The MOR Twolves: tasty roadkill?
Opponent File
Minnesota Timberwolves
The T'Wolves play in the Target Center
in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here's the Minnesota
Timberwolves Roster. Here is ESPN.com's Timberwolves
vs. Nets stat comparison. (the Nets best the Twolves in 23 out of
34 stat categories).
Local Paper
Minneapolis
Star Tribune | Timberwolves
Team Pages:
CNNSI.com
| Timberwolves
ESPN.com
| Timberwolves
NBA.com
| Timberwolves
The
Sporting News | Timberwolves
Sportsline.com
| Timberwolves
Head Coach: Flip Saunders.
2002 Draft: Marcus Taylor, PG (Michigan State),
selected #52.
New Players: Kendall Gill, G (Miami, Free
Agency). Troy Hudson, G (Orlando, Free Agency). Rod Strickland (Miami,
Free Agency), Reggie Slater, F.
Season Goal: Getting out of the first round
of the playoffs, while finding someone other than Kevin Garnett to carry
some weight.
Record vs. Nets:
This Season: 0 - 1
Game 4 Review:
Nets 106, TWolves 82
Other Opponent Files
Projected Midwest Division Standing:
Chris Carrino: 4
Champagne: 3
Frank DiGraci: 4
Ian Eagle: 3
Joe Netsfan: 3
Middle of the Road
There they are – Minnesota is middle of the pack in the standings, middle of the road statistically, sort of bland like Minnesotans everywhere. The T'Wolves are up and down, with a "win one, lose one", and "win two, lose two" type of pattern so far this season. Kevin Garnett has been himself, but his supporting cast has been mediocre with the exception of Troy Hudson. Forward Joe Smith is back off the injury list, but his place has been taken by G Wally Szczerbiak, so even there it's a case of one step forward, one step back. The Wolves have been awful defensively, ranking 23rd in points allowed, but they can score, averaging 95 points per game (which ranks ninth). Since the last time the Nets and Wolves met on November 4, a 106 - 82 destruction at the Continental Arena, Minnesota has beaten the likes of Washington, Milwaukee, and Atlanta while losing to Boston, San Antonio, New Orleans and Indiana. Clearly, they'll be middle of the road all season unless they can step it up against the class of the league, particularly at home. Will Minnesota be able to shed their self-consciousness and beat up on the suddenly struggling Nets? Or will the Nets call the Wolves names, take their lunch money and storm out of the Target Center with a win?
See You in Hell, Dolans: Tonight will be Nets game number 12 lost to the Cablevision/YES Mess. Want to do something about it? Click here.
- Joe
Minnesota Timberwolves Cheat Sheet
The Story from Minneapolis: Do they or don't they? Is another spat underway in Minny between Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak? According to Steve Aschburner (Minneapolis Star Tribune), Garnett took issue with several bad shots that Szczerbiak took in November 13's game against New Orleans, and later brushed him aside when Wally went to offer a hand slap. They also reportedly had words after Saturday's game against Indiana. Well, what does Coach Flip Saunders think about all of this? "I've stuck a hand out and Kevin's walked by," he said. "Not only in basketball, everybody's too damn sensitive in this world."
With Szczerbiak out, watch for PG Troy Hudson to take up the offensive slack. La Velle E. Neal III (Minneapolis Star Tribune) quotes coach Saunders: "[Hudson] does [distribute] at times, but he has to be aggressive on the offensive end. Without Wally, we need him to score more. He's one of our better scorers and we need him to keep that aggressiveness going."
Pain Game: G Terrell Brandon (recovering from knee surgery),G Wally Szczerbiak (foot) and G Felipe Lopez (out for season with left knee injury) are on injured reserve.
Controversy: They've already done Controversy to death with the Dirty Joe Smith Deal (illegally guaranteeing Smith a big contract in order to keep him) that sent Smith to Detroit for a spell, took away their first round draft picks for years, and kept Kevin McHale away from team management for awhile.
Archive | Backlash | Bio | Calendar | Champagne's Blog | Diatribe | Game x Game | History | Home | Joe Netsfan's Blog | Media | Opponents | Players | Playoffs | Search | Specials
© 2002 Shawn Belschwender and Michael Kozlowski
