The most difficult thing is the teasing

As I sit here on a late Sunday afternoon, the Timberwolves are currently getting their collective asses kicked by the Boston Celtics. In many ways this doesn't really bother me. The C's, after all, are one of the three best teams in the Eastern Conference. They are two years away from winning the title. And they have a helluva lot more talented than the Baby Wolves.

But it caps a week that demonstrates to me just how tough it is to hang with a team through rebuilding.

The tough part isn't knowing there are games when your team doesn't have a shot and will need something close to a miracle to win. What's tougher is simply the teasing.

The teasing? Yep.

Let's look back at the past nine days or so. Last Saturday they get stomped at Sacramento, losing by 20. Monday night they respond by getting a very nice win at Utah. They come back Wednesday night and show not nearly enough effort in a bad loss to the Clippers. And then they lead tip-to-horn in the rematch against Sacramento and win. Tonight, the Wolves are simply overmatched and that could be the case again Tuesday against Atlanta.

Maybe I'm not patient enough for the reality of NBA rebuilding, but I'd like to see more consistent play. I know there are a large number of teams that are flat-out better than the Wolves, but I'd like to begin to see the elimination of the really bad performances.

The Wolves, as bad as they are, aren't 20 worse than Sacto. They shouldn't fail to show up for a winnable home game against the Clippers.

I get that 82 games is a lot of games. Maybe this doesn't have much of a point, but I'd like to see a few of the bad games vanish. I also know this isn't simply a Minnesota problem. Oklahoma City has run into a little of this. Sacramento has done the same as has Milwaukee. Even Portland -- albeit the injury-riddled Blazers -- have struggled with this.

I am happy that this team is getting better. Waiting for the the Wolves to make another small step is difficult.