a painful loss
I almost wrote about this to begin my blog, but tonight's game gives me a perfect opporunity. The Timberwolves lost tonight, 103-96 to the Boston Celtics. They started out great. KG had a quiet 13 points in the first quarter, including a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer. After one, the Wolves led by 10, 32 - 22. A ten point lead in the abstract sounds great; after just one quarter, it seems like aabout the best you could hope for even for a really good team playing a bad team. But despite how well things were going, it seemed like the Wolves never really got any real distance from the Celtics. Paul Pierce was awful in the first quarter -- 1 for 7 -- and Ricky Davis was also cold. Trenton Hassel was on fire to help out KG and Wally (who was quiet, but not invisible) with the scoring. The defense looked pretty good and seemed in control. Everything seemed great, except for the sinking feeling. That sinking feeling has been maybe the most constant thing about this team.
In the NBA, everybody makes a run. It's a popular tag line, but it's completely true. Every team has good players and people who can score. The good teams win consistently by building big leads when their opponent is playing poorly, and then withstanding the charge when their opponent makes a run. The Wolves just can't do this. They fail at both parts of the equation. When they should be up by 20, they're up by 12. And when they should be suffering a 7-0 run or a 15-6 run, instead it's a 15-0 run or a 25-7 run.
So it was tonight. In the second quarter, the Celtics second unit played most of the time. They played a lot harder on defense to slow down the Wolves hot shooting. They didn't score a lot, but they scored enough. The starters came back in to end the half, feeding off the second unit's energy, and the combination of hustle, garbage points, and better defense gave them a one-point advantage in the quarter. At the half, Wolves lead 55 - 46. The third quarter started with an offensive flurry from Pierce; he drove baseline for a dunk on the Celtics first possesion, then drove for an and-1 layup, then nailed a jumper. And the Wolves went cold. Garnett and Szczerbiak made some shots, but the team missed a lot more than it made. Momentum had swung to the Celtics, and at the end of the third, the Wolves led 73 - 69. Again, I guess it's better to be leading than trailing, but the fame felt like it was slipping away, predictably . The other important note at the end of the third was Garnett was 11 for 18 with 27 points.
The fourth quarter was a disaster. Pierce stayed in a good shooting zone and started getting the younger Celtics, primarily Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson, involved. The Wolves were looking for someone to make big shots as the game slowly got away from them. This is where you want and expect for Garnett to make his biggest contribution. But he didn't come through. He missed all 8 of his shots, scoring 2 points in the period. By my own admission (and blog title), I am a KG fan, so presumably you wouldn't expect to see me badmouth him now anyway. And I won't. He does share accountability for the loss -- had he made some of those shots, they probably would have held off the C's and won. But he had a huge all-around game. He played hard and well on both ends, and by midway through the 4th quarter, he looked tired. He wasn't moving as quickly or jumping as high. All of his shots were front-rim. But I digress.
This is the story of most Wolves losses this year. When they're good, they're not as good as they should be; and when they're bad, they're too bad. Maybe it's as simple as not playing good defense and offense at the same time. But whenever they're playing well, they can never really separate. And whenever the other team is playing well, they can't keep it together. KG is often at the center of this, but he's going to have his ups and downs. I think the success of the Wolves right now boils down to the team being great when he's on and ok when he's off. And right now that doesn't happen. And that's what makes the losses so painful. KG will play tremendously well, but the game stays in reach. And you have that sinking feeling that at some point he'll struggle. And you fear that when he struggles, the team will give the game away. And too often it does.
In the NBA, everybody makes a run. It's a popular tag line, but it's completely true. Every team has good players and people who can score. The good teams win consistently by building big leads when their opponent is playing poorly, and then withstanding the charge when their opponent makes a run. The Wolves just can't do this. They fail at both parts of the equation. When they should be up by 20, they're up by 12. And when they should be suffering a 7-0 run or a 15-6 run, instead it's a 15-0 run or a 25-7 run.
So it was tonight. In the second quarter, the Celtics second unit played most of the time. They played a lot harder on defense to slow down the Wolves hot shooting. They didn't score a lot, but they scored enough. The starters came back in to end the half, feeding off the second unit's energy, and the combination of hustle, garbage points, and better defense gave them a one-point advantage in the quarter. At the half, Wolves lead 55 - 46. The third quarter started with an offensive flurry from Pierce; he drove baseline for a dunk on the Celtics first possesion, then drove for an and-1 layup, then nailed a jumper. And the Wolves went cold. Garnett and Szczerbiak made some shots, but the team missed a lot more than it made. Momentum had swung to the Celtics, and at the end of the third, the Wolves led 73 - 69. Again, I guess it's better to be leading than trailing, but the fame felt like it was slipping away, predictably . The other important note at the end of the third was Garnett was 11 for 18 with 27 points.
The fourth quarter was a disaster. Pierce stayed in a good shooting zone and started getting the younger Celtics, primarily Kendrick Perkins and Al Jefferson, involved. The Wolves were looking for someone to make big shots as the game slowly got away from them. This is where you want and expect for Garnett to make his biggest contribution. But he didn't come through. He missed all 8 of his shots, scoring 2 points in the period. By my own admission (and blog title), I am a KG fan, so presumably you wouldn't expect to see me badmouth him now anyway. And I won't. He does share accountability for the loss -- had he made some of those shots, they probably would have held off the C's and won. But he had a huge all-around game. He played hard and well on both ends, and by midway through the 4th quarter, he looked tired. He wasn't moving as quickly or jumping as high. All of his shots were front-rim. But I digress.
This is the story of most Wolves losses this year. When they're good, they're not as good as they should be; and when they're bad, they're too bad. Maybe it's as simple as not playing good defense and offense at the same time. But whenever they're playing well, they can never really separate. And whenever the other team is playing well, they can't keep it together. KG is often at the center of this, but he's going to have his ups and downs. I think the success of the Wolves right now boils down to the team being great when he's on and ok when he's off. And right now that doesn't happen. And that's what makes the losses so painful. KG will play tremendously well, but the game stays in reach. And you have that sinking feeling that at some point he'll struggle. And you fear that when he struggles, the team will give the game away. And too often it does.
posted by Big Ticket Fan at 4:00 PM
1 Comments:
I think this is a problem with any team that relies too much on its superstar. At the beginning of this season, every time Kobe struggled in the fourth quarter, the Lakers lost. And he struggled when he had to work hard the rest of the game. I don't think this one is on KG, the other guys made it too easy for Jefferson and Perkins to double-team him by not proving they could make the Celtics pay. And Delonte West scoring the first eight of the fourth is no good.
It's gotta be a team effort.
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