Monday, February 21, 2011

Wolves-Vikings Blog: Brewer Traded in the Melo Deal

Wolves-Vikings Blog: Brewer Traded in the Melo Deal: "Brewer says his final farewell to the Minnesota fans, as the Timberwolves have shipped him out. The Timberwolves were the key third team..."

Brewer Traded in the Melo Deal

Brewer says his final farewell to the Minnesota fans, as the Timberwolves have shipped him out to New York. Kosta Koufas was also a late throw in. The Timberwolves were the key third team in the Carmelo Anthony deal which sent him to the Knicks. I'm sure you all know the story of Melo since it has been in the news for the last 3 months. The deal sent 13 players packing. The two players that will be packing parkas and winter gloves are Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry. These are the two players the Wolves received for Corey Brewer. Now don't get me wrong I did want to see Anthony Randolph in a Timberwolves uniform, but for the Wolves to trade their starting shooting guard for Randolph is questionable. The Wolves being the mediator in the Melo trade should have demanded more in return. Lets face it Curry will most likely be cut and his 11 million dollar deal will come off the books this summer. So we traded our starting shooting guard for someone who doesn't even see the court in NY? I just don't know if that was smart. Brewer will be missed in the land of 10,000 lakes. He brought energy to the court which most fans appreciated, but he is still considered a bust. Lets hope the "potential" the Wolves see in Randolph, like Darko last year, can pay off again. The Wolves will also get a future 2nd round pick.

Lets meet the New Timberwolves.
 Anthony Randolph - He is a young athletic power forward and could fit in well with the Wolves scheme.  No that is not a miss print he has only appeared in 17 games, and is only averaging 2.1 ppg.



 Recent Career FG3PTFTReboundsMisc
 Year Team Min  MAPctMAPctMAPctOffDefTotAstTOStlBlkPFPPG
 2008-09GS6317:53 3.26.846.20.00.10.01.62.271.62.03.75.80.81.30.71.22.27.9
 2009-10GS3322:41 4.29.444.30.00.220.03.34.180.22.24.36.51.31.50.91.62.811.6
 2010-11NY1707:30 0.82.731.10.10.225.00.40.750.00.71.72.40.40.60.20.50.92.1


Randolph's player page
Curry's player page
Eddy Curry, who once was a solid option in his prime has been often injured and has only player in 7 games this year. He was included in the deal strictly for cap purposes, the Knicks needed to shed his 11 million dollar contract to make way for Melo's new deal. He will most likely never even see a Wolves uniform.

Recent Career FG3PTFTReboundsMisc
 Year Team Min  MAPctMAPctMAPctOffDefTotAstTOStlBlkPFPPG
 2007-08NY5925:53 5.09.254.60.00.0N/A3.25.162.31.92.84.70.52.10.20.52.713.2
 2008-09NY303:53 0.70.7100.00.00.0N/A0.31.033.30.01.31.30.00.70.00.01.71.7
 2009-10NY708:54 1.13.038.10.00.0N/A1.42.458.80.61.31.90.01.90.00.11.93.7














Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wolves Limp into the All Star Break

After the second disappointing effort in as many games, the Wolves need this break almost as bad as the Lakers need a break. A week ago it looked as if this team was starting to put it together, they were playing with a high energy level. They actually won two games in a row on the road, without their top scorers. Then they come home and the last to games have shot the ball terrible, and given up way to many open threes and dunks. Minnesota has to be able to improve on the defensive side if they want to win more games. The Wolves seem to be limping into the All Star break. While Wes Johnson, who has been shooting the ball flat and off target lately, and Kevin Love go to LA for the rookie challenge and All Star Game, the rest of the team will rest. Jonny Flynn who looked to be improving after coming back form hip surgery took a step backwards and has been shut down for a week. He has general soreness. Flynn said, "It feels like I
am using rental legs out there." Flynn and Management agreed it would be best if he rested and tried to get his mind right. Beasley is still recovering from his ankle injury and his is missed out on the court. The offense runs through Beasley and the Wolves need him 100%  healthy.
Kahn has been open with this team and has said he wants much more out of the already productive Kevin Love and Michael Beasley. He wants them to take over the leadership role of the team. He wants Wes and Darko, and basically the rest of the team to play with consistency. This first half has been a failure, the Wolves have only won 13 of their first 53 games. Kahn wants them to show substantial improvement throughout the second half of the season. Pioneer Press's original Kahn wants more out of Beasley and Love article
I hope Kevin Love can impress at the All Star game and bring some credibility back to the Timberwolves. Hopefully Wes can find his shot in LA and bring it back to Minny, because we need him to shoot the ball with consistency.
K-Love 1 on 1 All Star video
Wes Johnson 1on 1 All Star video
What are your second half predictions? Comment below

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wolves Look Impressive on the Road


First of all, I have to start of with the record setting game that Kevin Love put up. Love posted 20 points and 14 rebounds to extend his consecutive double-double streak to 38 games in a row, moving him past Kevin Garnett and John Stockton at 37. Love is now only 6 games of the all time record for consecutive double doubles which is held by Moses Malone at 44. Besides setting records, maybe what is more important is the fact that the wolves have been playing better basketball, and have won 2 in a row on the road. This is the first time they did this all year. They have won their last two games without some of their main scorers. Ridnour, Webster, Milicic, and Beasley were all out last night in Houston. This meant the Wolves needed to pull together more than ever and try to get a win in Houston, a team they have not played well against.

I was surprised to see the Wolves wearing their black jerseys for the second game in a row. When they were released, I thought they had set aside like 6 games to wear them in. I wouldn't be surprised if they broke out the black jerseys again since they won on the road with them the night before. Once again Jonny Flynn looked like he was more comfortable out on the court than the night before. He set the table for the Wolves last night. He started out with 6 early points, and got the team rolling. Another player who did well, but will not get credit is Nikola, he played a solid game, in his first start of the season. The game was fairly close throughout, and about mid way through the 4th quarter Timberwolves fans everywhere were thinking here we go again, because the Rockets were going on a little run and the Wolves were down by 6, after giving up their 4 point lead. The Wolves did something they have not done a whole lot this year and that is get stops down the stretch. The Wolves had some players step up like Wayne Ellington who had 18 off the bench, seemed to be unstoppable down the stretch. He hit a huge step back three with about 2 minutes left in the game. The Rockets came down and hit two free throws, and then the very next possession, Flynn hit Love for a clutch three pointer, to push the lead to 6 with under a minute to go. The Wolves pulled together as a team and got the win, while playing without 4 of their top 5 scorers.

I have to give props to these players who have been playing well. Telfair seems to be shooting the ball with a great deal of confidence. He is playing with energy and really falling into his roll as change of pace back up point guard. Flynn has been improving game by game, lat night posting 15 points and 7 assists. He still is turning the ball over more than he should be. Ellington played out of his mind last night, and has been shooting the ball well all year round. Love is a given who is playing at an All-Star level.

TRADE
The Wolves have come up in the recent Melo trade rumors, as of right now they would ship Brewer and first round pick to Nuggets, and receive Randolph and Curry form the Knicks. The Wolves clearly want Randolph, but this is a terrible deal for a team that is the facilitator of this trade. The Wolves should not give up their starting shooting guard and a first round pick, for two players that don't see the court in New York. If this deal goes down, I would imagine that the pot would get sweeter for the Timberwolves. Another trade I think the Wolves could make is trading one of their 3 point guards. All  three are playing well right now and should have some value around the league.

Game Highlights