The Godfather
6:48, Andy G: So, Darko and Wes start again. Both playing like crap again. Wolves fall behind early. What gives?
7:08, Patrick J: One quarter in the books. Wolves up 23-19. ANOTHER bad start. Coincidence? This is hard to watch. Quick, does anyone have a good Kris Humphries joke?
7:15, Andy G: Barea and Beasley give a huge spark off the bench, just like last game. I hope each gets more tick tonight than they did versus Indiana.
7:20, Patrick J: (Eds. note: Derrick Williams with a huge tomahawk with 5:58 in the 2nd). How much more athletic is the Derrick Williams we have than the Derrick Williams we thought we were getting when we drafted him? God this guy can cram.
7:28, Andy G: This Rubio-Ridnour backcourt is looking pretty horrific, tonight. Now Webster joins them and body slams D-Will for a turnover. The bench is way-outplaying the starting lineup so far.
7:32, Andy G: If K-Hump & Shelden become a PROBLEM, I’m going to be pissed. It’s looking like a real possibility in first half.
7:36, Andy G: Rubio finishing half well, assists a Webster trey, finds Tolliver for dunk attempt/fouled.
7:38, Patrick J: The Wolves consistently get DESTROYED by shooters like ANTHONY MORROW. 20 pts in the first half and it looked like a breeze. Wayne Ellington is already salivating about the NUMB#RS he’ll have against the Wolves with his next team. 50-49 Nets at the half.
7:43, Andy G: I’m going to (slightly) disagree. Morrow hit at least two 3’s with a hand RIGHT in his face (once Luke, once Martell). But 20 points is a ton. The dish from D-Will (between legs, backwards) was also pretty much set up by an elite point guard.
7:47, Patrick J: As long as you’re not disagreeing with my point about Wayne…
7:49, Patrick J: (Eds. note: Still halftime) I’m going to burn a Kurt Rambis doll in effigy if Adelman doesn’t give the Barea/Beasley/Pekovic group more time in the second half. They gave a HUGE spark off the bench in the first half.
7:53, Andy G: By the way, what’s up with Kevlar? 6 points on 1-6 shooting, and a (-8)? He should be able to beat up on this Jersey Shore front line.
7:57, Patrick J: Pekovic starts the 2nd half. My Rambis doll is safe for now.
8:01, Andy G: In a short sequence, Rubio picked Deron’s pocket and assisted Wes TWICE (no small feat). What a baller.
8:02, Patrick J: Nets announcer: “They might lead the NBA in beards” (referring to the Wolves). Shows side-by-side mug shot pics of Love and Brad Miller while Pekovic is busy scoring inside. Doesn’t seem amused. 59-58 Nets with 7:15 in the 3rd.
8:06, Patrick J: Rubio with the sickest handling trick I’ve seen this season. You’ll want to watch SportsCenter, like, now.
8:09, Patrick J: Okay, Pekovic is outclassing Love. (Insert “Apocalypse” cliche here.) Pek has 17/8 and Love 10/5 with 3:26 left in the 3rd.
8:14, Andy G: Nets with an UNSPEAKABLY-BAD second unit leading comeback charge. Where the fuck is Michael Beasley? (See first half line of 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 12 minutes of action.) Has been sitting almost entire 3rd Quarter, now…
8:24, Patrick J: The Godfather has 21/10. Wolves up 84-83 with 10:02 in 4th. (Eds. note: Beasley’s FINALLY back on the floor after a painfully long absence. Thanks Rick!)
8:27, Patrick J: Nine minutes to go. Morrow’s 31 beat Pek’s 21. NOT a moral victory.
8:33, Andy G: After a couple of mistakes that followed a RIDICULOUSLY-long stretch on the pine, Beasley is quickly yanked. I GUARANTEE that this has something to do with an unknown, off-game court event. Mike outplayed all of his teammates, save Pek, in the first half, and gets this treatment? I hope it’s nothing too serious with the coaching staff and higher ups.
9:32, Patrick J: Wes flails awkwardly on a contested miss from just inside the foul line. Having to write about Wes like this every day makes think I’m having a really long, nerdy, nightmare. ‘Cause in real life Wes would be over with Anthony Randolph, right? Right?
8:38, Patrick J: Tied at 89 with 5:39 to go. About to enter #winningtime.
8:41, Andy G: Rubio & Love exchanging clutch baskets with Morrow (!!!)… close game. Should be exciting finish. (Seriously, Morrow has 35 points and might hit 40 soon… was he one of those Rambis Targets that killed us last year or the year before?)
8:42, Patrick J: Nets announcer: “Anthony Morrow can do no wrong.” Nightmare hypothesis confirmed. 95-95 with 2:38 in 4th.
8:45, Patrick J: Morrow’s in a “Shitty Player, Wolves Killer” category that includes C.J. WATSON, REGGIE WILLIAMS, RYAN ANDERSON (okay, Anderson’s actually really good).
8:46, Patrick J: Nets announcer: “ANTHONY MORROW IS UNCONSCIOUS!” (I’m starting to worry I’ll never wake up.) Back to the announcer: this guy clearly came up listening to Kevin Harlan.
8:57, Andy G: A barrage of Rubio-Love-Pekovic led action has the Wolves winning this game.
8:57, Andy G: Okay, ANTHONY MORROW just hit a 3… AND GOT FOULED!!!!!! 41 Points!!!!! WTF?!?! Wolves lead by 1 with 23 seconds left. A victory was in hand, now very much in doubt.
9:00, Patrick J: My League Pass Broadband cut out for a minute. When it came back to life, Morrow was finishing a 4-point play. Yeah.
9:02, Patrick J: Barea makes two throw with 18.2 left. Wolves 106, Nets 103.
9:05, Andy G: Game over, Rubio seals the win with a steal and Seve-like wedge shot just passed mid court with some backspin. A few parting thoughts:
* The Beasley benching was a little weird. Then again, once Rubio-Love-Pek got it going, perhaps Adelman thought Beasley wasn’t needed. But why then play Luke at the 2, who isn’t so good on defense? Strange stuff.
* If a guy like Anthony Morrow is going off, should the Wolves abandon defensive principles and stick to him (the way, say, Ray Allen is guarded) or assume the HOT HAND THEORY doesn’t exist and defend as usual? Good question. I don’t know the answer.
* Rubio and Love played extremely hard, and extremely in sync in the 4th Quarter of this game. Big Pek dominated quarters 1 through 3, but Rubio-Love took this home. That late possession when Morrow put them up 3 (with another 3) and Rubio quickly answered it with a driving basket… that was a sign that Ricky was not letting this one go easy.
* A road win is a good win.
PARTING SHOTS, REDUX (Patrick J)
* Weird, weird win. Love was off most of the night; Pek and Morrow were the stories. This permutation of events is unlikely ever to occur again. Those who tuned in witnessed history.
* That said, it was largely difficult to watch. The Pek sideshow is funny but I don’t like that fans are beginning to think he’s a solution at the 5. Dude’s a backup.
* Can we get some more Mike Beasley? Or some Derrick Williams? I won’t say anything else because it’s already in every other post we put up.
* Darko sat, and so did Wayne. If I’m going to criticize Adelman’s playing time allocations, he also gets credit where credit’s due.
Season Record: 11-12
Punch-Drunk Wolves 
I was there. I witnessed it.
@Chow Bella: An homage to Hot Tub Time Machine?! NICE!
While it is probably true that Pekovic is best served as a backup, the reality of the roster as it currently stands is that he’s their best center (other than Love, who is also their best power forward).
In truth, I’m OK running Pekovic, Love, and AR out there at the 5 given their paucity of reasonable options at the wing positions. They need to figure that out first.
Eric-
Thanks for commenting — my opinion on Pek is (naturally) changing some in recent games. He’s certainly better than Darko and his defense seems to be improved, this year. He continues to get called for 3-seconds and offensive fouls, but not quite as often as last year when he was simply not adjusted to NBA rules at all.
I’d like to see more of the lineups we saw earlier this year with Love at center, when situations allow (which is pretty often, I think). That at least allows Derrick Williams to see the floor some, and he played pretty well with Rubio in some big moments before his playing time was slashed.
@Eric in Madison: I concur on all points. Playing Darko as seldom as possible is the most important step. This means more of the Pek, Love, AR15 hydra-headed monster. Adelman’s starting to address this, though AR’s DNP-CDs suggest he’s not going to play a very important role in that monster, at least in the near-future.
Sorting out the wing is a huge issue. It’s my biggest frustration with Adelman so far; otherwise I’m with everyone else who thinks he’s been great. I’d like to see Barea play more with Rubio, and Webster play more with Ridnour as part of a more balanced second unit. And I’d like to see Beasley playing the lion’s share of the minutes at the three, with Wes backing him up and playing about 12 minutes a game. But my sense is, there’s going to be a lot more lineup shuffling and experimentation before the wing issue gets settled in any manner, which in the meantime will mean a lot of highs and lows and leave us wanting for consistency.
Andy, Beasley didn’t block out on the defensive board. Result: easy two for Nets. Out came Beasley. Coach obviously thought Beasley needed an attitude adjustment. No mystery there. Issue was on the court, not off.
Dave,
That could be. But if one mistake means a benching, he should have had 11 teammates next to him. He played a big part in turning the game in the first half, yet sat the first 10 minutes of the 3rd Quarter. (Did the missed block out happen in the 1st or 2nd Half? I didn’t notice that.)
To have him sit so long on the bench, and then have him quickly yanked after a turnover and missed defensive assignment… that tells me there’s something between he and the coaches.
@Dave A.: Astute observation–I’d missed the failed block out too. That’s maddening for a coach, but as Andy says, there has to be something more to it. The Nets didn’t have an answer for Mike in the 2nd, and Adelman still decided to turn on the safety of his biggest offensive gun during the 3rd. I recognize Mike’s many warts like others and can understand when a coach pulls him. But unless we start grooming Derrick Williams, to bench Beasley is to compound one of our two greatest weaknesses–our lack of a go-to scorer (the other being the SG position in general).
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