I've been following the "smoking gun" E-mail story out of Seattle as it relates the potential move of the Sonics from Seattle to Okla. City. Clay Bennett is the second sports owner I've been wondering about in recent months in addition to our own Mr. Taylor--how did these guys ever become wealthy? Can't Mr. Bennett afford decent tech support, or at least salient advice on how to use e-mail effectively? More than likely it won't affect the exodus out of Seattle, but it's pretty damming evidence, and will probably end up with the city extracting even more settlement money for Bennett to break the lease and skate on out of town. However, one can never predict outcomes when lawyers are involved, and I would imagine Commissioner Stern doesn't like being embarrassed and lied to, so the final chapters of this story may not be as obvious as everyone thinks.

What does this have to do with our team? Maybe nothing, but...

When I was over at Hoop Springs Eternal, I did a substantial amount of Lynx basketball coverage. Much like their Wolves counterparts, the Lynx have struggled the last few years with similar front office failures and misfires, especially with their inability to get either former Gophers Janel McCarville or Lindsey Whalen. If anything, the trade of icon Katie Smith to the Detroit Shock in 2005 was a forerunner to the Wolves trade of KG. The following year, she won a ring with Detroit. The players received from the Shock never helped the Lynx, who were awful last year at 10-24. They do have one legitimate player in Seimone Augustus they acquired with the 2006 overall first pick. Last year they made a draft day trade to get point guard Lindsey Harding from Duke, who again was the overall number one league pick.

...the Wolves were losing. Big.

I couldn't even work my way through "Numb3rs" on CBS, and it's umpteen 10:00 news promos about Paul Douglas being dumped before they were down by nearly 20 in the second quarter.

The only thing I have to say is: I rest my case.

Here and over at Britt Robson's blog, we've been having a spirited discussion about what the major glaring weakness of Minnesota is, and what type of moves they need to make in the offseason. Of course, all of this should be taken with a grain or pound of salt, because whatever idea or conclusion is thrown out, the Wolves will do what they do; it's merely speculation and fodder for hopefully entertaining discussion.

But I still rest my case. A key quote from Randy Wittman, courtesy of the Star Tribune, about Shaq, the Big Cactus, who dominated the Wolves last night:

When the Jazz look back on this season, losses to teams like Miami and Minnesota--twice over--will irritate Jerry Sloan more than a prostate examination.

The Jazz haven't played particularly well on the road, which will hurt their rankings in the Western Conference playoff race. Let's give credit where credit is due however, because again, the Wolves played the Jazz with enthusiasm and panache--on a Sunday no less. I also saw a few things I haven't see much of lately:

1) McCants hitting a big shot. With 21 seconds to play, Shaddy hits a crucial shot to keep the Wolves lead to six. After getting in foul trouble in the first half, he asserted himself in the second, playing well with the other kids just enough to be in a rhythm.

Our Texas two-trip was a great indicator of where this club is at.

When you beat teams who are not fighting for anything, you will get different levels of effort and talent from game to game. When you play teams that are jockeying for position--especially in the ultra-competitive West--that's when fans should pay attention to performance, and reject the seduction of marketing and broadcasting hype. After a year of fairly consistent negativity about the Wolves, I understand the need for hope. If you look hard at this roster, there ARE positives. After many thought Minnesota was going to be historically "the worst team ever", they have battled back to achieve near-mediocrity, in a year where it was clearly stated by all parties, both positive and negative, that this would be a rebuilding season.