About 25 years ago I was a member of the Governor’s NBA Task Force to bring a franchise to Minnesota. There had been a void here since the Lakers left Minneapolis for Los Angeles in 1960. In the late 1980’s NBA popularity was surging and the league liked this town’s white collar money and pro basketball roots with the Lakers who had won five world titles here.
While working for the Met Center in the 1980s, I had pushed for a series of successful NBA exhibition games that included one night stops by the Lakers, Sixers and Bulls. Minneapolis businessmen Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson took note. By 1989 their Timberwolves were a first year expansion team and attracting some of the league’s larger crowds to the Metrodome while awaiting completion of Target Center. The team’s first season record was 22-60.
Way back then who could have imagined that the 2010 Wolves would play like an expansion team and be offering season tickets at 50 percent off? Owner Glen Taylor and his partners have in recent years been losing millions annually while operating the team. Speculation is the franchise will lose $15 to $25 million this season which ended last night with a loss to Detroit. The Wolves finished with a 15-67 record, tied for the worst record in club history.
The franchise’s basketball operation has everything to prove starting with president David Kahn and coach Kurt Rambis. Kahn is a former sports columnist turned basketball executive and during his brief employment here the roster hasn’t improved. It’s less talented than a year ago and has only a few above average players.
Clearing salary cap room for pursuit of free agents this off season and making intelligent draft choices in the NBA draft this June sounds good but can the front office make it a reality? Team executives didn’t dazzle last year including in the NBA draft when the Wolves passed on Brandon Jennings and Stephen Curry. They are two of the three best NBA Rookie of the Year candidates along with Tyreke Evans who Sacramento chose before the Wolves had a draft pick.
Rambis, like Khan, can’t fairly be judged after one season but his choice of the triangle offense is being questioned and also the defensive effort of the Wolves. His mentor, coach Phil Jackson, used the offense with success in Chicago and Los Angeles. But if the offense is so effective why have so few teams used it over the years? Coaches are often copycats when it comes to offenses and defenses.
Triangle, or not, critics should be more concerned about the team’s defensive performance this past season. Why didn’t the coaching staff get more effort and defensive success out of this team?
The team’s best player is forward Kevin Love, a gifted rebounder and passer who plays with intelligence and unselfishness. He needs to become a better defender but the Wolves should recognize his importance and provide more minutes on the floor.
Al Jefferson is among the league’s better low post scorers but he needs to improve on defense, too. Both Jefferson and Love play the same position (power forward) but that doesn’t mean the franchise can’t keep them both, juggling minutes and surrounding them with better talent.
Late season acquisition Darko Milicic does provide size at center but this is his fifth NBA team. At 24 he has the option of playing here next season or in Europe. If he stays he must prove he has the desire to perform at his best for 82 games.
Milicic is an okay defender. He has the physical skills to be more assertive. So, too, does rookie point guard Jonny Flynn who showed his defensive inexperience coming out of a college environment at Syracuse where he played in a zone defense. Offensively, Flynn needs to make better decisions on the court and involve his teammates more.
The team’s best defender is shooting guard Corey Brewer who stepped up his offense this year to average 13 points per game (his first double figure average for a season). But even his defense couldn’t make too much difference on a Wolves’ team that gave up almost 108 points per game, second worst in the league.
That’s the stuff of expansion teams, but unfortunately the Wolves are working on their third decade of play.