At the midway point of the team’s schedule, Don Seeholzer/Pioneer Press and Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune look back at key events from the first 41 games of the season.
Don Seeholzer/Pioneer Press writes up a position-by-position review of the team’s performance thus far.
Click here for the forum’s thread for this evening’s game against Chicago
Game previews:
From Sid Hartman:
If Kevin McHale wants to continue to coach the Timberwolves next season, at a salary about three times the $1 million he was being paid this season as vice president for basketball operations, it is perfectly all right with team owner Glen Taylor.
Taylor said Saturday he already has given McHale a raise to coach the team, an amount he wouldn’t reveal. But whether he continues to coach next season is up to McHale, who hasn’t ruled it out…
Taylor said he had not pressed McHale about coaching in the future.
“The way Kevin and I have always done things, we have waited until the end of the year and then we’ve talked,” Taylor said. “I just think that’s the best for me to do with him, just to see how this year goes, to see if this is something that he wants to do full-time in the future, and talk to him at the end of the year…”
All-Star Game reserves will be announced Thursday. Western Conference coaches must pick at least one more center to complement starter Yao Ming. Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal and Jefferson appear to be the favorites for that other spot. O’Neal has four championship rings, 14 All-Star Game appearances and the home-team factor in his favor. His Suns also entered this weekend 23-17. O’Neal likely will make the team. Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol and New Orleans forward David West are the type of players on winning teams who could win a spot over Jefferson…
“I do have respect for guys who are winning and are averaging just as many as points as you are,” Jefferson said. “But a guy who’s not in the conversation just because his team isn’t winning, I don’t think that’s fair.”
The Timberwolves site posts the Al Jefferson highlights and stats that were sent to the Western Conference coaches who will vote on reserves for the game.
Yes, Payton told a national TV audience Thursday night that Duncan didn’t deserve to start the All-Star Game, and that Minnesota’s Al Jefferson did. Duncan swears he didn’t see that particular comment, and besides, Duncan said, “I don’t make statements to Gary Payton.
According to McHale, one of the biggest things a coach in today’s NBA must do for many of his players is educate them on the finer points of Basketball 101.
“These guys are just phenomenally conditioned athletes, with all the weight-lifting and everything that’s available to them,” McHale said. “Back when I played, we weren’t great athletes. We just played. We rolled out of bed and played. But we could do it that way, I think, because we had a good idea about how to play.
“You went to four years of college, with very good coaches. Before that, you had high-school coaches who were very demanding. You just learned the game so quickly. I think that’s why there is more teaching involved in the NBA today, because a lot of young guys don’t get what we got.”
I don’t really expect this remarkable run of play, much of which has come at the expense of the worst teams in the league, to continue. The team’s offensive success of the past weeks has been built largely on insane outside shooting by Carney and Foye. And it’s largely obscured some lingering problems: their size disadvantage up front; defensive play marred by uncertain help defense and shaky rotations, especially by Big Al; the fact that Craig Smith, their starting power forward costs his team more points on defense than he scores on offense. When Foye and Carney cool off, as they inevitably will, this stuff will start catching up with them.
Don Seeholzer/Pioneer Press on last night’s win over the Hornets:
Still looking for his outside shot, the Wolves’ veteran shooting guard took the ball to the basket and finished with 12 points in his best all-around game in more than a month.
“I’ve said along I think Mike gets a bad rap as just a shooter,” coach Kevin McHale said Saturday. “Mike had five assists, nine rebounds last night, moved the ball beautifully, attacked, got fouled, got us in the penalty Just did a lot of really, really good stuff, but that’s how he plays. He’s a very versatile basketball player. When he starts knocking down that shot, it just adds a whole other dimension to his game and our team.”
Victories Monday in Los Angeles over the injury-ravaged Clippers and Friday at home over Chris Paul and New Orleans bookended Tuesday’s loss at Utah in which Jazz center Mehmet Okur beat them with his shooting for the second time in 44 days. The Wolves are 10-4 in their past 14 games after Friday’s victory.
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