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Vegas has T-Wolves at 200-1 to win NBA title

When the Minnesota Timberwolves open their abbreviated 2011-12 season soon after Christmas, they’ll unveil an abbreviated franchise player.

After an extended offseason of honing his body, Kevin Love will no longer qualify for the “beefy” category.

Minnesota’s 6-9 power forward will enter training camp on Dec. 9 weighing in at 240 pounds, down about 25 from his playing weight at the end of last season.

“Haven’t been this low since my freshman year in high school,” quips Love, 23, the former Lake Oswego High standout.

How did Love become the NBA’s version of Gisele Bundchen?

“If I give you all the secrets, then …” Love teases during a Thanksgiving weekend visit to the Oswego home of his parents, Stan and Karen.

Love continued his workouts through the offseason with trainer Gunnar Peterson near Kevin’s home in Santa Monica, Calif., but it was more than that.

“It was taking care of my body, eating the right foods, getting sleep and training the right way,” Love says. “More than anything, I paid attention to what I ate.”

A sleeker Love will mean more mobility, and will ease the pressure on his knees as they take a pounding through a shorter, but still lengthy NBA season.

“Kevin looks great,” says Stan, the former player and author of “Love in the NBA.” “I hope he didn’t lose too much, but his legs are strong, and (the leaner body) will help with his longevity.”

After a breakout 2010-11 campaign which saw Love average 20.2 points, shoot .417 from 3-point range, lead the league in rebounding (15.2 per game), win the most improved player award and make his first All-Star game, he has even bigger plans for this season.

“I’ve worked a lot on my midrange game,” Love says. “I’m going to try to get back into the post more this season. I want to take a step forward with my game.

“Players are made with their work throughout the summer. I want to come back with one or two new things this season.”

Among the “new” is a six-year endorsement contract with Chinese shoe company “361 degrees.”

“It was a too-good-to-be-true offer,” Love says. “I couldn’t turn it down.”

Love would have worn Hush Puppies had it meant being able to play NBA basketball this season. He is on the side of those who had been hoping for a collective-bargaining agreement to be signed weeks, if not months, earlier.

“It’s very exciting,” Love says. “Maybe it’s not the greatest deal for us (players) to sign, but in these economic hard times, it’s great to get back to basketball.”

Did the players’ side give too much to reach a deal with the owners?

“I wouldn’t say a definite yes, but we did make a lot of concessions,” Love says. “A lot of people were jaded and didn’t really understand what the 50-50 split (of basketball-related income) meant to the players’ side.

“There are a few things we gave up that could have gone either way, but it was time to get back onto the court.”

Love says he often thought of the people affected by the lockout who will not be wearing players’ uniforms.

“This has been disheartening not only to us players, but to employees top to bottom in a franchise — from the front office to equipment managers, security, concessions, those who sell jerseys and so on,” Love says. “You have to put it all in perspective and see who else is affected by it.

“For a lot of people, it’s their livelihood. It’s a lot more than a game, and as players, we need to be aware of that.”

Love, active on Facebook and Twitter (he has 110,000 followers), says he had a lot of feedback from the public through the lockout.

“A lot of questions were raised every day,” he says. “You had to keep your head on a swivel and hope things would work out in the end.”

Through Love’s first three seasons in Minnesota, the Timberwolves accumulated an NBA-worst record of 56-190, including 17-65 last season. The hiring of Rick Adelman as coach gives him hope for immediate improvement.

Love played with Adelman’s youngest son, Patrick, during his high school days.

“I’m very excited about Rick being the new coach,” Love says. “The cool thing is, he has had success with teams with superstar players, and he has had success when he didn’t have that kind of talent.

“In 2009, without Yao Ming, he took the Rockets to a seven-game (Western Conference semifinals) series against the Lakers. It shows what kind of a coach he is.

“With a young team like ours, it will be another challenge for him. And it will be a challenge for us as well, with a new type of offense and defense and game plan. I can’t wait.”

The shorter preseason could mean it will take a little longer for Adelman to put the Wolves on a winning track.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s going to affect us quite a bit,” Love says. “For veteran teams who know their coach, it’s going to be a little bit easier for them to adjust. We’ll just do the best we can to get on the same page quickly.”

Even so, Love’s expectations are to see some results sooner rather than later.

“I hate the word ‘rebuilding,’ ” he says. “What we’ve been doing the past two or three years … for lack of a better term, we’ve blown our team up a couple of times. I’m the only active Timberwolf left from the Kevin McHale era.

“It’s really changed since I’ve been around, but things can change quickly in our league. Look at teams like Oklahoma City and Memphis — it didn’t take them long.”

The addition of 21-year-old Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio has Love excited, especially after facing Rubio with the U.S. team in the 2010 world championships.

“I saw how he competed against Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo,” Love says. “I also saw him play after the draft but before the lockout started, and he looked good.

“He can hold his own. He’s very young, but he’s a point guard, and he’ll be able to go out there with our young team, make mistakes and learn from them.”

Love will make $4.6 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract. If he doesn’t sign an extension, he’ll become a restricted free agent after this season. He says he will talk with his agent, Jeff Schwartz, this week, with the idea of mapping out his future.

I get the impression Love will choose not to sign an extension, opting to see how it goes this season under Adelman before committing long-term to the Wolves.

If I were a betting man, I’d put money that Love will play out the next two years in Minnesota and go onto the free-agent market during the summer of 2013.

The best news is, he’ll be playing basketball in the NBA this season. Minnesota Slim, we can call him now.

“It’s very exciting,” Love says. “Maybe it’s not the greatest deal for us (players) to sign, but in these economic hard times, it’s great to get back to basketball.”

Did the players’ side give too much to reach a deal with the owners?

“I wouldn’t say a definite yes, but we did make a lot of concessions,” Love says. “A lot of people were jaded and didn’t really understand what the 50-50 split (of basketball-related income) meant to the players’ side.

“There are a few things we gave up that could have gone either way, but it was time to get back onto the court.”

Love says he often thought of the people affected by the lockout who will not be wearing players’ uniforms.

“This has been disheartening not only to us players, but to employees top to bottom in a franchise — from the front office to equipment managers, security, concessions, those who sell jerseys and so on,” Love says. “You have to put it all in perspective and see who else is affected by it.

“For a lot of people, it’s their livelihood. It’s a lot more than a game, and as players, we need to be aware of that.”

27.Minnesota (17-65)
Pace: 99.2 (1), Off: 101.1 (24), Def: 108.3 (27)
Let the Ricky Rubio era begin! With Rubio and fellow rookie Derrick Williams on board, as well as Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, and StatsCube favorite Anthony Tolliver, the Wolves just might be the League Pass team of the year. Whether or not they win many more games than they did last year is another question.

Previous: 30

The Thunder's ascent in the Northwest Division comes at the same time the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers all are going through transition phases. That might allow to the Minnesota Timberwolves and their young cast of up and comers to make their mark, too, with new leadership in Rick Adelman calling the shots. Whatever this group lacks in quality depth of teams it will more than make up for in star power with Durant and Russell Westbrook for the Thunder, LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland, Kevin Love and the curious case of Ricky Rubio in Minnesota.
------------------------------------------------
2010-11 record: 17-65

Finish: Fifth in Northwest division

Playoffs: N/A

Strengths: The Rick Adelman-Kevin Love-Michael Beasley-Ricky Rubio-Derrick Williams dynamic alone gives the Timberwolves a fresh and promising start this season. Sure, this team has its flaws -- no seasoned big man help, little in the way of veteran leadership outside of Brad Miller and Luke Ridnour and the scars of the dysfunctional Kurt Rambis era just to name a few -- but Adelman's arrival has to calm a few nerves in the Twin Cities. He's done some of the best work of his career with what looks to everyone else like a disjointed group.

Challenges: Rubio presents a tricky problem for Adelman, who has to choose between allowing the flashy rookie to learn on the job or easing the Spanish phenom into things as a reserve. Normally, this wouldn't even be a dilemma on a young team that has struggled the way the Timberwolves have the past few years. But Rubio has to be handled carefully. If his transition isn't a smooth one, it could hinder the progress of both Love and Beasley.

Outlook: One of those amazing first-year turnarounds seems like a long shot for a team that managed just 17 wins a season ago and will rely on two rookies, Rubio and Williams, for significant contributions. Having the right kind of role players to fit his system will certainly aid him in turning this crew around sooner rather than later.

This could make a difference: The sooner Rubio and Williams find their roles and figure out a way to fit into Adelman's system, the better the young Timberwolves will be. They have an All-Star anchor in Love at the one position that Adelman must have properly staffed in order to build a team to his liking. Adelman will also need a buy-in from Beasley, who has All-Star talent but has yet to put the entire package together..

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – One of our most cherished traditions here at the hideout is coming to an end and we didn’t even realize it until just now.

All those days spent joking at the expense of the Minnesota Timberwolves could soon be a thing of the past. That laughing at Timberwolves GM David Kahn for something he either said or did might be over.

And it has everything to do with the fact that the Timberwolves had arguably the best pound-for-pound offseason of any team in the league. Rick Adelman comes aboard as coach. Heralded rookies Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams join the rotation along with solid veteran pick up and Adelman fave Brad Miller. And All-Star Kevin Love (the bearded, slender gentleman in the video above) shed a few pounds and looks like he’s in All-Star form heading into the start of training camp.

After a couple of years of trying to fit the right players into the wrong system, Adelman will bring a talent-friendly scheme to a deep and promising roster that needed just the right fit in a head coach.

While it’s far too early to set foot on thin ice and predict this team will rise into the ranks of Western Conference playoff contenders, it is fair to say that they’ve got our full attention right now.

And they also have a huge decision to make regarding Love and his immediate future. With the “Derrick Rose Rule” that is included in the new collective bargaining agreement, Love’s next contract is a front-burner issue for Kahn. And Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune says the young star is thinking big:

Much like the Wolves were faced with a franchise-defining decision whether to break the bank to sign a youngster named Kevin Garnett 14 years ago, the Wolves soon will have to decide whether the face of the franchise right now will become THE centerpiece worthy of such a deal.

If the Wolves don’t sign Love to a contract extension in the coming weeks, he could become a restricted free agent next summer.

If someone offers him a max contract then, the Wolves simply could choose to match the offer then and keep him.

If Love decides not to sign an offer sheet with another team then, he could play the 2012-13 on a $6.1 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2013.

Love said all the right things on Sunday — he loves Minnesota, he likes the changes the Wolves have made but he wants to see results — but also seemed at peace when he basically said, maybe it will happen and maybe it won’t.

He implied he’s worth a max deal without directly saying it.

What would you if you were the Wolves?

Sign him now? And at what price?

Wait through this season and then retain the right to match any offers next season?

Entertain trade offers for him, and for who or what?

The interesting subplot in this negotiation:

Love’s agent is Jeff Schwartz, who representing Al Jefferson when he was in this same situation four years ago.

Jefferson accepted a five-year, $65 million deal and Schwartz was none too happy that Jefferson left money on the table to re-sign with the team who traded Kevin Garnett for him.

Let’s see if Schwartz compensates for that one by trying to win this one big.

Whatever happens with Love’s new deal, you better get all your best Timberwolves jokes in during training camp. Because this team could be poised for a serious change in scenery this season.

Kevin Love (F-C, Timberwolves)
2010-11 Stats: 20.2 PPG, 47.0% FG, 15.2 RPG, 2.5 APG

Love, McClanaghan said, is "in the best shape I have ever seen him." In addition to the workouts, Love became more dedicated to his diet. He hired a personal chef and significantly reduced his body fat.

"Some guys in the league can eat pizza every night," McClanaghan said. "Kevin knows he can't do that. You talk about discipline, he knows what his body is and he knows what he has to do to maintain it."

On the court, McClanaghan and Love focused on continuing to extend Love's range. He shot a blistering 41.7 percent from three-point range last season, a number McClanaghan believes can improve even more. In post drills, Love polished a turnaround hook shot that McClanaghan believes will be a weapon for him this season.

"He doesn't want to be known just as an inside guy," McClanaghan said. "He's a great shooter. And what he did with his body is really going to pay off in those four games per week stretches. He's much more mobile now and it will have much less wear on his knees."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1ftiIKcAd

MINNEAPOLIS — When the Minnesota Timberwolves took forward Derrick Williams with the second overall pick of the NBA draft this year, some fans felt the Wolves were continuing to stock a position at which they were already filled.

True, Minnesota has a logjam at forward and adding Williams to the mix only muddles the picture. Even by his own accounts, Williams says he and fellow forward Michael Beasley are very similar players.

Beasley is listed at 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, Williams at 6-foot-8, 241. Both are capable of playing either the small forward or power forward positions.

"I'm a righty, he's a lefty though. That's really the only difference," Williams said Friday at the team's media day.

So while the rookie Williams joins another No. 2 pick in Beasley (2008), Williams sees it as an asset for the Timberwolves to have two similar players on the court at the same time.

"We both can shoot really well, both can handle the ball, both can put the ball on the floor," Williams said. "It's going to be really hard to try and stop both of us at the same time, I think. Not too many teams have two guys that are really similar, especially if you get on the same court at the same time. I think we can really use that to our advantage."

Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman came to Minnesota this offseason to replace Kurt Rambis. The veteran Adelman, who has the eighth-most wins all-time among NBA coaches, inherited a roster with a crowded frontcourt. Besides Beasley and Williams, the Wolves have Wesley Johnson, Anthony Tolliver, Anthony Randolph and Kevin Love who all figure to get minutes at forward.

For Adelman, the task of sorting through and evaluating all his forwards isn't made easy by the lockout-shortened preseason.

"It's a very short time. I've got two exhibition games. You've got to figure out who plays the best together," Adelman said. "We're approaching these two weeks that there's not going to be a regular starting team when we scrimmage. We're going to mix guys in and out all the time. They'll understand that. And then we'll make decisions."

Williams, a star at Arizona before leaving early for the NBA draft, says he can play the small forward or an undersized power forward, depending on the matchup. The same holds true for Beasley, the fourth-year player out of Kansas State.

If the Timberwolves indeed go with a smaller lineup, that could mean putting Love or the 6-foot-11 Randolph at center. It will definitely be a juggling act for Adelman in his first year at the helm in Minnesota.

"I think we have a number of guys who are flexible enough to play two positions. I like that. A lot depends on what the defensive matchups are," Adelman said. "But I think you're going to see Kevin playing some center. . . . I think Williams and Beasley both can play the three and four. We're going to see which combination works best. They're all three talented players. I don't see why we couldn't play them."

Randolph, in his fourth year in the league, joined the Timberwolves in the middle of last season. He said he's bulked up a bit this offseason, meaning he could step in at center in place of Darko Milicic or Nikola Pekovic, the team's two returning centers from last year.

"Pretty much the five or the four, it really doesn't matter," Randolph said on where he fits in offensively. "Whatever I can do to help the team win, that's what I plan on doing."

Adelman was asked at the team's media day how he plans to balance wins versus the development of his players. Minnesota won an NBA-low 17 games last season and returns with a very young roster.

"Potential gets coaches fired," Adelman said. "I'm going to try to play the people that give us the best chance to win. I may have to experiment and I may play the wrong people at the wrong time, but that's what I'm finding out."

jinxed wrote:Anyone have Hollinger's Insider analysis of all the wolves players?

jinxed wrote:Anyone have Hollinger's Insider analysis of all the wolves players?

JJ Barea

Barea emerged as a key rotation player during the Mavs' championship run, using his expertise creating offense in the pick-and-roll to add some zing to Dallas' second unit. He's become incredibly skillful at running his defender into the screen and giving himself a free run at the opposing big man, and with his burst, he has no trouble getting around the corner.
Barea's shot creation is better than his shot-making -- his efficiency rates are nothing special, and although he's clever at looping runners over bigger opponents, he's not a particularly accurate shooter. While his mentality is more to score than pass, he's become a credible shot creator for others, ranking 29th in pure point rating. Barea also is the master of another category: self-created layups. Only 12.5 percent of Barea's baskets at the rim were the result of an assist, the lowest percentage in the NBA last season.

Nixon, 56, said he has spent considerable time with Beasley since Kahn introduced them. This is an important year for Beasley, who becomes a restricted free agent after the 66-game season. Beasley was the Wolves' No. 2 scorer last season (19.2 points per game), but the club needs to find out if he can be a dependable player at both ends of the court before deciding whether to offer him a long-term contract.

"The more I can do for this team, the more wins we get...the contract and everything else will sort itself out," Beasley said. "I want to stay here."

Nixon was in the Twin Cities earlier this week and attended Wolves practices. After Monday's practice, Nixon and Beasley had a late dinner. Expecting Beasley to call it a night after dinner, Nixon was surprised to hear Beasley tell him, "Let's go to the gym."

Nixon said Beasley wanted to "polish up some things" from practice earlier in the day. The two went back to the Wolves' practice facility at 11 p.m. for a workout, an indication to Nixon that his words are sinking in.

"I ask him sometimes, 'Do you want to be a good player for just one year or do you want to go down as one of the greatest?' " said Nixon, who works for the Lakers as a TV analyst and helps his wife, actress and dancer Debbie Allen, run a dance academy in Los Angeles. "If you want to be one of the greatest, you can't just do it this year and stop. You have to do it for eight, nine 10 years. I think Michael can be one of the best small forwards in the game, but he can't do it with a lot of distractions."

Beasley said Nixon is the person responsible for his new, close-cut hair style. The long braids are gone, as well as some of the associates who Beasley admitted "affected me in a negative way." A key part of Nixon's mentoring role with Beasley has been to get him to part ways with friends who "didn't have as much to lose as Michael."

Beasley agreed.

"We all kind of make the mistake of coming into the NBA and bringing our old neighborhood with us," he said. "There comes a point in everybody's life when you have to grow up and stop hanging with the same knuckleheads, whether you grew up with them or not."

That's why Nixon was conscious of introducing Beasley to some of his friends in Los Angeles, people who might have grown up with the same issues but have developed successful careers. Nixon even had Beasley work out with his wife to learn more stretching techniques.

"The idea was to get him into a different space...around other people," Nixon said. "I would be very disappointed if Michael doesn't reach his full potential. I can't see him slipping now."

BeasleyTheBeast wrote:^^^ i almost cried reading that

Breakdown777 wrote:

“It’s very exciting,” Love says. “Maybe it’s not the greatest deal for us (players) to sign, but in these economic hard times, it’s great to get back to basketball.”

Did the players’ side give too much to reach a deal with the owners?

“I wouldn’t say a definite yes, but we did make a lot of concessions,” Love says. “A lot of people were jaded and didn’t really understand what the 50-50 split (of basketball-related income) meant to the players’ side.

“There are a few things we gave up that could have gone either way, but it was time to get back onto the court.”

Love says he often thought of the people affected by the lockout who will not be wearing players’ uniforms.

“This has been disheartening not only to us players, but to employees top to bottom in a franchise — from the front office to equipment managers, security, concessions, those who sell jerseys and so on,” Love says. “You have to put it all in perspective and see who else is affected by it.

“For a lot of people, it’s their livelihood. It’s a lot more than a game, and as players, we need to be aware of that.”

More players needed this attitude. The part of the lockout that was most annoying was how nobody really talked about how so many people trying to just get by were jobless while millionaire's fought with billionaires over 2% of revenue.

DaKidKG wrote:

BeasleyTheBeast wrote:^^^ i almost cried reading that

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3dUfykR-_g[/youtube]

C – Nikola Pekovic – Partizan Belgrade – Minnesota Timberwolves

Pekovic has quietly developed into one of the best back-to-the-basket big men in the world. Pekovic possesses excellent mobility for his size, and has an excellent array of moves in the post. His ability to not only draw a double team, but to pass out of the double team has proven to be very effective, as many of his teammates, notably Cavs 2011 second-round pick Milan Macvan, have had career years playing off him. While he didn’t make a big impact as a rookie in Minnesota last year, look for Pekovic to emerge as a reliable big man in Rick Adelman’s Euro friendly system. If given the opportunity, Pekovic could be a solid starter in the NBA, and a strong building block for the Wolves going forward

shrink wrote:Thanks Wolves Chat and sheridanhoops.com

C – Nikola Pekovic – Partizan Belgrade – Minnesota Timberwolves

Pekovic has quietly developed into one of the best back-to-the-basket big men in the world. Pekovic possesses excellent mobility for his size, and has an excellent array of moves in the post. His ability to not only draw a double team, but to pass out of the double team has proven to be very effective, as many of his teammates, notably Cavs 2011 second-round pick Milan Macvan, have had career years playing off him. While he didn’t make a big impact as a rookie in Minnesota last year, look for Pekovic to emerge as a reliable big man in Rick Adelman’s Euro friendly system. If given the opportunity, Pekovic could be a solid starter in the NBA, and a strong building block for the Wolves going forward