This is when it was OK to not care what everyone else thought. So help them, Bonzi Wells.

	Garnett is off to another great start, but he has more help this season.

"I don't think we have shocked ourselves or surprised ourselves," said the superstar, Kevin Garnett.

And the rest of the world?

"We don't really care if we have," Garnett said.

Oh.

"We've always worked hard," said the coach, Flip Saunders. "I don't know if we could have worked any harder."

Hmmmm.

"If I need help in grammar, I'll come to you," said the deadpan executive, Kevin McHale. "With basketball, I'll rely on myself."

He ain't gonna get a debate there.

To the masses who predicted the demise of the Minnesota Timberwolves, scheduled to go under from the weight of tragedy (Malik Sealy) and deceit (Joe Smith), comes the 2001-02 season and redemption in the Land of 10,000 Lives. You said Garnett would bolt to get to a franchise that actually had a future, he stars on offense and defense and remains part of the long term. We said they would circle the drain soon enough because the loss of so many first-round picks would have a dramatic impact later in the decade, after adding up through the years, they moved forward with a mission.

Stick it in your ear.

"I've always thought that anyway," McHale said, smiling.

Meaning throughout his career and not just as the homestate hero in the front office, these days as the vice president of basketball operations. That delightful arrogance, not his alone in the Big Three era in Boston, once helped push the Celtics to continued greatness and now sets the tone in Minneapolis. The hell with you, delivered with a smirk but also an underlying, unmistakable truthfulness.

They are a revival in motion.

You were wrong.

"I was a guy coming out of Hibbing, Minnesota, and you can't find many people who said I would make it," McHale said. "If you listen to what everyone says, you're not going to succeed. That's all talk. You have to get past that. You look at what you can do.

Like go from 47 wins all last season to 20 in the first 29 games of this one.

Like challenge for first place in the difficult Midwest Division with 2001-02 about a third of the way gone.

Like remaining among the leaders, or as the leader, in assists, shooting, scoring, three-point accuracy and rebounding percentage.

The Timberwolves lost bright light Sealy to a drunk driver on May 20, 2000, were stripped of first-round picks in four of five years for circumventing the salary cap to get Smith a new contract, had McHale sent to sit in the corner last season for his role in the Smithgate that Commissioner David Stern called "a fraud of major proportions" and lost in the opening round of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, all within the last 19 months. And they talk about how it has made them a better team.

	Szczerbiak

	Brandon

They're closer, that's for sure. Of the eight players averaging double-digit minutes, reserve forward Gary Trent is the only true newcomer, given that Smith was a returning member of the family as a free agent, after, it can be assumed, Stern investigated every aspect of this contract short of crawling through the financial records of the company that made the pen used to sign the deal. The other entire preferred starting lineup -- Garnett, Smith, Wally Szczerbiak, Radoslav Nesterovic and Terrell Brandon -- is playing at least a third season in Minnesota.

"This is probably the closest team I've been on," said Garnett, in his seven season. "We care about each other. You can see how that carries on to being unselfish on the court."

Redemption is not just in the standings. Stern, citing a pattern of good behavior in the wake of the disciplines, returned one of the draft picks last week. Garnett, meanwhile, is being rewarded for not so much as blinking publicly about trying to get out. Smith is a solid starter in Minnesota as the unwanted spotlight of last season in Detroit fades. Szczerbiak is flourishing after the move from small forward to shooting guard. Even the one lineup alteration has gone smoothly, when Brandon went out with a knee injury and Chauncey Billups posted big numbers in his absence.

"We've gone through so much," Saunders said, "that it's built a lot of character in guys."

Which built a lot of understanding.

"I think we appreciate it more, no question," he said.

Perspective is a constant. Sealy's No. 2 hangs from the ceiling of Target Center. Last season, the first after his death, his locker was kept intact, down to the shower sandals and fluffy-white bathrobe, and his framed jersey and photos were added and everything was sealed behind plexiglass.

It was moved two places this season, to a corner spot, without the covering and without most of the personal items. The two photos in a frame -- one with Sealy releasing what would become the game-winning three-pointer with 00.8 showing against the Pacers and the other on his back, bathing in the moment with both hands reaching to the roof as fans celebrate in the background -- is now on a wall eight or 10 steps from the door that leads to the walkway. Players can't come or go to the court without seeing their dead friend.

Garnett is on one side of the new locker location, after asking that Sealy's place be moved next to him. Anthony Peeler is on the other side. They might sandwich Sealy's tangible memory, but he still surrounds all the Timberwolves, from the coach who may now finally get his due after seven years and two championships in the CBA and six previous seasons in the Twin Cities, to the executive and the starting power forward who are both back from banishment for signing an illegal contract, to the superstar small forward who suddenly has his best chance to get out of the first round. To everyone who walks past the picture on the wall.

"There'd been so much stuff on the slate coming into the season," Peeler said. "There was so much on our plate every day. Now, it's like we finally got to just focus on the games."

Scott Howard-Cooper covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.