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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 02:19 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game against the Bobcats
Game previews:
Ellington, who played high school ball about 10 miles away at Episcopal Academy, sat in front of his locker 90 minutes before tipoff, hundreds of dollars worth of tickets spread out in front of him, and carefully transferred the names of classmates, teammates, friends and family members onto ticket envelopes. "First time, big crowd," said Ellington, who ultimately doled out 43 tickets. "Everybody wanted to come. Hopefully, I'll get a nice round of applause when I get into the game."
He did, and the reaction was even louder when the rookie guard hit back-to-back hoops late in the first quarter. But it's not even the biggest hand that Ellington will receive this week.
That one figures to come on Saturday, at halftime of the North Carolina-N.C. State game, when Ellington and former Tar Heels teammate Ty Lawson watch their uniform jerseys hoisted to the ceiling of the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 02:17 |
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Wolves record: 13-39
Box Score
Not the game, of course -- the 76ers took care of that practically before the first TV timeout, jogging away with a 119-97 victory that was never closer than 17 points in the second half.
But the Wolves, whose four-game winning streak had moved them almost even with 14th-place Golden State, looked every bit their identity as last-place landlords in a half-speed performance that brought back some ugly memories.
Created a few new ones, too. Even at its worst, Minnesota had never allowed more than 42 points in a quarter this season, but there were the Sixers, dunking, finger-rolling and all but cartwheeling their way to a 43-point second quarter.
The second quarter proved to be the best 12-minute effort of the season for the home team as the Sixers scored a season-high 43 points en route to a 73-51 lead at halftime. With both teams slated to fly out later in the evening, the second half lacked a certain intensity but Minnesota head coach Kurt Rambis felt it was more than just one half for his team.
"I wish I could blame everything on the second quarter," Rambis said. "I don't think we came out and played hard from the beginning of the ball game. I was disappointed with our effort throughout the entire ballgame." |
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Written by SG
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 01:58 |
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From Steve Kyler/Hoopsworld:
Kahn said as bad as the season has looked from the outside, he's starting to see the signs of progress he'd hoped for and is not about to mess with it.
"What was important to me this season is that we saw demonstrable progress throughout the season. Generally speaking, when you're a young team — and we're the youngest in the league when you look at the top 10 players — logically guys should get better. They haven't played much, and they're very young. You want to be better in February, March and April than you were in November, December and January. Knock on wood, so far, that's playing out. But we're only a week into February. I'm hopeful people will be able to point to the team's progress as the shining light."
Sources say others named Wednesday by USA Basketball in mix for World Championships: Al Jefferson, Rudy Gay, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green.
The Wolves are expected to have $13 million to $14 million in salary cap room to improve the team through free agency this summer.
There have been plenty of discount Wolves tickets available this season, and the team attendance is averaging 14,502 through its 26 home games. That's 25th in the 30-team NBA.
"You know what? I've been traveling with the team, and without naming names, I've been in a lot of arenas that are far worse (attendance) than (Target Center), if you can believe it," Kahn said. "Far worse! I've actually felt, very strongly, that with the exception of a few nights, the crowd has not been bad.
"I thought it would be slimmer."
Why are the Minnesota Timberwolves playing better these days? When you talk to players they'll just tell you it's doing the same thing every day and finally doing it better.
The Wolves Ramon Sessions has plans for the upcoming all-star break.
"I'm going to go back to my University of Nevada and they're going to honor my jersey ... I didn't have a senior night, I left early so I'm going to go back there for that," Sessions said.
From The Painted Area: Interview with FC Barcelona's Pete Mickeal on Ricky Rubio, Fran Vazquez, More You mentioned the young phenom Ricky Rubio. Give us a scouting report from an NBA perspective, since we all expect him to make that jump at some point. How would you assess his potential as an NBA player?
The sky’s the limit because I’ve already seen him grow. I’ve been with him now about four months, and I’ve already seen him grow, especially in controlling a team.
And as flashy as he is with his moves, his ballhandling skills or his unbelievable passes, he’s sometimes as good on defense as he is on offense. That’s his skill that might go unknown in the NBA world, but here in Europe they can already appreciate that. I don’t know if he still leads the league in steals, but this guy plays unbelievable defense on the point guard and he rebounds the ball and he’s improved his three-point shooting.
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 07:58 |
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The Timberwolves site has a list of the questions and answers from David Kahn's meeting yesterday with local and national media members to address several topics at the halfway point of the season.
Q: Brewer has gone crazy.
Kahn: Its been great, hasn’t it? Very pleased. I mentioned to Glen Taylor about a month ago. I said I will know that Corey has made it with his shot when he himself doesn’t look surprised when it goes in. Because even then it would go in and you would be looking at Corey's face and he would be kind of looking like, my god it went in. That look has disappeared. He now thinks its going to go in. I think that he's had some sort of change in terms of his confidence about what he can do out there. If he can maintain that, he's going to be a very fine player in this league. He's been a very fine player for us these last five or six weeks. Very fine player, and that’s part of the reason we have been playing better. But he's still only 23 himself, I believe, and his whole career is still in front of him. It's very exciting the way he's been developing.
From the Associated Press: "I know that we won't do something dramatic," Kahn said, adding: "Firm as firm can be. Absolutely. We will not move one of the big people in the next 10 days. It would be a mistake of epic proportions."
That means point guards Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions, perimeter players Corey Brewer and Ryan Gomes and power forwards Al Jefferson and Kevin Love have the rest of the season to prove their worth and their fit with coach Kurt Rambis's triangle scheme. First-round draft pick Ricky Rubio is part of that process too, a world away in Spain, but Kahn again ruled out a trade this year.
"We've gotten calls on him, of course, but there's no way I would do anything with him now. Absolutely none," Kahn said. "He's still young, and I still think he can be one of the better point guards to play in the game."
BS: Have you spent a lot of time checking in on Ricky Rubio (who stayed in Spain to play after the Wolves used the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft on him)?
DK: Oh, sure. I saw him in person last Wednesday night in Belgrade, Serbia. We're monitoring it because I think it's likely going to be a year and a half before he's here. I haven't prioritized it.
BS: So, are you ruling out next season for having him play for the Wolves?
DK: I think it's highly unlikely because there's no buyout contained in his contract at the end of the season.
On whether Nikola Pekovic is that complementary player to Big Al and Kevin Love: Kind of in the same mold height-wise, different in that he is much more physical than either of them. I mean the guy is like an Adonis. I think he is probably 6-9, 275 and I don’t think that there is much of an ounce of fat on him. He is a great back to the basket low post scorer. But he is not that lengthy guy that I think we are envisioning. Having said that, that doesn’t mean that we have ruled the possibility of being part of our rotation or joining us. I think that is something that we are going to have to heavily discuss this summer. I saw him play last Thursday night and I was very impressed, as I thought I would be.
There's been a lot of talk lately about the Timberwolves possibly trading Al Jefferson, but Kahn was quick to point out what's needed is an additional front line player to complement Jefferson and Love. He's not interested in moving either one of them.
"We definitely need another person, even if they are both here, and I believe they will both be here. As I've said continually, I'd be stunned if we did anything with either player before this deadline. We're not looking to move them. Now, if Ryan Hollins continues to play as well as he has of late, maybe that fills the need. But that's just a few games, and I don't mean any offense to Ryan - I'm sure Ryan himself would concur that he needs to do it over a long period of time - but you need to have a lengthy, athletic type of person to complement these kids, and to help complete our front line."
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Written by SG
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 07:24 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game at Philadelphia
Game previews:
Ellington will endure a busy and quite possibly an emotional week. Tuesday night marks the first NBA appearance for Ellington in his hometown of Philadelphia. He will then spend a night in Chapel Hill during the All-Star break as North Carolina plans on hanging his collegiate jersey in the rafters.
Racine native Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards also continues to be the subject of considerable trade chatter. A bunch of teams covet Butler's services, among them the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Any deal sending Martin to the Mavericks would likely have to involve a third team. Additionally, sources say Minnesota has considered adding Martin to its backcourt. It's not known, however, whether Timberwolves general manager David Kahn would trade either member of his formidable frontcourt – Al Jefferson or Kevin Love.
Another guy definitely not being traded is Al Jefferson. Yet, you constantly hear the Timberwolves feeling they cannot keep Jefferson and Kevin Love.
The notion is they need a big, defensive center to play with one and they’ve even had some success lately with Ryan Hollins. But what if they had Joakim Noah? Everything I’ve heard around the Bulls is no way they would deal Rose or Noah, and I believe that. But say Minnesota would trade Jefferson. I’ve heard they’ve had Luol Deng on a list of players they have interest in and they’ve been asking around the NBA on Deng.
In beating the Grizzlies on Saturday, the Timberwolves had something amazing happen: Ryan Gomes scored 20 first-half points. Then Corey Brewer had 15 in the third quarter, and Al Jefferson had 16 in the fourth quarter. "All these teams that play isolation basketball," says David Thorpe, "I wish they'd see the value in using a system like Minnesota does, where they can move the ball to where it's most effective."
Wolves boss David Kahn reiterated Monday he won't deal any of his top players -- "Firm as firm can be," he said. "It'd be a mistake of epic proportions." -- by the Feb. 18 trade deadline. ¶ But can two similarly sized players with disparate games defend the basket well enough to play together side by side for years to come? ¶ Five NBA head coaches offer their opinions...
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 February 2010 18:18 |
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Click here to listen to Paul Allen's interview with David Kahn this morning.
Kahn: Rubio playing for Wolves next season "Highly, Highly, Highly unlikely...."
David Kahn on now with PA on Jefferson trade rumors; 'It's not gonna happen this trade deadline, we're just not gonna do something w/ Al'.
About to go to a luncheon with Kahn. He was just on the radio. On Kevin Martin's contract: "I don't like the contract."
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Written by SG
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Monday, 08 February 2010 07:22 |
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Congrats to #Twolves Wolves Vision Host @MikeRylander for starring in a #SuperBowl #Doritos commercial! Snack Attack Samurai
Kahn said it's "too early to tell" if the upcoming trade deadline proves significant for his team, but he reiterated he will not trade any of his "core" players, such as Al Jefferson, Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn.
How 'bout the draft rights to Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic? "Certainly Rubio," Kahn said. "Pekovic, it's too early to see if he is or isn't."
From Jonah Ballow/Timberwolves site:A snapshot of the final quarters in the recent four-game winning streak for the Wolves reveals a common theme. Al Jefferson has elevated his game with dominant performances that have either secured victories or sparked a critical run to top the opposition.
Most recently, Big Al dusted off a rusty first half against the Grizzlies and tied a franchise record by draining 8-of-8 field goal attempts for 16 fourth quarter points The performance featured the vintage Jefferson, the same guy that averaged 23.1 points and 10.9 boards last year. Memphis center Marc Gasol looked helpless while trying to defend the red-hot Jefferson.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 07 February 2010 05:01 |
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Colangelo said USA Basketball on Wednesday will announce between 25 and 28 names in the mix to play in Turkey as well as in the 2012 Olympics in London...
While Colangelo already has said Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant is assured of playing in Turkey, he wouldn't reveal other names on the list. However, sources confirmed Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, Minnesota's Kevin Love and New York's David Lee are among those who will be named.
Q Do you ever tune out during a break and watch the dancers or contests instead of Kurt Rambis?
Flynn The only time I do that is when I'm out of the game, and the mascots and people are jumping off the trampoline. It was a good one at the Target Center [recently]. They had all the mascots on the trampolines and shooting half court shots. I tuned out for a long time during that one. Love Yeah, especially when the Klondike stuff is happening and you see Big Al on the screen, you just can't help yourself. Obviously when the dancers are there, you can't help but look sometimes...
Before Saturday's game, the Wolves had held their previous three opponents — the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Dallas — below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Memphis shot 51.7 percent (45 of 87), but the Wolves made key defensive stops in the fourth quarter to erase a seven-point deficit.
Rambis credited the recent turnaround to the players' work ethic and their belief in the coaching staff.
"If you look at where we started and what the team has been through, this team has made tremendous progress," Rambis said. "I'm very proud of where the players are right now. The guys are executing the offense and doing what it takes to get stops."
It's not easy, the Wolves coach said, "but some of the turnovers I have to expect because I'm asking the guards to do different things than they're used to doing."
Until Saturday, when the Wolves made only seven turnovers in a 109-102 victory over Memphis, that had led to an avalanche of miscues on the floor -- more than any other NBA team, in fact. The Wolves had committed 814 turnovers before Saturday's game, 36 more than second-worst Phoenix. Jonny Flynn, who handles the ball more than any other Minnesota player, ranks 17th in turnovers per game -- but given that the top 10 includes players such as Steve Nash, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, it's not necessarily anything to be ashamed of.
Still, the Wolves even made their winning streak a little more difficult by committing 51 turnovers in the first three games, an average of 17 a night.
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Written by SG
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Sunday, 07 February 2010 04:58 |
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Wolves record: 13-38
Box Score
In sports, however, athletes can tolerate pain a lot easier after a win. Jefferson was in that mode Saturday night after the Wolves extended their winning streak to four games with an impressive 109-102 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in front of 14,159 at Target Center.
Jefferson's performance — scoring 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter — overshadowed the milestone of the Wolves' first four-game winning streak in more than a year. Jefferson had a coming-out party of sorts that generated a fun night for everybody except the Grizzlies.
"I felt like the old Al Jefferson tonight," he said. "That energy I had came out of nowhere."
Corey Brewer, who had 15 of his 17 points in the third quarter, helped spark the turnaround by finishing a fast break with a one-handed dunk from outside the lane to tie the game at 76.
Ramon Sessions had nine of his 19 points in the third, too, playing well enough that rookie starter Jonny Flynn sat on the bench for nearly the last 20 minutes of the game.
Kevin Love returned from a scary injury to knock down the sealing 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes left to give Minnesota a 104-99 lead. Love whacked his chest a couple of times on the way back to the other end, and Flynn leaped into his arms in a bear hug in celebration.
Jefferson was the star of the show, though, pump-faking newly minted All-Star Zach Randolph into the air and dribbling right for a baseline jumper that cut the Memphis lead to 95-94 at the 3:48 mark to end his run of 12 straight points.
Here's another good sign: Jonny Flynn's savvy and selflessness. The rookie point guard sat down four minutes into the second half, and Sessions proceeded to go on a 15-point, four-assist spree. Rambis stayed with the backup until he appeared winded midway through the fourth quarter, when he signaled for Flynn to return.
Flynn talked him out of it. "He came into the coaches' huddle and said, 'No, no, Coach, he's playing well,'" Rambis said. "That shows growth and maturity."
Suddenly, the Wolves are showing a lot of that.
Fans received quite a scare when Randolph fell on Love in the third period. Ryan Hollins inadvertently tripped Randolph, which created the collision and forced Love to limp back to the locker room. Luckily Love did not sustain a serious injury as he returned to the floor with nine minutes left in the game.
"They're starting to build confidence, they're starting to believe in themselves, they're playing together better, and so it's a really good blossoming aspect for me to see as a coach. I'm enjoying watching them perform out there. And they care. They care about each other," Rambis said.
The Wolves practice on Sunday and Monday before heading out to Philadelphia for the final matchup of the year against the Sixers.
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 05:38 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game against Memphis
Game previews:
Wolves boss David Kahn used those four days for a whirlwind two-city European tour in which he scouted prospects Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic.
Kahn watched Rubio's Regal Barcelona lose for the first time in 12 Euroleague games Wednesday night in Belgrade, Serbia, and watched Pekovic's Greek team play in Athens as well. He said he visited with Rubio briefly after that game and told Pekovic the next time he sees him, he'll have Rambis with him in May.
Rubio, the fifth pick in last summer's NBA draft, won't play for the Wolves until 2011 at the earliest, or possibly 2012.
Pekovic -- a bruising 6-11 post presence whom the Wolves selected with the first pick in the 2008 draft's second round -- is eligible to be signed this summer if Kahn deems he fits into a frontcourt currently built around Kevin Love and Al Jefferson.
The former Minnesota Timberwolves center was a mountain of a man whose statistical accomplishments would make Bill Brasky blush. He grabbed more rebounds per minute than either Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell.
However, it is not Winter's 3 rebounds in his 5 career minutes that we are here to discuss. It is the 5 fouls he committed in those same 5 minutes. That wacky statistic from Winter's one career game in 1999 cements the 7-footer's status as the Foulin' Prince of the NBA.
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