Out of the Blue

[Disclaimer: If you hate, hate, hate basketball, please skip to the bottom for my Super Bowl prediction. If you haven’t seen any point in watching the Timberwolves since KG left, I hope to convince you otherwise. I was once like you until this season and especially last weekend’s games changed my mind.]

I’ve never considered myself to be a short person. The average height of an adult male in the U.S. is 5-foot-10, so at 6-1, I “tower” over the average Joe. And I’m about five pounds less than the average weight of 190, so I’m not little. I’ve always been pretty comfortable with myself amongst the masses.

That is, I used to feel that way until I stepped into the Timberwolves locker room Friday night before their game against the San Antonio Spurs. Now I grew up playing basketball against some pretty big boys, but these guys made those boys look like munchkins. I was briefly afraid that Nikolai Pekovic (6-11, 290) was going to stuff me in his locker and save me for a snack later.

The only guy I could look down at was J.J. Barea, who I overshadowed by a whole inch. And he’s the guy whose former Dallas teammates gifted him with “Little People” dolls the last time they were in town. (We got a good laugh when he showed them to us in the top of his locker.) Even Ricky Rubio, the 21-year-old who looks like he’s about 12 with facial hair, topped me by a good three inches.

For the most part, I felt like I was in seventh grade again,

looking up at all the seniors. I half expected Kevin Love (who was quite humorous) to crack, “You’re so short that people are opening their umbrellas before you even know it’s raining.”

It was a month ago when my first sports editor, Ron, called me up. He’s the editor for Minnesota Basketball News, a publication for which I’ve free-lanced for the last baker’s dozen years, and asked if I would be interested in doing a story or two on Ricky Rubio, the Spanish rookie sensation. Why, yes sir, I would!

I hadn’t been to a Wolves game since 2004 when with KG playing the point, they knocked off the Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. Come to think of it, that was their last playoff home game and win and really their last season of relevance in the NBA. And while I’ve covered the Vikings, Twins and Wild, the Timberwolves were the one pro team in this state I had covered.

Let’s just say, I can’t wait to do it again. When you’re sitting close to courtside, NBA basketball is truly fantastic in person.

If there was a lowlight to the weekend, it was that I never really got the chance to interview Rubio. When I caught him in the locker room lacing up his shoes prior to the Spurs game, he had a couple of reporters from Spain chattering at him. When I asked him if he had a couple of minutes, he politely said, “I’m so sorry. I have to…I have to go shoot.” in that Spanish lilt of his. After the game, I and most of the other guys couldn’t get in a word edgewise because Sid Hartman wouldn’t let us, asking the same question over and over six different ways. And there was never a prayer to talk to Ricky before or after the Lakers game, so I had to settle for talking to a bunch of other players and coaches about him.

Here are some of the best quips I heard all weekend:

Rick Adelman (Wolves coach) joking about J.J. Barea’s monster 10-karat diamond championship ring:

“I’ve banned him from wearing it. I don’t want him to pull his other hamstring.”

Kevin Love on the Wolves beating the Spurs twice in a row after losing 19 straight to them:

“Well, you know we had to beat them before the end of the Mayan calendar.”

Martell Webster on his spectacular missed dunk against the Spurs:

“I went up and I just kind of kept going up and I got to the top and I just kind of T-Rex-armed it (demonstrating with his arm crooked).”

(Reporter) “So the only thing you hurt is your arm?”

“Just my ego, man. Just my ego.”

Terry Porter on the potential

of the Love-Rubio combination:

“There have been some great 1-2 punches in this league. Karl (Malone) and John (Stockton) was one of the best. Kevin and Ricky could have that type of legacy if they continue to work and improve.”

The Wolves got off to a very slow start against the Spurs, but turned things around in the second half, committing just two turnovers and clamping down on defense and getting a big games from Pekovic, Love and Rubio to throttle the Spurs, 87-79. Rubio made a clutch shot and fed Love for another big hoop down the stretch in the fourth as the Wolves scored the game’s final 10 points, and Ricky finished with a career-high 18 points to go with 10 assists.

Against the Lakers Sunday – a team they had lost 15 straight to – the Wolves struggled until midway through the third quarter, when suddenly they caught fire, closing the quarter on a 19-6 run to cut an 18-point deficit to five. After a spectacular Rubio lob to Anthony Randolph and a running bank shot by the rookie at the buzzer, I thought the roof was gonna come off the Target Center. And when Webster drilled a three to put the Wolves in front late in the fourth, I definitely thought their dry run against the hated Lakers was over. But Kobe was too tough down the stretch, and the Wolves fell 106-101 despite 33 points and 13 rebounds from Love.

Here’re a few quick reasons

why the Wolves are worth watching again:

Rubio has proven already that he has a penchant for shining bright in the biggest moments. He is a top-three passer in the league already, has great instincts offensively and defensively and is among the league leaders in steals and is as competitive as all get out. And his shot is getting better and seems to fall when it’s crunch-time.

Love might be the best power forward in the league. He’s defi- nitely the league’s best rebounder and three-point shooter at the position. And he straight-up works his tail off every second he’s on the court.

Michael Beasley, if he can keep his head straight, can flatout score the rock. Randolph, Williams, Webster and even Johnson have great potential. Pekovic is tough inside and Darko can defend. Barea and Luke Ridnour can fill it up on a given night.

And Adelman is the perfect coach for the youngest team in

the league. He’s not afraid to go with unconventional lineups, his defensive scheme was recently voted the second-best in the NBA and his offense is well-suited for this athletic team.

With the compact season, the Wolves have a conceivable chance at a playoff spot this year, especially if they can get and stay healthy put together a run down the stretch when older teams are weary and fading. If nothing else, they are flat-out FTW – fun to watch.

I’m out of room, so my Super Bowl prediction is thus: New England 38, N.Y. Giants 31. Vindication for Tom Terrific and the Pats.

Until next time…

Brian Miller is a longtime local sports writer. He is equally amenable to glowing accolades and scathing reviews at miller24bri@gmail.com.