3-game lead for a top 4 draft pick (the Wolves will never win the
lottery with Miami, Seattle, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia all in
it), but this is getting ridiculous. Some improvement or consistency
would be nice... right now I know three things going into a Wolves game:
Al Jefferson will get 20 and 10, Rashad McCants will foul out, and the
Wolves will lose. So here's my wish list for the Wolves in the new year.
1. McCants playing better defense
Hopefully Rashad McCants might learn to play smarter defense and quit
committing stupid fouls. He and Al Jefferson are the only consistent
scoring threats (in the NBA you really need three), and when McCants
gets in foul trouble the Wolves are completely screwed.
2. Better shooting from Telfair
Maybe Sebastian Telfair will discover the backboard, or maybe just sneak
up and loosen the rims at Target Center. Telfair is the team's only
healthy point guard, he's light and quick, but he can't get anything
into the hoop, missing lay-ups and not making anyone respect his jump
shot. Even on a full strength team, I really think Telfair could be a
dangerous change of pace off the bench if his shooting was just a bit
better. (Telfair shot better last night and the Wolves were in it until
the final whistle.)
3. 3-point shooting
I wish somebody could hit an outside shot on a regular basis. Every
once in a while somebody in our small forward logjam goes nuts showing
off their three point range, but then they don't play for a week. For a
team that has one threat: Al Jefferson in the post, it's frustrating
when teams feel free to pack the paint. (Again, 45.5% from 3-point
range last night and the Wolves lost in the last minute.)
4. Consistent play at forward
If some roles could be assigned to one of the various forwards the
Timberwolves have accumulated, that would certainly be nice. Currently
they seem to have a lot of role players who've decided they aren't an
important part of the team so whatever they do is gravy. McCants has
decided he's a scoring leader, Telfair and Jaric that they're
play-makers, but I can't figure out what half this team is doing.
5. A center, my kingdom for a center
There should be at least one shot-blocker on this team with the height
and weight to keep people out of the paint, but usually Doleac shows up
to the game in a suit, and Theo Ratliff is still coming back from surgery.
6. No more lazy veterans
Antoine Walker occasionally has some big games but it seems the
Timberwolves are like a AAA rehab assignment for him, and he still can't
play two games in a row. Greg Buckner shows little interest in Wolves
games when he plays, and I really can't blame him, but he does have
another year on his contract. Next summer that makes them both trade
bait to a team looking to clear cap room, but I really hoped they'd play
well enough to get them out of here before the trade deadline. I'd
rather watch Gerald Green and Corey Brewer flail around, because at
least they have upside.
7. Clear the hospital wing
Between Madsen, Foye, Ratliff, and whatever the hell is wrong with
Walker and Doleac, and whatever rookie wall Brewer and Richard hit,
that's a lot of options gone. Some of them weren't so great anyways,
but Foye and Ratliff might help this team immensely in terms of
consistency and post presence. I hope nothing bad happens to Al
Jefferson, because he's the only consistently solid player on the team,
and without him they have almost no presence in the paint.
8. A front office that knows what it's doing
Next summer is going to be huge, as cap room is cleared and decisions
are made about which players to re-sign. Free agents have to be brought
in to fill gaping holes, and there should be a huge decision to make on
draft day. Considering our current GM gave up the rookie of the year
for cash and drafted Ndudi Ebi out of high school so he could wear a
suit to games for three years while collecting three times as much money
as the Wolves got for trading away Brandon Roy, I'd like to hope there
would be some fresh blood in the war room.
9. Lucky ping pong balls
The Wolves are unlikely to get the #1 pick, but I hope they at least get
a lottery pick instead of dropping back to #4, because that would annoy
the hell out of me.
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