Howlin' T-Wolf

Dwyane Wade: Purveyor of heartbreaking jumpers and post game warm fuzzies.

Remember your first day of high school, junior year? When you overheard that cute girl you hadn’t seen all summer telling her friend that you looked better, and you would be really attractive if you stopped using such ridiculous, convoluted metaphors? And even though you knew you never had a chance with her, it was just nice to hear from somebody hot that you looked good?

Yeah, that never happened to me either. But it happened to the Timberwolves after they played Miami Friday night!

Take it away, Dwyane Wade. (Hat tip to A Wolf Among Wolves)

This is a different team and obviously a better team than last year…I’m glad we played them early in the year, because I think later in the season they’re going to be a very good team…It can be frustrating losing games, but they can’t get away from what they do. They’ve got a very bright future ahead of them and that Rubio kid is everything as advertised. He’s a risk taker…He’s going to make the risky pass and sometimes a teammate will be ready for it and sometimes they won’t. I think as they continue to play with him, they’ll get more comfortable with him and know he’s going to make those kind of passes. So I just look at him as a risk taker, but that’s what makes him special.

Whoa. Really? You are glad you played Minnesota early because they will be a very good team…later THIS YEAR? A bright future? Rubio…everything he’s advertised. Dwyaaaaane. Stop it. Ok, no, I was just saying that. Please keep going.

Look, I know this could have been slick post game speak from Wade, but he didn’t have to say it. He could have said “Yeah, we made some mistakes, but we just had to go out there and grind out a victory.” Not only would that have been true, it would have been mildly demoralizing. It would have implied that the Heat viewed this as a throwaway game, just a regular season grind that they needed to push through, and that the only reason it was close was because they weren’t very interested in it.

But instead, he lauded Minnesota, saying that once they gel as a team, they are going to be really good. He confirmed everything that Minnesota fans keep thinking they see. And dammit, it was a very nice thing to hear from a player of Wade’s caliber.

By the way Dwyane, you know what would make Minnesota REALLY good? A new shooting guard. Too much? Yeah. I knew it when I said it.

I was asked recently what I’m most excited for this season, and it gave me pause. Was I most excited for Lob City? To cheer violently against the Heat until I lose a tonsil? To see a Timberwolves team that isn’t morbidly depressing?

I came up with my answer an hour later, when I was no longer with the questioner (naturally). See, I became interested in sports because I am an avid reader. I love stories and story lines. I love the development. I love the drama. I love the conclusion, sad or happy. I love seeing everything tie together. In 2008, NBA fans got to see three future Hall of Famers win their first championship together, the ultimate happy ending. Recently, the Brandon Roy saga has given us the opposite. (Seriously, read this article and watch this video knowing what we know now, and if you can honestly tell me you don’t get a little choked up, I can only conclude you are made of stone.)

Anyway. What I decided I’m most excited for is the story lines. Here are six from the Timberwolves that I am most interested in following this year. Give me yours in the comments or on Twitter. Read more…

It’s about that time. After finishing the preseason out with two wins over the lowly Milwaukee Bucks (Seriously, they got issues), the Timberwolves are set to open up the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Target Center the night after Christmas.

I have to be honest, after the strenuous lockout, I thought the Wolves were in trouble with such little time to break everything in and incorporate the new pieces. A new point guard, more lineup headaches on the frontline and a new coach all had to learn on the fly in just two weeks time. Practices had to be efficient, to say the least, and the two preseason games had to be taken advantage of. Luckily, the Wolves did just that. Although the two victories were quite sloppy, they pulled out on top, which is something new they’re trying.

It’s called winning. This team will turn heads with their outstanding athleticism and hotshot point guard. This team will also make a lot of mistakes on both sides of the ball because of their inexperience in the league and lack of chemistry due to limited practice time. But what this team does have a shot at is winning more games this season.

With that said, I’m going to make my preseason prediction: the Timberwolves will win 30-35 games and fight for and, I believe win, the 8th seed in the Western Playoffs.

Before you move on to other places on the World Wide Web, allow me to justify. Read more…

ESPN:

Adelman announced on Wednesday that Terry Porter, Jack Sikma, T.R. Dunn and Bill Bayno will join him as assistants on his staff.

I love seeing that Porter is going to be back in town. After his time with the Phoenix Suns, I believe he’ll bring something special to the table with his experience with high-octane offenses.

Adelman’s son, R.J., was also named to the staff as the director of player personnel.

Target Center, Home of the Wolves

The NBA released the revised and shortened schedule for the 2011-2012 season, and the Timberwolves got pretty lucky.

Let me start by saying that this year isn’t going to be easy. At all. The Wolves start off the season with difficult match-ups against some of the league’s best, such as Oklahoma City, Miami, Dallas and San Antonio. Those are experienced teams with perennial players across the lineup that could cause serious line up problems for the Wolves. OKC has Durant, who poses as a threat to any defender. Miami, well, you already know what I’m going to say. And Dallas and San Antonio are two of the most experienced teams in the league, led by two of the best power forwards to ever play the game.

With that said, how in the hell could we be considered lucky? One thing all of those games have in common is that they’ll be taking place on our hardwood, the Target Center. The one place a shaky, inexperienced yet verdant team has any chance at all to at least make the bout close is at home. The one place where the playing field becomes even for under priveledged teams, thanks to thousands of rabid fans, rooting their team on. The Target Center is home to a pro basketball championship now, you know.

But there’s no hiding the truth: the Timberwolves didn’t play well at home last season. They only went 12-29, in fact. But when you compare that to a measly 5-36 on the road, things start to change a little bit. When you analyze some of the league’s other bottom-dwellers, most of them held significantly worse road records than home records including the Clippers, Raptors and Wizards.

Regardless of whether they’re home or not, I believe this team is going to have a rejuvenated hope in what they can become. Kahn only added pieces to the puzzle rather than starting fresh yet again.