Monthly Archives: March 2012

If you’ve been watching the Wolves for all of this brief season, you must agree with me: This sucks.  No, it isn’t as bad as last year (or any of the past few years) when March and April meant putting Kevin Love or Al Jefferson on the shelf and talking ourselves into Rashad McCants’ upside as a 6th Man (when we weren’t talking ourselves into our cursed lottery chances.)  But now that we’ve seen entertaining and competitive basketball–more than just a small dose (January 2009) but a sustainable product with that magic word UPSIDE right along with a steady flow of W’s–this just sucks.  In my opinion, this loss marks the end of the Wolves bid for a playoff spot.  They won’t tank, since they don’t get their pick anyway, but I think the hole is too deep to climb out of and the Wolves are now playing only for pride.

With that in mind, we’ll probably shift our approach a bit on this blog.  I don’t enjoy writing game wraps after these Rubio-and-meaning-less games, and I doubt very much that you’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve attempted.  If you want game-by-game coverage, check out the blogs on the right-hand column.  Canis Hoopus has been doing a great “Report Card” theme this year, that I think will continue to season’s end.  For an example, check out Jose Cordoba’s wrap of the Nuggets game, here.

Anyway, we’ll still come up with post ideas and maybe a few game wraps if some interesting things develop beyond Love’s individual excellence and the same pros and cons that the others have shown off.  When watching the home stretch, I’ll be paying particularly close attention to Malcolm Lee who showed some defensive chops in the first part of tonight’s game.  But by and large, the content here will probably start to shift toward the upcoming playoffs, with a little bit of draft talk here and there (particularly if Utah continues to surge toward postseason play, giving Minnesota a mid-first rounder.)  I hope you’ll keep checking in and chiming in on the comment board.

Season Record: 24-27

Following the announcement that Ricky Rubio tore his ACL, the Wolves went out and lost a home game to the New Orleans Hornets.  Shortly after that, I wrote them off as a potential playoff team.  They’re 3-6 since the injury as Western Conference competitors have surged over .500.  As of now, the Wolves are 3 games out of a tie for the 8-Seed.  But looking at the upcoming schedule, I realized something: If the Wolves win tonight’s game, they might just climb back into the playoff picture. Continue reading →

“These technical fouls are starting to… have an actual impact on the score.”

My comment after Luke Ridnour hit a technical free throw to increase the Wolves lead to 91-85 with 2:21 to go.  He had just fouled Blake Griffin on a breakaway attempt, which was met with an overreaction from Blake that warranted the tech.  A moment earlier (3:17 to go) Kenyon Martin was T’d up while his teammate Chris Paul was shooting free throws.  That little outburst allowed the Wolves to retain a 5-point lead at 88-83.  Eventually, the Wolves would win this game by a single point.  The entire outcome of the game was decided by a pair of late-game technicals.

K-Love for MVP?

K-Love put together a gem performance tonight against buddy and rival, Blake Griffin.  Love scored 39 points on 13-25 shooting (5-10 on 3’s–keep em coming!) and also pulled down 17 rebounds (7 offensive) and dished out 2 assists.  Of course, Twitter blew up with a mix of sarcastic jabs at Blake Griffin, preemptive strikes at “Kevin Love haters” and quips about how he is, indeed, a late-game scorer.  I’m less concerned about kneejerk reactions (do these people seriously not remember what Blake did to Love at Staples, last week?) than I am with the 5 for 10 shooting on 3’s.  Love can be so, so amazing when he bombs from outside.  His one-on-one scoring, a game here or there notwithstanding, is not a recipe for success at the highest levels.  It doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea on a .500 or worse team–particularly on nights when Ricky/Wes/Martell combine for 2-15 shooting (!!!)–but his iso scoring is not of a nature that a) works consistently against good defense; or b) draws even a sniff of a second defender.  I’m happy he’s starting to embrace the perimeter jumpshooting.  That is, without a doubt, his ticket to MVP conversations.  Unbelievable performance tonight.

Wes & Martell

There was some buzz before the game about Wes Johnson’s recent shooting success.  He had apparently been shooting something like 50 percent from the floor over his past 5 games.  He was excited about this.  Martell had just come off a 21-point, 8-rebound performance where he looked eerily-similar to a starting-caliber NBA wing.  In this game, Wes reverted back to his worst.  He floated aimlessly around the perimeter, never seeking out real scoring opportunities.  When the ball would (perhaps inadvertently) come his way, he’d feel the need to shoot–if nothing else just to see a number go up in his box score line.  He’d hoist up something off balance, barely drawing iron.  Once his confidence was sufficiently shattered, he would then hesitate on should-be catch-and-shoots, put the ball on the floor, and then take a bad shot instead of the good one he could have launched a moment earlier.  Martell was nonexistent in this game except in the game’s biggest moment.  With a 5-point lead and 30 seconds to go, he threw the ball to Chris Paul and immediately bonus-fouled him for good measure.  That blunder nearly cost the Wolves the game.  Not a good night for the long-and-athletic wings.

Scoring Bursts

Derrick Williams had 14 points in the 2nd Quarter.  Michael Beasley had 9 points in the first 6 minutes of the 4th Quarter.  Those rapid bursts of scoring output were key to building and maintaining a lead over the Clips.  Of course, it also didn’t hurt that Darko made 6 of 7 shots in Nikola Pekovic’s absense (foot injury).  For whatever reason, Darko has the Clippers’ number.

Ricky, and the Elephant in the Room

It pains me to say this:

Ricky’s shooting has officially become a problem.  In his last 5 games, he’s hitting 18.4 percent of shots from the floor.  He’s airballing wide-open threes, calling into question whether Target Center has a Meadowlands-like jet stream coming in from Section 136.  Seriously, I don’t think I can overstate how horrible his jumpshot looks and I say this as a HUGE Rubio fan.  Am I overreacting?  He isn’t just missing by 5 or 6 feet sometimes, but he’s attempting RIDICULOUSLY difficult shots, often with ample time left on the 24-second clock.  Maybe it’s a rookie wall.  Or something.  I’ll try not to think about it.  He still delivers awesome passes and makes heady defensive plays.  He’s the team’s best point guard.  But I can’t in good conscience make favorable comparisons to guys like Irving and Lawson when he shoots like this.  Shooting matters, no matter what sort of magic he creates for others.

Great win and fun game.

Season Record: 20-19

Wesley Johnson shot 6 for 12 from the floor tonight.  Luke Ridnour shot 5 for 9, and 5 for 5 from the stripe.  Martell Webster shot 3 for 6.  Ricky Rubio shot 3 for 7, and Nikola Pekovic shot 6 for 12.

With this collection of players hitting 50 percent from the field, one would expect the Wolves to prevail over a sub-mediocre Phoenix Suns team.  Unfortunately, the Wolves most-talented players Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams combined for an 11 for 40 stink-bomb that left the team helpless even in an extended fourth quarter sequence when both Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat were on the bench doing Pilates.

Over his last four games Love is shooting 29.7 percent from the field.  Over Ricky’s last five games, he’s hitting 26.1 percent of all shots.

Yikes.

The Wolves probably need more than just “competent wing play” to take this thing up a notch.  Perhaps holding off on any desperate trades, and dumping big money at Eric Gordon in free agency is the best plan.  This team needs somebody whose turnovers are made from aggressive plays that usually lead to good scoring opportunities; not careless travels or failed attempts at baiting a ref.

Or maybe I’m just worn down from this back-to-back-to-back even more than Ricky Rubio is.  It wasn’t fun staying up late to watch an ass-kicking from the Lakers and a pitiful loss to the lottobound Suns.  A much-needed off night tomorrow.  Maybe we can get the first ever win over LaMarcus Aldridge on Saturday at Portland.  That’d make up for this one.  Until then.

Season Record: 18-19

Since this game was the meat of a back-to-back-to-back sandwich, and it wasn’t competitive or interesting, I’m doing a rapid-fire bullets wrap:

* Kevin Love had the flu and did not play.  This was a bad thing for the Wolves.

* Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, Wes Johnson and Nikola Pekovic started each half for the Wolves.  Ridnour started the first half at the 2; Webster the second.  Of the four that opened each half, only Williams had a (relatively) respectable +/-.  Wes played 17 minutes of (-25) ball, for the team’s worst.  He was basically a ghost on the floor, as is often the case, though 2 for 5 shooting is better than his season average.  Next worst was Pek, with a (-24) in 26 minutes.  Pek had 3 turnovers and struggled with the length of the Laker front line.  He played hard, and scrapped together some garbage points but overall was not very effective.  Ricky was (-20) in 21 minutes.  His 1 for 8 shooting was really awful, but 9 assists to 1 turnover perhaps balances it out.  These three starters were a big reason for the loss, though.

* Coming off a career performance, Derrick Williams only played 23 minutes.  It isn’t clear why this was the case, except that he sat for a long stretch of the 2nd Half when the game looked out of reach and I figured Adelman was resting the guys for tomorrow night.  10 points on 4-8 shooting, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in 23 minutes is respectable.

* Mike Beasley had a decent first half, chipping in 8 points off the bench in a (+4) stint that covered all of the 2nd Quarter.  In the 2nd Half, he looked at different times disinterested and asleep, dropping passes, traveling for no reason, and letting Matt Barnes score layups.  The only thing I’ll say in his defense (because he really doesn’t deserve a defense for lackluster effort) is that he sat the first 8 minutes of the 3rd Quarter while he watched Wes and Company see the deficit extend from 6 to 17.  It has to mentally wear on a talented player to see a scrub like Wes take his minutes and have the game go to shit while he’s rotting away on the pine.  Even in what I would consider one of his worst efforts of the season, Beasley was a net-zero for +/- and produced 14 & 6 in 24 minutes.  If Wes put up that line in 42 minutes, we’d throw a party.

* Kobe wore a mask and was mostly dominant in this game.  31, 8 & 7 seemed pretty ho-hum for him tonight, with our stopper Wes on him.

* Wolves double-teamed Bynum, Gasol and Kobe in the post.  I’m not sure they get this treatment from every team, and I don’t know why Bynum was being doubled by Webster when Darko was in the game.  What purpose does Darko serve if he needs a double team to defend the post?  I wonder if Webster was supposed to be doing this–he didn’t look like he knew what to do or when to do it.

* Anthony Randolph deserves praise for doing what he often does: produce in limited minutes of playing time.  In just 19 minutes of action he nearly posted a double-double, with 12 points (5-9 shooting) and 9 rebounds.  With Love, Williams and Pekovic on the roster, he won’t (and shouldn’t) see much playing time.  He seems to care–he always plays full speed and can be seen working out at Target Center Lifetime in the off-season–and here’s to hoping he can find a regular spot somewhere in the league when he inevitably departs from Minneapolis, this summer.

Season Record: 18-18