Yap-Choo Swi Neo-Wang Mingda-2011/12 SEASON, A TURNING POINT FOR MINNISOTA TIMBERWOLVES

Micheal Wibon, a featured columnist for ESPN, once commented “ Rubio’s creativity on the move has made the Timberwolves worth watching for the first time since Kevin Garnett left.” It is not an exaggeration. Rubio really has changed something. Target Center drew a midweek sellout, the team’s first non-opening night sellout since March 31, 2004. Along with coach Rick Adelman’s arrival, 2011/12 season will definitely be a turning point for T-wolves.

I mainly ascribe the change to Rubio. When he is on court, Timberwolves’ attacking style is totally different. The pass-first Spanish has an amazing ability to discover his teammates’ movement perfectly at any time. His pinpoint pass often leads to an opportunity to score in the end. Meanwhile, he owns a big heart already. He can shoot from distance as well. More surprisingly, his defense is also excellent. Monty Williams, the coach of Hornets, praised him that his defense had already surpassed most guards.

The statistics tell everything. With relatively few minutes on court, he contributes 8.3 assists, 2.3 steals, plus 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game so far!

Adelman plays a key role, too. His experiences are quite essential for this young team. He can utilize players well, especially Rubio. Few people believed Rubio would reach double-digits in assists so often at the beginning of the season. It’s Adelman who gave him so much confidence and trust, which helped Rubio quiet all the criticism.

Once you go through the roster of T-wolves, you will find a noticeable feature that nearly half of the players were selected with rather preceding picks, like Derrick Williams(2011) with first round 2^nd pick, Micheal Beasley(2008) with first round 2^nd pick, Darko Milicic(2003) with first round 2^nd pick, Wesley Johnson(2010) with first round 4^th pick, not to mention Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.  

It is obvious that Rubio, Love and Beasley will play an important role for Minnesota in the future. Rubio’s rookie teammate Williams and Johnson are worth expecting as well. It is also a good news for Wolves that J.J Barea has brought championship experience. Don’t forget that Wolves still have financial space to buy more players.

Though Wolves’ standing is not ideal so far, they simply need more time. They are so potential that I just can’t wait to see how well T-wolves will do in the next few years. Maybe they will become another Oklahoma City Thunder, or maybe they will do even better!