Britt Robson Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) Game #41, Home Game #19: Phoenix 107, Minnesota 117 Season record: 7-34 1. About That Small Lineup… I can argue that three players are operating away from their natural position, that the defense is terrible, that opponents who play fundamentally sound "playoff style" basketball will … Read more
A gauntlet of black-and-white portraits of jazz luminaries lines the walls of the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant on the Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Nearly all of these musicians have appeared at the Dakota in one of its two incarnations. The trick with this sort of self-promotion-as-interior-decoration is in the execution. To do it … Read more
If you want to piss people off, claim that Dave Grohl has written and performed more great music than Kurt Cobain. It’s true: While his stuff may never be as transcendent as Cobain’s, the Foo frontman and ex-Nirvana drummer has soldiered on in superior fashion since Cobain’s ’94 suicide, delivering a remarkably consistent string of … Read more
The co-founder of Los Hombres Calientes, young Irvin Mayfield has over the years abetted the impeccable precision of his trumpet lines with increasingly emotional long-form compositions. How Passion Falls in 2001 was his personal response to the first time his heart was broken, and Strange Fruit, recorded four years later, is an incendiary tale of … Read more
Minnesota in early February is the perfect place and time for some intelligent and effervescent pop to quicken our winter-slogged minds and brighten our outlooks across the snow-covered prairie. The chance to hear ex-Split Enz frontman (and Crowded House cohort) Tim Finn spin flax into gold while reprising the magical realism of his latest solo … Read more
Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) Game # 38, Road Game #19: Minnesota 95, Phoenix 115 Game #39, Road Game #20: Minnesota 108, Denver 111 Game #40, Road Game #21: Minnesota 109, Golden State 108 Season record: 6-34 First of all, apologies for the near-weeklong absence. I wrote a fairly detailed … Read more
AP Photo/Jim Mone Game #37, Home Game #18: Golden State 105, Minnesota 98 Season record: 5-32 1. Low IQ. Low skill level. Low chance of winning. All things being equal, the Minnesota Timberwolves without Randy Foye and Theo Ratliff, opposing the Golden State Warriors on a sub-zero January night having already clearly established themselves as … Read more
Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images) Game #35, Road Game #18: Minnesota 82, Houston 113 Game #36, Road Game #19: Minnesota 88, San Antonio 105 Season record: 5-31 1. The Emergence of Gomes Let’s begin with the good news. In terms of being a complete, synergistic basketball player working to … Read more
Game #34, Home Game #17: Miami 91, Minnesota 101 Season record: 5-29 1. The Importance of Glue Other players scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, doled out more assists, and generally exerted a higher-profile on tonight’s rare Wolves victory than the two glue guys I consider to be most crucial to the win, Ryan Gomes … Read more
Game #32, Home Game #16: Denver118, Minnesota 107 Game #33, Home Game #17: Dallas 101, Minnesota 78 1. Beating A Dead Horse Al Jefferson and Craig Smith took the floor for the opening tap Friday night so you knew the Timberwolves would fall behind early. And, why, yes, Denver scored the first 12 points of … Read more