Wolves Tryouts

"And with the [at worst 4th pending NBA lottery outcome] pick in the 2008 NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves select...."
- Commissioner Stern, Summer 2008

This Wolves team is going to have trouble. I know the Celtics have superior talent and this Wolves team is looking to gel, but after watching that game yesterday I really think this team has potential to be historically poor comparitive to past Timberwolves teams.

First thing's first, this is not saying I think the talent is bad. There are plenty of guys on this team with plenty of talent. I also want to reiterate that I'm more excited about this team than last year's team. Last year's team was a yawner. I don't care if this team loses 70 games as long as they put forth effort. I had more fun watching the Wolves in the early 90s than I did the past two season. However, from a practical standpoint, I don't see a way to make this puzzle work with what the team has.

The following is a list of my concerns prior to seeing the team with some other ones added after yesterday:

1) Who is going to play point guard? Honestly, who? Everything I've read by the coaches and staff after we beat that Turkish team was that Foye had a bad game. Reading between the lines of "we want more Foye at shooting guard," it's clear he's not the guy at point. This team has more guard-forwards than any I've ever seen, at least four besides Foye that can play shooting guard, so that just signals "we need Foye somewhere else." I wrote that optimistic Foye piece, but I'm at a point where I want to take that back unless I see something. Maybe he's just a Summer League stud. Additionally, if Foye moves to shooting guard and Bassy starts at point, can the backup point guard please raise his hand? Marko? That's it. Am I missing the other point guards on this team?

2) Al Jefferson can post people up. This we know. I haven't seen much of him live, so I don't know how he handles double teams and outlet passing, but even if he's a natural at passing out of the double team, who does he pass to? Who on this team, outside of a hot streak, can hit a reliable open jumper? Blount can, but we need a center to be a center. McCants and Davis are too streaky.

3) Brewer's first shot hit off the side of the backboard in the first quarter. After that - only two more shots. I worry about his development here. I think he's the only player out of the three young 1st-rounders, along with Foy and McCants, that is NBA ready out of college because he has the size with the speed. Ask anyone that knows me and I've been saying that I think Corey Brewer is going to be a player in this league. When you naturally start out with defense and speed like he has, your offense can come together (a la Scottie Pippen, Josh Howard). I hope this organization and this staff don't set him back.

4) Ricky Davis. I saw it so many times last year where he would score double digits in the first half and finish with 0-6 points in the second half. Ricky is the best offensive player on this team and he needs to shoot the ball in the second half. Not off-balance, heat-check jumpers, but solid open looks off screens becacuse he doesn't have the best ball handling skills.

5) Varsity Tryouts. This team seems like its conducting a closed tryout. Everyone makes the team, now it's jockying for positions and starting spots. There's no identity, no chemistry.

I'm not trying to be an uberpessimist, but this team has the potential to do worse than the 1991-1992 Wolves that won 15 games. Bear with me and hear me out. Without using fan-emotion, can you deny that this team has historically bad potential?

Who on this team can match Pooh Richardson's 8.4 assists per game? Pooh was no all-star, but he was definitely a servicable starting point guard who could run an offense and hit an open jumper. Ricky Davis is honestly the best passer on this team, but we need him to score. Additionally, Pooh had Scott Brooks, a true point guard, as a back-up. His centers, Longley and Spencer, played down low and rebounded...basically, they played like centers.

That 91-92 team had 7 scorers in double digits. I remember Doug West and Sam Mitchell well. If you passed them the ball with a wide-open mid range jumper off a double team, they knocked it down. I cannot say that for anyone on this team (and all fairness to Green, I never saw him in Boston and haven't seen enough of him to give him credit or blame on any aspect of his game). The only reliable jump shooter on this team is Blount, but we need a center to be a center, not a seven-foot shooting guard that can't dribble, can't play defense and can't rebound.

Even if all the players play at their highest level, I don't see any way to win in this league, or any, without solid point guard play, and I don't see that on this team. How old is Pooh? Can we get him?

What do you think of this team? I concede that it was game one. I don't think they're going to win a lot of games and I think they deserve to be ranked last right now. I hope they can prove me wrong. Can anyone please name me a team they honestly think will do worse and leave it in the comments section?

On a side discussion, with the NBA lottery, the worst the lowest place team can do is a 4th pick. Who do we take in the top 4 next year? How about that point guard out of Memphis?