Minnesota Timberwolves Blogs

     What is taking Dumars so long to move Rip Hamilton.  Al Jefferson was out there from the Timberwolves.  David Lee is about to get traded for two reserves on the same level as Maxiell and Wilcox.  I'm starting to wonder why Joe D is moving so slow, with a team that barely has trade value as it is.  Dumars You need to wake up and smell the free agency...if we end up spending our MLE on somebody like Sheldon Williams, Dumars will officially be on the Hot Seat in my book.

Continue reading "Whats up Dumars, Get rid of the old ..."

Last night I was listening to an interview with former NBA head coach P.J. Carlesimo on 106.7 The Fan.  He was commenting on the opening days of the NBA regular season, specifically about the Eastern Conference and his thoughts on who were the better teams.  Not surprisingly he named the top three teams as the “factors,” those being Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando.  He said that there are not any teams even close to those three but on the outside looking in is the Washington Wizards.  The Wizards were the only team he mentioned as the fourth best team and he said this about three times.  These comments got me thinking about what the Wizards need to do this regular season to take the next step and breach that label, in what areas can they improve to develop into the fourth Eastern Conference power? 

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  1. Gilbert Arenas will average over 8 assists per game –            It is quite obvious that with all the new offensive weapons and a healthy roster, Gilbert Arenas’ scoring average is going to go down.  He isn’t going to be able to keep up a 29.3 ppg season like he did in 2005-06.  My guess is that his numbers will drop down to around his career average of 22 ppg.  Maybe even a little bit lower as there are going to be plenty of guys begging for the rock.  Scoring averages aside, with Gilbert Arenas back in the line-up everyone will benefit.  Gil still gets respect for his scoring capabilities, as evidenced in the two games last year in which he tallied 20 assists and no turnovers.  He has the ability to draw the double team and help defense, much like Kobe, Dwyane, and Lebron, giving him opportunities to pass the ball off to the open man.  In the two games he played last year, you could see that Gilbert still has a quick first step but is more cautious with it.  That hesitancy makes opponents play on their heels which allows Gilbert to blow by them on a drive and get the basket or draw the foul.             What is going to happen is Gilbert will come out this season as a type of player we aren’t used to seeing wear number “0.”  His essentially two years away from the game have undoubtedly changed his perspective as a floor general.  What will emerge is a Gilbert Arenas that involves his teammates while still showcasing the killer instinct that makes him the great scorer he is.             Gilbert’s career assist average is 5.5 apg, a great figure for a small forward but not up to par with the best point guards in the league.  Here are his assist averages over a few seasons:

Continue reading "5 Predictions for the 2009-10 Washington Wizards"

The Thunder traded away Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins for Etan Thomas and two second round picks.  The move was an even swap money wise.  Wilkins and Atkins make nearly 7mil together and that is what Thomas will make this year.  The Thunder are well under the cap and Thomas' contract expires this year.  So, not only will they have freed up money next year, they will also have 5 draft picks.  2 in the first round and 3 in the second round. 

Continue reading "Thunder continue to make small moves ..."

Quentin Richardson has traveled from New York to Memphis to Los Angelos, and now to Minnesota.  He takes with him $9mil for one year.  Last season he earned 3 wins for the New York Knicks (a Howard Sports statistic).  In return, the Clippers get Sebastian Telfair (3 wins), Craig Smith (2 wins), and Mark Madsen (0 wins). So, it was a good trade for the Clippers.  They gained a backup to Baron Davis.  Minnesota meanwhile gets to unload a huge salary after this season.  Richardson also fills a void that was created when Foye was traded to Washington.  Also, Ricky Rubio doesn't appear to coming soon.  After the terrific play of Flynn this summer in Las Vegas, Telfair became expendable.

Continue reading "Richardson traded again. This time to Minnesota"

Minnesota has a long way to go, but they made progress this summer in Vegas.

Johnny Flynn is the real deal and should be the starting point guard from day one.  He averaged 15 points and 7 assists.  And, shot lights out!  Over 50% from 3-point and 91% from the line. He had over 5 turnovers, but that is to be expected.  Scoring and dishing at that level in summer league shows that he is going to be a good player.

Continue reading "Minnesota summer league a success"

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in a world of hurt, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better.  Ryan Gomes, Al Jefferson, and Sebastian Telfair each earned 3 wins last year, while the res

Continue reading "Minnesota Timberwolves"

New York, I don't care what you need to do, get Ricky Rubio.   He has a chance to be special.  There is no player on your team now that can be special.  He wants to play where his

Continue reading "New York and Rubio"

The people who saw the 2009 NBA Draft on Thursday were in for a special treat when they saw Blake Griffin go No. 1.

 

Very predictable however.

 

Then, Hasheem Thabeet went No. 2, which was also predictable. Then things got a bit interesting.

Continue reading "National Champs send four in NBA Draft"

1 Clippers                      Blake Griffin PF

Continue reading "OH-HUM THE 2009 NBA DRAFT"

First the Tiberwolves get rid of Kevin McHale. Then, they go crazy.  Minnesota traded away Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Washington Wizards for Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas and Daruis Songalia, and the 5th overall pick.  Minnesota now has the 5th, 6th, 18th, and 28th overall picks in this week's draft.  They are looking to ship the 5th pick with the 18th to move up to number 2.  Doing that would allow them to draft either Ricky Rubio or Hakeem Thabeet.  As of right now, the roster has huge holes in it and some overload as well.

Continue reading "Minnesota Timberwolves now own the draft"

It has just been reported by The Washington Post that the Washington Wizards have dealt the 5th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves.  The package includes Etan Thomas

Continue reading "Washington Wizards Trade 5th Pick, ..."

The last week has been quite interesting in that an influx of trade rumors and draft scenarios have flooded the Washington Wizards internet community.  Michael Lee of The Washington Post has reported rumors of trades involving the Wizards’ 5th pick going to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers (gag), and the New York Knicks.  While nothing really seems to be of substance, as www.bulletsforever.com has acknowledged, they are impossible to ignore.  Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Javale McGee are some of the notables that many teams, as many as 14, have expressed interest in.  As we approach the draft, the fans’ opinions seem to be forming an almost consensus for Davidson guard Stephen Curry.  The Washington Post conducted a poll that resulted in nearly half the votes garnered by Southern Conference product.  DraftExpress.com now has the Wizards slotted for Jordan Hill with the 5th selection while both SI.com and ESPN.com are predicting James Harden.  What do the Wizards need?  And should they draft for need or get the best player?  Both possibilities, in my opinion, may indeed overlap.  
I believe the most glaring need for the Washington Wizards is at the guard position.  The Wizards have addressed the frontcourt pretty aggressively in recent years with the draft of McGee, Pecherov, and grooming of Andray Blatche.  What appears to have happened is a negligence of the need for a guard, evident in the acceptance of Roger Mason, Jr.’s departure.  Right now as the roster stands the Wizards possess a superstar in Gilbert Arenas but no significant contributor behind him.  Stevenson could very well be done as the only thing he can do these days is talk trash.  Even at his best he would be most effective coming off the bench.  His occasional 3-point hot streak and solid defensive play would be a nice commodity in a reserved role.  Nick Young is on the verge of being a solid 2 guard but an upgrade is certainly possible given the team’s draft situation.  He might be at the point in his career when a little competition wouldn’t hurt.  Mike Jones might not be a Wizard for long but I believe he could give quality minutes in a reserved role.  He is not good enough to be the back-up point guard any more.  I could see his best-case-scenario being reduced to the role of an Anthony Johnson, not the primary back-up but a solid third option for sporadic minutes.  I like Jarvaris Crittenton a lot, he is around 6’5” with good speed and a nice work ethic.  With the overstock of combo guards in this draft the Wizards may be able to pick a player that would still allow Crit room to develop as a role player.  You have to like his prospects with his size and athleticism, he is just a classic case of a player who entered the pro’s too early, only he has a chance to actually make it in the Association.  


Continue reading "Washington Wizards Best Options for ..."

Unfortunately the dream of Amare Stoudemire to Minnesota Timberwolves for Al Jefferson and the 6th overall pick are not going to happen. Minnesota said today that the Suns made them the offer but they quickly declined.

Continue reading "TWolves Say No Way!"

Amare Stoudemire has been at the top of the rumor list for sometime now. He has been criticized for his lack of effort on the defensive side of the court but nobody can deny that he is one of the best scoring forwards in the game. Then newest rumor circulating is sending Amare to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Al Jefferson and the 6th overall pick in the draft. This trade works out well for both teams and is in discussion between the two franchises. Let’s break down this deal from both angles and see how it can benefit both teams.

Continue reading "Phoenix Suns All-Star forward Amare ..."

The Boston Celtics completed a trade on July 31, 2007 that forever altered the complexion of their franchise. The Celtics swung five players, cash considerations and two first-round picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Garnett, and following some additional tweaking, as Celtics radio announcer Sean Grande so aptly put it, after 20 years of futility, “the game’s original monarchy has retaken the throne”.

Continue reading "The Rise of Big Al Jefferson"

Maybe it was the dizzying contrast in the grains of wood used to design the court at the Target Center, or possibly the psychological effect of knowing it was less than 20 degrees and snowing outside, but the Grizzlies' inability to come through on the road reared its ugly head yet again on Monday against Minnesota.

Continue reading "Timberwolves 108, Grizzlies 98 OT"

While the Grizzlies will try to pick themselves up and win after every loss this season, tonight's opportunity may be one that they see as a must-win.

After Saturday's tough loss at San Antonio, the Grizzlies know they have what it takes to compete with a playoff contender on the road.  They have made progress since the beginning of the season, especially when it comes to being physical and aggressive.  It's easy to back off when you are losing and you lack self-confidence.  These Grizzlies have plenty of self-confidence.  They just need to get to where they put it on display every night.  They are not necessarily a team that can be counted out when they are down 20 points to anyone.  Ideally, they wouldn't get themselves into situations like that very often, but they have shown that they can handle it despite their relative inexperience.

Continue reading "Confident Grizzlies Take On Toothless Wolves"

The Magic bounced back after a subpar performance against the Celtics to defeat the Timberwolves 100-89 Wednesday night.  Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu combined for 68 points and Orlando, as a whole, shot well, knocking down 57% of their field goals.

Continue reading "Courtney Lee Helps Magic Topple T-Wolves"

Rashard Lewis tallied 30 points while Dwight Howard grabbed 15 boards and had 4 blocks, yet it was the Celtics who left Monday victorious.  And while Boston's ability is certainly not to be taken lightly, it was the Magic that defeated themselves having only hit 42% of their field goals and shooting a mere 19% from behind the arc; the Magic's free throw shooting was also lackluster, having missed a total of ten. 

Continue reading "Lewis' 30 Not Enough Against Boston"

Okay, so things are not going well for the Detroit Pistons right now.  Yes, it was ridiculous how the Minnesota Timberwolves blew them out at home-it was even pathetic.  They are 4-5 since trading for Allen Iverson, after starting the season 4-0.

Continue reading "Detroit Will Be Okay-Give Them Time"

from Club Blazers

Game preview, Minnesota at Portland 11/8

Saturday nights game against Minnesota here in the Rose Garden will be the second game of a back to back for the Timberwolves who will travel to Portland after taking on the Kings in Sacramento on Friday night.

Continue reading "Minnesota at Portland game preview 11/8"

Preseason Game 1: Minnesota Timberwolves versus Chicago Bulls

All that needs to be said for this game is this: The Wolves scored nine points in the first quarter. And in the fourth quarter. That’s 18 points in two full quarters. Also, there couldn’t have been more than 3,000 people there. The lower half was almost full, and the upper level had fewer than 100 people. Most were napping. It looked like an Expos game.

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An indication of the state of the franchise, I bought season tickets for the Minnesota Timberwolves for $129 last March. That’s right, $129 for 43 games…$3 per game.

Here’s the plan: I’m going to write a post-game recap after each game, but first, let’s go through the 2008-2009 roster.

Continue reading "2008-2009 Minnesota Timberwolves outlook"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

    So I missed out on being able to write during the greatest basketball month in the history of my fandom, but luckily for me, the League wisely places the NBA Draft at the perfect time. Just as the dust has settled on the Finals and fans everywhere have mentally prepared themselves for the blankness of the off-season, we get one more chance to scrutinize, debate, and celebrate our favorite teams. This year’s draft was tagged as unpredictable early on, and it certainly lived up to that billing. The beauty of the Draft is that the discussion is pretty much never-ending, as any player’s legacy is up for grabs until the day he hangs it up, but here are one fan’s initial thoughts, coming at you six picks at a time.

Continue reading "Draft Analysis: Picks 1-6"

I firmly believe there was no real "winners" in the NBA Draft this year, as you could read on my ealrier blog about the drafts winners. Which by default makes most everyone...well... a loser. But seeing that I am trying to get a job back into the sports world I am only going to identify the three biggest, most miserable, should lose their jobs instantly, abhorrantly disgusting losers of the 2008 NBA Draft beginning with...

Continue reading "NBA Draft 2008- The Losers Addition"

Well, another NBA Draft has come and gone. There were a few surprises, and more than a few things went as projected. Here's a rundown

Rose and Beasley went 1/2, respectively

OJ Mayo was selected 3rd by Minnesota, who eventually traded him to Memphis for Kevin Love in an 8 player deal

Continue reading "NBA Draft: Dishing out the Love"

To anyone who watched these two teams this year it is no surprise that Utah won the first game.  The Jazz have been tagged as a terrible road team and a great home team.  Although their record indeed supports such claims, Utah seemed to lose away games to teams like Minnesota.  Quality road blowouts against the Hornets and minor league champins Boston Celtics show the true potential of the Utah Jazz - away or at home.

Continue reading "Utah Jazz win first against game ..."

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/top-7-nba-pretty-boys-whew.html

Don’t we all have to show some love for the pretty boys? I gave you our ‘ Top 6 Worst Hairstyles in the NBA’ last week and was satisfied with leaving it at that until our boy, SML ( StopMikeLupica.com) dropped by to pose a little challenge. He said that anyone can do the worst hair post, but only a real man can bring you the pretty boys. Never one to back down from a blogger challenge, I’ve created our list and oh is it 'pretty'! Please enjoy!

Continue reading "Top 7: NBA Pretty Boys! Whew!"

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/nba-all-star-game-heading-to-lo

Continue reading "NBA All-Star Game: Heading to London in 2011"

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/02/marko-jaric-officially-dating-a

Continue reading "Marko Jaric Officially Dating Adriana Lima"

OAKLAND –

Coming off a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves the Golden State Warriors continued to play their best against the sinking New Jersey nets.   Despite an injured Vince Carter, the Nets did explode in the second quarter slowing the tempo of the Warriors who lead in the first quarter. Vince Carter scored 29 points and Richard Jefferson scored 34 points for the Nets, who are on their worst longest losing streak in three years. Josh Boone also had 21 points and 17 rebounds.  Not much could stop Monta Ellis who scored his career-high 39 points. Golden State scored 22 consecutive points and blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of their 121-119 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

Continue reading "New Jersey Nets vs Golden State Warriors"

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/01/miami-heat-suck.html

Continue reading "The Miami Heat suck."

Is it me or was that NOT a good win last night? I mean I am so not trying to be negative, but a team that is without its star player (Pau Gasol) and the game is so close kind of worries me. We are 9-13 today and now the season REALLY begins. What do I mean by that? The teams the Los Angele Clippers are facing now are winning teams...

Continue reading "Was the win against the Memphis Grizzlies ..."