Where's the Love? Do the Timberwolves Have Enough Juice to Sneak Into the Playoffs?

This past trading deadline, rumors were a swirl about what the Minnesota Timberwolves would do with star power forward Kevin Love. With an early opt-out clause looming after next season(and the Kupchak/Purple and Gold monster waiting to pounce in the city he played college ball), Minny may be approaching the reality of losing another franchise big man.

Before this season, we saw the Wolves add pieces to their roster with the intent of taking some of the burden off of Love. Adding wings Kevin Martin and Corey Brewer, resigning Chase Budinger and bruiser Nikola Pekovic(who tops my list of players I'd have no problem running away from in a dark alley) and nabbing underachieving UCLA one and doner Shabazz Muhammad along with Louisville center Gorgui Dieng in the first round of the 2013 draft, had the makings of a solid offseason haul. The biggest move of their offseason may have been kicking GM David Kahn, notorious for his head scratching roster moves, to the curb and replacing him with Flip Saunders. All of this wheeling and dealing had the Wolves seemingly ready to hold down one of the Western Conference's lower playoff spots with certainty.

So what happened?

1. Injuries
Last season we saw Minny decimated by injuries. This year, (while not nearly as bad as the prior) the injury bug struck again. Starters Martin and Pekovic went out with ailments before the All Star Break, causing them to miss 7 and 13 games respectively and the team to lose out on about 40% of their scoring. With a bench coming in as one of the bottom 5 scoring units in the league at 26 points a game, not having those weapons did the team no favors.

2. Rubio's Lack of Progression
3rd year Spaniard Ricky Rubio may have been the reason the Wolves' big wigs(specifically Kahn) didn't offer Love the 5 year max he could and should have been afforded, choosing instead to save it for the PG. Unfortunately, Rubio's numbers are just about the same compared to his rookie season and he's in the midst of the worst shooting season IN NBA HISTORY. He can't shoot, can't finish, and defenses generally play off of him, making it tough for other guys to get going. This is a part of the reason the team is shooting a dreadful 43% from the floor, a terrible number for a team trying to slip into the playoffs.

3. Defense
Defensively, the Timberwolves tend to let opponents kill them in the paint. With no real rim protector on their team, opponents are scoring to the tune of 45 points in the paint against them. These easy buckets near the tin are helping contribute to their bottom 3 opponent field goal percentage mark. Defense wins championships, or at least gets a team to the playoffs.

If nothing else, the Minnesota Timberwolves are an entertaining squad. They play at the 3rd fastest pace, and are 4th in team scoring at 105.7 a game. Kevin Love's eye popping numbers and even better February, where he averaged a ridiculous 34 and 14 with a handful of high assist games in the mix, are reasons enough to watch this team play. After getting Martin and Pekovic back in a win in Sacramento on Saturday, the Wolves are back at .500 and winners of 5 of their last 6. They have an easy upcoming slate of games against the reeling Nuggets and Knicks teams, Pistons, Raptors, Bucks, Bobcats and Kings. This will be followed by two big games against current 7th and 8th spot holders Dallas and Phoenix with a game in Houston in the middle.

It'll be interesting to see if they can make the last month and a half a close race for one of the last seeds. Memphis is getting healthy and looking dangerous, currently sitting at the 9th spot. If Minnesota can't get their foot in the door, Sota' fans may want to start preparing themselves for seeing Love's outlet passes as a road player.




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