July 2nd, 2009 by dustyrychart

Over the years watching the Timberwolves draft nothing but future busts with the exception of Kevin Garnett you kind of lose hope that we will one day pick someone that can bring us back to the playoffs and losing in the 1st round. With this years 5th pick the T-Wolves selected Ricky Rubio of Spain. Not a bad choice at all but the kid doesn’t want to play in MN. This got me thinking to why so many players leave for less money and don’t want to come to MN at all. This goes back a few years when we had Tom Gugliotta. Yes as I said it was years ago and for some you might not even know who this guy is. He was our franchise guy for a few years and Guggs decided to test the free agent waters. We offered the guy $50 mil over x amount of years and the next closest was Phoenix at $30 mil. OK which one would take? I know I would take the $50m but good ole Tom opted to leave MN for AZ for $20m less just because he didn’t like the coldness of MN.

Now this is the problem that we have in MN since the departure of KG. No one wants to play in MN when they can have the sun and warmth of Texas, Cali, Florida and so. Plus the big city life that we can’t offer. Rubio must have been thinking “ah shit, not Minnesota” when he got drafted and now we wasted but yet another 1st round pick.

Another thing on my mind is why did we draft so many point guards? Unless we were planning on trading rubio for a small forward or just play 3 pg’s this year.

I think David Stern should make a reality show out of the draft so we the fans understand the thought process behind selections. Might be a slot open with TLC since Jon and Kate plus 8 are leaving at the end of the year.

Minnesota'a Franchise - Tommy G

Who we drafted over the years:

89: Pooh Richarson

89 2nd round: Doug West - Went on to become a decent player for the wolves.

90: Felton Spencer and Gerald Glass.  Glass who?

91: Luc Longley bust for wolves but great for MJ and the Bulls.

92: Christian Laettner nough said

93: Isaiah Rider eastbay funk dunk and thug

94: Donyell Marshall still in the league but not for the wolves

95: Kevin Garnett Greatest Wolves draft choice ever but I think it was by mistake because drafting high school kids back then was risky and unheard of and if this would have been 4 or 5 years later KG would’ve been #1. Luck was on our side.

96: Ray Allen traded to Bucks for Marbury what a mistake again. He we go again on our own and messing it up.

97: Paul Grant? exactly

98: Rasho Nesterovich

99: Wally Szczerbiak and William Avery

00: none

01: none

02: none

I think over these years when we had no 1st round picks is when McHale tried to pay Joe Smith under the table money so they could fit a couple of guys in the salary cap and yes we got caught and our 1st rounders were taken away.  Being a Timberwolves fan is painful.

03: Ndudi Ebi - High school kid that turned out to be the biggest bust.

04: none

05: Rashad McCants

06: Brandon Roy but we traded him away to Portland.

07: Corey Brewer

08: O.J. Mayo and yes you guessed it we traded him away for Mike Miller and Brian Cardinal and some others are you serious?

09: Ricky Rubio, Jon Flynn, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington

It aint easy being a Timberwolves fan. Here’s to hoping we get back to the promised land.

June 20th, 2009 by dustyrychart

My good friend Vince Bulson is getting married today June 20th, 2009. Congrats Vinny!

Vince's wedding June 20th, 2009

4 Photos

 

June 16th, 2009 by dustyrychart

Today, Tuesday June 16th, 2009 I’m officially getting sworn in as an Australian Citizen. Not quite sure about the whole process and what I have to do but should be exciting. Just hoping that they don’t make me eat Vegemite. Probably sing and dance to the Australian National Anthem.

June 13th, 2009 by dustyrychart

I’m heading up north for 2 seasons.

June 9th, 2009 by dustyrychart

Today my citizenship application got approved. I’m an official Australian…….

It's official I'm an Australian Citizen! June 9th, 2009

June 7th, 2009 by dustyrychart

Here’s a story that was featured in ESPN the Magazine in Jan 2002.  True Believer by Scott Burton visited me and my family in 2001 with the intent to do a feature on me my senior year.  Kind of the Rudy Story of the BigTen.  I haven’t read it in a long time until someone brought it to my attention and I thought I would have another read through it.  I forgot about all hardships that have accumulated over my 30 years of life.  The battle that my family went through just to stay together and Jessy doing the unthinkable never giving up.  Life goes by so fast that you never take time to think about the past and all that has happened.  In the article Scott  makes it out that we are obsessed and I aint going to lie I am in love with sports and basketball, who isn’t?  Every successful person has to have some kind of obsession otherwise how would they generate the drive and determination to do so.  I think this life experience taught me never to give up and work hard to get what you want.  

Reading the article brings me back to that day that I called home 2 moths into my freshman year wanting to quit.  I was determined to give it up because I was the new kid and new kids get pushed to the limit.  You either sink or swim and I was pushed straight into the deep end. Being a walk-on you don’t have any friends.  The older player want to make sure that you know they are the top dogs and no young punk is going to take that away from them.  Definitely a life lesson and I realized that I didn’t have mom or dad to protect me.  Life isn’t going to give hand outs and make it easy and that is the beauty about it all.  

I get emails all the time from college seniors or players entering college asking about what they should do.  I don’t have one answer for everyone because everyone is different.  I know in my situation I believed in my ability and had a dream to play at the highest level possible.  I remember my senior year I had small d-3 and d-2 schools wanting to talk to me and come to my games but in my head I knew I was d-1 material.  I was the only one that thought I could play at high d-1 level.  My parents backed me but I think deep down they really weren’t 100% positive that I could make it but they knew they had to encourage me and I am glad they did.  I had many coaches and teachers tell me that I should just accept a scholarship from one of those small schools.  I knew that if I did that I could kiss my dreams of making it pro good bye so I was stubborn and went for it. I gave myself a two year window to make some progress to get some playing time and if that didn’t happen I could also go down to a smaller school and not sit out a year.  I guess what I am saying is life is short and you live once so you might as well shoot for the stars. What’s the worst that can happen? You fail?  So what, some of the most successful people in the world have failed but what made them successful is that they didn’t give up and quit they keep on trucking.

Here is the link to the Dusty Rychart - True Believer by Scott Burton

June 1st, 2009 by dustyrychart

After the Cavs lost to the Magic LBJ was the first to leave the court and arena.  He didn’t wait around after the game to take answers and face the media. He left his team to fend for themselves.  Is Lebron just a big baby?  How many times did you ever see Bird, Magic or Jordan leave their teams after a heart breaking playoff defeat?  Jordan didn’t win a championship until he was 30 something and didn’t get his supporting cast until 1988 and after that had to wait another 3 years and 2 heart breaking losses to Detroit before making it to the 91 NBA Championship game.  Lebron doesn’t have a Scottie or Kareem along side of him.  Is there another super star that wants to play with Lebron? Is there enough room on a team for two super star egos?  I can tell you from years of watching the Timberwolves finish at the top during the regular season only to bow out in the first round of the playoffs that a super star needs to have players that are willing to play with them and they need to be willing to share some of the spot light.  KG took up too much of our salary cap so we couldn’t get anyone else and then he decides that he can take that pay cut and goes to Boston and wins the Championship.  Lebron will get a ring or two or three or four but he has to be willing to let other players shine as well.  Jordan got the best from his teammates can we say the same for Lebron?

James silence speaks volumes 

May 30th, 2009 by dustyrychart

I came across this article about Michael Jordan and how Lebron and Kobe or anyone else will never compare to his Airness.

Air stnadards seem out of reach - Michael Jordan ESPN

May 30th, 2009 by dustyrychart

Waiting and wondering what’s the future of the NBL I decided to get an internship with ABN AMRO Morgans Corporate Finance and finish my MBA. The internship has been good because I can learn more about the market and why and when to invest. I have been investing the market for over 5 years now and never completely understood it and I don’t think I ever will completely. I once thought that there was a formula that could make you 100% successful but that isn’t the case. Overall its just a good learning experience and resume builder. I don’t think that sitting at a computer all day reading annual reports and balance sheets is what I want to do but it gives me that added fuel to keep playing ball. In saying that I really don’t mind doing work that I actually enjoy so looking forward to it all.

Another side note is that my quest for an MBA has finally been reached. Tuesday June 2nd, 2009 I finally graduate with a Masters in Business Administration. It took a long 2 1/2 years but I am glad that I did it and didn’t just think about it. Now what do I do with it is the next step. Did I spend $35,000 for nothing? I’m sure that some where in the game of life I will be able to use the MBA to my advantage but until then I guess it’s a nice looking piece of paper to have.

I’m still waiting to hear what’s next for me with the NBL. I see John Rillie and Eagan got released from the Crocs which was a surprise but I think that the Crocs are chasing hard for some young Aussie talent. With the league trimmed down to 8 teams there are going to be a few great pick ups for teams that they probably wouldn’t have gotten if there was 12 teams in the league. As for me there are 4-5 teams that I am talking to but just weighing my options and finding what would be the best for me and my career. Whatever team I go to I want to be able to play out my career there and not worry about moving around all the time. Moving around is fun when you are young but it takes its toll after a year or two.

I should find out in the next coming week or so. I’m just over the waiting game.

May 24th, 2009 by dustyrychart

Cleveland dodged a bullet courtesy of Lebron James.  If Orlando wins this game the Cavs were done.