Wolves In The News

[TMo519]

I'd like to know what they say about Derrick. Don't have insider, but I'm guessing they wil say Ricky should study Nash. I wonder what they say about Derrick. What would you say?

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story?pa ... ving-study

Actually, he said Kyrie Irving should study Steve Nash. He said Rubio should study Chris Paul, cause of his ability to score efficiently, specifically in the paint and his fadeaway.

He said Derrick Williams should study Kevin Love He says that it's clear he's best suited for power forward, and since he has range and is tough, he could pattern his game similarly.

[Klomp]

Nikola Pekovic, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds Thursday, finished the season with the highest scoring average for a Wolves center in franchise history.

Pekovic's 13.9 points per game tops the 12.3 mark set by Mark Blount in 2006-07.

Pekovic also set a club record for highest shooting percentage. He finished the season shooting 56.4 percent, third in the NBA. Pekovic topped the 52.6 shooting percentage posted by Kevin Garnett in 2005-06

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_20492260/

[Klomp]

Beasley spoke optimistically about his future here, in his typically soft, easygoing manner.

''I'm not really putting too much thought into it, not really putting too much energy into it, because it's one of those things that I can't control,'' Beasley said as the team wrapped up practices last week. ''I'm going to approach my summer as if I'm coming back next season, and I'm going to try to come back in the best shape I can, come back the best player I can be.''

His plan is to continue his summer work in Los Angeles with former Lakers standout Norm Nixon, who has become a mentor of sorts to Beasley, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft by Miami.

Work is the operative word, according to the grueling, ambitious plan he laid out.

''Shoot a zillion jump shots a day. Dribble a million minutes a day. Just work on being an all-around player, from rebounding to defending to blocking shots to stealing basketballs to scoring to playmaking,'' Beasley said, then repeating for emphasis: ''Just working on being an all-around great player. Not just a scorer, not just a defender, not just a rebounder. Just being an all-around great player.''

He added: ''If anybody questions my conditioning I challenge them to come and work out with me for a day. It's tough. I go four times a day. I go at 6 a.m. on the track. After that we do boxing, jujitsu, all that. Then ballet. Then basketball. Three or four days out of the week we run five, six miles on the beach. Barefoot. From Santa Monica to Venice. Back up to Santa Monica.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/beasleys-t ... Gvagm8vLYF

[Devilzsidewalk]

He added: ''If anybody questions my conditioning I challenge them to come and work out with me for a day. It's tough. I go four times a day. I go at 6 a.m. on the track. After that we do boxing, jujitsu, all that. Then ballet. Then basketball. Three or four days out of the week we run five, six miles on the beach. Barefoot. From Santa Monica to Venice. Back up to Santa Monica.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/beasleys-t ... Gvagm8vLYF

"I know jujitsu!"

"show me"

[Klomp]

“[Johnson]’s going to play Summer League this year. I think it’s a great opportunity. … There’s nothing that says he’s going to be hurt by playing in the Summer League. It’s not about an ego being bruised because he’s in his third year or heading into his third year. He missed last year’s Summer League [because of the lock out]. This is an opportunity where he would have been playing anyway. He’s embracing that now and he understands that.” — Player development coach Shawn Respert

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/of ... 05_04.html

[moss_is_1]

Good. Hopefully he can gain some confidence from the summer league.

[theGreatRC]

“[Johnson]’s going to play Summer League this year. I think it’s a great opportunity. … There’s nothing that says he’s going to be hurt by playing in the Summer League. It’s not about an ego being bruised because he’s in his third year or heading into his third year. He missed last year’s Summer League [because of the lock out]. This is an opportunity where he would have been playing anyway. He’s embracing that now and he understands that.” — Player development coach Shawn Respert

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/of ... 05_04.html

He should also embrace that he is one of the worst players in the league and any level of basketball should be considered "competitive" to him.

[Klomp]

[Foye]

Does he make all his points of fastbreaks?

[Foye]

Good. Hopefully he can gain some confidence from the summer league.

Given his fragile personality I expect it to completely break his career.

[Klomp]

Does he make all his points of fastbreaks?

Haha no. Here's a better look at his highlights (skip 1:30-2:00, some weird glitch)



This kid is talented. He played in the same conference as my alma mater, so I've seen him play in person twice. But being NBA talented is a whole 'nother story. However, I think we might be seeing him in Summer League. (can't imagine the tryout was for anything else). He's from AZ, so theres a possibility he could play on Suns SL team too.

[Calinks]

Wish the best for Beas. Same for Weasley but I just don't ever see it turning around. At the very least he may turn out to be a Summer league beast like Skita was back in the day.

[Basti]

Technically it isn't from a newspaper/official media source but I enjoyed this blog entry from another RealGM user.

http://keesnbablog.blogspot.de/2012/04/ ... uards.html

[Klomp]

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team's two-game 2012 Target Center preseason schedule, highlighted by an exhibition contest against Maccabi Bazan Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Super League on Tuesday, Oct. 16. The Wolves will also play host to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, Oct. 13. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.

Minnesota's matchup with Maccabi Bazan Haifa will mark the first time in franchise history that the Wolves will play host to an international team. The Wolves lone previous contest against an international team came on Oct. 6, 2007 when they traveled to Istanbul, Turkey to play Efes Pilsen.

"We're extremely excited to host one of Europe's premier teams in Maccabi Bazan Haifa," said Timberwolves President Chris Wright. "As our great game's popularity continues to grow exponentially internationally, it's extremely important that we expose our fans to the best European basketball. The preseason offers us the unique opportunity to play teams from around the world and we look forward to Maccabi's stay in the Twin Cities."

Maccabi Bazan Haifa's matchup with the Wolves is part of its two-game preseason exhibition tour in the United States, with the team also playing Golden State on Oct. 11. Maccabi Bazan Haifa’s trip to the United States will mark the second time in three years the team will travel to the United States to play against NBA competition, having faced the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets (formerly New Jersey) at the Prudential Center on Oct. 3, 2010. Maccabi Bazan Haifa has a long and storied legacy as it was one of the original eight teams to form the Israeli Premier League for the 1954 season. Under the ownership of American businessman Jeffrey Rosen, the team has earned a playoff appearance in three out of the last five seasons and was the Super League runner-up during the 2008-09 season in the team’s first year back in the Super League after a 10-year absence.

"As one of Europe's top teams, Maccabi Bazan Haifa will provide great competition for our club as we get ready for the 2012-13 season," said Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn. "As our roster features two of the NBA's premier international players in Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic, we continue to see European players make huge impacts on NBA teams. As the NBA continues to expand globally, I expect that trend to only grow in the coming years. It's great to have the opportunity to compete internationally."

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/wo ... n-schedule

[C.lupus]

Looks like they finished in last place in the Israeli league. Not sure if they can be called one of Europe's premier teams but it's cool anyway.

http://www.mhbasket.co.il/Table.asp?Year=2012&lang=en