This did seem inevitable. Or, when will they win again?

I think everyone realized that the fortunes of the Timberwolves had changed the moment Al Jefferson landed on the floor of the New Orleans Arena, his knee blown up. The team's overall talent level simply isn't high enough to lose a should've-been All-Star.

But the results have been pretty staggering. 

Barring a victory tomorrow night against Portland, the Wolves will finish February with two victories. That, for the record, is one less than they registered in November and the same number as they had in December. And that was back when the Wolves were, you know, crappy.

This team hasn't won a home game in more than a month -- since that late January OT win over the Bulls -- and have lost seven in a row at Target Center.

The thing is, this team really hasn't played that poorly of late. Ryan Gomes has started to score more and looks more and more like a guy who could contribute for a good team. Bassy has shown improvement and is playing with more confidence. Randy Foye has fewer moments where you wonder what he was thinking. And Kevin Love is getting some much needed experience in a non-pressure situation.

But the Wolves simply don't have enough bodies. The past two nights have shown that. The Wolves hung in there against Toronto for much of the night and had a lead late in the third quarter on Wednesday night against an improving Utah team. Last night was especially difficult to watch down the stretch as the Wolves simply weren't deep enough (or tall enough inside) to win.

This folks isn't going to change this season. Al Jefferson isn't coming through that door. Neither is Corey Brewer. Shelden Williams and Bobby Brown aren't the answers. So what do you do? I don't know. The easy thing is stay away from the arena and save your money. The easy thing is to not watch the games on TV. But I'm hoping there are reasons to watch down the stretch. 

It will be like pounding your head against the wall a little bit, I'm sure. Because, let's face it, there aren't a lot of options for wins left.

When Jefferson went down, my prediction was that they Wolves would win eight games after the All-Star break and get to 25 victories. They have gone 1-5 since the break. I might have been a bit too optimistic. This weekend, despite a pair of home games, doesn't look terribly optimistic. Portland and Houston - despite their injuries - simply have far more talent than the Wolves. Golden State at home next weekend seems like a possibility, but the Warriors have played better of late. Monday, March 9 against Washington might be the next chance for a win.

If it happens before that, that would be great. I just don't see it happening.

This wasn't going to be easy or all that much fun. But we knew that.

Do newspapers matter?

I guess that's my question as the Wolves play at Toronto tonight.

This morning, I saw nothing in my morning Star Tribune about the Wolves with the exception of a preview box. That is not standard operating procedure. I would expect to see very little in terms of Wolves news on the front page of the sports section.

If things hold to form, the St. Paul Pioneer Press won't have Don Seeholzer at Air Canada Center tonight. That paper has quit traveling with the team on the road and has, instead, hired freelancers to cover the game. 

Does this matter to you? It does matter to me. I can watch the game and figure some stuff out. I can listen to McHale's postgame session on FSN, but I would like more answers from other folks.

I understand that the newspaper business pretty much sucks but this is disappointing. I already feel like I need to go to another source to get national sports news. I'll be very disappointed if the Star Tribune pulls back further on Timberwolves coverage. But if the St. Paul paper doesn't go on the road, what reason is there for the Star Tribune to do the same. 

The loser in all of this: The readers and the fans of the NBA in this town.

The Wolves Chose Winning

For every team in the bottom half of the NBA, each season features a crossroads. Sometimes it isn't obvious, but sometimes it is crystal clear. Regardless, there's a point where a team and its fans have to decide whether it is better to win? Or is it better to lose?

For the Wolves, that moment came as soon as Al Jefferson's MRI revealed torn ligaments in his knee. While this team was probably never going to make the playoffs this season, a hot January led to increased buzz about the Wolves. But Jefferson crumpling to the floor changed that in an instant.

So then what is better for this franchise? Is it better to win games? Or is it better to lose and, in the process, have better odds in the NBA Draft Lottery? Certainly the coaches and players are going to always say that they want to win, but fans certainly find themselves in that situation and if you caught a member of the team's front office, I think you would find the same thing.

I have heard from several friends either on the phone, via e-mail or on the Facebook status updates talk about how the Wolves need to lose early and often the rest of the way this season. I, for one, completely disagree. I think the Wolves need to try to win -- lottery be dammed -- as much as they can.

That's why I was so happy when they traded Rashad McCants and Calvin Booth to Sacramento earlier today for Shelden Williams and Bobby Brown. 

At the end of the day this move might be little more than 'Garbage in, garbage out.' It might be the rearrangement of the deck chairs on a messed up ship. But I still like the move. To me, more than anything, it shows me that while the Wolves aren't going be stupid, they still want to win basketball games. 

I listened to the audio of Jim Stack's conference call with reporters and it was clear that this trade -- while fairly insignificant in the short term -- was made to address current glaring needs. Williams gives the Wolves another body inside as they attempt to piece things together without Jefferson. And Brown is another ball-handler who can give Bassy a blow and keep Randy Foye from having to play the point. 

I find it tremendously laughable that the crazy old man from the Star Tribune would say/could say that the Wolves gave up too much to make this deal. McCants wasn't going to play more than a bit role the rest of the way. He is a head case with an inflated sense of his worth and who doesn't want to guard anyone. Booth played all of 40 second this season, but he did always look pretty good in a suit.

What they got in return is a hopefully guys, as in 'hopefully these guys can be better.' Sometimes picking a guy up off of the scrap heap works for a team, sometimes it doesn't. Three years ago, Williams was very highly thought of coming out of Duke. He went fifth overall to Atlanta and was taken before either Foye or Brandon Roy. 

He is in some ways like the rest of the Wolves healthy bigs as he isn't really big enough to play the 5, but he isn't a bad guy. He's probably an upgrade over Jason Collins or Mad Dog. 

Brown was a summer league star and signed with the Kings. This season, however, the rookie did little in Sacramento. Best realistic case is that he blossoms into a useable bench player similar to what Rodney Carney has become. I don't think he's ever going to beat out Bassy and start at PG. Worst case scenario is that he doesn't play. Considering what the Wolves gave up, there's not a lot of risk involved.

Now let's get back to this whole winning thing. 

I think the Wolves need to win every game they possibly can the rest of the way -- lottery position be damned.

Why? For the long-term health of this team, the Wolves need asses in the seats. They need people to buy tickets. They need a little demand for their product. While the current demand is great if you are a buyer -- hell, I just won two lower level tickets for next week's Portland game for $29 with shipping on eBay -- it isn't great for the franchise. 

What the Wolves need is the ability to sell hope. That, frankly, has been missing for several years. It's hard to sell and market a product when you know that the home team has little chance. The Wolves, especially since the first of the year, have tried to sell the opposition. You can do that for a while, but eventually fans need a reason to come out on a regular basis.

If the Wolves could get to, say, 28 wins this season and have something close to a .500 record in the games after Christmas, then there's a little hope that can be sold. There's an OK core that played well down the stretch, Al Jefferson will return next year as will Corey Brewer. Considering the sketchy state of the U.S. economy -- and that the Twins are selling hard for their new park -- the Wolves may have a tougher time selling corporate stuff for next season (tickets, sponsorship, signage, etc.). If they can point to an improving product, that would certainly help. 

Moral of the story is that I like the move they made. The Wolves got addition through subtraction when it came to McCants. They got a big body in Williams and maybe he needs a change of scenery. And maybe they got something in Brown.

But to me, the biggest thing this trade showed me is that the Wolves really want to win. They aren't going to simply throw in the towel for the last two months. And that is something I can respect and get behind.

The run continues...

While there is much talk about the trading deadline and what teams did and didn't do, I will quickly return you to regularly scheduled ballin'.

Could the Wolves win two in a row? Well, the odds have increased as Indiana forward Danny Granger is out up to three weeks with a torn something in his foot.

That certainly gives the Wolves a better chance against the Pacers than if Granger was healthy.

Granger, an Eastern Conference All-Star, went for 28 when the teams met at Conseco earlier this month. It also continues a pretty good run for the Wolves of catching teams at less than full strength.

McCants, Booth to Sacto. Hello Shelden Williams and Bobby Brown

Here's a little news from the Sacramento Bee. 

I am, frankly, thrilled that McCants is gone. Bad guy. Selfish guy. Etc. I have no love for him. 

Haven't gotten far enough into this to have an opinion on Shelden Williams -- once a lotto pick, but has been a typical Duke pro -- or PG Bobby Brown.

Will dive in later. And maybe there will be more news as well. 

Reversing a trend (at least for one night)

When Al Jefferson landed awkwardly an fell into a heap on the New Orleans Arena floor, it was a massive blow to what had already been a horrible fourth quarter against the Hornets.

If you remember correctly, the Wolves led a pretty decent New Orleans team by three points with 5:01 to play in the fourth quarter. Minnesota, however, was outscored 16-9 the rest of the way and made only three field goals in that stretch.

Each of the two games since then featured poor late-game execution. 

A quick recap:

The Wolves led Toronto by three with 6:30 to play in the final game before the All-Star Break. Down the stretch, the Wolves again managed only three field goals and were out scored 24-13. The result was a 110-102 loss.

On Monday night, the Wolves led Washington (I have a hard time not automatically adding an adjective such as bad, horrible or crappy any time I type Washington or Wizards) 96-91 with 4:03 to go. The result was wretched. The Wiz outscored the Wolves 20-7 down the stretch and the Wolves again lost.

In those three games, the Wolves were outscored 97-66 in the fourth quarter, a fairly amazing margin when you think about it.

That's why Wednesday night's 111-104 win at Miami was important. It certainly wasn't pretty as the Wolves were again outscored in the fourth, but at least the Wolves reversed a recent trend. Despite leading by nine at the start of the fourth and by as many as 11 early in the quarter, Miami clawed their way back into this game. When Mario Chalmers -- he who was the property of the Wolves for about 34 seconds back in June -- scored to give the Heat a 99-97 lead with 2:28 to go, I thought this was going to be a fourth-straight crap fourth quarter for the Wolves.

But on the next possession, Bassy found Foye for a three. After Jermaine O'Neal missed on the other end, Bassy made a three of his own and the Wolves were up four with 90 seconds or so left. That was the ballgame and after losing five in a row the Wolves had their first win in more than two weeks.

Things we learned:

1. This isn't exactly rocket science, but the Wolves are much better when they move the ball like they did for much of the night against the Heat. Twenty-four assists on 37 field goals is very nice. It's a far cry from Randy-with-his-head-down down the stretch against the Wiz when the Wolves had 19 assists on 35 hoops.

2. D-Wade is really, really good. Wow he is fun to watch. He can get his own whenever he wants, but he also distributes well. 

3. What's the deal with these slow starts. Another night, another big hole to start the game. That has to change and that's a blog post for another night.

I'll be back at you tomorrow. Maybe there will be some real news. Who knows.

A couple of quick thoughts...

... before I head home to watch Wolves-Heat.

1. Will the Wolves have an answer for Jermaine O'Neal? It was only a little more than a week ago when JO'Neal went for 22 and 8 against the Wolves in Game 1 A.A. (After Al). Now he's traded Toronto for Miami and will play his first game for the Heat. How is that going to work?

2. What kind of jump will the Wolves have tonight? The last 30 games of the season are going to be difficult because of injuries. I know that. You know that. Everybody knows that. But I'm all right with it if the Wolves continue to play the right way. I want to see them play hard, fight and not let losing become OK. Tonight's the first true test of that. Last night should have been a Wolves victory, but instead a horrible Wizards team. I don't want to see that linger into tonight's game. If there's effort and a loss, I'm cool. If there's laziness, I won't be thrilled.

3. Wolves say that Al's surgery went well. I expected them to say nothing else. We'll know a whole lot more in September than we do now. Here's hoping the big load on the block turns out OK.

That's it. I'm hitting send and getting out of here.

Reflections 12 hours later. Or Why I'm tired of Randy Foye playing PG

Hung up a little bit with work, I got in my car just as the first quarter was ending last night. That's when I heard how the Wolves were lucky to be down just 11 points to the worst team in the Eastern Conference. 

I drove home, turned on the game and watched the Wolves climb their way back into the game in the second and third quarters. I thought as the fourth quarter began and the Wolves took a lead that they just might pull out a come-from-behind victory over the lowly Wizards. 

Normally this wouldn't be cause for celebration, but considering the absence of Big Al, any victory is a good one.

There was, however, one major problem: Randy Foye tried to do too much.

If there was anything we learned during November and December, it is this: Randy Foye isn't a point guard. I like him as a person. I like him as a shooting guard. But when he has to handle the ball for extended periods of time, the Wolves offense turns far too much into 1-on-5 or 2-on-5.

That's exactly what happened in the last five-plus minutes against the Wiz. 

Because even though Bassy was on the floor, it was like he didn't exist down the stretch. Bassy would dribble to halfcourt, pass the ball to No. 4 and, on several possessions, would quite literally go to the right wing and stand and watch.

It was confusing while watching it in real time. When I went back and watched it again off of the DVR, it made me want to pull my hair out. 

There is clearly more pressure on Foye to score in Jefferson's absence, that is not in dispute. Maybe the natural reaction is to give him the ball in the fourth quarter and let him drive. But to me, that doesn't seem to make any sense in the least. Part of what made Foye so dangerous during January was his ability to get the ball on the perimeter after Bassy penetrates and pithches.

From there Foye could shoot or he take it to the basket against an offense that had just adjusted to a Telfair drive. That is a whole lot different than driving the ball against a defense that is set. The path to the basket isn't nearly as clear in that case. The opportunities to get the ball to a big guy with a dump down aren't as plenty.

Just as damaging is that Foye doesn't get anybody else involved when he runs the offense from the outset. Looking at the Popcorn Machine game flow from last night, two things stand out in the fourth quarter.

1. KLove re-entered the game with 5:16 to play and didn't attempt a field goal (though he did get to the line for two free throws). Really? Seriously? While some of that is on Love, I put most of that on Foye.

2. Mike Miller took one field goal in the last 6:34 and that was a three after the outcome was pretty much decided. It has become pretty clear that other NBA teams know the reality when Foye is in the game: Stop 4's drive and he'll try to force something because he probably won't find the right open guy in the right spot.

Perhaps the highlight of the night came when Adrian Woj at Yahoo posted a piece that indicated that the Wolves are potentially interested in a three-team deal that would send Kirk Hinrich to Minnesota. Considering the potential deal would cost the Wolves little more than Jason Collins' expiring contract, I love it. This would be a serious upgrade for the Wolves at point guard and would move Bassy to a backup role. I like Bassy, but I'm not sure that he's good enough to play 30-plus minutes a night. Last night was further evidence that McHale doesn't trust him when the game is on the line. 

I like securing Hinrich rather than going for a PG in the draft for the simple reason that Bassy and a rookie would be a position battle next fall. With the exception of Ricky Rubio, I don't know that there is a PG in the draft that would be immediately able to come in start from the onset. Hinrich, while certainly not an All-Star, would immediately create a pecking order at PG. 

And clearly establishing a true depth chart at PG is a priority. The loss to the Wizards proved that.

What can be expected now? What are reasonable expectations?

I do hate when real work and real life gets in the way of this blogging pursuit. I'm hoping life is somewhat back to normal now. No guarantees, but there is hope.

The Wolves are about 15 minutes from beginning the post-All Star Game portion of the schedule and, in some ways, the post-Al portion of the season. Yes, there was the game against Toronto before the break, but I think that was a sort of what-is-this-really-like 48 minutes.

As things stand, the Wolves are 17-34 with 31 games left to be played. That is the known part of the equation. For me, the unknown is what really can be expected as the Wolves maneuver through the final two months of the regular season.

When the Wolves were playing well in January, I thought this team could recover from 4-23 start to the season and get to the 30-win mark. I thought that even 35 wins would be possible. But now? I really have no idea what to expect.

Of the final 31 games this season, 20 are against teams that are in or close to being in the playoffs. For the sake of this argument, that group includes 10 teams from the East and nine from the West. That leaves 11 games against non-playoff variety teams. There two against the Wiz, two against an improving Golden State team and one each against Indiana, Memphis, the Knicks, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, the Clippers and the season finale against crappy Sacto.

How many of these games will the Wolves be favored in? Clearly that depends on health and whether they can get anything going the the short term without Big Al.

How many will they win? Realistically, this has the potential to be a long couple of months. With Al and Corey Brewer out, the Wolves are without two of their top seven from the beginning of the season. Throw in Mike Miller not being in a groove and there might not be more than a couple of nights the rest of the way where you look at the lineups and say, 'Yeah, the Wolves should win this.'

This is a total guess, but I'm going to go with 8-23 the rest of the way. That would give the Wolves 25 wins for the season. That would actually be better than six years in Wolves history, but also a small improvement over a year ago.

This morning, Jerry Zgoda did a nice job looking at the post Al era in the Star Tribune.

He talks Lottery positioning, the development of Kevin Love, whether Randy Foye will able to assume more of the scoring load. In other words, all of the usual topics. My feelings aren't all that different than Jerry's to be honest.

My wish list:
1. Play someone at center other than Kevin Love at least part of the time.

My fear is that McHale will simply move KLove into Big Al's spot and play the Rhino at power forward. I get the strategy behind that. But I don't want to see KLove having to guard centers on a regular basis and get dominated on the defensive end of the floor. Even if it costs the team some wins, I'd rather see Mad-Dog or Booth play some minutes at center. I'm not sure we're going to see that, however. I think we'll see Love at center, Rhino at the four and Cardinal rotating in for one of the two.

2. Randy Foye should never play PG.

I've been on this before, but I want to see McHale keep Foye at the 2 at all costs. I understand a few minutes here and there until Kevin Ollie comes back, but Foye needs to prove he can be an effective shooting guard. Or at least he should get the chance to see if he is an effective shooting guard. Foye is going to see different defenses and more attention than he has ever gotten now that one of the best low-post scorers in the league is on the shelf. So how will Randy react?

3. The departure of somebody

If they can get something for Mike Miller, make the deal. If they can three used balls and pair of old sneakers for McCants, make the deal.

4. I suppose more losses.

This is the hardest part of the Big Al injury for me. For too long over the past two years, the Wolves have been a total afterthought in the Twin Cities sports market. The past two months have been fun. There has been a buzz about the team, the Wolves have come up in regular conversation, there have been signs of life. When they had most of their pieces, it was easy to pull for this team to win games even if the playoffs were an unattainable goal. Now, they need to lose. They need good odds in the lottery.

5. Some resolution about McHale's future

I dislike the guy as a GM, but I like him as a coach. I like how he tries to instill confidence and doesn't scream like a mad man. I especially like that he doesn't stomp his feet like the last guy. But I also don't like the uncertainty. Either commit to the job or move along. I'd like him to stay because I think he does a nice job. And some stability might not be a bad thing.

That's it for now. Time to go watch the rest of this thing unfold.

Well, this really sucks

Big Al has a torn ACL. Insert your own bad word here.

I'll write more later when I'm not at the real job. Zgoda writes about it here.

Ugh.

Can they take advantage?

As I sit here on my couch, watching the early moments of the Wolves game at New Orleans -- Bassy just buried a shot-clock-beating three -- I see no Chris Paul. Nor do I see Tyson Chandler.

Much was made in January about how the Wolves constantly caught teams when they were missing stars and starters. I get that criticism, I really do. But the flip side of that is that the Wolves were able to take advantage of the situation.

The reality is that injuries are part of the deal in the NBA. Would the Wolves be better if it had Kevin Ollie to play some PG minutes at this point? What about having a healthy Corey Brewer? I say yes.

I say this because I'm not sure the Wolves would have been able to beat short-handed teams earlier this season. 

The Wolves had a chance to steal a victory last week when Atlanta played at Target Center without Joe Johnson. To me, that was an opportunity lost. While the Wolves are getting better, it is difficult for them to matchup against legit playoff teams and win. They simply aren't at that level. But maybe they've reached a point where they can sneak out a win against a short-handed playoff team. 

I didn't anticipate that the Wolves would be able to win at New Orleans when I looked at this stretch of games leading into the All-Star Game. But now they have a chance. Beat the Hornets and beat Toronto at home and the Wolves can go into the break on a positive note.

I will admit that I didn't see a second of Saturday night's loss at Houston. I was at a party where the television sets were dominated by Gophers puck and hoops. Sounds like I missed a helluva Big Al show.

So I've got no insight for you other than the obvious one that KLove needs to play a lot better. One field goal in 33 minutes simply isn't going to cut it. And Minnesota as a team has to rebound the ball better. That the Wolves not named Jefferson grabbed only 17 rebounds in 201 minutes of action is just not acceptable. I can't even believe that stat: 17 rebounds in 201 minutes. Damn that is bad.

Anyway, there are about three minutes to go in the first quarter here. Must get back to the television.  I'm out.

Well, that wasn't all that great

I'd love to say I was surprised by tonight's loss to the Hawks, but I'm not. 

A night after having to rally to beat Indiana, the Wolves played an Atlanta team that is both pretty good and was in Minneapolis while Minnesota was still at Conseco Fieldhouse.

I tend to think that the Hawks are pretty good. I like Marvin Williams. I like Josh Smith. I'm kind of surprised that Mike Bibby killed the Wolves the way he did.

Entering this back-to-back, I didn't like the Wolves chances to win both. That's part of the reason why the win at Indiana was so important. 

Don't know what to think of no Rhino. Not sure what to think about McCants playing for the first time in forever. I hope neither is a regular situation.

Love to say I was shocked. But I'm not.

A big test for McHale

Would love to blog more today, but am up to my eyes in work (in a Bassy trying to guard Big Baby Davis sort of way). I do have one thing I need to get off my chest.

I consider the next 48 hours to be the most important so far of this second McHale tenure. 

The first long losing streak seemed unavoidable to be honest. There was a long road trip. There was little in terms of practice time. He needed to cleanse the players of the stench of Wittman.

But now? These Wolves have had some success and January was the team's best month in several years. But as the Wolves prepare for tonight's game at Indiana, McHale's guys have a smooth little three-game losing streak. There's no shame in that considering they came to Detroit, the Lakers and Boston. 

Tonight's game is the first of a back-to-back as tomorrow night the Wolves will host Atlanta. I want to see how the Wolves respond. Are they tired of losing like they say they are? Or will they fall into the old trap of lose six, win one.

Looking ahead to the schedule before the All-Star Break isn't that pretty. After these two games, there is a weekend back-to-back at Houston and New Orleans. There's also a home game with Toronto before the break.

This five-game stretch is important because the Wolves can't afford to let this three-game losing streak become an eight-game skid. If that happens, much of that momentum from January vanishes.

I would like to see at least two and preferably three victories from the Wolves in this stretch. I don't really care where they find these wins, but I don't see them winning this weekend on the road.

Hence, the Wolves need to start playing better. Starting tonight.

What's up with these injuries?

First the Lakers lose big man Andrew Bynum to a blown up knee.

Then Magic point guard Jameer Nelson goes down with a shoulder injury.

Finally, New Orleans PG Chris Paul -- CP3 according to the cool kids -- develops one of those nasty groins.

What does all this mean?

I truly thought the Lakers were head and shoulders above everybody in the West. The Bynum injury impacts that. Even if he's back by the beginning of the playoffs, will he be the same? What will happen when he tries to work his way back into the lineup?

Does this mean San Antonio or Denver has a chance in the West? Portland even?

For Orlando, I think this is an injury that slides them back and makes the East the two-team race that everybody thought it would be. I just don't see them having the long-range firepower of either Cleveland or Boston. Writing that just means that Orlando will now roll.

Haven't heard much more about CP3, but this seems to be the least severe of the injuries. Regardless, this has been an eventful few days.

McHale is West Coach of the Month

This little nugget supplied by Star Tribune beat writer Jerry Zgoda here.

Good for McHale. He wasn't much of a GM -- at least at the beginning -- but maybe he has found his calling. 

He has made the Wolves interesting, something that didn't seem all that possible back around Thanksgiving.

Well, so much for that blog post or KG isn't playing today against the Wolves

I was all set to write a pregame post about Garnett. I even had a fancy title "I Don't Heart KG." But then I saw this from Jerry Zgoda

KG is not in the house fro the Celtics today because of a fever and the flu. This is an interesting development as the Wolves have played the green and white tough in recent meetings. Generally, however, KG pulls them through at the end.

I still don't think this is a game that the Wolves can win. The Celtics -- like the Lakers on Friday night -- are just too good. The Celtics, after all, have won 10 in a row.

Sorry I didn't post after Friday night's loss, but frankly I didn't have a whole lot to add. I didn't see the first half and was surprised to see that they were only down four at the break. I watched the second half while at a bar. No sound, a couple of beverages, etc. 

The outcome was about like I thought. The game flow at Popcorn Machine, confirmed what I figured would happen: The Wolves struggled against the Lakers big lineup. With Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum on the floor early in the third quarter, the Lakers went +14 before making a move.