Season Preview - Sebastian Telfair

We continue our in-depth season previews with all you need to know about Sebastian Telfair

Scroll down for: Telfair's Bio; Telfair's Numbers; Coach J.B. Bickerstaff's analysis; Timberwolves.com analysis and Telfair's Five Facts.

TELFAIR'S BIO
Point guard Sebastian Telfair is among the best -- and most well-known -- high school basketball players in history, leading Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln H.S. to three New York City PSAL titles and one state championship, becoming N.Y.'s all-time leading prep scorer and averaging 33.2 pts, 9.2 ast and 3.7 reb as a senior.

Telfair chose to bypass college and enter the 2004 NBA Draft, in which he was the 13th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was traded to Boston last year, and will now look to back up Randy Foye at the point guard spot for the Timberwolves.

The cousin of New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, Telfair will wear Steph's old jersey number, 3, for Minnesota. Telfair is a big Jay-Z fan, and enjoys eating lemon-grilled chicken with pasta prior to games.

TELFAIR'S NUMBERS

Season	G	FGM-A	Pct.	FTM-A	Pct.	Reb	Ast	Pts	Stl
2005-06	68	228-578	.394	130-175	.743	1.8	3.6	9.5	1.0
2006-07	78	176-474	.371	90-110	.818	1.4	2.8	6.1	0.6
Career	214	573-1482	.387	325-418	.778	1.5	3.2	7.4	0.7

COACH J.B. BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
"He's your pace-changer on both ends of the floor. Defensively, he's going to pick up guys 94 feet and just harass the ball. He has to be a ball hawk. Then on the offensive end, every time he catches it he's going to turn his burners on, get up and down the floor and change the pace of the game."

TIMBERWOLVES.COM SAYS...
Telfair has been among the most positive stories of training camp, as a kid (yes, a kid - he's only 21) who has a unique talent not just on this team, but in the league. He's lightning-quick, and his speed can completely change the game for your team. He recognizes that his shooting still needs to improve to a point where he can consistently nail jumpers, at which point he can really put defenders in a box. If he's hitting Js, you have to get in his face and contest -- but when you do, he's by you in a flash, into the lane and creating havoc.

TELFAIR'S FIVE FACTS
1) Telfair is the shortest HS player to ever be drafted in the NBA.
2) Telfair is the subject of the book "The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High-Stakes Business of High School Ball" by Ian O'Connor, and Through the Fire, a documentary by Jonathan Hock that aired on ESPN and is the highest rated film ever for an original movie on that network.
3) Before declaring for draft, Telfair intended to commit to Lousiville to play for Rick Pitino.
4) Telfair wears No. 3 for Minnesota, which his cousin, Stephon Marbury, wore when he was with the Wolves.
5) On June 28, the Trail Blazers traded Telfair along with Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Dan Dickau, Raef Lafrentz and the 7th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, Randy Foye, who was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 6th overall pick, Brandon Roy.

COMING SOON: DENVER NUGGETS