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.
The Los Angeles Times (Broderick Turner) reports: Kobe Bryant is an eight-time member of the all-defensive team, but Coach Phil Jackson wants him to take fewer risks on defense. Bryant has been trying to get extra steals, doing a little too much freelancing for Jackson’s taste. “We’re trying to work with Kobe in staying inside the team framework of how we play defense,” Jackson said. “Because he’s such a good defensive player with great anticipation, sometimes he might take a foray into the steal market and come away empty-handed, which compromises our defense.” Jackson didn’t seem enthused that Bryant, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar have a season-long bet on which one of them will have the most steals.
The Toronto Raptors recently fired head coach Sam Mitchell, replacing him with assistant Jay Triano on an interim basis. Bryan Colangelo told InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner and other reporters on a conference call that it’s quite likely Triano will finish out the season coaching the team.
The Globe and Mail (Michael Grange) report: One of the most accomplished players in Canadian basketball history, Jay Triano, 50, will make his debut as the Toronto Raptors’ bench boss tonight in Salt Lake against the Utah Jazz, becoming the first Canadian-born head coach in the NBA. Those in the NBA and elsewhere in the basketball community are optimistic about his chance to succeed. “I think he’ll be fantastic,” NBA star and fellow Canadian Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns said. “He absolutely loves the game of basketball. He’s passionate, a workaholic, and the kind of coach guys love to be around. He’s got all the ingredients to be an NBA coach.” “He’s got extreme confidence, extreme knowledge of the game,” said Tony Ronzone, the Detroit Pistons’ director of basketball operations. “He can adjust to different styles of play. I’d think he’s going to be terrific.”