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Overall
Win/Loss Record : 26-40 fifth place
Northwest Division
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Last Season’s Rank
20
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Projected 2012/2013 Finish
7
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Last season’s
Team Statistics and League Rank
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Returning
Individual Statistical Leaders
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Projected Starters Based on Last Season’s Performance, Veteran Seniority and Projected Impact
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Key Reserves Based on Last Season’s Performances, Veteran Seniority and Potential Impact.
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2012/2013 Projection: 55-27, tied first place in the Northwest
Division; The wolf pack has finally woken up from hibernation.
Analysis:
After five long years of
toiling in the bottom of the league, the Minnesota Timberwolves have finally
turned things around making themselves not only a playoff contender, but also
a darkhorse favorite to reach the NBA Finals. It all started with the Wolves having one
of the most active off-seasons in its history trading away first round picks
for quality veteran talent along with signing one of the best free agency
classes of the year. They signed two
players from their division rivals, Andrei Kirilenko formerly of the Utah Jazz and former Portland Trailblazer Brandon Roy giving the Wolves two savvy
veterans to go along Minnesota’s young duo of Kevin Love and Ricky
Rubio. They also bolstered their
rather weak second unit trading for swingman Chase Buddinger and athletic
long forward Dante Cunningham to add some neededed depth to go along with number two pick in last year’s NBA draft Derrick Williams and
former Dallas Maverick Jose Juan Barea.
Altogether the Wolves have one of the most deepest and talented
rosters in the league and will certainly open some eyes and turn some heads
in this upcoming season.
This new roster will certainly
be welcomed by Wolves coach Rick Adelman who struggled to find a suitable
combination on the floor that can put the ball in the basket while at the
same time give a strong effort on the defensive end. Last season, the Wolves suffered two-fold
having not only one of the worst shooting teams in the league, but one of the
worse defensive teams as well. Save
for starting center Nicola Pekovic, no other player on the team shot .500
from the field while at the same time Pekovic was only of three Timberwolves
to shoot better than .450 from the field.
With the new roster, the Wolves have the firepower that the team most
desperately needed taking much of the pressure off their star, Kevin Love,
not only in scoring, but also on the rebounding side as well. With this new lineup, Minnesota will
certainly be hitting much more shots reducing the need for Love to clean up
after all the errant shots of his teammates last season.
Of course the biggest moves of
the Wolves’ offseason were the acquisitions of veterans Andrei Kirilenko and
Brandon Roy—two veterans who look to redeem themselves in the eyes of
fans. Kirilenko especially has a major
chip on his shoulder after being chastised for much of his NBA career for not
playing at an All Star level that Jazz fans expected from him. Much of the criticism was rather unfair
considering the fact that Kirilenko was left in the cold thanks to the Jazz
acquiring Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehemet Okur. Instead of being the first option on the
offensive end as Kirilenko was in the early part of his career, he was slowly
downgraded to being the fourth or even fifth offensive option on the team. In
addition, with the style of play at the time under former coach Jerry Sloan
that focused on just two players, the point guard and power forwards,
Kirilenko was essentially frozen out of Utah’s offensive schemes.
Yet despite his troubles,
Kirilenko remained one of the best defensive swingmen in the league leading
the Jazz in both steals and blocked shot per game during his ten year stint
with the Jazz. He also proved that he
was still on top of his game winning MVP of the Euro League while at the same
time leading his Russian team to a rather impressive Olympic Finish in
London. Adding Kirilenko will give the
Wolves a defensive presence that they have lacked for some time and although
he will not be counted on to score plenty of points, but will still be a
strong contributor in putting the ball in the basket. The real question coming into this season,
however, is whether or not Brandon Roy, who was forced to retire at the
tender age of 27 due to nagging injuries, will return to his All Star form
once the season begins. Luck for him,
no one expects him to be the star of the Wolves as he was in Portland and if
Brandon Roy manages to put up solid number of 13-15 points per game along
with 3-4 assists and rebounds per game, then it would have been all but worth
it.
The real player who will be
under the microscope will be Kevin Love as he will have to prove that he is
the superstar that the media has portrayed him to be. There is no doubting his ability and
talent; however, one must wonder whether he deserves to be mentioned along
with the likes of NBA greats such as Lebron James, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant to name few. All that he has
shown thus far is that is a rather good player on a rather bad team—despite
averaging close to 23 points and 14 rebounds per game in the last two
seasons, his team has only won 43 games in that time span. Love will have to shown not only fans, but
his detractors as well that he is the franchise player that the fans, coaches
and front office of Minnesota along with the media portray him to be. Nonetheless, with the team that he has now,
the Minnesota Timberwolves will certainly be a force to be reckoned with and
Wolves fans, after five long and hard years will finally have something to
cheer about.
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Thursday, September 20, 2012
SDH's 2012/2013 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 7. Minnesota Timberwolves
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