http://www.startribune.com/511/story/1032764.html The Timberwolves, deep into another ill-defined season, are pleasing neither the optimists nor the pessimists. They are neither fish nor fowl, yin nor yang, heads nor tails. They are, to the disappointment of many, both half-empty and half-full. The Wolves are at a crossroads that won't be solved by MapQuest. When they boarded their flight to Boston Saturday afternoon for today's matinee against the Celtics, they ranked -- simultaneously -- as the 10th best team in the Western Conference and the 11th worst team in the NBA. Which is precisely where they do not want to be. "I don't know what we are," Kevin Garnett said after Friday's home rout by Utah. If the Wolves (26-32) want to be a playoff team, they'll have to climb at least two spots to grab the eighth and final berth in the West bracket. That means passing New Orleans and the L.A. Clippers, while fending off Sacramento, Golden State, maybe even Portland. Then again, if coach Randy Wittman and team management thinks a quick first-round drubbing isn't worth much -- or that they might end up on the outs anyway when the playoff chase ends -- then the Wolves might be better off, once again, backpedaling into the league's bottom 10. That would improve the odds of retaining their first-round draft pick in June; the pick will go to the Clippers if, once the lottery balls stop tumbling, it is No. 11 or worse. Wittman wasn't around last spring when the Wolves went through this the first time, though he knows it wasn't pretty. With the decision made to save the pick, coach Dwane Casey leaned on a not-ready Marcus Banks at point guard, sat down Kevin Garnett with, uh, tendinitis for the final six games and still had to rely on good sport Mark Madsen to clang seven three-pointers through two overtimes in game No. 82 against Memphis. Bad as it was, though, the alternative -- no playoffs, no pick, no Randy Foye -- would have been worse. The end of this season could mimic that one. Some folks think a playoff berth is the only way to placate a frustrated Garnett, instill a sense of progress in youngsters such as Foye and Craig Smith and salvage what will be nearly seven grueling months of work and tension by the time the regular season ends. Others figure a one-and-done series against Dallas or Phoenix isn't worth chasing, if the price is a (very long) shot in the lottery for prospects such as Ohio State's Greg Oden, Texas' Kevin Durant or Florida's Joakim Noah. So, which will it be? Playoffs or bust, Wittman said after practice Saturday. Until the Wolves are mathematically eliminated in the West, they need to nail down one of those top eight spots. "I think that's only fair to our players," the coach said. "That's what I'm asking them to do." Meanwhile, Wittman still is trying to fix things. "If you're taking over a team that doesn't have anything to play for the rest of the year, you can change . . . everything," he said. "You can have a whole new starting five. It's a little different when you're trying to chase a playoff spot. But I've still got to try things." Tweaks times 2 Look for Ricky Davis to be entrusted, more than ever, with the second-unit offense when Garnett sits down. The Wolves often sag when Garnett sits down -- although he was on the floor for minus-39 of the minus-52 points against Dallas and Utah -- and Wittman wants less drop-off. Also, Wittman said he intends to use Foye off the ball, more like a shooting guard, for longer stretches. Troy Hudson could be subbed in for point guard duties during those stints. --

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