Minnesota

Minnesota Timberwolves Set Franchise History But Want More

Published

10 months ago

May 17, 2025

Minnesota Timberwolves Set Franchise History But Want More

Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards helped Minnesota to tis second straight berth in the NBA West … More finals. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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The Minnesota Timberwolves already have made franchise history. They are using that as a starting point.

“The stomach is not full,” center Rudy Gobert said. “Not at all. It’s just one step.”

The Timberwolves made the Western Conference finals for a team-record second consecutive season last week after finishing off the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors in five games, giving them five days’ rest before meeting the Oklahoma City-Denver winner in the West finals that begin Tuesday.

The next step is to avenge a loss to Dallas in the West finals a year ago.

The T-Wolves’ repeat trip seemed almost inevitable once the Warriors lost Curry in their Game 1 victory. They won the final four games of the series by an average of almost 12 points.

“We were the better team,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “We felt we were the better team. We just had to go out and play like it every night.”

The Wolves similarly punished the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, winning four of five while outscoring LeBron James, Luka Doncic et al by an average of almost nine points a game. It was especially satisfying, inasmuch as Doncic was the ringleader in Dallas’ series win a year ago.

No. 6 seed Minnesota did not have home court advantage in either of its first two 2024 playoff series will not have it in any round this year.

A Denver series would be a rematch of the 2024 West semifinals, when the T-Wolves overcame a 15-point halftime deficit Denver for a 98-90 Game 7 victory.

The Wolves’ made history then, too. They had the largest the comeback in an NBA Game 7, and the series win seemed to solidify their status as a continuing title contender.

“It’s to make it to the (NBA) finals,” Jaden McDaniels said of the mission. “I think we’re super confident. We’re all together, being a good team, and we’re just ready for whoever we play next already. We just got to stay the course.”

Renewing the legacy of Kevin Garnett

In one way, these Wolves have taken the glory days of the Garnett Era one step further.

The Garnett-led teams of the late 1990-early 2000s made seven straight playoff appearances but only one trip to the conference finals, at the end of the run in 2004. These Wolves are on a four-season playoff run.

The current franchise turnaround began in 2020, with a succession timely of front office and player personnel decisions after an ugly stretch in which they had 15 losing seasons in 16 and played under nine full-time or interim coaches.

It began with a bit of a break in the 2020 NBA lottery, when they won the first overall pick despite the third-worst record in the league and a 14 percent chance at No. 1.

Anthony Edwards, prize of the 2020 draft

The Wolves took Anthony “Ant” Edwards, considered the consensus best player in the class, with first pick. He has become the face of the franchise and is closing in on being the new face of the NBA with his combination of skill and exuberance.

Edwards’ scoring average has increased in every season, to 27.6 points per game this year, fourth in the league.

Minnesota also acquired McDaniels in a three-team trade two days after the 2020 draft, and both he and Edwards have been cornerstones of the resurgence as McDaniels — always a long, athletic defender — has honed offensive game.

The front office makeover began shortly thereafter. Finch replace Ryan Saunders as head coach in February, 2021, and general manager Tim Connelly was hired from a similar position in Denver in May of 2022.

Less than two months later, Connelly acquired defensive presence Gobert, a decisive move that still resonates. While much of the league was trending small, Connelly added Gobert in a massive trade package that sent five players and four first-round draft picks to the Utah Jazz.

Gobert and all the right moves

Gobert, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, has averaged a double-double for the last nine seasons, and his length in the paint keeps opponents wary. He had nine blocked shots in the Warriors’ series and has averaged 2.4 blocks per season in his career.

Veteran point guard Michael Conley and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker were acquired in another three-team deal involving Utah late in the 2023 season.

Connelly put the finishing touch on the roster over the summer, when he traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo Randle has averaged 23.9 points per game in the playoffs, five points above his regular-season average, and like Towns has the green light from three-point range.

With Edwards, DiVincenzo and 2019 draft pick Naz Reid doing much of the work, the Timberwolves made 37.7 percent of their three-point attempts, fourth in the league.

The Wolves got this far a year ago, and Finch has counseled them to remember what happened in the West finals then, when they lost all three three home games.

“It’s about staying level-headed,” Gobert said. “After a win like we had last year against Denver in Game 7, I felt like you get the whole world praising you. We weren’t mature enough to handle that yet.

“This year, we’re mature enough. I feel like we understand where we’re at. That’s the lesson. It’s about us and our approach. It’s not about who we face. It’s about mindset, our work, our attention to details. When our level of urgency is right, we know we can play with anyone.”

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Minnesota

Minnesota United’s Drake Callender, Seattle’s Andrew Thomas duel to 0-0 draw

Published

8 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Minnesota United’s Drake Callender, Seattle’s Andrew Thomas duel to 0-0 draw

March 22, 2026 / 6:27 PM CDT
/ AP

Seattle’s Andrew Thomas finished with two saves and Drake Callender did likewise as the Sounders and Minnesota United played to a scoreless draw on Sunday.

It was the third straight and fourth shutout in five starts this season for Thomas. The 27-year-old took the starting reins from mainstay Stefan Frei — now in a backup role. He hasn’t allowed a goal since a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake in Seattle’s road opener. He also blanked the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the season opener at home. Thomas had the lone save of the first half.

Callender notched his second clean sheet in his first season with Minnesota United. Callender and Inter Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Claire switched teams in the offseason. Callender made 92 starts for Miami beginning in 2022, but only five last season.

Jordan Morris saw his first action for the Sounders (3-1-1) since he was injured in the season opener. Morris entered in the 65th minute along with Jesús Ferreira and 18-year old midfielder Snyder Brunell.

Seattle was coming off back-to-back 1-0 road victories over St. Louis City and the San Jose Earthquakes.

Minnesota United (1-2-2) came in after being outscored 9-1 in two straight road losses to Nashville SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Minnesota swept Seattle during the regular season last year and then eliminated the Sounders in the best-of-three first round of the playoffs, winning twice at home on penalty kicks after 0-0 and 3-3 draws in regulation. Seattle posted a 4-2 victory at home in the middle match.

Up next

Seattle: Visits the Houston Dynamo on April 4.

Minnesota: Visits the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 4.

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Minnesota

Who’s Minnesota’s ‘Blanket Lady’? More than a superfan, she was a women’s basketball pioneer

Published

20 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Who’s Minnesota’s ‘Blanket Lady’? More than a superfan, she was a women’s basketball pioneer

Minnesota is in a tough spot. The No. 4 Gophers are down 9 points to No. 13 Green Bay in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

They hadn’t been to March Madness since 2018. Not only that, but also the Gophers earned a host spot. They should win. But the pressure is mounting.

Luckily for them, the Gophers have something Green Bay doesn’t: Blanket Lady.

During a timeout with 6:01 left in the third quarter, the Blanket Lady begins her ritual. She raises the blanket, decorated with a Minnesota emblem, and she runs, waving the maroon and gold fabric as she goes, up the sideline and down the baseline. As she runs, the crowd cheers, louder and louder until she returns to her seat.

“I was saying in the locker room after the game, that’s probably the loudest it’s been, I think, the whole time I have ever been here,” senior Amaya Battle said. “It was a ton of fun. It was nice to have them rally around us.”

The timeout ends, but the energy hangs in the air. Minnesota responded with a 30-8 run, securing a comeback victory and a spot in the Round of 32 for the first time in eight years.

“I feel like we just won the NCAA Tournament,” the Blanket Lady says the next day.

You know who get this game turned around? BLANKET LADY.
She got this crowd on their feet when the #Gophers needed her most! pic.twitter.com/X6NzmSv85q
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) March 20, 2026
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You can forgive the exaggerated excitement. She’s better known in The Barn by her Blanket Lady persona, but she’s really 81-year-old Elvera “Peps” Neuman. She’s a superfan who has been hyping up Minnesota supporters at home games since 2004. And she’s loved basketball long before the sport loved women back.

Neuman grew up on a farm in Eden Valley, Minn., with a basket attached to the side of her family’s barn. It was put there for her four older brothers, but Neuman took to the sport. She practiced shooting whenever she could, even when she was milking the cows.

“The milkers were supposed to be on the cows for like, three minutes,” she said. “Well, I thought I could go out there to shoot for three minutes. But sometimes it got to be five or 10 minutes. It probably wasn’t easy on the cows, but we got more milk.”

Neuman’s passion couldn’t be contained to her family farm. She wanted to play for her high school, but in the early 1960s, there were no teams for girls around her, and the boys wouldn’t let her play with them.

“Not to brag,” Neuman said with a laugh, “but I was better than most of the boys anyway.”

In an effort to stay close to the game, Neuman joined the pep club, supporting the same boys who refused to play with her. Then, a conversation with her English teacher changed everything. She told Neuman a team of women were coming to Paynesville, a town just 14 miles down the road, to challenge some of the local coaches.

Neuman went to the game and was in awe of the Harlem Chicks, a team of Black players. As soon as she got home, Neuman wrote a letter to the team’s promoter. She wanted to play for the Chicks. Segregation prevented that, so instead, Neuman joined the Texas Cowgirls barnstorming team. From there, her basketball career took off — at least as much as it could for a woman at that time.

Neuman played basketball until she was 44, and even founded her own barnstorming team, called the Arkansas Gems. Each season, Neuman played in around 140 games, traveling from town to town, sometimes driving 400 miles in one day. It was a grind, but it was all Neuman knew. And it was the only way she could play basketball.

“I loved it,” she said. “I absolutely loved it.”

Elvera “Peps” Neuman started her own barnstorming team when gender rules and segregation kept her from joining teams. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)

Every time Neuman walked on the court, she put on a show, once scoring 108 points in a game. That kind of vivaciousness doesn’t just go away, not even at 81 years old. Neuman still brings it to the court, only now, she’s on the sidelines.

“I get more attention from being the Blanket Lady than I ever did from playing basketball,” Neuman said. “That might upset some people, to not get the attention, or the money, but I’m just the opposite. I’m pulling for these girls at 200 percent.”

The Blanket Lady tradition started accidentally in 2006. Neuman serves as a caregiver for her friend and former basketball teammate, Vicky Nelson. Because Nelson is in a wheelchair, the duo sits courtside in an accessible seating section. The blanket was a gift from two other Minnesota fans who noticed that Nelson always draped her jacket over her knees in an effort to keep warm during games.

Overcome by the kindness of the gesture, Neuman held up the blanket to the crowd, and when she did, everyone cheered. Ever the showman, Neuman took the cheers and ran with it — literally — up the sideline. The Blanket Lady was born.

Elvera “Peps” Neuman brings the same energy she brought to the basketball court as a player to her Minnesota courtside seats. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)

Neuman and Nelson haven’t missed a Gophers home game since 2004, when All-America point guard Lindsay Whalen was a senior. They certainly won’t miss Minnesota’s March Madness second-round game Sunday against Ole Miss.

If the energy dwindles, Neuman will be ready.

She paved the way for the current Gophers during her barnstorming days, and she’s still doing everything she can to help them succeed.

“I’ll be there,” she said. “I’ll be there with the blanket and my Gophers gear. I love this team.”

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