Raised By Wolves

GorillaBeas Is On A Swarm..... To Minnesota!

2010-07-11T23:22:00.009-05:00

PSA: SupercoolBeas?.... Drugs Aren't Super Cool!

Well, looks like Minnesota came out the clean side last night, with Micheal Beasley being trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 2011 and 2014 second round draft pick! This will now open up cap space for the Miami Heat eying on Mike Miller and more room to sign LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the superteam they have assembled down in South Beach. For Minnesota, it sounds real nice that we basically got the man for nothing, right?

My question is could Minnesota snap him back to reality after questions about his mental strength! His intangibles have even gotten worst once he got into the NBA with the marijuana incident in the NBA Rookie Transition Camp with Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur or the twitter post when he contemplated suicide with a picture of what appeared to be marijuana in the background which led him to soon checked into a Houston rehab center a couple of days later! Also, it wasn't like these problems just came to him since being drafted. He had these problems too in high school and this problem was a main issue coming into the 08 draft after some called him immature!

What I'm wondering does Kurt Rambis have a bit of the Zen Master in him that he may have conjured up in Los Angeles while being an assistant coach to the Lakers two years ago. This could foretell to me if he could be a great coach in helping Beasley work his road to redemption!

He started all 78 of his games last season and we now know that he cannot play small forward as you see from our friends from 82games.com!

These are Beasley numbers from what position he played this season!

Production by Position

Player Floor Time Stats by Position

Position	Min	Net Pts	Off	Def	Net48	W	L	Win%
PG
SG
SF	8%	-99	80.4	95.0	-14.6	11	25	30%
PF	50%	+108	98.1	95.5	2.6	40	36	52%
C	0%	0	.0	.0	.0			0%

Min represents the percentage of the team's total minutes the player was at that position. W and L are not adjusted in this instance by quality of opponent while at that position in a game. Player 48-Minute Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG
SG
SF	21.5	.403	6.1	25%	10.0	2.8	2.7	.7	3.7	22.2	14.9
PF	21.5	.473	4.8	30%	10.3	1.9	2.7	1.1	4.7	24.1	18.9
C	.0	.000	.0	0%	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0

Opponent Counterpart 48-Minute Production

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG
SG
SF	17.9	.504	7.0	21%	7.6	2.2	1.8	.7	4.5	23.9	18.8
PF	16.0	.476	4.6	43%	10.8	3.0	2.7	1.2	3.8	18.5	17.3
C	.0	.000	.0	0%	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0

Net 48-Minute Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG
SG
SF	3.6	-.101	-.9	4%	2.4	.6	-.9	.0	.7	-1.6	-3.9
PF	5.4	-.003	.2	-13%	-.4	-1.0	.0	-.1	-.9	5.6	1.6
C	.0	.000	.0	0%	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0

This shows a lot about how Beasley will coincide with Kevin Love, who'll probably be the starting forward once Big Al moves!

Possibly the best movement involving Minnesota, Michael Beasley for a ham sandwich (2nd round draft, and a future swap of first round picks!)

Buddy Love or Buddy Lee

2010-07-10T15:28:00.001-05:00

An intense week that we've had so far in the NBA but you can count Minnesota as one of the losers in the process! The New York Knicks granted David Lee a sign-and-trade to the Golden State Warriors for the likes of defensive stopper, Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, and Anthony Randolph, who has been part of much trade talk for Al Jefferson during the trade deadline last season. David Lee got his extra year that he coveted so much for a deal worth six years, $80 million dollars!

That's guap baby!

The question for Wolves fans, would've he have even fit? Once, King James (Ex-Tyrant of Cleveland) found his way to the dream scenario Pat Riley had in Miami with Wade and Bosh, it was fairly easy to say he wasn't going to sign out right to Minnesota for less money. Minnesota also got a gift from the heavens above with the former number two pick in the 2008 draft, Michael Beasley who fell to our laps for a bag of chips and a diet coke! Kevin Love is who Kahn seem to like more than Big Al since he didn't fit well in Rambis' Triangle Offense! Would he have Kevin Love come off the bench again to keep Buddy Lee happy – Nah, I don't think Rambis or Kahn likes that idea! I think Buddy Love wins on that one!

The guy is 27 compared to Kevin's 21. That's a lot of room to grow if you didn't know. I do think Lee has kind of peaked as a player. From the stats at 82games.com, Lee and Love show very identical numbers per 48, when they contribute on the court and how it works out when they are off! Love averaged 11.0 boards while only playing 28.6 mpg and coming off the bench compared to Lee's 11.7 rpg in 37.3 mpg starting all 81 games he played. Lee's has a player rebounding rating of 33.0 to his teams 95.7, Love's has a 39.1 to his team's 105.5 and this is with Al Jefferson on the team too! Lee defense isn't better than Love's too, in 2855 defensive rebound chances, he got 720 in a 25.2%. In 1658 chances, Love had 432 giving him 26.1% . Also, that 39.1 player rebounding rating is tied with Dwight Howard! That's nice to be compared with the defensive player of the year! One other stat that caught my eye was how Love knows how to drawn fouls. In 764 field goal attemps, he drew 118 for a percentage of 15.4% compared to Lee's 12.3%. Looking at players like Durant's 16.2%, Wade's 17.4% or even Pierce's 17.6%, you could say Lee is a smarter and better player per 48 minutes, to give Lee the starting role and not maximizes on Love's game like they did last season having him come off the bench for Jefferson would be dumb! The guy has a lot of upside and shows he can be an excellent role player on team kind of like Noah in Chicago or how Oden was in Portland before the injury!

That's droppin' statistical knowledge for ya!

I'd rather have my man Buddy Love.... Everyone Loves Eddie Murphy!

LeBron's Jersey Showing Some Heat! Loyalty Hurts Part II

2010-07-09T06:08:00.001-05:00

I wrote about loyalty in my last blog post in how this LeBron situation compared to KG's – do you leave the place you call home for a ring?

He did that and more, as he announced he's going to South Beach with Wade and Bosh.

Millions of hearts crushed in Cleveland and a bandwagon of fans in Miami. Oh, how the NBA has changed in a day! A city that can list horrible events in one word, the Catch, the Drive, the Fumble, the Move (arguably the worst thing that ever happened in sports), the Single, and now the Decision! A city goes so close to a championship and now is so far! I learned this couldn't be compared to KG's trade in '08, are team by then had already fallen out of contention, it was either sit here and rot or leave and flourish once again! Minnesota did the right thing in trading him, at least he mentioned "everybody in 'Sota!" Yesterday, nite's LeBacle was a horrible PR move but the dude had to set his eye's on new things – Miami it is than!

I only hope he shouts out Cleveland if he get that ring

I guess Cavs fans are trying to update their jerseys by putting a ball of fire on it

P.S. Dan Gilbert is Awesome!

J-Flynn in some HOOPla

2010-07-09T00:23:00.001-05:00

With all the hoopla that happened tonight! Did Dan Gilbert really think Johnny Flynn was the answer to LeBron's problems in Cleveland. Now, Mo Williams wasn't the best counterpart to LeBron but really – J-Flynn was an option! Dan Gilbert must have been drinking the whole night from that open letter to the fans we all saw!

First of all, this is like trading the same two players – undersized, really quick, poor shot selections! No wonder why LeBron left if they were going to pull of this!

Reports that J-Flynn would go to the Cavs!

Less than an Hour Away.... But Loyalty Hurts!

2010-07-08T19:02:00.006-05:00

Well, by the 9:05 ET tonight, some NBA team is going to be very, very happy and as only a Timberwolves fan would do, relating this with something familiar and close to heart is a reminder of how the Kevin Garnett era was no more! After LeBron James exited the TD Garden's court, taking off that Cleveland jersey that he rocked for seven year and left Cavs fans wondering where he would land and if loyalty was something that important to him than chasing championship in Chicago and Miami or the stardom that New York offers, Kevin Garnett was asked about the situation that he was in and responded!

"Loyalty is something that hurts you at times, because you can't get youth back. I can honestly say that if I could go back and do my situation over, knowing what I know now with this organization, I'd have done it a little sooner."

That told me a lot about Kevin Garnett and what kind of player he was – a winner! Everyone is saying, well if LeBron leaves, he's chasing a championship and trying to go out the easy way! Well, last time I checked everyone in the NBA is chasing a title and damn sure would join a team consisted of Wade and Bosh, or Boozer and Rose to do so! Look at these great championship team that the Lakers had in the eighties, that had three of the top 50 players of all-time. The Celtics of the sixties were a team that consisted of an all-star line up, that's how great they were! If he was to bolt out, would I diminish his titles (if he get them first) – yeah, but he can look at everyone in the league and say I'm a champion and that's all he needs! Although, I think he'll stay in Cleveland because we tend to forget that was a 60 win team and can still get there! If he stays, I'm 100% sure they'll try to pursue Chris Paul or he'll give the worst trade demand the league has seen in two years, he'll make that Kobe situation look like he loved Mitch Kupchak!
Loyalty is a tough thing for a player, especially when he plays for the city he grew up in, I say go the Joe Mauer route and stay!

Seems like he was dying here in Minnesota and we knew we had to let him go!

Taking off that jersey gave hope to everyone in Chicago, Miami and New York!

All I Have Is My Word & My Basketballs....

2010-07-08T09:57:00.007-05:00

Well, now we know who lives up to their word and who doesn't, Mr. Rudy Gay! Well, David Lee who visited the Twin Cities and has a meeting with the Timberwolves while attending the Twins-Rays game! Apparently, he had a "Great visit," Lee said. This looks pretty good now since all the talks of Al Jefferson being traded, although, Big Al had something Lee doesn't – multiple positions! If Lee comes to Minnesota, that will probably cause a riff between him and Kevin Love, who look like he won the right to be the starting power forward and it doesn't look like that after all. Now, there are rumbles about a Big Al-David Lee trade but it doesn't look like that going to happen since the Knicks would have to be forfeiting money to sign a guy like LeBron. So is Lee worth it for Minnesota to sign? He's been a double-double machine in New York but the knock is on him that he benefited from the D'Antoni system in New York. The up-tempo style created lots of shots that he either put in or rebounded. I'm not sure if Minnesota could provide that for him and it'll show his true skills!

Serbia Still Lives On!

2010-07-08T08:33:00.000-05:00

Again, I know free agency started last week and I'm a little late on reporting what Minnesota is up to but here we go! It's seemed when the clock struck midnight, Minnesota were the most active team out of everyone. Right at 12:01 a.m., Nikola Peković was offered a three years, $13 million. This was a guy in the '08 Draft that was projected to be a top-10 pick and landed to Minnesota in the second round. So we wrapped that up, pretty good, right? Then we start to making rumbles of our most coveted free agent, Rudy Gay! We're talking on the phone with him, he tells us that he'll arrange a visit to Minnesota and see how everything goes. Well, in the afternoon of July 1st, turns out Minnesota was just bait to get a crazy deal from Memphis worth $82 million for five years. Well, it shows a smart thing from Minnesota and I give credit to Kahn for not matching a deal like that because even if we got to be good with him as a second best, it would have turned out to be horrible in the end – kind of like Rashard Lewis in Orlando, he might be the highest paid player in the NBA at some point in the next five years, ouch! God, I can't wait for the new collective bargaining agreement!

Now, our interesting re-signing is that Darko Milicic is going to have another year here in Minnesota. Yay, not really! He signs for four years and $20 million dollars – paid in full my friend! This now means that the departures of Al Jefferson is clearly evident but where to is what the fans are asking? Anyways, Darko brought some good stuff in the three month he played here, defense, average 1.4 blocks per games, 5.5 rpg, 8.3 ppg, pretty good for a backup center and now we'll see what he could do for a full season. He's only 25, so his game might have not settled yet, he has room to grow! I don't look at this as a bad move, I see it as progress to do something special in a little bit and giving a guy a chance who been playing fairly well, maybe not to the mid-level exception but like I said, he has room to grow!

And My Wolfpack Grew by Four.....

2010-07-08T07:08:00.000-05:00

I know I am about two weeks late on analyzing the draft and many of you are worrying about bigger things in the NBA now, i.e. the LeBron Hunt! Still, I had to get things off my chest about the draft that Mr. Kahn conjured up. Here we go!

#4. Wesley Johnson, SF Syracuse
#16. Luke Babbitt, SF Nevada (from Charlotte via Denver, traded to Portland)
#23. Trevor Booker, PF Clemson (from Utah via Philadelphia, traded to Washington)
#30 Lazar Hayward, SF Marquette (from Cleveland, traded from Washington)
#35 Nemanja Bjelica, SF Red Star Belgrade: Serbia (traded from Washington)
#45 Paulão Prestes, PF/C CB Murcia: Spain (from Houston)
#56 Hamady N'Diaye, C Rutgers (from Phoenix, traded to Washington)

Coming in to the draft, most people knew there would be four potential superstars – John Wall, Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, and DeMarcus Cousins. Now those first three names were taken respectively in a row, leaving DeMarcus Cousins still on the table. We knew his discipline issues he had in high school and at Kentucky but should that have been the reason we didn't take him ahead of Wes Johnson, who many believe is only going to be a nice role player. Well, there was the fact that he didn't even perform for us during the scouting workouts seemingly meaning he didn't want to play for Minnesota. Also, he will look like a dominate force next year since he'll get big time minutes and has an NBA body to go with it but many think his rookie season we be as high as he can get and is his ceiling. Emeka Okafor has been pretty much the same player his been since his rookie year with no progress but maybe he'll average a 20-10 game and if that's his ceiling, I'd be pretty happy with that! So for Minnesota to give up that seems a bit of a low point for us. Yes, Wesley will give up three point shooting and quick athletic plays but he'll be 23 in three more days! LeBron James is only 25, it seems by this point his game can't improve. If this is his ceiling and he wasn't even the best player in college, you can legitimately ask "is he going to be good in the NBA?" That's something we won't find out til' the start of the season!

Looking fly in that purple!

Also, I guess Kahn once again got a bit position happy again, this time with small forwards. Don't forget, we did trade Luke Babbitt for Martell Webster, also a wing. Was this a good move from Kahn, I don't think so! Last year when he drafted all those point guards, I thought he knew something others didn't. I thought it was something from his genius but now it seems he's kind of a foolish GM doing dumb decisions! So, even when we were looking at getting Rudy Gay in free agency, he went with getting more of the same players in his position – how is that enticing? Nevertheless, to all our new Timberwolves, I hope for the best and try for the never ending quest for that ring!

Welcome to a Man Raised by Wolves: We're Savages!

2010-07-08T07:06:00.000-05:00

The past few years as a Minnesota Timberwolves fan and basically all Minnesota pro sports for that matter, have been somewhat disappointing. For how I long lived the days when we had KG catching basketballs midair to disrupt opponents or how he jumped on the scorer's table after defeating the Sacramento Kings in Game 7! Since then, Minnesota hasn't seen much of the good side in the past couple of seasons. In fact, it's been really horrid out there, a drought of some sort. Especially last year, which 15-67 record is the worst I've witness in my twelve long years as a Timberwolves fan. Since I called last season the bottom of the bottom, I created this blog to analyzed our journey to the top! It may have some road bumps here and there, some signings we don't like but it may have some franchise players in it's midst, maybe our KG-caliber player will return and vatilize T-Wolves basketball once again! When the Minnesota Timeberwolves win their first championship, I will stop my journey and proccess of analyzation and SHUT DOWN THIS BLOG, so now may the long road begin!

A man once quoted, "Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promise land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!