When I create a team site, it instantly takes me to the template
selection page. Once I apply the template, it is very slow applying
the template. It times out and challenges, and when I enter my
credentails, it errors out that 'template is already applied'. I have
Home link available and when I click on it,I see only 2 or 3 top
navigation links created (Document and Lists, Create, Site Settings).
when I refresh page after 3 minutes, I have the site created
completely.

Any ideas on why it is slow and how we can improve the performance?