Minnesota Timberwolves Season Preview 2008-2009

Here at Sparty and Friends, we have reached NBA preview time. There will be one team per work day leading up to the season opener (Celts vs. Cavs, October 28th at 8pm on TNT). The teams are ordered by record starting with last place and going up through the non-playoff teams, followed by the playoff teams in order of elimination (or lack there of in the Celtics’ case). You can find the full list of our previews here.  We’ve knocked off the Heat, got hate mail about the Thunder, had a guest writer for the Express Grizz, and now come the T-Wolves…

If you aren’t one of the three sorriest teams in the league very few people are going to pity you. There is only so much room in the hearts of NBA fans and 4th to last place teams just aren’t high on the priority list. But what if your franchise has played 20 seasons now and 12 of those seasons included an all-time great player but you were only really good once and then the player left because your GM volantarily traded him to the team that the GM used to play for and then that player promptly won a championship in his first season? Well, then you might get some sympathy. But I am not here to pity the ‘Wolves. I am here to analyze their prospects for winning. Needless to say, most of their prospects are, well, prospects. And that’s the reason that I am the owner of 4 season tickets to their team. Wait… WHAT?!?

Yes, I am a T-Wolves season ticket holder. But before we get to that story, let’s get the basics down.

Last Year’s Record: 22-60 (2nd to Last in Northwest Division, 3rd to last in Western Conference, 4th to last in the NBA)

Coach: Randy Wittman

Expected Starting Lineup: Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes, Mike Miller, Al Jefferson, ?????? ???????

Expected Bench Contributors and possible 5th Starters: Sebastian Telfair, Cory Brewer, Craig Smith, Kevin Love

I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out who on earth the 5th starter for this team was before I gave up. It could be Cory Brewer if they want to run the ball, but that would make an impossible defensive situation where Mike Miller has to defend power forwards. They could start Craig Smith because he showed some promise last year, but he simply isn’t good enough to start on an NBA team. Then there’s Kevin Love. I know the T-Wolves love them some Love because they traded O.J. Mayo away in order to get him but I have to believe that not even Randy Wittman is dumb enough to start Love in the NBA as a rookie.

Basically though they have made Kevin Love the focal point of the future success of their franchise. Some might say that K-Love won’t do well in the NBA. Some point to the other overweight power forwards and say, “Would you base your franchise around Glen Davis or Michael Sweetney? Would you!?!” Some say that Love doesn’t have NBA 3-point range, post moves, ball handling skills, quickness or speed, or even a workable diet. Some say that if you examine his rebounding and defense, you can tell that up until now those things came easily to him because of his height and that his skills and form are terrible. Some people are right. That doesn’t mean that he won’t be a good NBA player. There are people that are successful with one skill in the NBA. Take his teammate, Mike Miller. The bottom line on Miller is that he a cold-blooded, dead-accurate, cousin-of-Reggie, incredible shooter. As long as you are great at one important thing, you can succeed in the NBA. You won’t be a star, but you can have a career. That’s why Reggie Miller shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. The real question is: What is that skill for Love? Mid-range shooting? Long passing? And you wonder why the Grizz took Mayo from them. Mayo can do it all. Love might do something.

Back to me having season tickets for this “team”. Basically, nobody goes to their games. Therefore, they decided to pull an interesting stunt this off-season. They, for a limited time, offered tickets for the same amount per seat as their pick in the NBA draft. They had not had the NBA Draft Lottery yet so you were basically taking a gamble. They could land the #1 pick and you would be paying $1 per ticket. They could also drop to the #5 pick and you would pay $5 per ticket. They ended up with the #3 and now I have 2 pair of seats (4 in total) that I got for a very low price. Now, as most of you know, I live in the DC/Baltimore suburbs and clearly do not intend on going to these games. I plan on selling the tickets in order to fund other sporting ventures of mine. So if anyone lives in Minnesota or wants to go to games while they are there, just drop me a line.

Forecast of this team? Let’s just say they aren’t going to be any better than last year. Maybe they win a few more or lose a few more, but they aren’t actually changing as a team except for their jerseys and that ain’t a good thing (check out that picture of Mike Miller in the new unis). Al Jefferson is an absolute beast of a man. He will be one of the best players in the NBA and is a surefire member of our 2012 Olympic Team, but that doesn’t mean that the team is going to be good. Unless they get him some help in the near future he may turn out like KG. Yesterday, we had a preview of the Grizz. The young core of Conley, Mayo, Gay, and younger Gasol will be a good team in a few years. The ‘Wolves? Probably not. Trading Mayo was more boneheaded than trading Garnett. Mayo will be a true stud in this league. Love will not. Most village idiots (and there aren’t many of those left due to the rapid devillagalization of our great nation) could have figured this out, but McHale could not. That is the true reason that they won’t climb the ladder. It is hard to climb a ladder if someone keeps breaking the rungs. But Big Al Jefferson rocks, so here’s the video…

Prediction: 20-25 wins, 11-15 in the Western Conference