Wolves 2016-17: Not Ready for Prime Time

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

Promises, promises.  We hear enough of them from political candidates who'd get elected on them, but somehow never quite deliver.  The same can be said for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who keep building their their roster through the NBA draft hoping for a better result (isn't that the definition of insanity?), only to spend the next season looking at ping pong balls again.

As Wolves fans have been told time and again, the team's young combo platter of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Wiggins, Zach LaVine and others along with new coach Tom Thibodeau would be helping put Minnesota on the NBA map for seasons to come.  And help make a refurbished Target Center in Minneapolis the place to be.

So how come the Wolves are 22-35 at the All Star break?  Is it Thibodeau having problems meshing his coaching style with his players?  Or is it because the Wolves gave up too may big leads, lose close games and sometimes don't show up for them?

Lately, the Wolves have been playing better basketball.  Towns and Wiggins have been improving their game to the point of becoming highlight material.  So has Ricky Rubio, in spite of reports that he's on the trading block.  And LaVine had been playing up to his potential until a knee injury forced him to prematurely end his season.

For all the talk about how there's only two NBA teams who matter this season--the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, there's a surprising number of teams within striking distance of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.  The Wolves happen to be one of those teams willing to be the sacrificial lambs in the first round against the Bay Area All Stars, as they are currently three games back of the Denver Nuggets.  It sounds like a mirage for a team for a team that hasn't been to the playoffs for more than a decade.

The Wolves might not be ready for prime time, but the NBA's TV partners TNT and ESPN seem to think that, despite their record, they really are contenders.  And guys like Charles Barkley can't help singing their praises on TV.

Minnesota fans have heard all these hosannas from Barkley and Co., and after seeing this team play, they have a right to be skeptical.  The Timberwolves don't need more kudos.  They need victories.  And winning, not more promises, is what's going to make the Wolves a must-watch for the next few years.