Wednesday news and notes

PHERSY: There's plenty going on out there. Here are a few short notes ...

Here's an interesting note from the Strib's Michael Rand, who writes a blog called Randball (Rand also happens to be Tbone's boss ... just thought I'd point that out). Rand put together a team of players who are currently participating in the NBA playoffs ... and all of the players are former Timberwolves. Here's his list:

Center: Theo Ratliff, Detroit. It was a great run here. The knees feel better during wins.

Power forward: Kevin Garnett, Boston. He’s pretty good.

Small forward: Wally Szczerbiak, Cleveland: A candidate to be punched in the face at any point by KG — though that doesn’t necessarily differentiate things from their days as teammates.

Shooting guard: Maurice Evans, Orlando: Lest you forget, Maurice spent 10 games with the Wolves in 2001-02 after being signed as an undrafted free agent. We didn’t need him; Orlando sure doesn’t mind having him as a starting guard.

Point guard: Chauncey Billups, Detroit: In Minnesota, the greatest debate we ever had was whether his nickname should be Chancy or Launchy. With the Pistons, he’s Mr. Clutch and one of the best point guards in the league.

Bench: Sam Cassell, Boston; Joe Smith, Cleveland. Scoring and hustle, small and big, off the pine. A perfect combo. Quick, sign them to an illegal deal they will squawk about.

Coach: Flip Saunders, Detroit.

Put five scrubs around these guys to fill out the bench and you have a 50-win team.

Amazing.

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In the world of the Purple, the Vikings have signed former Miami QB Kyle Wright to a free-agent contract. It's highly unlikely Wright will make the team, because that would mean the Vikings likely would have to cut both Brooks Bollinger and John David Booty. Plus, Wright isn't very good. He was at the very best average during his time at Miami. It's just a note, but I suppose competition is a good thing among the Vikings QB corps.

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The Twins bandwagon hit a bump in the road last night, falling to the White Sox 7-1. The Twins were almost no-hit by Sox younster Gavin Floyd, but Mauer broke up the no-no in the ninth. I found it funny the other day when everyone and their brother was getting excited about the Twins, because they were in first place. Dude, the Twins were in first place at 16-14. Yeah, two games above .500, and people were going nuts ... there was no stopping them! Now, think about this ... if the Twins were 16-14 and were five games behind Detroit or Cleveland, would people have been so excited? Nope. We wouldn't even be talking about it. But that first place thing got people going. I must admit, the Twins are doing better than I expected. The starting pitching has been great, while the bullpen (other than Nathan) has struggled. Before the season started, I said this is a .500 team. I'm sticking with that.

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Hmmm, what else is going on? NBA and NHL playoffs. KG's squad looked OK last night. They shut down LeBron, so that was huge. But somehow the Cavs were in that game, despite LeBron's 10 turnovers. I'm not a big NBA guy, but I will turn into one if the Wolves can win the lottery in two weeks. Or second in the lottery would be just fine, too. As for the NHL playoffs, nice time for a nearly weeklong break, right in the middle of the playoffs! Lord Stanley is rolling over in his grave. It's no wonder people are still playing hockey in June! The playoff break ends on Thursday, and I'm ready for it! I love playoff puck!

 

Comments

[Scott]

If Lord Stanley rolls for that, he must be spinning for the suits I've been seeing Don Cherry in.....I thought the color was going out on my TV.

[tbone78]

You are confused Phersy. No one is the boss of me.