammate Horace Grant and he
took me up to his room opened up his garment bag and hooked me up with
some of his own nice clothes and nice shoes. I don’t think the shoes
fit that well, but I’m pretty sure he tried to give me some cash to
help out at dinner or something, too! (What a great guy Horace is!) It
was a great night and we had a great time...
David Thorpe/ESPN lists Craig Smith at #7 on his list of the top 10 second-year players:
It's hard to be certain how good a player is when he plays on a
terrible team, but this much is true: Guarding Smith in the paint takes
a real commitment, because he's going to bring all of his power to the
play...
Thorpe on Foye:
Remember the argument about who should be drafted first between Foye or
Roy? I do. While Foye has talent, I never understood the debate. Foye's
current injury and his terrible team make the comparison impossible
right now, but the No. 7 pick in the 2006 draft looked like a
positionless man when he played last season.
The McLovins are now on pace for 14 victories — nowhere near the record
pace for futility — and realistically should wind up with somewhere
around 18-20 victories based on the combination of pluckiness vs. stiff
competition, the anticipated return of Randy Foye, youngster
improvement and end-of-the-season NBA apathy in other markets. Nothing
to write home about. Not even cause for, say, a postage-paid letter to
Mankato. But still more what was expected out of this season out of the
rebuilding McLovins, rather than the hideousness they were heading
towards.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
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Ratliff said he hopes he can play again by the
all-star break, which is in mid-February. The center had right knee
surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Dec. 18 and has played in just six
games this season. Ratliff said his follow-up visit with Dr. James
Andrews this week went well. No more doctor visits are scheduled. He
will continue to rehabilitate and strengthen his knee.
"He is doing more and more each day,'' Wittman said.
Also from Leighton:
Foye participated in a full-contact scrimmage for 15
minutes Tuesday, but Wittman couldn't gauge Foye's conditioning. Foye
is scheduled to scrimmage for 30 minutes today.
Wolves coach Randy Wittman has been using his small lineup almost exclusively in recent weeks, one that puts Gomes at the power forward position. That often will give him an offensive mismatch, which forces the opponent's power forward to cover him on the perimeter.
But the Wolves also have done a good job of posting up Gomes -- and getting him the ball -- when he's matched up against a smaller player. That's what happened at Golden State, where he often was guarded by Baron Davis.
And then there is Gomes' confidence, which has soared along with his
shooting percentage. Wittman's confidence in Gomes has grown, too,
which means more plays called for Gomes.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
Prince's Purple Rain, REM's Everybody Hurts, and Soul Asylum's Misery are three songs in constant rotation at the Target Center as one of the three is always played as fans are filing out after a Wolves loss. Though there is much love for Prince in the Twin Cities, fans were both relieved (the team held it together in the 4th) and excited ( consecutive wins for the first time in almost a year ) when Kool & The Gang's Celebration, a song played only five times this season, was broadcast after the game.
Al Jefferson and the Minnesota Timberwolves believe they're headed for
better days. Beating the Phoenix Suns — again — is surely a decent sign
of progress.
Jefferson had a career-high 39 points and 15 rebounds, and the
Timberwolves won two in a row for the first time this season, 117-107
over the Western Conference leaders on Wednesday night.
"I think they have kind of turned the corner," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.
Gomes had 14 points and nine boards -- five on the offensive end for a
team that out-rebounded Phoenix 48-26 and got 26 second-chance points.
Guards Marko Jaric and Telfair combined for 28 points, 18 assists ... .
and only two turnovers.
The Wolves played a crazy first half -- matching their season high of
65 points -- and a serious second half. They built a 19-point lead on
Rashad McCants' dunk midway through the fourth quarter. And when
Phoenix came with it's inevitable run? The Wolves withstood.
Wolves record: 7-34
"Coming into the fourth quarter, for us to score (29) points in a tight
game (means) we've taken steps in the right direction," Wittman
explained. "We got big contributions from everybody."
Consider this: Minnesota was averaging just 93.7 points a game for the
season (27th in the NBA), but had averaged 102.5 in its last four,
thanks in part to a smaller, more explosive lineup featuring Ryan Gomes
at the four and Jefferson at the five. That story sure continued
against Phoenix.
Minnesota scored in every which way, but was particularly impressive in
the paint, carving up the NBA's worst D in terms of points in the paint
for 56 of its own, 10 more than Phoenix's league-low average.
Ok, honestly, Minnesota played a great first half, but I found myself justified in wondering how they would lose this game. Well, they didn't lose because they are finally showing the consistent heart and effort needed to win games. With a team such as this where the talent level is not as high as most NBA squads, heart and effort can make up the difference.
The Suns are the NBA's worst rebounding team, whether it is defined by
rebounding percentage or sheer total of offensive rebounds yielded this
season. But it rarely makes the Suns look as bad as it did Wednesday,
when the Timberwolves had 22 offensive rebounds to Phoenix's three and
scored 26 second-chance points to the Suns' six.
"They beat us on the boards and beat us up," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.
28 Assists by the Wolves, one off their season high.
9 Times this season the Wolves have had a player score 30 or more points. Jefferson has done it four times.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Wednesday, 23 January 2008 |
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Taylor bought the Wolves in 1995 for $88.5 million. Today, the
franchise is worth $308 million, the Twin Cities’ second-richest pro
team. The owner would make a $220.5 million profit if he sold the club
right now, a prime example of just how whack pro sports is — you make
bonehead decisions and still make a ton of dough.
His athleticism, length, and experience gives him the edge. Look for Green to repeat.
And Minnesota players are so unhappy they're barking at media for even wanting to ask a question, not looking forward to even defending their slam dunk title, and wondering what travesty is around the corner for them. At least players were getting some playing time and development with Casey in the house. Not so with the dictatorial Wittman...
From Bill Ingram/Hoopsworld:
You'll hear a similar story from the Timberwolves, but Wittman's job isn't in as much jeopardy because the team is in complete disarray after the Kevin Garnett trade...
How long before McHale trades Al Jefferson back to the Celtics for a box of green jock straps?
Why not force-feed Gerald Green starter's minutes to accelerate his learning curve? Or is he already a lost cause?
Is McHale keeping his job only because he has photos of Glen Taylor indulging in some kind of disreputable behavior?
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 January 2008 )
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Posted by SG
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Wednesday, 23 January 2008 |
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Randy Foye scrimmaged with his teammates for about 15 pain-free minutes
Tuesday, the next step in his way back from a kneecap stress reaction
that has kept him out all season. If the knee isn’t swollen or
painful when he awakes Wednesday morning, he will proceed to increase
his workload until he can practice fully. He’s probably at least
another week away from playing...
Lang Whitaker/SLAM Online includes Rashad McCants on his list of players who " always seem to be putting in the work without being recognized."
The Wolves reach the halfway point of the season -- Game 41 in an 82-game season -- tonight against Phoenix at Target Center.
"It seems like a little bit longer than half of a season because we have six wins and it's 41 games tomorrow," said forward Ryan Gomes, who scored a career-high 35 points Monday. "That's one out of every seven games, if you're doing the numbers. We've just got to get wins and not worry that we're six-and-whatever."
Click here for the forum's game thread.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 January 2008 )
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