Seriously, this team has packed three seasons worth of ups and downs into three months.

There was the 4-15 start under Randy Wittman, ending with a 23-point home loss to the lowly Los Angeles Clippers that was quickly followed by Wittman's dismissal and Kevin McHale's shift from the front office to the coaching sideline.

What came next was an 0-8 start under McHale, stretching a losing streak to 13 games and testing his faith and that of his players, though all continued to put on a brave face in public.

Finally, there was a breakthrough post-Christmas win at New York, followed by a 5-0 start to the new year. The Wolves now stand at 8-2 in 2009 after Friday night's 116-108 win over New Orleans.

Looking back, guard Randy Foye can hardly believe he's only halfway home.

"Our first 20 games felt like a whole season to me," he said. "This has definitely been the longest season of my career. But you know we had a great turnaround, and we're just looking to push forward from here."

It took some doing, but the Wolves at the midway point finally are playing the way they were expected to from the start: beating the bad teams, playing the tough teams tough and knocking off the occasional contender, as they did nine days ago at Phoenix and again Friday over the injury-depleted Hornets.

Perhaps they can continue that progress for the rest of this season.

"I'm sorry that our record isn't better," McHale said. "I think it should be. This is a team that I think has got some really good pieces. I think it's a team that is finding itself right now and is going to play better."

No player better embodies the Wolves' rebirth than Foye, who struggled early on as point guard for the demanding Wittman but has thrived since the change in coaches and a move to shooting guard.

His clutch shooting has given the team an outside threat to go with center Al Jefferson, who is putting up all-star numbers, whether or not he is selected as a reserve for the Feb. 15 game.

Throw in Rodney Carney's recent emergence as sixth man/Energizer bunny, the continued development of rookie forward Kevin Love and an up-tempo, crowd-pleasing style, and the Wolves are a different team than they were even a month ago.

"I don't think that we'll ever turn back around to where we were in the beginning," Foye said. "I don't think we'll ever lose 13 games in a row. The reason we were losing like that, a lot of guys were beaten down. Everything was tough on us at the time. We approach the game with a different type of attitude now."

Much of the credit for that goes to McHale, whose supportive, loosey-goosey style has produced far better results than Wittman's foot stomping and micromanaging.

McHale has made no secret of his dislike for the travel and consistently declined to discuss the possibility of coaching beyond this season, but the players would like him back.

"I definitely want that," Foye said. "I hope he will be back because not only is he a great Basketball mind, but he's a great guy to be around. With a young team, up and coming, I think that's what we need."

McHale's reaction?

"Right now I'm much more concerned about Chicago tomorrow, Milwaukee on Monday," he said. "The future always takes care of itself."

If nothing else, McHale has moved the Wolves into position to take the next step in their rebuilding program.

Ten games out of the final Western Conference playoff spot after Friday's win, the postseason this spring is an extreme long shot, but Jefferson isn't ruling anything out.

"You never know," he said. "It's possible. We've just got to keep playing. I feel like we're going to be pretty much consistent for the rest of the year. We're not going to go back to the way we were before. We know if we go out and play hard, play together, do the right things, we can win more games than we lose."

Seven games ahead of where they were a year ago at this time, the Wolves should have no problem improving on last season's 22-60 record, and 30 to 35 wins are entirely possible, but they can't help but wonder, "What if?"

What if they hadn't gotten off to that 4-23 start?

"If we had won eight instead of four, we'd be at 18 wins and right in the mix," Jefferson said. "That's the way we've got to start off next year. We can't start off putting ourselves in a deep hole, especially in the Western Conference."

If there's a lesson to be learned from the first half of this roller-coaster season, that's it.

"I definitely wish we could start the first 20 games over," Foye said. "I know it would be a different story, but you can't take it back. It is what it is. You just have to stay positive and finish the season off strong."