Timberwolves local news

[Big Daddy]

Posted on Sat, May. 29, 2004





TOM POWERS: Wolves' problem: L.A., L.A.

TOM POWERS

Pioneer Press Columnist


Mark Madsen stated the obvious after Game 4: "Right now, people are writing us off."

Of course they are. Why wouldn't they? The Lakers are looking pretty good sitting at triple match point.

People can look at this series and say, well, the Timberwolves need to improve this and they aren't doing enough of that. Sure, there are things they could do better.

But the bottom line really is a frustrating one for area fans:

The only thing wrong with the Timberwolves is the Los Angeles Lakers.

This is the best Wolves' team in franchise history. It may turn out to be the best team the franchise ever will have, too. But Minnesota picked the wrong year to peak, because the Lakers still are better.

This must be how Jimmy Connors felt after losing to Bjorn Borg. Or how Joe Frazier felt after falling to Muhammad Ali. It's tough to discover there's someone bigger and badder.

Maybe next year, if Kobe Bryant leaves via free agency, or gets locked up, and Karl Malone retires, the Wolves will have a better shot.

Does that sound like I'm writing them off? I'm not sure anyone can really do that to the No. 1 seed. But just remember that even if they win tonight they still have to take a game in L.A.

There hasn't been any evidence to suggest that is possible.

Minnesota is very, very good. L.A. is better. What can you do?

If you're Flip Saunders, you keep trying to make adjustments. He intends to leave the playoffs the way Richard Nixon left the White House ? screaming and kicking.

His biggest problem is that none of his lugs in the middle are doing the job against Shaq. They can't guard him when he's on offense and they can't draw him away from the basket on defense.

This was supposed to be the time when Michael Olowokandi proved his worth. As it turns out, Kevin McHale was taken to the cleaners when he was talked into signing Olowokandi to a three-year deal. Olowokandi's agent did the talking and McHale bought the sales pitch? or shall we say swallowed the hook.

The Wolves would get more production out of Oliver Miller on Atkins next year. But Olowokandi is untradable. No one else is gullible enough to take him.

If just one of the Saunders' centers could hit a jump shot and draw Shaq out from his campground underneath the hoop, he would be worth his weight in precious metals. But no one can do it.

Also, the Timberwolves' role players aren't matching the Lakers' role players. For example, Trenton Hassell is considered a defensive stopper but Kobe is running wild.

In addition, the Sam Cassell situation is becoming a distraction. Everyone should just come to grips with the fact that he can't play instead of waiting on him, game to game, minute to minute. They need to move on. As it stands, it's all very unsettling.

Those are some tangible problems. But all teams have problems. The Lakers insist they aren't clicking on all cylinders, either.

Minnesota could get away with these deficiencies against other teams. It can't against the Lakers.

A lot of folks realized before the start of the playoffs that the best-case scenario was for the Lakers to get bumped off before they got to the Wolves. Minnesota matches up better against any other team

But as luck would have it, they get L.A. in the conference final. And remember that this series really is for the championship. Neither of the remaining teams in the weak East can beat either Minnesota or Los Angeles.

The Lakers are just bigger, stronger and better rested. They also have more of a sense of desperation. Malone is wrapping up his great career and desperately wants a title. Kobe will explore free agency this summer. Coach Phil Jackson has hinted this is his last go-round.

Bad combination for the Timberwolves, a terrific team that just ran into someone bigger and badder.


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Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com

 

[Big Daddy]

Posted on Sat, May. 29, 2004





Battered Wolves can't take another loss

BY MIKE WELLS

Pioneer Press


The scene is becoming a familiar one for a Timberwolves team on the brink of elimination from the Western Conference finals:

Kevin Garnett, looking exhausted, walking through the tunnel at the Staples Center with his head down; Latrell Sprewell with a look of frustration from trying to set the tone offensively and chasing Kobe Bryant for 40-plus minutes; and Sam Cassell limping to the locker room with the team's group of centers who have failed to slow Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal.

The Wolves went to Los Angeles earlier this week confident they could regain home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series against the Lakers. The Wolves left Staples Center on Thursday beat up mentally and physically and trailing the Lakers 3-1.

Center by committee on O'Neal? Useless.

Giving Cassell's minutes to Darrick Martin? Martin, the Game 2 hero, is showing why he hasn't been able to stick with one NBA team.

Attacking the basket to get the Lakers in foul trouble? It only works if the referee blows his whistle.

Any confidence the Wolves had has all but disappeared heading into tonight's Game 5 at Target Center. A loss will end the Wolves' season, a victory will return the series to Staples Center for Game 6 Monday night. Only seven teams ever have recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series, most recently Detroit's victory over Orlando in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals last year.

"Our backs are against the wall, but we've never lost three games in a row the whole year," Cassell said. "We're back home, and we've worked all year for home-court advantage... . We've got to understand what's at stake. If we win this game, the pressure goes back on them."

The Wolves are one of only three teams that didn't lose three games in a row during the regular season, but the Lakers have won 11 consecutive playoff series in their first opportunity to clinch, meaning something has to give tonight.

The Wolves broke down Game 4 film Friday. It appears Cassell is going to be another game-time decision. He played five minutes in the third quarter Thursday, but not even his short appearance was enough to give the Wolves a burst of energy, as the Lakers took over the game in the quarter.

"Cassell going down helped us out a lot," Bryant said. "They had plenty of weapons with him in the lineup. With him going down, it really puts a lot of pressure on Kevin and Sprewell. Wally's (Szczerbiak) been off the bench and playing well for them, but if you add Cassell to the mix, then you have a lot more weapons."

Without Cassell in the lineup, Wolves coach Flip Saunders has been forced to put defensive ace Trenton Hassell on the bench and bring in the more offensive-minded Szczerbiak.

Szczerbiak has helped out on offense, but Sprewell has paid the price because he has been forced to assert himself on both ends of the court, causing him to be a non-factor in Los Angeles. He averaged 15 points in the two games, but he did it while shooting 31 percent from the field.

Bryant, the most dynamic player in the league, waited until he sensed momentum shifting and the Wolves looking tired to turn up his game. He had 11 points in both the third and fourth quarter of Game 3 and 18 points in the third quarter of Game 4. The Wolves likely are going to have to throw a number of different looks at Bryant tonight.

"Once he gets aggressive we don't really take the challenge," Szczerbiak said. "Once he starts getting going, we have to take the challenge to stop him. He's the key guy that really fuels their runs."

Bryant, O'Neal and Garnett will get their points, but a glaring difference in the series has been the role players. The Lakers have received consistent contributions from Derek Fisher, Devean George and Karl Malone, who is willing to be a role player to win a title. Szczerbiak has been the only bright spot for the Wolves.

"You have to limit the role guys," Saunders said. "Those are the people who have decided whose won all four of these games."

It's probably going to take a role player to have a big game in order for the Wolves to win tonight, because Garnett can't do it by himself against a team that believes it can't be beaten.


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Mike Wells covers the Timberwolves and the NBA. He can be reached at mwells@pioneerpress.com. Greg Johnson contributed to this report.

 

[Big Daddy]

Posted on Sat, May. 29, 2004





WOLVES-LAKERS REPORT: Wolves must make Shaq move

BY GREG JOHNSON and BRIAN HAMILTON

Pioneer Press


Going into the Western Conference finals, Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders knew his center-by-committee plan against Shaquille O'Neal was going to be a difficult proposition.

Saunders has said many times that O'Neal is the most dominant force in the game, but generally that means on the offensive end of the floor. In this series, Saunders believes O'Neal is affecting the outcome more on the defensive end, and one of the adjustments the Wolves have to make is to get O'Neal to come out and guard away from the basket.

"Somehow you've got to get him involved where he just doesn't feel he can stand there,'' Saunders said. "In Game 2, we utilized and made him come out and defend some of our guys that were knocking down shots. When you shoot 37 percent, they don't feel they have to come out. When you start knocking down some of those shots, they feel they have to be more aggressive.''

Last year, when the Wolves lost in the first round to the Lakers, they were able to make O'Neal play the pick-and-roll against the combination of Troy Hudson and Rasho Nesterovic. Hudson is out for the season following ankle surgery, and Nesterovic signed a free-agent contract with San Antonio.

None of the Wolves' four centers, Michael Olowokandi, Ervin Johnson, Mark Madsen or Oliver Miller, are enough of an offensive threat to make O'Neal venture too far from the lane.

"We still have some guys that can play pick and roll,'' said Wolves backup point guard Darrick Martin. "I'm pretty good at pick and roll, and Latrell Sprewell is pretty good at pick and roll. If we go to that, we're going to have to make him step out and play. That goes for (power forward) Karl Malone, too.''

The Wolves' best threat on the pick and roll is Sam Cassell, but he has been slowed by a bad back and hip.

Daily briefing: The Wolves didn't practice Friday. Their charter arrived in the Twin Cities about 4 a.m. Instead of going to the practice floor in the afternoon, the Wolves watched 15 minutes of film and then discussed their plan for Game 5.

As usual, Cassell's playing status will be a game-time decision.

"Right now, it's not looking good for me,'' said Cassell, who was limited to five minutes Thursday. "I'm here for my team. It's frustrating for me because I know if I'm healthy, I'd like our chances. I'm not, and Darrick Martin will pick us up and play well.''

It can be done: Cassell was a member of the Houston Rockets' championship teams in 1994 and '95. In 1995, the Rockets overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns.

"Anything is possible,'' Cassell said. "The pressure is not on us. It's on the Lakers, because they are supposed to finish off us. They are up 3-1, but we're at home. Our guys have to come out with a sense of urgency to come out and win the game.''

Every-minute man: Wolves forward Kevin Garnett is willing to play every second of Game 5 tonight to ensure the season won't come to an end. Garnett played 47 minutes in Game 4 and tried to check back into the game in the final seconds after Saunders replaced him with 40 seconds left.

"I'll go all 48, 54, 52, 56, 65 whatever it may be,'' Garnett said.

Feeling great: The last time Kobe Bryant had to do the courtroom-court doubleheader, he needed intravenous fluids after the game. And before that transpired in Game 4 on Thursday, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Bryant sometimes doesn't feel the effects of those long days until one or two days later.

One day later, the Lakers' guard shrugged off questions about fatigue. "I feel great," he said after the team's practice Friday. "I feel great." Asked if it will have an effect on his Game 5 well being, Bryant simply said, "No."

Yank-a-Shaq: With about two minutes to go in the fourth quarter of Game 4, and the Wolves obviously resorting to the Hack-A-Shaq method, Jackson countered by pulling O'Neal from the game for a spell.

The Lakers' coach said Friday it wasn't a difficult decision in that game, that he wanted to keep the flow instead of allowing Minnesota to chop away.

"Like I told Shaq," Jackson said, "I'd like you to practice your free throws, but now is probably not the best time."

Hair razing: It might not have been the most essential development in Lakerland this week, but it certainly was a well-noted one by the regulars around the team ? Rick Fox's newly shorn hair. Fox still has tresses to make Hair Club for Men members drool, but he lopped at least five inches off before Game 4.

In Hollywood, of course, this qualifies as news.

"No, it wasn't my idea," Fox said. "It was a group of people. Peer pressure."


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Brian Hamilton can be reached at bchamilton@pioneerpress.com. Greg Johnson can be reached at gmjohnson@pioneerpress.com.