What's Wrong With the Timberwolves?

A sampling of some of the comments overheard in and around the Target Center following Monday night’s Timberwolves/Lakers game in which the ‘Wolves blew a sixteen point lead and were outscored 38-20 in the fourth quarter enroute to a 105-96 loss; “Hey, Crunch! You need to come off the bench!” “That was the season.” “I guess they missed their window.” “I’m about ready to convert to (being) a Lynx fan.” They weren’t too harsh or even profane, but maybe that’s the bad news.

There seemed to be more of a sense of disillusionment than anger among the ‘Wolves faithful as they filed out into the snowy night. Angry is what they should have been, however. These are fans of a team that had advanced to the Western Conference finals and gave the then mighty Lakers as good as they got before finally succumbing in six games, but had lost six of their last seven. At the beginning of this season, an NBA championship seemed to be a realistic possibility with Kevin Garnett coming off an MVP season and everyone else coming back healthy. They should all be screaming “What went wrong?!?”

The first sign that things were headed South this winter came prior to training camp when Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell (ages 35 and 34 respectively) began publicly complaining about not getting the contract extensions they felt they deserved. They were integral parts of the run to the Western Conference Finals, but this never should have been made public. This is a franchise that has never dealt with turmoil very well. Matters were made much worse just prior to the season opener with Spree’s infamous “I need to feed my family” remark. I can’t think of a time when one of the star players of a team coming off its best season ever has been booed during introductions at the home opener. Way to start things off guys.

Casell and Spreewell must have been looking to cash in on the monster years they had the previous season. I can hardly blame them given their ages. The problem in Cassell’s case is that he has played every bit of 34 and then some this season. While he may be just a shade under his career average of 16.3 points-per-game, his defense had fallen off considerably before straining a hamstring last week against Philadelphia.

Another problem may be one of team chemistry. Last season, there was a revolving door on the Timberwolves training room. In addition to Casell, significant time was missed due to injuries to Troy Hudson and Wally Szczerbiak among others. The team knew it had to pick up the slack and did. The assumption going into this season was that the team would be better with everyone back healthy. Instead it has almost been a case of subtraction by addition. The roster may look the same, but this isn’t the same team that played together last season.

One problem that has carried over from 2003-2004 is the lack of a skilled center. Michael Olowokandi was supposed to be that player, but from the day he has not lived up to expectations from the day he was drafted by the Clippers to today. With his size, attributes and potential “upside,” he should be contributing 8-12 rebounds and 6-10 points per game; instead he is averaging fewer than 5 in each category so far this season. Last season, Coach Flip Saunders had the option of playing either Ervin Johnson or Oliver Miller. This year, Miller is gone and Johnson is another player showing his age. Having turned 37 just before Christmas, it is no wonder he saw only five minutes of action tonight against a much younger Chris Mihm.

Speaking of substitutions, can someone please explain to me why Fred Hoiberg played only five minutes tonight against the Lakers? He is nearly three minutes below his career average while leading the league in three-point field goal percentage. The Lakers made more threes than the ‘Wolves shot (16 of 35 versus 5 of 14). Hoiberg’s presence on the floor would have provided an answer to the Lakers’ long-range attack when the game turned into a one sided shoot-out in the fourth quarter. Instead, three-point shooting duties were left primarily to Troy Hudson who is again showing signs of injury.

Whatever the problems, they need to be fixed soon. Teams like the Lakers of the Shaq/Kobe era may be able to lie in the weeds until playoff time and then “turn it on,” but this Timberwolves team doesn’t have that kind of experience. It will be interesting to see what personnel moves are made as the deadline nears. This is a team in dire need of a shakeup and it has to happen now before “Our Team. Our Time.” turns into rebuilding time.