…is what you would be reading if this team really had any hope right now. I am definitely at my “Witts” end with this team, the decisions, most of the players, the staff, the tickets, you name it. Let’s visit some of the main highlights of the apathy:
Kevin Love v. OJ Mayo argument
This is about the only passionate Wolves item running right now, and of course our squad is on the raw end of the deal. Yes, Mayo is playing better than Love. Yes, he’s probably the better player in the long run. Yes, that’s probably why he was drafted higher. All the speculation about where he wants to be in three years aside, no one can convince me that OJ Mayo would be having the season he’s having right now in Minnesota. When is the last time you saw a Timberwolves rookie start right away? Can anyone tell me? If I remember correctly, it was Christian Laettner. Here’s a window into the parallel universe that has OJ Mayo in a Wolves jersey: Doesn’t start right away, possibly doesn’t start all season. Watches as Foye, McCants and Telfair all get significantly more minutes through at least the first 20 games. Emphasis on “at least.” Finally starts getting playing time (20 minutes or so) around game 21. During games, gets pulled everytime he makes a mistake. Loses all confidence and becomes a malcontent. End of story on parallel universe. Which brings us generally to…
Rookie and Sophomore Playing Time
This has never really happened with this team. Partially because our first round draft picks are here for a limited time (Rider, Mashall, Marbury, Szczzczczczcczerbiak, Paul Grant, Laettner, etc.), get injured right away (Foye, McCants, Brewer) or literally don’t exist (all the lost Joe Smith picks). The only rookie that stayed and played was KG, behind him…you’re realistically debating Doug West and Rosho. Happy twentieth anniversary! Look at the rookies now: McCants was routinely taken out of games by Casey his rookie season only to be injured the majority of year 2. Foye found his minutes eaten up by the Mike James experiment, then (you guessed it) got injured. Brewer had about as much confidence as a female sophomore that has yet to develop breasts, then got injured. Love plays the same position as the Wolves alpha dog and finds his minutes bouncing up and down like a porn star. Being a Wolves sophomore has equal injury odds as the Madden Cover (only it looks like Favre is about to give the Wolves the crown there, too). Oh, well, we got Mike Miller, and our draft pick back from Boston! Speaking of draft picks…
Remember the Marko Jaric Trade?
It included one of our first round draft picks. That’s always a super-sweet deal when you get the largest and longest contract in the deal while trading away the best player involved and your first round pick when your team is on the decline. That’s the kind of trading that would make Bear Stearns proud! It’s a well known fact that no one in the marketing department wants to highlight that the first round pick protection is going to be up soon. Tack on that we no longer have Jaric or the other 35 players that have been PG in the last 8 years, and that’s a kick square in the nads. Maybe we can quickly acquire a mega-star in order to trade him to the Clippers for that pick back. As for mega-stars…
Big Al Jefferson
I like Big Al. I get the 20-10 bit. Please play some defense. Not defensive 1st-team-worthy defense, just SOME defense. Emeka Okafor and 24 points should never be written on the same line. Just as I thought he was growing into the Alpha Dog role a little better, I’ve seen a slight decline so far this season. However, I guess I’m not at the games anymore, mainly because of…
Everything About This Team Sucking.
Our coach looks more defeated than Scott Norwood in January 1991 after “wide right”. No lead is safe. There’s never been a high definition camera in Target Center. The team is being run by two of the characters from Sports Guy’s Atrocious GM Summit. My favorite dancer from last season (the lovely Sally) isn’t on the team anymore. The last two marketing campaigns are worse than Dan and Dave and the Dr. Pepper GNR/Chinese Democracy ordeal combined. There’s still no point guard. Despite all that, the team still wanted more for tickets than I paid last year for the same seats. In twenty years, the most positive Wolves’ fan reaction is cheering KG for winning a championship with a different team. The team is about as relevant as the collar on the new uniforms. Add in that the tree on the side of the uniforms resembles a “member” and you’ve got the complete package. The most impact this organization has had in twenty years is causing the lock-out.
Go Wolves.