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TWolves Blog - Minnesota Timberwolves News and Articles
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 06:45 |
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Jefferson, whose 13 points Friday weren't enough to prevent Minnesota from falling for the 14th time in 15 games, hopes to do that with the help of Idan Ravin, a trainer who works with some of the NBA's elite players. Ravin spent much of this homestand meeting the Wolves, at the request of team president for basketball David Kahn, and found Jefferson an especially eager pupil.
"It's not stuff we hadn't been doing. He's just got a real good workout," Jefferson said of Ravin. "I'm looking forward to working with him this offseason. He's going to help me be in absolutely top, top shape."
That's what Kahn had in mind when he asked Ravin, best known for his workouts with Denver's Carmelo Anthony and New Orleans' Chris Paul, to visit Target Center. "I wanted to see what he was about and allow him to familiarize himself with our players," said Kahn, who emphasized that he sees Ravin as a complementary approach to the offseason plans of coach Kurt Rambis. "Our organization in the past hasn't been in the flow with some of these opportunities. We're trying to figure out how to approach (working with their players) this summer with people that we trust, and if this is an opportunity for our players, let's take advantage of it."
Q: That seems a little harsh, doesn't it, considering you're running the triangle offense for the first time?
A: It's tough. It's like learning a foreign language. You sit in class and you think you've got it and then there's one verb you left out or something and you pronounce it the wrong way. It's definitely difficult. It's new to all of us, but definitely tough for me because I have to make sure everybody's on the same page.
Q: What kind of grasp do you have on the triangle at this point?
A: I would say I'm at a C right now. ... It's really tough doing something your whole life and then switching. It's been a humbling experience. But I think I'm making strides. There's so many different wrinkles [in the offense]. I don't think we've really even scratched the surface.
We recently sat down with Timberwolves rookie point guard Jonny Flynn to talk about how his life has changed since joining the NBA and it's a story you won't want to miss.
Darko is sticking to his plan of leaving the NBA this summer and returning to play in Europe. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been getting decent play out of Darko – he's averaging 23 minutes a game in his last five games.
The Wolves have said they would be open to re-signing him this summer. Darko says he's thankful for the Wolves' interest and support, but the plan is still to head home to Europe which will likely close the door on Darko Milicic in the NBA.
Of course, there are plenty of veteran basketball decision-makers who don't believe that stats are the only key to success. They'll tell you the difference in winning percentages has less to do with statistical analysis than with statistical freaks. "If you took LeBron off the Cavaliers, you could give them 10,000 number crunchers, and it wouldn't make a difference," says David Kahn, the Minnesota Timberwolves' president of basketball operations.
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Written by College Wolf
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 06:12 |
Spurs 103 - TWolves 85
Record: 14-52
We suck. We suckity suck suck suckity suck suck. Ok, there's not much actual recap here, but rather, I needed to pimp my post-game Q&A that I partook in, with the studly dudes over at Project Spurs. If you seriously don't know how awesome PS is, well... then I feel sorry for you. It's the best Spurs blog on the web, bar none. Granted, you probably think I'm saying this because they have the little penguin thingy planted in the upper right of the blog. Alas, that's not the case. These guys are just the best, and their podcasts are amazing. So yeah, I did a post-game Q&A with them that can be found HERE.
Before I elaborate on that, let's go back to the game quick. Apparently KLove sat out with a "mild foot sprain." Yeeeeeah... ok. More like a "sprained ego." See what happens when you question the KAHN man's choice for head coach? You sit. Where do you think Pecherov has been all season? We are a different level of bad. It's hard to describe to people that don't follow the Wolves. We might not win a game in March. Our team turns the beautiful game of basketball into a bastardized version of junior varsity. If it wasn't bad enough that we flat-out SUCK, we are just incredibly boring to watch. Not a good combo.
And you wonder why the organization slashed ticket prices by 50%...
Ok no... I wasn't wondering why they did it either. Can't lie there.
Anyways.
We shot 39%, had amazingly, only 13 turnovers, got out-rebounded by 10, got out-assisted, out-blocked, out-offensive rebounded, out-shot, etc etc etc etc... you get the point. 
Short story long, we lost. Again. Don't forget, I did the post-game Q&A with the Project Spurs guys. Check it out HERE. We drop all kinds of knowledge. |
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Written by SG
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 06:02 |
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Wolves record:14-52
From the Associated Press:
Wayne Ellington scored 17 points for the Timberwolves, who have lost eight in a row and 14 of their last 15 games. They actually held a lead midway through the second quarter, but San Antonio outscored them 26-8 over the next eight minutes to send them hurtling to yet another loss in a season full of them."They need a win is what they need," coach Kurt Rambis said. "Guys establish winning attitudes and losing attitudes and right now, our guys feel when things go bad, it's here we go again."
On Friday night, San Antonio didn't wait that long. After a lackadaisical quarter-and-a-half and trailing by six, San Antonio exploded for a 34-10 run. They eventually built a 20-point lead, allowing them to give some of their starters a short night. In particular, DeJuan Blair was the beneficiary of the minutes normally reserved for Tim Duncan. "It was great to get a short night," Duncan said. "We got [a game] tomorrow and it's good to get a win like this and go back home and gear it up to go again tomorrow."
Kevin Love was a pregame scratch due to a left mid-foot sprain suffered in the loss to Denver on Wednesday night. Ryan Hollins also missed the game after the league handed down a two-game suspension following his altercations with a couple of Mavericks earlier this week. Without both post players, Rambis was forced to place Nathan Jawai and Oleksiy Pecherov on the floor, counteracting San Antonio's frontline.
The Spurs are dealing with their own injury woes with Tony Parker missing at least six weeks after he broke a bone in his hand on March 6. Parker's replacement, George Hill filled in nicely by scoring 19 points and dishing out eight assists for San Antonio. Manu Ginobili contributed seven dimes, focusing on spreading the basketball instead of lighting up the box score.
Small forward Richard Jefferson bounced back from a tough stretch of games with 19 points to improve the Spurs to 38-25 on the season.
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Written by SG
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Friday, 12 March 2010 03:57 |
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Click here for the forum's thread for tonight's game against the Spurs
Game previews:
From True Hoop: The Timberwolves' long-term approach Nikola Pekovic, currently playing for Panathinaikos, is part of the sales pitch -- and yet not one current Timberwolf is. Could it be any clearer that this team is positioning itself for the long term?
That kind of thinking has been evident in the coaching, too. In recent days, the team has had private trainer Idan Ravin in to run some special sessions in addition to regular practices and shootarounds. It is yet another break from the norm.
Ravin is the focus of a whole chapter of Chris Ballard's The Art of a Beautiful Game, in which Carmelo Anthony explains why he calls the trainer Crouton: "Because his name rhymes with crouton, and he's a lot cooler than a regular cracker."
Ravin -- who has a reputation both for challenging, and connecting with, players -- took some questions on the phone on Thursday, and says he hopes to inspire the young Timberwolves.
Hollins insists he's not a "dirty player or anything like that," but he still was given a two-game suspension Wednesday by Stu Jackson, the league's executive vice president of basketball operations, for striking Dallas guard DeShawn Stevenson during Monday night's game at Target Center.
"I understand the suspension," Hollins said after Thursday's practice. "They said my fist was closed when it happened. That's a league rule. I have to learn to control myself better and know what the refs are watching. I know it's a matter of interpretation about what they see."
Hollins is allowed to practice during his suspension, which cost him $53,252 of his $2.183 million salary this season, but he is prohibited from being in the arena for Wolves games. He was at home for Wednesday's loss to Denver and will be again tonight for the Wolves' game against San Antonio at Target Center.
Rambis said he has a "good relationship" with Love, who Rambis said played a season-low number of minutes on Monday because he wasn't playing well (1-for-7 shooting) and didn't match up defensively out on the floor with Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.
"What player is happy when they come out of the game?" Rambis said. "He wants to play. He wants to play a lot, so he's probably never going to be happy. If he plays 42 minutes, he'll be unhappy that he didn't play six minutes. That's just who he is as an individual. You like players who feel they should be on the court and can help the team win. You don't want players just accepting when they come out."
Love noted after Wednesday's game that his shooting percentage is 42 percent over the past 10 games and attributed it to not knowing when he's going to get the ball in the team's triangle-based offense. "It's OK to be disappointed, it's OK to be unhappy, it's OK to be frustrated," Rambis said. "Those are all natural human emotions. It's how to you deal with them."
From the Timberwolves:
Timberwolves first-round draft pick Ricky Rubio and his Spanish team, Regal F.C. Barcelona, will wrap up the Euroleague Top 16 playoff round by facing Serbian club Partizan Belgrade in a game scheduled to air on NBA TV Saturday (Mar. 13) at 12:00 p.m. Rubio, the fifth overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, has appeared in 39 games with a 36-3 Barcelona (ACB/Euroleague). Rubio is averaging 6.4 ppg, 4.8 apg and 1.95 spg in 19.9 mpg and is shooting 38.4% from three-point range and 84.6% from the FT line, with an assist/TO ratio of 2.5-to-1.
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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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