TIMBERWOLVES

The Minnesota Timberwolves are the living example of all the clichés. “Slow and steady wins the race”, “One step at a time”, and the story of the little engine that could all apply to a team that missed the playoffs their first seven years and then followed that with seven straight first round exits in the playoffs. The team of 2004 had a team record 58 wins last year and won their first division title along with home court advantage all through the playoffs. The team eliminated the Denver Nuggets in the first round to make their first Western Conference semifinal and then proceeded to take out the Sacramento Kings before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers before the NBA Finals. The team likely would have given the Lakers more of a test but starting point guard Sam Cassell was having issues with his back and the team fell in six games. The team is coached by Flip Saunders and led by power forward Kevin Garnett. Garnett won the MVP award last season after leading the league in points and rebounds for the season. Garnett has taken a lot of heat over the years from critics that say he can’t handle the pressure of the big game but this season showed that he’s more than capable of playing like a superstar.

The team was Garnett’s to lead but for years, he didn’t have a lot of help around him. The team brought in point guard Sam Cassell and swingman Latrell Sprewell and the team played itself into the #1 seed in the difficult West. Garnett averaged 24-14-5 a night to win the MVP while Cassell averaged almost 20 points and more than 7 assists and 3 rebounds a night. Sprewell pitched in with averages of 17-4-4 per game. When you combine the stats of the “big three”, they accounted for more than 60 points, 20 rebounds, and 15 assists a night, easily the top stats for any three players on any team. The team didn’t sign anyone through free agency this off-season because they felt the team of last year was good enough to win had Cassell not been injured. They resigned Troy Hudson, Fred Hoiberg, and Trenton Hassell, and also drafted Blake Stepp from Gonzaga with their only draft pick in the second round. Hudson was injured last season and couldn’t come in when Cassell was hurt, Hassell is the defensive specialist on the wing, Hoiberg is a big-time shooter, and Stepp will likely play a similar role when he matures and develops.

The Timberwolves will move from the very difficult Central division to the newly realigned Northwest division along with the Seattle SuperSonics, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Denver Nuggets, and the Utah Jazz. The Jazz arguably had the best off-season of any team through free agency and the draft but the Nuggets likely had the second best. The Jazz signed Mehmet Okur from the Pistons and Carlos Boozer from the Cavaliers while the Nuggets acquired Kenyon Martin from the Nets for three future draft picks. The Trail Blazers traded for Nick Van Exel from the Golden State Warriors and also drafted highly touted point guard Sebastian Telfair late in the first round while the SuperSonics traded for Danny Fortson to eat up rebounds along side star shooter Ray Allen. The Timberwolves will need to play at their best if they want to repeat their performance of last season when they finished #1 and earned home court advantage through the playoffs. They’ll likely have a starting lineup that will feature Sam Cassell as the point guard along with Latrell Sprewell in the backcourt. Trenton Hassell will start at the small forward spot while Kevin Garnett will try to earn another MVP from his power forward position. Michael Olowokandi, Mark Madsen, and Ervin Johnson all shared time last year at the center position and each of them will play plenty of minutes this season. The Lakers made their two-man team of Kobe and Shaq famous when they teamed up with three other “nobodys” but the Timberwolves have a third solid option on offense and that could see them earn their way into an NBA Finals and possibly their first title.

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