Randy Wittman was direct and honest in his post-game news conference last night following the Timberwolves’ 100-95 loss to the third year expansion Charlotte Bobcats. After watching his team lose a 17 point second quarter lead and offer up a dismal second half effort, Wittman, now 5-9 since being named coach in late January, let loose with a candid and stinging evaluation of the Timberwolves.
His message was the players think of themselves before the team and he asserted that after awhile Wednesday night they quit playing. He talked about a “frame of mind focused on me rather than we.” The frustrated coach complained that his players thought about “am I getting enough shots? Is the ball touching my hands enough?”
“I am tired of guys pouting on the floor during the game because of whatever, not enough minutes, not enough touches,” Wittman said. “You can’t do that and win games. Give me five (unselfish) guys who have no talent and you’re still going to lose the game but you’re going to go down fighting. We didn’t go down fighting tonight.
“I want five guys who will play for the team. Their no. 1 goal is not to score 16 points and get 10 rebounds. It’s to win the game. I need five of those guys. I would much rather lose that way. …”
The Timberwolves are 3-7 in their last 10 games, have lost two straight since the All-Star break last weekend, and are 25-29 overall and in a fight for the eighth and last position in the Western Conference playoffs. The season so far has been more about frustration and disappointment than promise and celebration.
Players left the locker room soon after the game, including Kevin Garnett who wasn’t available to answer questions. Point guard Mike James admitted there has been players-only meetings to address problems but didn’t seem enthusiastic about the usefulness of future meetings. “It’s not what you say,” James said. “It’s what you do on the court and that’s the main thing, what we do on the court.”
No doubt neither management nor players are happy with this team’s season so far. Inconsistency has characterized team play such as last night when the Timberwolves had 19 assists in the first half and two in the second. Management has been working overtime looking at trades to change the roster. With the trade deadline today, the team will either soon have a new look or be status quo until April when the season ends. The best result for the Timberwolves, given their need for a major talent upgrade, is to miss the playoffs and be positioned to draft an outstanding college player next June.
New faces, from college or other NBA teams, with more talent and team values, are needed to improve the Timberwolves. Without those changes, fans will continue to show the apathy so apparent last night when despite the team collapse boos were seldom heard.