Timberwolves Move Up in National Power Rankings

The Timberwolves went 1-2 in the first week of the season--probably what most of us expected. Apparently the national commentariat was relatively impressed with the way they got there however, as the Wolves moved up in most of the major national power rankings.

Except from SB Nation, where they remained 24th:

The Timberwolves are in a strange place. Their leading scorers are Kevin Martin, Thaddeus Young and Nikola Pekovic. Their franchise point guard, Ricky Rubio, is shooting 37 percent from the field, which happens to be the same percentage Andrew Wiggins is shooting from the field. Meanwhile, the Anthony Bennett redemption season is in full swing. Small sample size, sure, but who doesn't like a free sample?

Marc Stein of ESPN has the Wolves up three spots to 22nd:

For all the bad flashbacks to last season's late-game failings that came with a one-point loss in Game 3 of 82, Minnesota did enough good things in Week 1 to make me think it's going to exceed all those preseason over/unders in the mid-to-high 20s. Too many vets still here to sink that low.

Matt Moore from CBS Sports has the Wolves 19th, up from a preseason ranking of 21st:

These guys are fun. Nikola Pekovic looks great so far, and the rest of the team is playing well enough to let Andrew Wiggins get acclimated. They're giving a surprising amount of effort defensively.

Kurt Helin at NBC's Pro Basketball Talk ranks the Wolves 23rd, up one spot:

Minnesota has actually outscored its opponents by 1.8 points per 100 possessions through three games, yet struggled late in contests. Meet the new Timberwolves, same as the old Timberwolves.

All of that seems about right to me. I think the Wolves are better than the worst teams in the league and probably are correctly ranked somewhere in the low 20s.

We'll see what these look like in a couple of weeks after the Wolves return from their North American Odyssey.