Eleven Things to be Excited About for T-Wolves B-Ball 2012-13

1. Coach Rick Adelman

  This guy knows what he’s doing in a more complete way than any coach in Wolves history. He’s experienced, he’s still hungry for a championship, he’s calm when the team needs him to be calm and feisty when they need him to be feisty, he plays the guys that deserve to be out there, he’s good at subbing bench guys in successful combinations, and, with him at the helm, the Wolves rarely (pre-Rubio injury, anyway) if ever got outfoxed last season during the second halves of games. I loved Flip Saunders, and he had a great extended run with the franchise, but overall, Adelman is the best coach to ever nip at our Wolves.

2. No Cardboard Cutouts Like Felton Spencer on the Team

  Or Tod Murphy. Or Scott Roth. Or Brad Lohaus. Or Randy Breuer. Or Luc Longley. Or Mark Randall. Or Stanley Roberts. Or Will Avery. Or Igor Rakocevic. Or Michael Olowokandi. Or Marcus Banks. Or Marko Jaric. Or Nate Jawai. Or Oleksiy Pecherov. Or Jonny Flynn. 

  Okay, 2012-13 reserve center Greg Stiemsma is the make and model of a class cardboard cutout, but I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt, because I think he’s a hard worker and a hustler.

3. No Dingleberries Like J.R. Rider on the Team

  Or Christian Laettner. Or Ndudi Ebi. Or Rashad McCants. Or Michael Beasley. I’m talking about the guys that might have had some talent, but either A) didn’t know how to access it, B) didn’t care to access it, or C) had such obviously crummy attitudes that it spread to others. These waste-of-talent guys usually thought they were awesome, too, which would just drag everybody else down. 

  My least favorite T-Wolf of all time, then, would’ve been Latrell Sprewell, the master of the head-down, never-pass, gotta-feed-my-family ilk. Even though I read a recent article on him by a Knicks fan who misses Spree (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/05/latrell-sprewell-new-york-knicks.html), I stand by my distaste for his selfish style of play (what more could he do, really, then charge the rim and score or get fouled?), and my distaste for the way his atomic negative attitude (which turned Sam Cassell sour, too, I’m convinced) helped break down the best team in Wolves franchise history following the 2004 season. 

  One of the best thing about the T-Wolves for this season is that they have coachable, positive, heads-up dudes—guys whose jersey you could buy for your kid and not have to hide away in the closet later this season when they get arrested for being stupid or mean.

4. Youth/Upward Trending

  The T-Wolves are on the upswing, clearly, with their best players just entering their prime. Love is 24 years old, Rubio is 22, Derrick Williams is 21, and Nikola Pekovic is 26. These four, if they can remain healthy and keep improving, could anchor the team the next three or four seasons, at least. Remember when you felt this way about the Twins—like back in 2006? Same deal. Now let’s hope Rubio doesn’t get sciatica (or whatever the problem is with Joe Mauer’s legs), Love doesn’t get bonked on the head like Morneau, and Pekovic doesn’t need Tommy John surgery.

5. Russians

  I’m positively atwitter about our Russian additions. Starting with the Olympics this summer when I watch Team Russia fare impressively in London on their way to the Bronze medal and continuing into training camp here in Mankato where I slipped into the gym for ten minutes one day to watch the team scrimmage and saw the Russians balling it up, I’ve been hyped for these guys.

  I think Andre Kirilenko could be another Tom Gugliotta for us, and will certainly set the tone on D—something the Wolves have been poor at since KG left. The other Russian import is Alexey Shved, my “pet” for the season. My wife came up with the “pet” thing, a hollerback to her high school days when a non-threatening guy or two would follow her around the school halls, offering her gum or to carry her books in exchange for acknowledgement or the odd warm gesture. She picks a Twin every year during baseball season (past Helget “pets” have included Nick Punto, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, Josh Willingham, and one year, inexplicably, Jason Pridie, whose beard she liked). I don’t know what her choosing a pet does for a player exactly, but if Shved knew I picked him, I’m sure he’d be happy.

  Speaking of Shved (and Guggs), here’s my All-Time Best-Named T-Wolves Squad: Thurl Bailey. Tellis Frank. Pooh Richardson. Gerald Glass. Marlon Maxey. Winston Garland. Spud Webb. Stojko Vrankovic. Cherokee Parks. Tom Gugliotta. Felipe Lopez. Brian Cardinal. Sundiata Gaines.

6. Derrick Williams Explosion?

  This guy’s gotta be ready to take a leap, here, doesn’t he? For all the talk about how he can’t find a position, he’s pretty electric, isn’t he? Rick Adelman seems to be trying to temper his expectations with his quotes about DW to the media, but I’m hoping he’s just doing it to keep Williams from getting ahead of himself. Williams can fly, and he can shoot and score, and that’s a fact. I suppose his D needs work, as does his rebounding. But he’s 21, man. Think about yourself at 21. The word “idiotic” comes to mind. As does “raw.” I’m hoping Williams picks up some Love Slack starting tonight with Game One.

7. Pek

  Pekovic’s looking like a steamroller down low. I like when he bowled guys over last season without even seeming to exert any effort, and he looks more cut now. And his tattoo’s scary. And he’s got a deep voice. And I bet his armpits stink. He’s a beast.

8. Brandon Roy

  It’ll be fascinating to see if Brandon Roy can recapture the considerable magic he had in his Blazer Days. There was an interesting little video clip on nba.com with Ahmad Rashad interviewing Roy (http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/brandon-roy-ahmad-rashad), and despite the melodramatic background music, I found the video a good indicator that Roy seems to have a crafty mindset going into the season—he talks about accepting that his best days might be over, but that he’s ready to move on from that. No matter how many minutes he plays, the Wolves will get their relative money’s worth out of him as a positive veteran influence, methinks.

9. Superball Bouncy Bench

  Am lovin’ the acquisitions of Donte Cunningham and Louis Amundson and Greg Stiemsma to bolster the post. These guys are all superhustlers, the kinds of guys that can change a game just with their overachievement. Plus, my wife thinks Amundson’s hot after seeing him in a preseason game, so maybe she’ll be more interested when I’ve got the telecast on in the house this season. 

10. New Year

  I’m more excited for the New Year than normal this year, cause that’s when Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love are slated for a return. I feel like if the Wolves can rely on Kirilenko and Roy and Pekovic the first couple months here and maybe get some semi-surprise help from either Derrick Williams or Alexey Shved, they’re gonna be alright by the time Ricky and Kevin return. I’d be more worried about those two acclimating once they get back if I weren’t so confident in their courtsmarts. I think they’ll be taking off and things’ll be getting really good by Valentine’s Day, if all goes as planned.

11. Contention

The Wolves, after an eight-year draught of no playoffs, are in the hunt again this season. They’ll play team ball, they’ll pass it, they’ll shoot it, they'll play some D, they’ll get after it. What more do you want, really, when watching the greatest game there is?