2010/11 2nd TRIMESTER UPDATE (PART ONE)If you had of asked me two weeks ago how the second trimester had gone for the Minnesota Timberwolves, I would've told you pretty shite. That was until Jonny Flynn returned from about a month's hiatus and spurred the team onto a highly improbable 11 game win streak to enter the All-Star Break with a pro-rata 23-40 (0.364) record. This very strong play of late propelled them to a pro-rata 17-20 (0.459) record over the trimester, which is pretty good for such a young team. Minnesota currently sits 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference, ahead of only the Los Angeles Clippers and the disappointing Utah Jazz. Obviously making the playoffs are out of the question, but realistically they have been since the New Year.
Performance-wise, rookie Wesley Johnson continues to impress as he now owns the starting 2 guard spot and it won't be lost. The second trimester saw slightly more consistent play from Kevin Love and Michael Beasley, as well as some standout play from second year guard Jonny Flynn, once he returned from a lower back strain that kept him out of the lineup for the month of January. Other than that, the real surprise of the second trimester as to me journeyman centre Darko Milicic. Serbian Milicic, who has long been labelled a bust, managed to put together the best two month stretch of his career and has upped his averages across the board and has helped the team win some games with a hard nosed approach in the middle. It will be interesting to see if Darko can continue his strong play of late and proved his many doubters wrong.
The Wolves didn't stand pat during the trimester, sending point guard Luke Ridnour and young Greek-American centre Kosta Koufos to Houston for young bigman Jordan Hill and the enigmatic Stephon Marbury. It was a surprise to see the Timberwolves deal Ridnour after signing him to a 4 year deal in the off-season, but such was his trouble of finding his shot in Minneapolis that he was sent packing, even if it meant returning previously disgruntled Stephon Marbury back into town. The real prize in the trade for Minnesota was obviously Jordan Hill, who is now with his third team in only his second season and is getting a tough introduction to the cold business side of the NBA. Minnesota is probably a great place for Hill to be at this point in his development as he will get playing time straight off the bat with the ability to earn more if he proves himself.
I think the aim for the team in the last trimester is to continue to build on the solid play of late, finish the season on a strong note, continue to develop its young players and hopefully that translates to a possible playoff berth next season.
PLAYER STATSF/G- Wesley Johnson: 13.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 1.0spg, 49.3% FG, 38.5% 3Pt (PER: 16.93)
G- Jonny Flynn: 12.5ppg, 6.4apg, 38.3% FG, 39.0% 3Pt (PER: 12.88)
F/C- Kevin Love: 12.4ppg, 9.7rpg, 44.6% FG, 23.7% 3Pt (PER: 13.91)
F- Michael Beasley: 12.0ppg, 6.2rpg, 41.7% FG, 28.1% 3Pt (PER: 12.80)
G/F- Corey Brewer: 11.5ppg, 1.0spg, 56.1% FG, 30.8% 3Pt (PER: 16.82)
F/G- Martell Webster: 10.4ppg, 53.3% FG, 41.3% 3Pt (PER: 13.84)
G- Wayne Ellington: 8.1ppg, 44.9 FG%, 47.1% 3Pt (PER: 14.08)
C- Darko Milicic: 7.1ppg, 6.9rpg, 1.3bpg, 52.6% FG (PER: 10.91)
G- Stephon Marbury: 4.0ppg, 3.0apg, 41.7% FG, 26.3% 3Pt (PER: 13.77)
C- Nikola Pekovic: 3.7ppg, 1.9rpg, 61.3% FG (PER: 16.17)
F/C- Jordan Hill: 3.3ppg, 2.5rpg, 52.1% FG (PER: 10.34)
G- Sebastian Telfair: 3.2ppg, 2.2apg, 42.2% FG, 35.7% 3Pt (PER: 10.54)
F/C- Anthony Tolliver: 2.4ppg, 3.2rpg, 29.8% FG (PER: 6.65)
F/G- Lazar Hayward: D-League
PLAYER PICS
Rebound? Rebound? This is how you rebound!!!







