Wolves 2013-14: Life Below .500

The current Minnesota Timberwolves logo (2008-present) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Timberwolves ended their NBA season with a double overtime loss to the Utah Jazz Wednesday night at Target Center, 136-130.

At 40-42, this is the Wolves' best record since the 2004-05 season.  But they've also gone a full decade without reaching the playoffs.  A lot of us checked out when it became apparent that the only thing the team was playing for was to get to a .500 record.  And they didn't even do that.

So now the Wolves face another off-season of uncertainty.  The most immediate concern is who is going to coach this team.  Unless we hear differently, Rick Adelman has coached his 1791st and last NBA game with a 1042-749 mark to show for it.  During his career, he's worked wonders in Portland, Houston, Golden State and Sacramento.  Coaching the Wolves, however, has proven that his magic only went so far.

Then there's the Kevin Love question.  Should he stay in Minnesota another year before heading off to a contender in free agency, or should he be traded?  The Wolves, given their history, are flirting with disaster on this one.  If Love waves bye-bye, they risk getting nothing in return.  If he is traded, the Wolves stand a good chance of getting some past-his-prime player and/or draft picks that seldom work out.

Is there life for the Timberwolves beyond reaching the elusive .500 mark, and maybe offering its dwindling base of fans some hope for the future?  Only owner Glen Taylor (soon to be a newspaper publisher) and team president Flip Saunders seem to know the answers.  For a franchise that's generally considered to be the worst in the NBA, they'd better be the right ones.

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This is who we think will be playing for the NBA title come June:  Miami vs. San Antonio.

The Husky Basketball Double

English: University of Connecticut head women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma during a game against the University of Texas on March 23, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For only the second time, the University of Connecticut's men's and women's basketball teams have won national titles.

The women's team was a bit more expected, completing an undefeated season with a 79-58 rout of Notre Dame (also previously undefeated) at the NCAA championship game in Nashville.  Breanna Stewart led the Huskies with 21 points and nine rebounds as the player of the game.  This was the ninth national title for coach Geno Auriemma, unprecedented in women's basketball and approaching John Wooden territory.

The night before, the men's team defeated Kentucky 60-54 for the national title in Arlington, Texas.  This was the Huskies' fourth championship, and the third in the state of Texas (San Antonio in 2004, Houston in 2011).  Shabazz Napier was the game's best player with 22 points.

You recall that Warren Buffett offered a million bucks to the one who got all the brackets to the NCAA men's tournament right?  Safest bet he ever made.  Absolutely no one got it right as upsets took down the top-seeded teams to the point where the championship game became a matchup of the lowest-seeded teams ever:  #7 Connecticut vs. #8 Kentucky.  Lower seeds with championship pedigree, that is.

The Huskies and the Wildcats both had something to prove Monday night besides the seeding.  For the Huskies, they were coming off an NCAA-imposed one year ban for lack of academic performance--a fact Napier tried to get across in his post-game comments before CBS cut him off.  For Kentucky, coach John Calipari tried to win another title using freshman players who are in college only because they needed a year before NBA teams can draft them.

Yes, basketball rules in Storrs, Connecticut, home to the University of Connecticut.  If they can keep it up in the classroom as well as on the court, they'll be the envy of everyone.  That includes both genders.

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The University of Minnesota men's basketball team couldn't overcome their mediocrity in the first season for coach Richard Pitino, having been passed over by the NCAA again for an invitation to their tournament.  But the Gophers made up for it by winning the National Invitation Tournament in New York, defeating Southern Methodist for the championship at Madison Square Garden.  How much difference it will make for next season remains to be seen.

The women's team has hired Marlene Stollings, who spent three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth (where, not coincidentally, athletic director Norwood Teague hails from), to be its new basketball coach.  Stollings replaces Pam Borton, who was fired after 12 seasons in a case of "what have you done for me lately".  The Gophers haven't seen the NCAA tournament in several years, and is in danger of Rachel Banham (the Big 10's leading scorer) going through her entire college career without a post-season to show for it.  Maybe Stollings can help do something about that.