This die-hard Timberwolves fan finally took the plunge and purchased season tickets for next season. The 10 game weekend pack to be specific. I'm not in a position as far as free time is concerned to go to all 41 games. Also, the Wolves haven't played well enough for me to fork over that much cash.
So why did I decide to make a season ticket commitment when the Wolves were only able to muster 24 wins this year? Well, there are several reasons that I will share.
The biggest reason is that Wolves season tickets have been a goal of mine for roughly the last 12 years. Back then, the Wolves had just started to become successful and had a promising future. I wanted to be a part of that. Over the years, time, money, and the state of the Wolves themselves have always delayed that goal. But the goal was still there.
Ticket prices have been cut to their lowest level in quite some time. I was able to get 2 tickets about 10 rows up in section 205 for $220 for the 10 game weekend package. While those aren't great seats, they are good enough for me to test out being a season ticket holder. Maybe if the Wolves would show some more ability on the court, I would have shelled out for something a little better.
Finally, I still have hope that things will eventually turn around, and I want to be one of the true supporters that is there for the beginning of something good. Maybe the Wolves will have the good fortune of landing Rubio or Griffin in this year's draft and will be next year's overnight success. Or maybe they will regress even more. If that is the case, I may only be a "one season" ticket holder.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
GM Search
The Wolves are well into their process of selecting a new GM. (At least they had better be well into it by now.) I was hoping to do a good post of possible candidates, but I quickly realized that is a tough task for someone who does not have good contacts with personal knowledge of the candidates. One can scour the internet for the names that have been mentioned, but there is only so much out there. It's not like searching for draft prospects or even head coaches. The GM often does so much behind the scenes that there is not a lot of public information on these guys. Plus, even if there were more information, it would not be very interesting.
So instead of an in depth post, I'll just give a quick summary of my thoughts on the four candidates that have been mentioned the most.
First, we have the two internal candidates in Jim Stack and Fred Hoiberg. Stack has been in the Wolves front office for a while now and has surely at least been consulted in personnel decisions. I think he has been too tied into the organization to be "the" guy to make all the upcoming personnel decisions. Hoiberg is a likable guy and has supposedly been groomed to become a GM someday. However, he instantly lost credibility with the fans when he said the Wolves drafted Mayo to keep only to see Mayo get traded for Love a few hours later. The problem with both guys is that they can't offer a fresh perspective that is so vitally needed for this team.
Another leading candidate is former Timberwolf Lance Blanks. He has front office experience with both the Spurs and Cavs. Unfortunately, there isn't much info out there about him. Obviously, he would have the new point of view, but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to either endorse or dismiss him as a candidate. I'd take him over Hoiberg or Stack, but I couldn't get excited about him.
Finally, we have Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey. He is reportedly the leading candidate and we do know the Spurs have been contacted by the Wolves about him. Canis Hoopus has some decent info about him. It looks like this guy is highly regarded within the NBA. I don't know that there is enough info to get excited about landing Lindsey, but at least there are no red flags that pop up.
So, who will it be? Hopefully, we will find out next week. Based on the limited info I have seen, I'd endorse Dennis Lindsey if it had to be one of the leading candidates. Of these four, I'd only be disappointed if Stack or Hoiberg became the official GM. Of course, there could be some secret candidates no one knows about. Even choosing a secret candidate would probably be a step in the right direction. (As long as the secret candidate is not named Kevin McHale.)
So instead of an in depth post, I'll just give a quick summary of my thoughts on the four candidates that have been mentioned the most.
First, we have the two internal candidates in Jim Stack and Fred Hoiberg. Stack has been in the Wolves front office for a while now and has surely at least been consulted in personnel decisions. I think he has been too tied into the organization to be "the" guy to make all the upcoming personnel decisions. Hoiberg is a likable guy and has supposedly been groomed to become a GM someday. However, he instantly lost credibility with the fans when he said the Wolves drafted Mayo to keep only to see Mayo get traded for Love a few hours later. The problem with both guys is that they can't offer a fresh perspective that is so vitally needed for this team.
Another leading candidate is former Timberwolf Lance Blanks. He has front office experience with both the Spurs and Cavs. Unfortunately, there isn't much info out there about him. Obviously, he would have the new point of view, but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to either endorse or dismiss him as a candidate. I'd take him over Hoiberg or Stack, but I couldn't get excited about him.
Finally, we have Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey. He is reportedly the leading candidate and we do know the Spurs have been contacted by the Wolves about him. Canis Hoopus has some decent info about him. It looks like this guy is highly regarded within the NBA. I don't know that there is enough info to get excited about landing Lindsey, but at least there are no red flags that pop up.
So, who will it be? Hopefully, we will find out next week. Based on the limited info I have seen, I'd endorse Dennis Lindsey if it had to be one of the leading candidates. Of these four, I'd only be disappointed if Stack or Hoiberg became the official GM. Of course, there could be some secret candidates no one knows about. Even choosing a secret candidate would probably be a step in the right direction. (As long as the secret candidate is not named Kevin McHale.)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Don't Look Back
The Timberwolves' 20th season has come to an end, and just like many other seasons, this one mostly sucked. Most blogs would probably take a look back at the past season right now, but I'm not going to do that. There are plenty of other people that will take care of that elsewhere.
I'm going to jump right into looking toward the future. This will turn out to be a very interesting off season. The biggest question mark is the new GM. This is even bigger than the topic of McHale as head coach. The new GM will have the power to pick the new head coach so it might not even matter what McHale wants to do after spending a couple weeks up north. Popular opinion right now seems to point to a GM coming from outside the organization. If this is the case, it is hard to imagine that McHale will be back as head coach. Obviously, if McHale is not back, that will become the second most interesting question after the new GM is appointed.
It sounds like the front office and coaching decisions will probably be made well before the draft. That is good, because this could again be an important draft. The lottery is about a month away and the Wolves have a so-so shot at moving up. Lucking out into the number 1 or even the number 2 pick would really boost the rebuilding process.
Unfortunately, knowing the Wolves luck, there will probably be no moving up. That's unfortunate due to the weak draft class this year, but there should still be quality players available at the 5, 6, or 7 spots. Probably not All-Stars, but it would hard to not get someone more promising than someone like a Corey Brewer. If the Wolves get another player of Corey Brewer's calibur, we may be in for another long season next year.
Finally, there will be the free agent market and trade season coming up in July. There isn't enough cap space to be major free agency players, but the Wolves do have valuable expiring contracts in Cardinal and Miller. The new GM could work out a trade for a very good veteran using these chips and some of the extra draft picks. Someone like Kirk Hinrich could be within the Wolves sights this summer.
There is plenty there to hold the interest of the remaining Wolves fans for much of the summer. I don't see a real down time for Wolves news and speculation until late this summer. By that time training camp will only be a couple months away, and with a little luck Wolves fans can start to get excited for season number 21.
I'm going to jump right into looking toward the future. This will turn out to be a very interesting off season. The biggest question mark is the new GM. This is even bigger than the topic of McHale as head coach. The new GM will have the power to pick the new head coach so it might not even matter what McHale wants to do after spending a couple weeks up north. Popular opinion right now seems to point to a GM coming from outside the organization. If this is the case, it is hard to imagine that McHale will be back as head coach. Obviously, if McHale is not back, that will become the second most interesting question after the new GM is appointed.
It sounds like the front office and coaching decisions will probably be made well before the draft. That is good, because this could again be an important draft. The lottery is about a month away and the Wolves have a so-so shot at moving up. Lucking out into the number 1 or even the number 2 pick would really boost the rebuilding process.
Unfortunately, knowing the Wolves luck, there will probably be no moving up. That's unfortunate due to the weak draft class this year, but there should still be quality players available at the 5, 6, or 7 spots. Probably not All-Stars, but it would hard to not get someone more promising than someone like a Corey Brewer. If the Wolves get another player of Corey Brewer's calibur, we may be in for another long season next year.
Finally, there will be the free agent market and trade season coming up in July. There isn't enough cap space to be major free agency players, but the Wolves do have valuable expiring contracts in Cardinal and Miller. The new GM could work out a trade for a very good veteran using these chips and some of the extra draft picks. Someone like Kirk Hinrich could be within the Wolves sights this summer.
There is plenty there to hold the interest of the remaining Wolves fans for much of the summer. I don't see a real down time for Wolves news and speculation until late this summer. By that time training camp will only be a couple months away, and with a little luck Wolves fans can start to get excited for season number 21.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Playing Out the String
We've almost made it to the end of the line. Only one more game against Sacramento remains in this clunker of a season. I just have a few scattered thoughts about the end of the season.
At 24 wins, the Wolves already are guaranteed of having a better won-loss record than last season. Although, that will amount to no better than a three game improvement over last year. Also, considering that 10 of those wins came in January. I'd argue that makes the rest of the season even more disappointing than last year. Only the latest stretch of games holds anything encouraging outside of January's hot play.
The Wolves have a chance to finish 5-4 in their final nine games. Sure, they have beat some teams mailing it in like the Clippers and Warriors, but they also beat the Jazz (in Utah) and only lost by two in Dallas. It looks like they may be finally starting to learn to play without Al Jefferson. Also out for this stretch has been Randy Foye. I think this is more evidence that Foye is still not worthy of being named a starter in the NBA. If the Wolves could include him in a package for a second top ten draft pick or above average veteran this summer, I would be all for it.
Finally, the Wolves will finish with the 6th worst record or tied for the 5th worst record. While I'd love a few extra ping pong balls in the lotto, the difference between tied at five or being alone at six is pretty small. I say just go out and beat Sacramento and try to get back some good karma to make up for "Mark Madsen's how not to shoot 3-pointers" exhibition a few years ago.
At 24 wins, the Wolves already are guaranteed of having a better won-loss record than last season. Although, that will amount to no better than a three game improvement over last year. Also, considering that 10 of those wins came in January. I'd argue that makes the rest of the season even more disappointing than last year. Only the latest stretch of games holds anything encouraging outside of January's hot play.
The Wolves have a chance to finish 5-4 in their final nine games. Sure, they have beat some teams mailing it in like the Clippers and Warriors, but they also beat the Jazz (in Utah) and only lost by two in Dallas. It looks like they may be finally starting to learn to play without Al Jefferson. Also out for this stretch has been Randy Foye. I think this is more evidence that Foye is still not worthy of being named a starter in the NBA. If the Wolves could include him in a package for a second top ten draft pick or above average veteran this summer, I would be all for it.
Finally, the Wolves will finish with the 6th worst record or tied for the 5th worst record. While I'd love a few extra ping pong balls in the lotto, the difference between tied at five or being alone at six is pretty small. I say just go out and beat Sacramento and try to get back some good karma to make up for "Mark Madsen's how not to shoot 3-pointers" exhibition a few years ago.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lottery Watch
We're down to the final four games of another miserable season. The injury depleted Wolves defeated the injury depleted, suspension depleted, and clearly tanking Clippers. I'm ready to call the Wolves final position in the lottery. They will finish with the 6th worst record as a result of picking up win number 23 last night. Memphis and OKC still have the outside shot of catching the Wolves, but I don't see any winnable games in either team's remaining schedule. The Wolves on the other hand still have winnable games against Golden State and Sacramento. I think Wolves fans should start thinking about who will be available at the 6th pick in this year's draft. I'm afraid our hopes will only be dashed yet again if we start dreaming of landing the top pick.
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