Power Rankings Roundup Week 21: Remembering to Smile

Last night's victory over the Utah Jazz was an exciting game for the Minnesota Timberwolves, to say the least. However, the win didn't factor into last week's Power Rankings at all. A win against the Knicks was tempered by losses to Brooklyn, Charlotte and Toronto. Let's see what the talking heads had on their minds.

CBS Sports: #27 (up 1)

(full rankings here)

Matt Moore of CBS has noticed the recent lack of active players:

Oh, everyone's hurt again? Ah, springtime in Minnesota.

NBC ProBasketballTalk: #28 (down 2)

(full rankings here)

Kurt Helin of NBC sees the recent slide and point to a certain KG from the injury list:

Kevin Garnett has missed seven games in a row and with that their defensive numbers have plummeted. Minnesota has lost 11-of-13 and one of those wins was in overtime against the hapless Knicks.

NBA.com: #28 (no change)

(full rankings here)

John Schuhmann of NBA.com was least impressed by last week's disappointing loss to Charlotte:

Minnesota (15-54)
Pace: 97.3 (9) OffRtg: 99.6 (27) DefRtg: 108.7 (30) NetRtg: -9.1 (28)
The Wolves may have clinched the Worst Defense in the League title by allowing the league's third worst offense (Charlotte) to score 109 points, shoot 51 percent, and commit just eight turnovers on Sunday. In coach Flip Saunders' previous 8-plus seasons in Minnesota, they finished worse than 16th in defensive efficiency only once (22nd in 1997-98).
This week: @ UTA, vs. LAL, @ HOU, @ NOP

USA Today: #29 (no change)

(full rankings here)

Adi Joseph of USA Today has confidence in Andrew Wiggins:

Andrew Wiggins has taken a step back in March but still seems like a rookie of the year lock.

SI: #30 (down 1)

(full rankings here)

Matt Dollinger of SI concurs:

Andrew Wiggins has struggled with his shot of late, shooting just 40.3% from the field and going 1-of-10 from deep this month. The No. 1 overall pick won't run away with the Rookie of the Year award, but even a sluggish finish won't keep him from rightfully claiming the prize.

ESPN: #29 (down 2)

(full rankings here)

Marc Stein of ESPN remains on Garnett History Watch:

Kevin Garnett has missed seven straight games, which has essentially extinguished our interest in watching this season's Wolves, but there's still time for KG to crack 50,000 minutes for his career (only 138 away) and break a tie with Kevin Willis for the fifth-most games played ever (1,424).

SBNation: #27 (no change)

(full rankings here)

Drew Garrison of SBN hasn't seen how little Rubio and Martin have played lately, has he?

It's concerning that the Timberwolves aren't playing better despite Kevin Martin and Ricky Rubio returning. They've won just two games in March, one of which was against the worst team in the NBA. Ticky-tack injuries have taken some personnel from Minnesota over the last month, forcing Flip Saunders to rely heavily on the youth that's been piling up on his roster.

Summary: High - 27, Low - 30, Average 28.3 (down 0.6)

The Timberwolves have this win over the Jazz plus games against the Lakers, Rockets and Pelicans this week. Regardless of the quality of basketball on offer, last night was a reminder of how awesome winning is, and how good it is for this young team to experience that. Without looking at the bigger picture, the desire to get a high draft pick, the amount of injuries we have, it's a good game to remember how to be a fan. Also, it's really hard not to smile seeing these two smile like this. Happy Tuesday.