tlongII
01-06-2013, 06:06 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2013/01/blazers_insider_in_minnesota_the_timberwolves_have .html
MINNEAPOLIS _ Minneapolis doesn’t have the bike paths of Portland, or the craft beers, or the hipster crowd, but it sure does have many of the ties that lace the basketball history of Rip City.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have 13 employees with ties to Portland, the Blazers or the state of Oregon. The Timberwolves top executive, David Kahn, was once a columnist at The Oregonian. Their top player, Kevin Love, grew up in Lake Oswego, a Portland suburb. The head coach, Rick Adelman, coached the Blazers to two NBA Finals and still lives in Portland. Two assistants coaches - Terry Porter and TR Dunn - played for the Blazers. Another, Bill Bayno, coached the Blazers. And yet another assistant, David Adelman, grew up in Portland and coached Lincoln High to the state championship game in basketball.
Portland is everywhere here. There are players, like Brandon Roy and Dante Cunningham who were Blazers. There are front office executives - R.J. Adelman is director of player personnel. Even the advance scout, Pat Zipfel, spent three seasons with the Blazers. The state is represented, too. Wolves point guard Luke Ridnour starred at the University of Oregon,
Even the Blazers rejects, like lottery picks Martell Webster and Sebastian Telfair, have made their way to, and out, of Minnesota.
And naturally, this summer’s big to-do was Kahn going after one of Portland’s prized possessions - Nicolas Batum - a ploy that didn’t work, except for making owner Paul Allen wince a tad at signing a bigger check than he wanted to keep Batum.
But a funny thing has happened in Minnesota’s quest to become a frozen Portland.
They have come to own Portland’s tortured dance with injuries.
Perhaps it’s karma-kickback for that summer fight over Batum, when Blazers general manager Neil Olshey chided his Minnesota counterpart by saying “it’s the Wrath of Kahn” when marveling at the insistence of Kahn to drag out the free agent process when Olshey made it clear he would match any offer.
Or perhaps it’s Adelman, who dealt with major injuries to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady in his previous job in Houston. The exasperated coach said he has gone as far to question if indeed he is the problem.
“I’m beginning to wonder,’’ Adelman said.
A Timberwolves season destined for their first trip to the playoffs since 2004 has suddenly turned into a deluge of MRI’s and rehabilitation updates. The dynamic of Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon Roy has never materialized. Minnesota is 15-15 and on the outside looking in on the Western Conference playoff picture.
Here in Portland, we can only nod our heads and sigh. We remember the hope and promise of Roy, Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge. But over five seasons, knee injuries to Roy and Oden would allow those three to play in 76 games together. They were good - they went 51-25 in those games - but the city and the franchise felt robbed. Something that should have been great was taken from us all.
“Every time we started to look good, and the ball started to roll, and our train started to roll, all of the sudden Greg would go out, or Brandon would go out,’’ Aldridge said. “I felt like we never had all the Big Three in Portland, we never had a chance to see that combination and see what could have been.’’
Minnesota is starting to understand that frustration.
On Saturday, before the Blazers built a 22-point lead and hung on for a 102-97 victory, the Timberwolves announced Love had broken his right hand for the second time this season. Love has now missed 12 of 30 games this season, and is staring at least another five weeks on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the other half of the Timberwolves dynamic duo - Rubio - has played in only five games. The first 22 games he missed recovering from a knee injury suffered last season. The last three, including Saturday’s game, he missed because of back spasms related to playing before he was properly conditioned.
In the season’s sixth game, Chase Budinger injured his left knee and will likely miss the season. Roy lasted five games before his knees started feeling like Portland. And J.J. Barea has missed six games with ankle ailments.
Already, the Timberwolves have lost a combined 110 games to player injuries. All of last year, they had 180.
“I’ve never been through anything like this,’’ Adelman said before the game. “It’s just been one thing after the other. It’s been a constant all year long. I guess it could be worse, but I’m not sure.’’
Could it be the curse of Portland?
“Oh, don’t say the Portland curse,’’ Porter said with a chuckle back in November, before things really started to turn bad. “We had healthy guys in my and Rick’s era (in Portland) so don’t be dragging us in with Greg Oden. But I don’t think it has anything to do with Portland. Last year we had a lot of guys go down, so we have our own curse over here. We don’t need anybody else’s curses. We are trying to shoo our own off.’’
The Blazers, meanwhile, have mostly been knocking on wood in hopes of keeping the injury bug away. One of the reasons the Blazers own a surprising 18-15 record is they have remained relatively healthy. The starters have combined to miss 10 games, six of them by Matthews, who is now back and playing at his career-best level, as evidenced by his 26 points Saturday.
“How can Portland have their starting five miss only 10 games?’’ Adelman huffed before the game. “I don’t get that. One guy has missed six. That’s like a normal two weeks for us. How is that? It’s just not fair, that’s what I think. It’s unfair.’’
Don’t talk to Aldridge, Batum and Matthews about fair. They have paid their dues, suffering through the fits and starts of key players being in and out of the lineup. They know the mental strain it puts on a team. They remember how injuries can break a team’s rhythm. That’s why each of them looked for some wood to knock on Saturday when their good fortune, and Minnesota’s bad luck, was brought up.
“We have been through so much, especially L.A. and me and Wes a little bit,’’ Batum said. “Now, (he knocks on the wood in his locker) we are good.’’
Meanwhile, if Minnesota wants to be Portland so bad, perhaps it can take heed from a saying we understand in our wet little corner of the world.
When it rains, it pours.
MINNEAPOLIS _ Minneapolis doesn’t have the bike paths of Portland, or the craft beers, or the hipster crowd, but it sure does have many of the ties that lace the basketball history of Rip City.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have 13 employees with ties to Portland, the Blazers or the state of Oregon. The Timberwolves top executive, David Kahn, was once a columnist at The Oregonian. Their top player, Kevin Love, grew up in Lake Oswego, a Portland suburb. The head coach, Rick Adelman, coached the Blazers to two NBA Finals and still lives in Portland. Two assistants coaches - Terry Porter and TR Dunn - played for the Blazers. Another, Bill Bayno, coached the Blazers. And yet another assistant, David Adelman, grew up in Portland and coached Lincoln High to the state championship game in basketball.
Portland is everywhere here. There are players, like Brandon Roy and Dante Cunningham who were Blazers. There are front office executives - R.J. Adelman is director of player personnel. Even the advance scout, Pat Zipfel, spent three seasons with the Blazers. The state is represented, too. Wolves point guard Luke Ridnour starred at the University of Oregon,
Even the Blazers rejects, like lottery picks Martell Webster and Sebastian Telfair, have made their way to, and out, of Minnesota.
And naturally, this summer’s big to-do was Kahn going after one of Portland’s prized possessions - Nicolas Batum - a ploy that didn’t work, except for making owner Paul Allen wince a tad at signing a bigger check than he wanted to keep Batum.
But a funny thing has happened in Minnesota’s quest to become a frozen Portland.
They have come to own Portland’s tortured dance with injuries.
Perhaps it’s karma-kickback for that summer fight over Batum, when Blazers general manager Neil Olshey chided his Minnesota counterpart by saying “it’s the Wrath of Kahn” when marveling at the insistence of Kahn to drag out the free agent process when Olshey made it clear he would match any offer.
Or perhaps it’s Adelman, who dealt with major injuries to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady in his previous job in Houston. The exasperated coach said he has gone as far to question if indeed he is the problem.
“I’m beginning to wonder,’’ Adelman said.
A Timberwolves season destined for their first trip to the playoffs since 2004 has suddenly turned into a deluge of MRI’s and rehabilitation updates. The dynamic of Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko and Brandon Roy has never materialized. Minnesota is 15-15 and on the outside looking in on the Western Conference playoff picture.
Here in Portland, we can only nod our heads and sigh. We remember the hope and promise of Roy, Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge. But over five seasons, knee injuries to Roy and Oden would allow those three to play in 76 games together. They were good - they went 51-25 in those games - but the city and the franchise felt robbed. Something that should have been great was taken from us all.
“Every time we started to look good, and the ball started to roll, and our train started to roll, all of the sudden Greg would go out, or Brandon would go out,’’ Aldridge said. “I felt like we never had all the Big Three in Portland, we never had a chance to see that combination and see what could have been.’’
Minnesota is starting to understand that frustration.
On Saturday, before the Blazers built a 22-point lead and hung on for a 102-97 victory, the Timberwolves announced Love had broken his right hand for the second time this season. Love has now missed 12 of 30 games this season, and is staring at least another five weeks on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the other half of the Timberwolves dynamic duo - Rubio - has played in only five games. The first 22 games he missed recovering from a knee injury suffered last season. The last three, including Saturday’s game, he missed because of back spasms related to playing before he was properly conditioned.
In the season’s sixth game, Chase Budinger injured his left knee and will likely miss the season. Roy lasted five games before his knees started feeling like Portland. And J.J. Barea has missed six games with ankle ailments.
Already, the Timberwolves have lost a combined 110 games to player injuries. All of last year, they had 180.
“I’ve never been through anything like this,’’ Adelman said before the game. “It’s just been one thing after the other. It’s been a constant all year long. I guess it could be worse, but I’m not sure.’’
Could it be the curse of Portland?
“Oh, don’t say the Portland curse,’’ Porter said with a chuckle back in November, before things really started to turn bad. “We had healthy guys in my and Rick’s era (in Portland) so don’t be dragging us in with Greg Oden. But I don’t think it has anything to do with Portland. Last year we had a lot of guys go down, so we have our own curse over here. We don’t need anybody else’s curses. We are trying to shoo our own off.’’
The Blazers, meanwhile, have mostly been knocking on wood in hopes of keeping the injury bug away. One of the reasons the Blazers own a surprising 18-15 record is they have remained relatively healthy. The starters have combined to miss 10 games, six of them by Matthews, who is now back and playing at his career-best level, as evidenced by his 26 points Saturday.
“How can Portland have their starting five miss only 10 games?’’ Adelman huffed before the game. “I don’t get that. One guy has missed six. That’s like a normal two weeks for us. How is that? It’s just not fair, that’s what I think. It’s unfair.’’
Don’t talk to Aldridge, Batum and Matthews about fair. They have paid their dues, suffering through the fits and starts of key players being in and out of the lineup. They know the mental strain it puts on a team. They remember how injuries can break a team’s rhythm. That’s why each of them looked for some wood to knock on Saturday when their good fortune, and Minnesota’s bad luck, was brought up.
“We have been through so much, especially L.A. and me and Wes a little bit,’’ Batum said. “Now, (he knocks on the wood in his locker) we are good.’’
Meanwhile, if Minnesota wants to be Portland so bad, perhaps it can take heed from a saying we understand in our wet little corner of the world.
When it rains, it pours.