Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 88 – NBA Blog

McHale replaces Wittman as Wolves coach

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor seems religiously devoted to Kevin McHale. This trend continues today as the Timberwolves have fired coach Randy Wittman. Who will take over? An experienced, proven coach? Nope. McHale!

Click that link for the full story.

As for Wittman and the Wolves, I can’t say that I have a firm grasp of how good a coach Wittman is. He hasn’t had much success in the brief stretches of time he’s spent running a team.

But the Wolves roster is so limited, it’s hard for any coach to succeed with it. I’d say they’re doing about as well as could be expected, so even if Wittman isn’t one of the league’s better head coaches, it’s doubtful anyone else could have done much better.

Maybe a little. A few more wins, perhaps.

But there isn’t much to work with on the roster.

Al Jefferson is playing well. Mike Miller should be shooting more. Kevin Love hasn’t had the instant impact Minnesota was hoping for. Other than that the team is mostly bench guys.

How many wins should such a roster have?

Frustration in Minnesota

The Minnesota Timberwolves are awful this season.

Al Jefferson is putting up 21.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.89 blocks per game, Randy Foye is contributing 13.2 ppg and 5.6 apg, Mike Miller averages 11.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 4.4 apg, and Ryan Gomes adds 10.4 ppg and 4.2 rpg. Rashad McCants, Kevin Love and Craig Smith add scoring off the bench. Love also adds rebounds.

And there are your Wolves, with 4 wins and 15 losses.

Home fans are starting to express their feelings on the season. Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Jerry Zgoda) reporting via blog:

The home crowd finally awoke from their boredom and their slumber and turned Minnesota nasty in the fourth quarter of tonight’s 107-84 loss to the Clippers at Target Center: Fans shouted out reminders to Kevin McHale that he once drafted Brandon Roy and O.J. Mayo, and then traded them away. Others stood and cheered in a mocking sort of way when the team, playing without injured Mike Miller and Corey Brewer, rallied from 29 points down to only trail by 20 to an opponent that entered the game with a 3-15 record. Afterward, rookie Kevin Love, who had his third double-double in the last five games with a 13-point, 15-rebound night, said the team with this loss surely has hit “rock bottom.” Let’s hope so. Usually chatty owner Glen Taylor, clearly unhappy, turned me down in a hallway afterward when I asked to talk him, surely knowing I wanted to ask if he planned any management changes. In the team’s locker room, you could look back into the training room and see Kevin McHale hugging both Al Jefferson and Randy Foye, an odd sight indeed.

Things probably won’t get much better this season. Kevin Love should score more as he becomes more comfortable in the league. Other than that, Wolves fans must aim to be entertained, even if the team loses.

Dec 3: Magic 100, Wolves 89

The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Lewis also scored 23 points to lead the Magic to a 100-89 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Turkoglu added 22 for the Magic, who have won two of three despite missing their top three guards with injuries. Al Jefferson had 19 to lead the Timberwolves. The Magic’s starting backcourt of J.J. Redick and Anthony Johnson combined for only seven points, but rookie Courtney Lee came off the bench to score a season-high 16. Lee shot 8-of-10 from the field and made all three 3-pointers.

Wolves starting Kevin Ollie tonight

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports: The Timberwolves will make some changes to their starting lineup for tonight’s game at Orlando, inserting Kevin Ollie at point guard, with Randy Foye moving to shooting guard and Mike Miller going to small forward. “I thought Kevin came in and really gave us some good energy,” coach Randy Wittman said, referring to Monday night’s 100-90 loss at Charlotte.

Dec 1: Bobcats 100, Wolves 90

The AP reports: Jason Richardson scored 25 points in another strong performance after being sidelined with knee trouble, leading the suddenly efficient Bobcats to a 100-90 win over the error-prone Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night… Emeka Okafor, often invisible in the paint this season, added a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The notoriously poor free-throw shooter made all six from the line and added 10 rebounds. Raymond Felton had a season-high 14 assists, and didn’t commit his only turnover until just more than 2 minutes remained… Randy Foye scored 23 points and Mike Miller added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which was never in sync in its second straight loss. Top scorer Al Jefferson was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and Minnesota committed 14 of its 18 turnovers in the first half.

Corey Brewer out for season

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that forward Corey Brewer will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study done this morning revealed the extent of the injury, which occurred during Minnesota’s game vs. Denver on Saturday night. The date for surgery has yet to be determined.

“This is a tough situation for Corey and we feel for him,” said Timberwolves VP of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale. “Corey has worked extremely hard on his game. He was starting to really feel comfortable on the floor and was playing well. We’ll miss his energy, defensive mindedness and toughness moving forward.”

Brewer is still learning to play NBA basketball. Although versatile, athletic and a good defender, he’s not particularly skilled at any one thing yet. Unfortuantely, his development will have to wait.

In 20.5 minutes per game this season Brewer was shooting just 41.1% and averaging 6.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Mike Miller still adjusting to Wolves

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Phil Miller) reports: Mike Miller’s 19-foot jumper to beat the Thunder on Friday was a feel-good moment for the first-year Timberwolf and his victory-starved team. But the 16 shots Miller took before that game-winner might have been even more significant. Miller hit eight of 17 shots in Oklahoma, and was noticeably more willing to assert himself at the offensive end. Along with a 10-for-19 night against the Spurs three weeks ago, it was just the second time since coming to Minnesota on a draft-night trade that Miller resembled the perimeter gunner he had been in Memphis. “He got into a nice rhythm and took some good shots,” said forward Craig Smith. “He can make them.” He can if he takes them, but that’s been the catch for Miller in Minnesota. The 6-foot-8 swingman is a career 46 percent shooter, and 40 percent from three-point range. But Miller has tried to work his way into the Wolves’ offense slowly this year, and has passed up shots he didn’t hesitate to try in his previous nine NBA seasons.

Nov 29: Nuggets 106, Wolves 97

The AP reports: With the game still close early in the second half, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups made sure Denver didn’t need another late comeback. Billups scored a season-high 27 points in three quarters, Carmelo Anthony added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Nuggets beat Minnesota 106-97 on Saturday night. Denver closed with a 21-6 run in the fourth quarter to beat Minnesota 90-84 in Denver on Nov. 16. Anthony had the go-ahead dunk in that game. This time he and Billups keyed a 14-0 run midway through the third quarter to help Denver open a 80-63 lead. Billups said it was the team’s best quarter since he arrived in a Nov. 3 trade… Randy Foye scored a season-high 25 points to lead Minnesota. Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Kevin Love had his first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Love averaged 5.8 points in his previous nine games.

Nov 28: Wolves 105, Thunder 103

The AP reports: Craig Smith scored a season-high 23 points, Mike Miller drilled the game-winning jumper from the left baseline with 0.1 seconds left, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat Oklahoma City 105-103 Friday night to hand the Thunder a franchise record-tying 14th straight loss… Al Jefferson finished with 19 points and nine rebounds to narrowly miss his eighth double-double. Miller scored 18 points, reserve Sebastian Telfair contributed 12 and Gomes had 11. Durant and Jeff Green led Oklahoma City with 22 points apiece. Chris Wilcox scored 15 of his season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Thunder’s comeback, and Russell Westbrook had 15 points and eight assists.

Nov 23: Wolves 106, Pistons 80

The AP reports: Randy Foye got the message. After two days of listening to his coaches and teammates urge him to play with more intensity, the Minnesota Timberwolves guard did just that on Sunday. Foye had 23 points and a career-high 14 assists, and the Timberwolves beat the Detroit Pistons 106-80 for their first road victory of the season… “We weren’t happy with the way we lost to Boston, and we knew we were playing a similar team tonight,” said Ryan Gomes, who scored 20 points… Al Jefferson had 19 points for Minnesota and reserve Craig Smith scored 16. Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 20 points, but Jason Maxiell was the only other player to reach double figures with 12.