News, information and tickets for the Minnesota Timberwolves
J.J. Barea may only be 27 years old and have just five years of NBA experience under his belt, but he played a key role in bringing the Dallas Mavericks their first championship in 31 years last season.
So when he signed with Minnesota over the offseason, he knew he would have a larger role as a leader on one of the youngest teams in the NBA. He also had to have known that the wins weren’t going to come as easy as they did in Dallas.
There used to be a time when this match up meant an easy win for the Blazers, but those days are long gone, and now both of these teams are sitting toward the bottom of the standings in the West. If either of these teams is going to make a run at the playoffs this game could be the spring board that launches that run. The winner would gain a full game over the other in the West standings and the loser would drift further into obscurity. The best way for the Blazers to avoid a season sweep by the Timberwolves is to make sure Kevin Love has a bad game.
Ricky Rubio’s season is finished.
The Minnesota Timberwolves rookie point guard sustained an ACL tear in his left knee on Friday night and will miss the rest of the NBA season. Rubio’s unfortunate twist (no pun intended) of fate came with 16.4 seconds left in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Rubio was guarding Kobe Bryant and crumpled to the floor as Bryant collided with him while trying to dribble to the hoop.
Rubio had an MRI on Saturday that revealed the torn ligament, dealing a huge blow to a team that had been brimming with confidence thanks in part to his flashy passing that energized a club that lost 132 games over the previous two seasons.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are tired of seeing Ricky Rubio getting pushed around.
Rubio took the league by storm at the beginning the season, displaying the sort of finesse and ability to create highlight reel plays that most experts believed he wouldn’t be able to do at the NBA level.
Well, it would appear that 21-year-old point guard has come back down to earth. Or is it just because NBAers are roughing him up more than the average player?
Wolves president of basketball operations David Kahn thinks so. That’s why he sent tape to the league in an attempt to call attention to what they believe is overly physical play against their rookie.
So, I’m reading this story about what the scouts are saying where Marc Stein talks to scouts and gets their feel for certain players. This one scout said he’d take Kyrie Irving over Ricky Rubio (even though Rubio is better at managing the team and is very mature) because:
“… he can shoot, he can drive, he can defend. He values the ball…”
Need to hear anymore? I mean, the original quote is much longer, but let’s be real. That’s the only part you need to hear. He learned all of that at Duke. He went to college. He let someone coach him. He learned. He’s got the training that is required to be a long term success.
Kevin Love drilled a three-point winner the other night to propel the T-Wolves to a victory. After a performance like that, should we restart the talk about K-Love going to Los Angeles? I mean, Dwight Howard could never make it there (that’s a possibility,) and Love is looking pretty awesome.
Let’s think about this for a moment. I know Howard is the defensive MVP going on three years now. I get it. He plays defense better than defense does. He’s that good at it. However, he has offensive problems, and we just saw Love nail a three to win a game. So, maybe versatility is the name of the game here?
While the Los Angeles Lakers were getting embarrassed by Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic across the country in Orlando (still think he wants to rock the purple and gold?), the L.A. Clippers were busy taking care of the Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center.
At least that’s what they were doing for the first three quarters.
The Clips held a 79-72 lead and at one point had a 15-point lead, which they eventually saw evaporate before UCLA alumnus Kevin Love hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the T’wovles a shocking 101-98 win.
If the Minnesota Timberwolves plan on continuing to turn around their franchise, they know that Kevin Love must play a major role in that transformation. But is the fourth-year power forward worth $60 million?
According to multiple reports, the Timberwolves think he is.
The team is supposed to offer Love a $60 million, four-year contract extension sometime within the next week. The 23-year-old Love, who is playing for $4.6 million this season, can become a restricted free agent after the season unless he signs an extension before Jan. 25. Love also can return to Minnesota in 2012-13 for $6.1 million and become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
![Up / Down [Exeter]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/3957547298_66e3de2a77.jpg)
Nobody could have predicted the breakout season that Minnesota Timberbwolves rookie Ricky Rubio would be having for 2011-12. At the same time, you would have lost a lot of money if you thought Washington Wizards second-year franchise point guard John Wall would be going through the kind of sophomore slump that he is currently mired in at the moment.
Both players are 21. Both are quick, pass-first players who possess incredible dribbling skills. So how is it that Wall, who has one full year of NBA experience under his belt, seems to be going in the opposite direction of Rubio.
Step aside, Ricky Rubio haters, it turns out the 21-year-old who looks like he just got out of junior high is for real.
Yes, the much maligned Spaniard who everyone thought wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace and physicality of the NBA is quickly proving all his doubters wrong.
His latest such display occurred on Sunday in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 93-72 victory over the Washington Wizards. Rubio’s third career double-double (13 points, 14 assists) helped secure the T’wolves third win of the season.
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