Anyway, a few items:
Getting to .500?*
This needs an asterisk because it isn't exactly really that .500 we're talking about. At 15-27, the Wolves have a long way to get to .500 for the season (and frankly, going 26-14 the rest of the way seems like a stretch).
But a Wolves victory tonight would get Minnesota to .500 under Kevin McHale. Despite the fact that the coach with the horrible fashion sense lost his first eight games in his return to the bench, the Wolves are now 11-12 in the post-Wittman era.
A 10-win month?
Sunday night's come-from-behind win over the Bulls was the ninth in January for the Wolves. They now have three chances -- tonight at Milwaukee, Wednesday against Detroit and Friday against the Lakers -- to win a 10th game in January.
To put that into context, the Wolves haven't won 10 games in a month since March '05. They needed a victory at the Lakers on the last day of the month and some dude named Garnett went for 23 and 12 that night.
A little further context: In March '05 Corey Brewer was a freshman at Florida, Al Jefferson was averaging 6.7 ppg as a rookie for the Celtics, Kevin Love was a sophomore at Lake Oswego High School in Oregon and Mark Madsen was the only current Wolf on the roster.
See ya Mike Miller
Well, I guess this means Mike Miller really is out of here. This morning, Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman wrote that Miller isn't going to be traded. I have two thoughts on that.
1. Considering the track record of the old man, is there any reason to believe that Miller isn't totally gone? Because usually reality is about 180 degrees removed from what he writes.
2. I guess I don't get the sourcing on the piece. Sid quotes McHale saying Miller isn't being shopped and won't be moved. That's cool and all, but there is a small problem with that: McHale allegedly isn't involved in player moves. His front office days are allegedly done and he's just the coach.
Item two I don't get
Also this morning, Jim Souhan pens his second Wolves column in three days. But his lead is totally flawed. He says that "The Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves made the two most dramatic decisions in the early rounds of the NBA Draft." He then talks about how the Bulls were smart to take D-Rose first and the Wolves did the right thing by shipping Mayo to Memphis for K-Love.
The thing is, the Bulls were never going to take Michael Beasley. As soon as they won the draft lottery, they were going to take Rose. While Beasley might turn out to be a star, I think he is kind of a guy without a position as he isn't really big enough to play the 4, but can't guard 3s in the NBA. Rose is an elite PG prospect. My understanding from a friend with the Bulls is that there really wasn't a choice to be made. It was that clear cut.
Thoughts on the Bucks
It will be interesting to see how Milwaukee responds tonight on several fronts. This will be the Bucks first game since guard Michael Redd was lost for the season Saturday night with a knee injury. The Bucks were already very much in a battle for one of the last playoff spots in the East and this certainly doesn't help.
Will the Bucks play hard and try to prove they can win without Redd? Or will they still be feeling sorry for themselves? That's very much an unknown. In addition, Redd told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that PG Luke Ridenour has been repeatedly apologizing for accidentally stepping on Redd's foot, something that may have been a factor in the injury. How will Ridenour respond tonight?
The Wolves won the second meeting against Milwaukee a year ago so they will attempt to extend their winning streak over the Bucks to three games. The Wolves haven't won at the Bradley Center, however, since 2004. The Wolves are also 2-10 this year in the second half of back-to-backs, but both wins have come this month.
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