As we count down to Christmas, I thought it would be a fun idea to highlight some of my favorite Timberwolves Den articles from past sesaons. The plan is to release a countdown my Top 10 pieces, with my #1 favorite posted on the 25th. Yeah, it’s a little cheesy, but I thought it would be a good way to introduce some of the newer visitors to some of the big moments of the past.
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The Timberwolves gave the Lakers a run for their money in 2003 [image2]
For those of you who are unfamiliar with DeROK.Net and TWolvesBlog.com, I’ll explain how things work with the two sites. TWolvesBlog.com is the place where I post Timberwolves News and articles that are time-relevant such as a take on the Iverson trade. (Nobody’s going to care about that three years from now) The Timberwolves Den at DeROK.Net is where I post some of my more timeless pieces that will still be a good read years down the road.
The ten articles I’ve selected will be drawn from The Den, and they highlight some of the most important moments in Timberwolves history since 2002. The Lakers battles, the Western Conference Finals run, Spree’s hungry family – they’ll all be covered in this series in one form or another. It should be a nice look back for all Timberwolves fans. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed putting the collection together.
Here’s the first, “Leaking Gasoline”, which was written as the Wolves were on the verge of playoff elimination in 2003.
To take a phrase from one of those stomach churning, “gag me” Kobe Bryant Sprite commercials – “Thank You”. Not because you booed me when I acted like a selfish moron in the All-Star Game last year, but because once again you’ve lost faith in the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves, who were considered only a few days ago to be the NBA’s Messiahs, rising from post-season chokers into giant-killers, are once again expected to make another first round exit. Once again the public has bought into the hype of Bill Walton’s gushing monologues. Once again the masses have fallen under the influence of sports writers who refuse to take a risk and pick the underdog. And once again, they’re all going to be proved wrong…
Give me one instance this season of when this team has failed to win when their backs were really up against the wall? Every time their honor has been placed on the line, they’ve come back with a dominating performance to silence the critics. So why is it that in Game 6, when the stakes are at their absolute highest, that everyone has turned their backs once again? This team has survived more challenges than any other team in this league. Despite the fact that at times it’s felt like our hearts have been ripped out and thrown to the floor, they’ve managed to keep beating stronger. There’s been one man on this whole squad that’s avoided injury this and played every game. And in facing of all the criticism that he wasn’t man enough to carry a team alone, he racked up a franchise record 51 wins. So keep on doubting. Continue to be sucked in by the hype. You’re just creating a spark…