Maybe Timberwolves guard Wally Szczerbiak thought the crowd at Rose Garden needed one more treat. Maybe the tight-as-Spandex game that included 17 lead changes, 12 ties and four double-doubles wasn't enough.
So after Trail Blazers forward Rasheed Wallace missed the final shot of the game, giving Minnesota a 95-93 victory and extending Portland's losing streak to four games, Szczerbiak grabbed the ball from teammate Kevin Garnett, roared and threw the ball toward the top of the lower deck.
It was that type of game: energetic, fun, loud, bruising and full of excitement. And it put an exclamation point on the Wolves' best December in franchise history, 10-5 for the month and an overall mark of 20-9.
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Many Timberwolves fans have noticed center Rasho Nesterovic's improvement on offense. His numbers are up across the board -- he averaged 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent before Sunday's game at Portland, compared with 4.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 46.1 percent shooting last season. He is visibly more aggressive, and his teammates are far quicker to get him the ball.
Nesterovic made equally impressive strides on defense, though, in ways not readily apparent. He already has blocked 43 shots, compared with 63 last season, and the coaches have praised him for his enhanced grasp of both man-to-man and zone schemes.
"The rule changes helped him, and he's helped us," coach Flip Saunders said. "Right now, he is one of our best team, off-the-ball defenders at helping out, recovering, doing things like that."
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Dec 31, 2001 12:27 PM EST
The once-proud fans of the Portland Trail Blazers are on the verge of abandoning the team they formerly supported with glee.
For the first time since the Rose Garden opened in 1995, non-sellouts are the norm, and often several thousand seats are unoccupied. If the playoffs were now, the Blazers wouldn't qualify for the first time since 1982.
Recently, Sports Illustrated wrote a scathing piece on how far the team had fallen in terms of interest, standing in the community, quality of personnel in its management and players. The lightning rod was Bonzi Wells' quote about fans' waning interest.
"We're not really going to worry about what the hell they think about us," Wells told reporters. "They really don't matter to us. They can boo us every day, but they're still going to ask for our autographs if they see us on the street. That's why they're fans and we're NBA players."
Now check this out.
In the team's next home game, against Detroit last Friday, Wells was in uniform but did not play because of a knee injury. During the game, a feature on the replay screen asked players what their favorite Christmas gift was as a kid. When it came time to show Bonzi's taped response, the fans booed so loudly it could not be heard.
Look mom, I'm on TV:
When Maurice Evans, a 6-5 guard who went undrafted last summer, signed with Minnesota, his family invested in NBA LeaguePass so they could watch every Minnesota game on television.
After Evans played his first NBA game at New Jersey, a scoreless minute at the end of the first half, he called home to see what his family thought. They didn't know what to think, because they hadn't seen a thing. "I couldn't believe it," Evans told the media. "I called home and I said, You see me? You see me?' And they were like, When did you get in? We watched intently the whole game and didn't see you.' My agent missed me, my mom and dad, my sister - everybody missed me. I was like, Man!' "
Bomb threat:
A bomb threat was called in to Philips Arena in Atlanta near the end of the game last Saturday. Shortly after the Hawks' 101-88 victory, coaches were informed of the situation. "I was made aware right after the game was over," Hornets coach Paul Silas told reporters. "The guys were in the shower and I told Big Shot [equipment manager Dave Jovanovic] to tell them what was going on. They didn't believe him at first. They thought it was some sort of a joke. So, I came in there and told them it was real. They moved pretty fast after that and we got on the buses and got out of there."
Goldie locks:
The Heat is a miserable 5-21 following last Friday's loss and Brian Grant is willing to try anything to help his team snap out of its funk.
Grant cut his dreadlocks. He hopes it will snap him out of his seasonlong malaise.
"Each and every player on the team has to look at his performance and decide if they're giving the team everything that they can give," said Grant to the media, who's averaging under 10 points and about seven rebounds. "I'm admitting it, putting it out there. I'm telling you right now, you're not getting Brian Grant out there. "
The big payback:
New Jersey coach Byron Scott was horrified to hear Jayson Williams, a former Net, suggest on NBC Scott had paid Kenyon Martin to put a hard foul on Karl Malone as payback for Malone's postgame last month: "My wife told me about that, too," Scott told reporters. "Somebody called her last night and asked her did she hear Jayson Williams said that I paid Kenyon Martin 50 bucks. If I'm going to play Kenyon Martin to take out somebody, it's going to be a lot more than $50, first of all. And that's a ridiculous statement. I mean, no way. I wouldn't pay my guys. I'm not that way, first of all. I wouldn't want anybody to take somebody out."
The handshake:
Knicks guard Latrell Sprewell provided the other big news of the week when he shook hands with P.J. Carlesimo for the first time in four years since he tried to choke his former Golden State coach.
Sprewell had opportunities in the past to do it but he said that he didn't want to be a hypocrite. However, time, distance and the New York revival of his career apparently caused him to soften his stance. Carlesimo was the color commentator for the NBC telecast. After the game, Sprewell was on his way to an ESPN Radio interview when he stopped at the table where Carlesimo was sitting. He said, "Merry Christmas," to Carlesimo. He offered his hand to Carlesimo. Carlesimo accepted, wishing him a happy holiday in return.
"It was so long ago," Sprewell told reporters. "Time heals all wounds. It's Christmas. We really should be thankful for a lot of things."
New coach:
Now that Dan Issel has resigned, because of an ethnic slur, assistant Mike Evans has taken over as interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets until further notice. General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe was faced with a decision.
"We're fine the way we are, but I might want to add an assistant coach," Vandeweghe told the Denver Post. "I have a few guys in mind that I would consider, but I don't want to name any names just yet. I haven't thought about it a lot because before today I still thought Dan [Issel] might be coming back."
There will be one immediate change. Vandeweghe said John MacLeod will join the bench staff full-time. MacLeod was hired in September as a consultant.
Vandeweghe played for MacLeod when he was coaching the New York Knicks. MacLeod also coached Dallas and Phoenix. Besides his NBA experience, MacLeod also coached Notre Dame and Oklahoma.
The administration also includes Clyde Drexler, who fills the role of Vandeweghe's special assistant. While Drexler has been involved in all aspects of running a pro basketball franchise, his attention also could be turned to the playing floor.
Evans began his stint as the official interim head coach with a 2-3 record while running the team in Issel's absence.
Lost opportunity:
Philadelphia had until Christmas Eve to use the medical exception they received for Matt Geiger, who retired last month with chronic knee problems. They did not. "We actively tried to figure out things," Larry Brown told reporters. "But nothing that we really wanted to do was available, and we didn't think there was anything that made our team better, or was physically or financially responsible."
Rumor mill:
Rumors have it that the Knicks will go after Magic coach Doc Rivers at the end of the season. Rivers said that he isn't going anywhere and he's under contact through 2004-2005.
"No way," Rivers told reporters. "Kris isn't leaving, so I'm not." Kris is Rivers' wife.
Streakers:
Houston's losing streak finally ended last week at 15. It was the longest since the move to Houston in 1971 and two shy of the franchise record set in the 1967-68 season. When the streak ended, confetti fell. Walt Williams fired the ball to the rafters. Cuttino Mobley stood at midcourt with his arms raised and prayed. Moochie Norris cried. "I never won a championship," Williams said. "It must be a feeling close to this."
New touch:
Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, a master of routine, has added a new touch to his free-throw shooting regimen.
Garnett now leaves the free-throw line to touch the basketball in the referee's hands before every set of free throws. He doesn't do it before every shot, just every set of shots.
Garnett explained to the media: "Everybody tries to get their own rhythm, whether it's shooting free throws or shooting 3-pointers. I can remember when Chris Webber used to do the little crank thing with his leg before he shot a 3, and it's very similar to that.
"It's working, it's going for me. And you know what? I'm not going to stop it. I think some of the refs get aggravated because it's slowing the game down and they're ready to get out of there, but it's working for me."
C'mon J-Will:
"With Jason Williams, you don't know what you are going to get," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "Nobody can deliver the ball like Jason. Not Jason Kidd. Not nobody. But the next time down the court, the ball might be in the fifth row. Don't get me wrong. I love watching him play. But I don't have to coach him. He makes plays that nobody makes, good and bad."
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Timberwolves Dec 2001 Archive
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| Dec 30, 2001
It's fun to wonder.
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| Dec 29, 2001
Kings forward Chris Webber was discussing revenge Thursday, ticking off the ways in which his team could avenge a 20-point loss to the Timberwolves this month -- better rebounding, more energy, healthier players -- when he hit on what might just have been the key:
"That was there.
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| Dec 29, 2001
A flagrant (1) technical foul in the NBA rulebook is defined as unnecessary.
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| Dec 29, 2001
NBA Commissioner David Stern, for the second time since imposing the initial penalties, has rebated one of the first-round draft picks stripped from the Timberwolves in the Joe Smith salary-cap circumvention case.
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| Dec 28, 2001
MINNEAPOLIS -- Gov.
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| Dec 28, 2001
David Stern was in a forgiving mood
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| Dec 28, 2001
Just call Bobby Jackson, in his fifth NBA season, Mr.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Randy Wittman has been an NBA head coach and would like to be one again.
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| Dec 27, 2001
Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders has one piece of advice for Denver Nuggets interim coach Mike Evans: Be true to yourself.
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| Dec 27, 2001
It was about 20 minutes after a light practice at the Timberwolves' facility during the team's recent eight-games-in-10-days stretch.
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| Dec 27, 2001
When rookie guard Maurice Evans signed with the Timberwolves in July, his family in Kansas invested in NBA LeaguePass so they could watch every Minnesota game on satellite television.
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| Dec 27, 2001
Listening to the announcers was strange.
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| Dec 27, 2001
For all of Garnett's individual success so far this season, as well as the Wolves' 18-8 start, his inconsistency close to the basket persists.
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| Dec 27, 2001
It happens on Broadway all the time.
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| Dec 24, 2001
Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett has added a new touch to his free-throw shooting routine.
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| Dec 24, 2001
Wally Szczerbiak rolled his eyes at the question out of exhaustion, not exasperation.
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| Dec 23, 2001
Timberwolves guard Terrell Brandon has had his share of nicks and bruises throughout his career, but he knew it was something more than that with his left knee when he left practice last week.
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| Dec 23, 2001
Wally Szczerbiak probably could have his face plastered on billboards throughout Chicago had the Timberwolves ever pursued a rumored trade with the Bulls that would have delivered the sharpshooting forward to the league's third-largest market.
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| Dec 22, 2001
"What would Terrell do?''
That was the question on Timberwolves point guard Chauncey Billups' mind in the fourth quarter of Friday night's game against Charlotte at Target Center, as Minnesota's 16-point lead dwindled to 10 .
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| Dec 22, 2001
The start was furious, often resembling an indoor track meet, and the Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves made the most of it.
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| Dec 22, 2001
Last summer the Chicago Bulls almost completed a deal for Minnesota's Wally Szczerbiak that would have sent Ron Mercer and Marcus Fizer back to the Twin Cities.
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| Dec 21, 2001
It's hard to start an engine if you're missing the key.
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| Dec 21, 2001
The Timberwolves breathed a sigh of relief Thursday evening after arthroscopic surgery performed on Terrell Brandon's left knee revealed no structural damage.
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| Dec 21, 2001
CHARLOTTE (12-13) AT MINNESOTA (16-8)
8 p.
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| Dec 20, 2001
When the New Jersey Nets talk about their 180-degree turnaround this season, they don't Kidd around.
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| Dec 20, 2001
There was a lot of finger-pointing going on early in Wednesday night's game between the Timberwolves and New Jersey Nets at Continental Airlines Arena.
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| Dec 20, 2001
Terrell Brandon is the latest star set to go under the knife
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| Dec 19, 2001
For six seasons, Tim Hardaway was the Miami Heat floor leader and the guy who, for better or worse, often took the big shot.
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| Dec 19, 2001
In an unexpected move announced only minutes before the tipoff of Tuesday's game, Timberwolves point guard Terrell Brandon was placed on the injured list with a left knee injury.
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| Dec 18, 2001
The Minnesota Timberwolves today placed guard Terrell Brandon on the Injured List with synovitis (loose body) in his left knee, and activated rookie guard Maurice Evans from the IL.
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| Dec 18, 2001
Timberwolves forward Gary Trent, 6 feet 8 and 255 pounds, takes up a lot of space.
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| Dec 18, 2001
The Timberwolves have a history and something of a big brother-little brother complex with the San Antonio Spurs.
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| Dec 17, 2001
The Timberwolves have partially credited better rebounding, shooting and quicker play for their franchise-best 16-6 start.
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| Dec 17, 2001
Maurice Evans has done this before and he didn't like it then, either.
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| Dec 16, 2001
The Timberwolves, it seems, are finally getting a grip on their 12-year-old rebounding woes.
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| Dec 16, 2001
Gary Trent was a vital part of the Dallas Mavericks' future: their best player in the lockout-shortened 1998-99, a low-post player who puts the power in "power forward," and an asset so valuable that coach Don Nelson risked a reprimand from the NBA for courting Trent with an offseason invitation to Nelson's balmy home in Maui.
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| Dec 15, 2001
Mavericks coach Don Nelson is thankful he had a few weeks to drill his team for the new rules and observe how other clubs handled Minnesota's zone.
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| Dec 15, 2001
Johnny Newman has been put on the injured list in order to activate Donnell Harvey for tonight's game against the Timberwolves.
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| Dec 15, 2001
Kevin Garnett wanted the ball.
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| Dec 15, 2001
Kevin Garnett -- more than Keyshawn Johnson on his best day, every bit as intensely as Jack Morris, Game 7, 1991 -- wanted the damn ball.
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| Dec 15, 2001
This was the prediction at halftime: Coach Flip Saunders would be missing from the Timberwolves sideline before the conclusion of Friday night's game at Target Center.
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| Dec 15, 2001
What the Timberwolves lost, first and foremost, when they let Bobby Jackson leave as a free agent after the 1999-2000 season was the equivalent of a pair of jumper cables.
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| Dec 14, 2001
The NBA notified the Timberwolves on Thursday that forward Joe Smith's flagrant foul in the closing seconds of the 98-87 victory at Utah had been downgraded to a less serious violation.
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| Dec 14, 2001
In order to fully appreciate how well the Sacramento Kings handled Chris Webber's 20-game absence to start the season, it is perhaps best to apply a similar set of circumstances to the Timberwolves.
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| Dec 13, 2001
According to the Deseret News, Minnesota only played their patented zone defense on 12 or 13 possessions.
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| Dec 13, 2001
There was a point in the third quarter Wednesday night when it took the Timberwolves six misses, six offensive rebounds and two out-of-bounds plays to score.
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| Dec 13, 2001
-- It was The Possession That Would Not End -- a Roger Corman title but as epic in proportion as a Cecil B.
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| Dec 13, 2001
After taking four mini-steps forward, the Jazz took a giant leap backward Wednesday night.
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| Dec 13, 2001
The cameraman caught on tape what Denver coach Dan Issel said to the guy in the stands.
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| Dec 13, 2001
Tom McEachin of the Ogden Standard Examiner writes, "When Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett struggled through a shooting slump earlier this season, he didn"t have to go far for help.
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| Dec 13, 2001
The Salt Lake Tribune reports, "After taking four mini-steps forward, the Jazz took a giant leap backward Wednesday night.
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| Dec 12, 2001
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| Dec 12, 2001
Two zones will collide tonight according to this report in the Salt Lake Tribune.
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| Dec 12, 2001
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| Dec 12, 2001
Now that his heart and body are in the same place, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Joe Smith is a whole person.
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| Dec 12, 2001
Things are going so well for the Timberwolves that Kevin Garnett and two other starters, Terrell Brandon and Rasho Nesterovic, sat back on the bench and watched the fourth quarter Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors.
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| Dec 12, 2001
A Miami Beach entertainment agency that dreamed of representing NBA star Kevin Garnett is suing a prominent sports agent, claiming the agent plotted to ruin the company's plans.
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| Dec 12, 2001
NBA coaches like to refer to their 82-game season as a marathon.
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| Dec 11, 2001
Idle time can send a person into deep thought, even on an NBA bench.
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| Dec 11, 2001
Terrell Brandon has been too busy to kick back on the bench and enjoy the ambiance of an NBA game.
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| Dec 11, 2001
Jackson, a center for the Golden State Warriors, and Lopez, a swingman for the Timberwolves, each signed a contract last summer that looked terrific at the time.
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| Dec 10, 2001
The Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers and New Jersey Nets have a combined record of 41-14.
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| Dec 9, 2001
There are only 29 of them, so unless someone is an NBA head coach or once held that job, it's hard to explain what the stress, the pressures and the demands of the position can do to a fellow.
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| Dec 8, 2001
Terrell Brandon scored a season-high 22 points, nearly double his average, against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, but the Wolves point guard said Friday that he still considers himself the team's fourth scoring option.
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| Dec 7, 2001
New city.
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| Dec 7, 2001
One is modest, the other flashy.
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| Dec 7, 2001
Cheap points.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Garnett, who as usual leads the team in scoring, rebounding and emotion entering tonight's game at Memphis, is struggling with his jump shot again.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Chauncey Billups' affability is surpassed only by his amiability, which doesn't always translate into the ruthless play demanded of him as the Timberwolves' backup point guard.
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| Dec 5, 2001
Seattle's performances have swung like a seesaw this season, with impressive victories over top teams and embarrassing outcomes against mediocre clubs.
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| Dec 5, 2001
Kevin Garnett and Shammond Williams rarely match up individually when the Timberwolves and Seattle SuperSonics play each other.
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| Dec 5, 2001
The tricky traps and advanced plays are out.
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| Dec 5, 2001
On Tuesday night, Szczerbiak started strong against a Sonics team offering the kind of token defensive resistance that would have been an affront to the suffocating Sonics teams of yesteryear.
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| Dec 4, 2001
When: Today, 5 p.
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| Dec 4, 2001
In the words of Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders, "great teams have a tendency to get through the first half, and in the second half they just turn it up.
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| Dec 4, 2001
Whatever optimism the Wolves took with them to the West Coast has been tempered by the stark details of an 0-for-3 effort that left more questions than answers.
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| Dec 3, 2001
The Wolves brought back their first losing streak of the season, some gassy defensive numbers and an offense running so badly that, were it a car, it would be stripped for parts.
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| Dec 2, 2001
The first legitimate "uh-oh" move came with about three minutes left in the third quarter Saturday night.
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| Dec 2, 2001
No one is predicting stardom for Devean George, the Los Angeles Lakers' swingman by way of Augsburg College and Benilde-St.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Timberwolves center Rasho Nesterovic has worked hard to gain the respect of his coaches, teammates, opponents and even referees.
