What do you make of the Wolves lately?

[Ogee Oglethorpe]

On the one hand, the Wolves have been nothing short of amazing since the New Year; a few small breaks away from a 10 or 11 game winning streak but still 8-2 in their last 10.

On the other hand, is it just me or does it seem like every team they've beaten (particularly the quality ones) has been extremely short-handed when they played the Wolves? Tonight, the Hornets were without David West and Tyson Chandler. I just seem to recall that in at least 3 or 4 of their recent wins, the opponent was without one or more of their better players.

So the question has to be asked, are they really very good? Or the benefactors of some extremely good timing. At the end of the day, wins are wins and winning does take a different mentality and it does become a habit. They're still a really young team that's gaining some confidence and starting to find an identity. Yet to be seen if their recent success results in fewer empty seats at the Target Center.

As far as the NBA draft, with a draft that is supposed to be incredibly thin, maybe this is the year that it would be good for the Wolves to finally relinquish that first rounder to the Clippers in that Jaric trade and be done with it once and for all (top 10 protected this year). They should still have some mid-late round picks from the Heat, Jazz, and Celtics.

As a side note, anybody else notice that Cole Aldrich has creaped into the lottery in some recent mock drafts? Is he that good and would he really consider coming out this year?

[bga1]

Regardless of who they are playing or what fortune they have run into it's pretty obvious this is a changed team. Foye played toe to toe with Chris Paul tonight. Foye is playing at All Star levels right now. The ball movement is terrific and the energy is great. Then there's Rodney Carney who jammed one tonight where it looked like his head almost hit the rim. Pretty fun to watch this formerly unwatchable squad. One last thing: they lost the first 7 or 8 games McHale coached, but since he has had some practice time with these guys everything has changed they are even playing some defense.

[FiveStarFan]

I can't begin to tell you how much fun it has been to watch this team over the past month.

[Frink]

No question that they have beat a lot of teams that are middling to flat out week. The Clippers, for instance, were not a good team to begin with AND we caught them without Baron Davis and Chris Caveman. Ogee I was thinking exactly the same things last night, with West and Chandler in there the Wolves lose this game.

Nevertheless, it's obvious this team has taken several steps forward of late and as others have mentioned, they are actually fun to watch again!

bga1, that was an INSANE dunk by Carney. No only did he almost hit his head on the rim but he did so after completley blowing by two Hornets who had 10 ft head start on him and he took off from about 10 ft away from the basket!! That was an Olympics caliber long jump that just happened to take place on a basketball court.

[Big Play]

Rodney Carney has ben a beast lately. Mchale should just be a head coach not a GM.

[rrjackIII]

I think McHale should take up smoking cigars! He's starting to remind me of Red Auerbach.

[UpnorthGo4]

Mchale should just be a head coach not a GM.

As long as McHale is with the team he will have significant influence over personnel decisions. It doesn't matter what position he has. Taylor not only values McHale's opinion, they are personal friends. Most people are not aware that McHale has never held the GM position with the Wolves. He has always been Vice-President. Flip was the GM the entire time he was here and had input on every draft and every free agent signing. He is the reason that Chauncey Billups is not the Wolves point guard.

[BleedGopher]

Another solid won tonight with a great comeback!!! Big Al was unstoppable and Kevin Love once again showed how he is coming into his own big time. He is such a natural rebounder and is really gaining confidence. As bga1 and others have said, these guys have gone from unwatchable to very enteratining. A hat tip to McHale and the team for believing in the new system and themselves.

Howl Wolves!!

[MinnesotaMadman]

Nice win. K-Love is beginning to grow on me. Over the last 5 games he is averaging a double-double in only 25 minutes.

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Just got back from the TC, another great win. Hopefully we can keep on winning and finally forfeit our pick to the Clips.

KLove is an absolute monster on the glass. The kid just refuses to be boxed out.

[walleyedude]

As long as McHale is with the team he will have significant influence over personal decisions. It doesn't matter what position he has. Taylor not only values McHale's opinion, they are personal friends. Most people are not aware that McHale has never held the GM position with the Wolves. He has always been Vice-President. Flip was the GM the entire time he was here and had input on every draft and every free agent signing. He is the reason that Chauncey Billups is not the Wolves point guard.

I wouldn't blame Flip for Chauncey. I think what happened is that Chaunce demanded to be given a starting spot and Flip said he has to work for it. Can you really blame flip for that?

[walleyedude]

I haven't missed a Wolves game in 2009. This team has impressed me a lot with how they have changed their game.

Al is the man and has been playing well along with Foye but where has Carney and Love come from? Love was working the O Boards like friggin Rodman and Carney has been crazy good.

I love the state that Minnesota Basketball is in right now.

[station19]

I can't stand to watch an NBA game. I do enjoy reading about the T-wolves and keeping current on their situation.

My question is. Can McHale win the Matt Millen Award and the Coach of the Year Award all in one season?

[Bayfieldgopher]

I'm with you 19. I seldom get the Wolves up here and watched about 5 minutes last night against the Bucks. A boring and unimaginative game. Enough of that and switched over to the Oklahoma/OSU game.

[StPaulHawkeye]

Step one is beating the teams they should beat. For example, Oklahoma City is just that team. They lost to them early, beat them by 2, and then pounded them the last time. Shorthanded teams, like the ones mentioned, and the Bucks without Michael Redd last night, are teams they should beat.
Step two is being competitive against the solid, but not great teams. The win at Phoenix is a positive in that direction. I don't expect them to beat the Suns, Heat, Jazz, Hawks, Mavs, Pistons, etc every time out, but they should be in the game with a chance to win at the end.
Step three is beating those teams mentioned above a majority of the time and being competitive against the best teams (Cavs, Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Nuggets, etc.)
Step four is then being one of the best teams in the league.

The Wolves are currently in Step 2 in my opinion. They are fun to watch and really are a team I can cheer for (no Laettner, Rider, Ricky Davis, Jaric, and you can add more and more to this list - guys I just couldn't like no matter how hard I tried). With Detroit, LA Lakers, and Boston coming up, we'll see where they are. Optimism is back.