The wolves were blown out of the past two games (as well as the Brooklyn game) and could have backed off and saved energy for the next one. It's a long season after all. Yet they made furious and unbelievable comebacks in the fourth quarter of both games. Clearly they are a gritty bunch that will hustle until the end. With the exception of Kirilenko and Ridnour (who could very well be a back up if everyone gets healthy) the wolves are competing in NBA games with second and third stringers. Role players like Stiemsma, Cunningham and Amundson who have made careers out of playing harder than most to make up for their minimal skills are filling the shoes of Pekovic and Love. Shved, Lee and Williams are too young and raw to define yet they are holding their own in the big roles they've been thrust into. As a group, on paper, these guys do not match up with any team's starters but they yet they are competing. This group has led the Wolves to the second best defense in the league. And a winning record. Those things happen when guys play together, for each other and play hard. When guys do that, they maximize their talent and their contribution and they win as a team.
People knock the NBA because too often players do not give 100% until the fourth quarter or until the playoffs. And without Love, Ricky and Pek last year the Wolves fit that mold and were nearly unwatchable. They showed no heart, no chemistry and no hustle. At times this year, the under-maned and under-skilled wolves have played as hard as a Cinderella team in the sweet sixteen. They've shown moments of fatigue but that is to be expected when a team only has nine players to suit-up. That leads to the a major question...will the wolves keep up this hustle and grit when they have more bodies? When they have more talented bodies? The evidence says they will. Kevin Love has made himself into one of the top ten players in the league by using hustle and a high basketball IQ to get way more rebounds (and second chance points) then he should be able to get. And the Wolves will get him back, soon. They will also get Pekovic, Barea, Buddinger, and Rubio back. All guys with reputations of playing hard and long on both ends of the court. They aren't perfect, but they are better and they play just as hard as their understudies. So, the Wolves will win and will make some noise. There will be days they succumb to a more talented team, but that won't happen most nights, not even against more talented teams.
During the offseason Kevin Love asked for a better team. He asked for more talent. Not only did he get more talent, he got better basketball players. They aren't all prototypical NBA players but they will win. If the Wolves get health and stay healthy, they will make the playoffs and make noise. And along the way, they are going to be a lot of fun to watch. For any basketball fan, not just an NBA fan.
