After the worst season in 13 years, Wolves fans can still have hope.
Minnesota Timberwolves 2007-2008 Season Wrap-Up
How do I even begin to summarize this past Timberwolves season? I don’t know what words to say. You see, even though games were played and men ran up and down the court with the name across their chests, it just never felt like “Timberwolves basketball” to me. Something was missing, and I’m sure you all know who that “something” was.
I know, I know. The trade took place nearly nine months ago. It’s old news, and I should be over it. I know that. But as much as we all like to tell ourselves that this was “the best thing for our future”, that KG is “better off”, and that we’ve “moved on”, there’s no denying that the Target Center was a shell of its former self this year. I only got to witness the experience via the television set, and even I could notice the emptiness. And no matter how much we may try to mask the pain and deny it, that vacuum is a direct result of Kevin Garnett’s departure.
Kevin Garnett is just a man. He throws on a pair of sneakers and puts a leather ball through a metal circle. I’m not here to pass him off as some “savior” or some supernatural force that we should bow down and worship. In fact, the point I’m trying to make has very little to do with Kevin Garnett, the man. It has to do with Kevin Garnett, the ideal. It has to do with what Kevin Garnett represented for this franchise and what this organization has become in the wake of his absence.
It’s been so long that most of us will have some trouble remembering it, but do you remember “Timberwolves basketball”? For me, it’s defined by the 2002-2003 squad: KG and his band of nobodies. You had a solid player in Wally, and then the next best thing was the Slovenian Marshmallow, Rasho at center. You had guys like the pre-injury T-Hud, Kendall Gill, and Rod Strickland coming in on minimum contracts just because we had roster space. You look at a team like that, and the NBA Draft Lottery is certainly a possible outcome for the season. But no, Flip Saunders drew every ounce out of those players, and as a team, they earned the Western Conferences 4th seed and secured home court advantage in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.
Do you remember what that meant to us? Man, that was everything after six-straight first-round exits! And then in true Timberwolves fashion, we had to go draw Kobe and the Lakers in the first round and made it a 7th. Honestly, we couldn’t catch a break to save our lives, but we kept fighting. We had a coach the players respected and gave their all for. We had a franchise player who would spill his own blood to win a game. We had an owner who we could believe when he said he’d spend whatever he needed to spend to make this team successful. When you break it all down, what we had was a reason to hope for something better.
It wasn’t just blind hope because we were too afraid to face reality. Unfortunately, that’s what I feel most Wolves fans have now. People throw around the word “potential” like all of a sudden the players got us to 28th place this year are going to flip a switch and turn into the second coming of the San Antonio Spurs. Nobody in the front office has been held accountable, or has at least had the guts to say “we messed up, and we messed up pretty bad.” Take an honest look back to 2002-03 and you’ll see that this 2007-08 season is just “empty” in comparison. What’s sad is that 2002-03 wasn’t some miracle run, either. That was just making the playoffs. I don’t even want to bring up how far away we are from “championship” level, because it’s too depressing.
Bottom line, we’ve experienced what it’s like to have a franchise with a purpose, and it doesn’t feel like the situation we’re in right now. There’s talk of blueprints and plans, but where’s the action? Talking about having cap space in 2009 and targeting top-name free agents sounds really nice until you take a look and realize there’s almost nobody of merit who’s contract is coming due that year. Well, at least nobody who’s going to come to Minnesota. When you realize this cap space strategy is clearly flawed, it’s just maddening to think that the Wolves failed to make a play on Pau Gasol, who went for 15 cents on the dollar and ultimately set off a trading frenzy and subsequent power shift that made making the playoffs in the West that much tougher for years to come. And please don’t get me started on keeping Theo through the trading deadline so the team could save cash on his buyout…
Things have to change. They have to, plain and simple, or pretty soon this franchise won’t even be able to find takers for their $43 package of season tickets. I’m tired of crossing my fingers each spring, knowing that our only hope to fix this disaster is for a ping pong ball to take a lucky bounce. I’m tired of being fed “politically correct” lines about a bright future with no substance to back them up. I’m tired of the boys club that rewards ineptitude and continues to pump out a vicious cycle of the same mistakes over and over again. I’m tired of it, and honestly, part of me wants to throw on Celtic Green and leave the whole stinking mess behind me…
Then I look back to the very first article I ever wrote about this team and the quote it contains:
“I’m ready. I can’t even describe it. I feel like it’s rookie season all over again, with the energy I have. You guys have been talking all that bull, so I’m ready to prove all you wrong. I’m here. Hey, when stuff got tight, when Steph [Marbury] left, I’m here. When we went through the draft pick [forfeitures], I’m here. When we got put out six years in a row, I’m here. I’m going to be here until they don’t want me anymore. I’m ‘Sota, man. This is where I live, 365 days. I’m here. Life is tough. You can’t run from everything.”
I read that and it gives me chills. That was Kevin Garnett, the ideal. Even though the long, difficult years that followed have obscured the message and hidden it from some, that ideal still remains. You may have to look hard to find it, but it’s there. It’s woven in the threads of the jerseys. It’s been pounded into the hardwood of the floor. It sparkles within each bead of sweat on our players’ brows. It’s carried on the voices of every fan. It is the reason we have hope.
I’ve always believed that if you wanted something bad enough, and gave everything you had into something, you couldn’t help but succeed. Life has taught me otherwise, with Kevin Garnett’s departure being the most recent example. However, that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. When the bad times come, and believe me, they’re going to keep coming, we just have to make them the next line in the paragraph. If we can do that, then we will weather this storm, and whether it be one, two, or thirteen years down the road, we will take part in that better day.
When we got put out a seventh time in a row, I’m here. When we were sabotaged by Sam and Spree, I’m here. When we traded away two first round picks for sub-par players, I’m here. When we traded Brandon Roy, I’m here. When we missed out on Iverson, I’m here. When we set Kevin Garnett free, I’m here.
Say it with me now…
I’m going to be here until they rip this team away from me like the Sonics in Seattle. I’m ‘Sota, man. This is who I root for, 365 days. I’m here. Life is tough. You can’t run from everything.
Predictions:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
First Round:
Boston over Atlanta
Detroit over Philadelphia
Orlando over Toronto
Cleveland over Washington
Conference Semifinals:
Boston over Cleveland
Detroit over Orlando
Conference Finals:
Boston over Detroit
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
First Round:
L.A. Lakers over Denver
New Orleans over Dallas
San Antonio over Phoenix
Utah over Houston
Conference Semifinals:
L.A. Lakers over Houston
San Antonio over New Orleans
Conference Finals:
L.A. Lakers over San Antonio
NBA FINALS:
Boston Celtics over Los Angeles Lakers
