Q&A with Flynn...City Pages names best Twolves player...Jawai part of Australia’s plans for the world championships
From Bud Poliquin/The Post-Standard: You had a few questions for Jonny Flynn, and now Jonny Flynn has a few answers for you
I am a 77-year-old woman (Minnesotan by birth) who has enjoyed following your career. In a recent game against the Chicago Bulls, I noticed that your skill was there, but the engaging smile was not. Do you feel a change in your own attitude now that basketball is your livelihood, or is it the cold Minnesota winter that has you down?
-- Kris Neufeld; Auburn, N.Y.
JF: The fun and the smile are definitely still here, but in that Bulls game we were getting beaten by about 20 points. It’s hard to find a lot of joy when you’re getting handled like that. No, basketball is not a job for me. I don’t feel like I’ve worked a single day since I’ve been here in Minnesota. This game is always going to be fun. And as for the winter, it might not snow as much here as it does in Syracuse. But it’s always so cold. I mean, you walk out the door and go right back inside. You tell yourself, “I can wait to go to the store to buy my cereal. I’ll go later.”
From City Pages "Best Of The Twin Cities" issue:
Best Timberwolves Player- 2010- Kevin Love
We expected to give this one to Al Jefferson. We really did. Alas, Big Al has fallen off a bit from last season, a decline that coincided with Kevin Love's marked improvement from last year.
Best Coach- 2010- Kurt Rambis
Amazingly, not only did Rambis not kill himself, he showed a Zen-like patience and keen understanding of both the Xs and Os and his players' personalities. In other words, you could tell why Phil Jackson made him his right-hand man. When he speaks at post-game press conferences, Rambis implicitly makes it clear to everyone in the room that he knows three things: 1) why and when the Wolves imploded, 2) what adjustments need to be made, and 3) that presently he lacks the personnel to make said adjustments.
From Mike Max/WCCO:
The NBA playoffs are moving along quite well without the Timberwolves. This off-season promises to be a rather important one for the team.
They are looking for a couple names for to pursue this off-season -- Rudy Gay, with the Memphis Grizzlies, is on the list, and so is Houston Rockets forward, Andrew Skoula.
From Emma Greenwood/The Cairns Post:
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jawai finished the US season in the development league with Sioux Falls Skyforce and his future is uncertain after the Wolves’ poor season.
Jawai, who played 39 games with Minnesota this season to lift his career NBA tally to 45, will become a restricted free agent in the off-season, meaning he can receive offers from rival clubs but the Timberwolves have the right to match the offer and retain him.
"What the plans are for him now I’m not exactly sure, but it’ll be a long, drawn-out process," Fearne said of Jawai.
"I guess the business side of (the sport) comes into it now and what work he puts in to say, ‘I’m here to stay’, comes into it."
Jawai will also have Boomers commitments in the off-season and with Andrew Bogut out of action, is likely to be crucial to Australia’s plans for the world championships in Turkey.
From Charley Walters/Pioneer Press:
New Minnesota Lynx point guard Nuria Martinez grew up in Vilassar de Mar, Spain. Vilassar de Mar is a coastal town five miles from El Masnou, the hometown of Timberwolves top draft pick Ricky Rubio.