SB Nation - Ryan Hollins

Shaking Up The Core: Thoughts On Changing Up UCLA Basketball's Starting Lineup/Rotation

Nestor — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:06:09 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Jerime Anderson is not getting it done with an A/T ratio of 1.18, shooting 50% (!) from the FT line, 23% from 3 point line (35 % overall), and yet averaging 29 mins per game

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So here I go.

I have seen 4 regular season games this year. 5 if I count the second exhibition game against Humboldt State, which I saw via the pathetic online feed from the official site. Based on what I have seen so far here is the starting lineup that seems to make sense:

I think for the short term Howland needs to make two critical moves:

Bench Dragovic for rest of the year (duh) limiting him not much more than 10-12 mins per game
Bench Anderson and limit his mins to not more than 15 mins per game.

More on these two points and other thoughts on how Howland needs to shake up the current core of starting rotation after the jump.

Let's start with the obvious problem, which is the crazy amount of minutes Howland keeps wasting on Dragovic. Nikola Dragovic might be the most startling enigma during Coach Ben Howland's 7 years in Westwood. It simply doesn't make any sense how Howland continues to give this kid special treatment despite his total failure (and no I couldn't care less about his meaningless rebounding statistics) on the court. Time after time we have seen Howland using a quick hook whenever dealing with an underclassmen. We have seen him inserting and then pulling a freshmen or sophomore for making simple defensive mistakes or turning the ball over on the offensive side. Yet, with Dragovic (and in some cases with Josh Shipp from last season), we have seen Howland giving special treatment to an upperclassmen, who clearly doesn't play up to the standards of a Ben Ball warrior on the court (I will not even touch Dragovic's off court issues).

The only explanation I can think behind Howland giving Dragovic mins is that he is hoping that he somehow regains his shooting touch like he did to a certain extent against Pac-10 teams last year. However, numbers don't lie. He is shooting less than 20 percent from the 3 point line this season. Last year, after he got hot during the Pac-10 games, he still shot less than 39 percent from the 3 point line. He is an atrocious defender and he has never shown anything that indicates that he has a natural feel for the game. Yet, he continues to get the mins.

At this point, after what he did against Mississippi State, Howland will send wrong message if he starts Dragovic tomorrow. To me it's a no brainer that Howland takes Dragovic out of the lineup. Now the guy I would start would be James Keefe and here is my explanation for it. I think Brandon Lane has more upside than Keefe. However, I would at least give Keefe the start, because Keefe despite being tentative has a better feel for the game than Dragovic. I think it might make sense to start him and then bring in Lane off the bench. Keefe is better than Dragovic when it comes to shot selection (he has better FG%) and he understands Howland's offense and defense much better than Dragovic. Keefe's problem has been on the FT line and just being too tentetive (which goes back to Howland having a quick hook for all the other players except for some one like Dragovic).

At least with Shipp, I understood a little why Howland let him get away with defensive relapses. Josh Shipp had courage and also a knack for making big shots when it mattered. He was fearless and I thought was a game. Dragovic? Well, I think Bellerophon was off the mark, when he called Dragovic a "scrub" for his effort (or lack there of) on the court. He has shown as much as guys like Ryan Walcott and Travis Reed, to merit starting mins on the court, which is nothing.

Moving on to the point guard situation. This one is obvious. Here is bruinponcho:

The biggest problem is that his lineup and rotations make no sense. As soon as I saw JA in the starting lineup with MR at small forward, I knew this was a loss. JA is not a starting point guard, period. MR is not a small forward. We have lots of big guys and only three guards, go with a bigger lineup.

ML and MR should each be playing 30 minutes a game with JA playing 10 minutes backing up ML and MM playing 10 minutes backing up MR. JA and ML should never be on the floor at the same time. Ever. Their games are too similar in that there only offense is driving and neither can shoot. Used appropriately and in conjunction with a shooter like MR, this can be effective. But you cant have both JA and ML out there together when JA’s game is just an inferior version of ML.

And Meriones called for this, well back in April:

Backcourt size — Can anyone remember when we started a both-6-5 backcourt? Didn’t think so. Malcolm’s hustle and length and Roll’s experience in CBH’s schemes should do wonders to negate any possible lack of waterbug quickness. Worse comes to worst, we bring in JA to check smaller guards and fight pace with pace, but at least we START with the size advantage, for a change.

Note Meriones did have Dragovic in the starting lineup but being the wiseman that he added this:

Caveat: this would hinge ENTIRELY on whether Drago can put in a full summer of workouts and improve his defensive rotations.

Uh, I think from what we have seen this year we don't have to discuss Drago's defensive rotations any further.

I have to say I was dumbfounded that Howland even started Anderson last game after seeing how much more effective and energetic we were against Kansas, when Lee got the start. It doesn't make any sense how this kid continues to get more than 20 mins per game, given he cannot shot, cannot drive, cannot make FTs (!!!), and most importantly cannot defend. Jerime might be working hard. However, given what we have seen from the court, we are not seeing the results. I think it is time for Howland to dramatically reduce his mins, so that Anderson can reflect on how he can be more efficient, smart in practice and focus on how he can improve game by game.

Going back to our rotation, Honeycutt needs to start next game. After watching two games, it seems like he probably has the most upside as the natural scorer in this team. He is also a rebounder (8 in last game, 6 against Kansas). I think it is time for Howland to ride Honeycutt and Nelson, just like he rode on the freshmen talents of JF and AA in their first two years of Westwood.

I get that Howland is trying to win every game. However, from what we have seen its clear that the current core which includes major mins for Dragovic and Anderson, is not the winning formula. It is time for Howland to shake up his current core. He needs to do that by starting Lee at the 1, user Moser's athleticism to back up the 2-3 spot behind Roll and Honeycutt, take out Dragovic from the lineup at the expense of increased mins for Lane and some Keefe. I have to say I have also been impressed with the effort Morgan has given in recent weeks. I think he has clearly earned some backup mins at the 5. I am hoping he can turn up the intensity even few more notches and he might be able to salvage his career in Westwood, just like Ryan Hollins did before he was done in Westwood.

Lastly, people who are feeling uncomfortable with the criticism of Coach Ben Howland on BN needs to chill out. None of us are even going anywhere close to calling for Howland to step aside. There is no discussion of "coaching candidates" that are actually happening on other UCLA online communities. All we are doing is offering our frank thoughts and analysis on what we see wrong with our program. We have been in Howland's corner all this time. We will give him all the benefits of doubt. However, don't expect us to stay quiet and be blind homers when we see something is wrong.

All we are doing is offering our analysis and thoughts. So with that said the thoughts above are my impressions on what Coach Howland needs to do address the current concerns with our hoops program. While the measures suggested are steps to address the short term concerns, I believe they can also help to steady the program, paying dividends for the long term, bringing back where Howland took us in recent history. We can get there again and it will require Coach Howland to adjust, adapt, recalibrate, just like Coach John Wooden did during his time in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

Preview: Wolves at Kings

Ziller — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:00:19 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

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THE OPPONENT

Despite a record worse than Stevie Wonder's baseball career, Minnesota isn't as bad as they look. Mind you, they look really, really bad. Being "not as bad" as that isn't saying a whole lot. Mikki Moore is a better rebounder than Andrea Bargnani, you know? The Wolves are still 1-5 in December. But only one of those losses (last night's visit to the Lakers) have been by a 10-point or greater margin. Progress!

Seriously, though, Kevin Love's return has meant a lot. Love's been back five games, and he's shoved Al Jefferson back to center and Ryan Hollins down in the rotation. (Blessed Earth!) Hollins is basically Moore, but younger and less endearing. As we know from experience, you cannot boast a starter as bad at rebounding for his position as Hollins and survive defensively. Of course, the Jefferson/Love frontline -- while beastly on the boards -- hasn't proven to be a defensive wall. No matter. Love is a big boost from all angles.

Love should make the Kings work on Sacramento's own defensive glass. That's actually an optimistic way of saying that Love could very well end up with 10 offensive rebounds. The Kings still have problems there, problems the team may soon need to accept, supposing Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes are the frontcourt of now and tomorrow. Tyreke Evans and Andres Nocioni are rebounding defensively as well as you could reasonably ask for ... and the team is still 20th in the league in this category.

Luckily, the Wolves are phenomenally bad on offense: 28th in shooting, 29th in turnovers and 29th in foul drawing. Sacramento's weakness is defense; Minnesota should have trouble exploiting that. The Wolves have scored 100 points all of five times this season. Sacramento might be a good opportunity for No. 6, but it's always a struggle with the Wolves.

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Al Jefferson	21	32.9	6.8	15.0	45.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.4	3.4	71.8	2.5	6.4	9.0	2.0	1.6	1.2	1.0	2.3	16.0
Jonny Flynn	23	29.4	5.0	11.6	43.4	0.9	2.7	32.8	3.0	3.7	80.0	0.3	2.1	2.5	4.3	3.2	1.2	0.1	1.4	13.9
Kevin Love	5	28.4	4.6	9.8	46.9	1.2	2.0	60.0	2.8	3.4	82.4	4.0	7.6	11.6	1.8	2.4	1.4	0.8	2.8	13.2
Ryan Gomes	23	30.5	5.2	10.9	47.8	0.9	2.0	42.6	1.1	1.4	75.8	1.4	4.0	5.4	1.6	1.5	1.0	0.2	2.6	12.4
Corey Brewer	23	30.2	4.3	11.1	38.7	0.3	1.5	17.1	1.7	2.7	60.3	1.0	3.2	4.2	2.2	2.1	1.8	0.6	2.7	10.5
Ramon Sessions	23	22.1	3.5	6.7	52.3	0.0	0.3	14.3	1.3	2.1	63.3	0.8	2.3	3.0	3.3	1.7	0.7	0.0	2.0	8.3
Oleksiy Pecherov	20	14.2	2.8	6.3	43.7	0.4	1.8	22.9	0.7	0.7	92.9	1.0	3.1	4.1	0.4	0.9	0.3	0.4	2.0	6.6
Ryan Hollins	23	19.3	2.6	4.8	53.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	1.9	65.9	0.9	2.0	3.0	0.9	1.4	0.3	0.5	2.8	6.4
Wayne Ellington	21	16.8	2.0	5.5	37.1	0.4	1.9	20.5	0.6	0.9	72.2	0.6	1.6	2.1	1.0	0.9	0.4	0.0	0.7	5.1
Damien Wilkins	22	15.7	1.7	4.1	40.7	0.1	0.7	20.0	1.1	1.3	82.8	1.3	2.2	3.5	1.2	0.8	0.5	0.1	1.5	4.6
Sasha Pavlovic	22	15.2	1.9	5.4	35.3	0.6	2.1	28.3	0.2	0.5	40.0	0.4	2.3	2.6	1.3	1.0	0.5	0.1	1.4	4.6
Nathan Jawai	17	11.8	1.5	3.2	47.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.1	1.4	82.6	1.4	1.6	3.1	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.3	1.6	4.2
Brian Cardinal	14	9.7	0.6	1.6	36.4	0.1	0.4	16.7	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.9	0.1	0.3	0.1	1.8	1.5
Jason Hart	1	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Jason Thompson vs. Kevin Love. As stated, keeping Love off the offensive glass as much as possible will be a key. But further, Thompson needs to exploit his (massive) size advantage here. Love nor Jefferson block shots with any regularity, so the Kings -- led by Thompson in the post -- should attack attack attack. On the other end, Love is most dangerous cleaning up at the rim. Thompson has done better defending the rim, but again (broken record): it comes down to boxing him out and securing those plentiful Wolves misses.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

I didn't make Evans vs. Jonny Flynn the key battle because, well, Flynn's going to need a bunch of help to slow Evans. But remember how high Sacramento's front office had been on Flynn. If Evans had gone #2 or 3, there's a real chance the Kings could have spent the 4th pick on Flynn. In that sense, seeing how far Flynn how to grow while Evans excels (at a younger age, no less) is striking. And will be striking.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Corey Brewer will have more steals than Mario Elie.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 12.

DETAILS

7PM Pacific on Comcast SportsNet and KHTK 1140AM.

Mavericks Vs T-Wolves: Game 9 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:52:07 -0000

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: Jason like the rest of the Mavs Wednesday night had a subpar shooting night (not that any of us expect him to score a ton of points, but still), he did however have a solid night on the defensive end. It will be up to Jason to get this offense started. The Maverick offense has been very lethargic and downright maddening at times. Mr. Kidd is at his best when those around him are cutting to the basket, and the T-Wolves defense is awful. Look for Kidd and his mates to run and run often.

vs.

Jonny Flynn: Flynn the T-Wolves first round draft choice this year from Syracuse is a nice player, and he has gotten his NBA career off to a good start. Flynn comes into tonight's game averaging 15 pts., 3 assists, and 3 reb. Per contest. Jonny is a shoot first point guard who can create his own shot (this is a requirement to play in Minnesota). He has been a little careless with the ball however. On the flip side his defensive skills are pretty good as he creates almost as many turnovers on defense as he does when he has the ball.

Edge: Mavericks

Shooting Guard

~~Josh Howard~~, Rodrigue Beaubois: Josh continues to struggle with the health of his surgically repaired ankle. I would not be surprised if he does not sit out tonight's game. If Josh plays, look for the Mavs to use him sparingly and in short bursts. While the Mavs could really use his aggressive style and rebounding, the risk versus reward ratio is way off balance. If Howard cannot go look for Roddy B to get his second start (if Carlisle starts Barea instead I am gonna scream!)

vs.

Cory Brewer: Brewer has not been just exactly what the Wolves had hoped for when they selected him in the first round in 2007. While his point totals have risen this year (career 6.4, this year 11.8), it's mainly due to him simply being on the court longer. Brewers minutes have risen from 22minutes per, to 33 minutes per. As his field goal percentage is still hideous (38% career, 36% this year) the worst part about all this is he is worse on the defensive end. Brewer's opponents (based on 48 minutes) average 29.6 points per, against him.

Edge: Mavericks

Forward

Shawn Marion: 8 games 13 free throws, WTF?????????

vs.

Ryan Gomes: The T-Wolves version of Erick Dampier. Never know which Ryan will show up. Some nights Ryan goes for 12 and 12 and then he will go for 2 and 4, it is a crap shoot with him.

Edge: Mavericks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: Can you please find your jump shot? And can you please tell your teammates to stop standing around watching you work?

vs.

~~Al Jefferson~~, Ryan Hollins: Umm... yeah no chance

Edge: Mavericks

Center

Erick Dampier: One would have to assume that Dampier got an earful from his head coach after his poor performance against the Spurs. I would also assume that Dampier will draw the defensive assignment of Nathan Jawai, so look for a big night from Dampier unless Minnesota goes small.

vs.

Nathan Jawai: Let's just put it this way the Mavericks traded Jawai for "a conditional 2^nd round pick in 2012", now while I like his physical attributes he is still very raw, make no mistake he is not Al Jefferson.

Edge:

Injuries/Suspensions

Minnesota T-Wolves

OUT - Kevin Love (broken hand)

OUT - Al Jefferson (family illness)

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Tim Thomas (recovering from knee surgery)

OUT - Josh Howard (his ankle of course)

Prediction: This game should be a blowout and the blowout should start at the time of tip off, but something tells me this T-Wolves team will hang around for a bit before they bow out.

Mavericks- 113

Timberwolves - 90

Mavericks vs Timberwolves preview

Mavericks vs Timberwolves coverage

Game 7 Preview: Timberwolves vs. Blazers

Dave — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:26:03 -0000

Game Time: 6:00 p.m. Pacific TV: Comcast

Suffering through the latest in an interminable litany of rough starts to their seasons, the Minnesota Timberwolves bring a 1-5 record into the Rose Garden tonight to face the Blazers. If this surprises you then you might also be shocked to learn that it's a little cold in Minnesota this time of year. And that hockey is popular there. And that if you want gravy with your meal you have your choice of white, off-white, beige, or cream...which is also the standard culinary color palette of the region. But that's OK, because all they eat is soup. Except in the summer, which lasts exactly 2.5 days in early August. That's when everybody flocks to the lakeshore to get eaten by mosquitoes. Well, except for the substantial portion of the population that can't get to the lakeshore because of all of the road construction they do in those 2.5 days. Gotta fix the potholes yanno. In Oregon "pothole" is that depression in your seat divider where you hide your stash, but in Minnesota they can literally swallow your car. This is not only bad for your shocks, it leaves nasty abrasions from the gravel that has collected at the bottom from last year's snow traction follies.

In any case, even though the ‘Wolves have hit the NBA pothole from hell, to their credit they've only been blown out twice, actually generating a close finish against Boston and a reasonable one against Phoenix. But close only counts in prom dancing and federal budget planning. 1-5 is 1-5 and the Blazers should be prepared to take this team out early and never let them back in.

One of the chief sources of Minnesota's woes, besides never being able to live down having elected an ex-wrestler to the state's highest office (darn you, Iron Range!), has been the shaky recovery of star forward Al Jefferson from knee and Achilles problems. Jefferson is back into the rotation this year but he's shooting 39.6% from the field. That's a bad number for your gunner guard. From the forward-center upon whom you depend for superstar production it's a disaster. Like the Jell-o running out before supper. Or Gary Anderson missing his only field goal of the year just when you need those three points to take you to the Sup...uhhhh...sorry. Too soon? My bad. Jefferson has had a couple nice games but he's been inconsistent. Naughty or nice, he's not been able to lead them to wins. They've just gotten closer when he's played better.

One of the bright spots of the young season has been rookie point guard Jonny Flynn, whose name sounds like he should be the lead character in a Broadway Musical. "What are you doing here, Jonny Flynn?" "Why I'm here to court trouble, and woo a girl, and build the most fantastical contraption the world has ever seen!" Flynn's fantastical contraptivating has propelled him to a 51% shooting clip and 15 points on 10.5 shots per game. He's been averaging only 3.2 assists per game though, coupled with 3.3 turnovers. Stop me if you've heard this one before. A Minnesota GM walks into the draft and says, "Give me a point guard who's more of a scoring guard and can't really take care of the ball." That said, Flynn has more promise than Randy Foye or the boatload of point guards who preceded him and is likely to be a nice pick-up for the team.

Another new arrival is forward Oleksiy Pecherov, late of the Washington Wizards. He's got a sneaky offensive game, gives energy, and can rebound some. He's been doing both for the ‘Wolves and appears to be blossoming in his new home. Less successful has been point guard Ramon Sessions who can't seem to get used to the new system, new teammates, and the expectations that have been put upon him. He's falling deeper and deeper into the rotation. 7-footer Ryan Hollins also comes off the bench to provide a small scoring boost.

A couple stalwarts from past years remain with the team. Ryan Gomes is a 6'7" bruiser with range who always gives the Blazers fits. Corey Brewer is an energy guy with no offensive game...and often not much energy.

The ‘Wolves had a difficult time last season in part because they started three forwards and no center. Their solution to the problem this year is to start four forwards and no center. Having ditched Foye in the backcourt they now send Brewer out there. For the record that's one small forward, one swing small-power forward, and two power forwards plus Jonny Flynn. But don't worry, that'll only last until Kevin Love's hand heals. Then they'll probably get rid of that pesky small forward and just go with four power forwards and Flynn.

Fielding that lineup it's little surprise that Minnesota is coughing the ball up like a loogie in the snow. They're also shooting an anemic percentage from the field and an abysmal percentage from the three-point arc. They're giving up more foul shots than they generate. Their shot blocking can best be described as "Minnesota Nice". They're only barely holding their own on the boards. It's a bigger nightmare than that time they caught revered columnist Sid Hartman French kissing a llama in the janitor's closet at the Star-Trib. Ewwwww...the flashbacks are the worst.

If Minnesota is going to win they need you to make a ton of mistakes, pay no attention on the boards, and they need to get hot from the field. That's a pretty tall order. Let's hope the Blazers aren't in an obliging mood.

Pivotal Points of the Game

1. If you hound their point guards, who else is going to handle the ball? Or make a pass? Or do anything good besides put up a possibly awkward shot?

2. Even though you want to make it tough for Flynn and company to move the ball you can actually relax if their point guards score. They'll not win the game on their own. The only guy who can possibly do that is Jefferson. Don't let him wake up and you have the ball game.

3. This game should be an offensive buffet for Portland. They have no shot-blockers, so get the ball inside. Posting with Oden is good. Driving guards are good. They pretty much have to commit extra men to stop any aggression. When they do that, flick the ball outside. They'll not recover from the perimeter and you should be able to feast on threes all night long. If your offense is struggling you stopped you. They won't do it.

4. The only other key is not to get lazy or complacent. Any team can grab offensive rebounds and score off of misses. Any team can run out and convert your careless turnovers. Play professional basketball, walk away with the win. Don't let them think they have a chance.

Check out the Minnesota point of view with our old friends at CanisHoopus.

Enter tonight's Jersey Contest here.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Love Hurts

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:45:09 -0000

OK, it's starting to add up. Losing Kevin Love and his .208 WP48, 4.1 FTA/game, league-leading 15.1 oreb%, top-10 dreb%, and #2 overall reb% hurts. The team is already in the performance hole with the loss of Mike Miller's minutes at the off-guard, but losing Love's 30+ mpg to Oleksiy Pecherov and Ryan Hollins is costing this team the production it should have when the White Hole and Antigravity replace the minutes formerly used up by Craig Smith and Shelden Williams/Jason Collins. Yes, the two 7-footers are putting decent numbers, but they would even better if they were moved down a notch on the depth chart.

Last night the Wolves were a -9 on the offensive glass. It was even uglier when you calculated the percentage of available misses grabbed by the X-mas tree color clad visitors. The Bucks grabbed an astounding 36.2% of available misses on the offensive end of the court compared to the Wolves' 19%. If you can grab 1/3 of your misses, and you have a big beastie like Andrew Bogut in the paint, chances are a decent number of those misses are headed right into the bucket.

In just 6 short games the Wolves are getting destroyed at the 4/5 in the rebounding department, averaging -7.4 reb/game between the two positions. Last year, the team was a net 1.6 positive at the power forward and center. Granted, you can't view these numbers in a vacuum and the loss of Mike Miller is going to cause opposing bigs to get their grubby mitts on a few extra balls per game, but the overall point I'm making here is that losing one of the NBA's top 2-3 rebounders hurts in a bad way and the Wolves are starting to see the effect of this much production lost over even a short period of 6 games. We're already approaching the time where we can start talking about how Love's departure has cost the team 1 win. Of course, what they are losing in rebounding they could be making up in defense and we'll have to wait and see how the balance plays out. There are a lot of factors that play into something like this and I don't want to make a blanket statement, but I'll say it again: losing a top-flight rebounder when trying to rehab a center on the fly next to two new frontcourt players is going to have an impact, possibly a big one...relatively speaking.

Speaking of stats, Knickerblogger and 82Games are now updated for the current season. The early returns are that the White Hole is playing pretty well and that Jefferson is a pretty average (at best) player right now. Corey Brewer isn't rebounding his position nearly as well as Mike Miller did, Ryan Gomes has picked up some of the rebounding slack, and Jonny Flynn is a good scorer but a, thus far, lousy facilitator.

Speaking of Mr. Flynn and the anticipated PGBR (Point Guard Battle Royale), he scored 12 of his 20 points in the final 9:40 of the game, well after the game was decided. This isn't a complaint. Rather, it's a hope that the Wolves quickly figure out that Mr. Flynn can get pretty much wherever he wants to go with the ball in the 1/2 court and that he might be the team's best scoring option when the offense isn't clicking. In other words, when they start a quarter on a -8 run and nothing seems to be working, Flynn might be a more attractive offensive option than what Big Al is currently bringing to the mix. Flynn's PPR is a terrible -4.5 at the moment. Hopefully he'll begin to figure out the facilitation thing but for the time being he's a scorer, and a fairly decent one for having just 6 games under his belt. What I'm getting at here is that if Flynn is going to be a scorer, part of his development will be to figure out when to take it to the rim on 4 or 5 straight possessions when the game is still on the line, not when it's already decided. BTW: Here's hoping and praying that 4th Quarter Flynn never makes its way of the Wolves' PR Department's lexicon.

A few bullet points to wrap things up:

Al Jefferson was absolutely manhandled by Andrew Bogut.
Luke Ridnour won the PGBR.
Andrew Bogut went to the bench with 2 fouls with just under 5 minutes to go in the 1st quarter. The Wolves were up by 7 at the time and they couldn't take advantage of having the big guy on the bench. This is where the game was really lost. The Wolves could have put the Bucks away in the later part of the 1st and the opening part of the 2nd. Instead, we were treated to some of the ugliest ball of the year: bad shooting, turnovers, terrible decisions, and so on and so forth.
Speaking of awfulness, this game probably had worse reffing than the Celtics tilt. My favorite stretch was when Big Al swiped at a ball in Bogut's hands, missed, and hit him in the face. This happened right in front of the Bucks' bench and Scott Skiles went nuts and got a technical. A minute later Big Al made a nice drive to the hoop, was hacked by Bogut (which would have been his 3rd foul in the 1st half), and was not given a whistle...in other words, it was the 3rd or 4th makeup call of the night in a managed game that 100% absolutely did not need to be managed. The refs didn't cost the Wolves the game but they did make a hefty contribution to the unentertaining nature of the contest. I'm putting my vote in for the makeup call being the worst thing in the NBA.
After a 4-16 effort from the floor, Brandon Jennings saw his FG% dip from .429 to .395. As was mentioned in yesterday's preview post, Jennings takes around a quarter of his shots from beyond the arc. Yesterday 4 of his 16 shots were from beyond the arc and he is down to .409 from .440. He is going to be an exciting player but the shot just isn't there and I think it's pretty obvious that he simply had a hot 3 game streak to start his career. That being said, his facilitation game is clearly ahead of Flynn right now. This may have a lot to do with the different systems being run by the Wolves and the Bucks (Jennings looked great running plays that Flynn would run were he on the Bucks).
Comment of the night:

This game is kind of spooky...

Like watching us play ourselves.

by mutleyil on Nov 6, 2009 8:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Indeed.

Yesterday I put up a post about Rick Kamla's questionable comment about Yi Jianlian and my disbelief that he could continue to do interviews on outlets like KFAN and not be questioned about his remarks. In the interest of a greater context, I would like to point out that there is a much, much, much bigger black eye in the NBA right now and his name is Donald Sterling.

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Donald Sterling, owner of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers, agreed to pay $2.73 million to settle a U.S. government lawsuit in which he was accused of housing discrimination.

The payment is the largest ever obtained by the government in a discrimination case involving apartment rentals, the Justice Department said today in a statement.

"Housing is a basic human need, and yet decades after passage of the Fair Housing Act far too many still encounter barriers like discrimination," Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said in the statement. "The magnitude of this settlement should send a message to all landlords that we will vigorously pursue violations of the Fair Housing Act."

The government sued Sterling in August 2006, saying he discriminates against black and Hispanic prospective tenants in buildings he owns in Los Angeles’s Koreatown area. Sterling owns about 119 apartment buildings in Los Angeles County, according to the Justice Department’s statement.

Sterling is a slumlord who likes to pay for sex:

Donald Sterling, the miserly tycoon who owns the Los Angeles Clippers, testified last year that he regularly paid a Beverly Hills woman for sex, describing her as a $500-a-trick "freak" with whom he coupled "all over my building, in my bathroom, upstairs, in the corner, in the elevator." Sterling's graphic testimony--which came during a two-day pretrial deposition in connection with a lawsuit he filed against the woman, Alexandra Castro--will surely nettle basketball commissioner David Stern, who normally has to explain away the behavior of 20-something athletes, not married 70-year-old club owners worth nearly a billion.

It kind of puts the dress code in an entirely new context, doesn't it?

There's more. The ultimate must-read article in the Sterling collection is this ESPN ditty, which contains the following gems:

"For years he has run semianonymous ads (crude design jobs he reportedly locks up himself) seeking 'hostesses' for Clippers events and his private parties. ... According to testimony Jaksy gave under oath, Sterling touched her in ways that made her uncomfortable and asked her to visit friends of his for sex. Sterling also repeatedly ordered her to find massage therapists to service him sexually, telling her, 'I want someone who will, you know, let me put it in or who [will] suck on it.'"

And:

"When Sterling first bought the Ardmore, he remarked on its odor to Davenport. 'That's because of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean,' he said, according to Davenport's testimony. 'And it's because of all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day.' He added: 'So we have to get them out of here.' ...[Kandynce] Jones had repeatedly walked to the apartment manager's office to plead for assistance, according to sworn testimony given by her daughter Ebony Jones in the Housing Rights Center case. Kandynce Jones' refrigerator dripped, her dishwasher was broken, and her apartment was always cold. Now it had flooded. Davenport reported what she saw to Sterling, and according to her testimony, he asked: 'Is she one of those black people that stink?' When Davenport told Sterling that Jones wanted to be reimbursed for the water damage and compensated for her ruined property, he replied: 'I am not going to do that. Just evict the bitch.'"

Deadspin has more. As long as this man owns an NBA team, anything that comes out of David Stern's mouth about player conduct should be taken with an appropriately large grain of salt. BTW: It's kind of amazing that such a big stink was made about Rush Limbaugh owning an NFL team when guys like Sterling are around.

BTW: Here are the Four Factors of last night's game:

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Milwaukee	91.0	95.6	45.7%	14.6	36.2	20.9
Minnesota		79.1	41.9%	13.5	19.0	23.1

Recap: Bucks 87, Wolves 72

Frank Madden — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:37:15 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

Throw it down, big fella!

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Box Score

Flashy rookies? High-scoring games? Who needs 'em. For the Redd-less Bucks, ugly might as well be the new pretty.

Following a lackluster first half, the Bucks turned the screws defensively in the third quarter and found their offensive rhythm long enough to turn a five point halftime deficit into a double-digit lead. Andrew Bogut easily outplayed Al Jefferson on his way to a second straight double-double (17/10, four dimes, two blocks, two steals), and Hakim Warrick and Luke Ridnour came up big in the second half to balance out the Bucks' attack..

The big story coming in was understandably the Brandon Jennings/Jonny Flynn matchup, but the two rooks were relatively quiet until Flynn (20 points on 17 shots, one assist, three steals, three turnovers) went off for 12 points in the final 7 minutes. Jennings (nine pts, 4/16 fg, six rebounds, three assists, one turnover) wasn't even in the game at that point, as Luke Ridnour's strong shooting night (6/9 fg, 16 points) allowed Skiles to rest his starter for the entire fourth quarter. Before that point, both rookies showed occasional flashes of their talent, but neither got into a real rhythm until the Bucks had put the game away.

Three Bucks

Andrew Bogut. The big guy typically feasts on undersized teams. and tonight was no different. Just as in Chicago, the Bucks tried to use Bogut in some different ways and it worked to good effect. Bogut took Jefferson and Ryan Hollins off the dribble as well as down in the post, and Jennings also found him for a couple easy buckets off well-devised back-screens. By the end of the game Minnesota was doubling Bogut every time he touched it, a welcome sign given how rusty Bogut looked in the opening two contests.

It was a bit less enjoyable watching Bogut take a couple hard falls in the process, but despite some pained looks he refused treatment from the Bucks' bench. And it also didn't stop him from taking a handful of charges as well. Just as importantly, Bogut helped the Bucks control the boards and did his part to keep Jefferson from going off on the other end.

Hakim Warrick. Despite a favorable matchup against Oleksiy Pecherov, Warrick was nowhere to be found in the first half. No shots. No free throws. But with Jennings' shot not falling, the Bucks needed somebody other than Bogut to provide a shot in the arm, and Warrick seemed to get the message with an 11 point third quarter (5/6 fg) that featured a flurry of dunks off nice looks from teammates. He made one more free throw in the final period, but overall that one quarter of energy and aggression was enough.

Luke Ridnour. Before the season started I had assumed we'd see Ridnour finishing off a decent share of games. Can't trust rookies, right? Then after three games that started to seem kind of ridiculous.

Well, the vet can still get the job done from time to time. Though Flynn lit him up in the waning minutes, Ridnour stepped up with 12 points late in the third and early in the fourth, stroking a series of jumpers that helped the Bucks' reserves improbably expand the lead after Bogut and Jennings sat down. And when we might otherwise have expected Jennings to check back in, Skiles opted to reward his vet with some more burn. Judging by Flynn's success against him it may have been time to give Ridnour a rest, but overall it's tough to complain.

Three Numbers

51. Even without Kevin Love, Minnesota looked far more active on the glass in the early going and grabbed six offensive boards in the first quarter. Fortunately, the Bucks got their act together, grabbing 17 offensive boards and winning the battle of the boards 51-38.

+2. Defending without fouling? Imagine that. The Bucks didn't get to the line much (12/18 ft), but Minnesota was largely content to hoist jumpers and never really tested the Bucks' mettle inside. Minny made only 4/14 from deep and shot just 39%.

29. No Buck cracked 30 minutes, which is a nice thing to see on the front end of a back-to-back.

Three Good

D'ed Up. The T'Wolves aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut, but holding an NBA team to 72 points is still something to be proud of. The Wolves were never able to generate consistent offense from any source, whether it was on the block with Jefferson or in PnR with Flynn, and the Bucks as usual managed to deflect, scrap and hustle their way into forcing 20 turnovers. Bravo.

Glass Crashers. The Bucks' loss in Chicago was largely a product of their inability to protect the boards, so it was encouraging to see a better performance this time out. Bogut led the way, but everyone else was active, as seven players had at least four rebounds.

Containing Big Al. Jefferson was consistently catching 15 feet away from the hoop, which was crucial to limiting his impact on the game. The Bucks also did well to avoid bailing him out with fouls when he chose to drive. Novel concept. Of course, even when Jefferson did get to the line he looked off, missing four of six from the stripe. It might have been a different story if Jefferson was at 100%, but whatever. Jefferson's been a double-double machine in recent years, so any night you hold him to single-digit points (8) and rebounds (8) on 12 shots, you've gotta be happy.

Three Bad

Brandon's shot...and Jodie's game. They're still rookies I guess. We knew Jennings would have a bad shooting night eventually, but we can take solace in the fact that it came on a night when Ridnour couldn't miss. For the most part he was getting good looks, but he still airballed a couple jumpers and rushed a couple early in the shot clock.

Jode Meeks also got his first extended minutes of the season, playing 19 minutes but mostly just showing why Skiles had been hesitant to give him any burn up until now (2/8 fg, 0/2 3fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 to, 6 pts). He mishandled a couple passes in the early going before he scored his first hoop on a transition layup near the end of the first quarter, then missed a series of good perimeter looks. His only other field goal was an exceptionally difficult catch-and-shoot from the left corner that he buried while slightly off-balance and with a guy in his grill. Hopefully it was mainly just an issue of nerves tonight, because his perimeter shooting could be of real use with Redd out and Bell/Delfino misfiring.

Refs. They weren't as noticeable in the second half, but it seemed like the refs were determined to make sure neither team got into any rhythm in the first half. Lots of chintsy fouls, lots of makeup calls, and a million moving screen calls. It didn't seem to favor either team, but it still managed to take away from the game. Well done, Derrick Stafford, Brian Forte, and Gary Zielinski

Scorekeepers. Jennings had at least five assists by my count--ie passes that immediately led to dunks, layups or made baskets with no dribble or hesitation--but the Minnesota scorekeepers apparently aren't big on assists. They might not be biased, either, considering that the home side was credited with just 11 dimes. Fittingly, the live box score was also screwed up much of the night, and Jim/Jon reported inconsistent numbers coming from the arena stat system.

Bad Ball

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:21:54 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

about 1 month ago: Minnesota Timberwolves' Corey Brewer scores as Cleveland Cavaliers' Mo Williams looks on in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 in Minneapolis. Brewer scored 11 points in the Timberwolves' 104-87 loss to the Cavaliers. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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Near the bottom of last night's comments a few important things were pointed out:

Anthony Parker

has 6 points from 2/7 shooting and was +23

That statistic has very definite limitations.

Judd: "...I've since watched some Steven Seagal movies and I realise that pressure points are no laughing matter.".

by Auswolf on Oct 31, 2009 12:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

...

Hey, everyone:

This was a game against one of the top 3 teams in the league, 0-2 start be damned.

I think we would all benefit by making literally no — not a single one ~~- definitive statements about the team after this game. Of course Flynn was going to have a terrible +/~~. Of course we were going to look bad. Do not worry about it. Hold your judgements for when we get blown out by a bad team.

Thank you, and good night.

by LoveTo on Oct 31, 2009 12:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

There are going to be a few things that we all need to keep in mind when discussing the Wolves this season:

They are going to put up some crooked stat lines.
+/- is going to be even more flawed than usual as a stand-alone stat used to gauge individual game performances. The Wolves are going to take it in the chin this year on more than a few occasions. That doesn't mean that individual players won't play well within any given blow-out (Brewer played decent during last night's atrocity). It also doesn't account for the roles that certain players inhabit (Ramon Sessions as a backup point; Sasha Pavlovic as a defender off the bench) or the fact that the team's two best players are either inactive or playing at 70%. +/- is a nice part of the equation but it will need to be downgraded this year as the Wolves, as a whole, are going to be going through some bumps and bruises beyond what was expected last year when they had the ability to trot out a relatively respectable and experienced lineup of Sebastian Telfair, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Kevin Love, and Al Jefferson. Also, we're really, really, really early in the season and until we see how some of these lineups look over the course of 10-15 games, +/- is going to have some pretty hefty limitations and should be used in conjunction with other observations/stats. For instance, Jonny Flynn ended last night's game with a -23 in 25 minutes. This is a bad, bad number but it could mean that he was on the court with the team's most ineffective front court (Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, and Damien Wilkins) and LeBron James for a long period of time. It could also mean that Jonny Flynn is not an NBA point at the moment and while he can score until the cows come home, he has some fairly big issues facilitating the offense. Or, it could be a combo of the two factors. Either way, simply citing +/- isn't going to cut it with this team right now.
Al Jefferson is not anywhere near 100%. Yes, it looks like he has no business being in the new offense and he is the last person on earth you want directing traffic out of the high post, but a serious injury is still a serious injury and the Jefferson Discount should be taken into account when discussing his overall worth to the squad.

I'm sure we can come up with a few more gentle nudges for game discussion but these are the ones that have quickly risen to the top in the first two games of the season.

Enough about the Wolves for a second. The most notable thing about last night's game, for me, was the composition of the Cavs. This team is not as good as it was last year and it is not a championship contender. The most glaring issue that they have is that even with LeBron on the squad, they are the most unathletic non-Wolves starting-5 team I have seen in a long, long time. Shaq and Ilgauskus may be the slowest and most earth-bound frontcourt duo in the league and their non-LeBron wings stand around the three point line and do not crash the boards. This team will be taken apart by any other squad with two players who are both athletic and above 6'10" Witness Toronto, Orlando, and Boston. Witness the change in the game when Ryan Hollins entered the contest. Hell, even Nathan Jawai was able to change the pace of the game for a few moments. This team will always have a decent shot at winning any single game because of LeBron James (who I firmly believe is the best player in the world). However, any team that is thinking about giving 80-90 minutes of court time to a Shaq, Varejao, Ilgauskus front court trio doesn't have the top end to compete with the Bostons, Orlandos, and yes, even the Torontos of the world over a 7 game series. They don't need a Steven Jackson; they needed a Rasheed Wallace or a Marcin Gortat. Mike Brown will eventually take the heat for what happens to this squad but it's the damn Dukie who did the damage.

Let's wrap this up with a few bullet points:

There is no reason on God's green earth to front or double Shaq at this point in his career. This didn't stop Al Jefferson from trying the former and Damien Wilkins from attempting the latter (off of LeBron James, no less). Make them go over the top and if they beat you with Boobie Gibson, so be it.
The FSN game was apparently brought to us by Bret Michael's November appearances at Grand Casino.
The Wolves' starting front court (Jefferson, Gomes, and Wilkins) went 0-for-their-starting-stint. The first front court bucket was made by Ryan Hollins. Sasha Pavlovic was the next front court player to score followed by the White Hole himself, Oleksiy Pecherov. The starting FC ended the game on 9-28 shooting. This comes on the heels of their 9-30 effort against the Nets.
My first Wolves prediction of the year: Ryan Gomes plays himself out of his team option at the end of the year. David Kahn isn't going to pick up a $4.2 million tab on a guy who can't really play the 3 or the 4 in a year where guys like Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick, and Travis Outlaw could be on the open market.
Speaking of options, today is the day for the White Hole and Corey Brewer. Will their options be picked up by the team? I think Brewer gets his but my money is against Pech. Putting the last two points together, ESPN currently has the Wolves with between $8.9 and $12.5 million in 2010 cap space. This is with a cap projected between $50 and $53.6 million. According to the definitive Hoopus cap page, the Wolves are on the books for roughly $37.5 in pre draft pick 2010 salaries. If they decline the options on Pech and Gomes, they can reduce that number by roughly $6.5 million. In other words, by not picking up Pech and Gomes, the Wolves can be sitting at $31 mil at the start of the 2010 free agent without taking into consideration slotted 1st round draft picks. Could the Wolves be in the Mark Stein ballpark after it's all said and done with? Yes, but they also could be at the top of the heap with about $15-18 mil to spend even after all the draft picks are signed. We think Stein and ESPN underestimate the amount that the Wolves could have to spend at the end of the year, especially if Pech and Gomes are voted off the island.
How sad is it that we're already talking offseason cap space and draft picks? Yes, it will be a long year. An entertaining one at times, but a long one nonetheless.
There was a play in the 2nd half that really illustrated just how not-there Big Al is at times. The Wolves were about to enter the bonus when the Cavs got a fast break opportunity. Instead of making his way down the court to contest the shot, Al fouled the Cavs player at half court, conceding the foul and the trip to the line. If you are willing to give the foul and the trip to the line because of the bonus, why not contest the shot?
To say one good thing about Al, he did blow by Shaq on one play like Shaq was a 37 year old 360 lbs oaf....oh wait.
Corey Brewer played solid defense on LeBron when he wasn't spending time on the dangerous Anthony Parker. I know that LeBron can get his against anyone in the league but it would have been nice to see Brewer get a bigger crack against the guy.

Well, that about does it for the game wrap. What did you notice about the game? What guidelines will you have for critiquing the team's performances? Do you think Pecherov's option gets picked up? What about Gomes at the end of the year?

Until later.

Britt Robson's 2009-10 Timberwolves Thumbnail Season Preview

wyn — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:36:37 -0000

This is the first post at Canis Hoopus by one of the best NBA writers in the nation, and hands down the best in Minnesota. Since we hope it won't be his last, please welcome Britt Robson with open arms and thoughtful comments. Or else!

First of all, my apologies to readers who wondered what happened to my Wolves writing. This summer I was approached by sportsillustrated.com regarding a regular column about the NBA in general. Since my last half-dozen items for Secrets of the City had been done gratis (through no fault of the site’s owners; it is a brutal economy and they carried me through the end of last season), this was a perfectly timed opportunity.

With a bird in the hand I went off looking for a place to post my Wolves stuff on a regular basis. Without boring you with the details, the rotten economy and the current low interest in the Wolves combined to make it extremely difficult to write about this team for even my relatively low wage (and yes, I understand many quality bloggers don’t get paid at all). The alternative is to set up my own site and ask all of you to chip in while soliciting corporate sponsors. But I’m lousy at that kind of thing, and frankly I’m so busy with other sports, music and politics assignments right now that not having the obligation of constantly doing the Wolves beat is a temporary blessing.

That said, I’ve been on this beat since 1991—coach Jimmy Rodgers was making his Wolves debut and the Twins were headed to the World Series when my first City Pages cover story on the team was published—and I want to keep it going in some way shape or form. Where, specifically, I still don’t know. But since I’ve always admired the guys and commenters at Canis, I decided this would be a good place to put up a necessarily quick and dirty Wolves preview. I’ve got a podcast today at si.com and when they asked me who else I wrote for, I impulsively said canishoopus.com. I guess I better get something up!

So, that’s three paragraphs about myself (now four) and nothing thus far about the Wolves. That’s what happens when you hit the big time.

The team you will see tonight is a disrupted work in progress. There are injuries large and small, roster imbalances, stylistic incompatibilities, and the abiding issue that the front office doesn’t even try to hide, which is that winning games is a distant third on the priority list, behind developing talent and securing future pieces (like a choice lottery pick). It is frequently going to be ugly.

In that sense, the preseason was predictably discouraging. The two best backcourt players by a wide margin—Ramon Sessions and Jonny Flynn--are very similar, and apparently too small to play together very often. The two best frontcourt players by a wide margin—Al Jefferson and Kevin Love—are likewise similar and undersized as a tandem, with the added detriment of, respectively, recovering from injury and being injured. A fifth player, Ryan Gomes, is a quality glue guy, a coach’s dream, who would be a valuable complement for any team in the NBA.

With the possible exception of Brian Cardinal, none of the players on the rest of the roster would make the nine-man rotation on a quality contender.

I understand that this noticeably excludes Corey Brewer, who after a woeful start shooting the ball, has had a fine preseason. I admit that a lot of my bias against Brewer is visual—he may be the skinniest NBA player I’ve ever seen, a virtual pencil from his neck to the ankles. It is great to see him begin to play with more confidence—his insecurity vied with his fundamentals as the main saboteur of his offense in previous years—but I don’t think he gets the call on those kamikaze drives to the hoop during the regular season, and I think as the regular rotation guys now hog the minutes, he is going to wear down and become less effective. That said, on this team he probably has an upside of 15-22 minutes as an energy boost and defensive irritant, so long as he cuts waaay back on his shots and exercises better judgment at the offensive end.

I also understand that I am dismissing some players for whom the jury should still be out, particularly seven-footers Ryan Hollins and Oleksiy Pecherov. While Kevin Love’s broken hand was extremely discouraging for Wolves fans—the fourth year in a row the first-round pick has been waylaid; Flynn and Rubio out to bubble wrap themselves throughout the next autumn—it does have the benefit of showcasing these big men for the next 6 weeks or so, and perhaps even allowing the slimmed-down Al Jefferson to play where he belongs. Of the two, Hollins seems to have the far greater upside—he actually wants to play the pivot rather than off-guard-- but even he lacks court vision seems surprised and mentally ambushed by the traffic whizzing and bashing by in the paint. Pecherov is a Euro big man, which is to say he can shoot far better than he can defend and seems more comfortable in general the further he gets from the hoop.

But it isn’t just the inexperienced kids. Interior defense is going to be a horrible flaw for this ballclub all year long. Jefferson has shown very little inclination to improve that part of his game, so let’s get this out in the open right now. Whether it is Wittman, McHale, Kahn, or Rambis, the credibility really suffers when a stir is made about what Big Al "has to do" on the defensive end. No, he doesn’t. He can play half-assed defense and still be tops on the pecking order. And that is a fundamental reason why this team should be docked a notch when you’re looking at preparations and readiness for future improvement. Quality franchises commit to defense.

Then there is the issue of what to do with the triangle offense. It is a complex scheme that takes months to develop for even savvy veterans. The question remains whether the Wolves have the right personnel to implement it this year—outside shooters and deft-passing bigs are two key components to the system. Yeah, Kevin Love in the low block is a good fit in terms of ball movement, but I would imagine that Rambis is more interested in Jefferson as high post facilitator and Love as one of the orbiters cutting and spotting out at the corner baseline. Not only is Jefferson’s skill set much better suited to the two-man game and the clear-out isolations, but the clearcut strength of both Sessions and Flynn is in getting to the basket via penetration. So, it will be interesting to see going forward how much and how thoroughly the principles of the triangle are tried.

One thing I will credit Rambis and Kahn for is living up to their notion of a running game. The Wolves aren’t the Suns nor Warriors by any stretch, nor should be they be (both of those teams will be dreadful this season). But they raced for more than 16 fast break points per game in the preseason, after getting less than 11 last year. Running, even controlled running, is a way to get easy buckets or to draw the foul. Those whistles have thus far been the biggest upgrade in the regime switch from Wittman/McHale to Rambis/Kahn. Minnesota shot a whopping 62 more free throws—nearly 8 more per game—than their opponents this preseason. That, as much as anything, is why they were able to post a 3-5 record despite shooting just 41.9% from their field while allowing their opponents to nail 48.8% of their shots.

So, to recap, Love is hurt, Jefferson is dinged, Flynn may be felled with the flu tonight and a long season awaits. The squad has two quality point guards and no off guard; two quality power forwards and no center. They are thin, talent wise and physically. They have a tremendous amount to learn and many of the people learning it won’t be around in a year or two.

I’ve generally liked the whirlwind of change Kahn has wrought, but that stuff always looks better in the offseason than when the actual games are being played. The honeymoon for the new regime should probably still be in effect, but it will be a very very small gathering for most of the season, as casual fans decide they’ll check in when the wins start mounting, which is no time soon. Meanwhile, while replacing Kevin McHale was indeed the correct move and is endorsed by most of the fan base, die-hard and casual alike, the coterie of McHale loyalists aren’t without ammunition even this early in the year.

They are right to wonder, for example, how viciously McHale would have been roasted for dealing away Ty Lawson, who had a fabulous preseason and may end up being better than both Flynn and Ricky Rubio. Perhaps they watched the Wizards upset the Mavs last night in large part because of the play of Randy Foye off the bench, and the value of no-shoot Mike Miller on a squad that doesn’t have enough touches to go around. Or maybe they saw Bassy and the Rhino provide a non-embarrassing element to the Clippers’ bench depth in the loss to the Lakers.

Would the status quo under McHale won more games than the 20-25 the current configuration will probably register? Most likely, yes. Is the long-term future for this franchise brighter than it was a year ago? Slightly, yes. But only slightly, because throwing away the bad and setting the table for the good are important but relatively the easiest part of the rebuilding process. Getting the right, synergistic personnel—the top star or two, the vital secondary piece or two, and the appropriate glue around that core—that’s the hard part. And the work ahead.

Breaking Down a Box Score - Part II

RaptorsHQ - Howland — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Frank Gunn - AP

These guys played some heavy minutes last night. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

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The preseason has ended for the Toronto Raptors and it ended the way it started...with a L. With the regular season right around the corner let's hope the preseason performance has no bearing on what lies ahead.

Well I am happy that's over.

Now the games count.

The Raps played their last preseason game in Sioux Falls, SD and by the looks of things it wasn't pretty. The Raps, whose starters (save for Hedo Turkoglu who twisted his right ankle) played heavy minutes, lost to an undermanned and less talented Minnesota Timberwolves squad missing K Love and Al Jeff.

So what went down? Hard to say....given that the game was no-where to be found on TV or online. As a result, and for the last time this season we are left trying to break down a box score.

If the stats tell the story it looks to have been a bit of a nightmare for the Raps.

Try some of this on for size:

The Raps shot 40% from the floor and 10% from beyond the arc;
The Raps had 12 assists to their whopping 22 turnovers; and
Andrea Bargnani had more personal fouls(6) than rebounds (5) which is quite the accomplishment when he was matched-up against the likes of Olek Pecherov and Ryan Hollins.

All that aside however, the most telling stat from last night is each player's PT. It looks like Jay Triano was trying to distribute minutes like he would during a regular season match-up.

Bosh - 36 mins
Calderon - 39 mins
Bargnani - 28 (fouled out)
Jack - 26 mins
Wright - 27 mins

It looks like this was a true test of what the Raps have and where they are as a team...and the results were not good. Having your big players get beat by the likes of Corey Brewer, Jonny Flynn and the aforementioned Hollins can't be good for the confidence going into the regular season.

Of course you don't have to look too far for an excuse for last nights loss. One could point to Hedo turning his ankle which limited him as a result. One could easily point to poor performance by Antonie Wright who is just getting back and trying to catch the feeling. Or, one could just chalk it up to a bad team effort which the stats indicate that it was. I would love to hear from someone who was at the game and get their impressions.

Whatever the reason this loss has got to be a little disappointing. The team definitely doesn't have any momentum built up heading into game 1 and there have been very few indications that they are going to be ready from the opening tip.

Actually when I reflect on the preseason as a whole I have a hard time not believing that this team isn't going to struggle in a big way to kick things off. There has been little to hang one's hopes on thus far. The offense has struggled at times, the defense looks only marginally better and the turnover numbers have been very high. Other than the fact that this team has solid depth is there anything else that has been impressive in your eyes?

Right now I see a mediocre team. I am not trying to be a downer on the situation, I just think that is the reality and a good summary of what has been shown thus far.

Perhaps the best approach is to move on to the regular season and leave the past three weeks or so behind us. Let's focus on the fact that the Raps are at the top of the Atlantic Division standings right now and hope that they put up a fight to stay there.

Everything resets as of now.

Based on what happened in Sioux Falls.....good thing.

Making it Wayne

Stop-n-Pop — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:53:53 -0000

OK, credit is due where credit is due, and I can't think of any better way to start this post than to give the Line of the Year (So Far) to LoveTo for his catchy turn of a phrase for when Wayne Ellington gets hot from beyond the arc. It's a long year and it will be a hard-fought contest, but LoveTo is in the early lead.

Getting around to the game, the Wolves finally put together 48 minutes of exciting ball. I can live with losing. I can live with being outmanned. What I can't live with is a sports entertainment franchise being boring. For far too long the Wolves have been both bad and unentertaining. Last night the Wolves scrapped, ran, moved the ball around, played scrappy defense, and out-efforted the Pistons by a wide, wide, wide margin, especially in the second half.

The Wolves had six players in double figures, two more with seven ponits apiece, 22 assists (well above their 16.3 average in the preseason), 46 FTAs, and only 9 turnovers. With their two best players out of action, the Wolves turned in an all-around team effort built on grit and hustle. The result isn't something you'd really want to bet on, but the effort was more than enough to make you want to watch...and that's about the best we can ask for with this young team.

A few random observations:

Ben Gordon is an $11 million bench player who duplicates what Rip Hamilton brings to the table...sans 4 or 5 inches.
Before the start of the Pistons game, 31.3% of the Wolves' preseason points have come from the charity stripe. That's a lot of free throws. Over 40/game to be exact. I could learn to live with that.
"Pinch Post" and "weak side action" are words casual Wolves fans will have to get used to with this new offense. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these terms, here is a link to a Pinch Post description and here's a video:

In other words, keep your eyes on the side of the court with two players. Also, get ready to fully understand why the Wolves will need a versatile swing man.

Speaking of swingmen and weak side action, the most important possession of last night's game started with just under 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter:
- 10:30: Richard Hamilton personal foul (Damien Wilkins draws the foul)
- 10:25: Richard Hamilton personal foul (Damien Wilkins draws the foul)
- 10:12: Richard Hamilton personal foul (Damien Wilkins draws the foul)
- 10:11 Jonas Jerebko personal foul (Brian Cardinal draws the foul)
That was the ballgame right there. 4 fouls in under 20 seconds and the Wolves were in the bonus with less than 2 minutes gone in the 4th quarter.
Hanny will always be a homer and he'll be easier to stomach when the Wolves finally turn the corner, but I have a feeling that J-Pete is in for a solid year of color commentating (is that even a word). I'm really looking forward to hearing how his coaching stint with the Lynx is going to affect his coverage. I want to hear about offensive sets, off the ball decision making, advanced stats, and other pro nuances and I think Jim is going to deliver. He's off to a solid start this season. Best of all, Jim is a big internet follower and I think he has a firm grasp on the role of blogs in team coverage and fan conversation. The guy knows ball and I think he's going to work his way into a solid groove where he will enable casual fans to have a much deeper understanding of the pro game.
Speaking of offenses and nuances, I was watching the Wolves' version of the Triangle and all I could think about was that one of the big things the Triangle offense is not known for is upper-level point guard play. I'm not saying that I'm not glad that Ramon Sessions, Jonny Flynn, and the rights to Ricky Rubio belong at 600 First Avenue, but does it qualify as an irony that the Triangle's "weakest" position is the one the Wolves sunk the most resources into? BTW: As a long time Bassy fan, let me put in my vote for Sebastian Telfair as the league's Most Improved Player. He was my favorite T-Wolf and I never did get my Bassy jersey. At least my daughter got an autograph.
Ramon Sessions needs more minutes. Dude can ball and he is a deceptively good defender. He hides in traffic and bursts out of nowhere into passing lanes. I have a bad feeling that Mr. Sessions will be involved in a mid-season trade.
Ryan Hollins is an athletic foul machine. He also jumped 7 feet in college. Holy. Crap.
Mr. Ellington, you are here to shoot the long ball. Good game.
Corey Brewer is showing some signs of being a...wait for it...NBA starter. For the first time in a long time, I watched a Wolves game where it was obvious that Brewer had confidence with his game and his shot. He was disruptive, all over the place, and he even had a few nice moves to the rim, one of which almost looked like George Gervin, with a sweet finger roll at the end. Brewer is my de-facto favorite Wolf now that Bassy is gone and I'm really rooting for the guy.

Well, that about does it for the wrap up. What say you?

Until later.

BTW: How cool was it to see this: