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As the playoffs approach, the Wolves have some issues to work out.
NBA Quarterly Report
My update predictions: Wolves take 4th seed, lose to Dallas in the second round. Now onto a more pressing issue:
"See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you
With or without you
With or without you
Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you"
- U2
Here's some facts for you:
I'm angry.
Kevin Garnett is angry.
Kevin McHale is angry.
Flip Saunders is angry.
Glen Taylor is angry.
The rest of the Timberwolves are angry.
The vast majority of the Timberwolves fans are angry.
The Timberwolves are having without question the best season in franchise history.
Is it just me, or does that not seem to make any sense at all? My team is outperforming every outsider's expectations, has just completed the best month in the history of the franchise, has not only the All-Star Game MVP on the roster, but will soon have the league MVP also, and is likely to finally win a playoff series for the first time ever. I'm so incredibly angry.
To be honest, I'm not 100% sure why. I would think that it's just me, but after checking the daily message boards at Twolvescentral.com, I've found that I'm not alone. Nobody's happy. As of this moment, we have the fifth best record in the whole league and have an amazing 17 game home winning streak. So what is there really to complain about? Let me try to explain the agony that's going on inside everyone that holds the Wolves near to their hearts...
The fact is that nobody in the league has it worse than us. Nobody. Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers will struggle to put double digits in the win column, but they still don't have it worse. You see, their fans can give up and just walk away from it all. They never even had a hope in the first place. On the other hand, we have this hope that we cling onto only to have it smashed to pieces. They simply don't have to deal with the constant frustration we feel. And you may think that it's entirely stupid of me to make that statement, but then also consider the other side of knowing what you could be and looking at what you are. Do you even realize how good the Timberwolves should be? Back in 2000 when the Kings and T-Wolves were 7th and 8th place material everyone said that they were the future of the Western Conference. Looking at things now, the Kings have been to the Conference Finals twice and we've yet to pass the first round. And they've done this even though we have a much better superstar and they've got a much worse coach! Even though they've gone far, it's a proven fact that Webber and Addleman are chokers.
Take a look at this team's history. I've always believed it's taken three stars to be legitimate title contenders. We've had our core of three ripped to shreds and we've never recovered. Googs left, Marbury too. And while the most important piece remains, I'm not sure if we'll ever field a threesome with as much promise again. Wolves fans don't boo Marbury just because he left our team, we boo him because he tore our hearts out and stabbed us in the back. When he left, he took our hopes and dreams with him to Jersey and left us standing around wondering how we'd ever be able to move on. Well, eventually we did and in the end we found a new threesome by getting Brandon and eventually Wally out of that trade. But by the time Wally had matured enough to give us that trifector, Terrell's career ended in injury.
This team miraculously survived the plague of injuries that overtook us earlier this season and are on track for the best season ever. But in all honesty, the first round is a pretty pathetic goal. The great teams don't look to survive the first round, they look to make it to the Finals. And so while it looks as if we'll end up with home court advantage for the first time ever, there's still a lot of improvement that could be done to this team. And so once again Timberwolves fans were forced to watch a promising future slip by when the trading deadline passed with no additions to the roster. McHale's angry because everyone is on his case, even though there really wasn't any good trades for us out there. We're all angry at him, because he wasn't aggressive enough in the first place to get us enough talent to have people to trade. And now the pressure is mounting for us to make a move because we've got several time bombs strapped to the franchise waiting to go off. We absolutely have to sign Rasho this offseason. No matter what it costs, we cannot afford to lose him, especially after we've spent so much time developing him. We have to sign Kevin Garnett...
Kevin Garnett prides himself on his loyalty. He's stated repeatedly that he wants to stay with the franchise, however, management is driving him to the breaking point. The whole Joe Smith scandal has cost us the ability to add players like Tony Parker to the roster. And now Taylor's fear of the impending luxury tax may prevent him from adding any more stars. I don't care if Taylor has to dig deep into his own wallet to pay for a free-agent this summer to get us another player, he'd better do it, luxury tax or not. It was his cheating that got us into this mess, and so it's time to put his money where his ethics should be and add the players that the fans deserve to watch.
And even with all this, I think that I could still manage to look on the bright side. We are doing extremely well right now. But to be honest with you, I'm completely petrified. I'm so afraid that Kevin Garnett is going to walk out the door if things don't begin to change. If he does, I'll probably never recover from it. I couldn't root for the Timberwolves anymore. I would have lost all faith in this franchise. And I couldn't root for Garnett, because I'd be so angry with him for doing that to me. And I couldn't root for anyone else because I would never be able to love them as much as I love this team. And so that's the reason why I started off this article with the song "With or Without You". It symbolizes the way a lot of us feel about the T-Wolves right now. We get so frustrated with the fact that after all these years, they aren't meeting our expectations, and yet the thought of turning our backs on them is too difficult to imagine. Wolves fans, we're coming closer and closer to the breaking point, and everyone is feeling the pressure. As a result, everyone involved with this organization have all turned on each other. Not because we want to pass off the responsibility, but because we feel for each other so much. We see the potential that each other has and we want each other to reach it so badly that we end up tearing each other apart in the end. Whether it's us fans being angry that we haven't won a playoff series, or management being upset that not enough fans show up to games, or Kevin Garnett being upset with management for not surrounding him with enough talent, it all has to stop. I think that once we all start getting back a little trust in each other that we could put things back in the right direction. I'm angry that we can never reach the next level. I'm angry that we were involved in the Joe Smith scandal. I'm angry that Marbury left. I'm angry that Terrell is injured. I'm angry that Malik Sealy died. I'm angry at Rasho for not signing a longer contract. I'm angry at Taylor for not spending more money. I'm angry at Garnett for making hints that he might leave. And the list goes on and on...
"And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away"
...but I'm willing to forgive. I think when it comes down to it, and we realize what we can accomplish if we can put the past behind us, everyone will be willing to forgive. And so I write this as a plea, not only for my fellow Wolves fans to continue to support the team, but also for Kevin Garnett to not turn his back on us, and for management to make the necessary moves to bring us home a title. I think if it were up to us fans, this team would be at the top of the standings. There's no denying our heart. But like most problems, it's going to be up to the people in charge to do the necessary actions to retain KG and give us a higher quality product on the floor. They need to pursue Gary Payton intensely, and try to trade TB for another star. Then maybe things will once again be good in Minnesota. Until then all we can do is to continue to hope and dream that maybe our wishes will come true.
Right now, I'm pretty angry with the Timberwolves...
...But I would be so miserable without them.
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