Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 67 – NBA Blog

Timberwolves sign Ricky Rubio

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed Ricky Rubio, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, to a multi-year contract. Rubio joins the Wolves following a decorated professional career in Spain that began when he was just 14 years old, the youngest ever to compete in the Spanish ACB League, and culminated with his FC Barcelona Team winning the 2011 ACB Championship earlier this week. Per team policy, terms of the contract offer were not disclosed.

“This is a day our organization and our fans have been eagerly awaiting from the moment we drafted him, and I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Ricky to Minnesota,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Ricky’s skill set and feel for the game have made him one of the best young players in Europe for six years now, and at age 20 he’s still a young player with a lot of upside. I expect Ricky to enjoy a long and successful career here in Minnesota.”

Rubio and his FC Barcelona team clinched the 2011 ACB Championship on Tuesday, capping a two-year run in which the team also won two Catalan Cup Tournaments, two Spanish Supercups, two Spanish King’s Cups and the 2010 Euroleague title. Along the way Rubio earned All-ACB honors and was named the league’s Best Point Guard following the 2009-10 season. Rubio was also honored as the MVP of the 2009 Catalan Cup Tournament and won the 2010 Euroleague Rising Star Award as the best player under the age of 22 in Europe. In his two seasons with FC Barcelona, Rubio appeared in 68 regular season games, averaging 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.85 steals in 21.6 minutes per game.

Prior to joining FC Barcelona, Rubio played four seasons with DKV Joventut Badalona, where he averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 20.3 minutes per game. Rubio won FIBA Europe’s Young Player of the Year award in each of his final three seasons with Joventut, honoring him as the top player in Europe under the age of 22. He was also selected as the ACB Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.

A longtime member of the Spanish National Team, Rubio competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, helping Spain win a silver medal. At age 17, Rubio was the youngest player ever to compete in the gold medal game at the Olympics. Rubio also led his Spanish team to the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, where he averaged 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 6.5 steals per game. Rubio posted two triple-doubles and a quadruple-double during the tournament, including a 51-point, 24-rebound, 12-assist, 7-steal performance in the championship game against Russia.

McHale, Rockets seek lead assistant coach

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports:

When Red Auerbach, the late Boston legend who drafted Kevin McHale, lit victory cigars on the Celtics’ bench, he had no right-hand man to share the moment. He had no assistant coaches, no player development staff, no one staying up nights studying video.

As stunned as Auerbach might have been had he been told of the career path of McHale, the playful rookie he drafted, he likely would have been amazed at the changes in NBA coaching since he left the bench in 1967.

When McHale signed on as Rockets coach last week, his first order of business was to begin interviews with assistant coaches, with one expected to serve in the lead assistant role that has become popular in the NBA.

“You try to get the right people,” McHale said. “The head coach is a guy who has a lot of irons in the fire. Guys who are looking at things just from an offensive standpoint or defensive standpoint, they can spend a lot of time on that and really concentrate on that. That’s really important, because there are times that you’re going to need someone to just auger in on one thing and help you. I think those models do work.

“You’ve seen it done in a lot of ways, but I think the league is trending more toward that model. I do like that model.”

NBA heads to 2011 offseason of uncertainty

The AP reports:

“It’s an odd position, when the game is the best it’s ever been, when the ratings are the highest they’ve ever been, when the excitement is the greatest it’s ever (been),” Players Association attorney Jeffrey Kessler said last week. “It’s sort of odd to see the owners say we’re going to destroy this game unless you change this whole system. Players just want to play.”

Nobody can predict when they’ll get that chance again. When the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat on Sunday night in Game 6, it sent the NBA into a most uncertain offseason.

Owners and players are nowhere close on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. Without a new deal, players say they have been told by the owners they will be locked out.

The NBA was reduced to a 50-game season by a work stoppage in 1998-99, and the loss of games is a threat now. Citing leaguewide losses of about $300 million this season, the league hasn’t budged on its desire for significant changes to the financial structure, ranging from reductions in the length of contracts and the amount of guarantees, to an overhaul of the salary cap system that would prevent teams from being able to exceed it, as they can now under certain exceptions.

And Stern said the record TV ratings and all the other positive attention the league has received doesn’t make him any more motivated to get this settled, since he’d want to do it anyway.

“I don’t need any external prod to want to be able to make a deal,” he said…

The sides are scheduled to meet twice this week and say they hope for frequent discussions before the end of the month. Should those fail, the NBA could follow the NFL’s labor situation right into the court system, which both sides say they want to avoid. So although a work stoppage in July wouldn’t seem to have much effect since games aren’t going on, Stern insists “we very much feel the weight of the deadline.”

Maya Moore makes WNBA debut

The AP reports:

Candace Parker showed the Los Angeles Sparks just what they were missing during her long injury absence.

In her first game in nearly a year, Parker had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Sparks beat the Minnesota Lynx 82-74 on Friday night in the opener of the WNBA’s 15th season…

The nationally televised game marked the debut of highly touted WNBA rookie Maya Moore, who led the Lynx with 21 points and
added four rebounds and four assists.

Moore led Connecticut to consecutive NCAA championships (2009-10), became the seventh women’s player to score over 3,000 career points, and was the No. 1 pick in this year’s WNBA draft.

She had six points in the final five minutes, including three free throws that tied the game at 73, and scored her team’s first basket with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer on the right wing.

“I was a little anxious, but I was excited to play,” Moore said. “It was just exciting when the game started and you start making the first couple of shots, get into a rhythm, and you realize this is still basketball.”

Ricky Rubio agrees to terms with Timberwolves

The AP reports:

Ricky Rubio is coming to Minnesota.

The Spanish point guard has agreed to join the Timberwolves next season, ending a two-year negotiation with the team that had a few stops and starts.

A person with knowledge of the agreement confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday night that Rubio will play in the NBA next season. The person requested anonymity because neither Rubio nor the Timberwolves planned to make an official announcement while he continues to play for Regal Barcelona in the Euroleague playoffs.

The Timberwolves drafted Rubio fifth overall two years ago despite a buyout of his Spanish contract that topped $6 million. The enormity of the buyout caused Rubio to stay overseas rather than immediately come to the NBA, and there was talk that the precocious teenager did not want to play in Minnesota.

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

Cavs talking trade for 2nd overall pick

Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine reports:

The Cavaliers are in discussions with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons about a three-team trade that would give Cleveland the top two picks of next month’s NBA draft.

The Cavaliers would use the picks to select Duke point guard Kyrie Irving and Arizona forward Derrick Williams, the sources said.

In the trade being discussed, Cleveland would absorb Detroit’s Rip Hamilton into the $14.6 million trade exception it received in last summer’s LeBron James sign-and-trade with Miami, while also receiving the Pistons’ No. 8 pick. The Cavaliers would then send that pick, along with their fourth pick, to Minnesota for the Timberwolves’ second pick.

Cleveland would then buy Hamilton out of the two years, $25 million remaining on his contract, leaving the veteran shooting guard free to sign with another club as a free agent. Chicago would be one of the likeliest destinations.

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

Rockets offer head coaching job to Kevin McHale

After parting ways with head coach Rick Adelman, the Houston Rockets have needed a new man for the job. And that man may be a very tall guy with some of the greatest low-post moves the NBA has ever seen.

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports:

Kevin McHale will walk through that door.

After a month-long search and long sessions debating the merits of three finalists, the Rockets offered McHale their head coaching position on Friday. McHale was chosen over Boston assistant Lawrence Frank and Dallas assistant Dwane Casey after meeting with Rockets owner Leslie Alexander on Wednesday to complete the interview process.

Though McHale is more celebrated as a Hall of Fame player who among other things inspired Rick Pitino’s rant about the inability to recapture the Boston glory days than as a coach, the Rockets were drawn to his apparent abilities as a leader and motivator.

McHale, 53, had spent most of his career in Minnesota in the front office and had been reluctant to coach throughout his career.

Tough to say that McHale is the best guy around for the job, but at the least, Rockets big-men should benefit from his teachings. Also, I liked hearing McHale’s analysis on television. So that’ll be missed.

McHale wants the job, so it’s expected that he’ll take the offer.
Read fan reaction and share your own opinion in this forum topic.

Andrew Bynum suspended two games for foul on Mike Beasley

Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended for his actions during a game on Friday, March 18, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

Bynum has been suspended for two games without pay for his Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two against Michael Beasley of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The incident occurred with 6:16 remaining in the fourth period of the Lakers’ 106-98 victory at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Bynum will serve his suspension when the Lakers host the Portland Trailblazer at 9:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. PDT at the Staples Center today and on Tuesday, March 22 when the Lakers host the Suns at 10:30 p.m. EDT/ 7:30 p.m. PDT.

Kevin Love double-double streak ends at 53

The AP reports:

Kevin Love’s remarkable streak of consecutive double-doubles came to an end with a thud, and no one was happier about it than the Minnesota star himself.

Slowed by a thigh injury and worn out from all the attention he’s been receiving lately, Love sounded relieved and eager to move on now that it’s over.

“Now I can start focusing on playing my game,” said Love after being held to six points and 12 rebounds in the Timberwolves’ 100-77 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. “I thought I was doing it for myself but a lot of it was for the fans and everybody watching. I feel a big weight off my shoulders.”

It’s the first time since Nov. 19 that Love has failed to register a double-double. His 53-game streak was a franchise record and the longest in the NBA since Elvin Hayes did it in 55 consecutive games in 1973-74.

Love’s streak has been the only thing keeping the Timberwolves (17-51) in the headlines these days. Not anymore.

Kevin Love passes Moses Malone with 52nd double-double in row

The AP reports:

Kevin Love passes Malone with 52nd double-double in row

The hardest part of what turned out to be a historic night for Kevin Love was deciding whether he was going to play at all.

With a bulky brace wrapped around his bruised and swollen left knee, the Minnesota Timberwolves star didn’t decide to give it a go until about 20 minutes before tipoff. Once he did, he made extending the longest double-double streak in 37 years look too easy.

Love recorded his 52nd double-double in a row to surpass Moses Malone for the longest such streak since the ABA and NBA merged in 1976 in the Timberwolves’ 101-75 over the free-falling Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

Love put up 16 points and 21 rebounds in just 27 minutes to help the Timberwolves win for just the 16th time this season. Love didn’t waste any time extending the streak, reaching double figures in points and rebounds with just under seven minutes to play in the first half.