NBA minnesota Timberwolves

MINNEAPOLIS -- A look of disbelief crosses Bill Laimbeer's face. After all, he spent years perfecting such expressions for NBA referees.

"I don't know what you're talking about,'' Laimbeer said when asked if he's teaching those on the young Minnesota Timberwolves to flop.

When it comes to flopping, Laimbeer made Manu Ginobili's moves today look rather amateurish. The former Detroit Pistons center was the all-time master.

The NBA isn't just made at Staples on Sunday afternoons under the lights, or in a Friday night showdown at the Garden. It's every night, players stepping up and making plays.

It's guys that will eventually be answers to trivia questions making huge shots that endear them and their teams to the hearts of young fans who first make a connection with this crazy, random, beautiful game.

The heroes aren't just the guys on posters and All-Star ballots, sometimes they are journeymen who show up every day, don't shoot a great percentage and get the job done.

Wednesday was Damien Wilkins' day.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Al Jefferson wasn't even born when the incident happened in 1984. But he's seen the old footage.

"The only thing I knew about Kurt (Rambis) from him playing is the highlight of Kevin McHale knocking him out,'' said the Minnesota forward.

Jonny Flynn wasn't born when Rambis won the last his four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988. But Flynn has seen the highlights as well.

"I remember he had the high socks, the thick glasses and the short shorts,'' said the Timberwolves point guard. "That was my first impressions about him. I said that when we first talked on the phone, and we got a good laugh about it.''

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves spent the offseason loading up on point guards as if they were stocking a fallout shelter during the Cold War.

They drafted Ricky Rubio with the No. 5 pick, Jonny Flynn at No. 6 and Ty Lawson at No. 18, although Lawson soon was shipped to Denver. Then, with Rubio electing to remain in his native Spain, they signed free agents Ramon Sessions and Jason Hart and traded for Antonio Daniels, although Daniels won't join the team.

The chaos has settled, and Flynn has become Minnesota's starter. The reviews so far are mostly good, and credit Flynn for realizing how difficult it is to learn to become an NBA point guard.

DENVER -- Big Al's health is no big concern.

At least that's the word from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minnesota star center Al Jefferson missed Tuesday night's 129-100 preseason loss to Denver at the Pepsi Center. But Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis said the primary reason was Jefferson being under the weather rather than the sore left Achilles that kept him out of practice Monday.

"Yes, he would of if this was an important game,'' Rambis said when asked if Jefferson would have been able to play Tuesday had he not taken ill and been left at the team hotel in Denver.

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Things went from bad to worse for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, when Al Jefferson joined Kevin Love on the sidelines due to an injury. Jefferson sat out practice with a sore Achilles' tendon, which limited him to just six minutes during the second half of the team's preseason game against the Bucks on Saturday.

While Love's broken hand is expected to have him back in six to eight weeks, there's no timetable yet for Jefferson, and you can bet the team is going to be extremely cautious when it comes to green-lighting his return to the court.

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Minnesota figured to struggle this season. The roster is young, the coach (Kurt Rambis) is new, and there are plenty of holes through the roster. But there's always an extra challenge in 'Sota, and this year that extra challenge comes in the form of a fracture of the fourth metacarpal bone in the left hand of Kevin Love that will reportedly sideline the power forward for 6-8 weeks.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Love's hand smacked against the elbow of teammate Stewie Griffin Oleksiy Pecherov as Love collected a rebound. Fitting, that the injury would happen on a rebound, considering Love is one of the league's brightest young board hoarders. His absence will force cohort Al Jefferson to be even more of a vacuum on the glass.

When new Minnesota GM David Kahn made a play for free agent point guard Ramon Sessions, there were two ways to look at it. On the surface, the Sessions deal (four years, $16 million) is a fair price for a solid young playmaker. Given how bad Minnesota's backcourt has been, Sessions can't hurt, right?

But Kahn famously selected two high-profile point guards within the top six picks of the June draft, Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn. Rubio stayed in Barcelona, all while Kahn insisted the plan was for the pair to play together in Minnesota. When Kahn signed Sessions, the plan was to play him and Flynn together. The problem, which I noted at the time of the signing, is that neither Sessions nor Flynn has any business playing off-guard.

It seems Wolves coach Kurt Rambis has now arrived at the same conclusion.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Tuesday, there are 14 days remaining.

For everything the NBA has done to level the playing field -- the draft lottery, the salary cap, the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax -- only a select handful of teams have a legitimate chance to win the championship in any given year.

I know optimism is supposed to reign supreme in October, but here's a harsh dose of reality: in the past 26 years, only seven different organizations have hoisted the Larry O'Brien, and six of those teams have won more than once. In fact, in a league where fluke success is rare and dynasties are the norm, there are 14 teams that have yet to win a title.

Will any of these perennial losers buck their unfortunate losing streaks in the near future? While the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics (winners of nine of the last 11 titles) would disagree, it's a very real possibility.

MINNEAPOLIS -- After going down in a heap last February and being lost for the season with a torn ACL, Al Jefferson is no longer black and blue.

Now, he's thinking red, white and blue.

There likely will be an opening for a post player on Team USA for next year's World Championships in Turkey and quite possibly for the 2012 Olympics in London. The Minnesota center has volunteered his services

"I would love to play for USA Basketball,'' Jefferson said Thursday in an interview with FanHouse. "I would love to play. Two summers ago (2007), I was in (Las) Vegas helping the team practice and they go off and wind up winning the (Olympic) gold medal the following year (in Beijing).

"So I already have been part of it. Then I got hurt last year, and I couldn't do much. But I would love to play with my country if they invite me.''