Timberwolves Trimester Grades and New Years' Resolutions

Before I start, I'd like to pimp this out.

Ron Artest Coverage on KFAN

The radio show Sludge and Lake was on the night and time of the Ron Artest fight. The link goes to the radio footage of them relaying what was happening as it was happening. I've listened to it a few times, and it always makes me smile.

And now.....the Timberwolves' trimester grades.

Kevin Garnett: B+
He's had a great year so far, but you'd like to see him be more assertive not only in the fourth quarter, but during the entire game. I'd like to see the offense run through Kevin each and every time, but too often we see Mike James come off a screen and shoot an awkward 20 footer, or Ricky Davis get caught in the air after an ineffective move. He's great as always, but there's definitely room for improvement.

Mark Blount: B
He has been a pleasant surprise for the Wolves. He is virtually unstoppable in the first quarter....it seems like every game, he'll have 10 and 5 in the first quarter alone; however, after that, he seems to go away. Nonetheless, he's been a dependable scorer and a decent rebounder.

Ricky Davis: C+
Inconsistent is the word that best defines Ricky Davis. There are games where he'll have 25 points and 9 or 10 assists, and then he'll have games where he has 8 points and doesn't do anything. His defense is equally as inconsistent, but the Wolves need him primarily for offense, and that's where his inconsistency has really hurt this team.

Trenton Hassell: B-
It's hard to really tell how Trenton is doing, but you can tell he's not as good as years past. His offense is unremarkable; he'll have the occasional good drive, and he can hit an open 15 footer, but he's far from a dependable scorer.

Mike James: C-
The biggest enigma on this team has been Mike James. His inconsistency is rivaled only by Ricky Davis, so you can tell that where they go, the team goes. I'd like to see him try to get to the basket more, mostly because his 3 point shooting has been so mediocre. There have been too many games of <10 points, and far too many games where he goes away for a half.

Wolves' Bench: B
The rookies coming off the bench (Randy Foye and Craig Smith) have been a very pleasant surprise, particularly Craig Smith. You often see those two during crunch time in the 4th quarter, which is both encouraging and discouraging at the same time: encouraging in that you love to see young players with great potential and talent, but discouraging in that the starters aren't dependable enough to be in a position to win the game for you. Marko Jaric has improved over last year, but he seems to lose focus at times. Troy Hudson, Eddie Griffin, and Justin Reed have been non-factors.....very expensive non-factors, in fact. Bench players play well with starters, particularly KG, but when you put KG on the bench, you almost expect the Wolves to break down completely.

Duane Casey: D
I don't think anyone doubts the talent on this team, so I would put the majority of the blame at the feet of Duane Casey. The inconsistency has been baffling: a 3 game winning streak here, a 4 game losing streak there, and on and on and on. It seems as though for each step this team takes forward, they take 2 steps back immediately thereafter. I'd like to see Duane eliminate these vital periods in the 4th quarter where Duane rests KG. I can count 3 or 4 times where the team has completely lost it while Kevin was on the bench in crunch time in the 4th. This falls squarely on the coach. Also, after almost every loss, Duane will say that his team "didn't have the focus or intensity". Isn't it your responsibility, as head coach, to make sure your players have their heads on straight? I know these are professional athletes, and they shouldn't need you to pump them up, but that seems to be the case on a night-to-night basis. I wouldn't be shocked, nor would I be sad, to see Duane Casey dismissed from this team.

Overall Grade: C-
There have been great stretches of basketball where it looks like the Wolves could be a contender in the Western Conference. When they're clicking, they're very hard to beat: great ball movement offensively, great pressure defensively, and an overall intensity that keeps it all together. When they're NOT clicking, they're pretty horrible: guys trying to do it all themselves, defensive breakdowns, tons of turnovers, and a sleepy mindset that makes you scratch your head. I still think this team has the potential to win 40+ games, but I think they need to make a move or two, including getting rid of Duane Casey.

Timberwolves New Years Resolutions

Play All 4 Quarters: It seems as though when the Wolves lose, it's one horrible quarter, usually the 3rd or 4th, that does them in. An overall focus

Run the Ball Through KG: Multiply this times 2 in the 4th quarter. He's too good of a player and decision maker to have him simply setting screens and being a decoy. This guy gets paid more than anyone else in the NBA, he SHOULD have the ball on almost every possession.

Give the Rookies More Playing Time: Multiply this times 3 for Foye. Fans aren't excited about this current team, but they might be if they saw a more significant contribution from Foye and Smith. If you don't wanna start either of the two, fine, but they should be getting 25+ minutes each game.

Find an Identity, and Stick To It: Nobody really knows what the Wolves are, and nobody knows how they're going to win games from night to night. They need to focus on being something: a defensive minded team, a team that wants to run, a team that attacks the basket, something. At least then they'd have some sort of gameplan for how they want to run their team.

I LOVE THIS GAME!

Lakers Game Aftermath

Ugh.

After watching tonight's game against the Lakers, I'm finally ready to say that Kevin Garnett should be traded. Explanation forthcoming....

For 3 quarters, the Minnesota Timberwolves looked like an excellent basketball team. They were scrappy, diving for loose balls, they were moving the ball well, and it looked as though they were on their way to a solid victory against a very good Lakers team. Then, the 4th quarter happened.

In the first stages of the 4th quarter, the Wolves were up 12 points.....and then LA goes on a huge run and ends up winning by 17. The Wolves went from being up 12 to down 17 in the span of about 10 minutes. And it all came down to passion. The Wolves played an emotionless, passionless 4th quarter. No longer were Wolves moving the ball or trying to pressure on defense.....it looked as though either they were waiting for time to run out, or that they just didn't care. KG deserves better than that.

The coaching was horrendous. With KG on the bench, the Wolves' 12 point lead started to shrink, and yet by the time KG was brought back into the game, the Wolves had not only given up the lead, they were down by 4 or 5. Why is a guy like Justin Reed in the game with 4 minutes left in the game when you're down now by 9 or 10? He's a decent player, but the guy is not exactly an offensive juggernaut. The Wolves have had trouble keeping leads, so why not bring your best player in the very second it looks as though the momentum is shifting?

It didn't even seem like KG cared. Once he got into the game, it wasn't as if he started asserting himself and demanding the ball.....he seemed passive and resigned to the fact that the Wolves had given up another one. Then, the boo birds came out. I haven't heard very many boos at the Target Center, but this one was well deserved. The Lakers played a good 4th quarter, but the Wolves gave it away without much of a fuss.

Thus, it's time to trade Kevin Garnett. I listened to a great conversation on the Chad Hartman show today where he talked about how if we didn't get Iverson, Garnett should probably be moved. This team would be lucky to make the playoffs, let alone contend for a championship. The Wolves aren't going anywhere. Kevin Garnett isn't going anywhere. And with so many horrible contracts, we won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future.

KG's not getting any younger. Wolves fans aren't getting any more patient. You look at the Wolves from every standpoint, and there's very little to get excited about. The players look apathetic. The coach looks overwhelmed. The management looks foolish. The fans look bored. For the sake of the franchise, it's time to shake things up. Also mentioned on the Chad Hartman show was that the worst thing that could happen to this team is that we have a mediocre to average season.....where we barely miss the playoffs, but end up 12 or 13 in the draft. Due to our fabulous Marko Jaric trade, we still owe a pick to the Clippers, but it's lottery (1-10) protected. If things go the way they're going now (around .500), we'll end up with no pick in the most stacked draft in years. Great.

The only solution I can think of is to trade Garnett, and trade him now. Everyone wants to feel bad for KG and how management has done a horrible job, but there's more to it than that. For one, he's the highest paid player in the game, so if he is crying, it's all the way to the bank. Second, if you look at two of the most criticized Wolves' signings, Joe Smith and Troy Hudson, they were done with the support of Kevin Garnett. Troy Hudson is making more than 5 million dollars this year, and he didn't even play in tonight's game. It's ironic that Joe Smith would be included in the Iverson trade....poetic justice, you might say.

The path that the Wolves should take is, ironically, that of the Chicago Bulls, because that's who the Wolves most likely trading partner would be. The Bulls, for a period of 4 or 5 years after Jordan retired, were horrible, but they stocked up on young talent, and now they're a contender in the East and were able to go out and get a big name star like Ben Wallace. The deal I've heard thrown out (check it out on ESPN.com's trade checker, and add a first round, likely lottery draft pick from the Knicks) makes total sense to me. Look at all the cap flexibility the Wolves would have after this year with the 2 expiring contracts of PJ Brown and Michael Sweetney. Look at the young talent we'd have in Foye, Smith, Gordon, McCants, Thomas, and whoever we picked up in this year's draft. It makes sense to me.

I know Kevin has been extremely loyal, but the team is bigger than Kevin, and this team, with Kevin Garnett, is going nowhere. Tonight's game was a perfect example of why trading Kevin Garnett would benefit both the Wolves and KG.....KG would get a chance to play for a championship, and the Wolves would move on with fresh talent.

It'd be something to get excited about on both sides. Things certainly aren't exciting now.

The End

Iverson Traded to Denver

A few things.....

First, it's good to finally get this over with. Personally, I was hardly getting any sleep.....waking up in all hours of the night, checking message boards, refreshing.....it dominated my time. For more than a week, the prospect of Allen Iverson coming to the Wolves was my life.

With that being said, I'm devestated. I truly believed AI was going to end up a Timberwolf. To see him end up a Nugget, our biggest rival, is horrible.

As far as the trade, it baffles me on both sides. I've said before, the Nuggets have no need for extra scoring, they need defense. The concept of just trying to outscore your opponent might work in the regular season, but by my count, it has NEVER won a championship. Look at the last few NBA champions....

2006 - Miami Heat
2005 - San Antonio Spurs
2004 - Detroit Pistons
2003 - San Antonio Spurs
2002-2000 - LA Lakers
1999 - San Antonio Spurs

While you couldn't necessarily classify the Heat or the Lakers as "defensive teams", they were teams that were still good defensively.....it certainly wasn't a liability. As far as the Pistons and Spurs, they were known as teams that could shut you down offensively. Has everyone become so enamored by the Suns and Steve Nash that they've forgotten this?

As far as what the Sixers get.....I'm equally puzzled. Andre Miller, while good on the Nuggets, is good because he had lots of weapons around him. You look at his stats, he's averaging 13 and 9....pretty good, but he's not a franchise player, simply a facilitator. Who's he going to be facilitating for on Philadelphia? Andre Igoudala? Kevin Ollie? He needs good players around him in order to be effective, which Philly doesn't have.

As far as Joe Smith and the 2 first rounders go, I'm also confused. Joe Smith, whatever, cap room, that's fine. The 2 first rounders are more puzzling....one of them belongs to Denver, the other to Dallas.....almost certainly, they're going to be 25+ in the draft. Yeah, this draft is supposed to be stacked, but it's not as if either of these are lottery picks or anything. You'll be lucky to find a solid contributor at 25+ in the draft.

Kevin McHale issued a statement a few hours ago on the Allen Iverson trade. From everything I heard, the Wolves were prominent in the talks the whole way through, and offered Randy Foye. If this is true, and the Sixers simply said no, then I have no beef with Kevin McHale. If he tried everything he could, but couldn't make it happen, whatever, he did his job. If, however, you find out there was a deal to be made, but he backed away.....then I would be furious. This was Minnesota's chance to enter the big time, a chance for them to show their franchise player Kevin Garnett that they meant business.....and if McHale decided not to roll the dice, he should be fired immediately.

OK, about Garnett. We all know that he publicly lobbied to get Allen Iverson. We all know he's more than likely frustrated with the lack of support he's getting. Thus.....I wouldn't be opposed to him being traded, if we got a decent amount in return. The deal I've heard rumored is as follows.....

KG to the Chicago Bulls for

Tyrus Thomas
Ben Gordon
1st round draft pick (from the NY Knicks)

I think about that team, and I have to be optomistic. Think of all the young studs we'd have, all at varying positions. Foye, Gordon, Thomas, McCants, Smith.....a solid young foundation, plus some veteran leadership in Ricky Davis and Mike James. Yeah, it'd suck to see Garnett go, but at least you'd feel as if the Wolves were going somewhere instead of the current situation. Does anyone see the Wolves going anywhere with their current team? I sure don't.

OK, back to reality.....the Wolves have a decent team. If the season were to end now, the Wolves wouldn't make the playoffs, but they'd be in the 9th spot, so they're not so far off. They've been competitive in their losses, for the most part. Mark Blount, of all our players, has established himself as a consistent scorer, and is giving us better rebounding numbers. KG has been KG. Ricky and Mike James have, in flashes, shown their potential. We have a solid bench. Here's my plan for the future....

First, start Randy Foye in place of Trenton Hassell, and move Ricky Davis up to the 3. I get the feeling that Wolves fans are pretty devestated to not land AI, so let's showcase our one promising piece for the future. Nobody is excited for this Wolves team....maybe with Foye in the starting lineup, getting starter's minutes, people will get excited again.

Second.....target Pau Gasol. He's stated that he's not entirely satisfied in Memphis, so why not call up Jerry West and see what's up. Getting a 2nd tier superstar like Gasol might satisfy KG. I love Pau's game and intensity, and I'm sure KG would like to finally have a fellow legitimate low post presence. If that doesn't work, maybe Corey Maggette.....a longshot, but I'd love to see the Wolves be very active before the trade deadline.

Third.....fire Kevin McHale. This is probably the least likely of the 3 tips I'm giving, but probably the most obvious and sensible to Wolves fans. Yeah, he's done a good job in the last 2 drafts, but because of his buffoonery, we weren't able to get Allen Iverson. The list of horrible contracts on the Wolves is second only to the Knicks.....Troy Hudson, Marko Jaric, Mark Madsen, even Trenton Hassell. Getting someone new to run this team would be beneficial to the Wolves and Wolves fans alike. McHale can't honestly think that he's the best fit for the job.

Tomorrow's game against the Lakers will be very interesting, to say the least, and even through all the disappointment....

I LOVE THIS GAME!

Nuggets-Knicks Brawl Commentary

ESPN.com - NBA - Sheridan: Suspensions sure to follow brawl

First of all, great stuff. I know it's bad for the NBA, and the announcers act like they're disgusted, but this sort of thing has always made me smile. Watching the Pacers-Pistons brawl (affectionally known as the Malice at the Palace) was something I'll never forget, and although this pales in comparison, it's still a decent fight.

The overriding theme in all of this is that the Nuggets were intentionally running up the score to embarass the Knicks. I would tend to agree with that.....why are your starters out there in a blowout with less than 5 minutes left? It's easy to understand why Mardy Collins would be frustrated and make a dumb decision to clothesline JR Smith. He 1) shouldn't have been out there in the first place and 2) shouldn't have been trying to pull off another razzle-dazzle dunk when the game is already over. If you wanna do that at home, fine....but not in front of an already hostile New York crowd.

The actual fight was sub-par, but hardly any sports fights are any good these days....this fight comes to mind as pretty standard.



Seeing Nate Robinson acting all hard was enjoyable, and hearing him talk about it in his Gary Coleman-esque voice was also great.

This brings us to Carmelo Anthony. You saw him land the one uncontested punch in this fight....actually, a sucker punch, cause Mardy Collins was just standing there. Also, this is after everything had seemingly died down. Carmelo Anthony, the league's leading scorer and his playoff team's best player, cold cocks a bench player for the lowly Knicks.

Carmelo is an idiot. I wish him nothing but the worst. He personifies everything that people don't like about the NBA. As a player, he's phenomenal, but as a human being, he's a failure. He's probably going to get a 5-10 game suspension, but I secretly hope that Mardy Collins' brain starts hemhoragging and Carmelo is brought up on criminal charges.

One of the good things about this fight, from the Wolves' perspective, is not only that your division rival has lost a ton of their players, but that this, in all likelihood, severly hampers Allen Iverson's chances of being traded to Denver. Who wants to be on the team whose best player not only would hog the ball from you, but is also stupid enough to suckerpunch a guy in front of 15 thousand people and TV cameras? I hope AI wouldn't want to be a part of that nonsense.

But, all in all, a fun fight to watch. I'll be anticipating the suspensions eagerly.

Madness

Ugh.

These last few days have been spent constantly awaiting the Allen Iverson trade. Hardly any sleep. Hardly 15 minutes goes by before I have to refresh various NBA websites. Constantly checking message boards where guys with "inside information" relay their various trade ideas. It's not healthy.

I'll say this.....this might be one of the turning points of the Timberwolves franchise. If they somehow land Allen Iverson.....it's ridiculous to think about. Attendance at not only the Target Center, but wherever the Wolves would go on the road, would be huge. More nationally televised games. More magazine covers. More, more, more.

And if not....a huge letdown. Having KG publically lobby for AI is a mixed blessing....it could be instrumental in getting him here, if it were to happen....but if not, you wonder if his motivation to stay here in Minnesota might disappear.

It's my prediction that if we don't land Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett will be traded before the end of this season. Quite a predicament.

God I love this game.

Allen Iverson in a Wolves Uniform?

Iverson Wants Out

You'll notice the following paragraph near the end of the article....

"Or how great would it be to see Iverson and Kevin Garnett paired in Minnesota, giving them the opportunity to win their first championship in concert. That way the 76ers could acquire Randy Foye, the object of their affections last June (in Celtics trade talk) and maybe Mike James. That way Minnesota could dump a particularly burdensome contract or two, either Marko Jaric or Troy Hudson."

Now, Peter Vecsey has been known in the past to not be a reliable source, and I wouldn't be totally surprised if this turned out to be bogus, but nonetheless....

The following is a message to Kevin McHale and/or Fred Hoiberg and/or Glen Taylor.

MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

The likely deal, if it were to happen, would look something like this....

Randy Foye

+

Mike James or Ricky Davis

+

Big Contract(s): Marko Jaric, Troy Hudson

Who knows what the deal would be.....but I would be willing to deal anyone not named KG to make this happen. KG wants to win know. Allen Iverson wants to win now. If we could somehow get them on the same team, they would instantly become the best 1-2 punch in the league, let alone the West.

We all know that KG prefers to play a supporting role. We all know that KG does particularly well when there's strong point guard play (Sam Cassell being the prime example). We all know that Allen Iverson has never played with another superstar caliber player (like KG). It just seems right. If you had to ask people who knew the NBA "What two players put more out there than any other?", Kevin and AI would have to be MY top 2. Imagine them together.

Yeah, we'd probably lose either (maybe both, probably not though) Ricky Davis or Mike James. That's OK with me. Both of them have been frustratingly inconsistent, and neither of them really satisfy the "KG needs help, show him you mean business" aspect of the Wolves. If KG wasn't satisfied with Allen Iverson, who knows what he'd be satisfied with. The guy is a former MVP, scoring champion, and is currently leading the league in scoring. Seems pretty good to me....

I think this deal is out there if the Wolves want it. You look at some of the other teams being mentioned (Denver, Boston, Indiana) and wonder what they have to offer that's so much better than what the Wolves have. We have the 2nd-tier NBA star in Ricky Davis and Mike James, and we have the young stud in Randy Foye. Who does anyone else have to offer? An overweight Andre Miller? A constantly in-trouble Stephen Jackson? A bunch of young, unproven players in Boston?

If for anything else, try to make this trade work for Wolves fans like me. We've been waiting for a blockbuster trade to come our way, and while the Celtics trade last year and the Mike James acquisition this summer were decent, this would be huge. The Wolves are currently 24th in attendance; bring Allen Iverson onto this team, and you're bound to see that change.

This trade would make the Wolves a better team. Bar none.

PLEASE GOD, PLEASE!