Wolves court fans with glitzy new NBA City http://www.startribune.com/508/story/269976.html The first sellout crowd of the season was in attendance on Friday night and had a chance to see the Timberwolves unveil their most exciting addition of 2005-06. Steve Francis? No, that deal didn't happen. Stephon Marbury? They already tried that once. A new routine from Crunch? No need, since the wooly fellow broke out one of those only five, six years ago. This attraction came for a cost slightly over the midlevel exception, and it can make no demand for a trade or claim of free agency. "Welcome to NBA City," said Jim Stanley, as ticketholders made their way from an arena corridor to the new restaurant. "Come in and look around." The Target Center opened with this restaurant space in 1990. First, it was Naismith's, followed by Front Runners, and then a bar that was open as part of the concessions operations before and after games. This was an arena losing badly in the battle for amenities since the Wild opened the Xcel Energy Center in 2000, yet the restaurant area sat connected to Target Center as a waste of space. It wasn't Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor who came up with an answer. It was Ralph Burnet, one of Taylor's partners. Burnet, the former real estate mogul, formed NBA City as a company. He opened his first restaurant in the retail area at Universal Studios in Orlando. Burnet's loyalty to the Wolves had as much to do as anything with spending $5 million to locate his second NBA City at Target Center. Stanley is Burnet's president. He said the company is looking to Shanghai and Beijing as its next two locations. "More people watch NBA games in China than there is population in the United States," he said. Yes, but can they afford a $5 beer? "There's a growing middle class," Stanley said. Actually, there were NBA City customers expressing pleasant surprise to discover a bottled beer at the bar went for $4.25. "I think it's six bucks from a vendor," Jeremy Williams of White Bear Lake said There is a souvenir area filled with NBA jerseys. There are also four hoops for shooting free throws. None was being used by patrons 15 minutes before the scheduled tipoff. This was a mistake. Anyone making five in a row had a chance to get a Wolves' contract, in this post-Sam, post-Wally era of bricklayers. The restaurant crowd did include a young man who would get a second look from any basketball scout. Ben Stout was among a group of NBA City workers who came from Orlando for opening week. "Where did you play basketball?" he was asked. "The University of Central Florida," Stout said. "Yes, Daunte Culpepper's school. I haven't mentioned UCF to anyone up here who hasn't said, 'That's Daunte's school.' " OK, how tall? "I'm 7-foot-1," he said. When the game started, NBA City remained crowded, with a combination of ticketholders who were in no hurry to be eyewitnesses to their disappointing team, and people who had come in to use this new locale as their Friday night sports bar. Juan Coleman was in the latter group. He signaled over a visitor to offer this bulletin: "I'm not totally down on the Wolves. I'm going to spend the next three to five weeks analyzing, to see how this group of players comes together. Then, I'll give an opinion." The visitor said: "You're a very patient man, Juan. The season's over in seven weeks." Juan wasn't done dropping bombshells. "Kevin Garnett isn't talking to reporters -- he's too loyal to the organization to go public -- but he's tired of this," he said. "He doesn't see the Wolves bringing in the talent to give him a chance to win a championship. KG is upset." Coleman nodded, sipped his beer and said: "Very upset." You are privileged to inside information on KG's mood, Juan? Coleman nodded again and said: "I know a lot of stuff. Remember Darius Lane -- great player at Totino Grace, then Seton Hall? I'm his cousin." Yes, NBA City showed off a surplus of attractions on Friday night: Food, drink. jerseys, free throw shooting and, yes, inside info. Next to Mrs. K.G. and Jimmy Jam, I can't think of anyone who would have better insight into Garnett's level of unhappiness than Darius Lane's cousin. --

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