Did anyone happen to catch the great Minnesota sports action on tv yesterday?  In back-to-back telecasts the Wild got slaughtered 8-1 at home by the Montreal Canadians, and the Timberwolves got slaughtered 127-95, also at home, by a terrible Sacramento Kings team.  Boy, what a thrill to watch those debacles unfold....put me in such a nice mood I tell ya.  Well, the Wild have gone 2-7-2 since the trade deadline and the playoffs are, yet again, not to be.  I've spent some time reading the rants from the bloggers on the Strib/Pioneer Press web-sites calling for the heads of Head Coach Todd Richards and GM Chuck Fletcher, and it's hard to disagree, but I think some rational thinking needs to be added here.   Don't forget, about 2 and a half weeks ago, the Wild were clinging to the 6-seed in the West, and have only recently fallen on their face.  An 8-1 home drubbing in unacceptable yes, but this team simply does not have upper-echelon talent, and when that is the case, losing major chunks of the year to the Bouchard's, and Latandresse's, and Zidlicky's and Koivu's, I think it's remarkable that they've done as well as they have.  The previous (Doug Risebrough/Jacques Lemaire) regime handcuffed this team with bad contracts and a depleted farm system.   We simply don't have the stockpile of picks and young talent to get this team over the hump, and that's not Richards or Fletcher's fault.  I think they've tried to do the best with what they're stuck with, and that's going to amount to another year of playoff-less-ness for the Wild.

The Wolves on the other hand,...I just can't seem to get a read on.  I actually like this team.  They're only a few games improved over last years awful team, but (other than yesterday) they're watchable....if wildly inconsistent.  They're the youngest team in the league with a roster full of lottery picks, yet the improvement from the beginning of the season to now is negligible at best.....and the defense continues to be the worst in the league.  That does fall on Head Coach Kurt Rambis and his staff, including former NBA greats Reggie Theus and Bill Laimbeer.  F Kevin Love has certainly been a bright spot, as has been F Michael Beasley, but whatever they give you on the offensive end, they give up on the other end.  Same with C Darko Milicic.  And I like the addition of F/C Anthony Randolf, the growth of G Wes Johnson, the energy supplied by F Anthony Tolliver.   But where's the desire to play some shut-down defense?   Back in the day, I played as much ball as could be played throughout the teenage years, and if anyone dared get past me on the dribble, rest assured the guys shot attempt ended up twelve rows up in the stands.  And yes....the "white men can't jump" thing?.....it's a fallacy.  (I hurdled 4-feet once).   It's about pride.  Get fired up....get angry....don't settle for being "poster-ized" by some no-name looking to make a name for himself.  Instead of letting some guy walk in for a lay-up, throw an elbow into his gut.....you'll put him on the line,...but he'll think twice about trying that again.   Actually, I think the biggest disappointment has been G/F Martell Webster, not so much for his play, but that he's been hurt all year and hasn't really been able to show what he can do.  Let's hope next years squad, with the arrival of PG Ricky Rubio, yields better results.