By BRIAN A. LESTER

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Minnesota Timberwolves have been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Oh, wait. That isn't news at all. The fact that the Wolves lost another first-round playoff series, this time at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, shouldn't shock anyone. We all know by now that Minnesota has become the torchbearer for playoff failures, turning first-round exits into an art form.

Counting this year's stumble against the Mavs, the Wolves' reign of error is now at six years and counting.

Consistent? Yes, but not the sort of consistency a team wants.

It's a troubling situation in Minnesota. The Wolves do fairly well in the regular season and then hit a brick wall in the playoffs. They've been swept twice -- by Houston in 1997 and Dallas this year. They've won only once three other times in a series, and the closest they have actually come to advancing into the second round was in 1998 when they went the distance against Seattle.

It all adds up to an embarrassing 5-18 playoff record for a team that features superstar Kevin Garnett and budding star Wally Szczerbiak. It's not asking much for those two stars, along with their solid supporting cast, to take the Wolves on an extended playoff run. Or at least to the second round. Yet, as each year passes, fans have to be thinking the Boston Red Sox or Chicago Cubs will win a World Series before their inept Wolves advance in the postseason.

Great things were expected of Garnett when he signed his outrageous, six-year $126 million deal five years ago. He had led the Wolves to their best finish in franchise history the season before with a 40-42 mark and appeared to be Minnesota's chosen one. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before KG and the Wolves were legitimate contenders in the Western Conference.

Alas, the Wolves have been nothing more than legit pretenders, teasing their fans with hope in the regular season and then unraveling like a cheap piece of thread under the intensity of playoff pressure.

Something needs to change, and soon. Granted, Minnesota should not go out and do something drastic, such as trade Garnett, but it needs to do make a move that will provide the shot of help this team so desperately needs in order to succeed in the playoffs.

Maybe it is as simple as going out and finding a player capable of putting this team over the top, because although Garnett is worth more than the Gross National Product of several third-world countries, it's clear that he is not the player capable of turning the Wolves into contenders.

Perhaps what Minnesota needs is someone who can push Garnett and the Wolves to the next level. A player with the skills and drive of someone like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant or Jason Kidd.

Or maybe it's better that the Wolves keep everyone they have and not change a thing. The players have said they all want stay together and push to be a better team next season. So, maybe it's just going to take a little more time for this team to reach its potential.

After all, it's not as if this team is full of chumps. Garnett averaged 21 points per game this season and Szczerbiak clicked for nearly 19 (18.7) points per outing. The Wolves also have Chauncey Billups (12.5 ppg), Terrell Brandon (12.4), Joe Smith (10.7) and Anthony Peeler (9.0 ppg) providing healthy doses of offensive support.

One could debate for hours on what the Wolves should actually do to become a better team, but really there is no clear-cut solution to the their problem. A long offseason awaits this franchise and it's up to management to figure out what is best for it.

For now, Minnesota fans must wait until next year for better news. Here's hoping for the their sake that the Wolves' playoff fortunes change for the better.

The only way for that to happen, though, is for the Wolves to overcome their struggles and advance to the second round.

Now, that would be worthy of headlines.

Brian Lester is a sports writer in Ohio and can be reached via e-mail at BAL4@hotmail.com.