Howlin' T-Wolf

The Lakers are swarming in controversy right now, and perhaps growing desperate. Thanks to superstar Kobe Bryant’s open comments about the trade rumors revolving around teammate Pau Gasol, the Lakers’ front office has never been in a more awkward position.

And while the Lakers continue to sort through the internal issues, the controversy actually hurts the Wolves. ESPN is reporting that the Lakers have inquired about the Timberwolves’ Michael Beasley. A trade, if done, wouldn’t be worth much in return for the Timberwolves except mostly likely a big fat salary dump and maybe a draft pick — something the Wolves certainly don’t need, believe it or not.

Although we recieved Beasley for two loaves of Wonder white bread, he still holds some value to the young Wolves. After suffering a foot injury that sidelined him for 11 straight games, Beasley has nestled himself into the sixth man role for the Wolves. An unfamilar spot, Beasley is still taking his time getting used to the reduced role and reduced minutes. But Beasley’s rotation swap has forced him to be more efficient in his limited time on the court.

Known as a volume scorer a lot like Kobe Bryant, Beasley, in the past, needed the ball in his hands to be successful. But lately Beasley has been spotted doing all sorts of things for the Wolves including higher rebounding numbers and stiffer defense, once an afterthought in Beasley’s capabilities. These different aspects of his game have actually improved his offense a bit too as well as his confidence. He’s looking to post up more often, where I believe he does his best work, and is hitting his open shots, especially from three-point land (43-percent, a team high).

Beasley still has lightyears to go in terms of attitude and overall game i.q., but he’s proving himself worthy of being a potent scorer off the bench, much like Jason Terry has done for the defending champion Mavericks. It’s a brilliant move by Adelman to move Beasley to the bench because; 1) It has forced Beasley to amp his game up and make his minutes more efficient; and 2) Limits Beasley from blowing up on the court when things start going awry, which happens often on the offensive end.

He’s a headcase and somewhat of a black hole on the offensive end. I’m not so sure how any of Beasley’s qualities fit the Lakers’ needs — they’re small forward position is weak — but using Beasley outside of his current sixth man role would do them no good; he’d likely fall back into his comfort zone of demanding the ball and taking lots of shots. That’s not a good combo to put alongside Pau Gasol and, of course, Kobe.

The Wolves don’t need to dump Beasley quite yet. David Kahn needs to let the season run its course and see who could fill the small forward/sixth man position in the future — Michael Beasley or Derrick Williams, if he loses weight, that is. Once that gets sorted out, then the Wolves could afford to make a move using either forward to seek the ultimate prize, a starting 2-guard. Having said that, the Wolves would be smart to hold on to Beasley for the rest of the season before jumping the gun for minimal assets.

Nikola Pekovic is Minnesota's answer to all the "Linsanity"

The sensation that is the buzz around New York’s Taiwan Don, Jeremy Lin, is special. Lin has a Knicks team steamrolling the league to seven straight victories without a full, healthy squad.

But if this weren’t happening in New York, one of the world’s best cities and the NBA’s very own baby, would anyone really care?

Meanwhile, in the cold tundra that is Minnesota, (Or that’s what people believe but it’s actually been the warmest winter to date) Nikola Pekovic is literally steamrolling his opponents to obliteration. He’s not rolling the Wolves to seven straight victories, in fact, the Wolves just broke a four game losing streak last night. But Pek’s accomplishments have been overlooked due to all of the Linsanity. The NBA has another international sensation establishing his name in the NBA.

Last night against the Charlotte Bobcats, Pek posted 21 points and 11 boards. Bobcats’ head coach, Paul Silas, mentioned that his team did a good job of keeping Love contained; they forced him into taking long shots, moving him away from the basket. “But the other kid. Pep-a-vich his name is? Whatever, he just killed down there.”

That’s like saying, “What’s his name? Wang? Yeah, he’s good.”

Okay, maybe not. Lin is Lin and he’s doing his thing, while Pek is ripping opponents limb from limb up here in Minny. Different tales, different coverage. But just because Pek doesn’t own that coy and bashful persona doesn’t mean he hasn’t earned the attention.

Since being inserted into the starting lineup less than a month ago in place of Darko Milicic, the 6′11″, 290 lb behemoth has scored in double-digits in every game but one. Of those 12 in double-digits, seven he was able to record a double-double. The numbers compared to last season are worthy of Most Improved Player honors.

What’s so lovable about Pek’s game is his how sound but goofy it is. Pek’s footwork on the block is above-average but it’s his strength and positioning that allows him so many easy looks inside. He comes down the court, sets up his post directly under the hoop, gets bumped out maybe once or twice but still, his position is so perfect already, the defender has no room once Pek gets the entry pass. Even when he doesn’t have that great of position, Pek makes due with what he has by battling down with his shoulders and then utilizing a soft touch around the rim. He has an array of shots that all seem to get the job done, from the drop-step layup to the baby hook. What sums it all up, though, is how Pek takes his shot, watches it go through and then cross country skies back up the court, bobbing his head with every stride. He’s the definition of a troll, if you ask me. But a cuddly, teddy bear-like troll.

But this clumsy troll is putting up astounding numbers. His per-36 minute numbers are simply bewildering since being named the starter. 18 points and over 10 rebounds a game with a 61-percent field goal percentage. Those are top-5-best-center numbers behind the likes of centers like Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Greg Monroe and Andrew Bynum. Pek’s true shooting percentage of 64-percent ranks second of all starting centers in the league, only behind Tyson Chandler, who dunks every shot he takes. Contributing to his high TS percentage are the 20 dunks he has this season, thwarting whatever the timid Darko Milicic had as a starter last year and this.

Last season, Pek averaged a turnover and a half in just 13 minutes a game. He also somehow managed to rack up nearly three fouls in those limited minutes as well. The transformation from Pek last year to Pek this year is astronomical. Part of the difference comes in part to his offensive rebounding rate of 17.7-percent, which rivals and completely trumps that of his teammate and the tip-in king, Kevin Love. More minutes equals more offensive rebounds equals more tip-in layups equals more points and a better efficiency rating.

Since Pek’s improvements are across the board, he’s been rewarded with one of the league’s best PER’s as a starting center at 21.71. No longer are the mental mistakes hindering his game, rather he’s taking care of the ball and being efficient with his looks.

The Wolves have desperately searched for a competent starting center their entire existence. Rasho Nesterovic, who started from 1999-2003, was the closest thing to a franchise center since this team’s conception. The Wolves’ misfortune at the position has been well-documented, from missing out on both Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning in the 1992 Draft to signing Michael Olowakandi, one of the NBA’s biggest draft busts taken first overall, in 2005.

Nobody expected Pek to be this good. Nobody. Last season, he showed glimpses of having a serviceable post game coming off the bench. Other than that, he was turnover prone and one of the biggest hacks in the league. He spent most possessions scrambling to spots on the floor, posting up and then flailing upwards in hopes of a foul only to turn the ball over. His defense was even more frightening.

But this season is much different, and thanks to his newfound efficiency and dominance, the Wolves may just have found they’re first cornerstone center in franchise history.

Where does Wes go from here?

The NBA, as well as other leagues, favor youngsters over seasoned vets when it comes to drafting them for good reason. A younger option gives the team youth, energy and, usually, someone with a higher ceiling. Although older rookies may be more NBA ready and mature, their ceilings aren’t as high because they haveless time to learn all there is to become the best they can be; sometimes older rooks will come into the league as good as they’ll ever be.

In Wes’s case, his age was actually attractive, especially to a team as young as the Wolves; being able to add a new piece to the puzzle that was the most NBA ready was a treasure in disguise, really. They risked age over ceiling and the gamble looked “safe” at the time.

Wes came into his rookie season as an instant starter, looking to inject Kurt Rambis’ system with some perimeter shooting while being asked to cover the NBA’s best guards and forwards on a nightly basis. Because of his poise and maturity, he held his own. He had his rookie moments, especially on offense, but for the most part, Wes proved himself to be a valuable selection; believe me, it could’ve been a lot worse.

Wes contributed nine points a contest in 26 minutes. Even playing completely out of his comfort zone at the 2-guard, Johnson showed glimpses of having an all-around NBA game — passing, defense and rebounding — but it was clear that his bread and butter was the deep-ball; he clung to it in need. Teammates knew this and got him his looks but he never demanded the ball — he knew he wasn’t a superstar nor was he in Minnesota to blossom into one — rather he just fit in where he needed to, did things that coach told him and made the plays that were designed for him, in the huddle or on the floor.

Being that mature rookie, it helped fine tune him into an above-average, serviceable rotation man with the chops to start where you need him. The value of getting a do-it-all swing guard/forward at the fourth overall slot was a bargain; championship teams would kill to have role players like him but they come at a premium. The Wolves, instead, were able to lock him in on the rookie wage scale and boast having this kind of guy for the next four years and then some.

Wes has other tools than shooting the ball

But something went terribly array from last year to this. The lockout, for one, limited any practice time the team’s had. A new head coach was brought in to better suit the team’s new incoming rookies, Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams, as well as Kevin Love. Question marks dotted the Wolves’ entire roster, jeopardizing any and everyone that was a part of such a dismal team in 2010-2011.

Whether any of this actually crept into Wes’ head, he’s clearly not the same as he ever was.

Wes was a smiley player last season; Canis Hoopus enthusiasts always said, “We lead the league in smiles!” Wes was one of those guys that enjoyed his rookie campaign because it was filled with minor successes and step-by-step improvements, despite not having the most fruitful season.

But in his sophomore journey, thus far, smiles haven’t ridden their way across Wes’ mug too often. He currently finds himself in the middle of one of the worst shooting draughts I’ve ever witnessed from a Timberwolf. Johnson’s stats have declined in nearly every major and advanced statistical category across the board. Most notably, his three-point shooting percentage and field goal efficiency have seen major dropoffs. That was the bread and butter, though; it was the go-to in the clutch; it was practically all he had to do last year to bare any success on the offensive end.

And the sudden decline has no genuine excuse. He hasn’t been injured; his shots aren’t being stolen away from him; he’s playing five minutes less per game than last season but that seems more like a result of his bad play, not a catalyst.

Johnson’s rough patch has wildly hurt the Wolves all season long. Without a scoring option in the starting lineup behind Nikola Pekovic and Love, the Wolves have found themselves getting out to rough first quarter starts. Johnson keeps shooting and shooting but nothing is falling. If he fails to hit his first few shots, depending on the defensive matchups, Wes has trouble ever seeing the court again. That’s a serious blow to anyone’s confidence.

In watching basketball all my life, the only proven way to get out of a slump is to keep in the game and shoot until they start to drop. In Wes’ case, the Wolves don’t necessarily have the time or patience to remedy his issues. The Wolves are trying to win now and taking time to allow Wes to catch up with his game isn’t in the winning formula.

So what’s Wes to do? If he can’t boost his confidence on the offensive end, what can he do to be more involved?

First thing’s first, he can always improve his defense. One of the only reasons he’s still on the floor this season is because he’s a physical specimen at the guard/forward combo. He’s 6′ 7″, 215 lbs; his wingspan spreads across 7′ 1″. He has the physical tools to defend the NBA’s elite at shooting guard, small forward and some tweener power forwards. Last season, Wes showed that he can become a viable defender in the NBA. But this season, Wes seems to have lost that step. Whether it’s his overall confidence that is affecting him, his defensive numbers have gone down and he looks lost on defensive rotations. Buckling down on defense could help get Wes in a “hungrier” mood. Stopping his opposition dead in his tracks could result in buckets at the other end.

Johnson could also improve his rebounding. No need to belabor his size but a “shooting guard” of his stature should be grabbing more than three rebounds a game. He’s an elite jumper; Luke Ridnour called him the best dunker on the team for that reason. Rebounds at his position come as a result of hustle more than positioning but Wes’ tools should make rebounding come easier. Those rebounds turn to fastbreaks which turn to easy lobs. He can be the catalyst in those plays and even the receiving end of a lob, rewarding his hard work on the glass.

And, finally, Johnson needs to work harder on creating off the dribble. Although it’s never been his knack, he’s an all-around type of player who has good court vision. Working off the dribble creates a plethora of options for Wes and the Wolves. Depending on what he sees underneath, one quick dribble and two steps later could mean a dunk, a layup or even a simple drop pass to Love or Pekovic. It’s easier said than done but he’s proven that he can get the the rim before. When his streaky shooting started earlier this season, head coach Rick Adelman urged Wes to drive the ball. Once that started happening, he started opening up the lane and drawing fouls. Wes makes 69-percent of his looks at the rim and only 36-percent of efficient field goals from the three-point line. The numbers don’t lie, and Wes has the tools to get to the rim more often. It bodes well in the end for all parties, whether Wes takes it himself or drops it off, it ends in two points.

It’s time to accept that Wes will never “pan out” the way we had hoped. His age already lowers his ceiling, but it’s his lost confidence that is ultimately deterring his NBA career from running on track. Wes needs to find himself on the court. His comfort zone has been breached and now he needs to do things that he’s normally not been asked to do in the past. Things like defense, rebounding and attacking the rim are all questionable aspects of his game but all can aide him going forward while he continues to find his shot.

The Wolves don’t need Wes to take over games; he was never drafted for that purpose. But the Wolves do need him to step up his game to get back to winning. Without any hint Wes, the Wolves are pretty lost themselves.

Let’s take a minute to discuss a dirty little not-so-secret that Minnesota’s fans have been trying to avoid talking about out loud for most of the season (though grumbling about it under their breath seems to be acceptable).

Kevin Love complains excessively to the refs, to the point where it’s detrimental to the Wolves.

Sometimes he has something resembling a legitimate gripe. But it becomes a problem when he spends so much time making exaggerated, pointed motions at the ref on one end that Minnesota’s overstretched defense, forced to play 5-4, gives up an easy basket on the other.

One such example happened toward the end of the first half against New York on Saturday. It started innocuously enough, with Rubio driving the lane and kicking the ball to a cutting Love, whose man, Jared Jeffries, wasn’t really paying attention. Love cut past him and headed towards the basket.

Tyson Chandler, however, wasn’t fooled and came over to help out. There appeared to be quite a bit of contact as Love attempted a contested layup and was knocked backward, but no foul was called. Love hit the deck as Chandler came up with the rebound and looked to outlet the ball. Note how much time is on the clock as Chandler attempts to outlet. (And for those of you with League Pass, note the choice of language Love uses on his way down. I chuckled.)

1:15 seconds. As Chandler outlets the ball, the Knicks begin a weird, half-hearted sort of fast break, 3 on 3 against the Wolves.

No sign of Love in this frame, but that’s ok. Pek hasn’t shown up yet. Neither has Tyson Chandler. Jared Jeffries is running along the far side, having just helped knock Kevin Love on his ass.

Rubio attempts to take a charge from Lin, and he fails. At this point, as you can see, there are four Knicks and four Wolves in the picture.

Here’s Tyson Chandler, the last Knick. (Sup, man?) Please notice the amount of time left on the clock. Also notice how Rubio’s flop has forced Luke Ridnour to cover both Iman Shumpert and Jared Jeffries while Lin plans his attack.

Lin drives into the lane, and since Ridnour is forced to cover Jeffries right beside the basket, Lin kicks the ball out to Shumpert, who spots up for three.

Oh hey, Kevin. Nice of you to join us. Note: it took Love eight seconds to get up and get back down the court with the rest of his teammates. He was three seconds behind the last Knick to arrive. These may not seem like excruciatingly long periods of time, but at game speed, it was an eternity.

Shumpert’s three misses, but since Love just arrived on the scene, everyone’s assignment for boxing out is totally screwed up. Lin comes away with the rebound while Rubio gets swallowed up by Love’s man, Jared Jeffries.

Since Lin got the rebound and Rubio is stuck with Jeffries, Love is forced to come out and try to guard Lin. Lin (predictably) drives by Love with ease and scores an easy layup.

For those of you keeping track at home, the three that Shumpert missed let Love off the hook briefly, but the botched rebound is also pretty obviously his fault. This may seem relatively insignificant, since the Wolves only ended up giving away two points on the play, but as you may recall, the final score of the game was 100-98. I’m not saying the Wolves lost because of this one play, I’m just saying that this theme of Love complaining to the officials while his teammates try to pick up the slack on defense is pretty clearly detrimental.

Yes, Kevin Love is a star now, and he probably deserved to start this year in the All-Star game (although in a game based on popularity, he was never going to beat out Griffin for the starter’s job. Sorry, bud). For the most part, he certainly has been a joy to watch and cheer for this year; it’s not every year one gets to watch their franchise player throw up 30-20’s and barely blink.

But this particular habit really needs to stop. He’s better than this.

Kevin Love has been suspended for two games by the NBA.

Apparently, I’m just a giant homer.

From ESPN:

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love has been suspended for two games for stomping on Rockets forward Luis Scola’s face in their game on Saturday.

The NBA announced the suspension Monday.

On the one hand, I can’t say I’m surprised. The NBA makes a pretty obvious effort to prevent players from fighting, cursing or doing anything that might further brand the league, as ignorant online commenters like to say, “a group of thugs.” Stepping on another human being seems to qualify under the category of “thuggish.”

That being said, I’m still not convinced Love did it intentionally. I think A Wolf Among Wolves actually had the best description of the actions: he didn’t try NOT to. Apparently, that’s good enough for the NBA, who robbed the Timberwolves of Love’s services for the next two games.

The good news is that Minnesota’s next game, the first one Love will miss, is against the Sacramento Kings. The bad news is that the next one is the next night against Memphis in Memphis.

Hey Beas/D-Will? If you were looking for a chance to show your worth, it’s now.

Alright. This is going to get covered everywhere else, so I’ll post my recap tomorrow and talk about this first.

At this point, you have probably heard that Kevin Love stepped on Luis Scola Saturday night. Here’s a video:

I don’t think Love meant to step on Scola’s face, so I’m in complete disagreement with the announcers in this very biased video. It looked to me as though he was trying to step over him and sort of fell forward. If he had meant to step on his face, he would have done it with his foot, not his shin, right? If anything, Love tried to step on his chest.

That being said, I don’t think Love is at ALL sorry he did it.

Further, the officials let that entire situation get WAY out of hand. First, they let the Rockets hang all over Love on one end, frustrating Love inordinately. Then they let Love get away with a blatant frustration foul on the other end, sending Scola crashing to the floor. Was Love’s action not called a foul as some sort of make-up non-call? Because for an NBA official, that’s despicable. Love fouled him and the violation needed to be called. Would they have gotten booed? OF COURSE. It’s their job as officials to make calls like that and take the abuse that would have rained down on them. Then, to cap off this whole fiasco, they called a ticky-tack foul on the Rockets on the other end, which completely threw the situation out of whack (”alright, Love and Scola assaulting each other? No foul…just DON’T YOU TOUCH RIDNOUR!”) before calling a technical on the Rockets bench who were complaining about what had happened on the other end. Mind you, nobody from the Rockets bench stood up or anything. Apparently, they were just complaining too loudly.

It was one of the worst officiating sequences I have seen in a long time. I’ll be surprised if Love gets suspended, but if he does I’m blaming the bad officiating for about 40% of it. (Love gets the other 60%…control your temper and don’t throw Luis Scola to the ground next time.)

And really, that’s what this situation boils down to. This isn’t a case where some deep, violent inner tendency of Kevin Love has come to the surface. It’s a case where he did something stupid, in the heat of the moment battling against Scola. It’s hard to say whether or not it was intentional, and I’m glad it’s not my job to sort out the wreckage.

Back to our regular scheduled programming…the Wolves are back to .500! MUCH more on that tomorrow, with minimal references to this incident. I promise.

Michael Beasley came to the Wolves for next-to nothing. Therefore his role doesn't need to portray his actual value.

Michael Beasley is far from a reserved guy. He’s spontaneously goofy off the court and oftentimes psychotic on. For a bulk of his life he’s always been the center of attention due to his freakishly long body and insanely outstanding skills on the court — especially possessing the skill set he has at the size he is.

After injuring his foot early on in the season, Beasley was forced to sit for 11 games. He made his return last Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs, prompting some to wish he had never come back in the first place after an ugly return — Just seven points on 3-11 shooting.

Wolves fans, and I’m sure Heat fans when he was with Miami from 2008-2010, have been and still are a little hard on Beaz. There’s no reason to think he doesn’t deserve it, though. He was the second overall pick in 2008 behind the reigning MVP in Derrick Rose; he had extremely high expectations going into the draft with some even believing he should’ve gone first.

Nearly four years later and brand new, lucrative extensions, we’re close to seeing exactly who has panned out already and who is still piecing together an NBA career from that draft class. We’re close enough to pegging those guys that, if the draft were to happen all over again, it would’ve drastically changed; Rose would stay at the top but then Love would likely make the jump to second overall. Beasley? Well, he’d probably drop to fifth, maybe even sixth overall.

It’s not the talent that’s in question, by any means, rather the drive and the determination to be the best he can be. We’ve seen how Beasley can get disconnected from the game when he misses a few of his patented jumpers. We’ve seen how he refuses to pass the ball until he works out the kinks in his own game. We’ve seen him glare down rims after missing free throws as if it was its fault.

Like I said, he’s had a lot to live up to as an NBA player and the second overall pick in 2008, and, whether it’s the pressure or something else, it hasn’t quite panned out. Nor has it been atrocious, though; there are still glimpses of greatness we see from time-to-time. Last night was one of those nights. Beasley, still semi-recovering from his sprained foot, came off the bench for the third straight game since returning. Contrary to Friday night’s pitiful game against the Spurs, Beasley caught fire last night and lit the Rockets up for 34 points in just 32 minutes.

The most frustrating thing about Beasley’s game is his inconsistency and selfishness within the offense; think Carmelo Anthony but even more inconsistent (Yikes!) But last night we saw Beasley take advantage of his decreased role on the court by upping the efficiency and taking cleaner, crisper shots. It got me thinking: What if Beasley was meant to come off the bench his whole career?

Obviously you don’t take a player second overall to have him come in off the bench his entire career but there are players that have made a living by being the sixth man. Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford and Lamar Odom, just to name a few, have made their careers by coming off the bench and jumpstarting offenses when the starters fail to get off to their expected starts.

In the 2008-2009 season, Beasley spent the majority of the season on Erik Spoelstra’s bench in Miami. He sat watching and learning until it was his name called to be that go-to player. He was never called to that duty all season long leading to a rather impressive rookie season. Beaz finished with nearly 14 points a game in only 24 minutes. That was also his best season shooting from the field at 47% as well as his lowest TO rate, just over 10%. Despite receiving less minutes, Beaz didn’t let that get the best of him. He still played his game when he finally saw the court and posted a respectable usage rate of 27.7%.

Last season was arguably Beasley’s first attempt at becoming a solidified starter in the NBA with the Wolves. He had a good year, posting career highs in points and assists per game (19.2, 2.2). Those numbers, especially the points per game, are awfully deceiving, though. In his rookie season, he only needed just under 12 shots a game to average nearly 14 a game. But last season, Beasley needed over five more shots a game to score just five points more on average than his rookie season. Statistically speaking, that shouldn’t be happening.

The inconsistency may be a constant debate over Beasley’s NBA career but the biggest difference between those two season were his role in the offense: Reserve vs. Go-to Starter. Adelman might have this figured out without even looking at the numbers. By decreasing how many minutes Beasley can play as well as throwing out the pressure of starting off the game on a good foot, Beasley is forced to take more efficient shots, thus taking advantage of the smaller role. But it all comes down to whether his ego is too big to settle into a supporting role for this team rather than that go-to starting scorer. If he can, he might be able to revitalize his career and, ultimately, help this team win throughout the season and even secure himself a new contract to play alongside Rubio and Love for seasons to come.

Beasley-Darko for Kaman. Any takers?

Reports released last night entail that the Hornets are actively shopping Chris Kaman, who they got as part of the Chris Paul deal. They working so “actively” that they’re even benching Kaman until a deal is done. Talk about prudence.

The good news is that the Hornets and Kaman have mutually agreed that this is the best decision for both parties. Even better news is that the Wolves may be in the market for a new, shiny center.

The Wolves do indeed have some money locked up at the center position with Darko Milicic (signed through 2014 after inking the erroneous 4 year, $20 mil deal), Nikola Pekovic (signed through next season at 3 years, $13 mil), and Anthony Randolph, who is more of an afterthought at this point.

By removing a heavy contract at center — Darko — and maybe something pretty enticing for a young rebuilding team like the Hornets — Michael Beasley — well, you got yourself a pretty fair trade for both teams involved, if you ask me, sending Kaman to Minnesota.

There’s no denying that Darko and Pek have played big minutes all season long — Just last night, Pek worked Tim Duncan in the post like he wasn’t even there, and Darko recorded a season-high seven blocks against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. But neither are true long-term options. Kaman would clean Kahn’s slate of awful contracts given to centers, and be plugged in alongside Love to form a fearful duo; Love with the sheer rebounding and shooting and Kaman with the defense and refined post game.

Currently, Kaman is set to become a free agent at the end of this season, meaning any trade would also mean committing to a long-term deal with the Michigan product. But the Wolves are in luck. After resigning Kevin Love on Wednesday to an awfully flexible deal, the Wolves have money to play with over the next three years, as they continue to piece the puzzle together. Of course the key would be to get Kaman at a premium, which is entirely possible due to his age and drop in production, I’d put it around, oh, 3 years, $20 mil.

A steady center like Kaman alongside Love at that kind of price could be what this team is looking for. And the trade also pays the Wolves a huge favor by ridding them of Beasley’s drama.

Do the deal. Make it happen.

“We weren’t playing to win the game (last year). This year, we are playing to win the game. We are confident. Real confident.” -Kevin Love

PEK SMASH!

Hey, remember what watching the Wolves was like last year? I…me neither. I have vague recollections, but trying to pinpoint the exact feeling is like trying to remember a nightmare from two nights ago. The general theme is still around, but the details keep slipping through the cracks in your mind, and it’s tough to remember why you were so scared in the first place.

It has become redundant to point out, but with every game it becomes more abundantly clear: the Timberwolves have a totally new mentality. There is no way, absolutely NO WAY, Minnesota would have won that game last year. They wouldn’t have closed out. They would have lost by seven or eight, and we would be talking today about how well they performed for most of the game. Then we would have said something about how “we can’t wait until they learn how to close out games.”

With 3:27 left in the fourth quarter, Gary Neal buried a three on the Wolves, giving San Antonio a two point lead for the first time in quite a while. At that point I was having ‘Nam-like flashbacks, and I thought Minnesota was cooked. Apparently, every lesson the Wolves have taught me about their resiliency has been lost so far. But that shot would have been curtains for last year’s team.

Not this year.

The Wolves came storming back, scoring the last 10 points of the game. Up four, and looking for a dagger with 37.3 seconds left, Love barreled through the lane with very little time left on the shot clock and buried a floating baby hook (perhaps double dribbling on the way? Tough to tell), and it was time to party in Minnesota.

Now, this isn’t Minnesota’s first big win of the season. It isn’t the first time they’ve been a game away from .500. Heck, it isn’t even the first time they’ve beaten the Spurs at the Target Center, and the first time, they won by more. So why am I so excited about this win? Why do I feel like it was so monumental?

Because Minnesota didn’t play exceptionally well. Beasley was inefficient, Ridnour was ineffective, Darko was inactive (actually, that may have helped), Love didn’t make a three, and Ellington was 1-4 in 18 minutes of action. The Wolves didn’t blow San Antonio away by playing at an unsustainable level, like last game. The Wolves shot just 43% from the floor, and the Spurs stayed close throughout.

No, Minnesota won because, last night, they were the better team. They continued to grind and they continued to defend, holding the sixth most offensively efficient team in the NBA to 19 points below their season average, and they made some very clutch shots to come up with a gritty win.

That’s what good, confident basketball teams do, and now Minnesota has done it in consecutive games against playoff-caliber Western Conference opponents. This is something new. It’s something we haven’t seen from the Timberwolves since…well…since KG was traded. Despite his many, many well publicized blunders, David Kahn has built a real basketball team here in Minneapolis, capable of winning real basketball games.

Pinch me, someone. I want to make sure I’m not dreaming.

Bullet points!

• For my money, this Rubio-Love alley-oop is the best Timberwolves alley-oop of the year so far, narrowly edging the Rubio-Derrick Williams reverse alley-oop from the last Spurs game. Just gorgeous.
• Ever since this minor fiasco a few weeks ago, Anthony Randolph has been comically careful to make sure he passes to his point guard before running down the court. At one point in the first half, he grabbed a rebound and started to dribble before the cogs visibly turned in his brain and he stopped short looking for Luke Ridnour. At least he’s learning!
• Martell Webster looked really good in his short return to action. He only made one shot (a three pointer) and missed a dunk that would have blown the lid off the Target Center, but his defense on Richard Jefferson bothered two of Jefferson’s shots badly, and may have helped to prevent him from continuing to torch the Wolves the way he did in the first half.
• FSN needs to stop advertising these jerseys because I’m absolutely going to end up buying one. In fact…dammit. I totally am. HOW FREAKING COOL ARE THEY?!
• Wes was unmistakably more aggressive tonight. All six of his points came nine feet from the basket and closer, including two very nice dunks. But the best play of Wes’ game came in the fourth, as he was rewarded with some crunch time minutes. Tim Duncan was working on Nikolai Pekovic in the post, and the Wolves were up one. As Duncan put up a shot, Wes came flying out of nowhere, swatted the shot, and came down with the ball himself. Smart, heads up defense from Wes in a big-time moment.
• Speaking of Pek, I had several jokes ready to go when I saw him in the starting lineup…but why use them? Pek was (I’m really excited that I get to use this totally appropriate noun to describe him…) a beast. He scored 14 points on efficient 7-13 shooting (!!) and for a four-ish minute window in the third quarter, he was the best player on the floor. Lengthy players like Duncan and Tiago Splitter still give the Wolves fits, but Pek gave Minnesota some really quality minutes.
• Hey, good defense Tony.
• Take a look at this shot chart and notice the corner threes. Last year, and even earlier this year, Minnesota would have had trouble defending the corner. But last night, they were getting to the spot and contesting really well. A very encouraging sign.
• Beasley’s back! Which means overly long bullet points in every one of my recaps analyzing him are back too (I really love me some Beas). So here goes: Beasley was inefficient tonight, which is unsurprising. Again, his best basketball happened when he was working out of the post, which has been a recurring theme. He was out-played by Derrick Williams, who had 12 points on 6-10 shooting. Two things I noticed specifically while watching: first (and really, probably not that important), as the camera panned to the Timberwolves huddle in a timeout, I watched Beasley, who wasn’t going to be in on the next play. I expected to see him staring off into space, singing the words to whatever song was playing on the speakers while Adelman discussed the next play with the team. Nope. Beas was focused, watching what Adelman was drawing up, despite the fact that he wasn’t going to be in. I don’t know what it means (probably nothing), but I liked seeing it anyway. Second: Minnesota’s announcers spent two entire possessions discussing how Beasley is too much of a ball-stopper and how he needs to “pass more on a team with Rubio.” But why? Why would Minnesota want their worst passer passing the ball? Unselfish Beasley turns it over way too much, and we spent the past 11 games pining for Beasley’s return because we missed him as a shot-creator.
• Not really a new bullet point, but the last one was getting too long. Beas DID have a really nice give and go pass to Derrick Williams. So that happened too.
• I feel like Minnesota’s TV announcers are actually pretty good about being unbiased, and that they occasionally manage to actually teach me something. Can any non-Timberwolves fans confirm/deny this statement?
• Last thought: after losing to Houston, I was really discouraged about Minnesota’s prospects of getting back to .500 any time soon, considering that their next three opponents were the Mavericks, Spurs, and Lakers. Two down, one to go…

Jonny Flynn doesn't miss Minnesota.

Ok, so “beef with Rubio” might be sensationalizing a wee bit. But Jonny Flynn definitely doesn’t appreciate the way that Minnesota’s fans turned on him during his time with the team, and after reading what he has to say, it’s a little hard to blame him.

From The Pioneer Press:

Jonny Flynn…said he was disappointed with fan criticism when he was with Minnesota last season and the speculation about Ricky Rubio joining the team.

I let (the Rubio talk) get to me too much,” Flynn said. “Everybody was always talking about Ricky coming here. My two years here was like five years to me.

Flynn said he “tried to stay a professional” about the situation.

“I remember all of that,” Flynn said of the criticism. “It felt like we were playing 82 road games last year when your own crowd was on you. What did I do to deserve that? I never spoke bad about Minnesota or the organization.”

Flynn makes a pretty convincing case. Minnesota’s fans turned on him quickly during his sophomore season when he was struggling to come back from an injury. As he struggled, it was probably natural for fans to pine a little bit for someone else to come along and save the team, but in doing so, it wouldn’t be hard to infer that they helped wreck Flynn’s confidence. Young point guards have to make huge adjustments coming into the league, and it’s incredibly important for any young player to have confidence. Flynn was never given that chance.

Of course, one of the things Flynn failed to mention is that his struggles were probably more due to the system he played in than a lack of fan support. We all knew that Rambis’ triangle offense was a godawful abject failure, but it’s possible it may have ruined the career of Flynn, who never got comfortable shackled within it and consequently lost a lot of playing time.

As someone who has been cheering for Flynn for a couple of years, it definitely stings a little to see that he feels the fans treated him this badly. It also stings to see him badly buried on the depth chart in Houston, barely even getting garbage-time minutes.

I, for one, truly hope he finds a role somewhere in the NBA, far away from Kurt Rambis. Good luck, Jonny.