Every team in the league has a new beast to fear.
I don’t know what’s happening to me. A year ago, I’d be ready to pull my hair out after a Timberwolves’ loss. My roommates would be ready for me to drop dead of a heart attack if a game came down to a buzzer-beater. Every game was a matter of not only life and death, but a matter of whether we’d have a chance to finally win a playoff series after six season of frustration. I don’t know why, but I’m just not that way anymore. People who don’t care about sports say that I’m maturing, figuring out my priorities in life. My fellow Timberwolves fans say it’s that I’ve finally become jaded from having my heart ripped from my chest every April.
I don’t know exactly what it is that’s sucked the life out of me. In the past week I’ve seen KG nail two three-pointers in the final twenty seconds of the game to send a game into overtime, had him knock down a game winner the following game, and watched Jason Richardson beat us with a game winning dagger after that. And throughout all of that, it never even crossed my mind that I needed to calm down or risk having an aneurysm. That’s just not like me. And it’s not because I’ve stopped caring about sports. I’ve had steam coming out of my ears many times when the Patriots looked poised to blow a game. And it’s not because I’ve lost faith in the organization. If anything, the off-season acquisitions we made this summer have only bolstered my belief in the T-Wolves. I think that at the heart of the matter is that one thing is missing this season that’s been a fundamental part of every other season over the past fourteen years – fear.
I’m not afraid anymore. I don’t feel the need to lie to myself and say that this is the year where we finally break out into the second round. Don’t get me wrong. I still tell myself that this is the year we’re going to the second round. It’s just that it’s not a lie this time. In the past every game meant life or death because the Timberwolves needed the planets to align perfectly in order to make a dent in the playoffs. And it’s all too obvious that never happened. This year things are just different. I’m ok with the fact that we’re 13-9 at the moment, because I’ve seen first hand that 30-10 doesn’t guarantee you a thing. I’m ok with the fact that if the playoffs started today we wouldn’t have home court advantage, because if they did, we’d be heading to Denver. And that’s just not going to be the way things will be after 82 games. I’m ok with the fact that Wally Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson haven’t played a game yet. I’m ok with the fact that Michael Olowokandi might be out for a while and Ervin Johnson is our starting center. Because we’re still only one game out of first place in the division without them.
So why the sudden sense of peace? We’re still not playing well after 20 games. Who’s to say that we’re ever going to start clicking? We’ve been only a few games out of first place late into the season several times, and each time we’ve never been able to make up the difference. What makes me think that this time will be any different? We’ve had injured players that have never stepped back on the court again. Why am I so confident that we’re going to be ok if some of these guys don’t come back? Those are three good questions. And I’ve got three answers.
Sam Cassell.
Latrell Sprewell.
And Kevin Garnett.
We’ve got three players on this team unlike any other men who have ever worn a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform. These are three men with a competitive drive so strong that they win basketball games based solely on their irrepressible will. They are three men who will put the franchise on their shoulders when it really matters, and carry it on to victory. Cassell is a champion gunslinger who never met a big shot he didn’t like. Sprewell is warrior who will lock down any opponent on defense and pummel them with a never-ending barrage on offense. And Garnett? Well he’s just the flat-out best player in the L. If you asked me to pick any three players in T-Wolves history to build a team on, I’d pick these three. And guess what, that’s the situation we have right now. Things might not look so great at the moment, but I have faith in these three. They’ve shown time and time again that they’ve got the ability to play quality teams 3 on 5 and come out the victors.
As long as we’ve got these guys everything’s going to fall into place. So maybe I was wrong after all. Maybe fear really is going to be an important part of this season. Because if I were any other team in the league, I’d be pretty scared of the Minnesota Timberwolves. We’ve just unleashed a three-headed monster into the NBA.
Predictions:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division:
1. New Jersey
2. Boston
3. Philadelphia
4. Orlando
5. New York
6. Washington
7. Miami
Central Division:
1. Indiana
2. New Orleans
3. Toronto
4. Detroit
5. Milwaukee
6. Chicago
7. Cleveland
8. Atlanta
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Midwest Division
1. Minnesota
2. San Antonio
3. Dallas
4. Houston
5. Denver
6. Memphis
7. Utah
Pacific Division
1. Los Angeles
2. Sacramento
3. Portland
4. Seattle
5. Phoenix
6. Golden State
7. Los Angeles
PLAYOFFS:
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
1. Indiana
2. New Jersey
3. New Orleans
4. Toronto
5. Detroit
6. Boston
7. Philadelphia
8. Milwaukee
First Round:
Indiana over Milwaukee
New Jersey over Philadelphia
New Orleans over Boston
Detroit over Toronto
Conference Semifinals:
Indiana over Detroit
New Orleans over New Jersey
Conference Finals:
Indiana over New Orleans
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
1. Los Angeles
2. Minnesota
3. Sacramento
4. San Antonio
5. Dallas
6. Houston
7. Denver
8. Portland
First Round:
Los Angeles over Portland
Minnesota over Denver
Sacramento over Houston
San Antonio over Dallas
Conference Semifinals:
Los Angeles over San Antonio
Minnesota over Sacramento
Conference Finals:
Minnesota over Los Angeles
NBA FINALS:
Minnesota over Indiana
