Hungry Like the Wolf

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Match-ups

PG

Shannon Driggers Vs. Ronald Sandler: Sandler scored 15.4 points with 7.5 assists during the regular season. Driggers scored 14.9 with 7.9 assists. Both guards are good defensively with Driggers having the slight height and defensive advantage. This is really too close to call.

Winner: Tie

SG

Aaron Crosby Vs. David McDermott: Both players have good shots and can be electrifying scorers. With McDermott clearly having a better shot and being a more electrifying scorer, Crosby however is a much better defender and has not yet reached his prime. McDermott gets the slight edge for this series but next year it might be a different story.

Winner: T-Wolves

SF

Rudy Gay Vs. Shang-de Teoh: Teoh and Gay are both good defenders who score at a similar rate at similar efficiencies. Teoh can rebound and pass better than Gay at this point in his career however thus the slight edge goes to the Timberwolves.

Winner: T-Wolves

Ed Davis Vs. Nikola Pekovic: Pekovic has better statistics across the board when compared to Davis, however Davis's quickness might pose a problem for Pekovic defensively. Ed Davis will for sure have a hard time guarding Pekovic as Davis is one of the worst defensive PFs in the league.

Winner: T-Wolves

Marc Gasol Vs. Anderson Valerjo: Gasol has become one of the top centers in the league in recent years he is a double double machine that does just about everything one could ask for in a Center. Valerjo is much more of a one trick pony. The only category that Valerjo beats Gasol in is man to man defense and even that is questionable. This match-up is the key to the series.

Winner: Memphis

Bench Vs. Bench: The Grizzly's have a terrific bench and so do the Timberwolves, but in the waning parts of the regular season Wesley Matthews went out for the season with a broken ankle. This hurts the Timberwolves overall perimeter defense greatly giving the edge slightly to Memphis

Winner: Memphis

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Game 1: L(112-96) This the Timberwolves were not ready to play, McDermott's defensive weaknesses were exploited by Aaron Crosby as he exploded for 33 points and held McDermott to only 10 points.

Game 2: L(109-97) Another blow out loss to Memphis. This time Shannon Driggers scored 23 with 11 assists to compliment Marc Gasol's 18 point 14 rebound night. The pressure is on the Timberwolves must win at home to win the series.

Game 3: W(115-92) This was precisely what one would expect from this Timberwolves team, the team as a whole shot 60% for the night while holding the Grizzlies to 39% shooting. Nikola Pekovic exploited his match-up well scoring 23 to take home the player of the game award.

Game 4: W(126-100) Another blow out the Wolves tied the series up in dominating fashion. Pekovic continued his brilliant series scoring 30 in the win.

Game 5: L(112-109) The Wolves had the game under control at one point they led by 14 but Memphis was resilient and came back in the 4th Quarter. Aaron Crosby again won the MVP of the game and is starting to be recognized outside of Memphis as a true rising star in the NBA.

Game 6: W(116-97) The Timberwolves stayed alive by defeating Memphis McDermott scored 33 in the blowout win. Now the team has to defeat Memphis on Memphis's home turf which will not be easy.

Game 7: W(104-92) At one point Memphis led by 21 and they were ahead by 5 going into the 4th, the momentum was already changing directions by the end of the game however and Minnesota upset Memphis on their home court to take the series. Shand-de Teoh had one of the best games of his career scoring 31 with 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

WINNER: TIMBERWOLVES

[PointGuard]

Nice come back from the brink of disaster.

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Game 1 W (108-90): The Clippers upset the No. 1 seeded Warriors in a 7 game series. The Timberwolves just got done with an exhausting 7 game series of their own. The Clippers defeated the Timberwolves every time they faced each other in the regular season. Fortunately for the Wolves this isn't the regular season. The Clippers were held to 34% shooting, David McDermott scored 29 in the win.

Game 2 L(122-114): The Clippers recovered to defeat the Timberwolves in a close game. The Clippers star player Marco Sharp scored 28 in the victory.

Game 3 W(124-98): The Timberwolves got their revenge against the Clippers handily defeating them by 26 points. Ronald Sandler had his best game of the playoffs scoring 31 and garnering 12 assists.

Game 4 W(113-88): Defense was the key to victory for the Timberwolves Marco Sharp was held to a very inefficient 21 points and McDermott scored 29 in the victory.

Game 5: W(118-95) The Timberwolves defeated the Clippers in a fashion that showed how series they are at taking the league title. Nikola Pekovic scored 25 to go along with 14 rebounds to continue his tremendous playoff run.

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This will be a hard match-up. Sacramento is a big team with many scorers. They have stars like Adam DeLoach and Tyreke Evans along with defensive stalwarts like Yao Ming. They are the heavy favorite in this series.

Game 1: L(114-89) The Timberwolves were dominated Adam DeLoach scored 28 points in the victory.

Game 2: W(123-115) The Timberwolves barely came out of this game alive the game was fast paced and physical both teams showed that they want badly to represent the West in the finals. In the end Nikola Pekovic scored 23 to lead the Timberwolves to victory.

Game 3: W(123-101)The Timberwolves were victorious for the second time in a row. This time it wasn't even close. Sacramento got many technical fouls called on them near the end of the game as they saw victory slip away. David McDermott scored 27 to lead the Timberwolves.

Game 4: W(119-105) The Timberwolves are playing the best basketball of the entire year right now in the semi-finals of the playoffs. McDermott again led the Timberwolves in points scoring 30 in the victory.

Game 5: W(117-114) The Timberwolves pulled out a close victory to put themselves into the finals. The game was very physical and many Timberwolves had minor injuries after the game. Nikola Pekovic scored 26 to lead the Timberwolves to the victory.

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The Miami Heat this time without LeBron James made it to the finals. The Heat are one of the best defensive teams in history and despite the fact they do not have LeBron they have a much deeper roster. The Heat are filled with veteran players that have won multiple championships. The Heat are heavily favored to win this Finals.

PG: Raymond Felton Vs. Ronald Sandler: Felton is a solid veteran with a high basketball IQ that can defend any point guard in the league. Sandler however is in his prime and has a greater ability to score and distribute.

Winner: Timberwolves

SG: Dwayne Wade Vs. David McDermott: The Timberwolves will miss Wesley Matthews who would be a good defender to face up against the still explosive Wade. Wade is one of the best defenders in the league and it will be hard for McDermott to score against him.

Winner: Heat

SF: Gerald Wallace Vs. Shang-de Teoh: Wallace scores and rebounds better than Teoh but only slightly, both are excellent defenders. Teoh can pass much better than Wallace and Teoh is in his prime.

Winner: Timberwolves

PF: Chris Bosh Vs. Nikola Pekovic: Bosh is still one of the premier PFs in the league and is a good defender. Pekovic has had a great series and while both can score Bosh is a better rebounder at the PF position. The slight edge has to go to the Heat.

Winner: Heat

C: Emeka Okafor Vs. Anderson Valerjo: Both are similar players with similar skill sets, both are known for their defense. At this point Okafor is slightly better in just about all categories but not by much.

Winner: Heat

Bench Vs. Bench: The Heat have recently achieved a depth they were not able to have with LeBron James's contract they have veteran PG Jameer Nelson and Daniel Orton and Al Harrington. While the Timberwolves had an even better bench during the regular season their roster is now marred with minor injuries and this will effect their depth.

Winner: Heat

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Game 1: L(109-88): Dwayne Wade owned this game he scored 46 he dominated everyone who was thrown in his way. At 34 Wade is cementing his legacy as one of the best guards to ever play the game.

Game 2: L(107-90) Again the Heat dominated the Wolves defensively clearly playing with more intensity than the Timberwolves and running away with the victory. Dwayne Wade scored 24 to lead all scorers.

Game 3: L(110-104) The Wolves lost on home court and now are 0-3 that si a big hole to climb out of. Chris Bosh led all scorers with 33 points.

Game 4: L(98-90) The Wolves season ended in ultimate disappointment, most predicted a lot better out of the Timberwolves in the finals. In the end Dwayne Wade got yet another trophy while the Timberwolves failed. Over the off-season there will be a lot to think about, but one thing is for certain the same core will be back again to try one more time.

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Nice come back from the brink of disaster.

Yeah I was really afraid they would be one and done and I would have to do a ton of tinkering over the off-season.

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MVP: Dwight Howard(20PPG, 13RPG)
Defensive POTY: Dwight Howard
Sixth Man: Jim Turner(8.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG)
ROTY: Marco Stallone(11 PPG, 5.3 RPG)
Coach of the Year: Erik Spoelstra(56 wins for the Heat)

None of the Timberwolves made any of the all-NBA teams this year, some sports commentators have dubbed the Timberwolves the All-NBA 4th team due to both having their players being snubbed and the fact they have many good players.

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I resigned the coaching staff to a few more years but I made it clear to Jeff Van Gundy that if there was not a championship in Minnesota in the next two years he would be replaced.