8-35.. but there's hope. | Timberwolves Talk's Blog

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I'll just say it: The Wolves have sucked this year. Any time it takes a team 50 days to win it's first three games, you know there are some issues to be addressed.

For most of the season, the Wolves have seemed to be less poised in the fourth quarter than... I can't even think of an analogy. They've gone into the fourth with a lead and come out with nothin' more times than I'd like to remember.

Lately, however, they've showed signs of turning things around and playing the way so many of us hoped they could in the post-Garnett era. While crushed to watch Garnett leave for greener pastures, I looked at the Wolves' haul from the trade with cautious optimism. I'd seen Al Jefferson play, and thought that he could become a dominant low-post scorer and rebounder. Ryan Gomes, I thought, could be a serviceable role player, a decent scorer. Sebastian Telfair, the high school phenom, clearly won't ever live up to his potential, but I thought he could provide decent backup minutes at point guard. I've always been really high on Randy Foye, and I thought that, over the years, he and Jefferson could emerge as a nice 1-2 punch offensively. For almost the whole first half, all four of those hopes went unrealized.

Now three of them have begun to show flashes of coming true, while the fourth (Randy Foye, for those not paying close attention) will play out soon, possibly as soon as tonight, January 29th, against Chicago. Jefferson terrorized the Suns and Nets, going off for 39 and 40, winning Western Conference player of the week honors. Gomes and Telfair have been alright.

We're mildly optimistic for next season here at Timberwolves Talk, and hope the second half of this year will be a preview. We'll continue to post blogs once a week-ish, recapping the week of Wolves action.