http://www.twincities.com/timberwolves/ci_5637898?nclick_check=1 Randy Foye said it best. Told that the Timberwolves were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on Monday night, Foye said: "We should have reflected from Day 1. There ain't no time to look back." The Wolves reacted to the reality that the playoff race is over without surprise. They had known it was coming for weeks. The end formally came late Monday night when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz in Oakland, Calif. The Warriors slipped past the Los Angeles Clippers by percentage points for the Western Conference's No. 8 playoff seed. Golden State (38-40) has more victories than the Wolves (32-45) could manage if they win thier five remaining games. "They're doing it and we're not," Foye said. "That's the biggest thing. They're making it happen. They've got the chemistry, and we don't right now. We're officially out of it now, but we just have to keep preparing and getting better." The Wolves haven't had chemistry all season. Their indignities included suffering through an 11-game losing streak on the road. Now they've lost five in a row at home, their longest such drought since March 2002. The Wolves can blame only themselves for not taking control of the No. 8 playoff seed, which has been up for grabs for weeks, with no team in the West gaining a firm upper hand. The Warriors have just six more victories than the Wolves, but that's the difference between a disappointing season and a path to the playoffs. "Sure, it hurts," Minnesota coach Randy Wittman said. "Games that you throw away or don't come to play in, you can't get those back." There were plenty of close games. But forward Mark Madsen remembered a few games in particular - three losses by a total of seven points in January following a coaching change. "It's a time of frustration," Madsen said. "We were right there within playoff striking distance most of the season, and then we lost some close games, and we weren't able to recover. Unfortunately we're in the same position we were last season, stuck at home watching the playoffs instead of playing in them." After the Wolves fired coach Dwane Casey and replaced him with Wittman, the Wolves lost games at Portland (in overtime) and Seattle by five points combined. Then after bouncing back to beat the Clippers and the Phoenix Suns, they stumbled again with a two-point loss to Sacramento that started a four-game slump. Madsen said the players must hold themselves accountable. "At this point we have to use our frustration and the fact that we're upset about (missing the playoffs) and turn that into, 'What can I do better?' " Madsen said. "How can I improve myself to help the team next year?" Said guard Trenton Hassell: "It was a long roller-coaster ride, up and down. We had some good times, we had some bad times. We just have to finish up strong the best we can." --

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