http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/13197999.htm Things had been less than perfect for the Wolves even before TNT's basketball analysts buried them at halftime of Thursday night's game by saying: bad team, no identity, trade Kevin Garnett. It was a lovely bit of understatement. I was surprised they didn't advocate nuking Target Center, too. The Wolves have been struggling to get attention this season. The team has yet to catch on with the public and is dead last in the NBA in attendance. So far, the Wolves' hallmark appears to be solid defense, which sells about as many tickets as would a special promotion for E. Coli Night. Maybe fans are staying away to protest the trade of Ndudi Ebi. "Our schedule is not a great schedule," said Wolves President Chris Wright, who insists attendance will pick up. "We have seven games in November, only two on a weekend. We lost a percentage of our season ticket holders after last season as well." When the Wolves finally do get some attention, it's very negative. Basically, the TNT guys told a national audience that the team is crummy. Meanwhile, on the court, the Wolves still are searching for a personality, a proper tempo, a collective soul. Good luck with all that. Oh yeah, and they're still searching for a victory on the road. But here's the most interesting part of Thursday evening. In an interview aired by TNT before the game against Washington, Kevin Garnett directed critical remarks at the organization. The harshest seemed aimed at Kevin McHale, vice president of basketball operations. Referring to the firing of Flip Saunders, Garnett said McHale "really in his heart wanted to coach. But he didn't want the responsibility of being a coach." He explained by saying McHale wanted to draw up plays but not manage the athletes as men, not deal with all the egos involved. That sure sounded like a kick in the head to me. "I did not want to coach," McHale insisted afterward. "If I wanted to coach, I'd be coaching right now." He didn't appear even remotely shook up by the comments and was not buying into any sort of controversy. Garnett didn't seem too concerned about it all, either. "I was just saying what I thought," Garnett said. Yeah, but he had a mean face on when he said it. Or maybe it's just the goatee. But I'm sticking to my theory that it was a kick in the head to McHale. "I don't feel I was disrespectful to anybody," Garnett said. "Everything I said, everybody knows that's how I feel. Last year, it was pure hell for me. It was a circus." It's a little weird. People still are getting all worked up over last season, which should be dead and gone. "I wasn't here when all that frustration was going on," coach Dwane Casey said. "Kevin has been nothing but great." Maybe K.G. was having a bad day. Perhaps his morning oatmeal was too lumpy. Or maybe he couldn't find a seat on the light rail during his ride to work. But after spending a good portion of the TNT interview complaining about last season's dirty (contract) laundry being aired in public he, well, aired a little dirty laundry in public. It was all very gossipy and fairly harmless. However, McHale sounded a bit peeved upon hearing that TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith insisted Minnesota's best option was to immediately trade Garnett and look to the future. "When they run their own teams, I'll put a lot more credence in it," he said. Not that anyone ever puts too much credence into what Sir Charles says. After all, he'll say just about anything. And has. "That's their opinion," Casey said. "I respectfully disagree with them." Cable TV has come a long way. Twenty years ago, a guy could run naked through a public park with an orange traffic cone perched atop his head. But if it were televised on cable, nobody would know it happened. Now a couple of guys can sit in a studio, dump garbage on a basketball team for three minutes, and cause a stir. --

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