For The Timberwolves This April, All That's Missing Is "I've Got You, Babe"

Many of you are familiar with the 1993 Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day, in which local weatherman Phil Connors (played brilliantly by Bill Murray) finds himself stuck in the same day in the small Pennsylvania hamlet of Punxsutawney. He's there to cover the appearance of Punxsutawney Phil, the special groundhog whose appearance allegedly tells us whether or not we can expect an early end to winter or if the cold weather is going to continue.

(As a meteorologist by trade, it's nauseating how much more stock people put into that little fuzzball than people like myself, but that's a rant for another time.)

Every morning that he's stuck in Punxsutawney, Phil Connors wakes up in the same bed and breakfast by his alarm, which goes off at the same time, and the local radio DJs playing exactly the same songs. . .Sonny and Cher's humongous hit I've Got You, Babe. For the Minnesota Timberwolves, the song is the only thing that's missing from their own personal "Groundhog Day," as they seem to repeat the same pattern every April.

Saturday's 115-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was the Timberwolves' ninth consecutive loss, and their eighth in the month of April. During the 2010-11 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves went 0-7 during April as a part of a season-ending 15-game losing streak. In 2009-2010? You guessed it. . .they went 0-7 in the month of April. Heck, in 2009-2010, they nearly went 0-for-March and April, with only a 108-99 victory over the Sacramento Kings on March 30, 2010 keeping them from what would have been an amazing (even for the Timberwolves) 24-game losing streak.

Yes, as it stands now, the Timberwolves have lost their last 22 April games. The last time the Minnesota Timberwolves won an NBA game when the calendar was showing "April" was April 8, 2009 when they defeated the Golden State Warriors by a score of 105-97. That night, the Timberwolves were led in scoring by Sebastian Telfair, who put in 21 points. A rookie by the name of Kevin Love chipped in with 20 points and 12 rebounds. In fact, taking a look at the roster, Love is the only player that was on the court for the Timberwolves that night that is still in Minnesota now.

In past Aprils, a collapse by the Timberwolves didn't cost them anything but ping-pong balls in the NBA lottery. However, going into this April it appeared that the team had an outside shot of making the post-season for the first time since 2003-2004, even after losing Ricky Rubio to a knee injury. The Timberwolves have five more chances to end their April slide, as they will play the Indiana Pacers, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Detroit Pistons, the Golden State Warriors, and the Denver Nuggets. Will they be able to get the job done? Well. . .

They say we're young, and we don't know. . .