On top of all the rest...Team Turmoil?!?

[Kurosawa]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/stor ... eamTurmoil

Not content with consigning the Wolves to the lowest rung on the NBA ladder in several categories (worst team, lowest projected finish, worst F.O., next-to-worst long-range outlook as a franchise, etc. etc), another "panel" of ESPN "experts" now predicts that Minnesota will suffer the "most turmoil" of any franchise in the league this season.

Turmoil? On a balanced roster full of nice guys with upside? At least Howlin' T-Wolf presents a sensible counter argument.

Hating on the Minnesota Timberwolves and David Kahn has gotten so ridiculous, it's laughable. The good news: one can be utterly confident that this team will exceed expectations. The not-so-good news: expectations are so low, that's almost a given.

[SSUBluesman]

Love pisses and moans every chance he gets because he's not actually the superstar he thinks he is.
Beasley is Beasley.
Darko had his issues in DET when he was younger.
Everything is built around Rubio being here next year. Any change to that is devastating.
Craptastic teams tend to not be the most cohesive.
No veteran leadership.
A bunch of mediocre players who are worthy of 20 mpg but who will think they should get 30 mpg every night on account of how much we suck.
Rambis has not demonstrated the best ability to connect with his players or help them succeed.
Our culture sucks.

Let's be real though, ESPN is more interested in creating/experiencing soap operas involving sports than actual sports.

[cpfsf]

I'm not offended, I just don't care.

[SteelWolf]

Before they start analysing theyr predictions after season to look who was right and who was uterly stupidly wrong ESPN crew gets no credit at all, they are just bandwagoning pussies without knowlege.

[Calinks]

Currently I am so apathetic towards the team I don't really care anymore either. Hopefully when it gets closer to the start of the season that will change.

[JohnHenryMeyer]

I swear every NBA writer predicting the Wolves to be the worst team in the league will eat their words. I am so sick of reading negative articles about the Wolves when they actually had one of the best offseasons of any team, besides the Heat of course (in my biases opinion). Here is why I hold this belief....

The Wolves kept the guys who showed value (besides AL's right hand) in Love, Brewer, Flynn, Ellington, Darko and replaced the rest of the roster with Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson, Martell Webster, Luke Ridnour, Nikola Pekovic, Anthony Tolliver and Lazar Hayward. We did trade multiple second rounders away, but heck we got two first round picks and if you payed any attention that's exactly what the Cavs got from the Heat for LEBRON.....2 future firsts. Maybe I'm crazy as hell but it seems obvious that the seven new players, listed above, are far-far-far-far better than Ryan Gomes, Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins, Oleksiy Pecherov, Sasha Pavlovic, Damien Wilkins, and Brian Cardinal. Last years team was full of stiffs, d-league all stars, and has-beens [A person, especially one formerly popular or influential, whose popularity or effectiveness has peaked and is now in decline]. If these so called 'experts' on ESPN.com and NBA.com would simply take the time to compare this years roster to last years version then maybe they would realize that more winning will bring less turmoil...and more winning will indeed occur this next season. I don't speak often on these boards because I enjoy listening more than interjecting, most of the time, but I personally guarentee the 2010-2011 Timberwolves will not finish in last place. They will improve their record from last year and not lead the league in team turmoil. I wish that could be an offical stat...TTPG - (team turmoil per game - Beas just gave Jonny a bad look (-1) and Kevin walked back slow and angry to the bench to sub out for Tolliver (-1).

I completely agree that the media's hatred towards the Wolves has become laughable and I simpy cannot wait to see teams finish worse than us. We are not as bad as the media says we are, our GM is not as bad as everyone says he is, and all of these perceptions only gives me more reason to support this years more talented squad.

[funkatron101]

Currently I am so apathetic towards the team I don't really care anymore either. Hopefully when it gets closer to the start of the season that will change.

I was before the Meet and Greet, but the staff was so overwhelmingly greatful for the fans sticking with them and constantly have referred us as being a part of the team, it's hard for me to not feel a sense of community and optimism.

[shrink]

I liked Benjamin Polk's rebuttal.

[C.lupus]

Another pathetic piece of "journalism". No reasoning. No explanation. No nothing. They just give a list of the the top vote getters. Oh, and by the way, the Wolves "won" with only 15% of the votes from their panel. Basically, they are all just giving wild *** guesses. To their credit, 85% of the panelists voted for a team other than the Wolves.

The only saving grace is the rebuttals, some of which are very good.

[shrink]

I can understand why some ESPN guys would vote for MIN as a team that may have team turmoil.

First, look at the actions of some of our players.

Love acts in an unprofessional manner when he gets asked questions (or texts).
Darko has a great video about rage issues.
Should we talk about Beasley's maturity?

Second, there are questions about minutes. First you've got Love wanting to start, and Beasley having only shown he can play PF as well. Even if Love is happy and Beasley plays some SF, you're squeezing the minutes of Wes Johnson, Webster, and Corey Brewer.

Third, I think a team filled with young players has a much greater chance for turmoil than vets. Add in the fact that many of these guys came into the league with high expectations and high draft picks, and I think it exacerbates a sense of entitlement that we see in many professional athletes today.

Fourth, we've got a new GM, a less-experienced coach, and a more complicated offense than many of these players are used to. We're going to lose games. That raises the stress level, and the chance for turmoil.


Now personally, I tend to believe that we'll be OK. I agree with most of that rebuttal, and I think that MIN has been attacked unfairly by many national writers, particularly at ESPN. I think we have a knee-jerk reaction to deny it. However, I am not going to cry "Foul!" when 15% predict we may have turmoil, because there is certainly the opportunity for it. Not a likelyhood (in my eyes), but the possibility.

[Breakdown777]

I'm just waiting for the next Bill Simmons (or any espn writers) article that will go like this:

"Just when you thought the MN timerwolves GM, David Khan, couldn't destroy the team any further.....get a look at these jerseys. New changes have been made a mere 2 seasons after the new pathetic jerseys were unvield. I, for one, and unimpressed. My fellow collegues agree as well, just look at this mindless chart filled with votes about things no one is quite sure about,..you'll see that the MN timberwolves have been voted the ugliest team, with the uglies contracts (looking at you Darko), and the ugliest players (still looking at you, Darko. And your new Serbian teammate Nikola Pechivich), and now the ugliest jerseys. The only thing that could make this team prettier is Ricky Rubio, but we all know that's never going to happen"

[Dewey]

Wow ... blame it on Love

[TDWOLVESFAN]

Hopefully our players use this and all the other negative things written about them as fuel to help redeem themselves. Some are players have been written off by other teams - so let them prove otherwise here. If they don't - they problably won't get another basketball contract in the USA - it's up to them to put the work in.

I think for Beasley, Love and Darko, Rambis is the first coach that will demand their respect, but respect them in return for their efforts - consistently. They won't be handed minutes, they will want to get better to earn his respect so they can play. Love will eventually learn to shut his yap or Rambis will screw with his playing time.

For the first time in a long time - maybe the history of the team, we have more than 2 or 3 players that like to and want to play defense. That should lead to good defense hence, more fast breaks layups or kicking the ball out to trailing 3 pt shooters. Having more 3 point shooters than we ever have had at one time could help us defensively also, as we may become better at defending the 3 if we have to practice against that type of threat everyday. We definitely have more overall talent then we have ever had - hopefully one of them emerges as a star.

As long as we play solid defense in the paint and out on top (PG), stop the sloppy play but instead play fundamentally sound basketball and don't try to live by the 3pt shot,- I'm thinking 32-35 wins this year.

[Killboard]

"And even stranger to sign two Serbian centers for a grand total of $34 million over the next four seasons, especially when one of them is named Darko Milicic."

This guy dont even know where Pekovic is born.

[St.Nick]

"And even stranger to sign two Serbian centers for a grand total of $34 million over the next four seasons, especially when one of them is named Darko Milicic."

This guy dont even know where Pekovic is born.

Are you sure that you know where Pekovic was born?

[Killboard]

If that guy is the number 14 who smash defenders in Panathinaikos and Montenegro national team that i saw in youtube i think he is Montenegrin. Confusing a Serbian with a Montenegrin is enough for be kicked in the balls, specially by 270 lbs of muscle. I will not discuss that with him face to face by any cost.

[Devilzsidewalk]

oooh I do I do:

Nikola Peković (born January 3, 1986 in Bijelo Polje, Montenegro)

what do I win

[funkatron101]

"And even stranger to sign two Serbian centers for a grand total of $34 million over the next four seasons, especially when one of them is named Darko Milicic."

This guy dont even know where Pekovic is born.

Are you sure that you know where Pekovic was born?

Yugoslavia/Serbia...It's all in that area (makes half-assed hand gesture).

[St.Nick]

Its a tough question. Anyone else have a guess?

[St.Nick]

"And even stranger to sign two Serbian centers for a grand total of $34 million over the next four seasons, especially when one of them is named Darko Milicic."

This guy dont even know where Pekovic is born.

Are you sure that you know where Pekovic was born?

Yugoslavia/Serbia...It's all in that area (makes half-assed hand gesture).

Got it! Montenegro was not a country when Pekovic was born. It was all part of Yugoslavia.

BTW, I've been there. Absolutely beautiful coastal country with absolutely huge people.