Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Nikola Pekovic Will be A Timberwolves Fan Favorite

Pekovic is one of the newest Timberwolves, and his size, combined with a pretty intimidating look and quotes that sound like they were written by Ivan Drago ([on coming to the NBA]):  "This is the only time I want to come, some time when I am man and all this.")   His power around the basket, and his physical style of play got the Timberwolves scouts excited, but now that practices have started, and Pekovic is showing what he's got in scrimmages, his teammates are talking too.  The Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda has the relevant quotes.  You gotta love a player who kind of scares his own teammates.

"I'm making him my new best friend," Wolves guard Wayne Ellington said. To hear assistant general manager Tony Ronzone tell it, Pekovic's 6-10, 290-pound body is made as much from tungsten carbide as bone and flesh.
...
"I don't think nobody has the guts to challenge Pek to a fight, nobody," forward Michael Beasley said. "Pek is 300 pounds, he's 6-10 and he's from Serbia. I don't think nobody wants to challenge him."
...
"He wants to make friends with us before he knocks a few teeth out," teammate Kevin Love said. "We're just hoping it's the other team and not us."


If there's one thing--or rather, one of the several things--the Timberwolves have needed is a guy who will get grubby and nasty down in the paint.  Too often, and for too long, they've had big men who are actually too short to dominate in the paint, even though they were playing the 4 or 5.  Or they've had tall men whose game was really suited for banging under the basket.  If Pekovic is who folks seems to think he is, The Wolves will have a guy that fans will love, and other teams will absolutely hate.  


2 comments:

Josh said...

Pek drinking beer before the game? My new fave Wolves player.

Andrew Wice said...

I liked reading the pump-up, but having watched that video ...

jesus titty-denying christ.

You're gonna let some wee leprechaun extolling the under-twenty gold medalist of the Monrovia games convince you that this shaved ape is worth getting excited about?

Desperate times, I reckon.