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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Wolves: KG's great, but he needs Smith
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 50-32, third in Midwest, sixth in conference
Coach/VP: Flip Saunders/Kevin McHale
Arena, first game: Target Center (19,006); Nov. 2, 1990
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 312-558/0
Notable: Garnett was ninth to get 20, 10 and 5 assists
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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Terrell Brandon
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8.9 apg
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The numbers say All-Star, but is he?
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SG
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Chauncey Billups
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.337 FG
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Fourth team; he's never shot 40 percent
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SF
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Kevin Garnett
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22.9 ppg
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Man can do it all, and what a smile
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PF
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Joe Smith
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9.9 ppg
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Underrated player could end up gone
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C
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Rasho Nesterovic
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4.6 rpg
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Wolves better hope best is still to come
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6th
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Wally Szczerbiak
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.511 FG
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Best is yet to come for sharpshooter
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7th
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LaPhonso Ellis
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58 games
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Insurance for Smith, but never healthy
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8th
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Anthony Peeler
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9.8 ppg
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Insurance for Billups, who can't shoot
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The Timberwolves were very good all last year. Their major weakness was 3-point shooting. They were the top team in assists and one of the top teams in field goal percentage. They don't turn over the ball and they shoot the ball well. Outside the arc, though, they have their problems. It is extremely difficult to win in this league if you can't shoot the three and that hurt a team that was so good in so many other areas. This is a team that can get deep into the playoffs but won't win unless they see big improvement shooting the trifecta.
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By Marc Stein
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
For all the turmoil and tragedy, the Wolves have two reasons to consider themselves very, very fortunate. Kevin Garnett, of course. And Flip Saunders. These two are good enough, and strong enough, to keep this franchise from unraveling and most likely keep it in the playoffs. It's a tall order, especially if Minnesota -- after fate took Malik Sealy away -- winds up losing Joe Smith to an arbitrator's ruling. Somehow, though, you're moved to bet on Garnett and Saunders moving the Wolves forward, thin a team as this was before it faced the prospect of life without two of its top six players. Neutrals will undoubtedly be rooting for KG and Flip to make it through, and the good news is they still have a little help. Terrell Brandon, if not the most fiery floor leader in the league, can be All-Star caliber when his ankles cooperate, and Wally Szczerbiak started out as one of the league's more promising rookies last season. Sam Mitchell, meanwhile, remains one of the strongest locker-room voices anywhere. The star and the coach just have to keep the others believing. Trust us, they will.
The Bad
It's more like The Sad. Sealy's death in a May auto accident halted a career that was just starting to blossom, and the resulting pall cast over the organization will be understandably slow to lift. The roster moves that were made in response -- signing Chauncey Billups, LaPhonso Ellis and the unretired Sharone Wright -- might have filled out Saunders' bench to some degree, but don't even begin to fill the void. Then there's the blatant stupidity, owner Glen Taylor's not-so-secret agreement to pay Smith some $90 million. Putting their under-the-table deal on paper, when everyone else settles for cheating quietly, isn't going to win much sympathy should Smith ultimately be forced to leave town. Billups, Ellis, William Avery and especially Anthony Peeler will have to overachieve to offset all the sad and bad the Wolves have endured.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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Will Billups' shoulder hold up and snap his much-needed shooting from long range on line? Can Peeler be effective as a starter after looking much more comfortable playing behind Sealy? How's Wally's knee? Is Nesterovic going to be a force someday? Those are some of the big questions in Wolvesland. The biggest? What happens in the Smith case? At this point, nothing else matters.
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Whose team is this?
Again, it's a two-man game -- Garnett and Saunders. They work so well together, with an assist to general manager Kevin McHale. It was McHale who teamed them up, quite controversially remember, as both the coaching hire (McHale's college buddy) and the draft pick (on a skinny high schooler) were loudly questioned. Safe to say that some of McHale's moves since -- bypassing the Eddie Jones/Elden Campbell pitch for Tom Gugliotta, for example -- turned out worse. Saunders, simply, is one of the best coaches in the league. Name someone who gets more out of their players. And Garnett, the undeniable face of the franchise, is just five seasons into a Hall of Fame-bound career. As every year passes, he becomes more of a team guy and a better player as a result. If his emotions can withstand the torture of losing Sealy, it will always be KG's team and eventually a pretty good one.
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How they'll play
Saunders has been forced to be creative because the Wolves perennially lack a low-post scorer and don't shoot 3-pointers all that well. Nor does Minnesota get to the free-throw line much, averaging just over 20 per game last season to finish last in the league. So how do they do it? Lots of screens lead to lots of jumpers, and Saunders' men usually hit them: Garnett, Brandon, Szczerbiak, etc., all click inside the 3-point arc. What the Wolves need, at both ends, is a big guy. A true post man to run the offense through occasionally. A bulky shot-blocker to spare Garnett the chore of guarding the other team's best player every single damn night, from centers to point guards. Radoslav Nesterovic? Not quite. Not yet. With or without the ball, this is a team that will again be living dangerously.
Projection
It's difficult to see the Wolves coming close to last season's 50-win standard, but it's also too early to discount their playoff credentials. If Smith is removed from the roster, then, yeah, Minnesota will be fortunate to snag No. 8 in the West. If Smith stays, the Wolves can still hover in the 45-win range, riding the KG-Flip twosome. But playoffs aren't a lock.
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