Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Souhan's 10 Moves the Wolves should have done in last 13 yrs


Scott M

Recommended Posts

KG in Boston reminds us of the moves Wolves missed

by Jim Souhan, Star Tribune

Is this game necessary? Does one of the worst teams in basketball history really need to waste fossil fuel traveling to Boston to face the best team in the NBA, just so Minnesotans can be reminded that New England is the sports Hub of the universe, and that we in Flyover Land give new meaning to the phrase "farm teams"?

Couldn't the Twins, with their downsized payroll, just ship Johan Santana to Boston on the Wolves' charter, and use the savings to buy a used space heater for the new ballpark?

Tonight, the Wolves face Kevin Garnett in a Boston uniform for the first time in a game that counts.

Thirteen years of mismanagement left the Wolves with no choice but to trade Garnett last summer. The beautiful basketball exhibited by the Celtics this season proves again that, with the right people around him, he can be the world's greatest complementary player.

Garnett's ability to play nicely with others is the latest indictment of Wolves management. Twice the Wolves gave Garnett a guard who could make big shots. The first time, Stephon Marbury helped Garnett get to the playoffs and elicited predictions of greatness from Charles Barkley. The second time, Sam Cassell helped Garnett to the Western Conference finals.

With one or two more good moves in the past 13 years, the Wolves could have remained relevant. Here are 10 moves they should have made:

1. Keep Ray Allen: Let's admit that until Stephon Marbury forced his way off the tundra, trading Allen for Marbury in 1996 looked like a good idea. Now we know that Allen is the better and more reliable player, and that Marbury deserves Isiah Thomas.

2. Draft Josh Howard: Duh. With the 26th pick in the 2003 draft, the Wolves selected raw, skinny high schooler Ndudi Ebi instead of the ACC player of the year.

3. Trade for Allen Iverson: The Wolves felt the price was too high, and perhaps felt that Iverson alone wouldn't resurrect the franchise. But the Wolves typically screw up in the draft, so why not trade away your picks for a guy who would fill the arena?

4. Fire Kevin McHale: Self-explanatory, especially since you can't fire the owner.

5. Let Joe Smith leave: Double duh. Smith was never a special player, yet the Wolves lost four first-round draft picks because they signed him to an under-the-table deal. For a five-year stretch, the only player the Wolves took in the first round was Ebi. This is the single most stupid and damaging move Glen Taylor and McHale ever made, and that's saying something.

6. Ignore KG: The Big Ticket was more like The Big Lebowski when it came to personnel ideas. This is the guy who pushed for Joe Smith's and Troy Hudson's long-term deals, and embraced the Mike James signing. Can we blame Garnett for bringing in Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz, too?

7. Keep Billups: A franchise cursed at the position of point guard had a future All-Star in its midst and let him leave, so it could keep Terrell "Iron Man" Brandon.

8. Keep Roy: The general consensus about this draft was that Brandon Roy was a superior player to Randy Foye. The consensus among the Wolves' braintrust was that they were close enough in ability that the team could afford to draft for need, choosing Foye, considered more of a point guard.

Which should remind everyone of the most important rule in sports -- never draft for need. Foye is promising; Roy is an elite player.

9. Keep Cassell, or trade him for better value: Cassell was a pain in the shorts, but Cassell to the Clippers for Marko Jaric and a first-round pick? As Cassell said, "I wouldn't trade Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric.''

10. Make Cassell Wolves' GM: See 9.

***************************************************

Funny stuff, for anyone but a Wolves fan. Just two or three of these suggestions would have the franchise a lot more competitive than the state it is in now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's all history now. What he should be writing about is the 10 moves the T-Dogs need to do NOW to build a successful francise.

Starting with( oh please Lord let it happen)the #1 pick in the draft. Let's not sqaunder this opportunity like we have so many times in the past - KG! Build with fresh young talent. ole

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael Beasly, 6'10 245 Kansas State! Downside, Freshman teenager. Currently leading NCAA in Rebounds #2 in scoring.

Is he the real deal? Sure looks awesome when you watch him play...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i finally got to see beasly, and i'm still not reall sure. he kinda seems like a thug. he has a real nice stroke from 20'. i kinda thought he was gonna be like a big nasty or marcus fizer. great college players, no real positon to play in the nba. and i went to ISU, so it hurts me to speak of fizer in a bad way. beasly still needs may be athleatic enough to contribute at the next level. heck, i thought durant would get eaten alive, and he aint doin to bad. why not the indian kid, or collins and UCLA. there are some really good point gaurds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I liked about Beasley is that he stayed at Kent State even though Huggins left for a different job.....I guess it helped that his former AAU coach is on the Kent State staff but that shows something....maybe...LOL and if he is 6'10" and is only 18-19 I like that even more he might grow another inch or 2.

and lets not talk about Marcus Fizer...at best he would have been the second coming of Corliss Williamson and didn't even do that....he wasn't that tall and didn't have enough game to play enough at the next level.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gordon is good but I am not sure as to how dominant he can be at the next level......he definatly has potential but I think he is benefiting from the play of his center right now....White I think is his name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's face it. KG would be here and we would be a contender...extra for #5 above, the Joe Smith screw-up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.