And The Coach Of The Year Is......FIRED!!!

On the eve of the hour that the Dallas Mavericks fired Avery Johnson for his "inability" to get out from underneath a bad trade - er I mean out of the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year, it seems that there are a number of coaches that are on the chopping block - Mike D'antoni in Phoenix and, very quietly, Sam Mitchell in Toronto.

Know what those guys all have in common?

Yep, they all won the NBA Coach of the Year Award. D'antoni in 2005, Avery in 2006, and Mitchell last season.

Jeez, these guys were all considered the best of the best not all that long ago, and now they're all going to be in the unemployment line. That's a pretty big swing in a couple years.

Curious. So is the NBA COY the new Madden curse? Take a look at the list below and I'll let you decide.

2007 - Sam Mitchell, Toronto Raptors - Possibly on the block

2006 - Avery Johnson, Dallas Mavericks - 2 years later he's looking for a new job(read:fired)

2005 - Mike D'antoni, Phoenix Suns - 3 years later, he's rumored to be out in AZ

2004 - Hubie Brown - Memphis Grizzlies - quit 12 games into the following season, siting health concerns

2003 - Gregg Popovich - San Antonio Spurs - He's an example against the theory

2002 - Rick Carlisle - Detroit Pistons - Lasted one more season(50 wins) before getting the axe

2001 - Larry Brown - Philadelphia 76ers - 2 years later he left amidst a tiff with his star player and the continuation of his vagabond ways

2000 - Doc Rivers - Orlando Magic - Was fired 12 games into the 4 season

1999 - Mike Dunleavy - Portland Trailblazers - Lasted 2 more years before getting fired

1998 - Larry Bird - Indiana Pacers - Moved into the front office full time after 2 more years on the bench


Maybe there's something to, maybe there isn't. It's still an interesting pheonomenon.

Personally, I think it's Red's way of getting back at the NBA for putting his name on such a stupid looking trophy.

I Wish I Had The Words

Naw, We Didn't Need That...

Congrats to KG on his Defensive Player of the Year award.

Cheers to your continued success sir!

Sincerely,

Management

Atl/Boston Game #1

As any avid reader of this blog can tell you, I have not been following the NBA this season. I was flipping through the channels tonight and found Game 1 of Hawks/Celtics. I concluded a few things instantly:
A. KG did well for his new team
B. I assumed the Celtics were the #1 seed
C. The Hawks must be the #8 seed
D. The Hawks made the playoffs?!
E. The East hasn't changed

Oh, it gets better. There was a player for Atlanta, with a mohawk, named West (not Doug, though). Someone named Rondo might be 14 years old. Big Baby! Nice pick by Boston.

All that is great and dandy, but one thing blew my mind. When did Admiral Big Ball Dance join the Celtics? I . . . I didn't get that memo. Seriously? Just once . . . once, I hope to see him hit that jumper to put the game out of reach . . . then a dance.

Go Celts.

It's old but...

This really says everything I want about the state of our team.

Everybody wants my $5

This time of year I get plenty of emails inviting me to do a bracket in someone's pool.

Just go to Sportsline and . . .

I would like to think it is because I am popular, but it just has to do with the fact people know I think Belmont can make it to the Sweet 16 one of these years.

Well, looky here, Owner is talking again. I think KG also kicked his puppy . . . not sure, though.

"What we would call a young European player"

I honestly don't read Sid's articles to rip on the guy. This blog is more on the owner anyway. Sometimes I just see the headline and have to read in amazement. From the article:

Taylor said coach Randy Wittman's job is not in danger. He said Wittman has a three-year contract, is doing a good job and there will not be any coaching changes regardless of the team's record.

Also, it looks like Taylor is some sort of GM:

The Wolves will have three draft picks this year, their first- and second-rounders and then Miami's second.

"My thinking is that the most that we would carry is two of those three,'' Taylor said. ''So, one of them you might look at if we can get two good ones we might push one back, trade it off to a year later, or else there's a possibility we'd draft what we would call a young European player and have him stay over there a year and practice."

If the dude is from Norway? I think that counts. What if he is like this guy? Maybe Dave Sniz can tell us the Woofies history of drafting . . . what we would call a young European player.

This guy is dead . . .

well cross him off then . . .

"Hey Keith, it's Dallas."
"Who? Oh, yeah, hey."
"Um . . . we're going to trade you."
" . . . but I don't play anymore."
"Yeah, how 'bout you not play anymore for NJ."
"I spose I could see some of my old teammates, right?"

Good christy . . . look at some of those names. I didn't know whether to put this on the failure blog or not. Look at those blasts from the past. Jesus.

Sid

The article. From the article:

Over the years, McHale has taken a lot of criticism from the media, but without a doubt the trade with the Celtics was one great deal, and paved the way for the team to improve.

Wow. That's all I got, just a big fat WOW.

Who's Next!?

Anyone who tells you they saw Pau Gasol getting traded to the Lakers is a liar. As is the joker who claims to have predicted Shaq would end up on the Suns roster this year. Yeah, we've all had an idea that Gasol, Kwame Brown and Shawn Marion were likely trade candidates, but the deals they were involved in were quite surprising. Both moves certainly change the landscape in the Pacific Division - it's much bigger now. I'd have to say that Gasol makes the Lakers a legitimate contender to win the West, if not a championship - although I'm not that sold on them yet. Depending on which Shaq decides to get off the plane in Phoenix, he's the type of player that could really help them in a playoff series in which the game slows down - Utah or the Spurs. Not to mention the near-handful of rings he owns, which is the kind of experience the Suns are hoping will push them over the hump.

But it's not the effects those deals will have on the teams involved that intrigues me. It's how the rest of the west will react to those deals. Will Dallas push harder to acquire Jason Kidd, whom they've been rumored to be interested in? Will Utah restart talks of moving AK-47? Will Golden State do something else desperate? Who knows! But it'll be fun to see if any more out-of-the-blue deals, like we've seen so far, happen. Then there's the East. With KG shelved for the moment and a little new blood in Miami, will teams like Cleveland or Orlando try to make a deal now in hopes of chipping away at the lead the Celts have built? Or will they do the opposite and go away from making a deal and hope KG is out long term? God, and what will New York do?

Most years the trade deadline comes and goes without much actually happening, and this year probably won't be much more fruitful than it already has been. But there certainly is a lot more potential this year than there has been in the past. Stay tuned.

P.S.

The Gophers got back on the winning track with a 20-point thumping of poor little Northwestern last night and have two winable games at home against Iowa and Illinois. Both games are must-haves if the Gophs want to keep their post-season hopes alive - however small they are to begin with.

Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Love - in that order - are on my wishlist for the Wolves in the draft next year. B-Easy is tearing up the Big12, gobbling up double-doubles like they he was a fat kid and they were Skittles. Not to mention dropping 25 in a big win against Kansas. In case you've missed it Derrick Rose is the lead guard on the only undefeated team in the country. He's scored in double-figures in 8 of the last 9 games and has narrowly missed two triple doubles in the last week. And Kevin Love has played like a monster on steroin - that's steroids AND herion - since his return to his home state against Oregon - where he was mercilessly booed. Over his last four games he's scoring 22 points per contest on 71% shooting while grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. Not bad for a freshman. You know Coach Wooden is proud.

Finally

As seen previously on this blog, it is ironic that the one game that was to be sold out at the Target Center this season, may be in danger of being one of the worst attended games all year. If KG doesn't play, which is sounding more and more likely, I think $3 might be too much to spend on a ticket to that game. It's too bad that the tickets that were sold don't really affect the organization. Let's hope the national television crew brings the lack of fans in the stands to the attention of the world. Well, atleast to all those fans in Boston that might be watching.

Too Perfect

Man, I can't wait until Boston comes to town, watch KG play. . . wait.

I guess you could get a ticket on the street now for $3 . . . and that is lower bowl. Perfect icing on that trade. Seriously, let's try and get tickets for $3.

How do you make a glass of water?

I don't think the local pro b-ball team can. I think they would mess it up.

I had the honor of watching the final 5 minutes of Min/Bos last night. This is basically the first time I saw them play all year. With about 2 minutes left, I was wondering how we were going to mess this up. I can't do it justice on this blog, I will just say:

A. Try to release the ball from your hands before the ref counts to 5 when you are inbounding.
B. Try to rebound
C. Kendrick Perkins not happy
D. Garnett better

Frozen Assets

I've spent the last few days icing down surgery wounds. Nothing to worry about...yet. But each day I make progress...I think I'm making progress, but remembering the lines from the film "Lunch Wagon" and you have to keep things in perspective.

(in hospital)
Ralph: Turtle, how long are we gonna be in here?
The Turtle: However long (looks under bed sheet) this takes to heal.

So the horizontal time is spent watching television. Basketball is one of these things. The Clip's loss to Dallas sums up much of this season. But without even getting into that, or Andrei's New Year's Eve pictures, it's the Wolvens.

Specifically, the fans. Being out here in Sunville, I look for the pulse to see what's being said about a team worse than the Clippers. A team that is slowly challenging the 76ers record. And here's what I found:

• "Looking forward to next season"

This writing had to do with the guess that the Wolves would win the lotto, and who they would pick. Bill Russell and Ken Reeves were not mentioned as possibilities.

• "What if the Lakers never left Minneapolis?"

This statement would have made for interesting reading in 1963.

• "When Foye returns, how many wins?"

This is envisioning victory. Positive thinking. A good idea, even if it blows up in your face. You're not making any outrageous claims...that you'll make the playoffs. There isn't even a specific number thrown out. Beware the word "competitive" - this is misleading. The Washington Generals were also competitive. They just didn't win.

But this, THIS is my favorite. And it's not an article title, it's a quote from Deadzo:

You knew there would be a few fluctuations.

I think you know the subject and the context of the quote. I also think you know the reason for the fluctuation. But he started the quote with "you knew" - this signifies that he was aware this would completely destroy the team regardless of effort.

The Clips, it's multiple injuries...including one that may end a player's career. But Deadzo is getting what he paid for. He was "aware" of possible fluctuations. So were Wolves fans.

Nothing to see here folks, Go Gophers, move along please.

Premium performance

Zach took 10 shots, he made a bucket. These are the games we dream of. Bravo, Knicks.

Look At Me...

My office is located near a bank of elevators. This is convenient if you're late returning from lunch, or going somewhere else in the building. But it's mostly inconvenient for two reasons: People who are lost usually wander to the first office they see...and secondly, being in a high traffic area, people feel the need to LOOK INSIDE. Wow, his door is open, I should LOOK AT HIM. We're not talking a Playboy parade, either. And before I can even get out the famous "Look at me!" quote perfected by Dillon, the people are in full stride and long gone.

Sometimes I think teams feel this way, too. And when you see a negative reaction afterward it's usually because they either can't handle it, or it wasn't much to begin with. Last month's Clip Ship update almost predicted a return to earth in quick timing. This, of course, happened. And specifically it has thunked the team back to mediocrity this week. While the Warriors finally came out to play, the Clips have quickly fallen backward. And I'll admit it was a bit disheartening seeing the 4th quarter beat-down by the Rockets. Those were how the Clippers games usually went at the start of the decade - End of 1: Wow, they look good. Halftime: We've got the lead, I'm surprised. End of 3: Well, we're only down 6. Final: Do you remember where we parked?

Well, enough of the usual. (Someone just looked in again...Christ) I'd like to turn this over to an addition in one of our links. We here at the Wolves Den are large fans of Andrei Kirilenko's site, but his wife is now writing as well. Here now is her first post, unedited by me, titled "Masha Started Writing Her Blog":

---------------

It took me a quite a while to start my own blog: Masha Kirilenko blog. I thought somebody gotta do it in our family. Since Andrei is so busy playing basketball … or Word Of Warcraft..I gotta do it. We could of course pretend that it is he who is writing it, but that would be unfair. Whatever you like or not I’m going to be author.

It’s our seventh season in NBA. Seems like an eternity. I wonder how Karl and John felt about the years. It’s like in a movie – The Greyhound Day. But still very exciting. Each year I look forwards the season. By the end of each October I feel that adrenaline buzz in my veins. And I know for sure that I’m basketball addict. And this is not because my husband plays every second night of my life. Simply: Basketball is the best game with the ball on Earth! Last night we played Golden State at home. They left for L.A. though right after. It was a good and easy win. Andrei played really well. And when I say well, that means he played well because I am the worst judge. It is never enough for me in this game. I always think that he could do better. Not enough points, not enough rebounds or assists. What he always has enough for me is turnovers. Last night it was 3.

I buy seasonal tickets for myself each season and sit right across Andrei. Not sure if Jerry Sloan likes that ;). So during the game I can talk to Andrei. Well, not really talk but I do read lips and he reads mine. Not that somebody were deaf and dumn in our family, but we just love reading each other lips. All the fourth quarter I was begging him to hit 3. And yes, he got it done.

The game last night was fast and dynamic. Believe or not sometimes the games can be really boring. Slow pace. Whistle by a whistle. And just wanna shout to refs “let them play the ball”. So last night the game was beautiful. First of all I was happy for my friend Al Harrington who scored 38 last night!

Al is a great guy. We were on vacation in France this summer. We were playing Charades on the boat and he was supposed to show the word “cucumber”. He was doing it so funny that nobody guessed what it was ;). He had no luck expressing or acting out the word “cucumber”. But last night he did some luck hitting 15 shots of his 20! Andrei and Al worked out together at the Abunasaar Academy trying to improve their jump shots. I guess it really helped Al. But not Andrei. Jeff Hornacek (bless his heart) has been working out with Andrei for the whole preseason, but still I don’t see the result I wanna see. My dad says (he used to be a professional basketball player) that Andrei WILL start making his shots very soon. The quantity should become quality. He says it is a law of life. I hope he is not mistaken.

---------------

Now, to choose a "favorite" part of that is not easy, but what I enjoy the most is the style of prose. And this is by no means an insult...it's the idyllic charm of a foreigner who gets all the words down, but is missing the slight sentence nuance. But that's OK because they plow ahead anyway. Strong on plow. But they don't care and we shouldn't either. Hell, when the Rad Man was on the Clips, he was quoted as telling me "Victory for Clippers, OK!" I knew what he meant AND I liked the way he said it. Hell, could you do a charade of "cucumber" to foreigners and not expect a high comedic moment? Of course not.

Back to it here - and hoping another victory against Denver rights this ship.

What's The POINT In GUARDing Him?

In the NBA championships are won and lost based on defense, clutch shooting, and - most importantly - play in the post. The big guys are the ones who make the difference. Tim Duncan's Spurs. Shaq's Lakers. Yes Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker played their parts but it's the Big Fellas that really make the difference.

In college however, that's different. The most important factor in March is the guard play. Ben Gordon taking the Huskies off Emeka's back, Tyus Edny streaking up the floor, or Gerry McNamara lighting up MSG one last time. Yes the big guys play their parts but there's a role reversal in the college game.

Derrick Rose is again a spotlight guy here - I know, it's annoying, but he's so damn good. He's a fresman and a rising leader on a top-5 team. He came back from a clunker of a game to score 19 points along with 12 assists in another big Tigers win. We all know he can score and make the flashy pass but it's the little stats that show me how good he really is. He's attempting nearly 7 free throws per game, which is a great number for a freshman guard. He's scoring 17.8ppg while only taking 11 shots per game, which shows me he's not getting in the way of his teammates. He may not be a stellar defender but he's only averaging 2 fouls per game while playing good enough defense (and offense) to stay on the floor. He and Mr. Douglas-Roberts will be huge for Memphis come March.

Eric Gordon has also shown up on this here blog previously. But again, another young lead guard who's showing a lot of poise and talent early and often. He's scored 20 points in each of his 6 games with 3 30-point efforts. He's shooting 55% from the field, 84% from the line, and a slightly inflated 51% from beyond the arc. Oh and he's averaging an Allen Iverson-esque 10.3 free throw attempts per game. That's amazing for a young player. Instead of settling for jumpers, he's being aggressive and going to the basket.

Patrick Mills is a freshman point guard for St. Mary's - the other team in the league that Gonzaga is in. He's an Aussie who was the youngest player to play for their national team. He's averaging a modest 15.8 points and 5 assists per game but has a very nice 2.5/1 assist-turnover ratio, is shooting 48% from the field, and averaging 3 steals per game. While he's been a little up and down thus far, he's shown that he can single handedly beat a team - see the 37 he dropped in the win against then #11 Oregon. This St. Mary's team could ride a few hot games by Patty and steal a couple of wins in the big Dance.

There are some teams that may not have a Derrick Rose or an O.J. Mayo to rely on but whose backcourts can still throw punches. Texas and Oregon have two and three deep backcourts that will indeed be trouble for most teams they face. D.J. Augustine and A.J. Abrams average a combined 40 points per game while shooting well over 50% from the field. Augustin is dropping 7.8 dimes a game while Abrams has made 25 of 45 threes through 5 games. The Oregon Ducks rely on the trio of Bryce Taylor, Tajuan Porter, and Malik Hairston to do most of the damage for their squad. They're scoring 50 point a game and doing it on both ends of the floor. They really make Maarty Leunen's job much easier on the inside.

UConn has a backcourt that has been a little Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde at times. Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price have both shown their ability to take it to the other team as well as taking their own team out of games. If they can get more consistant, look for them to be a terror come March.

Ahh the Huskies....Good segway.

Have you seen Hasheem Thabeet? He's a 19-year old,7-3, 255lb center. As a freshman he made everyone drool over the potential of this raw athletic specimen from Tanzania. He's had a slow start to the season which has led some to lable him as a let down. He's picked it up the last three games. He's averaging 15 points 11.7 rebounds and 3 blocks - with 12/12/9 in his last game. He alone will be the defensive line which will allow those UConn guards to cheat a little out on the wings. He also looks like Wallace from The Wire.

The Failure Franchise Just Keeps Failing Away

They traded their best player in the offseason in a deal that absolutely did not have to happen, from either side. As a result of that, we have:

1. A stadium that sits at around 50-70% full for each game (being out-drawn by the Gophers is going to start to hurt)
2. A failure coach who has no idea how to find the right mix of players on the floor, and gives WAYYYYY too much time to Marko Jaric.
3. A team too young to rise above their failure coach (see: Boston).
4. Nobody on the team with a combination of being confident AND good enough to take a meaningful shot in the 4th quarter and have it go in.

And then there's this: the biggest game of the year is KG's return in February. They are building their entire ticket campaign around that one game. They started with 10 game packs, then they were offering it 6 game packs. Now it's a special Holiday Fun Deal: 3 games for 50 bucks and one of them is Boston. They're holding those Boston tickets for dear life, knowing that it is the only way they can sell the other tickets at all. The team and coach isn't good enough to even draw people in for Dallas and Phoenix????? We better offer Boston!

Why would you want to go to the Boston game? To see Kevin Garnett. That will be the only game of the year that is sold out.

YOU FUCKING TRADED HIM.

It's a crumbling facade, made no better by this idiot coach and idiot GM. They can't back their way into a win, they can't even beat teams who are relatively close to them in talent. They get lucky and catch teams on an off night, but it will never be enough to sustain any sort of growth or success. They'll continue to flail about until they each leave via free agency, the coach is fired, or the team folds.

I've run the gamut of emotions with this Wolves team, and I currently find myself at utter apathy and despair. I could give a shit what they do, and I want to see them fail more so that the coach is fired.

You know it's bad when I have the chance to see Phoenix, Dallas and Boston for 50 dollars and I don't even think once about doing it. The dark days have fallen, and there is no morning.

Wow.

The Wolves had an 18-point lead at half time.

Against the Hawks.

And lost.

63 points in the first half.

24 in the second half.

Randy Wittman needs to be fired. A collapse like that can't be put all on the players. That's the coach not being able to adjust to adjustments made by the other team. That's poor coaching. He should've never been a head coach and should've never been put in charge of a young team. He's not a teacher. He's never had any success at any level. He's going to be a bigger problem this season than Kevin McHale. That's how serious this team's problems on the bench are.

As We Sit

Right now, with the current rosters, the Gophers would defeat the Timberwolves at a game of basketball. Their coach is that much smarter than Wittless.

I'm just saying.

Ping Pong Balls

Not to focus on a team, but it looks like they will get their fair share of ping pong balls for the next draft. If the odds play out, it might be Hibbert and the newly extended Al Jeff down low. That could be something . . . Hibbert, Al Jeff, Brewer, Foye, McCants. That could be something, right?