Oct 31, 2001 10:34 AM EST
The traditionally undersized Timberwolves unveiled the great equalizer Tuesday night. Here's a hint:
Rah-rah. Sis-boom-bah!
No, no, they didn't assign frat boys to steal the 76ers' jockstraps. Instead, they deployed a good old-fashioned, college-type zone defense. Arms up! Shuffle, slide. Shuffle, slide.
Their opener against Philadelphia turned in the second quarter when coach Flip Saunders yelled "50" to his players. That was the secret signal to drop into a zone.
The results were astounding. Trailing by six when Saunders called for the zone, the Wolves promptly began to create turnovers. Staying in the zone virtually all of the second quarter, they outscored the 76ers 29-10 and coasted the rest of the way.
"When they changed the rules, we said that our ability to play zone would help us win a few games," Saunders said. "This was one of them."
It was successful and more than a little weird.
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Oct 31, 2001 10:33 AM EST
Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett finished the exhibition season 4 for 10 from three-point range. But just because he has switched back to small forward from power forward, don't expect the four-time all-star to toss up long-range shots just for the heck of it.
"You know what? I can probably jack up 10 three-pointers a game if I wanted to," Garnett said recently. "I don't have any red lights when it comes to taking shots. But I do know for us to win, for us to flow like the Minnesota Timberwolves in the system that Flip Saunders gave us ... it wouldn't be wise for me to come out and take those shots.
"If it's in the flow of the game, if it's early, I'll take that. The guys know it. But at the same time, if it's out of flow, if I don't feel it, I don't jacks shots just to say, "Aw, I'm shooting threes.' I don't just jack up shots because, "Oh, it's been 10 minutes and I ain't had no shots.' I just want my shots to be within-flow shots. I want them to be quality shots."
Garnett has connected on 48.7 percent of his field-goal attempts over his six seasons in the league. He's steadily improved on making his three-point shots of the quality variety, too, although it's still a work in progress: Over the past two seasons, he's hit 49 of 147 three-point shots; his first four seasons in the league, he was 21 for 79 from long range.
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Oct 31, 2001 10:31 AM EST
The Timberwolves looked scary in the first quarter of their first regular-season game Tuesday night for the same reasons they've failed to get past the first round of the playoffs the last few seasons: They were outrebounded, they shot poorly and they allowed a struggling team missing its superstar to take a double-digit lead.
What a way to start.
Nonetheless, the Wolves beat the Allen Iverson-less Philadelphia 76ers 83-74 at Target Center because they eventually used the wrinkles they hope will lead them past the first round of the playoffs for the first time: speed, depth and a matchup zone defense that led to more rebounds, more turnovers and easier points.
Minnesota improved its record to 6-7 on opening nights.
The stars of the night were Minnesota's reserves. Rookie center Loren Woods (four points, two rebounds) showed some signs why he may, indeed, end up being the steal of the draft. And backup point guard Chauncey Billups (22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and three assists in 24 minutes) not only outshined starter Terrell Brandon (six points on 3-for-10 shooting and seven assists in 24 minutes), but was an aggressive, sharpshooting catalyst for the Wolves in the second quarter.
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Timberwolves Oct 2001 Archive
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| Oct 31, 2001
As the first quarter of the first game of the first season of the rest of the Wolves' professional lives, though, those iffy and unimpressive 12 minutes against what essentially was Philadelphia's junior varsity could have been a real problem.
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| Oct 31, 2001
Only a fool would complain about having to play the Philadelphia 76ers without Allen Iverson.
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| Oct 31, 2001
After holding a 21-11 first-quarter lead, the Sixers were beaten by the Timberwolves, 83-74, and except for a late rally, looked like an NBA wannabe rather than the defending Eastern Conference champions.
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| Oct 30, 2001
The defensive scheme, which the Wolves will use as a change-up with man-to-man and other trapping defenses, is allowed because of a rule change meant to speed up the pace of games and obliterate isolation offensive play.
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| Oct 30, 2001
The Timberwolves, who open their season tonight against Philadelphia at Target Center, continue to receive trade inquiries about the availability of guard Wally Szczerbiak.
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| Oct 30, 2001
This is supposed to be lucky season No.
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| Oct 30, 2001
It still isn't official, but Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale left little doubt the team would not be extending either player's contract at the NBA deadline Wednesday.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said the team has not decided whether to exercise the fourth-year option on point guard Will Avery's contract.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Rasho Nesterovic is who he is.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Joe Smith was just trying to be a good guy Friday night and help the crew from NBA Entertainment gather some videotape and audio cuts for upcoming features.
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| Oct 29, 2001
"It's time for us to take responsibility now, isn't it?" Taylor said.
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| Oct 28, 2001
The Wolves seem to be shopping Brandon
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| Oct 28, 2001
There were days, as Timberwolves forward Sam Mitchell knocked around France and other parts of Europe in the late 1980s, piecing together a living in basketball, when his imagination would run wild.
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| Oct 27, 2001
Al Harrington, Austin Croshere and Travis Best will come off the bench for the Indiana Pacers when the real games start Tuesday night.
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| Oct 26, 2001
Anthony Peeler dreaded seeing The Hill every morning.
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| Oct 26, 2001
Last season, the Timberwolves used a center-by-committee strategy because they couldn't get enough consistent minutes out of one player.
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| Oct 26, 2001
There were times last season when Szczerbiak, the Wolves' top draft choice in 1999, seemed almost ignored -- on the offensive end, at least.
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| Oct 25, 2001
Timberwolves forward Tom Hammonds is not angling for any more money, agent Darren Weiner said Tuesday.
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| Oct 25, 2001
With the implementation of new zone defense rules in the NBA this season, Smith, Szczerbiak and the rest of the Timberwolves are getting a refresher course in how to guard space instead of a specific player.
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| Oct 24, 2001
Tom Hammonds might have to put his drag racing career on hold.
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| Oct 23, 2001
Agent Darren Weiner said the Wolves and Hammonds have failed to reach an agreement on a buyout of the 12-year veteran's $1.
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| Oct 23, 2001
Smith's defensive savvy is one of the reasons the Wolves re-signed the forward who, one year ago, was the center of so much salary-cap controversy.
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| Oct 23, 2001
the Wolves have been occupying the back burner in talk-show conversation and the inside pages of the sports sections.
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| Oct 22, 2001
Forward LaPhonso Ellis says he is not angry.
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| Oct 22, 2001
Szczerbiak, shifted to shooting guard, has had a green light from Saunders to assert himself.
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| Oct 21, 2001
They are the dunks of the defense, the plays that punctuate as well as intimidate, resonating long after that particular trip downcourt to affect or alter the next and the next and the next.
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| Oct 19, 2001
For all the talk of winning the Midwest Division title in order to win the first round of the playoffs in order to compete for an NBA championship, the Timberwolves this season must learn to master one thing first:
The second day of back-to-backs.
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| Oct 19, 2001
As an early-entry candidate with an agent, Evans had few options.
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| Oct 18, 2001
"This is probably the deepest team I've ever played on," said Garnett, who left regulation with 10:08 to go but finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
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| Oct 18, 2001
The outlines of Gary Trent's game are coming back, roughly drawn, sketchy, familiar but still lacking in shadows and contours.
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| Oct 17, 2001
Forward Gary Trent scored 26 points but should have had 28 in leading the Black squad to a 102-95 victory Tuesday in an open scrimmage at Target Center attended by about 2,000 fans.
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| Oct 17, 2001
Capable of playing all five positions -- two or three of them at All-Star level, the others more than satisfactorily in a pinch -- Garnett's versatility has been one of the Timberwolves' most effective weapons since he entered the league in 1995.
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| Oct 16, 2001
In response to the events of Sept.
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| Oct 16, 2001
Chauncey Billups has played for five teams in five seasons, so it should come as no surprise he approached his honeymoon this summer in much the same manner as his transient past.
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| Oct 15, 2001
Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News Tribune reports: While there still were lingering rumors about Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton still being traded, at some point, to the Minnesota Timberwolves, any future speculation should have ended this past week when Terrell Brandon undermined the entire process.
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| Oct 15, 2001
Curley, a Boston native, is back for his third stint with Minnesota -- a familiar team with a familiar face, Wolves vice president Kevin McHale, whom Curley watched growing up as a Boston Celtics fan.
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| Oct 15, 2001
When Tom Hammonds puts his foot to the floor now, the jolt that rushes through his body is exhilaration laced with adrenaline, not the shooting pain of chronic arthritis.
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| Oct 14, 2001
Just spitballing here, but perhaps it's time to tell the boss I'm going to cut back on all that work this season, ease off a bit.
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| Oct 14, 2001
Cookies.
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| Oct 14, 2001
A free agent invitee to training camp, this is Curley's third stint with the Wolves.
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| Oct 13, 2001
Quick.
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| Oct 13, 2001
Woods has several more weeks before his dance starts, but he's still counting steps.
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| Oct 12, 2001
Vince Carter scored 17 of his 27 points in the third quarter as the Toronto Raptors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-85 in an exhibition game Thursday night.
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| Oct 12, 2001
Avery, 22, faces an unusual sort of pressure this month.
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| Oct 11, 2001
Timberwolves point guard Terrell Brandon said Wednesday he has been misunderstood.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Timberwolves point guard Terrell Brandon said he was misunderstood when he told reporters earlier this week that he might relinquish his starting job to a younger player as early as next year.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Now that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has turned over the title of chief executive at his Taylor Corp.
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| Oct 10, 2001
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| Oct 9, 2001
Agent Brad Marshall said Monday he wants the incentive-laden contract extension for Timberwolves guard Anthony Peeler nullified, and he's willing to take the matter through the league's arbitration process, if necessary.
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| Oct 9, 2001
Terrell Brandon, the Timberwolves' $9-million-a-year starting point guard, likes everything about that arrangement except for one thing: The starting part.
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| Oct 8, 2001
Peeler, in his 10th year in the NBA, is competing with five others in training camp for the starting slot at shooting guard.
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| Oct 8, 2001
He could be smack in the middle of the NBA's biggest story right now, a bystander to greatness as a role player for His Airness.
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| Oct 6, 2001
Coach Flip Saunders wants to see the Minnesota Timberwolves push the ball up court more this season.
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| Oct 5, 2001
Guard Steve Hart, a 27-year-old veteran of the CBA, IBL, IBA and Europen leagues, figures that at this point in his life, the key to finally making an NBA team is being in the right place at the right time.
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| Oct 4, 2001
He stood immobile for an instant, bent over at the waist, stretching his yellow No.
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| Oct 4, 2001
When Kevin Garnett and Gary Trent first met, their reputations didn't so much precede them as elude them.
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| Oct 3, 2001
The comeback continued in an all-but-empty practice court Tuesday night.
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| Oct 3, 2001
The Wolves on Tuesday cut back to one training camp practice after consecutive two-a-days.
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| Oct 3, 2001
Clandestine negotiations, quirky deals and player contracts stretching longer than any of their fans realized supposedly were things of the past for the Timberwolves, left behind in the vapors of the Joe Smith case.
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| Oct 2, 2001
Kevin McHale tries to say it doesn't matter much, that his return to the Timberwolves' practice court after an NBA-mandated "leave of absence" last season will help, but is not a solution.
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| Oct 2, 2001
He's like some players.
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| Oct 2, 2001
Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett began his seventh season in the NBA on Saturday by hugging teammate Joe Smith.
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| Oct 2, 2001
For all those moments when Timberwolves fans have wondered, "What were they thinking?" -- the chicanery with Joe Smith, say, or drafting of Paul Grant or feeding Dean Garrett for those two jump shots late in Game 1 against San Antonio -- answers soon might be on the way.
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| Oct 2, 2001
The Star Tribune reports that if Gary Trent passes a physical later today, he will sign a one-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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