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Written by SG
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 06:11 |
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The NBA this afternoon suspended Timberwolves center Ryan Hollins for two games without pay, starting tonight against Denver, for two incidents in Monday's loss to Dallas.
Stu Jackson suspended him for punching DeShawn Stevenson in the second quarter and striking Dirk Nowitzki in the face late in the game. He received a type 2 flagrant foul for striking Nowitzki and was ejected from the game.
With a 2010 Spanish League championship, Timberwolves first-round draft choice Ricky Rubio and Regal FC Barcelona face 2010 Serbian League champion Partizan Belgrade in the final game of the Euroleague Top 16 playoff round, a game that will air on NBA TV at noon Saturday.
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Written by SG
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 06:03 |
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Wolves record:14-51
Al Jefferson had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost their seventh straight game and 13th in the last 14. Minnesota has won once since Feb. 6.
Minnesota led for much of the first three quarters, including 63-55 with under eight minutes left in the third. But the Nuggets responded with a 15-0 run bridging the third and fourth to take control.
Carmelo Anthony added 19 points, but it was the contributions of his supporting cast that proved to be the most important for the short-handed Nuggets.
While Minnesota closed the gap a little in the fourth quarter, a thunderous 360 alley-oop dunk by Smith from Billups with 4:28 to play put an exclamation point on the game and helped Denver avoid a third straight road loss. Denver has won 11 of the last 12 against Minnesota and the Wolves have now dropped seven straight games and seven in a row at home.
He is no longer a starter, and while he insists he doesn't feel like he has been demoted, he also feels less and less certain of his place in the team's offense.
"This offense has been easy to run," Love said Wednesday after the Timberwolves' seventh consecutive loss, "but hard to figure out."
Lots of things were hard for Love to figure out during Denver's 110-102 victory in Target Center -- like the brief stretch where coach Kurt Rambis assigned him to guard Carmelo Anthony, the league's third-leading scorer. "I said, 'Are you sure?'" Love said.
He was, and while the matchup, forced by Denver's decision to play a three-guard lineup, didn't last long, it coincided with the Nuggets' decisive burst of energy.
Darko Milicic replaced Ryan Hollins in the starting lineup when the league handed down a two-game suspension on the big man for the altercations against Dallas on Monday night. In 26 minutes, Milicic attacked the glass with 12 boards and affected countless close looks from the Nuggets. He could not find the range on his jump hook; however, the former No. 2 overall pick added a much-needed defensive presence for the shorthanded Wolves.
Corey Brewer extended his franchise-record streak to 29 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer and scored a team-high 21 points in the defeat. In a backup role, Wayne Ellington relieved Brewer off the bench after missing three consecutive games with an ankle injury. The rookie tallied six points and five boards as Minnesota fell to 14-51 on the season.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 07:05 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game against Denver
Game previews:
Recently, Kurt Rambis has given court time to Tucker while Wayne Ellington sits out with injury, but what does it mean for Tucker now that Ellington will be back? If he sits at the end of Minnesota’s bench for the remainder of the year unable to show his value to his current team, it may be best for him to move on to yet another team.
“You know, that would totally depend on the moves they make in the summer or if they have big aspirations for me here in the upcoming season. Of course, my agent will look into some things, but I’d love to come back. I love all these guys, they work hard and they’re trying to learn it all together. It totally depends on who they’re going to have here because I feel like I can play and that’s what I want to do. I want to be able to help a team, so if I can help this team out in any type of way from this point on, that’s what I plan on doing.”
Whatever happens for Alando Tucker this summer, one thing is for sure. He will handle it as a professional and with a great attitude.
6. Jonny Flynn, Minnesota Timberwolves
Flynn, the No. 6 pick, has been a disappointment. The conventional wisdom is that he's been hamstrung by coach Kurt Rambis' triangle offense, but the numbers don't back it up. Among rookie point guards, only Evans and Jennings have attempted more shots per minute than Flynn (yes, the deadeye Curry shoots less often) and Flynn leads all rookies in turnovers per minute -- triangle or not, he's hardly disengaged from those half-court sets.
TrueHoop talks to David Kahn about the team's 'Run with the Pack' ticket sales and renewal campaign
I don't want to say anything in defiance of the League's wishes that we stay quiet on collective bargaining. But I'll echo what the commissioner said at All-Star, there should be a more robust revenue-sharing program out of this agreement. I will say though, that having worked at Indiana for nine years, and now here, there's no question that he difference in broadcast markets has an impact on your revenues. I mean, that's just obvious. New York, L.A., Chicago, the Bay Area, they're in the top ten, and especially those first three, have the opportunity to drive revenues that simply don't exist for the rest of us. TV, radio, cable and even new media now ... ticket prices have always been a way for other markets to keep pace, but that's difficult to have that persist over a long period of time, whether there's an economic downturn or not. [In small markets] you ultimately have fewer consumers and have to keep raising prices to keep up.
I'm hopeful that the end result here is that the pricing decrease here will be made up with a fuller building and more buyers, and a better atmosphere for our team and our fans.
And I want to say this to you, really seriously. I get asked this a lot, by people as I travel with the team. How has attendance been this year? I actually think is has been better than I anticipated. I thought it would be a more difficult picture. With the exception of two or three home games, I think it has been reasonably OK. But no question, we can do better, and this is one way to do so.
The Wolves (14-50) have not won since Feb. 23 at Miami. Monday's home loss to Dallas featured 25 turnovers, including 15 in the first half. The turnovers led to the perception of a lack of focus among Wolves players, but coach Kurt Rambis said he's not going to let the team "play out the rest of the season."
"We don't want them flushing it," Rambis said of the final 18 games. "That's not how we're approaching it as a coaching staff. We're encouraging the guys to use the last month and a half to continue to develop and get better, and learn as much as they can. We want the guys to keep working hard."
There is also the evaluation factor. How players perform over the final weeks could affect their future with the team. Rambis put the players through a rigorous two-hour practice Tuesday in preparation for tonight's game against Denver at Target Center. Passing drills were a key part of the practice to help deal with the surge in turnovers.
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 03:57 |
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Jefferson went through a rigorous conditioning and drills program while serving his two-game suspension without pay for his DWI arrest on Feb. 28 near downtown Minneapolis.
"Al has done everything as accurately and correctly as you could possibly ask somebody to do, under the circumstances," Rambis said of Jefferson, who had 36 points and 13 rebounds in the Wolves' 125-112 loss to Dallas. "He's handled the situation very well. I'm proud of him as a ballplayer and as a man. He owned up to his mistake, apologized for it and didn't try to shirk his responsibilities."
Rambis had enough confidence in Jefferson's conditioning to put him in the starting lineup. Jefferson spoke to reporters after Monday morning's shootaround and said he has been through the "hardest seven days of my life." Jefferson did not contest the Wolves' suspension, which cost him $292,682 of his $12 million salary this season. An NBA spokesman said the league is not expected to impose additional penalties because of the Wolves' disciplinary action.
True, Minnesota has spent the first year of Kahn's tenure tearing down the old roster, amassing assets and trying to change the culture of losing under first-year coach Kurt Rambis. The changing the losing part hasn't gone so well, after a 1-15 start, but Kahn is trying to show that improving is a two-way street; the Wolves have upgraded the team's weight room and lounge, and have tried to be innovative with their players in areas like nutrition education.
"I do believe that, based on NBA standards, the Timberwolves had fallen behind the curve a little bit," Kahn said.
Minnesota expects to have between $10 million and $12 million in cap space this summer, but won't sign a free agent just for the sake of signing one. Kahn thinks that Al Jefferson and Kevin Love have proven they can play together, but that the duo will only survive long-term with more big bodies on the roster.
"They can't just be one and two," Kahn said. "The third piece has to be someone with some significant size. We need to add somebody to the team along with Kevin and Al. That's how it can work. If you say, over 82 games, can Al and Kevin work, with each of them playing 35, 38 minutes a game? No. We're just too short. We're hurt in our rim-protecting ability and we're hurt in our transition-defense ability."
Minnesota (14-49), the worst team in the Western Conference, will have a good chance to land the top pick. However, the Timberwolves took Ricky Rubio and Flynn with back-to-back picks in the 2009 draft, and bringing on a third point guard would create even more of a logjam (Rubio is currently playing in Spain) and necessitate a trade. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement for the beginning of David Kahn's stewardship of that organization.
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 03:53 |
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Wolves record: 14-50
On a night when Al Jefferson had a season-high 36 points and 13 rebounds, the Timberwolves had too many ball-handling issues and defensive breakdowns to cause concern for the high-flying Dallas Mavericks. The Wolves' 125-112 loss Monday night at Target Center generated some unflattering numbers that almost overshadowed Jefferson's return from his two-game suspension for a Feb. 28 DWI arrest near downtown Minneapolis. How unflattering? Try 25 turnovers, including eight by point guard Jonny Flynn, and 4-of-22 shooting on three-pointers.
Jefferson was fantastic in his return to the floor following the two-game suspension served this past week. He jumped out to a terrific start, scoring 11 points in five minutes to give Minnesota a 21-13 first quarter lead. Dallas answered quickly, dominating the next seven minutes, outscoring the Wolves 21-6 to build a sizable advantage. Jefferson finished with 36 points, the highest scoring output for a Minnesota player this season and he also snagged a team-high 13 boards. "My confidence has been up, I have kind of lost my confidence in the past two weeks before my little trouble and I got my confidence back and I know what I'm able to do," Jefferson said.
A dozen straight wins, matter of fact, the Mavs' longest winning streak since 2006. But particularly gratifying for Dallas was how the streak was extended, considering that Brendan Haywood was sidelined by a sore back, Erick Dampier by an injured finger, and Jason Terry by facial surgery. The absence of Dampier and Haywood forced Dallas to play a small lineup for long stretches -- the Mavs defaulted into a zone defense much of the time, hoping to contain Wolves scoring machine Al Jefferson by collapsing around him -- and the tactic mostly worked.
Yes, Jefferson became the first Timberwolf to surpass 30 points this season by pounding his way to the basket for 36 points, and yes, point guard Ramon Sessions exploited the seams of the zone to get to the basket for five layups. But the rest of the Wolves combined to make just 35.4 percent of their shots over the zone, dooming Minnesota to its sixth straight loss and 12th in its last 13 games.
• While Love played a season-low 12 minutes and none in the fourth quarter, Sasha Pavlovic played nearly 21 minutes. Rambis opted instead for Hollins or Darko Milicic in the fourth because he said he needed someone who could attack Dirk Nowitzki offensively and defend him, as well.
"He [Love] didn't look like he had any energy to play in stretches and a lot of it had to do with matchups," Rambis said.
• Hollins was ejected with 3:48 left against his former team after he hit Nowitzki in the head with his left hand while flailing for the ball. Officials reviewed video to confirm their initial flagrant foul Type-2 call. "Our guys want to win," Rambis said. "They are trying to fight. They are being aggressive. I like Ryan Hollins' aggressiveness. I don't always like his decision-making, but I like his aggressiveness. When guys play hard, there's a lot of physical contact and tempers flare.
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 March 2010 06:34 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game against Dallas
Game previews:
Al Jefferson was elated Sunday that his suspension is finally over. He can use the rest.
"It was no vacation, I'll tell you that," said the Wolves' leading scorer, who sat out two games as punishment for a drunken driving arrest last weekend. "I worked really hard this week -- before practice, after practice, extra practice."
He wasn't allowed to be in the arena during Wolves games, but he wanted to stay close to his teammates. So he flew to Dallas with the Wolves last Tuesday, worked out during shootaround, then watched the game on TV at the hotel. At the final buzzer of Minnesota's 112-109 loss -- "That hurt, wanting to help but knowing I can't because of my own stupidity," Jefferson said -- he caught a cab to the arena and rode the team bus to the airport.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 07 March 2010 07:08 |
From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune:
The same guy who broke collegiate scoring records held by Michael Finley and Devin Harris at Wisconsin has played in just two games since the Timberwolves acquired him from Phoenix on Dec. 29.It's an exile from which third-year forward Alando Tucker has sought comfort in the game he loves and in what he calls his "big brothers."
"When I'm feeling down, I come to the court," he said.When he feels down, he comes to Target Center and works extra with team strength and conditioning coach Dave Vitel on his shot and his body.And when he feels down, he picks up the phone. He calls his real big brother, Antonio. He exchanges texts with former teammates Steve Nash and Grant Hill, two NBA stars who, for different reasons, can tell him a little bit about persevering.
From Stephen Litel/SLAM Online:
Making my way into Minnesota’s locker room, I found Darko sitting alone at his locker. He just came back in from shooting and was watching film of Houston. He looked winded just from pregame warm-ups, but was in better spirits than when he arrived in Minneapolis. Even after being slammed with the same questions since his arrival, Darko was more than willing to chat.“It’s a good experience,” said Milicic on his brief time in Minnesota so far. “I’m still trying to get back in shape. It’s better than it was because I was in really bad shape when I got here. It’s much better now because I’m working after practice, before practice and trying to get back into shape as soon as possible. It’s been good. Good people, good staff and it’s been a good experience.”
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said half of the 30 teams in the NBA will lose money this year, and the Wolves are one that will lose a lot.
STAR TRIBUNE'S STAR OF THE WEEK
Corey Brewer, Wolves: The third-year guard is working his way into consideration for the NBA's Most Improved Player: He scored 24 points Wednesday in Dallas, and his one three-pointer Saturday gave him a three-pointer in 27 consecutive games, a franchise record.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 07 March 2010 07:03 |
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Wolves record: 14-49
Ryan Hollins made all seven of his shots. Kevin Love led the Timberwolves in scoring, rebounding, blocks and nearly assists. Darko Milicic grabbed a season-high number of rebounds.
Yes, give the Wolves' big men credit for trying to compensate for Al Jefferson's sizable absence. But realistically, how likely is it that a 14-49 team can win without its central offensive force?
"Well, you know it's not going to be easy," forward Ryan Gomes understated. "I guess we knew that."
Nobody knows it better than Luis Scola. The Rockets forward, without Jefferson to wrestle for position under the basket, erupted for 25 points and a career-high 21 rebounds Saturday as the Rockets throttled the Wolves for the 11th consecutive meeting, 112-98.
"It was a fairly typical game for us," Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis said. "Pockets of playing really well and pockets of playing really poorly. Turnovers once again hurt us. ... But [Houston] does a good job of playing together as a team. They move the ball, they keep the basket clear and they read defenses really well. They did a good job out there. They deserved to win. They earned the win."
Love's frontcourt mates, Ryan Gomes, Ryan Hollins, and Darko Milicic helped Minnesota outscore Houston in the paint 52-32. Gomes aggressively fought to reach the free throw line, earning eight trips to the charity stripe, where he connected on seven of his 17 points. The home crowd was also treated to a taped Happy Birthday serenade from Gomes to his wife on the video board during the first half.
Hollins finished with 15 points and was perfect from the field, hitting 7-for-7 and following up missed shots for putback dunks. Milicic continues to work on polishing his low-post game but the Wolves center managed to snag nine boards and dish out five assists in his second consecutive start in place of Jefferson.
Corey Brewer kept the streak alive tonight by draining a trey at the 4:31 mark of the third period. The Minnesota guard has now hit a trey in 27 consecutive games, which is a franchise record. On the opposite side, Brooks' owns a current streak of 34 games with a 3-pointer that continued in the Rockets win.
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 06 March 2010 08:08 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game against Houston
Game previews:
The Timberwolves are planning a campaign later this month to promote Corey Brewer for the NBA's Most Improved Player award -- which is as close as they can find to the trophy he really deserves.
Too bad there's no recognition for "Most Surprising Player," because Brewer might win it unanimously. His season, Brewer admits, has shocked him, too.
"Coming off [knee] surgery, I knew I was going to be rusty," said the third-year guard, who turned 23 on Friday. "But I was surprised. My explosiveness came back. I'm feeling a lot more confident."
Minnesota will own a length advantage in tomorrow night's contest, especially in the post. Big man Ryan Hollins has become an integral part of the Wolves gameplan on both sides of the floor. In preparation for facing Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes, Hollins battled Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Darko Milicic and Oleksiy Pecherov in several drills today. Hollins is more confident with his game after a season in the starting lineup and next to several different frontcourt teammates.
"I definitely know it's a lot better, more so, a lot of adjustments, I have changed a lot of things, adjust to the offense and get used to my teammates also," Hollins said. The former UCLA center has just started to tap into his potential talent as he continues to bring non-stop motor to the court.
From City Pages: Charles Barkley, Al Jefferson, Antoine Walker: NBA DUIs
1b. Ricky Rubio
The Timberwolves hold his rights, and either he'll play for them or serve as a great trade asset for Minnesota in a year or two.
Let's say Rubio comes over in 2011-12 and tears it up. Let's say he actually does play like Jason Kidd, a player to whom he's been compared lately. Well, Kidd won Rookie of the Year in 1994-95 (sharing the award with Grant Hill). So yeah, that means the West could have three straight Rookies of the Year, all from the 2009 draft.
It's not likely, and John Wall and Evan Turner will have some say in this next season, but it's certainly possible. Rubio is the lead guard for what might be the best team in the world outside the NBA and is gaining invaluable experience in how to run an elite team. Think about how well Jennings and Omri Casspi played early this season, and consider that Rubio has had much more of an impact in Europe this season than those two guys did before they came over.
Fans can join Love and the Hoops team during the week-long celebration by logging on to hoopsforstjude.org and donating to St. Jude. All funds raised will help children battle cancer and other deadly diseases. While visiting hoopsforstjude.org, fans can also bid on exclusive autographed items donated by the Hoops team members and other NBA stars, including Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
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Written by SG
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Friday, 05 March 2010 06:18 |
From John Hollinger/ESPN: In-Season All-Improved Team
Corey Brewer, Minnesota
Brewer might be the most improved shooter in the league. Or the most improved shooter ever, for that matter. Here's a stat that will floor you: As of Jan. 7, he'd made 23 3-pointers his entire career. Since then, he's made a triple in 27 consecutive games -- breaking Minnesota's franchise record. As you might imagine, the improved stroke helps his other numbers, too: Brewer averaged 15.6 points on 47 percent shooting in February.
Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis told me that Brewer's balance was the key: Brewer had been leaning back or to the side too often as he went up for his shot, and the Wolves had worked with him on going forward toward the rim as he launches. Apparently it's worked; he's made 43.1 percent of his 3s during the current streak, and a shot opponents once happily conceded to him now shows up on their scouting reports.
Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry is scheduled to have surgery Friday to repair facial injuries suffered after Minnesota guard Corey Brewer's elbow and forearm struck the left side of Terry's face during the third quarter of Wednesday's game.
Terry said the blow broke his orbital bone, the area that encases the socket of the eye. A timetable will be released after the surgery is performed.
Brewer was unavailable for comment after Thursday's practice in Minneapolis, but Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said he was sorry to hear about Terry's injury.
"It was completely inadvertent. There wasn't anything malicious to what Corey did. That's what the referees saw, too," Rambis said. "That's unfortunate for Jason. That's unfortunate for the Mavericks, as well."
4. Kevin Love, Wolves: He has embraced his role of coming off the bench and is a threat to notch a double-double on a nightly basis. (Last week: NR)
NBA players' involvement with St. Jude has progressed from a relationship with the Las Vegas Summer League, to the "Rookie Relief" program Love joined in 2008, to this week's charitable triumph -- Hoops for St. Jude Week. From March 1-7, Love, five other players and Nuggets coach George Karl raise awareness about the Memphis-based hospital's efforts to help young cancer patients and their families.
Love, the first NBA player to sign on with St. Jude, has been joined by Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Danny Granger, Rudy Gay, Steve Blake and Karl -- the Denver coach touched profoundly and publicly by cancer. Each player has pledged to donate money for every basket he makes this season with a minimum pledge of $20,000 apiece. Coaches throughout the league are wearing Hoops for St. Jude lapel pins this week, and autographed jerseys from superstars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and others are being auctioned on eBay to raise more money for the cause. Bids are being taken through Sunday.
Darko Milicic earned his first start in a Wolves uniform, finishing with six points and two rebounds. Rambis evaluated his performance, "It's unfortunate that he got into foul trouble. Everything that he's doing -- we're seeing glimpses of tremendous potential, for him and for us… He has such tremendous vision and massive capabilities, and we really haven't seen an exorbitant amount of what he can do scoring-wise. But it's there. It's just starting to poke out, and that's why we're doing things in practice to encourage him to be not only passing the basketball, but to be looking for goal opportunities as well."
From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune: Wayne Ellington and Nathan Jawai didn't practice again today with that sprained ankle each sustained in practice on Monday. Best case scenario for Ellington would seem to be Monday's rematch with Dallas, but that may be optimistic.
From RandBall: TFD: The Timberwolves and a new ticket philosophy *The short answer to that question appears to be that if you aren't selling a lot of your available seats, selling a bunch of your seats for less isn't a bad move. "It’s a price value play. It’s almost like a commodity play," Wright said. "You’ve got the available inventory. Number one, what do you want to create for your players? You want to create home court advantage. The way to do that is to put a lot of people inside Target Center. Right now we don’t have that. The model, to a degree, is broken. ... I would say it’s bold. We’ve turned some heads. We talk inside our operation all the time. The business operation is matching the bold moves of the basketball operation."
5. You are also the in-arena announcer for the Timberwolves. Do you have a favorite Target Center snack?
I usually get the turkey sandwich (that whole "trying to eat healthy" thing), but when I drop my inhibitions, I believe they have an item called the "Super Nacho" that's about as deliciously naughty as you can get.
Big Al's been in the news for the wrong reasons and is dealing with a suspension handed down for fourth degree driving while impaired after his arrest by the Minnesota State Patrol. Just so you know, I'm not condoning what happened the other night. No way. I've lost friends in alcohol related accidents and I know, first hand, how deadly all that can be. I agree with David Kahn, SO glad there was no accident and no one was hurt.
However, in this season of struggle for this very young team, it's tragic this has happened and turned so much of the attention away from the team's and Al's work.
I know this has hit Big Al hard. He's one of the hardest workers in practice, he's truly happy to play in Minnesota and he enjoys being a T'Wolve standout. Jefferson also knows he makes a boat load of money and knows that this kind of action carries consequences.
Wolves center Ryan Hollins and rookie guard Jonny Flynn credited a full house at American Airlines Center and some actual crowd noise.
"It's a great environment," Hollins said. "It takes you back to your college days."
For Flynn, that's a whole year removed. "It's a great arena, great fans, great energy," Flynn said. "They bring out the best in us, I guess."
The Wolves lost 112-109 to the Mavs on Wednesday, five days after they got clobbered in front of a loud, sellout crowd in Oklahoma City. "Guys like to perform, absolutely," Rambis said. "But I'd have them look at the Oklahoma City game: Same college environment, packed house. We didn't fare too well there. Maybe you should have brought that up to them."
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