Wolves: A Shift In Attitude Equals A Few Wins
By Stephen Litel
January 3rd, 2009
1 Comment
If I truly wanted to be bold in my prediction, I would have made this post prior to the Timberwolves game in Chicago Saturday night. However, I didn’t and the reason why is simple…making any sort of predictions regarding this team is an effort in futility.
When I left the Target Center Friday night after the Wolves defeated the Golden State Warriors, I acknowledged a palpable difference in the team and in the locker room. For the first time this season, I was almost expecting the team to win in Chicago because of the different vibe from the players. Fighting with myself throughout the day, I figured they couldn’t possibly win two in a row--and four of their last six--could they?
After showing flashes of the seemingly commonplace inexperience and timidity within the team this season, the Wolves were able to fight their own demons and pull out a nice road victory. Yes, to keep everything in perspective, the wins are against New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls. These teams are not the upper-echelon teams in the NBA and the amazing collapse against the Dallas Mavericks was also during this little run, but when wins are view and far between, you take them.
During my brief time covering both the NBA and WNBA, I’ve been around a good amount of horrible basketball teams. I’ve seen many players who don’t seem to mind their teams are bad and are unwilling to do whatever they can to improve the morale of their teammates. They don’t care because they’re “cashing their checks” and that’s all that matters.
Yet, on those same bad teams--some wearing Minnesota jerseys and some that aren’t--there are players who have that fire in their eyes, players that are unwilling to give up and will fight until the final second of the final game has ticked off the clock. A majority of the time, the latter of these examples are young players, players used to winning in high school and in college and are still adjusting to NBA life.
Throughout the final weeks of Randy Wittman’s tenure as the head coach of this team, the atmosphere inside the locker room became odd. Although the players were still talking with each other, the conversations always seemed to be--from what my limited ear can hear--at best, superficial. As players would arrive to the locker room to prepare for that evening’s game, the normal pleasantries of co-workers filled the air, but nothing to give a sense of teammates and brothers.
One of the reasons I’ve continued to make the trek to the Target Center to cover the Timberwolves is because a vast majority of the players are of the second mold. Throughout the drudgery of last season, it never seemed as if anyone gave up and they were giving everything they could to improving for the 2008-09 season. For the first time, I saw hints of the negativity and bad chemistry that make it nearly unbearable to be around or, for fans, to pay their hard-earned money to watch.
Yet, as wins trickle in for this team, the smiling faces, the general concern for teammates and the smallest glimmer of hope has returned. They’ve discussed career highs with each other, reminisced back to high school AAU basketball days and re-bonded off the court. There are some teams where the players do not have to be close off the basketball court because they are greater players than those that make up the Wolves roster, but on a team such as this, it is imperative they do remain together.
Essentially, they are morphing into the team I expected to see coming into the year. In a season such as this, wins and losses really don’t matter. What matters is the continuation of the rebuilding process and evaluation of which current players will be involved in that process. Although there are some players who aren’t getting as much of an opportunity--such as Sebastian Telfair, who continues to sit while Kevin Ollie sees court time, which boggles my mind--the team emerging from the sludge in the past week and a half is much more entertaining and promising.
