Special Ending

A Special Season: The Bad, The Good, The Future.

Basketball NBA Timberwolves
Rob10k

Towns and Dlo embrace after a special season
Brothers

A Sad, but Special Ending

As the Timberwolves let another 10-point lead evaporate late in the fourth quarter of game 6. The casual fans were heading up the aisles of the target center to beat the heavy traffic of Downtown Minneapolis. From 18,000+ chanting Wolves in 7 to utter silence as Ja Morant hit the Griddy across the logo in a matter of fewer than 10 minutes. The annual Minnesota SportsTM heartbreak started to set in with our very own Tyus Jones delivering the final nail in the coffin ending a special season that so many were hoping didn’t end. A Dagger Three to put Memphis up 4 with a minute and 5 to go the shock set in while the Tennessee party ensued.

We ALL hate you Ja Morant. And your dad too!

Plain and Simple, I hate Ja Morant. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You got more gifted calls and faked more contact than a European soccer game. For the majority of the series, Ja missed a ton of his shots which were mostly open but ended with big numbers because of the number of free throws taken. That being said he made his free throws, hit the shots that count and posted it all on Twitter just in case you missed it.

With more posts than a teenager going through a breakup Ja Morant’s likeability dropped to zero in the state of Minnesota. Also, nobody cares about Tee Morant, the guy belongs on Dance Moms with the amount of drama and attention he starts. I’d rather be on this kiss cam with the poster that hangs on my wall than see another highlight of Tee Morant.

The Wolves’ season is over, but one thing is for sure.

A Rivalry has begun.

When times got tough, the Wolves scurried back to the den.

The saying you don’t win games at halftime could not be more true for the Timberwolves. With more blown 10-point leads in a single series than anyone in NBA history. The Wolves stand alone and give Minnesota sports fans even more sense to never believe it is over until the final whistle blows.

The incredibly fast pace, along with flashy passes leading to nothing but net 3-pointers and dunks that get the crowd jumping out of their seat gave the Wolves leads in multiple games. But when crunch time came it seemed like the Wolves mascot “Crunch” pulled a halftime stunt and put a lid on the rim. The players stood around and all waited for someone else to do something one on one. D-Lo, Ant, Kat, and Pat-Bev all took their turn trying to do it by themselves instead of sharing the ball.

The Wolves faltered and headed to the locker room with their tails between their legs having to wait for another year to come around to prove their relevance and their importance in the Minnesota Sports world.

Crunch Mascot
A new beginning

Where do we go from here?

As sad as the ending of the season was, let’s keep one thing clear. This should be the bottom, the minimum of our expectations for years to come. A year ago the Wolves trio of Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D’Angelo Russell had played close to 20 games together with a winning percentage around .500.

As we look back on the 2022 Timberwolves season the Wolves ended 46-36, 10 games over that .500 winning percentage that many wondered if they could even hit. We can look ahead with hope, wondering what can happen with another year to gel, an offseason for the soon to be 21 year old Anthony Edwards to grow, and the front office to make some moves to hide our warts.

The future is bright and it could be special. The young talent they have is special like Jaden McDaniels, who only continued to get better throughout the year, and Anthony Edwards continuing his path to Stardom. Karl-Anthony Towns is soon to accept his All-NBA honors and be eligible for a Super-max extension that he should run to the table to sign.

The Wolves have some stability and with some additions to the bench, they look to be set for what should be years to come. The fans were back, the Target Center was filled to the brim and if the play continues the Wolves should see full buildings regularly as the Wild and Vikings do.

Thank you T-Wolves

As Towns exited the court heading to the locker room he waved goodbye and received a standing ovation for the great season he had. The Wolves season was something special with something that most did not see coming. The laughing stock nametag was wiped away, for at least one year, and a true sense of hope surrounds the franchise for the first time in a long time.

This is Minnesota, when things are going well it always seems to flip and go bad. I believe this is the ascension of the Wolves franchise and basketball is here to stay. With more on the horizon, I just wanted to say Thank You to the Wolves for a fun season that did not end in January for once. 6th seed or bust next year and just remember…

Howl.