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I don't know if this has been posted yet, I know some of you have already read it, and if there is a topic on this then please lock.

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/da ... 80627.html

Here are some parts I liked.

David Aldridge: Very rarely do you get an equal trade of talent, in my opinion, with (O.J.) Mayo and (Kevin) Love, plus a great perimeter player in Mike Miller. He is a great perimeter player. You talk about teams like the Lakers and Dallas, they've been trying to get Miller for years and he was never available. Plus, you get rid of bad contracts, which allows you to have cap room in the next couple years, and specifically in 2010 when everyone wants it so they can go after LeBron James and Dwyane Wade ... And even if (the Wolves) don't get those guys, there is going to be so much activity and so many trades going on that summer, you want to have the ability to make one of those trades to get a very talented player. You usually get one of those three things, but you don't ever get all three of those in one trade, and they did. That's amazing. That's as good a trade as I've ever seen."

Not saying we have a chance at Wade or Lebron, but the fact that we could be available to throw money at them is still worth it.

I have no doubt that O.J. Mayo is going to be a really good player in this league. He can shoot the ball, he's competitive, he plays hard, he defends people ... He's going to be a very, very good player in this league. But when you can get size and talent in the form of Love, a kid that got 11 rebounds a game in the Pac-10 as a freshman? Rebounding is rebounding to me - either you can do it or you can't do it, you can't really teach someone to do it. He can do it, and in this league, rebounding is as important a stat as anything. If you can control the glass at both ends, you have a chance to win every night. With Love and Al Jefferson and Miller - who's a very good rebounder at the two or three spot - they can really go after it on the glass now, and that's going to make them a very effective team.

That's true. A lot of our losses came from 2-3 more possessions from the other team rebounding; we have filled a need in getting more boards off the glass.

Aldridge: There are trades like Joe Barry Carroll for (Robert) Parish and (the draft choice used on Kevin McHale) that are kind of at another level, but this is as good of a trade as I've seen in this league in a number of years. Draft day or any other day. Especially for a team that really - in this conference - is in a minefield. You really have to have some talent to compete in this conference, and obviously they didn't have it last year. I think this was a big step towards being that kind of team. Again, they have a ways to go, but there is a future here. There wasn't a future 24 hours ago, at least to me. They have two really talented young big men. They have a very, very skilled three man in Miller. I love (Randy) Foye, I covered him in Philly when he was at Villanova. You have pieces now and I think (Corey) Brewer has some potential, and he can be a really good player in this league. They have pieces now. When you have five or six legitimate good, young players, you have a chance. And that's all you can ask for, a chance to compete in this league.

I like he optimism from a respected and credible journalist in Aldridge.

This one focuses on Mike Miller:

Aldridge: You win championships with guys like Mike Miller ... Guys that are really good at what they do. They may fly under the radar a little bit, but when it comes to postseason, guys like that ... Because Al is going to get doubled pretty much every night, and Kevin is going to draw attention, so you have to throw the ball to somebody that can make a shot, and Miller can flat out shoot. That's going to be a great benefit to this team. Is he a superstar? No. But he is a very good player.

good read, I enjoyed it.

Good post/find. Im still not over the initial heart break but I am opening up to all this. Miller is really underrated. Im glad there are a few reporters out there that actually pay some sort of attention to us.

i thought our rebounding was ok last year

Brewer seems like a decent rebounder as well and foye isnt bad for a pg

wolves_fan_82au wrote:i thought our rebounding was ok last year

Brewer seems like a decent rebounder as well and foye isnt bad for a pg

exactly, though being undersized on 2 of 5 positions I think we could and should dominate on the boards next season

Our rebounding was all over the place last year. When we beat Phoenix (the first time, I think), we almost doubled them up on the boards. But there were also games where we got severely out rebounded (Washington game comes to mind, I think).

the_incredible_basti wrote:exactly, though being undersized on 2 of 5 positions I think we could and should dominate on the boards next season

What are the two positions? Obviously center, but whats the other?

Good article. I think he means both the 4 and 5 position.

Man, someone snuck some of that Love flavored Kool Aid in my drink the other
nite and I'm feeling a little better about this now...

I'm still in denial over the loss of Lima. But I'm not sure that there is any getting over her.

klomp44 wrote:

the_incredible_basti wrote:exactly, though being undersized on 2 of 5 positions I think we could and should dominate on the boards next season

What are the two positions? Obviously center, but whats the other?

depending on who you start at sg it might be Rashad. and even if we start Corey the the sg spot I also tend to think that Foye isn't actually the prototype size of a pg with 6'4'' (if he even reaches that)

Thanks for posting that.

Our rebounding last year was above average.We were 11th in offensive rebounding % and 14th in defensive rebounding %.That should be better next season with the changes.

the_incredible_basti wrote:I also tend to think that Foye isn't actually the prototype size of a pg with 6'4'' (if he even reaches that)

Are you serious? 6'4" is a great size for a point. Here's the starting points from last year around the league:

Atlanta: Bibby 6'1"
Boston: Rondo 6'1"
Charlotte: Felton 6'1"
Chicago: Hinrich 6'3"
Cleveland: West 6'3"
Dallas: Kidd 6'4"
Denver: Carter 6'2"
Detroit: Billups 6'3"
Golden State: Davis 6'4"
Houston: Alston 6'2"
Indiana: Murray 6'3"
Clippers: Knight 5'10"
Lakers: Fisher 6'1"
Memphis: Conley 6'1"
Miami: Williams 6'1"
Milwaukee: Williams 6'1"
New Jersey: Harris 6'3"
New Orleans: Paul 6'0"
New York: Marbury 6'2"
Orlando: Nelson 6'0"
Philadelphia: Miller 6'2"
Phoenix: Nash 6'1"
Portland: Blake 6'3"
Sacramento: Udrih 6'3"
San Antonio: Parker 6'2"
Seattle: Ridnour 6'2"
Toronto: Ford 6'0"
Utah: Williams 6'3"
Washington: Arenas 6'4"

A lot of 6'1"s, which means Foye has 3 inches on the average PG.

It's pretty interesting that every expert opinion I have read said we got a great deal, yet the majority of our fans think we got owned.

I think Foye is a legit 6'3. Not sure he hits 6'4. Though that is still a very good sized PG. Plus he is built very solid.

Dr.Krapinsky wrote:It's pretty interesting that every expert opinion I have read said we got a great deal, yet the majority of our fans think we got owned.

I think it's partially due to the fact that we're expecting our FO to maek the wrong move. If you look at it Mayo is going to be a great starter, but Love is a skilled big man, so you could call that a draw as far as talent and fit. Walker for Miller is as good of a deal for an expiring contract that you could get. Then Cardinal is shorter deal than Jaric. Then Collins is another big vs. Buckner.

Personally I think we got a decent deal, but would've liked to see us take advantage of Memphis if they wer ereally hot for Mayo. That said in hindsight I'm starting to think the trade could be alright.

I understand the "oh, here we go again" type of lament, but this was a trade where Mchale might have actually had the advantage. Chris Wallace is the worst GM in the league hands down.

For us the trade is all about defense,if Al and Love can play ok together defensively then we got a good deal (unless the unlikely happens and OJ becomes the next Kobe).

If Al and Love can't play together defensively then we are in trouble.

From a DX article

On the defensive end, Love plays a very smart game and is always hustling, showing his most prowess as a man-to-man defender in the post. Here, he holds excellent position and does a very good job of always keeping his hands up, getting a good deal of blocked shots when opposing players try to shoot over him. Most of his blocks come in this vein, as he doesn’t really have the athleticism to be much of a force as a help defender, even though he almost always makes the right rotations.

Love has problems with the pick-and-roll as well, not showing the quickness to consistently hedge and recover, despite his smart play

Basically if you removed all references to Love from this report and inserted Al's name it would seem to me to still hold true,which is not very encouraging.

what you have to realize is they are both very young and while they might not be able to learn the quickness they will be able to learn the skillset not to get burnt as often...

Speaking as an outsider who is generally very critical of McHale, that was a very nice trade by the TWolves. Love may look a slow, but he's so instinctive that he's usually reacting a step before everyone else. His skill set is just amazing for his age. I think he's the 3rd best player in the draft. And I didn't see Mayo as being the answer for you guys. Great trade. But... I will criticise him for trading Chalmers. He may not be much of a creator at the PG, but he does pretty much everything else, has a great outside shot, and he's a winning type of player (btw, I said that way before the NCAA tournament.).

Foye is a future stud, i dont think he'll ever be an allstar, because Minny doesnt really get coverage. Dont really care for Minny, (big fan of Foye though) but Foye, Mayo, and Jefferson would have been a real solid trio. Mike Miller can hit another gear and take over a game (ive seen it happen against the Warriors).

Regarding Aldridge and rebounding is rebounding...yeah, but look at Troy Murphy. He was a rebounding machine, but somehow just forgot how to rebound (after his heel injuries). I hope Love can reduced his body fat and stay injury free.