A heavy sigh comes with this post after the Wolves somehow managed to drop an overtime decision to the Clippers last night.
Up five, 30 seconds left, game over, right? RIGHT?
How do you lose with numbers like that from your best player?
Another heavy sigh as we move onto this week’s NBA power rankings, which understandably drop Minnesota down the charts after the Wolves lost three of four last week.
CBS SPORTS: No. 14, down two from last week – “They’re not as bad as their record shows, nor as good as their wildest dreams. They need to feast on some weaker competition and make the playoffs. Everything else is gravy. But they’re not ready to hang with the big boys.”
NBA.COM: No. 13, down two from last week – “With the Wolves having issues with their depth (they’re awful offensively when Kevin Love sits), defense (they rank 25th in December) and shooting (they rank 28th in effective field goal percentage from outside the paint), it was big news that Chase Budinger was cleared to practice last week. And this week’s schedule (they don’t play until Friday) allows him to actually get in a couple of practices.”
ESPN: No. 11, down one from last week – “You know the unwritten rules of MVP voting by now: Players from sub-.500 teams can’t be candidates. You can also understand, if you’ve watched K-Love lately, that you hate yourself after writing such a sentence. Especially after rechecking his sick lines against the Blazers and Clips.”
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: No. 13, down one from last week – “Ricky Rubio’s shooting is the only thing that’s keeping him from becoming a star and the Wolves from being a playoff team. He’s shooting just 34.7 percent from the field this year and taking a career-low 8.5 attempts, a sign his confidence may be slipping.”
YAHOO! SPORTS: No. 13, down one from last week – “Kevin Love has averaged 33 points and 14 rebounds over the past six games. He had 45 and 19 on Sunday against the Clippers, yet the T’wolves coughed up the lead in the final seconds of regulation before losing in overtime.”
The critics aren’t as harsh as they could’ve been, and that win over the best team in basketball last week, the Portland Trail Blazers, undoubtedly saved Minnesota from further scrutiny.
They don’t play until Friday, and the holiday break should serve them well, at least we hope so.
