Timber-Pups Limping to Finish Line

Remember when the Minnesota Timberwolves were playing in the Western Conference Finals?

Remember when Kevin Garnett was winning the MVP award while displaying the tools that had made him the NBA's most complete player and maybe its best leader?

How about when Sam Cassell was nailing every important shot in sight and Latrell Sprewell was slashing to the hoop as if he had taken a time machine back to 1999?

Ah, memories.

For fans in Minnesota, I might as well be talking of the old Minneapolis Lakers of the 1950s and '60s. That's how long ago it seems that these suddenly hapless Timberwolves secured the best record in the ultra-competitive Western Conference heading into last year's playoff run.

Currently sitting at 25-27 and out of the playoffs, the team that many thought would give San Antonio its best run for a berth in this year's NBA Finals is easily the league's biggest disappointment.

And that is an understatement.

Perhaps Kevin McHale needs to finally stand up and become accountable for what was a one-year fix. Sprewell and Cassell both now seem old and vulnerable and Garnett is entering the twilight of his prime.

The problem is this: we are now seeing the second time that McHale has sold his team's soul to the basketball devil. Remember Joe Smith?

Somehow, McHale still has his job after that draft pick-draining fiasco and proceeded to sign two of the league's biggest malcontents in Spree and Cassell. It worked for a while, but it wasn't enough to beat Los Angeles (and wouldn't have been enough to beat Detroit) and now the T-Wolves are back to square one.

Worst yet, all except for Garnett, they don't seem to care a bit.

Let's consider: Troy Hudson cares very little about defense and jacks up painfully ill-advised shots on a constant basis. Sprewell is to inconsistency what Tom Cruise is to movie stars and looks washed-up. Cassell suddenly can't hit any big shots or stay healthy for longer than a week. Garnett is not having a good year by his standards and the rest of the team is a collection of role who don't know their roles.

This was supposed to be the year that the Timberwolves marched deep into the NBA playoffs again with a great shot of winning the whole thing. This was going to be the year — with hockey out of the picture in a state that is puck-crazy — that the T-Wolves took the Twin Cities winter sports market by storm.

So — with their stunned fans now wondering if another 15 years of futility is on the horizon — the T-Wolves have the people of Minnesota asking one all-important question:

"When does baseball start?"