http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16762928.htm Thursday's trade deadline rolled past without the Timberwolves making a move, and that's sort of a mixed bag. A fresh face could have provided a much-needed boost during this trying season. On the other hand, the front office didn't do anything really, really stupid again, either. We'll call it a draw. Welcome to Groundhog Day at Target Center, where it's always 8:45 p.m. and the Timberwolves are always struggling to avoid a late-game calamity. Sometimes they do avoid it, sometimes they don't, but the scenario never changes. For most of the season, it was Dwane Casey who offered the postgame critiques. There were two versions. To paraphrase: "We choked." "We didn't choke." And in his own quiet way, he sometimes would hint that certain players seemed to have their heads stuck. … Well, he seemed to suggest they had a good view of their own internal organs. Lately, it's been Randy Wittman delivering the postmortems. He is louder and less concerned about hurting the players' feelings. But he's seeing the same things Casey saw. Only more. The Wolves are 5-9 under Wittman. They were 20-20 under Casey. At least Kevin McHale doesn't have to worry so much about inconsistent play anymore. It has leveled off at uniformly poor. Not that Red Auerbach could have made a difference here. Dr. Phil, maybe, but not Red. This isn't a cohesive group. Team chemistry doesn't necessarily refer to one milkshake and 12 straws, one for each player, either. It's about the interaction on the court. The team never jelled after the Wally Szczerbiak trade. And talent-wise, it's a mediocre bunch. Mediocre can get a team into the NBA playoffs. But this lack of cohesiveness won't help. Our fellows lead the league in pouting. And Wednesday night against Charlotte, they were flat-out selfish, too. As Thursday's trade deadline approached, some thought there might be a change or two. That's the great thing about the NBA: Teams often swap bad players with huge contracts. In most other professional leagues, they shy away from those types. But NBA teams will swap high-priced stiff for high-priced stiff. As it turned out, McHale made no moves. Again, that glass could be half empty or half full, depending on your point of view. My major concern was that McHale would opt to acquire another point guard. I know, I know, it makes no sense. But he seems to collect point guards the way some people collect stamps or thimbles. Then he puts them all on display on the bench during games. After this season, he's still on the hook to Marko Jaric, Mike James and Troy Hudson for about $65 million. Meanwhile, rookie Randy Foye is playing there most of the time. So instead of doing something really, really bad — again — making no move wasn't a terrible alternative. Yet I had hoped that McHale would address the chemistry issue. Maybe somewhere out there is that solid team guy who might be a positive force during those frightening late-game struggles. Jaric, who went so far as to lobby the owner for a trade, seemed likely to depart. Then there were rumors that the Pistons might be interested in James. I'll say this for James: While other players have had public meltdowns about their reduced roles, he at least hasn't come unglued. I tell this story every year, but back in the mid-'90s the Wolves had a player by the name of Mike Brown. "The Big Brown Bear," the radio announcers called him, just a lovable guy. The only problem was that he came to Minnesota from a winning Utah Jazz team and struggled with all the losses here. As the trade deadline approached, rumors had him going to the Boston Celtics. He was thrilled, even packing his bags in anticipation of the announcement. Then the deadline passed just as the Wolves were about to begin an afternoon practice. No trade. Brown was so depressed, so distraught at the thought of remaining with the Wolves, that the coaching staff had to send him home so he could pull himself together. That could have been Jaric on Thursday. Or any of several depressed Wolves. Wittman remains convinced that his team's problems are mental rather than physical. At least on Thursday the team didn't acquire any new head cases. Based on Thursday's inactivity, nothing much will change at Target Center, where it's always 8:45 and the home team is struggling. --

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