Kevin Love’s injury a challenge for the Minnesota Timberwolves' new acquisitions and supporting cast – NBA Feature
With the regular season only a few days away, the Minnesota Timberwolves were looking forward to a very anticipated 2012-13 campaign, one in which they were one of the frontrunners for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Wolves went through a series of roster upgrades during the offseason to make them one of the most talked about teams in the NBA. With the kind of depth that the team was boasting after the offseason, fans were excited about the magic they were expected to produce on the court.
With all the excitement and buzz leading up to the regular season, the Wolves were shattered and shocked when they heard the news that their franchise player Kevin Love had fractured his hand while practicing with the team. Love said that he was doing knuckle push ups as part of his training ahead of a team practice, when the fracture took place.
After a review by doctors, it was determined that love would thankfully not be requiring any surgery, but he was still ruled out of action for six to eight weeks, putting his return to the team sometime in December.
Love’s injury and loss was a big blow to the Wolves organization, who had everything going for them up to that point. With such a high profile season to look forward to, this was definitely not the way they wanted to kick it off.
Love’s recovery timeline means that he will return to duty for the Wolves mid December, around the same time Wolves' rising point guard Ricky Rubio is scheduled to return to the team. Rubio is currently rehabbing from an ACL injury that he suffered back in March. The Wolves will hence play the first few weeks of the regular season without their two star players, who happen to form the core of this young team. And those few weeks could prove critical later on in the season when the race for the playoff spots heats up.
If the Wolves want to make it to the playoffs this season from a heavily contested and deep Western Conference, they cannot make any mistakes during the season. The margin for error is very small, with teams like the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz all competing for essentially the final three seeds.
Hence, the onus is on the Wolves new acquisitions to hold the fort down till the time Love and Rubio return, which is not a very daunting task considering they are only going to miss 10 games more or less. Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved, Brandon Roy and company will need to prove the Wolves decision to give them a contract right, and step up to the challenge to keep the Wolves dreams of clinching a playoff berth alive.
The T'Wolves roster still has enough talent to keep them in relatively good shape till December, but will have to play to their potential and realize that the margin for error is very small this season. How they start the season for a team reeling from the loss of its two biggest stars will eventually determine if they make it to the playoffs come May.
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