Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 64 – NBA Blog

Houston lands 2013 NBA All-Star Game

Mark Berman of My Fox Houston reports:

NBA sources told FOX 26 Sports the Houston Rockets and the City of Houston landed the NBA All-Star Game in 2013. The game will be played at Toyota Center on Feb. 17, 2013. NBA All-Star week will be Feb. 15-17. The Rockets and Toyota Center also hosted the game in 2006.

Click2Houston reports:

The entire NBA All-Star Weekend will be in the Bayou City from February 15-17, 2013. Hilton Americas Marketing Director Janice O’Neill-Cox spoke with Local 2 Sports Wednesday afternoon, saying, “We played a key role in working with the league to make sure availability was in place. It’s a big boost for our city to land the game, and we’re excited about it.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: I don’t get why Houston is getting the game again. They just had it in 2006. Meanwhile, other teams haven’t hosted it in a long time. Also, Madison Square Garden renovations will be mostly complete in time. And the new Brooklyn Nets arena will exist by mid 2012. Unusual call to send the big weekend back to Houston so soon.

Timberwolves to interview Sam Mitchell for head coaching job

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

The Wolves are down to the final two names to interview for their head-coaching job.

And, yes, Sam Mitchell is one of them.

Larry Brown, of course, is the other.

Many Wolves fans have wondered why the man who won Coach of the Year with Toronto and who played two different stints with the Timberwolves, first when he was an original Wolf and then when he was brought back in 1995 to help mentor a rookie named Kevin Garnett.

Mitchell is expected to interview Friday or Saturday, Brown next week.

Wolves boss David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor already have interviewed Terry Porter, Mike Woodson, Bernie Bickerstaff, Nelson.

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Knicks will reportedly interview Mike Woodson for assistant coach spot

David Aldridge of NBA.com reports:

When Tom Gores (Detroit Pistons) came aboard in early June, he said part of his job isn’t to agree with whatever Joe Dumars wanted, but “to challenge Joe, and hopefully that will make the outcome better.” And though Dumars never publicly indicated whom he preferred to succeed John Kuester as coach, several people around the league believe he preferred former Hawks coach Mike Woodson to Frank. But Frank blew Gores and his people away during the interview process.

Yet a source insisted this weekend that Dumars concurred with Gores that Frank was the right choice for the job.

(For his part, Woodson has moved on, interviewing for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ vacancy. And a source indicates he’ll be in New York early this week to talk with the Knicks about becoming their defensive coordinator, a job that management has mandated coach Mike D’Antoni, entering the final year of his contract, accept for next season.)

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Ricky Rubio expects to increase his weight training coming into the NBA

Small-sized point guard Ricky Rubio is finally making the leap from European basketball to the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA this coming season. And one of the biggest changes he foresees is the need to increase his weight training, as NBA guards try to smack him around.

FIBA reports:

Rubio can expect the changes to be big, both on and off the court.

“I think it will be physically harder than Europe – I will need to do more weights,” he said of the NBA’s playing style.

As for his living arrangements, he is having to consider things that were never a factor in Barcelona.

“I need to find a house where I won’t get snowed in,” he said. “My new colleagues have already told me where to look.”

The Timberwolves are hoping Rubio can give them a huge lift after they struggled mightily last season.

He is used to heavy expectations, having been hyped up since he first began playing. But Rubio is trying not to get caught up in it.

I don’t expect Rubio to have a huge instant impact for the Wolves. Although we’ve heard about him for years, Rubio is still just a kid, still developing his game, and needs to improve his shot. But it’ll be fun watching him develop.

What’s your opinion? Discuss it with other NBA fans in this forum topic.

NBA Rookie Transition Program postponed

The NBA Rookie Transition Program, scheduled for August 9-11, has been postponed. The program, which provides first-year players with the skills and information necessary for a successful transition to the NBA, is run jointly by the NBA and the Players Association.

“Without a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union, we will be unable to hold RTP as originally scheduled,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. “This is an important educational program for our incoming players, and it will be rescheduled once the parties agree on a CBA.”

Timberwolves to interview Larry Brown

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

After interviewing Rick Adelman and Don Nelson over the weekend, the Timberwolves intend to interview Larry Brown and possibly one or two others in this first phase to replace fired coach Kurt Rambis.

When the Wolves will interview Brown, who has coached teams to both NBA and NCAA titles, is uncertain because of a recent death in his family, according to a league source with knowledge of the team’s search.

If they do, they will have interviewed two coaches among the top six all time in NBA career victories. Nelson is No. 1 with 1,335. Brown is No. 6 with 1,098.

The Wolves so far have interviewed Bernie Bickerstaff, Terry Porter, Mike Woodson, Adelman and Nelson.

Read NBA fan opinion and discuss your own view in this forum topic.

Timberwolves to interview Rick Adelman for coaching job

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

According to league sources, former Houston coach Rick Adelman will be the fourth candidate to interview with the Wolves when he comes to town tomorrow to see David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor.

Adelman all along has looked like the dream hire who’d solve a lot of the Wolves’ problems, if he’s interested.

Well, it looks like he is now, at least enough to listen.

Why is he the best they can do with this hire:

– He has a track record, and a .605 winning percentage (945-616) in 20 seasons with Portland, Golden State, Sacramento and Houston. His Portland teams made the NBA finals twice and his Sacramento teams pushed the Lakers to the brink out West.

– Believer in a passing offense similar in many ways to what Kurt Rambis believes, he has shown a willingness for his teams to play fast. Those Kings teams with Bibby, Webber, Vlade were fun — and fast — to watch.

– Most importantly perhaps is this: He has known Kevin Love for years and his hiring would be a BIG step toward convincing Love to sign a long-term contract extension.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m an Adelman fan. I want this guy coaching my team. Though, the core Wolves parts are so young, they have a lot of growing to do before any real success is possible. They primarily need a skills teacher. And permission slips to see PG-13 movies.

Read NBA fan opinion or share your own views in this forum topic.

Timberwolves to interview Bernie Bickerstaff for coaching job

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff is scheduled on Friday to become the third candidate to interview for the Timberwolves’ head coaching job.

President of basketball operations David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor interviewed former Timberwolves guard Terry Porter on Monday and former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson on Tuesday. They are expected to interview Don Nelson and perhaps one or two other candidates this weekend or early next week.

Bickerstaff, 67, owns a .445 winning percentage (415-517) in 13 seasons as head coach with Seattle, Denver, Washington and Charlotte. He last was a head coach for the Bobcats in 2007, when his team went 33-49.

He also has worked as an NBA general manager and team president.

Billy Hunter tells InsideHoops that NBA lockout meetings may not resume until August

By Jeff Lenchiner

Wednesday evening in New York City I paid a visit to Dyckman Park for some streetball action. It was a big matchup of some top teams that has been anticipated for weeks, so the park was packed. Included in the crowd were rapper Jadakiss, Denver Nuggets forward Al Harrington, and the head of the NBA Players Union, Billy Hunter, among others.

Before the game, Hunter, bravely attempting to communicate as some top-notch rap music blasted from the park’s booming speakers at full volume, gave InsideHoops.com a very quick update on the current NBA lockout situation:

InsideHoops.com: What’s the latest?

Billy Hunter: We’re trying to find some way to re-open the negotiations. We’re not making very much progress. It looks like we’re going to be where we are, I would assume probably [until] August before we actually end up getting back together.

InsideHoops.com: How long might the lockout last?

Hunter: It’s unpredictable. It’s hard to say how long it’s going to go.

It sounds like NBA fans should not hold their breath waiting for positive developments just yet.

Union plans player meetings as NBA lockout drags on with no progress

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated reports:

There will be labor-related meetings in the near future.

They just aren’t the kind that typically lead to collective bargaining progress.

According to sources close to the situation, the National Basketball Players Association is planning a series of player sessions in as many as six cities over “the next month or so,” as a way to help with its planning during the lockout and update players on the state of negotiations with the NBA. Unless things unexpectedly change, there won’t be much to report on that front.

While mid-level staffers from both sides met on Friday to finalize the numbers related to basketball-related income (BRI) for the 2010-11 season, no negotiating sessions involving commissioner David Stern or NBPA executive director Billy Hunter have been scheduled. Sources said the BRI numbers were not finalized Friday and more similar sessions are forthcoming to that end, but the union is focused on fortifying from within rather than exchanging proposals with the owners, who are pushing for a hard salary cap as part of a drastic overhaul to the current system.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Basically, the two sides are considering their various options and possible proposal changes, amongst themselves. There’s no way of knowing if either side plans to make any changes the next time they make offers to each other, when they do eventually meet again. I’m just guessing here but it sounds like the earliest the NBA lockout could even possibly end is early August. But that’s not expected, because it sounds like both sides remain pretty far apart.