Announcement

I will be taking a brief hiatus from Wolves Hoops Blog as I have moved over to City Pages Sports Blog. I will certainly keep you updated as to the future of this site and, in the meantime, will continue to post the links to my articles, but will not be writing anything original for this site for awhile.

Please come on over to City Pages and check out my work. Let's continue our conversations there.

http://blogs.citypages.com/sports/

Wolves at Heat: Wittman Blew It

Introductions

As the Timberwolves travel to Miami to take on Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat, I travel over to City Pages to bring you a different look at your team. My name is Stephen Litel and for those of you who have not run across my work before, I prefer to focus on the story behind the story. Any of us can look at the box scores from each game and read the AP recaps and have a good feel as to what occurred during the contest, but I will also give you a glimpse into the locker room and behind the scenes.

More...

http://blogs.citypages.com/sports/

Big News!

Hey all,

Just wanted to give you a heads up...starting with tonight's Wolves/Miami game, I will be writing for City Pages on the blog. Please be sure to come over and check it out.

http://blogs.citypages.com/sports/

Stephen Litel

A Daunting Task

Check back with Wolves Hoops Blog for

thoughts/analysis on this game later tonight.

Even without Dwayne Wade, Minnesota should have a tough time against the Miami Heat tonight. Shaquille O’Neal has been playing well in Wade’s absence and Minnesota has nobody to match up with the Big Diesel.

Thank God, Mark Madsen is active for tonight! Our “Shaq-stopper!”

In all seriousness though, it is good to see Mad Dog back.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

My apologies for the delay in getting this article up. As it has not been

placed on SPM as of yet, here it is without the link.

Throughout a stressful, turbulent season for the Minnesota Timberwolves it has been difficult to find positive things to discuss consistently. Any time this team has put together a string of victories or had a big win, they have turned around and disappointed immediately after. On this one night in the Target Center, the Timberwolves gave a nice effort, although both the home and away Lakers played ugly basketball at times, the atmosphere was actually fun.

This has not been a common occurrence.

At times this season I have been extremely critical of Ricky Davis. After his childish outburst when he left the bench and went to the locker room, I may have gone overboard and wanted him off the Timberwolves. At other times, I have called for him to come off the bench for this team, a role he has thrived in during previous seasons.

Although I have not completely bought into the idea of Davis being a locker room “cancer,” as he has been called by quite a few people, I was slowly starting to see what those people were speaking about. I was beginning to think that his only true value to this Timberwolves team was his contract, making him a valuable trading chip.

However, I must give credit where credit is due.

Davis has been playing some great basketball the past two games. Even though the Wolves have had one win and one loss in the past two games, Davis has been one of the few members of the team earning his paycheck.

In Minnesota’s loss in Boston on Sunday, Davis scored 35 points and dished out 9 assists with only two turnovers. Not only did Davis play well, but he also hit big shots to continue the game, giving Minnesota the chance for a win.

Last night at home against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, Davis played 53 minutes in the double overtime game, scoring 33 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and directed traffic with 8 assists. He also added huge plays down the stretch, both offensively and defensively, helping to lead the Timberwolves to the eventual victory.

Certainly not the only factor in the Timberwolves struggles this season, the inconsistency of Davis’ game can infuriate at times. There have been countless times when I have believed that his offensive capabilities have allowed for sloppy defensive efforts, yet when Davis is able to focus on both ends of the floor he can be something remarkable.

As absurd as it may sound, Davis also played solid defense against Kobe Bryant, who scored 40 points. Bryant certainly chose his spots in this game, if it is possible to have a 40 point game quietly, but through no fault of Davis. Kobe hit a lot of tough shots with a hand in his face and, considering the opponent, I believe this may have been one of Davis’ most fundamentally sound defensive games.

Odd, but true.

Have the Timberwolves 'turned a corner' and will now make a strong playoff push? By their history this season, fans should not get their hopes up. However, on this one evening we can relish in the fact that the entire team gave maximum effort and entertained us.

In a mostly depressing season, it should be remembered that although Davis has contributed some of the lowlights…he has also provided many of the highlights.

Kobe's Here

With the team in a freefall lately, the Timberwolves host the Los Angeles Lakers tonight. The Lakers come into the Target Center without two of their best players, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton, but #24 is here.

Kobe Bryant is able to light up the best defenders in the NBA at will, so on a night when the Lakers will need him to score, plus the potential absence of Trenton Hassell, we could see a big night from Kobe.

Leaving for the game shortly. Be sure to come back tomorrow
for my SPM article on this game.

It Was A Good Try To Shake Things Up, But The Result Was The Same

Troy Hudson had a nice game in his first start of the season, but this cannot be the case for the remainder of the year. I do not see how it is beneficial to the future of the franchise by bringing Foye off the bench and also having him play off the ball more.

Are the Wolves already saying that they think Randy Foye will never be a true point guard? If so, they are making a mistake. Foye has shown the ability to create for his teammates brilliantly at times, but he needs more time to develop. He, along with Rashad McCants, are the future faces of the franchise and it is time to play them more together.

By the way, is anyone else confused to hear Fred Hoiberg say that McCants came back to early and might be done for the season...only to turn around and play him 31 minutes?

It Was Over Before It Started

I have a certain routine before each Timberwolves game. After making a visit to the visitor’s locker room to spend a few moments with, on this night, the Utah Jazz players, I then immediately spend the rest of the time allotted in Minnesota’s locker room. I do so to get some sense as to whether or not the team is focused, tired, loose and relaxed or whatever mindset they might be in before tip off.

More…
http://www.spmsportspage.com/published/spmfeatures/it-was-over-before-it-sta.shtml

Jazz In Minnesota

On my way to the game shortly. Check back tomorrow

for my SPM article on the game.