Hear the Howl: A History of the Minnesota Timberwolves (FPB3)

[Bobby Barrows]

Hear the Howl
A History of the Minnesota Timberwolves
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August 23, 1988​ New General Manager, Head Coach Named ​ The Minnesota Timberwolves have officially announced the nascent franchise's first official executive and head coach. The vacant general manager position will be taken over by the former University of Minnesota's Director of Athletic Performance, a position the 34-year-old has held for eight years, helping lead the U of M's basketball program to the Sweet Sixteen in 1982. Anderson was suggested to ownership by Jim Dutcher, the U of M's former head coach from 1975-1986. Anderson is set to develop the roster and rest of the staff during the 1989 season. Additionally, the inaugural head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves will be the CBA's Rapid City Thrillers Head Coach Flip Saunders, who also is linked to the University of Minnesota through his occupation as an assistant head coach with Jim Dutcher. Anderson and Saunders are well acquainted with one another and look to work together to create a roster for the new franchise, much to the hope of many Minnesota basketball fans.​

1988-89 NBA Standings

1988 NBA Awards

1989 NBA Playoffs

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The Philadelphia 76ers Defeat the Houston Rockets (4-2)​

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[Hoss]

My only question is how was Michael Jordan the Rookie of the Year?

 

[Bobby Barrows]

My only question is how was Michael Jordan the Rookie of the Year?

FPB3 unfortunately has a weird quirk where even if a player is super experienced, the first official year the game simulates is considered everyone's "rookie" year, so there's always some odd things that happen like Jordan being ROTY, or the 41-year old Kareem Abdul Jabbar being on the All-Rookie team on the rare simulation where he has a super good twilight year.

 

[RDT]

FPB3 unfortunately has a weird quirk where even if a player is super experienced, the first official year the game simulates is considered everyone's "rookie" year, so there's always some odd things that happen like Jordan being ROTY, or the 41-year old Kareem Abdul Jabbar being on the All-Rookie team on the rare simulation where he has a super good twilight year.

Actually, that's been patched fwiw (I had the same issue when I was starting out Modern NBA).

 

[Bobby Barrows]

1989 NBA Draft Lottery

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Minnesota Timberwolves Awarded 1st Overall Draft Pick With an incredible amount of luck and fortitude, the new Minnesota Timberwolves franchise has been awarded the #1 Overall pick for the 1989 NBA Draft; Minnesota beat out contenders like second new expansion franchise Orlando Magic, and bottom-feeding teams Miami Heat, Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons, and Sacramento Kings. Some top names within this draft is David Robinson, the 1st Overall Pick for the San Antonio Spurs in 1987 (Robinson finished out his Naval Service this year, and the NBA optioned him to re-enter for the draft), Glen Rice of Michigan, Sean Elliott of Arizona, Pervis Ellis of Louisville, Vlade Divac of the Yugoslavia, and Tim Hardaway of UTEP. Additionally, Minnesota will be participating in the 1989 Expansion Draft alongside the Orlando Magic. Both teams will be free to pick players from across the league, though top-tier stars may be protected by their respective teams. Indeed, there are few expectations to be made of the NBA's two newest franchises.​

1989 NBA Expansion Draft

1989 NBA Draft

 

[Bobby Barrows]

1989 NBA Free Agency
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Minnesota Timberwolves Roster

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[Bobby Barrows]

1989 Timberwolves Season

All-Star Break

- C David Robinson & SG Rolando Blackmon named to All-Star Team

End of Regular Season

NBA Player of the Month

NBA Rookie of the Month

NBA End of Year Awards

1989 NBA Playoffs

The Seattle SuperSonics Defeat the Indiana Pacers (4-3)
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"Things really didn't turn out so well for the season. We have an incredible starting base with Robinson and Blackmon, our next step for the draft is looking to get a true Point Guard. We can keep working with Mike Sanders at Small Forward, but our defense needs to be a bit better, and we need someone who can help coordinate the offense. Still, a thirty-win season for a new franchise is nothing to sneeze at. We're a few pieces from being a possible contender... I give it about four years or so if Flip can develop our team properly. Looking at the draft, we have a real pick of the lot, between that Payton kid, Rumeal Robinson, Dee Brown, Bimbo Coles, and Abdul-Rauf... My biggest worry is how competitive the Midwest Division is, however..." - Scott Anderson

 

[RDT]

Good start.

Something else you may want to be aware of is that FBB3 draft classes have some inaccuracies as they have players who begin their NBA careers in the upcoming year as opposed to the year they are actually drafted. Biggest example being that David Robinson was the #1 pick of the Spurs in 1987 but didn't play in the NBA until 1989 due to his commitment to the Navy (which is why he was available in the 1989 draft for you to take with Minnesota). There are a lot of these coming up in the next decade.