NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has been unanimously elected Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors.
Taylor replaces Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison, who served as Chairman for the past three years.
From Sid Hartman:
The board makes the NBA’s major decisions, including rules changes and franchise relocation. “This is a unique opportunity to work with Commissioner [David] Stern, his staff and the NBA both nationally and internationally to build the NBA brand,” Taylor said.
Minnesota Monthly asked “panel of experts from the worlds of sport and style” about the new Wolves uniforms:
“The new jersey has a more aggressive punch to it with the ‘Wolves’ on the front. There is less to distract from the concept of a ferocious predator. Moreover, the singular term ‘Wolves’ with no other distractions really enforces the idea of team.” —Mark Hansen, sports psychologist, River City Clinic
“It’s a better look—with the turquoise blue—and there’s a little more funk to them. The wolf is howling now, instead of looking at you. That’s more who we are.” —Ryan Gomes, forward, Minnesota Timberwolves
“I would replace that Christmas tree on the side with the wolf. Then it reads better—are we the Timbers or the Timberwolves? Also, the baggy short is out; there’s almost an art to making a shot and keeping those shorts up.” —Keith Dorsett, owner, Elsworth menswear
No one took Wednesday’s 10-point loss to Chicago harder than rookie power forward Kevin Love. Following a 1-for-10 shooting night, he sat dejectedly at his locker stall and spoke quietly to reporters about his off night as if it had meaning far beyond a preseason game.
After sleeping on it, Love had a much different attitude Thursday.
“Everybody has been telling me we have like 20, 21 back-to-back games [this season], and you have to take everything in stride,” he said. “Just figure out what you can do next time…”
From Stephen Litel/Downtown Journal:
I’m not going to rip a team for an uninspiring performance during the preseason, especially when the coach continues to tinker with lineups while getting a look at the players who won’t see much action during the regular season. Maybe that is a bit naïve, but I believe that is the only way to be fair to the 2008-09 incarnation of the Minnesota Timberwolves. More importantly, I only think it’s fair to the team’s prized rookie, Kevin Love, to give him some time to get his wits about him as his professional career begins.
After all, Mr. Reusse, the regular season hasn’t even begun. Informed opinion begins next week.
Wow. We haven’t even started the NBA season yet and the natives are already declaring the Kevin Love era a complete failure. And Reusse’s not the only one. MPR’s resident curmudgeon, Bob Collins, was at the game last night and has also concluded that Kevin Love is awful. At the risk of sounding like Sid Hartman, I think we need to wait a little bit before we decide Love is the second coming of Christian Laettner and OJ Mayo the next Jordan. Yes, Love was bad last night (ok, really bad) but it’s preseason basketball. He also had 13 points and 5 rebounds in the Wolves’ first exhibition game, and that’s probably no better indication of how he’s going to fare this season.
Marty Burns/SI.com has the Wolves at #27 in his preseason power rankings.
The arrival of Mike Miller and rookie forward Kevin Love in a trade with the Grizzlies (for O.J. Mayo and Marko Jaric) provides two more solid blocks in their post-KG reconstruction. Along with Al Jefferson, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer, Minnesota is at least starting to resemble an NBA team again. But until they get a real point guard and a proven center to help out Big Al, the Wolves are going to struggle to rise in the West.
Even if Foye makes a huge leap and Jefferson improves his efforts on the defensive side, there still remains the obstacle of the rest of the Western Conference. Though it would be nearly impossible to squeeze into the playoffs this year -against that competition – don’t discount the possibility of a significant improvement. This group is more talented than some may realize, and may be one individual player’s emergence away from surprising a few people.