Wolves Drop Second Straight at Home

The Wolves were beaten handily last night by the Jazz. It marks the umpteenth consecutive game in which they've had a scoring drought that seemed to last forever. KG struggled from the floor in his first game since being named to the All-Star team, going 7 for 17 and not taking a shot in the 2nd quarter. He did have 18 rebounds, though, and added 4 assists. Ricky Davis was off again, shooting only 7 for 21. This game seemed really bad for the home crowd. Once the Jazz opened up a double digit lead, the fans seemed uncomfortably inbetween booing and just being silent. The officiating felt a little lopsided, but I think that's just a testament to the fact that the Wolves don't get to the free throw line enough. This appeared to be a very quiet, but definite nail in the coffin for the Wolves season. Now 5 games under .500 and facing a road-heavy schedule from here on, the idea of the Wolves making the playoffs seems an increasingly impossible dream.

It seems like a few things have still not been decided by the Wolves coaching staff, such as when to rest KG. It seems like Coach Casey tries a new rest regime after games (like Wednesday night's loss to Cleveland) when KG seems tired at the finish. In last night's game, KG sat from about 9:00 left in the 2nd until 2:30 left. While he was out, the Wolves went from down 1 to down 7. where they ended the half. Then Garnett didn't rest again until a few minutes left in the 4th when he sat for about 2 minutes with the Wolves down double digits, then came back in for 3 minutes before sitting. The aforementioned crowd at least seemed to appreciate KG's apparent interest in the game a effort level, giving him loud applause for drawing a technical before leaving for good.

The Wolves defense, especially their backcourt defense was pretty bad in this game. They allowed Keith McCloud and Matt Harpring to handle the scoring load for Utah in the 2nd quarter. Marcus Banks is seeming like a worse fit for the Wolves than previously thought. He is quick on defense when he's trying hard, but he seems to take possessions off and leave shooters open from time to time from not rotating.

Wolves Lose at Home to Cavs

LeBron James played huge in the 4th quarter and KG looked a little worn out. That essentially was the difference. The Wolves gave KG a few good looks in the 4th, but he shot 1 for 5. He came up short on 2 short jumpers from the lane, missed one turnaround, and was blocked by Ilgauskas on an up and under layup attempt in the final minute. He had to have been tired. He finished the game with 18 boards and 6 assists and switched onto LeBron James several times in the period. He also finished the game having played 45 minutes.

LeBron on the other hand, was huge down the stretch. He'd shot poorly all game, but in the 4th was almost unstoppable. He hit a big 3, a tough turnaround at the shot clock buzzer over Trenton, and he drove the lane for a clenching layup in the final minute. He also picked up a few assists in the fourth with big Z, Damon Jones, and Donyell Marshall also hitting shots. LeBron played 46 minutes, one more than KG, but seemed fresher down the stretch. He finished with 11 boards and 8 assists.

The only real problem spot for the Wolves in this game was the end of the third quarter. This was when LeBron started to get hot after starting the game 5 for 17 or something. Naturally, everyone became more focused on LeBron, especially when he went towards the basket. There were some hard double-teams and some cheating overs, but the Wolves had poor defensive rotation and left spot up shooters, Marshall and Jones, wide open to nail 3 pointers. Cleveland outscored Minnesota by 10 in the period, primarily because of that late flurry.

The only other numbers that jump out from this game are Ricky Davis' 29 shot attempts (does he need to take that many shots?), Mark Blounts 1 rebound in 12 minutes (is he really that bad of a rebounder?), Marko Jaric's 0 minutes via DNPCD (is he that far into the doghouse after starting the first 40+ games?), and Anthony Carter's 19 minutes and 6 assists. On the Carter numbers, it really seemes that he's the best Wolves guard at distributing the ball to KG and Ricky Davis. Marcus Banks id explosive and can score, but he's prone to mistakes and defensive lapses. A few plays that I remember include him not going hard after a ball on the ground near Ilgauskas, and him gambling for a steal that led to an open 3 pointer. Both were in the 4th quarter and both were costly. I know Carter and Banks are both short, but it might be interesting to try the lineup of KG, RD, Trenton Hassell, Banks, and AC for stretches. Seems like enough good guards in the NBa are uncomfortable backing a smaller player down that the Wolves wouldn't give up too many easy opportunities on defense. And I think that would be a terrific scoring unit.

This loss was bad because we need all the wins we can get. But the effort was there, and for the most part, so was the execution. It's good to know that even with KG being slowed offensively in the 4th, the Wolves were still hanging around. Oh well, Friday's game should be a good one.

PS - I blame myself for the loss. I was supposed to watch at home, but decided to do something else for the first half and watch only the second half. When I arrived, the Wolves led by 10 in the third quarter. They immediately lost that lead and Cleveland went on the previously mentioned run to lose the third, and the Wolves never led again. I blame myself for trying to just jump in for the good part. It won't happen again. Sorry guys.

Wolves Win a Thriller at Phoenix

KG blocked the heck out of a Shawn Marion push shot at the buzzer to save a 103-101 win for the Wolves. Fans in Phoenix and the Suns players thought it was goaltending. It was definitely close, but having seen several replays of the block now, I'm comfortable with the call. Even before the critical block, KG came up huge down the stretch. After sitting the first few minutes of the 4th with 4 fouls, he scored his first points of the half on an alley-oop with a a few minutes left. He aggressively switched out to guard Steve Nash on pick and roll plays. I'm often skeptical of this play because I've seen Nash back off Garnett before and then shoot over him. But tonight, the play worked very well. Nash took a couple of uncomfortable looking shots, made some awkward passes and only found the mismatch in the post once or twice. It was a great physical and symbolic happening. The Wolves best player took on the Suns best player, despite being a 7-footer guarding a 6'1" point guard. In the last few Wolves possessions, Garnett made a pair of tough jumpers to extend the lead to 3 points after the Suns twice cut it to 1. This was the first game in a while that KG's action hero persona from his Adidas commercial has made a late-game appearance. That guy's good -- they should call his number a little more often.

This game had all kinds of interesting points, but the most important involved the rotation. Griffin and Jaric did not start for the first time in many games (for Jaric, it was his first non-start this season, I think). In fact, they didn't play, even with Mark Blount playing only a few minutes with neverending foul trouble. Madsen and AC started in their places, and Marcus Banks and Justin Reed got a lot of playing time. The starting unit played pretty well, but more importantly stayed aggressive and continued to play through an early Suns run that saw the Wolves trailing by 9 during the first quarter. I'd read from Coach Casey that they'd simplified the playbook and focused on a few plays. After being critical of his coaching for a few games, I now wonder again whether it really will simply take time for the Wolves to learn the system. The plays didn't look elaborate or special tonight, but they were run more cleanly. I can't think of any shot clock violations or glaring examples of hoisting up a bad shot just to beat the buzzer. Marcus Banks and Rashad McCants both played great on offense and really hustled on defense. McCants stayed away from the stupid fouls and turnovers that have marked his play most of the season. Justin Reed played solid defense on Marion and Boris Diaw, both of whom are really difficult to defend. Blount, as mentioned earlier, didn't play much because of foul trouble, but the other new guys were great.

But despite the heroics of KG and the great play of the new guys and the rookie, the game ball should go to Trenton Hassell. He's clearly growing into more of a scoring role with the team which is great. His moves seem predictable, but he plays well from the post and gets enough separation to be a pretty reliable scorer -- if he doesn't draw too many travelling violations on his spin move in the lane. But more importantly, he seems to be the one guy other than KG who really understands the offense and how to distribute the ball. When Banks was on the floor, it was Hassell who played more of the traditional point guard role. And in the 4th quarter when Garnett reentered the game, it was Hassell who found him for the alley-oop dunk that ogt him back into the offensive groove -- after going 5 for 6 in the first half, KG missed his next 3 shots before connecting on the dunk for his first points of the half with 5 minutes or so remaining. I've long referred to Hassell as Baby-G (H) -- there's no actual G in his name, but he plays like a smaller version of KG. He's intense, he's a great defender who works hard, and he's got a strong, if laboring, offensive game, like the Ticket. Last year when things wre going badly with the Wolves, it was reported that KG gave Hassell some harsh words for not playing as hard as he could be and should be. He seems to have responded and will be a big part of any success the Wolves will have for the rest of the season.

I'd forgotten what it felt like to be a happy fan. Consecutive losses make you need to deinvest from the team a little to avoid compounding sadness. But after the game-clenching block tonight I was elated and had lots of nervous energy. I miss that, so let's keep it coming Let's build on this, Wolves, and keep improving to be ready to take the West by storm after the All-Star break.

Wolves Blown Out at the Warriors

The Wolves are in a state of complete disarray. A few weeks ago, KG said the team was in search of an identity. Each game it becomes clearer that he's right. Coach Casey has put an emphasis on defense this season. But tonight, they gave up 107 points to the Warriors, a sub-500 team which had lost its last several games. The offense continues to be atrocious. I suspect the postgame comments to include "still learning the sets" and "getting used to the system". Although it's getting a little annoying, it probably is true. I'm just losing hope in the season. I feel like the new objective is to keep KG with the team next year.

One note about KG and shooting more. It seems to be the consensus among basketball people that KG needs to take more shots because he's the team's best offensive option. It's generally assumed that he can create his own shot whenever he wants. I generally believe this also. But I watched him force a shot twice in tonight's game, and he looked really uncomfortable. The first occasion, he caught the ball at the tope of the circle. He pump-faked twice and then dribbled to his left, and shot a jumper from the free throw line that missed. On the other occasion, he had the ball on the left block. He was double-teamed and split the double but shot awkwardly from the paint -- there was at least one more defender in there to contend with. So I think while it's generally correct that the team would do better if KG shot more, I think his shot selection is pretty good on the whole. Nobody else seems to understand or agree with that. If KG took more shots just to take more shots, he'd be taking more difficult shots. I think you can count on one hand the number of times in a game he passes up a good shot. He takes almost all of the good shots he gets. But good shots for him aren't as easy to come by as they are for guards. Tim Duncan is in the same position. Both KG and TD have to work hard for position on the block or be open or work to setup a defender for a jump shot. Every game, KG tries to get as many easy baskets as he can, by running the floor and setting up foul calls. So when he doesn't shoot the ball "enough", I think it's the passing of teammates and the play-calling of Coach Casey that should come into question mostly. He's not going to just run out to the 3-point line and drive all the way in for a layup. He's got to work hard to get position, then have a guard recognize that he's open, and then have a reasonable pass made to get the ball. And if the defender plays him well, he may need to pass out and get the ball back. This rarely ever happens for KG but happens all the time for Duncan with the Spurs. So I think that categorically, KG shooting more is not the answer to the Wolves problems. Now, if we can just figure out what is...

brutal loss

The Timberwolves lost 89 - 85 in Portland tonight. Kevin Garnett had a brilliant shooting game, going 12 for 13 from the floor. But he attempted no shots in the last 6:48 of the game. He did pass up some opportunities to shoot, but for the most part, it seemed that he was running the offense. He did post up a few times late in the game and was missed by the guards with the ball. It's strange. I watched the whole 4th quarter thinking this would happen a little. I listened to the announcers asking where Garnett had gone and saying he was coming up small at a crucial time. I figured Garnett would contribute in other ways and shoot as needed. But I had no idea that Garnett would have 0 shot attempts for the last 6 minutes. I don't think it's all on him (although some of it has to be), but it does make me question a few things. First, if Coach Casey wasn't telling the Wolves in timeouts to go to Garnett, then I think there's a problem. Second, if he told the team that and they couldn't get Garnett the ball, then there's another problem. It really didn't appear that Garnett didn't want the ball, despite him having given up the ball in situations where he could have shot. He just wasn't open on the catch and wasn't aggressively trying to score. I think it's just another underscore to his nature as a player. He was looking to make good plays. Anyway, this game hurt to watch and the Wolves really needed the win. The outlook for the rest of the season is a lot bleaker now.

One final miscue of note. On the Blazers final possession of the game with 29 seconds left, the Wolves forced a miss but couldn't get the rebound. There were 5 seconds on the clock when the Blazers got the ball, but Garnett only fouled Steve Blake with 0.3 left. Garnett should've fouled him earlier. He was kindof half-fouling him by bodying up on him in the corner, but a more blatant obvious foul was called for. I blame the coaching staff a little also -- seems like everybody should know to foul and anybody else could've come over and fouled while Blake was trapped. But it is really on Garnett. He played a ridiculous game, though, despite his stretch of non-shooting and his slowness to foul at the end. The state of the Wolves is very fragile right now. They really need to get something positive going before the All-Star Break, or 1) it would seem that the playoffs are out of reach again, and 2) Garnett's future with the Wolves would seem to be in doubt.

Same Old Story

Tonight the Wolves lost another game by underscoring their opponent. They fell to the Pistons in Detroit, 90 - 74. Seventy-four points is not enough points to win a game in the NBA. I'll chalk it up to the new Wolves still learning the offense. I didn't get to see any of the game, but the box score reveals some interesting trends as far as minutes go. Marko Jaric played only 18 minutes and Eddie Griffin played only 22 minutes. Mark Blount and Marcus Banks, on the other hand, played 30 minutes apiece. Some of that probably reflects the fact that the game was a blowout and starters sat the 4th. But KG and Ricky Davis both had 30+ minutes. The schedule since the trade has been really rough and makes it hard to really evaluate whether the team improved or not. I still think and certainly hope they have. More importantly, this most recent loss seems to not have stung the players or Coach Casey the way previous losses have. There's still a positive air around the team right now, probably a buffer of rebuke afforded by the huge scale of the trade. In the end, that positivity may prove as important to the team's future success as the upgrade in talent. Let's carry the optimism into Friday's game at Portland. One game at a time. One game at a time.

Payback's a Bench

The Wolves dominated the Celtics tonight in a game that featured 6 players facing their former teams. I missed the first quarter, but I heard the Wolves jumped out to a 10-0 lead from the tip. They also closed the half with a 12-2 run and the third quarter with a 9-0 run. For the first time I can remember this season, the game never appeared to be in doubt after halftime. KG had a modest game, but most of the other Wolves had big games. In particular the recent arrivals from Boston had big games. Marcus Banks, playing in his first game with the Wolves, scored 20 points and had 5 assists. He and Mark blount were clearly out to prove the Celtics made a mistake in cutting them loose. Blount was hot from the floor and wound up with 16 points and 10 boards. Justin Reed also played big minutes and defended Paul Pierce very well. He also leaked out for a couple of long outlet passes from KG on defensive rebounds. He was fouled hard both times and made all 4 free throws. Ricky Davis was quiet in the scoring column with only 9 points on 9 shots -- he shot 18 times in each of his first 2 games with the Wolves -- but chipped in with 5 boards and 5 assists along with good defense on Wally Szczerbiak.

The game was most notable, though, for the Wolves holding the lead they amassed by halftime. The Celtics never got within 8 points in the second half. Paul Pierce came out really aggressive, but Garnett kept putting points back on the board for the Wolves, hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the period. He was taken out with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and got the rest of the game off. In the 4th quarter, there were a few shots of him talking with Ricky Davis. All in all, this game showed a lot of improvement and offered some much-needed hope for this "new look" team. Without a question, the moves by McHale have resulted in a quicker and better defending team. If the offense can develop to the point of adequacy, the Wolves may finally have a consistent winning formula. But their next game is at Detroit, so maybe it'll be a little longer until we see it... or maybe not! ...But probably