Jonah Ballow
Wolves Editor/Writer
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Jonah Ballow with Craig Smith

Jonah: Welcome to Timberwolves.com, I'm Jonah Ballow with Craig Smith as we continue the summer series with Craig, reviewing some movies and taking a look at the playoffs. I want to start off with Star Trek. I'm not a Treky guy and I know this is a pretty geeky conversation to start with but we both know we are into Sci-Fi movies. I was pleasantly surprised by Star Trek, I thought it was a great movie

Craig: It was a great movie. I thought they did a good job in basic detail. I know on the show they get kind of boring and stuff like that, I couldn't really get into it. Seeing the movie and the previews, I thought it was going to be totally different, introducing it, how it was established and how Captain Kirk became Captain Kirk.

Jonah: It was a great story and from start to finish, it was action packed. Where you surprised by this movie or were you pretty much a Treky guy and you were going to like it either way?

Craig: I'm not really a Treky guy but at the same time, when I saw the previews, I was like, this has to be a good movie. I thought, no way can this preview be the best part of the movie and the movie be disappointing. I thought it was going to be a great movie once I saw the previews and it was under construction.

Jonah: Yeah, it was great. J.J. Abrams did a great job with that movie. Let's say the rating system is out of five stars with one being the worst and five being the best.

Craig: I give it the Rhino five stars.

Jonah: Let's move on to Terminator Salvation, the latest installment of the Terminator series. I will let you give your thoughts on it before I share mine but I was a little bit disappointed. How about you?

Craig: I thought it was more confusing. I thought it was going to be based on the machine that they made in the early 20th century, that he was going to end up saving them. I guess it was pretty interesting because he was supposed to kill him and they could lure John Connor to the facility so that they could kill him. I think it was an introduction to a new series; basically they want to start a new series.

Jonah: Wow, you have a much better understanding of it than I did because I walked out of that movie pretty confused. Do you think there is going to be a whole series with Christian Bale?

Craig: Yeah, Christian Bale is hot right now, coming off of the Dark Knight and he is doing a bunch of new movies.

Jonah: All right, let's get the Rhino Review. Out of five stars, how do you rate Terminator Salvation?

Craig: I give it 3 1/2 stars. I thought it was pretty solid.

Jonah: So far the best movie you have seen this summer has got to be Star Trek, right?

Craig: Definitely but come June 24th, it will be overruled by Transformers.

Jonah: I'm going to see it for Megan Fox; she is the love of my life. Obviously you are into it for different reasons. Do you think it's going to be better than the first movie? It looks pretty action packed but I'm not sure how far they can go with these robots coming back to Earth and creating a new war.

Craig: Whenever you got Spielberg and Michael Bay in the same facility, sharing the same imagination, it's going to be an awesome movie.

Jonah: It's kind of like Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant, it's pretty much going to be a winner.

Craig: Yeah, or Phil and Jordan. It's going to be spectacular.

Jonah: I want to talk to you about pre-draft workouts that they have been having here at the Target Center over the summer. A lot of these guys coming in, Earl Clark and James Johnson were in here today. These are guys that are in between positions because of their size. At 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9, you are not quite sure if they are a three or a four. You're a guy who is also in between sizes; you have a versatility that you bring to the team. How do you look at these players? You set the stage as a player who can be productive in the NBA and can play multiple positions.

Craig: It's all about productivity, how can you be successful in the type of situation you are in. I knew that I was going to come in and basically try to be a force and try to do the little things. That was going to help me and help me get into the rotation. I think Earl Clark is a pretty good perimeter player, so sometimes it might be good to space the floor and that's where you can put him in and he can be great at the four. He has to go on and prove himself.

Jonah: Any players that standout to you in the draft? I know that it must be difficult in preparing for your season not knowing who the players will be around you but with three first round draft picks for this Minnesota Timberwolves team, it looks like a lot of exciting guys can be added over the summer. Any guys in particular that you have seen that excites you?

Craig: One guy that kind of excites me is Hasheem Thabeet a little bit. At 7-3 and being pretty athletic and running the floor and definitely being a presence in the paint. I think they have some pretty good guards with Rubio and Jennings in the draft. I think it's going to be a pretty good draft, especially in the lottery.

Jonah: We were texting just a couple of moments ago and you were at the gym working out. I want to get your comparisons to Dwight Howard. Who can bench more in the weight room?

Craig: I don't know. I don't know how much he can bench but I know I'm pretty strong myself. He is definitely a strong dude and especially being at that height and that type of strength, it's pretty crazy.

Jonah: Now, you obviously watch the playoffs and LA now has a commanding 3-1 series lead. What is your opinion on Dwight Howard? I know the knock on him is the fact he doesn't have post moves. What do you think about this guy in the paint? You've played against him; how difficult is to defend him and do you think he has a long way to go to becoming a legit superstar guy in the post?

Craig: He doesn't have that much to go. He has Patrick Ewing there, so he is definitely working hard. It's tough, he gets pounded all the time but he definitely proved himself each and every year and he has gotten better. He is only 23 years old, so people got to give him some credit from where he first started to where he is now.

Jonah: Man, Derek Fisher nails some clutch 3-pointers and Orlando in my opinion blew a great opportunity to tie the series up. If you look at this series, are you surprised that Orlando has pushed LA or you thought LA was going to run away this one?

Craig: I didn't think LA was going to run away but at the same time you have the Black Mamba on your team. When you have a guy like that, somebody special like Kobe Bryant it's very tough to try to come out with a victory because he is going to will himself to wins. He is a Jordan-caliber type of player and he is out to prove himself. At the same time, Orlando has a great frontcourt, you got a great fourth quarter player in Hedo Turkoglu. It's just tough when you are going against the Lakers because they have so many weapons. Derek Fisher is known for that, ever since I was young he has been known for clutch shots. I remember the shot he made against San Antonio when there was .4 left on the game clock, so he has that in him and Phil trusts him with that.

Jonah: Do you think the Lakers sew this thing up? Kobe captures a ring without Shaq in Orlando or do you think this series is going back to LA?

Craig: It all depends on the way they play. I think if Orlando comes out and plays aggressive, they can come out with a victory because they can leave on a happy note with their fans. Then, obviously LA would take it back at home.

Jonah: Craig, I have been seeing your teammates around the practice facility. Randy Foye just showed up, Corey Brewer has been rehabbing. What is your schedule? I know you said you were in the gym earlier today, preparing for the season.

Craig: The schedule has been kind of crazy, I'm out here really training and working to establish something different in my game to make me much more of a threat. I'm working on areas that are basically going to help me get better right now. I will be back there but right now I'm just focusing on trying to get some things done.

Jonah: Great stuff as always Craig. I appreciate your time, thanks so much and I will catch up with you to get a review of Transformers in a couple of weeks.

Craig: Thank you.

Jonah: That's Wolves forward Craig Smith and I'm Jonah Ballow, right here on Timberwolves.com.

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