The Wolves are Howling Now

If you can imagine a thunderstorm on a miserable rainy night and can't imagine a night that could be any worse, then think again. On Sunday night at New Orleans Arena, the Minnesota Timberwolve's already-plagued season was struck with a "death blow" of sorts when their star forward went tumbling to the hardwood floor clasping onto his right knee.

It was the epitome of the worst-case scenario in living flesh for a struggling T-Wolves team. It was bad enough that Al Jefferson was snubbed of an All-Star position in the Western All-Stars' roster. This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "adding insult to injury." As a genuine basketball fan, I feel sympathy for Jefferson and his team, as they now face an even tougher journey to get through the rest of this season.

This closely resembles the Miami Dolphins and the tragic 2007 season. Looking back, the Miami Dolphins were playing atrocious offense and struggled badly on defense. The only bright spot for the team was in Ronnie Brown and his consistent performance each week. He was averaging 5.1 yards per rush and had racked up over 600 rushing yards, coupled with 4 rushing TDs, in the span of seven games. All that went to waste, when Ronnie sprung into the air and landing awkwardly on his knee on that fateful day. This resulted in a torn ACL - an instant season-ender. The Dolphins salvaged one win that season thanks to Greg Camarillo's heroic catch in the overtime game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Similarly, Al Jefferson was averaging great numbers this season with 23.1 points per game and 11 rebounds per game. He was virtually a walking double-double machine - and now that machine has shut down for the rest of the season. It will be a long road to recovery for Al and the Wolves, but there's always hope for next season and a revamped effort to start fresh. Now will be the true test of resilience for the T-Wolves and their young core. I'm sure they would like to avoid a season like the Miami Heat in the 08-09 season - managing to win only 15 out of 82 games.

Here at Miami Sports Generation, we give kudos to Al Jefferson for his valiant efforts this season, as he played so well amidst a trouble-ridden season with the T-Wolves. Good luck to him in surgery, therapy, and training for next season. We'll be awaiting his arrival once again in Fall of '09.