Fast starts aren't enough to win games for the Minnesota T..

Fast starts aren't enough to win games for the Minnesota Timberwolves

TOM POWERS - TwinCities.com

Article Last Updated: 11/07/2007

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_7390373


Three games into the season and one thing is clear: The Timberwolves
are the gol-darnedest team in the first quarter.

If NBA games lasted eight or nine minutes, the Wolves would be
champions. These guys come out of the locker room looking like the
1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers.

In their opener Friday, they jumped ahead of the Nuggets 19-6 before
the visitors had time to ask: Who are these guys? At revered Madison
Square Garden on Sunday, they had the Knicks down by 10 early. Tuesday
night against Orlando, they blew out to a 13-4 advantage that had the
crowd oohing and ahhing. It was a heck of a thing.

"I'd rather start off slow and end good," said forward Al Jefferson.

There's something to be said for that. Still, at least the Wolves are
going great guns at some point in the game.

"Start good and end good," Jefferson said, smacking his right fist
into his left palm.

Well, take it easy. Maybe someday. But right now, these fellows are
murder for the first few minutes. Then, of course, reality sets in. So
get to Target Center early and enjoy the show. This will not be a good
season in which to be fashionably late.

The Wolves dropped their third straight, losing to Orlando 111-103
Tuesday night. Give them an "A" for effort, a "C" for execution and an
"F" for final result. In other words, everything is pretty much going
along as expected.

Actually, the Wolves are better than we thought. But that's probably
not saying much because many of us figured

the team bus would qualify for a handicapped-parking pass. The most
startling aspect of the season has been how the team bolts from the
locker room and plays lights-out early in every contest.

"That's good," forward Ryan Gomes said semi-reluctantly. "That's good
energy and focus we come out with. But the last six or seven minutes
of the fourth quarter is when games are won.

"The beginning of the games matter. We've got to finish."

Before Tuesday night's game, I suggested to coach Randy Wittman that
he keep his starting five in the locker room until the fourth quarter.
Play Nos. 6 through 12 for 36 minutes and try to stay within a dozen
points or so. Then bring in the starters and let them kick tail
feathers.

"You're trying to learn," Wittman said. "You learn from watching. I
can't go into practice and say, 'OK, it's the fourth quarter now.'
You've got to make plays in the fourth quarter. That's what it comes
down to."

OK, but it seems to me that if he can trick his players into thinking
it's the start of the game instead of near the end, he might be in
business.

Poor Wittman has his hands full. Randy Foye, a good young player - and
one of the few guys the crowd can recognize - came up with a bum knee
and is out indefinitely. The silver lining is that the injury means
extra playing time for, I don't know, somebody.

Tuesday night, Rashad McCants drove hard along the baseline and ended
up in a heap, clutching his ankle. The injury was immediately
diagnosed as a sprain. Who knows when he'll be back?

Again the injury means that ... somebody will benefit from more
playing time. I can't really think of any of their names right now.

Just a second, from my press seat here at Target Center, let me look
and see who is on the court.

(Insert Muzak here.)

Sorry, still don't recognize them. But the guy with the beard appears
promising.

Anyway, the early-season pattern is unmistakable: The Wolves look
great until the spectators get their coats off and settle into their
seats. Then that silky-smooth rhythm seems to disappear, and the guys
try to gut it out and stay close.

The word around the NBA is that Minnesota is in for a rough season.
Maybe the Wolves aren't taken seriously by the opposition for the
first few minutes. But until the other team buckles down, it's very
entertaining show to watch.

The Wolves should change their marketing slogan to: "See what they can
do. For a modest amount of time."

Said Jefferson: "We can't just prove that we're the best team in the
NBA in the first quarter."

It's better than nothing, although I'm not sure the league awards a
trophy for that. Maybe owner Glen Taylor should look into it.



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