Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG

[TheDominator273]

On July 31, 2007, the Minnesota Timberwolves reached a deal to trade All-Star Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics for Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, two first-round draft picks, and cash considerations. This is the largest combination of players and picks ever traded for a single player in NBA history. Garnett and the Celtics went on to win the 2008 NBA Finals in six games over the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Timberwolves fell into the NBA abyss. Already 2 seasons into a playoff drought, they would go another 11 seasons before finally making the playoffs in the 2017-18 season.

I aim to change history and keep the Wolves from becoming the Cleveland Browns of the NBA in the Post KG era.

System/Game: XB1 2K19
Mode: 30 Team Control MyLeague
Rosters: Plumdog Millionaire's 2006-07 Roster with tweaks to update to 2007-08 season
Settings: Schnaidt1's MyLeague and Gameplay Sliders
Others: 10 min qtrs/12 min sim qtrs/82 games/
Posting Format: I will play one game per in game week and post a game recap for that game. In addition I will do short articles 1-2 times per game month.

[TheDominator273]

The 2007 Timberwolves have an interesting group of talented young players who haven't made the next step and aging vets. The team is very athletic and will look to utilize their athleticism to get out on the fast break. In the half court offense, Al Jefferson's low post skill will be utilized, and the team will work hard to develop some shooting range for Jefferson, at least to midrange, making him a threat to pop in pick and roll situations.

Rookie wing Corey Brewer is a very good defender with a limited offensive game. Expect the Wolves to bring him along slowly on the offensive side, giving him more offensive responsibility as he develops a larger offensive repertoire.

The Wolves will tip off their season at home on October 17th at home vs the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.

[TheDominator273]

The season is underway, and for 2.5 quarters it looked like the Wolves transition into the post Kevin Garnett era would be a smooth one. However in the middle of the 3rd quarter the Spurs woke up from their slumber and showed why they are the defending champions, closing the quarter strong with 8 unanswered points, extending their lead to 9 points. Once they had the lead, they never looked back as the onslaught continued in the 4th quarter. The Spurs defense was stifling as they held the Wolves to just 14 points in the final frame.

For the Spurs, Tim Duncan showed that he's still in his prime as he dominated any defender thrown his way offensively, and he dominated the glass notching a game leading 25 rebounds. Defensively he stifled Al Jefferson on the low block all game as the majority of Jefferson's 12 points came when he was guarded by Fabricio Oberto.

The bright spots for the Wolves was the microwave scoring potential shown by Rashad McCants and Gerald Green in addition to Antoine Walker. The downside was guardplay overall was rough to put it nicely. Young point guards Sebastian Telfair and Randy Foye were inefficient at best at running the offense, leading to many possessions where a poor shot had to be thrown up to avoid a shot clock violation. In addition, the late shot clock panic lead to turnovers galore as the Wolves turned the ball over 14 times to the Spurs 3.

For our Rookie Watch, Corey Brewer was nearly invisible in all phases of the game. He got one shot attempt in the game, an open corner 3 attempt that was a little strong.

[TheDominator273]

The Minnesota Timberwolves came into Friday night's matchup vs the Milwaukee Bucks riding the high of their first win of the season coming just 3 days before when they knocked off the Indiana Pacers to after starting the season with 4 straight losses.

The high didn't last long as they came out listless to start the game, managing a measly 12 points in the opening frame, half of which came from Al Jefferson post ups. Fortunately the Bucks didn't look much better as they clanked their way to 14 first quarter points of their own.

For the fans who didn't change the channel after a brutal first quarter, they were rewarded with a more entertaining 2nd quarter. The Wolves were lead by Sebastian Telfair in the frame who would score 7 of his 13 points in the 2nd. Unfortunately he gave it all back on the other end as Mo Williams and Michael Redd repeatedly torched him. Heading into halftime the Bucks held a 39-29 lead.

At halftime the Wolves made an obvious adjustment as they started to go heavy into low post opportunities for Al Jefferson and it paid off big time as the Wolves offense came to life with Jefferson playing the role of bully. At the end of the 3rd quarter the Wolves had cut the lead to 64-61 but the run of good play continued into the 4th quarter as Gerald Green and Rashad McCants each hit a pair of big 3 pointers that propelled the Wolves to a lead that was as large as 13 points. Ultimately the Wolves would walk away with a 7 point victory.

Al Jefferson getting consistent touches in the post is the best form of offense for the Wolves currently, and we saw that again tonight as Big Al wore out Andrew Bogut, kicked the ball out when needed, and when the Bucks threw Charlie Villanueva or Yi Jianlian it was a nearly automatic bucket. Jefferson will need to work on his conditioning as he gasses out easily, but he is an extremely talented low post scorer with plenty of room still to grow.

[TheDominator273]

Two weeks into the season its time to look at the league landscape for the first time.

[TazGlenn23]

This is awesome


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[TheDominator273]

Following the lead of what drove their victory vs the Milwaukee Bucks 3 days prior, the Minnesota Timberwolves fed Al Jefferson early and often, and were rewarded for it with a game high 36 points, including 12 in the first quarter. Jefferson made light work of whoever the Lakers threw at him as he finished the day 17-29 from the field, to top it off he killed the Lakers when they sent a double team, tallying 4 assists to shooters out on the perimeter when the double team came his way.

The key to the Wolves victory over the struggling Lakers was their ability to first neutralize superstar guard Kobe Bryant in the first half, and then to lock down his supporting cast in the 2nd half. The most important factor in this was rookie swingman Corey Brewer who had the best game of his young career. Brewer hounded Bryant in the first half, and in the 2nd half when the strategy switched focus on the rest of the Lakers, Brewer gave them all hell. He finished the game with 3 steals, but countless other passes tipped and shots heavily contested. We even saw some life from him offensively as he finished 6-11 from the field, including a couple fast break dunks.

Brewer remains extremely raw on the offensive side of the floor, but he has solid mechanics on his jumpshot and its a matter of putting in the work in the gym. Defensively he is showcasing future All Defense type talent, which has to make Wolves fans smile on a team that has historically struggled on that side of the floor.

[TheDominator273]

We are now a month into the season and its time to look at the statistical league leaders for the first time.