At last, the NBA team that has drafted point guards more often than Eddy Curry has attempted to diet in recent years may have given the Twin Cities reason to view their metaphorical glass as half full. While the job done by projected reserve Luke Ridinour of filling in for the fumbling and injury-riddled Johnny Flynn this past season is one of the more underrated bright spots of yet another disappointing season in Minnesota, the Timberwolves are finally due to see a return on a 2005 investment. Armed with awe-inspiring court-vision, a very amenable Spanish accent, and quite masculine eyeliner (draft night reference), Ricky Rubio prepares to burst onto the NBA basketball scene, and hopefully usher in a whole new era of Wolves basketball. But he won't do it alone.
The Wolves have a variety of weapons, at least on the offensive side of the court. Kevin Love is almost unarguably the most gifted rebounder in the league. Which is saying something, given the stagnation of the franchise since he began his pro-career out of UCLA. Love boasts a gifted passing game for any position, no less for his size, and can score from nearly anywhere on the court, even stretching his perimeter game beyond the three point line this past season. The fact that he performed so consistently exceptionally on such a less than exceptional team speaks volumes about his character as a player. Pardon the pun, but what's not to love?
His supporting cast is nothing to scoff at either. Michael Beasley is coming of a smoking season... wait, let me rephrase...a piping hot season...darn, nevermind, I'll just be blunt... *sigh* He had a great season and was an offensive explosion and after struggling in the shadow of Dwayne Wade in Miami, it seems he may well have bloomed enveloped in the winter winds of Middle America. Shooting guard in training, Wes Johnson, has acclimated to the game faster than I would have expected and can be a gunner for the squad going forward. Arizona's Williams is a proven two with an NBA body who should be able to contribute to the cause sooner rather than later. Martel Webster, whom I've always been partial to, should have a healthy season and may be one of the NBA's sleepers should the rate of play increase at the Target Center. Which brings me to my next point.
The makeshift triangle offense of the Kurt Rambis-era is officially extinct. This coaching vacancy has to be a welcome sight to fans. Rambis wanted his team to play a very paced and structured game and essential placed chains on his point guard, confining him to a half-court game. I would go so far as to say Rambis is in large part to blame for Flynn's slow start in the league. Also, let's not forget the huge issue he had with Big Al Jefferson and Kevin Love being on the floor at the same time; something I never understood, especially in the triangle. I feel like it's sometimes a scapegoat for analysts to say a team should run more as a panacea to their team's woes, but this team is certainly a bit more built to run, or at least be a bit more versatile than they have been in the past. With Rubio making the jump overseas, the timing could be just right.
Speculation has it that the Wolves are eying Adleman, a pick I adore. Here's a man who arguably did just as good of a job containing Ron Artest as Phil Jackson. A man who pushed the title bound Lakers to 7 games with Aaron Brooks, Scola, and a Yao and T-Mac-less Rocket squad; a man who at the peak of the one-on-one era, stared into the abyss and developed a team in Sacramento built around ball movement; a man who is a maestro of getting the most out of his talent who always been just barely overshadowed by men like Jackson and Popovich.
The bottom line is this: The Wolves have too much talent at this point be the bottom feeders of the league. While not always the case, in this instance, a coaching change may be just what's needed to give the Wolves and their fans something to howl about.
