The worst job in sports?

There are certainly bad jobs out there in the sports world. You could do the laundry of large NFL linemen. You could be one of those goofy guys with the flags at the Vikings. You could be Tiger Woods' PR guy right now.

But is there a tougher job in sports than to be someone trying to make a living by selling tickets for the Timberwolves?

These poor folks -- who can't be making all that much money -- have to try to find a way to get people to buy tickets from the team to see a team that is off the radar of way too many people in town.

Tonight the Wolves host New Orleans. I don't have corporate or vendor tickets for tonight's game. Now I realize I should probably go home after work, deal with the snow in my driveway and curl up in front of my TV to watch the game. But there is something about watching Chris Paul in person that has me at least considering another option.

It is amazing how little you can get into a game for now at the Target Center (can you really go more than about 48 hours without receiving some sort of ticket email from the team?). A quick glance at Craigslist/StubHub/eBay/Ticket King has pairs upstairs for less than $10. Downstairs tickets can be had for very little as well. I can only imagine what scalpers are getting outside. Can't be much.

This leads me to something of a moral question: Do you ever feel like you should buy from the team? That way the Wolves don't lose as much money, people might not lose jobs, the team can't use the 'we're losing money so we can't get better' card.

I am sometimes torn on that. I'm cool with buying from the team, but I need to look out for my own pocketbook as well. A cheap or free ticket that happens to end up in my lap is always a good thing and, obviously, I'm going to buy a beer or two and something to eat at the game.

Anyway, still considering ticket options. Maybe I'll see if somebody on Craigslist gets desperate by the end of the afternoon and I can grab some good seats for peanuts. Otherwise, I'm probably going blow snow and watch on TV.

And if you are someone trying to sell tickets in this market, I feel for you. I think the product isn't bad and is worth watching, but this is the biggest problem with the start of the seasons. The Wolves can no longer sell hope to the public and that is not a good thing.

Perhaps progress at the quarter pole

OK, I know that 82 games isn't divisible by four. But for the sake of this little blog post, I'm calling 20 games into the season to be the quarter mark.

For the Minnesota Timberwolves, the first fourth of the season hasn't been terribly pretty. There was a 15 game losing streak. There were lots of new faces. There was little Kevin Love. There was Al Jefferson, but not at 100 percent.

But on Saturday night, there were brief signs of life. A murmur. A little something. If the NBA season was a Grey's Anatomy episode, the Wolves would still be on the operating table and Christina would be bitching about something while Derek attempted another impossible surgery. On second thought, maybe I should quit the Grey's Anatomy reference since Seattle couldn't even keep its NBA team.

But as I sat in Target Center on Saturday night, I couldn't really believe what I was seeing. The Wolves played with confidence. They, largely, made good decisions down the stretch. They knocked down open shots. And they beat Utah for their first home victory since opening night.

While Utah is more middle-of-the-pack than great, the Jazz do still have some nice pieces. They have a great PG in Deron Williams, they have a system and they usually don't beat themselves.

At the end, I don't really care that the Wolves won on Saturday. I do, however, care about how they won. They won, in large part, by going young. Over the final 5-plus minutes, Rambis went with this lineup:

Big Al, KLove, Gomes, Flynn and Ellington.

Or 24 years old, 21, 27, 20, 22

Or sixth year, second year, fifth year, rookie, rookie

This, to me, is progress. I understand that making the Wolves competitive is going to be a process. I get that it is going to take time. And I'm cool with that. I'm cool with them losing if it means truly playing guys who have a chance moving forward.

What I'm not cool with is playing the guys who aren't part of the longer term future. I don't want to see Pecherov on the floor at the end of games. I don't want Jawai. I certainly don't want to see Brian Cardinal.

I say play the kids and see what happens. I'm cool with a little bit of Damien Wilkins, but not a ton. I don't think Ryan Hollins is really an answer, so I want only small doses. I am also not super excited to see Corey Brewer on the floor during the final minutes because he simply isn't good enough.

One more thing. Less Sasha Pavlovic would be nice.

To me the return of KLove and the improved play of Ellington helps greatly in this area. Against the Jazz, neither Pecherov or Jawai saw the floor and Hollins played less than 13 minutes. We all know that Kevin Love has a chance to be a very good player in the NBA. He may never be an All-Star, but he is very, very solid. He rebounds like crazy, he starts the team's transition game and he makes very few mistakes. After all, he has two double-doubles in two games. What's wrong with that?

But as important as Love's return is to the Wolves, the emergence of Ellington in the past week can't be overlooked. Part of the reason why I like Ellington is that he seems to have a good understanding of what he can't do and he tries to find ways to do what he is good at. He's a good outside shooter, he's a pretty good passer and he's kind of sneaky good as a rebounder.

Over the past three games, Ellington has averaged 26 minutes, 3 rebounds and 10 points per game while shooting .619 from the floor and averaging more assists than turnovers. Let's compare him with Corey Brewer. Over Brewer's past five games (easy stats on espn.com), he is averaging 25.8 minutes, 3.4 rebounds, 8 points per game while shooting .372 and turning the ball over more than getting assists.

Corey Brewer seems like a nice guy. He seems to be in good shape after missing almost all of last season with a kneed injury. And he's a good dunker. But Wayne Ellington is way more efficient offensively, doesn't make as many dumb plays and doesn't need as many shots to score.

The biggest difference to me is that he seems to know his limitations and avoids things he isn't good at while Brewer either doesn't know or doesn't care that his range is about four feet from the basket. He also tries for the impossible a little more than I'd like and that leads to turnovers.

Anyway, this thing has gone in about 12 different directions, but I think the combination of KLove returning and Ellington seeing more late-game minutes is a step in the right direction.

Returning from injury. And what might have been.

When Wolves play tonight at New Orleans, much of the focus will be on Kevin Love. Jerry Zgoda just tweeted that Love will play tonight for the first time this season after breaking a bone in his hand during the preseason.

But I keep thinking back to last Feb. 8. That was the night that Al Jefferson went down in a heap near the end of a loss to the Hornets. You know the rest of the story: Torn ACL, out for the season, Wolves go into a total tailspin.

The Wolves had just gone 13-9 over the previous 22 games, but would go a brutal 7-25 the rest of the way.

Even now, I don't think Al is fully healthy. He's played, but hasn't looked like himself. He's been great at times and then vansished at other times. It might be another month until he's fully the Al we once knew.

But what happens if Al isn't on the floor in the final 30 seconds at New Orleans Arena? How many more games do they win? Another five? Another 10? What does that do to the team's draft position?

Do they make the move with the Wizards? Do they end up with Rubio and Flynn? Do they end up with someone like Tyreke Evans or Brandon Jennings?

Back to Love. I am interested to see how much he plays tonight and, as a result, how much he plays tomorrow night at Target Center against the Jazz.

As Phil Miller wrote in the Star Tribune this morning, the Wolves should be able to take advantage of Love's ability to outlet the ball quickly and play faster. There is reason to believe that one of the slowest offenses in the NBA will speed up and get more easy baskets.

I don't think this is going to be an immediate fix for the Wolves. Love needs to get in a little better game shape -- working out is not the same as playing in a NBA game. But I do think the Wolves are going to get better.

How much better is a question. Just as it is interesting to think about what could have happened if Big Al had had a better last trip to New Orleans.

Entering a cold winter

Thanks to some corporate seats, I was about 12 rows up on the side from Ramon Sessions when he missed the first of two free throws last night. All he had was an opportunity to last night's game in the closing seconds and potentially force overtime against the Memphis Grizzlies.

I watched the Wolves melt down, again, in the third quarter and give up control of a game that they owned in the first half. I watched defense -- especially on Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph -- become super soft.

A postgame beer later, I walked out into a brisk night and it hit me: This is all we've got. The Timberwolves are a bad team and even though Kevin Love could be back as soon as Friday night, I'm not sure things are going to really change.

Because let's be honest. If you can't beat a bad Memphis team that was playing the final game of a five game road trip at home, how good can you really be?

I tried to be optimistic even as the Wolves won game after game. I thought it was the schedule and that the home losses weren't really all that bad. But nobody is going to confuse Memphis with the Lakers or the Celtics. While the Grizzlies do have a few good players, there doesn't seem to be a big team concept going on there.

And if you can't beat a Griz team with an injured point guard, who are you going to beat?

It has been five weeks since the Wolves won their home opener. When are they going to win again at Target Center?

I truly thought this team would be improved over a year ago. Damn was I wrong. And it's going to be a long, cold winter.

KLove back by the weekend?

Jerry Zgoda blogs about it here. Love says he's hoping for Saturday against Utah. But Tuesday at Toronto could be the date as well.

The month ahead: December

The Wolves enter December on a win-a-month pace. They won once in October and then, 15 losses later, won the final game in November. Here's a look at where they are, how that compares with a year ago and what to expect over the next month.

Overall record: 2-15

November record: 1-14

Record through November last season: 4-11

December record last season: 2-14

What to expect: While the bar is admittedly quite low, it seems quite unlikely that the Timberwolves will be as bad in December as they were in November. The team should be gaining a greater understanding of the Kurt Rambis' offense and get a better sense of what the head coach wants. In addition, Kevin Love -- who hasn't played since breaking a bone in his non-shooting hand during a preseason game at Chicago -- should return by mid-month at the latest.

And there is the schedule. The December schedule is easier. Much easier.

After a November that saw the Wolves make three separate trips to the West Coast and have double games with Phoenix, Portland and Denver (along with the Clippers), things are much different.

The Wolves only have one West Coast trip in the month, they have eight home games instead of seven and the multiple games are against Utah, New Orleans and a surprising Sacramento team.

In addition, there are simply more games that you look at and say, "They might be able to win that." That starts Wednesday night with a home game against Memphis. In addition, there are two games against a banged up New Orleans team, two with the Kings, a home game against the Clippers, a game at awful New Jersey and a home game against Washington.

What's realistic: The Wolves should win at least four games this month and five or six isn't completely crazy. Five wins in December would put the Wolves ahead of their victory pace at that point a year ago. That, however, is a bit deceiving as the McHale led Wolves went 10-4 in January.

Game worth seeing: I am a big fan of two things. I like teams on the rise and I like catching teams from the East that only make one trip to MSP. Because of that, I'm calling the Dec. 22 game against Atlanta as the one to go to. The Hawks are an example of why NBA fans need to have patience. Five years ago, Atlanta went 13-69. Since then the Hawks have steadily increased their win total, going from 26 to 30 to 37 and 47 a year ago. They are currently 12-5 this season with two wins over Portland, a win at Boston and a win over Miami. Plus the game is a chance to see Joe Johnson in person. After the uber-elite of LeBron, DWade and Bosh, Johnson will be among the most interesting free agents available this summer.

Three Random Things

Maybe I'll make this a regular part of the blog. We'll see I guess. But here are Three Random Things going through my mind when it comes to the NBA.

1. My biggest weakness has become the Golden State Warriors.

Some people love chocolate. Other people can't stop smoking. I can't stop watching the Golden State Warriors.

I know that the Warriors are totally flawed and dysfunctional. I know that Monta Ellis said on the first day of training camp that there was no way that he and Steph Curry could play together. I know that they were dumb enough to sign S-Jax to a big deal and then trade him away for not a whole lot. I know that Don Nelson does crazy things like not play Anthony Randolph enough minutes.

But, man, are they fun to watch. The ball moves like crazy. Ellis attacks the rim like he's twice the size that he is. Anthony Morrow might be the best three-point shooter in the Association. And they can run it up on almost anybody. 

It has reached the point for me that if I'm flipping around the League Pass offerings and the Warriors are play, I'm probably watching. Hell, I'm considering trying to buy one of those sweet "City" T-shirts. Last night's game against Indiana was a perfect example of why. The Pacers had no clue as to slow down Ellis. He finished with 45 despite fouling out with about six minutes left on what I thought was a crap block/charge call. 

Tonight, the Warriors play Denver and I'll probably watch again. Nothing like a little late night up and down.

2. What doesn't get talked about regarding Brandon Jennings

Upon my return from Thanksgiving, I found Sports Illustrated sitting in my mailbox. In it was a nice piece on Brandon Jennings. While I've seen him mentioned a little bit in stories on Jennings, this piece quoted former Oklahoma and Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson at length.

I really think that Sampson's role on the Milwaukee staff has helped Jennings greatly. Sampson was one of those college coaches that forced his guys to work. He was a cheater, but he got his guys to work, play hard, defend and get after it. Sampson has worked hard with Jennings on his outside shooting -- what many people thought was his biggest weakness. He has repeatedly worked him out, put him through drills and given him confidence.

Plus almost all of Sampson's coaching career has been spent dealing with players around Jennings' age. He understands what a teenager is like, what a teenager wants and how to get through to them. That can only be a bonus. 

3. My new reading material

Over the weekend, I picked up the still pretty new Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball. First, you have to love Costco. The list price for this massive 700-page epic is $30. I saw it at Target for $21. I bought it at Costco for $16 and change. 

I'm not super far into the book,  but it seems as if it is going to be a good read. Simmons is funny and I had no idea about his history of going to Celtics games at Boston Garden. The book seems cool so far and the footnotes are hilarious. 

I'm sure there will be more updates down the line.

That's three items. And I'm out. Look for a post later about the month ahead for the Wolves.