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.