As it currently stands, the Minnesota Timberwolves are 19-19 and in third place in the Northwest Division behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets.
If the season were to end now, the T'Wolves would just miss the playoffs as they are currently the 9th seed in the Western Conference.
Point guard Ricky Rubio is having a great "rookie" season with 8.3 assists per game, tied for fifth in the NBA, and 2.3 steals per game, which ranks second in the league.
Yet interestingly enough, if you look at Rubio's game log, he has shot exactly 1-for-8 in three of his past four games. Over his past five games, he is only 8-for-38 (20.6 percent) from the field.
Plus he had double-digit assists on March 3rd for the first time since February 7th although he had three games with nine assists and three games with eight assists in between double-digit performances.
In that 12-assist game on Saturday, Rubio set the franchise record with 10 assists in the first quarter.
Minnesota is still in the bottom half of our NBA Consensus Power Rankings (No. 18), but with Kevin Love (23 years old) and Ricky Rubio (21 years old), the future is only going to get brighter for the T'Wolves.
Here are some more stats about this week's NBA Consensus Power Rankings:
- Biggest jump from last week: Memphis Grizzlies (+5.25)
- Biggest drop from last week: Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks (-2.50)
- Team with widest difference between high and low ranker: Indiana Pacers (8)
[See our full NBA Consensus Power Rankings.]
Each week, we respond to one roundtable question and here's this week's question: Will the Timberwolves finish above .500 for the first time since the 2004-2005 season?
John (follow on Twitter): Below .500
After a big win on the road at Portland on Saturday, the Timberwolves reached a .500 record at 19-19. Looking ahead, it's going to be awfully close for them. They have their share of winnable games, but are definitely going to need to play well on the road, as they did last night. If this question was asking if Minnesota will finish at or above .500, I would say that they will. But in order to finish above .500, they would need to finish the season going 15-13 or better. As I said, I think it will be close, and I'll be rooting for them, but if I had to guess I'll say they come up a bit short. Maybe next year!
Sean (follow on Twitter): Below .500
I think Minnesota finishes under .500 this year. If they were in the Eastern Conference I would give them a better chance, but the Western Conference is too tough. The great news for Timberwolves fans is that Kevin Love is staying put, and he is one of the league's ten best players. I think we will see another Garnett/Nash combo with Love/Rubio, and the Timberwolves will be dangerous in years to come. They just don't have the pieces on this team now surrounding them unfortunately.
Kevin (follow on Twitter): Above .500
Not only have the T'Wolves not finished above .500 since the 2004-05 season, but they have won less than 30 percent of their games for the past four seasons in a row. Even though the T'Wolves have played only 38 games so far this season, they have already exceeded their win totals from last year (17) and the year before (15). Whether or not they finish above .500, they have finally given their fans a product worth supporting. Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio are a talented young combination and they are a deep team -- only three players are averaging more than 25 minutes per game. While I think they will be close to .500 either way, I'm going to say they go slightly over.
Dan (follow on Twitter): Above .500
The Timberwolves have finally found at least a medium of respectability this year. After many head-shaking moves by GM Khan, such as giving Darko too much money, and drafting two point guards back-to-back a few years ago, the Wolves are on the right track. Ricky Rubio has been as good as advertised, and Kevin Love is drawing Moses Malone-like comparisons for his ability to rip double-doubles. With their youth, Minnesota is poised to finish above .500.
To see where all 30 teams fall in our power rankings going through Week 10, click here.
Follow HitTheBoards.com: Twitter | Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment