Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 92 – NBA Blog

Wolves to sign David Harrison

The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming to Denver, and center David Harrison will be with them. A source said Wednesday that Harrison, a former University of Colorado star, will sign with the Timberwolves (it’s for one year and nonguaranteed). But Harrison, a free agent who played the past four seasons with Indiana, won’t play in Friday’s preseason game against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Harrison must prove himself worthy of being in the league. Right now he’s right on the bubble of sticking around for a while or falling out in a season or two. He’s 26, looked somewhat decent as a rookie (like a good future backup center), then in four seasons doesn’t seem to have improved at all. Time to show something.

Oct 6: Wolves 117, Bucks 79

The AP reports: Rookie Kevin Love scored 13 points and Mike Miller added 12, lifting the Timberwolves to a 117-79 preseason victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night that made Minnesota’s draft day trade look promising. Al Jefferson chipped in 18 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes, and the new-look Timberwolves may have acquired enough offensive threats to improve on last season’s 22-60 mark. Love originally was credited with 16 points, but 1 hour, 15 minutes after the game, the official scoring crew took three points away from Love and added them to Corey Brewer’s total, giving him 12… Rashad McCants scored 22 points and Randy Foye 11 for Minnesota. Charlie Villanueva scored 14 points and Matt Freije and Ramon Sessions had 11 each for Milwaukee.

Big Kevin Love expectations

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports: The Wolves believe Kevin Love’s shooting and passing ability will make opposing teams pay for double-teaming Jefferson, as they did all last season. As for the questions about Love’s athleticism, after what coach Randy Wittman saw in the Las Vegas summer league, he said it’s not a concern. “He’s really more agile than people think,” Wittman said. “Is he going to jump out of the gym? No. Is he going to outsprint everybody up and down the floor? No. But other things that go with that make him an enticing player. He’s a very high basketball IQ guy. You like playing with guys that know how to play the game, that know how to read situations and how to read cuts. I think people feed off that. I think it helps everybody.”

Al Jefferson out 2-3 weeks with MCL sprain

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced forward Al Jefferson has suffered a mild sprain of the MCL (medial collateral ligament) in his right knee. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) exam taken yesterday at TRIA Orthopaedic Center in Bloomington, Minn. confirmed the injury. Jefferson is expected to be sidelined for 2-3 weeks and is expected to be ready by the start of the regular season.

In 2008, his first season with the Timberwolves, Jefferson averaged 21.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.4 apg and 1.5 bpg, all career highs. Jefferson was one of only four players in the NBA in 2007-08 to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. In four seasons in the NBA, Jefferson holds career averages of 13.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 0.9 apg and 1.1 bpg.

Jason Collins out 8 weeks after elbow surgery

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced center Jason Collins underwent successful surgery to repair a partial rupture of his triceps tendon in his right elbow. Dr. David Auerbach of the Southern California Orthopedic Institute (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) performed the surgery Monday evening. Collins is expected to be sidelined for the next eight weeks.

Collins was acquired via an eight-player draft night trade with the Memphis Grizzlies on June 26 that also brought Kevin Love, Mike Miller and Brian Cardinal to the Timberwolves. Collins was drafted by the Houston Rockets 18th overall in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft and was traded to the New Jersey Nets on draft night. The center from Stanford appeared in 74 games for Memphis and New Jersey in 2007-08, posting 1.9 points (.469 FG%) and 2.4 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game. For his career, Collins holds averages of 4.3 points (.414 FG%), and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Cousin says Marbury is selfish

A good way to sell a book is to write interesting details about someone famous. And when you’re actually related to that famous person, you probably have some decent stuff to share. Stephon Marbury for a long time has been known as a “me-first” kind of guy, and that’s probably sometimes been unfair. But his own cousin has joined in and shared stuff that helps solidify that reputation. Here’s the New York Daily News (Mark Lelinwalla):

Stephon Marbury has carried the stigma of being a selfish player for the majority of his 12-year NBA career. Now, his older cousin is saying Marbury is even more self-centered off the court and is dishing details on the Knicks point guard in his autobiography, “The Beautiful Struggle,” the Daily News has learned. The book, due out in late September from Xlibris Publishing, has former NBA pro and current overseas player Jamel Thomas alleging that Marbury ruined a potential deal for him with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In it, Thomas includes a conversation that he allegedly had with Kevin Garnett, in which Garnett tells him how Marbury’s presence on the team spoiled his cousin’s chances of signing with Minnesota.

For all you fans who watch every basketball movie that comes out, you’ve seen a little of Jamel Thomas already in the Sebastian Telfair documentary “Through the Fire,” which I really liked. Anyway, as someone who covers the NBA for a living who is also a New Yorker, I’ll definitely be checking the book out and will let you know how must-read it is.

–Jeff

Web viewing of NBA games may soon exist

The Oklahoman (Mel Bracht) reports: Say you’re working late and can’t make it to the Ford Center to watch Oklahoma City’s new NBA team play its game that night. Instead, you log on to your computer and watch streaming video of the team’s game broadcast. Sound far-fetched? Not if the NBA has its way. The league is aggresively promoting three new Internet elements — video streaming in home markets, interactive TV and video-on-demand — for the upcoming season. Ed Desser, a media consultant for Oklahoma City’s team, said many details have yet to be worked out, and didn’t expect the team to offer the Internet elements anytime soon.

Jerry Sloan 20th anniversary game to be on road

The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports: Twenty years after he took over for Frank Layden, Jerry Sloan will mark his anniversary as Jazz coach not with a celebration at EnergySolutions Arena, but with a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The location of the Dec. 9 anniversary game for the longest-tenured coach in American pro sports was the biggest surprise Wednesday as the NBA released its schedule for the 2008-09 season… NBA spokesman Mark Broussard didn’t know whether the Jazz had requested to play at home that date. “It really wasn’t anything that was on our radar screen as an anniversary date or anything,” Broussard said.

OJ Mayo wins InsideHoops fan poll

An InsideHoops.com fan poll asked, other than Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Greg Oden, which rookie will rock in 2008-09. Blowing away the competition was Grizzlies rookie OJ Mayo, receiving 44% of the votes. Over 2,700 fans participated in the poll.

We left Rose, Beasley and Oden out of the poll because they’ve received massive amounts of attention for a while now. Admittedly, Mayo has as well, but for the past year Rose and Beasley have been mentioned as the top picks, while Mayo was considered “in the lottery” but not a lock to go quite as high.

Finishing second in the poll with 17% of the votes was Trail Blazers rookie Jerryd Bayless, whose popularity rose after playing very well in summer league.

Third was Kevin Love at 13%. Anthony Randolph, Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook also got nice support.

Timberwolves hire Dean Cooper as assistant coach

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has hired Dean Cooper as an assistant coach. Cooper will join assistant coaches Jerry Sichting, J.B. Bickerstaff, Ed Pinckney and Brent Haskins on Randy Wittman’s staff. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“I’m really looking forward to joining Randy’s staff and working with a team that I think is definitely on the rise,” Cooper said. “Being in the league nine years, I’ve always thought highly of the Wolves organization and I’m excited to be a part of what they’re trying to build.”

Cooper joins the Wolves after spending the previous nine seasons with the Houston Rockets, most recently in the role of Vice President of Player Personnel. His responsibilities included the evaluation of draft prospects, free agents and potential trade acquisitions, and the coordination of the team’s national and international scouting.

Cooper began his NBA career as Houston’s video coordinator/scout in 1999, working two seasons in that capacity before being elevated to assistant coach on Rudy Tomjanovich’s staff for the following two seasons. After serving as an NBA personnel scout for the Rockets in 2003-04, he was promoted to Director of Scouting for the following three seasons before transitioning into his most recent role.

“In his time with the Rockets, Dean has proven himself to be a great basketball mind and an extremely hard worker,” Wittman said. “He’s very knowledgeable and passionate about the game and I’m excited to have him on my staff moving forward.”

A native of Belding, Mich., Cooper attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Before joining the Rockets, Cooper spent four years coaching in the collegiate ranks. He worked two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater before taking a similar position with the University of Buffalo. Cooper began his coaching career at the high school level, spending five seasons at Belding High School and three years at Caledonia High School. In the offseason, Cooper is an active participant in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program, the league’s global basketball outreach platform that promotes leadership, education, sportsmanship and healthy living around the world.