The Healing of a Cursed Franchise

"There is an old saying, "change your attitude and you can change your life". This especially applies when it comes to removing a curse. We believe that the most effective long-term solution to clearing a curse, jinx, or getting past a "black hole" in your life is rooted in a change in attitude." - Global Psychics.com

A popular opinion about the Timberwolves franchise was that it is cursed, or unlucky at best. Such awful win-loss records, no #1 choice ever. Stephon Marbury. Tom Gugliotta. Joe Smith. Malik Sealy. Bad draft choices. Poor trades and mediocre free agent acquisitions. The evidence is substantial, when you think about it. While a lot of these results can be square put on the shoulders of human error and bad decision making, one has to consider that SOMETHING supernatural might have affected the franchise's fate up to this time.

Could a little luck be finally moving in the Wolves direction?

Friday night the Wolves once again caught a break, dispatching the New Orleans Hornets 116-108, playing without the services of both David West and Tyson Chandler, two front court core pieces for NO. As the game played out, their absence turned out to be a deciding factor, when looking at the box score:

Overall FG% -
NO: 42-79, .532, the Wolves 40-78, 513 (3pt shots - 13-22, NO, 10-21, Minnesota)
Rebounds -
NO: 25, Minnesota: 42
Free Throws:
NO: 11-13, Minnesota: 26-34

New Orleans shot more times, with a slightly better field goal percentage, made more threes, and still lost the game. Why? No inside play, and a huge free throw disparity. Without their primary front court players--despite the best efforts of Sean Marks and James Posey--the Hornets tried to beat the Wolves by jump shooting, and lost. Without Chandler to patrol the middle, the Wolves substantially outrebounded and outscored NO in the paint, shared and moved the ball with 26 assists, matching them enough from the outside with clutch shooting from Rodney Carney and Randy Foye to win the contest.

Lucky for the Wolves? A little. But it's not all about luck. It's not just spin to say this club's attitude has changed with the removal of Randy Wittman. After a horrible start, the team has benefitted from shortening the rotation, not playing Rashad McCants, and continuing to develop core pieces in Jefferson and Foye. The team is fun to watch, and it's also a true statement that despite the absence of two primary Hornets players, Orleans could have won this game earlier in the year.

This improvement can be defined as progress.

One huge question (among many) still needs to be answered long term: is Kevin McHale the only person who could get any success out of this roster?

Hopefully, the Wolves will be lucky enough to find a real answer.