MINNESOTA [31-23] ALL-STAR GAME!

[Kieran]

TEAM:

The Minnesota Timberwolves

DYNASTY SETTINGS:



Sim quarter length: 12 Minutes
Playoff Length: 7-7-7-7
Simulation Injuries: Yes
Simulation Type: Intervention

IN-GAME SETTINGS:[/size]
Skill Level: Superstar
Quarter Length: 10 Minutes
CPU Assistance: Off
Shot Control: User

Slider settings: ASA Slider settings (Action, but with Injuries set to the default 50)
http://www.asalive.com/asafiles/league/Info/asarules.xml#NBALive%202006%20Slider%20Settings

Rosters: As of 03/02/2006

NEW GM TAKES OVER!
The new GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves is happy to be on board and looks forward to the challenges that the future of this club brings to him. First and foremost however, a couple of roster changes were made before training camp:

Released: Anthony Carter, Ronald Dupree.
Signed: Ndudi Ebi, Tom Gugliotta.

After the recent trade with Boston, the Timberwolves found themselves with a couple too many guards on the roster. The first player cut was Anthony Carter who was going to struggle to see any minutes whatsoever behind Marko Jaric, Marcus Banks and Troy Hudson. The second to go was Ronald Dupree who, in the opinion of many (including the new GM), should never have made the roster at the expense of up-and-comer Ndudi Ebi. Hence Ebi was re-signed along with Tom Gugliotta, who was lured out of retirement for probably his last NBA season, to fill the backup PF spot in what may be a mere cameo role in 2005-2006 for the club with which he enjoyed several seasons earlier in his career.

OPENING ROSTER:

Starters:


C | #41 | Eddie Griffin | 6'10" | 232lbs
PF | #21 | Kevin Garnett | 6'11" | 220lbs
SF | #31 | Ricky Davis | 6'7" | 195lbs
SG | #23 |Trenton Hassell | 6'5" | 200lbs
PG | #55 |Marko Jaric | 6'7" | 217lbs

Bench:


#3 | Marcus Banks | 6'2" | 200lbs
#44 | Ndudi Ebi | 6'9" | 195lbs
#1 | Rashad McCants | 6'4" | 207lbs
#30 | Mark Blount | 7'0" | 250lbs
#24 | Tom Gugliotta | 6'10" | 250lbs
#16 | Troy Hudson | 6'1" | 170lbs
#35 | Mark Madsen | 6'9" | 245lbs

Injured Reserve:


#9 | Justin Reed | 6'8" | 240lbs
#6 | Bracey Wright | 6'3" | 210lbs
#24 | Richie Frahm | 6'5" | 210lbs

Coaching Staff:
Head Coach

Dwayne Casey

Assistant Coach
Latrell Braggs
Specialty: Guard
Offense: C
Defense: C-
Athletics: A

Trainer
Larry Jacobs
Specialty: None
Grade: B

Scout
Jelani Ehlo
Specialty: N. America
Offense: A+
Defense: B-
Athletics: A


Everyone at the Timberwolves looks forward to an exciting season! Training camp shall begin shortly.

[Moop_Moop]

Looking nice. Going to like to see how you get along with the duo of KG and Ricky.

[Kieran]

Yeah me too

[Malfa]

gl but uhh

nbudi ebi or w/e got released a long time ago

[Blasphemy]

Take Reed outta your IR.

[JohnA20]

gl but uhh

nbudi ebi or w/e got released a long time ago

But hes so cool...

I like the Ebi move

[BOSS]

gl but uhh

nbudi ebi or w/e got released a long time ago

But hes so cool...

I like the Ebi move

Word.

He is great if you train him and shit.

[Immali]

Nice, i like the T-wolves 'cause they have KG....but how could you sign Ebi and Googs if the team is over the cap????

[Laxation]

good luck with this one

[Kieran]

TRAINING CAMP 2005-2006

With a fresh look, the Wolves hit the training camp to see what was what. The most impressive team member by far was Trenton Hassell who made great strides with his defensive and athletic skills, so much so that he boosted his overall ratings points to 60, consolidating his position in the Wolves starting lineup. Others who trained well included Marcus Banks, Justin Reed, Ndudi Ebi and Eddie Griffin.

Opening night against Portland awaits....

[Kieran]

GAME 1:
POR @ MIN

POR 114 - MIN 108

[Boxscore]


POTG - J. PRZYBILLA - 15 pts, 1 ast, 11 reb, 1 stl, 3 blk
MIN
Points: K. Garnett / R. Davis - 23
Assists: M. Jaric - 8
Rebounds: E. Griffin / K. Garnett - 10

POR
Points: J. Dixon - 22
Assists: D. Miles / J. Dixon / J. Jack - 4
Rebounds: J. Przybilla - 11


Recap:
Opening night for the Timberwolves put on display a little taste of what we might be able to expect from them for the rest of the season. The highly anticipated combination of Davis and Garnett didn't disappoint, with the two of them equal leading scorer for the Wolves on this outing.
The Blazers got off to a solid start and although the Wolves kept it competitive, were not able to match to their oponents until the 3rd quarter where Ricky Davis started to light it up, including one sky-high slam over Portland high-scorer Juan Dixon, shown below. The Blazers were able to re-gain control of the match through solid rebounding by Przybilla and Randolph and the quickness and skills of Jarrett Jack contributing with 18 off the bench.
The match showed weaknesses in the T'Wolves defence and also highlighted the fact that long-distance shooting is something they must practice, with Troy Hudson the only specialist able to drain one from downtown.

[Moop_Moop]

Tough loss, man. Great game by Garnett and Ricky D. though. GL in the next one. Looking forward

I like how the boxscores are. How do you do it like that?

[Marquis]

Ndudi Ebi
Good luck with your Dynasty

[Kieran]

Tough loss, man. Great game by Garnett and Ricky D. though. GL in the next one. Looking forward

I like how the boxscores are. How do you do it like that?

Thanks for the feedback. To get the boxscore like that, I click on the game I just played in the Calendar view and then click Boxscore down the bottom (or maybe it says "Show Boxscore", I can't really remember). Then when I have it on screen I hit "Save" which will save it to My Documents/NBA Live 06/gamestats as a boxscore txt file.
Then I just upload it to my geocities account and link to it from here using the URL tag tool supplied by the forum.

The tag will look something like this:

Code: Select all

[url=www.geocities.com/youraccount/yourboxscore.txt]Boxscore[/url]

Typing the word 'Boxscore' in the middle of the tag there means that I want the word 'Boxscore' to link to my Boxscore txt file.

Hope this has helped

[Andrew]

Shame about the loss, but nice work with the thread and the screen of the Ricky Davis dunk.

[Kieran]

NBA NEWS
January
-1/24/06 | Minnesota Timberwolves trade M. Banks to the Boston Celtics for G. Green
-1/23/06 | Minnesota Timberwolves trade M. Jaric to the New Orleans/Oklahoma Hornets for C. Andersen

December
-12/27/05 | Atlanta Hawks sign J. McCoy for 12.63M for 6 years
-12/19/05 | Seattle Supersonics sign R. Lopez for 10.72M for 6 years
-12/14/05 | Phoenix Suns sign J. Lucas for 4.34M for 5 years
-12/12/05 | Phoenix Suns release P. Burke
-12/6/05 | Atlants Hawks sign J. Moiso for 17.73M for 5 years

November
-11/25/05 | Minnesota Timberwolves trade M. Blount, R. Frahm to San Antonia Spurs for R. Nesterovic
-11/5/05 | Atlanta Hawks release E. Batista
-11/4/05 | New Orleans/Oklahoma Hornets sign M. N'diaye for 3.27M for 2 years

[Kieran]

STATS AND STANDINGS

MID-JANUARY

WESTERN CONFERENCE





EASTERN CONFERENCE

[Kieran]

SCOUTING REPORT

The Timberwolves are a fairly well-rounded team with a good combination of experienced guys and a few fresh, young, ambitious faces. However there is always room for improvement and as it stands, the weakness for the Timberwolves seems to be in the depth of big men on the roster. Henceforth the scouting of the Draft Class is directed mainly toward finding a Center or Power Foward with good prospects to join the Timberwolves franchise.
We are estimating getting our first pick of the draft somewhere between pick 12 and pick 20.

Here is who we have been looking at so far:
Centers:
Andrew Chen
7'1" | 263 lbs | 22yo
Strengths: Dunk (A-), D. Aware (A-), Strength (B), Hardiness (B)
Weaknesses: Dribble (E), Pass (D-), 3PT (D-)
Projected: Top 15
Potential: Average

Power Forwards:
Whitlam Heller
6'8" | 230 lbs | 23yo
Strengths: Dunking (A-), Strength (A-), Stamina (B-)
Weaknesses: Passing (E), Stealing (E)
Projected: Top 20
Potential: Very Limited

Levander Beatty
7'1" | 255 lbs | 23yo
Strengths: Jumping (A-), Steal (B-), Quickness (B-)
Weaknesses: 3PT (E), Pass (D-), O. Reb (D-), FG (D-)
Projected: Top 15
Potential: Limited

Small Forwards:
Seal Everett
6'9" | 254 lbs | 21yo
Strengths: FG (B-), Dunk (B-), Strength (B-)
Weaknesses: O. Reb (D-)
Projected: 4th Overall
Potential: Average

Quint Hamilton
6'9" | 233 lbs | 21yo
Strengths: O. Aware (A-), Jump (A-), Strength (B)
Weaknesses: Block (D-), O. Reb (D-), Pass (D-)
Projected: Top 10
Potential: Limited

[Kieran]

GAME 2:
MIN @ SEA

MIN 108 - SEA 117

[Boxscore]


POTG - R. ALLEN - 33 pts, 6 ast, 3 reb, 3 stl, 0 blk
MIN
Points: K. Garnett - 26
Assists: M. Jaric - 9
Rebounds: E. Griffin - 10

SEA
Points: R. Allen - 33
Assists: L. Ridnour - 8
Rebounds: V. Radmanovic - 21

Recap:
An early lead is the only one the Timberwolves saw in this match. Seattle did not take long to get on top through the playmaking of Point Guard Luke Ridnour and scoring of All-Star Shooting Guard Ray Allen, who took out POTG honours with his game-high of 33. Even more impressive though were the 21 boards that Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic was able to rake in, keeping the Wolves big men at bay when it mattered.
The game was almost within reach for the Wolves in the final moments when sharp-shooter Troy Hudson was subbed on to try and erase the defecit in the small amount of time left, hitting 3 of 5 3PT attempts in 6 minutes but it was not to be.


KG goes for a ride on half the Seattle defence, one of few shining moments for the Wolves in this game.

[Kieran]

GAME 3:
MIN @ LAC


MIN 119 - LAC 109

[Boxscore]


POTG - K. GARNETT - 26 pts, 0 ast, 14 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk
(1 POTG so far)

MIN
Points: K. Garnett - 26
Assists: T. Hassell - 7
Rebounds: K. Garnett - 14

LAC
Points: C. Mobley - 23
Assists: C. Mobley / S. Cassell - 3
Rebounds: E. Brand - 12


Recap:
This one was always going to be an interesting matchup as the Timberwolves and Clippers had exchanged Point Guards during the off-season, and all were keen to see the guys go head to head for their respective new teams. The fans were treated as both Marko Jaric (now in Minnesota) and Sam Cassell (now in LA) had reasonably good games, with neither of them really stealing the show from the other. Perhaps we shall have to wait for the next game in two days which sees the same fixture but this time at the Wolves homecourt.
In terms of the rest of the match, the lead swung back and forth which both of the teams leading by more than 10 points at various times throughout the match. POTG Kevin Garnett was relentless with 26 points and 14 boards as he hammered the Clippers defence with his dominant post play. Cuttino Mobley was at some times unstoppable throughout this game and the Wolves had better work out a way to keep him quiet before the next game or we are likely to see a repeat of his scoring touch.

[Kieran]

GAME 4:
LAC @ MIN


LAC 109 - MIN 118

[Boxscore]


POTG - K. GARNETT - 33 pts, 0 ast, 9 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk
(2 POTG so far)

MIN
Points: K. Garnett - 33
Assists: M. Jaric - 5
Rebounds: E. Griffin / K. Garnett - 9

LAC
Points: C. Mobley - 34
Assists: S. Cassell - 15
Rebounds: C. Kaman - 9


Recap:
Well the battle of the relocated Point Guards was more or less won in this meeting by the Clippers' Sam Cassell who finished the game with 10 points and a staggering 15 assists, 10 more than his oponent Marko Jaric. Cassell's court wasn't enough to ensure a Clippers win however, despite the hot hand of Cuttino Mobley, who sank 34 points in this encounter. He was matched however in a shootout by Kevin Garnett who scored 33 of his own, in a similar fashion to the last match. The game was an all round similarity to the previous encounter with a difference of 1 point in the scores between this and the last game. The lead did not see-saw quite as much as the last match (despite an injury to Eddie Griffin causing him to miss a quarter) but kept rather even until the fourth quarter when the Wolves ran away with it.


Tom Gugliotta on the fast break from his own steal.


Ricky Davis powers right through Corey Magette

[KOBE#8]

Go Go lakers!!!

[Kieran]

GAME 5:
LAL @ MIN


LAL 123 - MIN 112

[Boxscore]


POTG - K. BRYANT - 40 pts, 5 ast, 3 reb, 0 stl, 0 blk

MIN
Points: K. Garnett - 37
Assists: M. Jaric / M. Banks - 6
Rebounds: K. Garnett - 11

LAL
Points: K. Bryant - 40
Assists: S. Parker - 6
Rebounds: L. Odom - 17

Recap:
In this fast paced game the Timberwolves' defence was again exposed. There was never really a stage of the game where Minnesota looked in control, and it seemed as they were playing catch-up all game long. The lead only grew as the game continued as the Wolves had no answer to Kobe Bryant's 40 points. Garnett shot 37 of his own at the other end but it wasn't enough to get the Wolves out of the hole they kept falling further into as the game lengthened.


Trenton Hassell slams home an alley from Marcus Banks


Ricky Davis glides over the Lakers defence

[Kieran]

GAME 6:
MIN @ DEN


MIN 117 - DEN 120

[Boxscore]


POTG - M. CAMBY - 16 pts, 2 ast, 10 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk

MIN
Points: R. Davis - 30
Assists: M. Jaric - 8
Rebounds: K. Garnett - 15

DEN
Points: D. Johnson - 22
Assists: V. Lenard - 6
Rebounds: M. Camby / K. Martin - 10

Recap:
In all fairness this is a game that Minnesota really should have won. They took an early lead and dictated the play for the first half of the game. The second half was a different story though with Kenyon Martin firing up and really hammering the Wolves down in the post. Demarr Johnson was the leading scorer with 22 off the bench for the Nuggets and was also quite a handful.
Despite the efforts of Ricky Davis who scored a personal season high of 30 points, and hot-hand rookie Rashad McCants with season high of 12, the Wolves could not come from behind. The Timberwolves' case was not helped by Marcus Banks going down with a leg injury late in the 3rd.
There was a chance to tie on the buzzer with a 3PT attempt from Hudson but the specialist long-distance man could not convert.


Ricky Davis was taking it to the Nuggets all night


Probably attempts them too often, but this time Jaric pulls off a steal

[Kieran]

GAME 7:
HOU @ MIN



THE NEW HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL?


HOU 116 - MIN 115 in OT

[Boxscore]


POTG - T. McGRADY - 29 pts, 2 ast, 7 reb, 5 stl, 1 blk

MIN
Points: R. Davis - 29
Assists: M. Jaric - 8
Rebounds: M. Blount - 8

HOU
Points: T. McGrady - 29
Assists: R. Alston - 5
Rebounds: S. Swift - 17

Recap:
This game was always going to be a cracker and went into overtime thanks to a highly unlikely event. Stromile Swift hit a buzzer beating 3PT shot to level the scores at 101 at the end of regulation. Prior to this stage the Timberwolves had got a run on and led by as much as 12 points, but a spirited comeback lead by McGrady and Rafer Alston and backed by the defensive presence of Yao and the insane 17 boards by Swift.
Good games once again from Kevin Garnett and Ricky Davis who just may well be the man who could be crowned the new Human Highlight Reel (see above photos).

Though not as young anymore, Dikembe can still swat a power dunk by Kevin Garnett.