Howlin' T-Wolf

Ricky Rubio is out for the season with a torn ACL

Ricky Rubio tore is ACL on this play right here. The intense Target Center crowd gasped together, and then consequently booed the culprit, Kobe Bryant. In the moment, I couldn’t help but think of the worst. Minnesota sports this season have been plagued by ACL injuries from Trevor Mbakwe to Adrian Peterson; what would make Rubio’s case any different? I knew it was bad, and that nightmare nagged everyone watching.

Rubio played what was his best game in weeks. The big, bad Lakers were in town — Which I will not recap anymore for obvious reasons; the Wolves had them on the ropes; all they needed was a defensive stop. It didn’t happen and the Wolves left the arena with more than just a loss.

It’s not all bad, though. The Timberwolves are one of the hottest teams in the league, and, according to the Wolves’ franchise, “everyone’s talking about the Wolves.” Last night’s game against the Lakers was a kind of “heat check” and, in my opinion, they passed that test. They had great momentum all game long, securing a big lead in the first half and keeping it close in the second when the Lakers made their move. And that was all without Kevin Love.

Although it’s painful to admit but Love is the reason this team is playing so good this year, not Rubio. Rubio has helped; he puts guys in place on offense and runs the pick and roll to a T. But Love’s scoring outbursts and endless hustle on the boards is why the Wolves are playing these Western Conference teams so tough. If Love is able to return from his back spasms without a hiccup, I can’t imagine the production would decline too steeply just because Rubio’s presence isn’t there.

Where the Wolves will dearly miss Rubio is on defense. Rubio’s third in the NBA steals and that’s because of his untiring will to to pester. His long, dangly arms help clog passing lanes and poke out balls with precision. With Rubio out, Ridnour takes over the bulk of defending teams’ point guards, where he’s been exposed before — I actually think he’s played better guarding 2-guards. JJ Barea will be no better defending the point, once he gets healthy.

That leaves Malcolm Lee, rookie out of UCLA, who has yet to play this season after suffering an injury early on. Lee is a multi-dimensional guard who can play both positions on the floor. Better yet, he’s known for his physical defensive presence that helps guard both spots. Lee could step in and gain some minutes in the next few games, starting tonight against New Orleans. Although it could be limited, because Wayne Ellington will see some time too, the Wolves will need someone to handle the ball other than Ridnour and Lee may just be the best choice. It’s a great opportunity for the rookie to get some burn and for the fans to be exposed to what he can do in regular season games — Lee made strides in the two preseason games against Milwaukee, scoring nine points and dishing out five assists in the preseason finale.

The Wolves could look to another option to fill Rubio’s void too. They could use the trade deadline to obtain another ball-handler, combo guard player. They cannot, and I stress “cannot,” trade Ridnour anymore because they’ll need him badly, but if David Kahn can ship out Michael Beasley to get some guard — Jamal Crawford? — it would help ease the transition to life without Rubio. I think this is premature. The team has depth, albeit not great, but there is depth on the bench. If Lee and Ellington can come off the bench, dust off the cobwebs and play meaningful minutes, the need to go out and get someone, likely spending too much to get him, isn’t as pressing of a need as it sounds.

My opinion: I think this all comes down to staying firm and working with what you got. Ridnour is playing really well  right now, so you stick with him. Start playing Martell Webster and Ellington more until Barea comes back from his injury, which should be soon. Then you use Lee to provide that spark off the bench, as he fights to show what he can do in the NBA.

Life without Rubio was no good before and it might not be much better now. The differences between last year’s roster and this year’s isn’t much different without Rubio, but it shouldn’t matter because the difference maker has been Rick Adelman all season long. He’s going to be the key player in Rubio’s injury. It’s ultimately up to Adelman to make due with what he has and continue to win basketball games. It’ll be much tougher than before, but there’s still a good chance the Wolves can persevere and keep the train rolling into the playoffs.

There’s no denying this is a huge blow to the Wolves and fans everywhere; Rubio’s charisma brings almost more to the table than his actual game. But it’s not all bad right now. There are ways to get around this, and it will surely be a process. But with Adelman at the helm and Love bulking most of the haul, there is a chance to get through this.

“This is my time right now.” – Kevin Love

Kevin Love isn’t backing down from titanic clashes. Night in and night out he faces up against the NBA’s best big men, of which he claims to be friends with many of them. A friendship doesn’t deter Love, though, from unleashing an unmatched desire to grab rebounds, brutally bash opponents inside the paint and sink long jumpers with a profound smoothness, never before seen in such a big man.

That quote simply embodies Love’s accomplishments in the last two games. It started in Love’s home state, when the Wolves took on the Portland Trail Blazers. In front of friends and family, Love posted an astounding line of 42 points and 10 rebounds against fellow Western All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. To follow that up, Love led the Timberwolves down the stretch of a battle against the Los Angeles Clippers and Blake Griffin, scoring nine of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, when they needed it most, to pair with his 17 rebounds.

Last week, ESPN’s Scoop Jackson wrote about Love’s accomplishments so far this season, and why he believes Love is a legitimate MVP candidate. But the flaw in his argument is that it’s all about Love’s numbers. Numbers are indeed absolute and they can track trends and tendencies, but they don’t tell the whole picture. Scoop Jackson probably isn’t an avid Wolves watcher nor fan, but he’s studied the numbers and noticed Love’s league-wide statement on paper.

It only starts with the numbers. Love’s last two games exemplify just that. But what those monstrous stat lines don’t show is the development of Love’s game and leadership, both on the court and off. This year we’re seeing Love’s developing game producing prospering results; he’s picking scoring spots on the floor; his positioning on the boards is only getting better, and his weight-loss has improved his conditioning, resulting in playing the league’s most minutes (39.7).

A special trend that numbers can’t track is Love’s ability to take over games in the clutch, another aspect of his game that has flourished because of his leadership, confidence and overall drive to win. Last night, with the Wolves’ late lead on the line, Love hit a huge spot-up jumper. Griffin responded with an easy dunk to stay within three but Love responded a dunk that normally deflates a team and home-court’s confidence with a driving layup down the middle of the lane.

It’s those types of shots and moments that are starting to define Love’s season and career, and helping him evolve into one of the league’s best players. He’s stressing the point that the Timberwolves are his team and that he wants to be here and turn this team’s misfortune around. And the Wolves are lucky to be in a position to own Love in such a defining moment in his career. He’s etching his mark in not only Timberwolves’ history, but also league history. He was one point short of becoming the first players in Wolves’ history to record back-to-back 40-point nights. And last season he was the only player since Moses Malone to record a 30-30 game. Two profound achievements that led to victories, and he’s only getting started.

Most teams are lucky to have one Hall-of-Fame caliber player in their franchise’s history. But the Wolves should feel blessed by Love’s maturity and, of course, the output this season because he’s on his way to a Hall-of-Fame type career. He’s slowly but surely filling the void that was left when Timberwolf legend, Kevin Garnett, was traded to Boston. For 12 years, Garnett led what was a series of disgruntled and drastically under-equipped Timberwolf squads; there was a merry-go-round of coaches and the roster was constantly being overhauled. It wasn’t until 2003-2004 that management decided to get Garnett the help he needed but disregarded the future, and it soon bit them from behind. Eventually nothing was left and a new era was forced to begin.

But the implosion was deceivingly good for the franchise. Love was brought in via one of McHale’s last-ditch-effort trades to stay in charge. It didn’t work out too well for him but it did for the Wolves. Coming in with the same age — and maturity level — as a sophomore in college, everyone knew it would take time for Love to develop. Soon everyone found that Love couldn’t develop properly alongside teammate Al Jefferson. Jefferson was consequently traded, freeing up space for Love to mature.

The transformation took a mere two years, and we’re watching Love dominate some of the league’s best players and teams all by himself. Enough can’t be said about the way Love has transmogrified this team from misfit to laughingstock to a knocking-at-the-door playoff contender with so much more room to grow. While Love continues to lead by example and learn from his mistakes, the Timberwolves are in the thick of the playoff picture. And while it will take a team’s effort to get them there, this right here is Kevin Love’s time.

I’m swamped. The pressures of life are exuding at their very highest right now, all while Tom left me to do basketball work all by myself. Just great.

With that said, I’m making this open for everyone to turn into a trade rumor/Clipper game forum for the night and into tomorrow. I’ll be sure to get back on track for Wednesday’s game against the Blazers and maybe post some rumor mill articles in the next week.

So to get things started: What do you think of the Wolves’ interest in Jamal Crawford? Any legs to it? And what do you think is they key to beating the Clippers again tonight? Just the comments section to chat amongst yourselves, and I’ll chime in, time permitting.

Adelman was too busy coaching, so we figured we'd hand out grades for him.

The Wolves have exceeded every expectation so far as a team. Here are my grade for every player. Agree/disagree? Let me know in the comments or get at me on Twitter.

Rick Adelman: A

We start with the man himself. I have a couple quibbles with his rotations, but Minnesota has tied last year’s win total by the All-Star break under his direction. Plus, his habit of playing the players who are playing well is refreshing after last year. Tough to penalize him for anything, really.

Kevin Love: A-

Love is having a borderline MVP season, which we will discuss at length later this week. So why does he get a minus? By getting suspended, Love cost Minnesota a chance to win against Memphis. In a Western Conference race this tight, one game might make the difference. He also misses defensive assignments regularly complaining to the officials about a no-call on offense, a horribly frustrating habit.

Still, Love has been the leader of this team, and with some help from his friends, he has the Wolves back to a respectable place. He is the franchise player, and he plays like it regularly, which makes complaining about him seem like splitting hairs.

Ricky Rubio: A

Rubio isn’t a purely A point guard yet, but the culture of selflessness that he has brought to Minnesota has been infectious, and the crowds he has brought to T-Wolves games this year have been enthusiastically behind him. One could argue that Rubio is the player most responsible for the way the Wolves have turned themselves around.

Nikola Pekovic: A

Pekovic is that kid you thought was going to get a C or a D at the beginning of the year, but surprised you so much with his performance that you gave him an A. Yeah, he still picks his nose and wipes it under the desk (or in Pek’s case, can’t defend against longer players), but he also gets 9-10 math problems correct (or shoots 9-10 from the field). You love his work ethic, his attitude and the incredibly high unintentional comedy scale he brings to the table every day. So you bend a little and give him an A.

Oh, and his Player Efficiency Rating is 22.4. 22.4! Nikola Pekovic! He is getting an A no matter what.

Wes  Johnson: D-

Basically, Wes is the polar opposite of Pek. He has every tool imaginable, but he just can’t seem to harness any of them. He doesn’t get an F because he played great defense on Kevin Martin. Instead, I’m giving him a D- not to punish him, but as a teacher, to motivate him. You are better than this, Wes.

Michael Beasley: Incomplete

Beasley never strikes me as a D range player or below. His PER isn’t amazing (13.0, good for 200th in the league) but he is leading the Timberwolves in 3-point percentage (by quite a lot, actually…), he’s averaging 17.1 points per 36 minutes, and he seems to be doing pretty well coming off the bench. Give this to Beas: he may be a little crazy, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of player who would be a locker room malcontent over minutes. He has some incredible games and some mediocre ones. But the Timberwolves seem to need him, warts and all.

So where do we grade him? I have no idea. Thus the incomplete. His grade after the season should be a little more clear.

Luke Ridnour: A-

Ridnour has quietly been everything Minnesota could ask for. Need Wes Johnson to shut down Kevin Martin? No problem. Ridnour will battle with Chandler Parsons, who is nine (!!!) inches taller than him. Rubio needs a break? Ridnour can fill in for as long as you need. His assist to turnover ratio is good. He plays hard, always gives a crap and can be relied on to take big shots. Plus he has a game-winner on his first half resume. He gets penalized (along with just about every other T-Wolf) for a relatively low 3-point percentage, but otherwise it’s been a very solid season for Ridnour.

JJ Barea: C+

Barea gets his grade docked for attendance (he has missed a lot of games due to injury), but all will be forgiven in the second half if he continues to play the way he did against Utah. In the last game before the All-Star break, Barea played like the spark plug Minnesota needs him to be. We’d love to see more of that from JJ.

Darko Milicic: D

For every two field goals Milicic makes, he turns the ball over once. Darko lost his starting job to Pekovic, and deservedly so. I’d be more willing to cut Darko some slack if he didn’t occasionally have quarters in which he is the most dominant player on the floor. These quarters feel like an indictment on his effort for the rest of the quarters.

Derrick Williams: C-

In a strange twist, Williams is in the middle of the NBA in PER, and fifth on the Wolves in field goal percentage. He has struggled with his three point shot, but many players do coming out of college. Plus he has been on the receiving end of some of the best Rubio passes of the season. An interesting note: Williams played most of the crunch time minutes against Utah as the Wolves were attempting to come back, and he made a couple of huge plays.

Much like Wes, this grade is unreasonably harsh, and mostly supposed to be used as a motivator. We’d like to see more consistent play from D-Will.

Martell Webster: Incomplete

Another incomplete, this one because we are waiting to see how Webster performs as he gets more comfortable coming back from his injuries. And even though I’m sorely tempted to penalize him for his brain fart against Denver…I won’t.

Wayne Ellington: B-

Ellington seems to have lost his spot in the rotation, which baffles me a little bit. His numbers are a little low, but he’s also one of three players on the Wolves who can create a shot and he knocks down open threes, which is more than you can say for Wes who…starts. Whatevs.

Anthony Tolliver: C+

It pains me to see Tolliver on the bench this much. Tolliver works his ass off, always cares, always hustles. He just doesn’t always score.

Brad Miller: C

Thanks for coming to class, Brad.

Anthony Randolph: C-

See Brad Miller, except Randolph’s performance is more disappointing, simply based on his athleticism.

Kevin Love: Your 3-Point contest not-loser

I spent all day Saturday talking with friends and people on Twitter about how badly Kevin Love was going to get crushed in the Three Point Contest. I’d love to say I intentionally reverse-jinxed him, but seeing shooters like Ryan Anderson, Anthony Morrow and Kevin Durant paired against him, I honestly didn’t think he had a chance.

Then Anthony Morrow’s Drazen Petrovic jersey wasn’t magic, James Jones’ streakiness caught up to him and Mario Chalmers couldn’t find the range in a tie-breaking round.

Kevins Love and Durant were tied after the final round and Love entered his second tie-break of the competition. Love went first and scored a fairly low 17. All seemed to be lost, especially when Durant heated up on the first few racks. Then Durant missed six of his last eight, couldn’t make the final two moneyballs, and it was all over.  Suddenly Kevin Love was the…well, he wasn’t really the winner as much as he was the not-loser.

To be clear, I don’t REALLY believe in the anti-jinx. Still. If Love wants to send me a thank you in the form of two courtside tickets to tonight’s All-Star game, well, I wouldn’t say no.

In other T-Wolves news from Saturday, Derrick Williams got last in the dunk contest, even though he had one of only two truly impressive dunks performed on the night (The other was Jeremy Evans’ alley-oop with two basketballs). He had Rubio assist him, throwing the ball off the side of the backboard while Williams spun in the air, caught it, and flushed hard with two hands. Derrick told ESPN Truehoop’s Henry Abbot later that Rubio had never tried that pass before. (Also, in the video, he appears to be wearing braces. Did anyone else not know about this?)

Unfortunately, Williams lost the contest because he couldn’t make his final dunk, a self-assisted alley-oop off the backboard and between his legs. After several fruitless attempts, Williams tossed himself a normal alley-oop and bowed out.

The dunk contest was an absolute mess, with scripted skits, entirely too many props (seriously, Paul George, a glow in the dark suit?), and too little impressive dunking, but honestly, it was a fun night of pseudo-basketball. There, I said it. Call me un-hip if you must.

Tonight, we got to see what would happen if Ricky Rubio participated in a loosely defended exhibition game, surrounded by some of the most athletic young players in the game. Actually, his play didn’t look that different from normal games, which speaks to how much fun he is as a player. Here are some highlights anyway.

Sorry about the video quality. I try this move all the time when I’m playing basketball. Of course, I only ever do it when I’m playing by myself and I’m PRETENDING there is a defender guarding me, but still.

I’m including this video for two reasons: first, because a Timberwolf is officially in the record book, even if it’s for something silly and pointless (Sorry, Kevin Love, but Wilt’s double-double streak will probably last forever). Second: Ricky Rubio’s mom is a total soccer mom (his parents are at 0:17).

Great pass from Rubio, decently powerful dunk by Markieff Morris, but Morris managed to take four steps going up. He made the whole beautiful play look a little less smooth. WAY TO MESS IT UP, MARKIEFF. MORE LIKE MARKIEFF MOR-STEPS, AMIRITE?

Also, I disagree with Kenny Smith. Derrick Williams isn’t really a three.

This is pretty crazy, and it will probably be the most popular Rubio-related play of the night. Not only did Ricky split two defenders effortlessly, not only did he throw the ball through DeMarcus Cousin’s legs, not only did he toss a perfect alley-oop, but he threw it to Blake Griffin, who slammed it home. And as impressive as it was, this still feels like the kind of play Rubio would pull during a game.

My favorite Rubio highlight of the night. Does he think of this kind of thing before he starts his drive? Like, as the ball is coming to him, does he consciously say to himself “Ok, my pump fake should throw off Evan Turner, and I already have half a step on Kyrie Irving…this should be an easy layup.”

Of course not, that’s stupid. He thinks, “Ok, mi falsa bomba debe deshacerse de Evan Turner, y ya tengo la mitad de un paso en Kyrie Irving … esto debería ser una bandeja fácil.” At least, that’s what Google Translate tells me.

Did I forget your favorite? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

Love will participate in the All-Star game on Sunday

We have reached the All-Star break, and I think I speak for many NBA fans when I say “huh.” All-Star weekend isn’t the WORST thing on TV (I mean, this was a real thing at one point), and after the lockout doom and gloom, it’s certainly wonderful that we even have an All-Star weekend. But it isn’t real basketball.

In the absence of real basketball, here’s a preview anyway.

BBVA Rising Stars Challenge: Friday on TNT

Don’t get me wrong, I love Twitter, but why does EVERYTHING need to be hashtagged now? Can you think of a single good reason why the words “Team Shaq” need to be scrunched together and prefaced with a number sign? Ugh.

Anyway, here are the lineups.

#TeamShaq

• Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Blake Griffin, LA Clippers
• Jeremy Lin, NY Knicks
• Markieff Morris, Phoenix Suns
• Kemba Walker, Charlotte Bobcats
• Landry Fields, NY Knicks
• Norris Cole, Miami Heat
• Brandon Knight, Detroit Pistons
• Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons

#TeamChuck

• Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
• DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
• Derrick Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Paul George, Indiana Pacers
• MarShon Brooks, NJ Nets
• John Wall, Washington Wizards
• Tiago Splitter, San Antonio Spurs (out with injury)
• Evan Turner, Philadelphia 76ers
• Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz
• Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
• Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz

I honestly the the Rising Stars challenge could be the second most entertaining event of the weekend. Not only are there a lot of young players represented who are really fun to watch, but the fact that it was selected like a playoff pickup game could mean that players take it personally that they were drafted lower or higher. Maybe there will be some actual competition? Actually, who am I kidding. Best case scenario: this happens again.

NBA D-League All-Star game: Saturday on NBA TV

You want real 5 on 5 competition over the ASW? This is probably your only chance. You know, as long as “knowing who the player are” isn’t on your list of requirements.

Haier Shooting Stars Competition: Saturday on TNT

Hey wait a sec, this is kind of cool. Four teams, one from Orlando, one from Atlanta, one from New York, and one from Texas. An NBA player, a WNBA player and an ex-NBA player team up and square off with each other. This is a 3 on 3 tournament, right?

No? It’s just a shooting tournament? Ugh. Wake me when the dunk contest starts.

Taco Bell Skills Challenge: Saturday on TNT

The roster:

• Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics
• John Wall, Washington Wizards
• Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
• Deron Williams, New Jersey Nets

In a contest that values flashy point guard skills, Rondo HAS to be the favorite, right? I’m picking Rondo first, then Kyrie Irving as my dark horse candidiate.

Foot Locker Three Point Contest: Saturday on TNT

The roster:

• James Johnson, Miami Heat
• Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Ryan Anderson, Orlando Magic
• Anthony Morrow, New Jersey Nets
• Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat

Can’t say I really like Love’s chances here. The only player I’d pick him over is Chalmers. Anthony Morrow seems to be Twitter’s choice to win this event. Personally, I’d go with Anderson.

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest: Saturday on TNT

Because let’s be honest, this is the only event we REALLY care about…and this year the Wolves are represented!

• Jeremy Evans, Utah Jazz
• Derrick Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves
• Chase Budinger, Houston Rockets
• Paul George, Indiana Pacers

As much as I appreciate the way D-Will can catch and finish Rubioops, Evans and George have to be the favorites. Both have demonstrated some excellent in-game dunking ability. Unfortunately, this contest feels pretty uninspired compared to last year. Screw Blake Griffin, bring back JaVale McGee!

There’s a new format this year as well. One round, three dunks per dunker, and (gulp) fan voting instead of judges. Because, you know, fan voting worked so well for the ASG starters. Ah well.

The All Star Game: Sunday on TNT

Funny how little most people care about this game. Dunks will be dunked. Long threes will be shot. Points will be scored in bulk. Kevin Love will come off the bench (though he deserved to start, statistically) for the Western Conference.

Enjoy the, um, festivities everyone!

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.