Friday, August 17, 2007

Wolves Updates 8/17

Jon Vomhof Jr/Mpls St Paul Business Journal on the team's post-Garnett marketing plans:
Then team officials began planning for the weeks and months ahead, looking at other similar situations around the league. The Timberwolves expect to build a marketing plan similar to the one the Chicago Bulls used after Michael Jordan retired, which highlighted the team's young talent and its plan for rebuilding into a title contender.

The Wolves' new campaign should launch in early October, about a month before the season starts. It will focus on the team as a whole, not just one superstar, Wright said.

Vomhof writes that the team's new campaign could involve getting new uniforms at some point.

On measuring public reaction to the trade:
The local market was pretty evenly split on whether or not to trade Garnett, according to the Timberwolves' internal research.



Via MNspeak, an article in which Garnett spoke about Joe Abunassar's training program for basketball players.


Boston's Kendrick Perkins on Al Jefferson's reaction to the trade:
According to Perkins, Jefferson struggled in the days after the deal.
"He didn't take it too good," said Perkins. "I think he's doing a little bit better with it now. After he talked with the personnel, owners, and stuff in Minnesota, he was more comfortable."
"I saw in [Danny Ainge's] eyes when he made the trade that it hurt him to give up Al. I was right here when we all put in a lot of time to see [Jefferson] develop. He's still my boy no matter what, but we're on separate teams."