The score was 32-16 in the Spurs favor after one quarter. After a half-hearted comeback in the 2nd by the Wolves, the game was lopsided for the entire half. Nobody seemed to play well. The box score shows decent work done by Love, Tolliver, Barea and Ellington. But it didn’t really seem like it.
So what else to discuss in the world of hoops?
* Royce White has declared his intention to enter the NBA Draft. After Saturday Night’s breakout party, I can’t say we’re surprised.
* Since firing Mike D’Antoni, the Knicks have now won five games in a row. This includes an impressive win tonight, at Philly. The Sixers lead the Atlantic Division now by only 3 games. Who would have guessed that the Knicks might become a Top-4 Seed in the East back when Carmelo ruined Linsanity by not buying into Mike D’s system? Although Melo’s play has picked up under Coach Mike Woodson (as a brief aside, Woodson might very well be the Wolves coach had we not lured Adelman out of retirement) the biggest turnaround seems to be Amare Stoudemire’s. It isn’t that STAT is scoring more–he’s actually scoring slightly less per game since the change–but his field goal percentage in the five Woodson games is 57.4, compared to his season percentage of only 47.0. A career 53.3 percent shooter, STAT appears to be getting his groove back just in the knick of time. (PUN!)
* Staying in the East, Milwaukee has won 6 in a row, including two blowout wins in Monta Ellis’ first games. The Bucks are only 1 game behind the Knicks and 3 behind the Celtics for a playoff spot. That’ll be an interesting race to follow down the home stretch.
* I just downloaded the new (I think it’s new?) Mark Titus book, Don’t Put Me in, Coach. With Rubio and Pek on the shelf, and March Madness in full swing, I figured I might need to channel my hoops addiction to a better cause. I’ve enjoyed the early chapters where he describes teaming up with Mike Conley and Greg Oden in teenage AAU ball. 30 pages in, I’d recommend it if you like reading about hoops.
That’s all for tonight. It’d be nice to at least see Pekovic return. The Wolves were thoroughly outmatched tonight and looked like a tanking team. Which is really troubling because they are most definitely not tanking.
Season Record: 23-25
Punch-Drunk Wolves 
@Andy G: Nice to see the Knicks winning under Woodson. It’s hard to describe how much better a fit he is for their personnel than D’Antoni was. Maybe ‘Melo isn’t a lost cause after all. Kudos to Jeremy Lin for continuing to produce despite the changes Woodson has introduced. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is going gangbusters, but I still like that trade for Golden State. Bogut is a top center when he’s healthy, and I think he and Steph Curry will be a poor man’s version of K-Love and Rubio (when he’s healthy).
I hope Royce White doesn’t squander his opportunity to play in the NBA.
Agreed re: the Bogut trade. If Curry and Bogut ever share a healthy season, that will be a very good team. Plus, if they do a good enough tanking job (they lose their pick if outside top 7) they could add one more nice piece in the upcoming draft.
RICK BARRY!
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I actually lobbied a bit for Woodson prior to the Adelman hire. He was really successful in Atlanta; his team improved something like 7 straight years, and they never had the “LeBron” draft pick. He worked in young talents successfully (Horford, Josh Smith) and won a lot of games.
Had we not gotten Adelman, I would have preferred Woodson too. There was some D-League coach whose name escapes me that seemed like an interesting choice, but of the candidates interviewed Woodson seemed like the most rational choice. You’re right, his Hawks teams kept getting better and better, without ever adding that huge chip via draft or free agency.