Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 95 – NBA Blog

Timberwolves waive Theo Ratliff

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has requested waivers on center Theo Ratliff after reaching a contractual buyout agreement. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Several newspapers in Detroit have reported that Ratliff may sign with the Pistons.

“Theo indicated to us that he wasn’t sure of his plans in the future – whether he was going to play or not – and there was an indication that he would not re-sign with us if he did choose to continue playing,” said Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale. “This provides us an opportunity to play our younger post players – Craig Smith and Chris Richard – and give us more time to continue to evaluate them. I cannot say enough about Theo’s professionalism throughout the entire season and we wish him the best of luck in the future.”

Ratliff, in his first season with the Wolves, appeared in 10 games (six starts) for the Timberwolves this season, and posted averages of 6.3 points (.511 FG%), 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game. He missed 45 games this year due to soreness in his right knee, and underwent arthroscopic surgery on Dec. 18. The 13-year NBA veteran has career averages of 8.0 points (.497 FG%), 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game in 689 career NBA contests. The 6-10 center was acquired by Minnesota in a trade with Boston on July 31, 2007.

Antoine Walker open to buyout

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports: Wolves veteran Antoine Walker said today he’s open to a “workable buyout” of his contract, though he believes the odds of such a deal happening are slim.Walker said the next step in a season that’s turning more frustrating because of his limited role is to explore the possibility of a buyout. Any possible buyout would have to be completed before March 1 so Walker could be eligible to make a playoff roster with another team, said Walker’s agent, Mark Bartelstein. “It’s something we’ve thought about and are giving consideration to,” Bartelstein said. “If there’s something out there that would ultimately make sense, we’re open to it. I don’t know where it’s going to wind up yet.”Bartelstein declined to comment when asked if he has contacted the Wolves’ front office or owner Glen Taylor about a buyout.

Antoine Walker, Gerald Green want trade

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Rick Alonzo) reports: The NBA trade deadline passes at 3 p.m. ET Thursday. It remains to be seen whether Antoine Walker and Gerald Green will still be on the Wolves’ roster. Both have expressed frustration with their lack of playing time, to the extent that they want to be traded. “He would love to be traded,” Walker’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said today. “He likes everything about the Wolves, the guys, the coaches. But they’re rebuilding, and he’s in the prime of his career here and wants to play. We understand there’s a divergence in the directions of where he’s going and where the Wolves are going.”

Wolves host Sixers Tuesday

Minnesota returns to action tonight after a five-day layoff, battling the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers at Target Center. Tip off is set for 7 PM.

Philadelphia comes into the Target Center on a five-game winning streak, defeating Washington, Miami, the LA Clippers, Dallas and Memphis in that stretch. In the two teams’ first meeting back on Dec. 12, 2007 the 76ers got the best of the Wolves, hanging on for a 98-94 victory. Philadelphia used a strong first-quarter (28-21) and a near triple-double from center Samuel Dalembert to withstand Minnesota’s late charge. Al Jefferson led the way for the Wolves with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Sebastian Telfair dished out 11 assists in defeat while Rashad McCants and Antoine Walker added 15 and 14 points respectively off the bench for Minnesota.

The Wolves swept Philadelphia a year ago, and have beaten the Sixers in six of their last 10. Eleven of the teams’ last 16 meetings have been decided by five points or less.

Minnesota leads the all-time series by a 19-16 count and has won five of six at Target Center, the lone blemish an 86-84 setback on Jan. 22, 2006.

The Sixers come into tonight’s came with a record of 23-30, currently putting them in a tie with New Jersey for the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed. The Wolves sit at 10-41.

Timberwolves recall Chris Richard from D-League

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced today the team has recalled first-year center Chris Richard from the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League. Richard appeared in six games for the Skyforce, averaging 10.2 points and 11.5 rebounds in 28.3 minutes per game. He led the team in rebounds in three of six contests, while helping them to a 4-2 record in that span. Before heading to Sioux Falls, Richard appeared in 24 games for the Wolves, averaging 1.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per game.

“We’re glad Chris had the opportunity to play some valuable minutes in the D-League,” said Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale. “Chris went to Sioux Falls, worked hard, played well and demonstrated what he is capable of. We’re confident that he will continue to develop and believe he has a bright future.”

Richard was originally assigned to the Skyforce on Jan. 28. He will be back practicing with the Wolves today. Per NBA rules, a player can be assigned to the team’s D-League affiliate a maximum of three times during the season. Sioux Falls, the D-League affiliate for Minnesota and Charlotte, is led by head coach Nate Tibbetts and is 17-16 on the season.

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Dwight Howard dunk contest interview

After Dwight Howard shocked the world, he spoke for a long time about the amazing dunk contest.

Here’s a piece of it:

Q. Can you take us through the three dunks. The first one, obviously from behind the backboard, Superman, and then that self alley-oop.

DWIGHT HOWARD: Well, the first one I’ve been working on it for about two years. And I could never really get it done. I saw Iguodala did it, and I was working on it after that, coming up with my own little thing. I had my legs under me tonight and I got that one down. And the second one, the Superman dunk, I really wanted to get the crowd into it and try to show a little bit of my personality. You know, putting the cape on, and Superman. I thought everybody liked it. I enjoyed it. And then to make the dunk to finish it, it was unbelievable. And the third dunk, the self alley, I didn’t think I was going to do that dunk tonight in the Dunk Contest. But I was getting a lot of calls and text messages from my friends. And they said I’ve got to do that dunk, I’ve got to let the world see it, and I had to do it.

Q. I thought you were going to bust out with the telephone booth. Was that part of the plan? Or you just kind of invented that, the cape?

DWIGHT HOWARD: The telephone booth? Oh, I didn’t have time to get the telephone booth and all that. But I think the cape and the Superman, and the outfit, I think it worked.

The full-length Q&A session is here. You absolutely have to read the whole thing.

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Dwight Howard wins Slam Dunk contest

By InsideHoops.com

It’s 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, and the hottest Saturday night event is up: the Slam Dunk contest.

Jamario Moon went first, started from the right side, lobbed it high, lept, 360-jumped, caught it just as he was completing the 360, and slammed. Beautiful. He has huge extension and great hang-time. Judges gave him a 46 out of 50.

Rudy Gay is next. He started from the right side, ran at the rim without dribbling, rocked it back and forth, and missed. And then did it again, slamming with the left hand. It was sweet but not mind-boggling, and he got a 37.

Big Dwight Howard is third. And he’s starting from out of bounds, behind back of the right side of the basket. He bounced it off the back of the backboard, caught it, soared from behind the basket to the front side of it, and missed — but the attempt itself was awesome. And then did it again, this time putting it down, almost hitting his head on the rim. He caught it off the back of the backboard with two hands, swung it around, and put it down with the left hand. Absolutely beautiful. Judges gave him a perfect 50.

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Defending champion Gerald Green is last but not least. Assistant Rashad McCants is holding a cupcake with a candle in it, and using a ladder climbs up, puts the cupcake on the back of the rim, on the support that connects it to the backboard. McCants then lit the candle. Green is apparently going to dunk, while blowing the candle out! This seems both dangerous and impossible. Yet – bam! – he got it! Insane! He caught the lob, put it down with two hands dunking on the left side of the rim and successfully blew the candle out! Judges gave him a mere 46. I thought he got robbed.

And now, the second set of dunks.

First up is Rudy Gay, assisted by Kyle Lowry. They both started from the deep left corner, with Lowry dribbling, Gay following. Lowry then bounced the ball off the back of the basket support, and Gay caught it on his left side and wrapped it around to his right side, dunking it nicely. It was impressive and creative but not quite as awesome as what Dwight Howard did. Judges gave it a 48, which may have been a point or two high.

Next is Jamario Moon, assisted by Jason Kapono. They’re putting white tape on the ground, almost a foot behind the free throw line. It would be mind-boggling if he really takes off from there. And now it appears Kapono is going to be near the basket and bounce the ball high up in the paint. And misses the first attempt. Moon did hit the second, but the tape on the ground was pointless — Moon took off about a foot inside the free throw line, which is still absolutely incredible. Judges gave him a 48.

Gerald Green is third. A ladder is in the paint again, with MCants climbing it and sitting on the top. The ladder is positioned slightly to the right of the rim. McCants is holding the ball in one arm, which is extended so he’s holding the ball in front o the rim. Just as Green launched himself up, Mccants flipped it up so Green could grab it with two hands, windmill it and slam it down. Awesome. He got a 48.

And now, Dwight Howard, assisted by Jameer Nelson. More white tape. And then Nelson reveals a red Superman cape. Then Howard, smiling, pulls off his away magic jersey to reveal a sleeveless Superman top. Howard then puts the cape on (everyone who reads the InsideHoops.com nba rumors page knew he was going to do this). The crowd loves it. Howard then stands at the baseline, center-court, right side, runs in, catches a pass, leaps from the dotted circle, soars high in the air and is up so high that rather than dunk it, he literally throws it down. A throw-dunk. Like how you might throw a crumpled up piece of paper down into a garbage can. That is possibly the most awesome dunk I’ve ever seen, aside maybe from some stuff Vince Carter did years ago. He got another perfect 50.

Total points at the end of the first round: Howard 100, Green 91, Moon 90, Gay 85.

We’re in the second and final round, with Howard against defending champion Green.

Green is up first, starting from the left elbow in three-point range, McCants, standing behind the basket on the right, is lobbing it over the top of the backboard. After some imperfect passes, and then one miss, Green came in, caught with two hands, windmilled it through his legs and slammed it down with one hand. Awesome.

No scores are being reported. It’s just picking one of the finalists or the other, after the dunks are over. Each judge has one vote, and the collective fan world, voting on the league’s official site or through text message, combine to have one vote.

Howard is up. He started from the right side, halfcourt, lobbed it, so it bounced in the paint, ran, jumped, and in mid air tapped it with his left hand against the backboard, then caught it off the glass with his right hand and dunked it. That is one of the most amazing dunks ever, second only to stuff InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner does in secret gyms against NBA players during the off-season.

Green, trying to be creative, took his shoes off, autographed them, put them on the judges table, and did a through-the-legs windmill. It was a slightly lesser version of his earlier dunk, minus the shoes.

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For the final dunk, Howard’s assistant, Jameer Nelson, has put a little Nerf-looking mini-hoop on the lower right corner of the front of the backboard, and then rested a full-sized basketball on it. Howard is starting from the right side of the court, outside the three-point elbow. He runs in, jumps, takes the ball off the little rim and tires to slam, but misses. And then runs in, takes it off the little rim, windmills it and slams it in. It was the least impressive of his dunks tonight, and the only one he did that didn’t truly wow the crowd, but it was still very good.

And now, the voting.

The judges picked Dwight Howard. So, he’s going to win, regardless of what the fan voting says. That’s assuming I understand how the voting works this year. And the fan vote is in: 70% voted for Dwight Howard.

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Timberwolves half-season highlights

Even though the Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled in the win/loss column in the first half, fans have witnessed a number of electric individual and team performances this season. Let’s take a look at a few of the better individual performances of the first half of the 2007-08 season:

Nov. 14 vs. Sacramento: Wolves 108, Kings 103- Rashad McCants established a new career-high in points, pumping in 33 (13-22 FG, 4-7 three-pointers, 3-5 FT) to lead the Wolves to their first victory of the season.

Dec. 6 at Atlanta-: Wolves 89, Hawks 90- Minnesota lost a heart breaker to the Hawks on a Joe Johnson buzzer-beater but it was Wolves rookie Corey Brewer who shined in defeat. Minnesota’s 2007 first-round pick (7th overall) totaled a career and NBA rookie season-high 18 rebounds to go along with six points, five rebounds and a career high-four steals.

Dec. 8 vs. Phoenix- Wolves 100, Suns 93: The Wolves would win their third game of the season thanks in large part to the monstrous game from Big Al Jefferson. Big Al abused Amare Stoudamire, going off for a then career high tying 32 points and 20 rebounds, becoming only the second player in Wolves history with a 30/20 effort.

Dec. 11 at Washington- Wolves 88, Wizards 102: It was Craig Smith’s turn to shine, this time in a losing effort in Washington. Craig tallied a career-high 36 points (14-22 FG, 8-9 FT) and eight rebounds.

Dec. 15 at Milwaukee- Wolves 92, Bucks 95: For the second time in a week, Wolves forward Craig Smith reached the 30-point mark, scoring 30 points and hauling in 10 rebounds effort in a loss in Milwaukee.

Dec. 17 at Miami- Wolves 87, Heat 91: Big Al recorded his second 20-point 20-rebound game of the season in Miami, recoprding 22 points, 20 rebounds, two steals and a block.

Dec. 21 vs. Indiana- Wolves 131, Pacers 118: Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair played all 48 minutes on way to a career night at the Target Center. The fourth-year guard tied a career-high with 27 points (11-18 FG) and dished out 11 assists in the Wolves 20-point come-from-behind victory.

Jan. 4, vs. Denver- Wolves 107, Nuggets 118: Wolves guard Rashad McCants bests his previous career high of 33, putting home 34 points (12-18 FG, 3-5 three-pointers, 7-7 FT) in 32 minutes off the bench for the Wolves.

Jan. 15 vs. Golden State- Wolves 98, Warriors 105: Antoine Walker comes off the bench to score a season-high 26 points including four three-pointers and 10 rebounds.

Jan. 21 at Golden State- Wolves 109, Warriors 108: Minnesota claimed it’s second road victory of the season in Golden State on MLK Day thanks in large part to a career day from forward Ryan Gomes. Gomes put home a career-high 35 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Guard Marko Jaric also had a huge game for the Wolves, falling two rebounds shy of his first triple-double of the season. Jaric finished with 16 points (3-7 from three), 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals, all in a season-high 46 minutes of action.

Jan. 23 vs. Phoenix- Wolves 117, Suns 107: Big Al tormented Amare Stoudamire for the second time at home, leading the Wolves to their second home-victory of the season against Phoenix. Big Al scored a career-high 39 points to go along with 15 rebounds in the Wolves seventh win of the season.

Jan. 27 vs. New Jersey- Wolves 98, Nets 95: Big Al set a new career high in points for the third time this season, tallying 40 points and 19 rebounds, including four late free-throws to seal the 15-point fourth quarter comeback win. With the 40-point effort, Big Al became just the eighth player in Wolves history to score 40+ points.

Jan. 30 vs. Chicago, Wolves 83, Bulls 67: Jefferson tallied his third 20/20 game of the season, this time abusing Ben Wallace to the tune of 26 points and 20 rebounds.

Feb. 4 vs. Houston, Wolves 86, Rockets 92: Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair dished out 12 assists, the most by a Wolf since Anthony Carter dealt 13 vs. Milwaukee on Mar. 4, 2005.

Wolves lose close game to Nets

Despite an off shooting night, the Wolves hung around until the closing minutes last night in New Jersey, ultimate falling to the Nets 92-88 to split the season series. Minnesota connected on just 5-of-19 attempts (.263) in the opening quarter, but played strong defense to stay even with the Nets at 16-16 after one.

Minnesota took it’s first lead of the game (24-23) on an Antoine Walker jumper early in the second quarter, but the Nets pushed back in front and took a 38-35 lead into the intermission. After the lead changed hands six times early in the third quarter, the Wolves shooters again went cold, missing eight of their final 11 shots in the third as the Nets used a 13-5 run to close the quarter and take an 66-56 lead into the final frame.

The Wolves finally found their range in the fourth quarter, connecting on 52 percent (13-for-25) in the period, but they could only cut the lead to four.

Sebastian Telfair led the way for the Wolves, finishing with 24 points, seven assists and only one turnover. Al Jefferson added a double-double with with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but connected on just 5-of-18 shots.

The Nets were led by Vince Carter’s 17 points and 10 assists, while Richard Jefferson added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Jason Kidd just missed his 100th career triple-double, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Latrell Sprewell losing home, yacht

Many of you reading the title above will assume this is just yet another joke about former NBA star Latrell Sprewell, who made many millions of dollars playing in the NBA yet insisted he needed money to feed his family. But he actually does have economic problems. The AP reports:

Former NBA star Latrell Sprewell’s home is up for foreclosure and his yacht sold at auction to help pay off the $1.3 million he owes on the boat, according to court filings. Sprewell, who once turned down a three-year, $21 million contract extension from the Timberwolves, saying, “I’ve got my family to feed,” apparently has fallen on tough times.

RBS Citizens NA, or Citizens Bank, filed a foreclosure suit last week in Milwaukee County for the $405,000 home Sprewell bought in the Milwaukee suburb of River Hills in 1994. In court documents, the bank said Sprewell owed $295,138 in outstanding payments plus interest. Sprewell failed to make his monthly mortgage payments of $2,593 from September 2007 to January 2008, the documents said.

I can tell you that when InsideHoops.com buys mansions and yachts, we pay cash, in full, with no mortgage. That’s just how we roll, son.