It’s all over now
Posted on April 17th, 2008 – 1:30 AMBy Jerry Zgoda
Except for the really important stuff.
The Wolves concluded their first 60-loss season since before Kevin Garnett came to town with Wednesday’s improbable 110-101 comeback overtime victory over Milwaukee, a game which they led by eight early, trailed by 16 in the third quarter and then came back to win with Al Jefferson resting for all but one minute of the fourth quarter and all of overtime.
Randy Foye outscored the Bucks all by himself in overtime, 10-7, on his way to career-high 32 points, but what the victory did most importantly was thrust the Wolves into a tie with Memphis for the league’s third-worst record.
With the victory, the Wolves went from a 15.6 percent chance to win the May draft lottery to either 13.7 or 13.8, depending upon a blind draw Friday with Memphis that will determine who gets slightly more combinations in the lottery and who will get slotted as the third or fourth overall pick.
A year ago, the Wolves lost the draw with Portland after both teams tied for the sixth-worst record. The Wolves got slotted seventh overall, the Blazers sixth and one of the Blazers’ number combinations out of a possible 1,001 turned out the winner of the lottery and of Greg Oden.
62 Responses to "It’s all over now"
I know they want to win and grow as a team and finishing the season out strong is a goal, but stupid, stupid, stupid to lose another 2% chance in the lottery.
Al Jefferson = wants Derrick Rose
Randy Foye = apparently not!
The T-Blazers may have gotten the combinations that produced the winning draw, but we still have that March 25, 2007 94-93 victory over them!
Sure, snatching that win at the end led to a tie in the final standings, but we’re winners. We won that game! We’re not losers. We can’t just go out and, what, lose a game?
It doesn’t matter that we lost the set of numbers with the winning combination, didn’t get Oden and then felt compelled to trade KG.
We’ll always have that March 25, 2007 one-point victory. In your face, T-Blazers!
Here’s to hoping this post never happens in real time!
—————–
Tod Murphy says:
April 17th, 2009
The Grizzles may have gotten the combinations that produced a top-two pick, but we still have that April 12, 2008 victory over them!
Sure, winning that game led to a tie in the final standings, but we’re winners. We won that game! We’re not losers. We can’t just go out and, what, lose a game?
It doesn’t matter that we lost the set of numbers with a winning combination, didn’t get Rose and ended up with the big guy that can’t play.
We’ll always have that April 12, 2008 victory over the Grizzlies.
62 rebounds, baby!!!
Team “Build It” idea - -
1) With their draft pick, take Derrick Rose. (Assuming it’s #1 or #2)
2) Resign Telfair.
3) Trade Foye & Walker or Madsen to the NETS for Richard Jefferson SF.
4) Resign Gomes, Snyder and let Smith go.
C - A.Jefferson
F - Gomes
F - R.Jefferson
G - Snyder
G - Rose
This team would be more rounded, more defensive minded and have great scoring potential.
Why would the Nets want Randy Foye? They’ve hitched their wagons to Devin Harris.
MCFAIL CAN’T EVEN PROPERLY LOSE THE LAST GAME. WHAT A TOTAL LOSER. THE WOLVES SUCK AND THEY WONT GO ANYWHERE EVER. DON’T EVEN BOTHER WATCHING THEM. THEY STINK. THERE LOUSY. tTHEY ARE TERRIBLE. RATHER WATCH THE SNOW MELT. I MOVED HERE FROM LA WHERE A REAL TEAM PLAYS. i USED TO LIKE BASKETBALL BEFORE I MOVED HERE AND NOW IT IS DEPRESSING TO WATCH. THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN THE WOLVES IS WATCHING HOCKEY. MINNESOTA SPORTS TEAMS STINK
Seriously…..people still type in CAPS. Aren’t we past this! Learn some bogging, emailing, and writing etiquette.
I understand the frustration of a few percentage points, but overall can’t we stop obsessing over wanting to really, really, really suck….compared to just really, really, sucking? Or should we wonder what is going on in R.Foye’s head when Witman doesn’t put Jefferson in the 4th quater or overtime? I mean, isn’t that the clear message that the coach would rather lose the game, than have you set your career high and win? I am so confused right now.
This loss is huge because now the Wolves have the chance of losing this coin flip. The coin flip isn’t that important for the percentage of getting the #1 pick. It is important because if neither the Grizz or Wolves move up in the lottery the team that wins the coin flip picks first. That is why this win was so asinine. If the Grizz pick 3rd I would be shocked if they didn’t take Lopez so that leaves a bunch of guards for the Wolves to pick through. And we know how well McHale is at drafting Guards. UGH. I am starting to hate this team.
I would rather work at the zoo and shovle shi_ with my bare hands then watch the wolves. What skin tone does Mcfail have because for years I have been calling it McFail clear. “Uh oh hot dog”. LOSER TEAM. Why don’t we see if Cherokee Parks is still available. Pathetic. They stink. The Wolves have made me hate and quit watching basketball. “Uh oh hot dog”. I have been watching Corey Brewer and he used to smile alot more before he came to the Wolves.
Good point, jama.
Well, hopefully we’ll have a little luck on our side on Friday when they flip that coin…
everyone complaining about Foye in OT, did you even watch the game or did youjust look at the box/read this blog? The Bucks literally stood around and didn’t play ANY defense at all in OT, Foye walked up and would shoot without anyone w/in 8 feet of him, and he made the shots. Michael Redd had 2 points, he is by far their best player and he looked like he was already on the beach in Mexico.
Welcome Tyler Hansbrough. I am sure you and Brewer will lead this team to 20 wins for many years to come.
Ben
The game never should have even gotten to OT though. The Wolves were obviously trying to tank with Al out the whole 4th quarter and OT. Why play Foye then? Those 2 and Gomes are really the only guys that can score so you sit those 3 guys the 4th quarter and you lose by the 15 points you were down by in the 3rd quarter. It doesn’t seem like rocket science to me. But then again I don’t get paid millions to make these decisions.
jama - If the wolves wanted to tank it here is a list of players who should have played the whole game
Mark Madsen
Corey Brewer
Chris Richards
Michael Doleac
Marko Jarik
probably not, but they had Michael Redd not playing in the 4th, and Charlie Villanueva hucking up 3s, you would have thought the Bucks were the ones trying to tank.
we should of had Doleac and Madsen throwing up some 3’s. McRetard. I wish they would just move to Montana. How bout the Idaho Timberwolves. I want them gone. Flip should have stayed and McRetard should have been blown off the Minnesota map. If I were McRetard I wouldn’t trust any food from a restaurant.
If I needed to tank a game I would have Madsen at PG. I would have used Jaric at Center. Madsen and Doleac throwing up lots of 3’s maybe even force the Granny style free throw style shots. I know how to tank a game.
no matter what position, the 3 white guys with names starting with M is always a great place to start if you want some serious offensive output
3 m’s with Snyder,Brewer and chris richard. There we go!!!!
The Bucks gave up in the end I was at the game watching closely. No defense at all and truly not even trying to keep it close with 2 minutes to go.
Poor shot selection with deep 3’s missing everytime for the Bucks with Redd shutting it down with 3 minutes left he was non existent.
I dont how much the Bucks gained in the lottery with this loss but losing 8 in a row stings for a team that supposed to be in the playoff hunt!
actually I want to see the Portland Oden’s play next year vs the wolves
jimmy your totally right! But man you did the wrong move. I miserably put up with ALL MN sports for 34 years and all the boneheaded decisions before moving myself to LA 3 yrs ago. Good luck there putting up with loser teams! Rarely, do we get Wolves games out here but when I curiously caught the final score last night it was so predictable that they would once again blow it!
GO LAKERS!
BC: yes it does make a difference how bad one screws up. McHale has not screwed up that bad, if anything the franchise is in the same spot it was before he took over. Not to mention he actually got them to the playoffs consistently and even had a WCF birth. Again, you act like we were the creme de la creme until McHale came along. If anything we are the exact same.
How did he ruin an entire basketball franchise? do you recall what it was like before he took over? felton spencer, luc longely, randy breuer, JR Rider, Laettner, etc.
So should my parents be branded for life for the shit i did when i was 18? how about 20? 22? where is the cut-off point, oh wise one?
“I would also be very happy to put my grades/transcripts against any of yours… and my IQ against yours.”
ha ha ha ha. ok. Never said it was my big win, just said it was a very good deal for the wolves. lost garbage and got cash and picks for it. Kind of the same w/the miami deal.
“They scored more points than the other guys? Thanks Einstein…”
well then don’t ask how they won. usually the winners have scored more than the losers.
:I want to know the reason why winning tonight was important!”
HELLO, you play to win the game. Clearly you have never played any sport competitively.
“I rip him for his record, I rip him for his thought process.”
and then you rip him when he wins after a month of blasting him for his w-l record. brilliant. einstein.
“When you have a chance to secure more lottery balls, and you blow it that is a basketball sin!”
so its a basketball sin to play to win, not to tank. To respect the integrity of the game and play hard every game? thats a sad world you live in BC. Imagine if all the teams did that. NY would’ve started tanking in January w/the Heat. That would be wonderful for the league. Nets, Pacers, etc..everyone join in. Beautiful.
“Every team that gets into the lottery tries to get more lottery balls.”
no they do not. some teams actually respect the game and play to win. Indiana, Portland, Wolves come to mind. We didn’t go teh Miami route and start taking 3months early. They should be removed from the lottery for that dispicable showing.
“That’s how the game is played. You play to win, or you play to lose, and Wittman can’t make up his god damned mind.”
sorr peaches that is not how the game is played. The game is playe to win, as is the case in every sport. By the way you talk every team that doesn’t think it has a shot to make the playoffs should start tanking right away, thats how the game should be played. You are an idiot who has never played sports but talks like he has. congrats.
“would you like to go to south america too?”
wishing death on a fellow human. clearly you are just a fine specimen of mankind. jackass.
arenal
Okay this is the last time I am going to go at this about McHale. So you are saying that it is okay that McHale has been in charge of this team for over 12 years and the team is just as bad now as it was 12 years ago? I thought you said that with experience came success. The fact that this team was still basically an expansion team when he took over and 12 years later it is still basically an expansion team is all that needs to be said.
He is one of the top 5 worst GM’s in the history of the NBA. I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind that I could have done at least as well as McHale in the long run. (This is very sad). If the Wolves don’t recieve a top 2 pick in the draft I pray that he finally resigns and walks away. He knows he has been a horrible GM especially over the last 5 years.
Jama: I do not think we are as bad as we were 12yrs ago. We have a core of youngin’s coming up, we have a slew of picks coming up, we have made fabulous deals in the recent past. 12yrs ago..we had JR, Laettner, Spencer, Longley, etc. We had nothing, now we have something..we have a future. Yes and the recent moves show me to be correct. experience begets success. look at the last few transactions.
Basically an expansion team when McHale took over? how long before a team loses the ‘expansion’ tag? Still picked horribly in the draft, for years. Absolutely horribly. The Wolves are hardly an expansion team.
ha ha haha..sure, you would’ve done just as good. well i’ve never heard a fan say such things…ha ha ha.
pray all you want. let me know how it works out for you. i’m going to bet it works about as well as those prayers to end abortion have. only been 35yrs.
He knows he has been a decent GM over the past 5yrs, especially over the past 2. Definitely over the past year.
So, arenal, at what point would you decide to pull the plug on McHale? How long does he have — in your opinion — to get the Wolves back to the playoffs before you would fire him?
Difficult to say..you want me to dream up scenarios of where i’d fire McHale? sorry, not that much of a dork.
Back to the playoffs–well given the current setting of the WC that would be difficult to say. Depends on alot of variables..injuries, draft status, FA’s coming and going, who turns into a spree/cassell, etc. all of which McHale has absolutely no control over.
As long as progress is made i don’t see what you can bitch about. Moves have been good, we are young/talented, with the future opening up–picks, money, etc. As i’ve said before i believe he’ll hand it over to Hoiberg after he has cashed in these picks and solidified that nucleus. just what i see.
I’d like to hear the same about Wittman? How long does he have? You know he will get fired before McHale does. McHale will use him as a pawn to get a couple more years as the GM.
Who do you consider the “core of youngin’s”? I’m just curious. Also how do you see the future, let’s say 5 years, of the Wolves panning out? I’m not real optimistic right now and I’m not sure either Beasley or Rose could change my mind.
The core of youngin’s?? hahaha we have one “youngin” that would be considered a core player and that would be Big Al. Who else is a core player? Brewer? haha thats a good one. and how about Foye? i would rather have Brandon Roy, a real core player. You can thank your favorite GM of all time for that one.
same answer: as long as progress is being made, i see no reason to fire him. No i don’ tknow that, apparantly you do. how nice for you.
AJ, Gomes, Foye, Brewer,and this years pick. perhaps telfair/smith/snyder if they stay and don’t get stupid. thats a nice core of kids. 5yrs..spurs will be old, lakers will be old, jazz will be older, denver will be history as will Phx…portland will be tough. thats what i see. i see us competing in that range. Again barring any of the unpredictables happening..like timmy, manu, tony all getting injured for the season and then the spurs getting the 1st pick.
no one player will change the wolves, especially in the WC, especially on a team of youngins. just not going to happen.
If Gomes is a “core” player, I think you and I have a different definition of core. When I think core I think of a player that the team is built around and is guaranteed to be with the team for the next 5 years. Right now the only core player I see is Jefferson. Foye is close but I wouldn’t be suprised at all if the Wolves traded him in the next 2 years because he doesn’t have a position.
I don’t see this team competing until at least 2010-2011. By then the Spurs and Suns will be at best middle of the pack. The Blazers and Sonics(or whatever they switch their name to) will be real tough. By then the Wolves should have a good young core with at least Al Jefferson and another 2 young solid contributors plus they should be able to get 1 decent Free Agent signed by then. Who knows maybe even McHale will be gone by then.
as it now stands yes, Gomes has the potential to be a solid 3/4 man and can create problems. We will be built around AJ and Foye..adding complimentary pieces. ie. THe bulls core was MJ, Pip, Harper, Rodman. Kerr and the rest were fill-ins. same here. AJ-foye-this years pick will be the core with Gomes/smith/snyder/telfair depending on who goes/stays being the surrouding pieces. still part of the young core.
I agree w/the timetable you set forth, barring any unforeseens.
Ya but the difference is that teams like the spurs and suns actually have good management and they will make their teams better even though their star players will be aging. They will draft players that will actually be useful and spend wisely in free agency. Unless something different happens with the T’wolves management, they will not be better than the Spurs and Suns in a couple of years.
OK, well that is not much of a dispute that if a GM with another team did what McHale has done, he’d not be working right now for that team.
What has Wittman done to prove that he deserves a job? OK, nothing to not much.
Reality? Both of them are back in 08-09.
My question — is there any kind of real evaluation for them over the next year?
Or can they pretty much just perform however with the confidence that employment will continue?
Jerry, can you get an answer from Glen on this question?
Basically, there are people that are still interested and some will even still give some money for tickets. But we want to know if there is any serious accountability over the next year?
I maybe in the minority hear, but I actually enjoyed watching the T-Wolves this year, wayyyyyyyyyyyy more then last year.
Yes, McHale has made 10 years worth of poor decisions. But, lets give him credit for this past year.
Trading Garnett for Al Jefferson and our pick back. We were going nowhere with Garnett and watching a team with a HOF’er not even come close to the playoffs is way more depressing then watching the 07-08 Wolves. Every knows the quote “buy low, sell high”, but very few live buy it, I think it will pay long-term dividends in this deal.
Getting ride of the poison personalities aka Ricky Davis and “I smoke too much Blunt head”. Giving those guys away for nothing was a deal. If we still had them our bad 22 win record would become a 5 win record.
I know a lot of people abandon the Wolves this year, but when you can watch a bunch of decent young guys playing their best and learning and maturing, I would take that over the old Wolves any day.
Plus, you can buy a $10 seat and sneak down court side at almost any game and watch some of the best players in the world (on other teams of course) close-up.
But, for them to ever to have a chance of getting past the first round again, they are going to have to draft a superstar, Jefferson is not the answer.
you are right, AJ alone is not the answer. He is a big piece of that answer though. big piece. how old is he again?
Go Wolves!
Do Not Draft Young Mad-Dog! (Hansborough)
Pray for Beasley, Rose or Love.
Anti-Garnett: Would you rather have AJ and getting our own pick back or would you rather have LaMarcus Aldridge, Luol Deng, and Tyson Chandler?
Getting rid of the poison personalities was good, but why did we trade for them in the first place?
Praising McHale for being better than the people who came before him is like slapping yourself on the back for scoring better than a 2-year old on an algebra test. If you’re not going to hold the Wolves to any higher standard than that, then what’s the point?
McHale foresees 20-victory improvement
While the Wolves vice president was upbeat after a 22-60 season, coach Randy Wittman tempered his outlook. Updated 8:49 PM
Where can I sign up for season tickets?
McHale’s got me all warm and fuzzy.
Kev, you failed almost 66% of the time. Does he actually have a college degree?
I can’t wait for the shrewd off season moves by this brain wizard.
I’m convinced that Taylor has Alzheimers.
If any “fan” continues to support this crap, you have no one to blame but yourself for continued sub par play, and idiotic decisions by the management.
Move the team.
Hey Duche…I’ll be following the team regardless of how bad its been. Once a fan always a fan…Go T-wolves and Get Beasley
Stupid is as stupid does.
F. Gump
Sean: i’d rather have AJ and the pick back. Luol Deng quit the entire year. Tyson Chandler–another banger. dime a dozen.
Doucho: perhaps you should heed your own advice. stupid is as stupid does…meaning one who claims to despise something, keeps coming back to it.
arenal
I have to disagree with you as usual. Deng is a future All Star, Aldridge is a future All Star and Chandler in one of the better defensive Centers in the league. Those 3 would be your starting front court. Al might be better than those other 3 but it isn’t that drastic. Plus that draft pick is completely unknown and this teams past history indicates that drafting isn’t its strong point. I would bet you that 95% of GM’s would take the 3 players over Al and a draft pick. Plus those 3 players are all very balanced, they play both ends of the floor and can do multiple things. I actually think that Aldridge will be about as good as Jefferson in the near future.
The Wolves could have started Chandler, Aldridge, Deng, Roy and Jaric/McCants this year if McHale had traded KG at the right time and kept Brandon Roy. Wouldn’t that have been better? That’s a young team with a real future that just needs to shore up the bench. We’ve still got serious holes to fill with this crew.
When is that coin flip today with Memphis?
arenal,
Research Einstein’s theory of insanity, then look in the mirror, and wear your T-wolves jammies proudly.
You the man!!!!
I also would like to know what time that coin flip is going down. I think this coin flip could be huge. I hope they use a 2 sided coin.
Sean: you mean we could have all those Bulls players who quit on the entire season, quit on their coach, quit on everything and everything. right-o. damn McHale for not getting those players, b/c those are the players we need and want. No it wouldn’t have been better. I’d rather have AJ, Gomes, and a pick than any of those Bulls players. I’d take AJ over that crew.
Doucho: research the stupidity of continuing to get involved in something you claim to despise. then speak about stupidity. its like screaming you hate oatmeal when you make it for yourself every morning. jackass.
We won the flip!
I’m not really sure how you can blame Tyson Chandler (who played for the New Orleans Hornets) or LaMarcus Aldridge (who played for the Portland Trailblazers) for the Bulls problems. Perhaps you can explain that to me?
I’ll give you that Deng didn’t have a great year, but he’s still significantly better than what we had at SF this year.
Tod,
We won it? Do you have a link?
KFAN reporting that we won it about 20 minutes or so ago.
First off who is to say we would have taken Aldridge? That LSU kid hasn’t done anything, forget his name..ah Thomas. Deng tanked the entire season. As did Gordon. was that not the bulls package? yeah i’d rather not have any of those guys and take AJ instead.
Well, we would have had the #2 pick. (The proposed deal, as has been documented in dozens of sources was Chandler, Deng, and the #2 pick in 2006) You are entirely right, though. Given that it was Kevin McHale making the pick, he probably would have taken Patrick O’Bryant.
Tod: so there is justice? there is a god? oooo..i’m a believer
Watch the Grizzlies come up with a winning combination now…
Isiah Thomas finally got the boot!
OK, he got fired as coach. I can’t believe it but he is sticking around and will be doing something for the Knicks.
