Rubio/Love untouchable as long as...

Garnett gave you his heart and soul for 12 seasons. You had one of the greatest PF’s in history for 12 seasons, and you couldn’t win! whos fault is that? The front office gave him no help! God forbid he get a chance to win a title after TWELVE seasons haha.

Garnett is one of the only superstars that would stay in MIN for 12 years, you should consider yourself lucky to have been able to watch him for that long!

12 seasons! 12!

Garnett stayed in MN for 12 years because he wanted to see out his ludicrous contract (and sign an extension based on those gargantuan numbers) and because he knew he couldn’t make puppets out of other front offices like he did McHale and Taylor. Only when he knew his window was closing after he had made his money did he care to put up a public stink and move on. His contract, his meddling and his increasing (bad) attitude are on him for why the Wolves didn’t improve. He chose the money and power over winning. How much you want to bet that Garnett was behind their inexplicable, insatiable appetite for all things Joe Smith? We all know how much losing 3 (4 with Ebi isn’t it?) first rounders did to improve the team.

The only thing that McHale could manage to do is to bring in two talented, malcontent retreads that had burned all their bridges to make a run at the finals. If anyone thought that would last more than one year, they ought to get their head examined. I don’t even blame the front office for not paying Spree and Sam. One year and done was all that I ever expected in the very best scenario and they never deserved more money after what they pulled on other organizations.

McHale and Taylor and the NBA (draft lottery) should be strung up for what they did, too. What kind of professional organization makes under-the-table deals with a used-up scrub and then even brings him BACK after his exile? I’m surprised the NBA didn’t take away the franchise from Taylor. What kind of professional organization lets a franchise twist in the wind FOREVER in the draft when some teams have scored 2 overall #1 picks in that time — Laettner vs O’Neal was bad enough but then we had to deal with our scrubs while Orlando reloads with Howard? I still can’t get my brain around the fact that we pay for Jaric (MARKO!) this year when we could use a decent lottery pick to bring in a third piece to the puzzle, but Kahn is on the hook for that not happening already. If this year ends up being the year that our pick wins the lottery, which one of us is going to be able to survive that?

I thought I would root for KG when he donned the green, but then all this dawned on me as he showed his true colors in Boston. For some reason, as a youngster, Boston was my team until the expansion Wolves. The battles vs the Lakers and Pistons were as epic as the Bias and Lewis results were tragic.

It hurts so much to have Celtic and native-son McHale be a big, huge stinkin pile of a reason why the Twolves sucked so much. I will give kudos to McHale for drafting 2/3 of Boston’s championship, though. If he could have predicted the headcase that Marbury would be, we would have had Garnett and Allen for years and Ainge would have been trading Pierce to Minny. I wonder if Garnett, Allen, Sprewell and Casell would have won more than 1 championship… EH, nix that, I already forgot one and done before the end of my post.

Rubio and Love seem like they are going to be the antithesis of the typical NBA experience, not only winners but so much fun to watch, and that would be a great reward for ever-suffering Twolf fans. Remember how much McCloskey wanted a PG like Kidd, but settled for Marshall after another lottery nightmare? I thought that this year would be a typical rookie year for Rubio, but even his limited pro experience is showing great dividends already, more than Nash and Kidd did as rookies. If they stay cool and want to play here and do what they seem they can do (omg they will improve even more), I don’t want them leaving for any reason. How much sweeter for us and for them to do it in a place like Minny, on their own merit and hard work and perseverance AS A TEAM rather than sell out for a championship like Garnett and so many others do? They will transcend the big market/small market schism and be rewarded for it with the endorsements and accolades and sportscenter highlight reels flowing in despite not taking the short and easy path to a big market and heralded teammates seeking such a payout.

Plenty of stars stayed in small markets – Duncan, KD/Westbrook, Chris Paul for a while in New Orleans, and Dirk if you consider that Dallas isn’t NY, Boston or LA. And it’s not like the coaches keeping them there were any better than Adelman.

The odds of Love and Rubio staying are much better than them leaving. They’ll get max contracts, and the new CBA gives teams some power. Plus we forget that not all players are egomaniacs like Lebaby, Bosh, Wade and Melo (What a draft! So many titles!)

Of course, this being the Wolves, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Love traded to LA tomorrow and Rubio fly back home to Spain. But since the bitterness of MN sports hasn’t yet turned me into Smeagol, I’m not expecting it to happen.

Seeing Rubio succeed so quickly, and mesh with Love at the same time…

It’s amazing to watch. The media’s talking heads butter up Lebron, CP, Blake, Dwade, Durant, RW, Rose, etc, etc. It’s Heat this, Thunder that, with Bulls sprinkled on top. If the Wolves ended up winning those three early games, imagine how different the NBA would be. I’m glad they didn’t win, in hindsight.

No offense to any of the above players, but seeing them everywhere – on commercials, ads, and websites – gives me a distinct hatred of them and their teams. If the Heat win the championship, how depressing would that be? A team of NBA superstars with celebrity fans, versus a quiet, unselfish, grassroots team with undeniable talent… The wolves win.