SB Nation - Sasha Pavlovic

In praise of the Big Piranha

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:07:40 -0000

Dear Wolves Marketing:

Please start selling Kevin Love. Please see the attached video for a suggestion about how local sports franchises actually feature their players in TV ads. The ad practically writes itself: Nick Punto and Michael Cuddyer are sitting in a ice shanty on a lake watching video of Kevin Love grabbing rebound after rebound after rebound. Cuddy looks over to Punto and says something along the line of "Winter piranhas, who knew?" Fade to black and a sign that says "Come see the Big Piranha." Show the ticket hot line and cut!

Thank you,

Stop-n-Pop

Moving on, last night's post game show contained something of a big moment for the FSN crew. During the game wrap, analyst (and fellow former Bloomington Kennedy Eagle) Mike McCallow said something that we here at Hoopus have been saying since the latter part of last season: Kevin Love is the best player on this team. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, and more yes.

I know we're in danger of getting repetitive on this point, but the reason why Kevin Love is the best player on the Wolves is simple: He does the most stuff. Last night he was 9-14 from the floor with 16 boards (5 offensive) and 20 points. He controlled the defensive glass, he started fast breaks, he sealed off defenders for easy angles to the bucket for the team's guards, and he even ran a successful 1-on-1 fast break against Tyreke Evans. Al Jefferson can be the best post scorer in the league but that's probably all he could ever be. Love's impact on the game won't be as deep in a single area, but it will be much, much, much wider. When this team gets good (and it will), Kevin Love is going to be its MVP. He will be a much larger-scaled version of what Ozzie Guillen talked about here:

"That's special stuff over there," Guillen said of the Twins club. "All those guys, they don't have big money or big stars, but the way they go about their business is awesome. That's why I call them the little piranhas, because they beat you to death. I would rather someone hit a home run with the bases loaded in the ninth rather then get murdered little by little. Those guys bite you little by little and, all of a sudden, you wake up and you are dead."

Instead of extra bases and hard slides, Love will bite the other teams with hard screens, impossible tips to teammates, and outlet passes. Each one won't seem like much all by itself, but at the end of the day, someone is going to wake up dead. And yes, that's one of the best sports quotes of the decade. Thank you Ozzie.

A few notes from the game:

Why on earth did the Kings not roll with their large front court lineup of Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson? Did the Kings' coaching staff not see what they did to Love and Jefferson last weekend?
Tyreke Evans is a dominant physical presence but he's going to have to figure out what to do on nights when his shot isn't falling.
Sasha Pavlovic is not an NBA player right now. His worst play last night was when Kevin Love screened off a wide-open angle to the lane for Pavs and instead of going right up with the layup he went under the rim and was forced to pass it off. It's almost like he's forgotten the basic language of basketball...if that makes sense.
Another win, another solid wing performance. How much more evidence do we need that the Wolves need a solid (and consistent) wing player more than anything else?

That does it for tonight. Bottom line: Kevin Love + competent wing and point play = W.

Gotta run.

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)

Browse more photos »

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.

Phoenix Suns Season Preview (For SBN)

Wil Cantrell — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:59:51 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Bull - AP

The Suns playoff hopes may rest on Amare Stoudemire's shoulders. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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The good foilks at SB Nation have requested a team preview contribution from BSOTS. ZONAFLASH did an awesome preview that I will not be attempting to outshine. Instead, here's the bare bones that we all have been agonizing over.

Also, be sure to check the team previews at:

http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/9/19/1037258/nba-blog-previews-2009-schedule

Team Name: Phoenix Suns

Last Year's Record: 46-36

Key Losses: Shaquille O'Neal, Matt Barnes (not really a "Key" loss)

Key Additions: Channing Frye, Earl Clark

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

Extended Steve Nash
Resigned Grant Hill
Signed Channing Frye
Drafted Earl Clark and Taylor Griffin
Traded Shaquille O'Neal for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic and executed buyouts with each. ($, addition by subtraction)

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

Offense. The running mentality has been restored. There will be consistent emphasis on continuing to be a team that wants to run and score a lot of points thereby playing to its strengths.

Motivation. Amare Stoudemire is out to show that he is healthy and worthy of a maximum extension. The team acknowledges the low expectations from fans and media alike and are looking to play with a chip on their shoulder.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Defense. The team is undersized. Channing Frye and Amare Stoudemire will most likely act as underized 5's for the Suns until Robin Lopez returns from injury. Rebounding will be difficult with such a small team whose focus is on scoring a lot of points.

Age and Injury. Keeping Nash and Stoudemire healthy is vital to the success of this team. Nash is aging and tends to wear down over the course of a season. Hopefully Goran Dragic can turn into a dependable back up and be able to provide Nash with plenty of time to rest. Stoudemire is attempting to return from a serious eye injury. Injuries to these two players could spell doom for the 2009-10 Suns.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Getting back to being a playoff contender. The team seems happy as a whole which means a lot to a squad of guys who had to deal with plenty of on the court and off the court issues last year.

SPECIAL BONUS QUESTION!

5. Can Amare Stoudemire return from a career threatening injury and lead the Suns back to the playoffs?

Projected Finish: 48-34, 2nd Place Pacific Division, 8th seed in the playoffs.

Suns Other Preview Stories:

Part 1 - Looking Back - by Wil Cantrell
Part 2 - Assessing the Offseason - by ZonaFlash
Part 3 - The Roster - by watdogg10
Part 4 - The Competition - a PanamaSun and JSun production
Part 5-The Wrap Up by PHX Stan

The Road to the Promised Land is Fraught With Difficulty

C.A. Clark — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:12:58 -0000

We here at Silver Screen and Roll have done just about everything we can to prepare you for the upcoming season. We’ve looked at everybody on the team, all 5 positions, and even the coaches. We’ve identified the important and telling statistical features to pay attention to in the upcoming season. We’ve even taken you on a bit of a history lesson, looking at how things played out every other time the Lakers have attempted to defend a championship. The only thing left to do is spend some time talking about the teams that are the most likely to keep L.A. from reaching the intended destination: Repeat champions.

In former seasons, a Contenders preview might have been a short piece. Earlier this decade, for example, one would really only have to mention the Kings and the Spurs, and perhaps pay lip service to whichever Eastern Conference teams were likely to be served up as sacrificial lambs to the almighty Western Conference. In the 80’s, the entire piece would probably be about Boston (until Detroit got involved later in the decade). Philadelphia was good in the early part of the decade, and Milwaukee was always pretty strong, but in the end, it was likely going to be Boston and L.A. This year is different. This year, there are four main contenders the Lakers will have to deal with, and each one of them has a legitimate chance to win the title, at least on paper. And paper is all that we can deal with at this point.

What does the paper tell us? It tells us this season is going to be something special. Historically special, if you ask me. So many circumstances have come together to create a perfect storm of ridiculously talented teams.

The Summer of 2010 has created a very unique free agency situation, where the only teams interested in adding players are those who think they can win a title. All other teams are content to sit this season out so that they have the necessary cap space to go after the big name free agents next season. That’s why you’ve seen deals like Artest and Sheed for the Mid Level Exception, Brandon Bass for less than the MLE. Hell, even Odom’s 8 mil per year probably wouldn’t happen in a normal year, somebody would have out bid us for Odom’s services, but nobody wants to commit long term money this year, unless they are going for broke.
Adding to this "Contenders will spend, everyone else will not" mode is that the economy sucks (both in general, and specifically related to the NBA). There are lots of small market teams who are losing a lot of money, and they don’t want to shell out for anything. In fact, they are pretty much willing to give you anybody on their team for a contract that won’t last as long, or isn’t fully guaranteed.
There are three teams who are legitimately in "This is our last chance, we have to give it everything we have" mode. Boston and San Antonio have aging core players who will only get worse as seasons pass. And Cleveland has to win this year so that they can convince The King not to jump ship in the offseason. That, combined with factor #1 and #2, has led to deals like Richard Jefferson and Shaq being traded for expiring contracts. And Boston and Cleveland signed an entire roster’s worth of decent players to come off the bench.
Further adding to the economic uncertainty of the entire league, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire in 2011, and there is a very decent chance that a work stoppage will occur at that time, because the owners have made it clear that many things will have to change, or the smaller market teams may go out of business. The main point here is: If you aren’t building a team that can win in the next two seasons, you might as well not even bother.

The result of all of these collective circumstances coming together is not one, but 5 incredibly good teams. If you don’t believe me, consider this statement. Every team that has participated in the NBA Finals in the last three seasons is entering this season with a team which is better than the one that won a championship, or came close. There are 5 teams this year which might all be better than the champions of the past three seasons. I can’t verify it with research, but I’d be willing to bet a small fortune that this has never happened before. In fact, taking it one step further, if you assume that San Antonio is a better version of their own previous championship-winning teams this year, you could make a legitimate case that any one of the 5 best teams from this year might be better than ALL of the past champions dating back to the beginning of the post Lakers dynasty. There is simply no precedent for this level of improvement in so many championship quality teams.

I think this will go down as the most top heavy season in NBA history. All four of these teams (plus the Lakers of course) could win 60 games. If (and this is of course the big if) all 5 teams stay relatively healthy, I think all 5 will do it, because these teams are all that good, and they all know that there are 4 other teams which are just as good as they are. Everyone will be looking for every advantage they can get, and home court advantage is the biggest prize that can be had. They say that the regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. This year, such an attitude will see you get left in the dust. All these teams know it, and all of them (except maybe San Antonio) will come out of the gate hard and never turn back. As I’ve written before, I think that it is possible a team could win 70 games this season, and NOT win the NBA championship. There are simply no impossible scenarios this year.

Sorry for the extremely long intro. In truth, it could and should be treated as its own piece regarding the nature of the NBA this season. Now, without further ado, here’s a breakdown of the four main contenders to the Lakers throne (in alphabetical order, so as to not stir up additional argument).

Boston Celtics

On paper, this may be the most formidable team of the bunch. Their starting 5 contains 3 Hall of Famers, a point guard who nearly averaged a triple double in a playoff series last year and is generally considered an All-Star in the making, and a brick wall for a center who’s only job is to rebound and block shots. In case you are wondering, he’s pretty good at his job. Their bench has turned from a weakness into a strength with the signings of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels to a unit already boasting a very good shooter in Eddie House, and a decent backup power forward in Big Baby Davis.

The Celtics’ defense is what makes this team so potentially special. Two years ago, they were one of the better defenses of all time (statistically proven). They still have the same core of guys, although the loss of James Posey definitely hurts them on that side of the ball. With the addition of Rasheed Wallace (in his prime, a very good defender), the potential exists for this team to be even better on defense than they were two years ago, which is a scary thought.

Unfortunately for the C’s, the regular season and the playoffs aren’t played out on paper. While the Celtics have the best potential for greatness of the four teams previewed here, they also have the biggest question marks. I’m sorry, I meant question mark. Because any analysis of the Celtics’ potential boils down to one question, what are they getting from KG? If KG is at his best, returning to the form he had two years ago, captaining the Celtics’ defense and instilling them with the intensity and mentality for which he is known, the Celtics become an extremely difficult team to beat. If he remains limited, because his knee injury isn’t an injury at all, instead just wear and tear at the end of a very long career, then the Celtics become very beatable. Not as vulnerable as last year, because picking up Sheed should help them if Garnett turns out to be limited again, but not a favorite, especially in this stacked field. The Celtics’ entire season hinges almost entirely on the health of Kevin Garnett. There are other questions (will Pierce and Allen decline at all? Was Sheed’s failure last season due to lack of motivation, or deterioration of skill and athleticism), but in the end, KG decides almost everything for them.

A Lakers-Celtics matchup in this year’s Finals would be almost as if envisioned by God himself. Sure, there’s the rivalry itself, the major media markets involved, but the main factor is the style of play these two teams possess. They are the NBA’s Yin and Yang. Kelly Dwyer described these two teams so perfectly at the beginning of last season (before KG went down) that I simply have to use that description.

The Lakers are a devastating offensive team who play defense so well you can’t possibly hope to outscore them. The Celtics are a devastating defensive team who play offense so well you can’t possibly hope to keep them from outscoring you.

That’s why, in terms of being able to observe a legendary matchup, Lakers-Celtics should be what you root for. In terms of who the matchups favor, that’s a tough, tough question. If KG is what he should be, Pau will have to prove once and for all that he can handle KG’s physicality, and Bynum will have to have success against a very good post defender in Perkins. Also, the Lakers ability to handle the pick and roll will be vital to success against Boston, because the PG position is the only place where the Celtics have a clear cut advantage on the floor.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The truth is, no one really knows what to make of this Cavaliers team, because their regular season and the end of their playoff run were so incongruous. Is the real Cavaliers team the one that won 66 games, good for home court advantage throughout the playoffs? Or is it the team that crashed out to the Orlando Magic, lucky to extend that series even 6 games, even though the Magic were without their All-Star point guard and the Cavs had no serious injuries?

The answer to that question? None of the above, because this year’s team bears little resemblance to last year’s squad. Gone are Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, entering are Shaq, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe (once he recovers from injury). This is a completely different team, which is why the Cavs have the greatest potential of any of the 5 to fail. The addition of Shaq cost them basically nothing, in terms of player personnel. But Shaq changes the way a team plays offense, and it will be interesting to see how well he is incorporated to the offense, while maintaining the same model which enjoyed success last season. Also, the addition of Shaq does little to address the matchup problems which Orlando created for Cleveland last season. They still appear to be a team that can be pick and rolled to death, as neither Shaq nor Big Z have the quickness to be able to do much with a quick guard coming off the screen. But the biggest question, the biggest problem, facing this Cavaliers team doesn’t have to do with players at all. The Cavs might struggle more this season because they lost Jon Kuester, who was the offensive mastermind that turned the Cavs offense from a slightly upgraded version of the Los Angeles Kobes (circa 2005) into a very decent offensive team last year. Kuester is now the head coach for the Pistons, and his offensive mind has not been replaced. That, combined with head coach Mike Brown’s lack of offensive acumen, and the addition of an offense changing force like Shaq, could be the biggest issue with the Cavs recapturing even last season’s success.

Still, this is a team that won 66 games last season, and they have improved their depth over last season’s squad. And they have LeBron James. Regardless of where you fall on the James scale, there is simply no denying that he is a dynamic force that is capable of carrying a team. If the Cavs overachieved last season, he’s the reason why. No team with LeBron is going to be a bad one, and he has more talent around him than he’s ever had before.

A Lakers-Cavs matchup would have a ton of storylines attached to it. Kobe vs. LeBron. Shaq vs. the Lakers (and Shaq vs. Kobe specifically). Nike (and something like 10 other sponsors) would have an absolute field day. That said, for me the Lakers cause far more matchup problems with the Cavs than the Cavs do with the Lakers. They played twice last season and the Lakers won relatively comfortably both times. Despite all their success, one never got the impression that the Cavs were better than the Lakers in a head to head matchup last season, and I see too many questions this season to believe that has changed.

Orlando Magic

More than any other team on this list, the Orlando Magic are in a similar situation to the Los Angeles Lakers. They will be good next year, there is no doubt. But they will also be good the year after that, and the year after that, and so on. Unlike Boston and San Antonio, Orlando’s core are young players. Vince Carter is no spring chicken, but Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson are both still in the ascension phase of their careers, and Rashard Lewis isn’t on the way down. Unlike Cleveland, there’s no doubt regarding their young star’s presence on this team for years to come. Like LA (with Bynum, Farmar, Brown etc.), Orlando has the greatest possibility of improvement simply because their players are still improving. Howard should continue to develop an offensive game, and Nelson was having a truly breakout year before he got seriously injured.

However, unlike LA, Orlando was very busy in the offseason. They allowed Hedo Turkoglu to sign with another team, but they traded for Vince Carter, who is theoretically an upgrade over what Hedo provided. They also signed Brandon Bass, and pimp slapped the Dallas Mavericks by matching Dallas’ offer for Marcin Gortat, after Dallas did not match Orlando’s offer for Bass. It remains to be seen, but they appear to have significantly improved upon a very good team, especially considering they made the Finals with Jameer Nelson playing the role of "The Shell of Jameer Nelson". A healthy Nelson alone would be reason for this team to be optimistic about their chances. However, they were taken to 7 games by a depleted Celtics roster, and Boston does have the personnel to deal with Orlando’s matchup nightmare, Rashard Lewis. So it’s easy to see why the Magic felt the need to make so many plays to try and keep ahead of the curve in the Eastern Conference.

Similar to the Lakers situation, the Magic’s season will be defined by how well they incorporate their new star player into a very successful, and somewhat unorthodox, offensive system. If the ball gets sticky in Vince Carter’s hands, and he isn’t as successful a playmaker as Turkoglu was, Orlando might not be as successful. Then again, Vince Carter’s best is far beyond Hedo’s best, so it seems likely that everything gets worked out. VC isn’t the best defender in the world, and Orlando was a very good defensive team last season, but Howard is the best backstop in the league, so VC’s defensive weaknesses will be somewhat masked. Besides, when was Hedo ever known as a defensive juggernaut.

A matchup between Orlando and LA doesn’t seem particularly interesting to me, if only because we have seen it so recently. Yes, a few of the faces have changed, but the core matchup problems still exist, and those matchups seem to be heavily in favor of L.A. Although Bass should help them in the rebounding category, he is still very undersized, and the Lakers should be able to take advantage of their very good length, regardless of whether Bass or Lewis is playing PF. The only area that the Magic truly have the advantage against LA is at the PG position, and Jameer Nelson was definitely the main reason why Orlando swept LA during the regular season, but Orlando has gotten worse, not better, at defending on the perimeter, so if the two do end up re-matching last year’s Finals, look for Kobe to have even more success than he had the year previous.

San Antonio Spurs

Always included in a list of contenders, the Spurs are the only team on this list that weren’t particularly good last year. They limped into the playoffs (literally and figuratively) before exiting in Round One to a Dallas Mavericks team that seems to consistently have their number. So, if they are to truly be included in this list, they clearly have the furthest to travel from last season’s mediocrity. And yet, here they are, undisputedly included amongst the league’s best. I guess a core that has won 3 championships, and is led by one of, if not the, greatest power forwards of all time, gives you a little bit of street cred.

And yet San Antonio would probably not be on this list if they didn’t make what has to be the most one sided trade since Pau to the Lakers. The terms of that trade with the Milwaukee Bucks? Richard Jefferson, a former All-Star, for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas. Of the three, only Thomas is still on the Bucks roster. And that’s not all San Antonio did. They signed Antonio McDyess to be their big man off the bench. They drafted Dejuan Blair, despite the fact that he apparently has no knees, and are making every team who let him slide through the first round look foolish as Blair looks like an absolute beast. The kid may not last 5 years in the league, but the Spurs are going to get a huge Return on Investment while he’s here. It’s quite possible the Spurs have had the most successful summer of all, but they needed to do so in order to even be included on this list.

Like Boston, San Antonio’s entire season is defined by how healthy their stars are. I guess all teams can be defined this way, but San Antonio’s case is special, because they have the most injury prone star of any of these teams, Manu Ginobli. A healthy Ginobli is a game changing force, fearlessly driving the lane, getting layups at ridiculous angles, hitting 3’s and making plays for his entire team. A Ginobli hampered by injury is depressing, trying to do all the things he knows he can do, and having no success. San Antonio hasn’t seen healthy Ginobli in the playoffs since their last championship, three years ago. That’s why the Lakers beat San Antonio with little trouble in 2008, and why the Spurs were dispatched in the first round in 2009. If anything, trading for Jefferson has better prepared the Spurs to deal with an injury to Ginobli, but if he isn’t 100% come playoff time, it’s hard to imagine the Spurs making it through the Gauntlet to give TD a 5^th ring. But Ginobli isn’t even the Spurs most important health concern, just the most troubling. The most important is, of course, Tim Duncan. Duncan is getting up in years, and in games played, and he definitely took a step back in 2009, the type of step back that won’t be reversed by another step forward. If Duncan continues on the slow, steady decline rate, and Ginobli is healthy, the Spurs are a force to be reckoned with, backed by more Championship experience than any other team in the mix. But if Duncan drops off considerably, or even worse, his body starts giving up on him, the Spurs simply can’t be successful without their anchor in the middle.

A Spurs-Lakers matchup is extremely likely, as they do seem to be the cream of the crop in the Western Conference. It’s a matchup that always excites, but the new faces this time around make it a bit tough to analyze properly. Tony Parker will always kill LA, and his speed is absolute death to Derek Fisher. However, the Spurs no longer have a Bruce Bowen type to even slow down Kobe Bryant. Ginobli will need to be at his absolute peak to even have a chance at matching up with Kobe, and if he isn’t, Bryant will be able to dominate enough to counter-balance the Spurs advantage at the point. Artest should be able to do alright with Jefferson, and you have to like the Lakers front court depth over the Spurs’, even if Duncan is close to as good as he is capable of at this point.

Some quick snippets on the sleepers

Portland has the greatest potential of any team to crash this Big 5. They have a ton of young talent, and they made a huge jump from two years ago to last year. Another huge jump is quite possible. But, in the end, they need too many people to improve, and have to change their entire team mentality regarding defense, so it seems unlikely. Besides, even if they do join the ranks of the elite, it will be their first time on the dance floor when they come up against the championship experience of the Lakers or the Spurs, and it’s a pretty safe bet they won’t be able to handle the pressure, even if everything else is equal. They are still 1-2 years away.
Dallas has made improvements, but they have serious holes on the defensive side of things. Besides, I’m not sold at all on Shawn Marion’s ability to change the dynamic of a team that, even at its best, was a step behind a few other teams in the West
Denver seems likely to fall back down to earth this season. I don’t see any particular reason to expect dramatic improvement over last year’s squad, and last year’s squad had a great deal of things go right for them. I expect them to take a step back.
Washington is an interesting team in the East. They’ve added a bunch of pieces, and getting a player like Arenas back is nothing to sneeze at. They have to prove to be worth their salt on defense before anybody will consider them a threat to the 3 powers already residing in the East.

Sorry for the tome, but this subject just keeps on going and going. Did anybody even make it to the end? Who do you think poses the biggest threat to the Lakers’ repeat aspirations?

Poll

Who poses the greatest threat to the Lakers in 2009-2010?

Boston Celtics

459 votes

Cleveland Cavaliers

122 votes

Orlando Magic

165 votes

San Antonio Spurs

275 votes

Somebody else

125 votes

1146 votes | Poll has closed

2009 Season Preview

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:00:25 -0000

Team Name: Minnesota Timberwolves

Last Year's Record: 24-58

Key ~~Losses~~ Additions By Subtraction: Calvin Booth, Bobby Brown, Rodney Carney, Jason Collins, Randy Foye, Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants, Mike Miller, Kevin Ollie, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Shelden Williams, Kevin McHale.

Honorary Member of the Addition By Subtraction club: Mark Blount.

Key Additions: Wayne Ellington, Jonny Flynn, Ryan Hollins, Sasha Pavlovic, Oleksiy Pecherov, Jared Reiner, Ramon Sessions, Damien Wilkins, Kurt Rambis, Bill Laimbeer, Reggie Theus, Dave Wohl.

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

Grab a chair folks, this could take a while.

I think the best way to illustrate just how much has happened here in Wolves Land is to take a look at last year's opening day starting line up:

Randy Foye
Mike Miller
Corey Brewer
Ryan Gomes
Al Jefferson

...add in the key reserves:

Kevin Ollie
Rashad McCants
Rodney Carney
Craig Smith
Kevin Love

...compare them to the line up and reserves from the last game of the 08/09 season (and yes, Kevin McHale thought it would be a good idea to give the paying customers at the Target Center their own special version of a Seniors Night):

Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
Mike Miller/Rodney Carney
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
Mark Madsen/Kevin Love/Craig Smith
Jason Collins/Shelden Williams

...before finally taking a peak at the rotation in the team's first 2009/10 preseason game against Milwaukee:

Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions/Mustafa Shakur
Corey Brewer/Sasha Pavlovic/Wayne Ellington
Ryan Gomes/Damien Wilkins
Kevin Love/Brian Cardinal
Al Jefferson/Ryan Hollins/Jared Reiner

Let's take a quick peak at those starting/closing day lineups with the dearly departed x'd out of existence:

~~Randy Foye/Kevin Ollie~~
~~Mike Miller/Rashad McCants~~
Corey Brewer/~~Rodney Carney~~
Ryan Gomes/~~Craig Smith~~
Al Jefferson/Kevin Love

~~Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown~~
~~Mike Miller/Rodney Carney~~
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
~~Mark Madsen~~/Kevin Love/~~Craig Smith~~
~~Jason Collins/Shelden Williams~~

And no, I do not believe there is another team in the league with only three remaining players from the rotation of their final 08/09 game. Only the Raptors come close.

What did the Wolves lose?

Net Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG	-0.5	-.061	-1.5	0%	-1.9	-0.7	-0.2	-0.0	-1.1	-3.8	-7.0
SG	0.1	-.034	-0.1	4%	0.1	-0.3	-0.2	-0.0	-0.3	-1.1	-2.4
SF	-3.5	+.001	-2.5	-1%	0.9	0.5	-0.5	0.1	-0.8	-5.5	-4.2
PF	0.3	-.016	-0.3	8%	-0.2	0.3	-0.6	-0.9	-0.3	-0.5	-2.3
C	6.1	-.057	2.1	4%	1.8	-0.9	0.2	-1.1	0.8	6.0	+2.4

They gave up a whole lot of nothing at the point, a Randy-Foye-January-fueled-it-was-really-worse-than-the-final-numbers-suggest basket of crap at the off-guard, a bowl of ineptitude at the 3, some holy-crap-there-is-nobody-behind-Love at the 4, and Al Jefferson and Kevin Love at the 5.

Enter David Kahn.

While I think it is safe to say that most Wolves fans who were paying attention at the time of his hiring (all 1,700 of us) were upset that the team seemed to have bumbled its way through its most important new addition in years (Kahn seemed to be a secondary choice and candidates from the Blazers and Spurs appear to have walked away from the position), The Demolition Man quickly and confidently made a series of moves that have placed the Wolves in a position to win.

He turned Kevin McHale, Jerry Sichting, and Dean Cooper into Kurt Rambis, Reggie Theus, Bill Laimbeer, and Dave Wohl.
He turned two moderate-sized expiring contracts into Ricky Rubio.
He turned a Sebastian Telfair/Kevin Ollie point guard rotation into a Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions one.
He picked up an athletic big who can play the reserve 4/5.
He drafted the 2nd best shooter in the draft late in the 1st round.
He cleared (probably) between $13-15 milion in 2010 cap space.
He picked up another 2010 first round pick.

Best of all, Kahn has made the Wolves interesting again. The process has been full of goofy quotes, funny interviews, nearly weekly roster moves, and the entire Ricky Rubio saga, but the bottom line for Kahn and the Wolves is the results:

Their core is good and tremendously young.
They have drafted the 2 best Euros in the past 2 drafts and stashed them overseas.
They have 3 likely 1st round picks in the 2010 draft.
They will have in the neighborhood of $15 million below the cap in 2010 free agency.
Chances are, they now have a functional point guard on their roster.

This thing is clearly still a work in progress (the team needs help on the wing and the Rubio situation still needs to be resolved one way or another) but it is also clearly pointed in the right direction.

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

Rebounding. Rebounding. Rebounding, and more rebounding. Kevin Love is one of the league's top 3 rebounders, Al Jefferson's game is built to be close to the bucket and he collects a net positive on the offensive boards, and Corey Brewer can hold his own at either the 2 or 3. If there is a player from last year's squad to get a little chippy about his departure, it is Mike Miller. Despite not shooting the damn ball, Miller was a very solid defensive rebounder and it will take a well above average effort from Pavlovic, Brewer, and Gomes to match Miller's efforts on the glass at the 2/3. Miller was the team's 3rd best rebounder and he did so from the wing. That's going to be harder to make up than what I think most people first realize, especially with the crew of Pavlovic, Brewer, Gomes, and Ellington trying to make up the difference. Ramon Sessions should make up for some of the lost rebounding production vis-a-vis Sebastian Telfair, but Miller's loss probably will have some effect on the glass. How much is something that remains to be seen.

In theory, the Wolves should also be a very good free throw shooting team this season. Last year Ramon Sessions had the 25th best FT/FG rate in the league at 36. Kevin Love was 18th at 39. Big Al was all the way down at 154 with 19. By all accounts in college, summer league, and his small sample of preseason games, Jonny Flynn has all the makings of a high-contact guard who will draw a lot of fouls in an up-tempo system. Last year the Wolves had one fairly legit threat of getting to the line at a high rate: Kevin Love. This year they have 3 players who should draw a ton of contact with one guy (Jefferson) who will have a modest rate but a high volume due to his number of touches.

It's pretty hard for me to overstate just how big of a deal improved free throw shooting will be for the Wolves. Last year the Wolves averaged 2.3 fewer FTAs than their opponents. The year before that they were a league-worst -6.9 in that category (which should give you an idea of the relative merits between Kevin Love and Craig Smith). For a team with a -4.9 point differential these are points that simply cannot be left on the board. With the addition of Sessions and Flynn, and with the continued development of Love, the Wolves appear to have addressed one of their biggest weaknesses of the past 2-3 years and turned it, hopefully, into a positive. For those readers who are just casual fans of the game, I cannot stress enough how important the free throw differential is to the bottom line. I also cannot stress enough just how bad the Wolves have been on this front over the past several years.

The final thing the Wolves are going to be good at is physicality. This is something that will be pretty hard to define over the course of the year but I have a pretty good feeling that they are going to be scrappy. One of the most striking things about their play in camp was they way in which guys like Love, Brewer, Sessions, and Ryan Hollins were getting after it. This has a chance of positively impacting the play on the end of the court they need help with the most. I'm not saying that they are going to be a defensive dynamo, but this year's squad has the opportunity to run out a rotation of Sessions, Brewer, Pavlovic, Jefferson/Love, and Ryan Hollins, which is a fairly significant defensive upgrade over anything they were able to offer up in the 08/09 campaign. This especially becomes the case if Brewer develops into the plus-defender we all hope he can morph in to. Sessions/Brewer/Pavlovic has the potential to turn the epic defensive weakness of Telfair/Foye/Miller into a positive for this club. It's probably not a lineup you'd run out there for long stretches of time, but it is something that this club did not have at its disposal under McHale. All three of those players held their 08/09 opponents to below their average production. The same could not be said for Telfair (-0.009% of opponents' average), Foye (whose opponents went 10.8% over their average production against the former Villanova star), and Miller (a mere 5.6% over average production). If you throw Ryan Hollins into the mix, the Wolves may have something approaching an effective defensive unit that they could trot out on the floor for 4-8 minutes per night.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Defense, wing play, turnovers, and outside shooting. I don't really know if there is a good way to break this down in much greater detail but the Wolves are still going to have problems on defense; their 2 and 3 will be manned by a rotation of Corey Brewer, Wayne Ellington, Sasha Pavlovic, and Ryan Gomes, and their backcourt will be led by 2 point guards who will be in their first year with the team. David Kahn has been pretty frontal in his assessment that Gomes and Brewer are both in put up or shut up years. Pavlovic is on a 1-year contract. Nothing is promised or owed to any of these players and if they can't figure it out this year, I think it is becoming more and more obvious that when the Wolves do cash in their draft/free agency chips, it will be for a wing player. At media day and during camp both Gomes and Brewer said enough to make everyone well aware of the fact that they too know the score. As you can see from the positional chart listed above, the score on the wing isn't exactly in the Wolves' favor to begin with.

While I mentioned the possibility of a fairly solid perimeter defensive rotation with Sessions, Brewer, and Pavlovic, the fact remains that there is nothing on this team to suggest a significant overall improvement in defensive efficiency. Until we see some improvement in action, it's hard to believe it in theory. Ryan Hollins gives them a lengthy shot blocker but he fouls a ton. Corey Brewer has the potential to be an A+ defender but he is coming back from injury and is close to completely ineffective on the offensive end of the court. Ramon Sessions is a slightly above average defender at the point but he could end up with a lot of minutes at the 2. The point here is that even with the defensive positives the Wolves have some issues when it comes to weighing their best overall lineups against their best defensive ones. I'd be peachy keen with anything close to a neutral OE/DE ratio.

It can also not be overstated just how bad of an outside shooting club the Wolves are going to be this year. Wayne Ellington is probably their best shooter, their likely starting two guard (Brewer) has a career .250 three point average, their best point guard has 41 career three point attempts (with a .220 average), and Sasha Pavlovic's numbers from beyond the arc have seen a four-year fluctuation of .365, .405, .298, and .410. Could Ryan Gomes be the team's best outside shooter? If that's the case, then the Wolves are in for a long, long year from a perimeter shooting perspective. It's already proving to be a big problem in their limited preseason action.

4. What are the goals for this team?

a- At least a neutral OE/DE rating. Last year the Wolves had a -5.3 point gap per 100 possessions. While this was an improvement over the -7.4 point gap per 100 possessions from the year before, it still is a giant pile of suck. With the addition of a real starting point guard, and the maturation of Kevin Love, here's hoping the Wolves can pick up 2-3 pp/100 poss on the offensive side of the ball and that the return of Brewer and the addition of Sessions and Pavlovic can gain a point or two on the defensive side of things.

b- An increase in pace and shots within the first 10-15 seconds of the shot clock. If the Wolves' new offensive is going to pay dividends we should see an increased pace with more shots taken in transition. 36% of the Wolves' shots in 2008/09 were in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock and 26% came in the next 5. If those numbers go up, it means the Wolves are running and getting opportunistic buckets. Last year the Wolves finished 15th in the league with 91.6 possessions/game. That number needs to go up.

c- Free throw neutrality (or more). As mentioned above, the Wolves should have an increase in free throw attempts this season. I have been harping on this point for two years now: You can't win games while losing by a mile at the free throw line. It can't be done. Between Kevin Love, Ramon Sessions, and Jonny Flynn, the Wolves have three guys who can really draw contact and get to the charity stripe.

d- Injury free.Will Kevin Love break the Wolves' 2nd year injury curse? From Shaddy to Foye to Brewer, 2nd year draft Wovles draft picks have all suffered season-ending injuries in their 2nd campaign. This is one curse that needs to be broken this year. (UPDATE: Of course, as this goes to post, Kevin Love breaks a bone in his left hand and will likely be out 6-8 weeks.)

5. Did David Kahn screw the pooch on draft night?

Let me begin by giving a simple yes or no: No. However, the (excellent) addition of Ramon Sessions begs the question of whether or not the Wolves could have walked away from the Draft with Rubio and, say, Demar DeRozan instead of Jonny Flynn. Sure, it would have been a big bet to wait out for Sessions, and who knows what would have happened with Sessions' negotiations if Rubio stayed in Europe and Flynn wasn't sitting there as a sure replacement, but..well, it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that the Wolves had two big first rounders and a free agent signing over the summer and they were all at the same position. Yes, it's at a position that has killed the Wolves since the days of Sam Cassell but isn't there a nagging little thought in the back of your head that is whispering "it could have been done better?" I think Kahn has done a terrific job but it will ultimately depend on which point guard(s) stick around in 2-3 years and how much he can get with the one (or two) that gets sent away. Will that equation end up being more valuable than the previously mentioned Rubio/DeRozan/Sessions combo? Who knows?

Projected Finish: 31-51

Poll

How many games will the Wolves win this year?

Less than 15

28 votes

16-20

83 votes

21-25

147 votes

26-30

183 votes

31-35

83 votes

More than 35

30 votes

554 votes | Poll has closed

2009/10 NBA Blogger Preview - Cleveland Cavaliers

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:58:21 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

2 months ago: Cleveland Cavaliers' Shaquille O'Neal, left, and LeBron James laugh in the fourth quarter of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 92-87. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Browse more photos »

Each year the fine folks at Celtics Blog head up a Season Preview of each team, written by team bloggers. They then present these previews one division at a time. So far, we have seen previews for the Atlantic Division and the Southwest Division. Now comes the Central's turn - due to be released tomorrow. Before that, however, I needed to give my thoughts on the buring questions surrounding the Wine and Gold heading into the season. Check it out!

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

I guess it is safe to say the Cavaliers made the biggest move of the off-season - literally. Shaquille O'Neal is a big man and a big personality. The question will be if there is enough room on the floor and shots in a game to keep Shaq, LeBron, Mo Williams and others happy. I believe this team has the character for it not to become a problem - and seeing a few Pre-Season games it appears everyone is going to be completely happy. Should the Cavaliers start losing, well, then there could be problems. I, for one, think the Shaq acquisition was the perfect move for the Cavaliers to make. There is something to having a lot of talent, but that expereince is a huge positive as well. Shaw will also take some of the spotlight off LeBron which isn't a bad thing.

There were other moves, though none got all the attention that Shaq did. Orlando exposed a huge weakness the Cavaliers roster had - length on the perimeter. Mo Williams and Delonte West are both undersized. This, of course, can be camouflaged during the season because, A) most teams don't have the players to expose the Cavs, and B) LeBron makes up for most vulnerabilities. Orlando, on the other hand, did have the players and LeBron could make up for Hedo, and Rashard Lewis, and Pietrus. The Magic simply had too much length.

In steps Anthony Parker(6-6) and Jemario Moon(6-8). Both guys add significant length to the defense and more spot-up jump-shooting from the outside. Now the Cavaliers can matchup much better in the post with Shaq and on the outside with LeBron, Parker and Moon.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

LeBron James. Seriously. The reigning MVP would be the strength to any team he plays on so we have to start there. It isn't the only strength, however. The Cavaliers are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA< and that was when they were undersized in the back-court. Now that they can matchup with bigger, 'longer' teams they could be even better defensively this season than they were a year ago.

The Cavs are also a deep unit, especially up front with Shaq, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao. Darnell Jackson provides some muscle, while J.J. Hickson is on his way to being a premier low-post scoring threat.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

Back-court depth. What was considered a strength just a few weeks ago must be considered a weakness with the uncertainty surrounding Delonte West. In a perfect world, West would be the starting SG, with Moon, Parker, LeBron et al shuffling around the 2 and 3 spots. The Cavaliers could go small, with James at the 4, or go big with James at the 2 and Moon at the 3. West is also the Cavaliers best option at PG behind Mo Williams.

Without West, the team has been forced to start Anthony Parker. He can do the job, no doubt, but it significantly weakens the bench. It also means that Daniel Gibson is once again forced to play the point, a position he isn't very comfortable with. There isn't any real timetable on West's return, but the hope is still he comes back full strength, both physically and mentally.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Easy - Win the NBA Championship. Anything else for this group would be considered a letdown. I don't know if winning the title, or not winning it, will have any affect on what LeBron James does next summer, but this group was put together to win this season.

5. Things a non-Cavs fan might not know.

At one point last season, the Cavaliers had both of Utah's 2003 Draft picks - Sasha Pavlovic(1st Round) and Mo Williams(2nd Round)

Predicted Record: 63-19, Win the NBA Championship. If I don't believe, who will, right?

Poll

How do you think the Cavs will finish in 2009?

Win NBA Championship

428 votes

Win Conference Finals

90 votes

Lose Conference Finals

133 votes

Other

37 votes

688 votes | Poll has closed

Big Z isn't going anywhere - Ilgauskas trade rumors make little sense

John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:45:34 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

8 months ago: Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce, right, defends Cleveland Cavaliers' Zydrunas Ilgauskas (11), of Lithuania, in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 12, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Browse more photos »

There's a new rumor flying around the NBA involving the Cavaliers. This one, however, is highly unlikely. It is being reported in various West Coast outlets that the Golden State Warriors have contacted the Cavaliers about a Stephen Jackson-for-Zydrunas Ilgauskas swap.

Of course, our friends at Golden State of Mind would love for this to happen. Jackson is disgruntled and Ilgauskas would give them a low-post scoring threat, as well as some much needed size.

So that begs to question - what motivation would the Cavaliers have to make such a deal? Why sweat the details?

The fact is, the Cavaliers would have no need to make this deal, unless of course, a guy like Stephon Curry was coming back as well - or Montae Ellis. I joke, because neither is likely available.

The name of the game for the Cavaliers this summer was to add size. The lack of a size all over the court came back to bit the Cavaliers during the playoffs and Danny Ferry spent all off-season trying to address it. Gone are Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, in come Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. All added size and length where the Cavaliers needed it most.

So, I ask, why would the Cavaliers trade away the one commodity they have been trying to obtain all summer - size? Oh yea, not to mention Zydrunas Ilgauskas is an All-Time Great Cavaliers, going through the darkest of times with the franchise. As much respect that Danny Ferry has for Z, not to mention their friendship, is there any real benefit, on or off the floor, that the Cavaliers would get from making such a move?

Why listen to me, however, here's what Brian Winhorst had to say via his Twitter(@PDCavsInsider)

Z says he's ignoring Warriors trade rumor. As he should, Cavs won't trade big for small unless for a star. Stephen Jackson doesn't qualify.

When trade rumors come remember Cavs will take on salary but they want bigs back. They added size for LAL, Orl, Bos. Not giving it up now

Exactly.

Is there any argument any of you could give as to why this would be GOOD for the Cavaliers??

Your Last Bit of Camp

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:28:46 -0000

It was a pretty uneventful evening scrimmage last night. The team looked a little tired and I'm pretty sure everybody in the building would have rather been somewhere else...like at Oktoberfest in New Ulm. A few items of note:

Ramon Sessions is a pretty good perimeter defender. Perhaps my saying this is simply a matter of perspective, as last year's team featured one of the worst group of perimeter defenders in recent NBA memory, but the guy has really gotten at it out there and if Corey Brewer can find enough of an offensive game to stay on the court, the Wolves can trot out a defensive backcourt that is miles beyond anything they had last year. Of course, the problem here is that neither Sessions or Brewer can shoot for you-know-what from the outside, but that's a question for another day.
In the comment section of yesterday's post I was asked what my starting lineup would be at this point. It would be Sessions, Brewer, Sasha Pavlovic, Kevin Love, and Al Jefferson. That being said, it will be interesting to see if Jonny Flynn gets the start from the beginning of the year. Sessions is the best guard and point on this team. My lineup would give the Wolves a team with decent size on the wing, the best defenders on the squad, rebounding, and a fair amount of league experience. We'll see what happens. Pavlovic vs. Ryan Gomes is close and is going to be a pretty interesting dynamic going forward.
Speaking of Mr. Gomes, he has looked pretty good putting the ball on the floor so far in camp. One of the big things I have noticed about the team's new Triangle-esque offense is that the weakside forward is going to need to be able to hit the open jumper of the swing pass or be able to take advantage of a rotating defense by putting the ball on the deck and heading towards the hoop. I think Gomes is going to get a stiff test on this front from Pavlovic. Sasha has some talent and a much better shot than Gomes. The kicker here is that Pavlovic is on a one-year contract while Gomes is operating on a non-guaranteed deal until 6/30/10. Both of these guys are, in a sense, playing for their next contract. Both of them are going to fulfill a similar role in the offense. Here's hoping that something good comes out of this competition.
Whatever happens with Pavlovic or Gomes, I think the early line on the Wolves cashing in their chips in the 2010 offseason for a wing player is a good one. My early bet is that Brewer is kept around to play either the 2 or the 3 and that Kahn finds the best player he can to fill in the other starting spot.
Camp favorite Devin Green spent the 2nd scrimmage on the trainer's table with a pack of ice on his left hamstring. Here's hoping it's nothing serious.
Jack McClinton is probably not a guy who can hold down the 3rd point guard spot. He just doesn't look that comfortable on the ball while initiating the offense or bringing the ball up the court and he appears to be a shooting specialist stuck in a point guard's body.
David Kahn once again wore shorts.
Papa Glen was nowhere to be seen.
Grown men once again wore all sorts of tracksuits.
Oleksiy Pecherov has graduated from 1/2-assed "sprints" up and down the sideline to sprints (quotations removed) up the Besnan Arena stairs.

Well folks, that about does it. Yours truly is off to Oktoberfest today and due to some prior plans I will be unable to attend tomorrow night's preseason game right here in my backyard of Mankato. If anyone out there is going to the game, feel free to put up a FanPost about your experience.

More Camp

Stop-n-Pop — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:12:13 -0000

It was night two for yours truly at Wolves training camp. A few thoughts:

Al Jefferson sat out the late scrimmage with two gigantic bags of ice taped to his knees. According to Kurt Rambis, this was simply a precaution for Al's knees and that he had shown no signs of limping or favoring the injured leg. Rambis also said that Al participated in the earlier scrimmage game and was able to practice during the day. Whatever the case, Al looked a little ginger after everything was all said and done.
The 2nd scrimmage saw Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions share the court for a couple of minutes. Not much to report on this front other than that I was witness to a fantastic showing of Small Sample Size Theater against a bunch of training camp reserves. When asked about the amount of time that Flynn and Sessions shared the court together so far, Rambis answered that they have been working together but that it will be a process for them to not force things and simply learn to play together. I'm not really sure what that meant but I nodded anyway.
The last game of the night featured a black team of Jonny Flynn, Ryan Hollins, Ryan Gomes, Ramon Sessions, and Devin Green against a white squad of Corey Brewer, Kevin Love, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, and Jason Hart. I have no idea who won as I stopped paying attention to the scoreboard about 23 seconds into the action.
Flynn looked much better tonight than he did during last night's session. He was beyond confident, vocal, and he was able to get pretty much wherever he wanted with the ball.
Flynn and fellow former Syracuse Orangeman Jason Hart seemed to be having a blast guarding eachother. It was pretty obvious that they each wanted to get the best of one another. I would say they went after one another a'la Syracuse Style but it was man d.
Corey Brewer looked great running the floor. I caught up with Fred Hoiberg after the practice and he said that Brewer is in fantastic shape and that fans should look to see great improvement in his transition game. Like I mentioned last night, Brewer is going to have all types of open court opportunities in this new offense. His combination of length, athleticism, and speed is pretty rare and if he can ever develop a moderate handle and a moderate jumper to go along with his athletic gifts, he's going to be a solid pro. It is also pretty obvious that Brewer is going to be a defensive stud. The guy is all over the court. I think he has a fairly legit shot at guarding the 1, 2, and 3...which is a good thing if you are thinking about playing Flynn and Sessions together.
Speaking of my fellow Amesian Fred, NBA rules prevent him from commenting on the guy who supplanted him as the best player from Ames (Harrison Barnes) but he did have several nice things to say about Ryan Gomes and there seems to be a fairly open feeling within the team that this is going to be an important year for a guy who has a non-guaranteed contract that turns guaranteed just after the season ends.
Hoiberg also said that despite the basketball operation cutbacks of other franchises the Wolves will maintain their regional scouts.
The last interesting bit of Hoiberg-related news was that he singled out Jack McClinton and Devin Green as the free agents who have caught his eye in camp. McClinton looked much better during today's scrimage, hitting a few open shots and not looking lost with the ball in his hands. I'm rooting for him to make the squad as I really enjoyed watching him play at Miami and I had a chance to chat him up in Little Rock during the NCAA tourney 2 years ago as I was staying at the same hotel as Miami and Mississippi State. I also heard a lot of nice things about Green from other folks throughout the facility.
David Kahn once again wore shorts.
After getting run over by Ryan Hollins while sitting in the front row during a previous session, Papa Glen caught this practice from about 10 rows up.
Brian Cardinal was in mid-season form in terms of attitude, as he jawed at the refs about their lack of calls. Perhaps the janitor has a strictly pro-union stance and was merely against the scabs that were overseeing the scrimmage. Interesting side-question: Does the Players' Union have solidarity with the refs? Is it something of a dick move if they don't support the refs? Moving on...\
Kevin Love got a brief and mild tongue-lashing/correction from Kurt Rambis about making good passes. Beyond that, Love really showed off his mid-to-long range touch. I can't repeat it enough: Love will be the team's best player this year. He is going to present massive matchup problems and he will put up huge numbers in the gaps of the offense. Even in a short scrimmage, I counted 4 possessions that he kept alive with offensive boards, taps, positioning, etc. He dove after loose balls, made slick passes from the top of the key to wide open outside shooters, and forced the defense to play him honest whenever he had the ball. Best of all, he did something we haven't seen for a long, long, long time with the Wolves: he ate up space in the paint on defense. Throughout the session, Love showed a fantastic ability to absorb contact, remain straight up and down, and alter shots. His lateral movement has clearly improved and he doesn't get caught out of position nearly as much as he used to do. Last year the Wolves had a single functional two-way player: Ryan Gomes. This year I'm pretty confident in saying that they have Gomes, Love, and Sessions.
Speaking of Ramon, he's a cool customer and he should be in the starting lineup on opening day.
The following easily qualifies as one of the weirdest things I have heard in a long time: Billionaire owner to front office employee concerning where they would meet for supper: "Just head on up the hill and take a left at the McDonalds." Say what you will about Papa Glen but the guy still has a fair amount of small town guy in him. As something of a neighbor, the guy has kept it local and pumped a ton of money into the community in which I live. It's a good thing.
Funniest part of being around an NBA team = the number of 40 year-old+ men in tracksuits. It's like a condensed trip to the Jersey shore. If only they could bring an old Camero out onto the court the stereotype would be complete.

Well, that about does it in terms of notable items from practice. I would like to write a few words about blogs and media access before I call it a night...

To put it as simply as possible, Wyn and I do not have the resources to run a truly full-time news operation that covers the Wolves. Between significant others, jobs, and families, this is still a hobby and while we like to think we have passed the legitimacy test in the eyes of the Wolves' excellent PR folks, we simply do not have the manpower or time to do what folks like Jerry Zgoda or Jon Krawczynski do very well: build meaningful behind-the-scene professional relationships with the folks we cover. Actually, that's not completely accurate. Let's throw in a "in a time-sensitive manner" at the end of that sentence. I'm not saying we can't do that sort of thing; it will just take us a lot longer to do so.

Where am I going with all of this?

I understand the importance of verifying legitimacy when working with folks in the new media. My point here is that it is going to take some time for us to build a solid "blog plus" relationship with the team and with the folks on it who we want to get information from. We have started that process and we are grateful to the team for allowing us to do so, but we also want to let our readers know that we still place a big premium on creating content that is focused on opinion, fan-perspective, and as little behind-the-scenes sausage-making as possible. We have made it passed the "dirty blogger" stage but we still have a lot of work to do. We hope you stick with us.

Until later.

Campy

Stop-n-Pop — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:49:08 -0000

I had the good fortune of attending the last part of the Wolves' Wednesday night practice session at Bresnan Arena in the Taylor Center at Minnesota State University. I got to catch about an hours worth of action where the team scrimmaged for 2 curtailed quarters. It wasn't the cleanest of practices and you could definitely tell that these were a bunch of guys just learning to play with one another under a new coach but there were a few notable things that I would like to pass on to all y'all:

The scrimmage started out with a white team of Corey Brewer, Jared Reiner, Kevin Love, Ramon Sessions, and Wayne Ellington going up against a black squad of Al Jefferson, Jonny Flynn, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, and Ryan Hollins. For those of you keeping track at home, the white team took home braging rights for the night.
Ryan Hollins has a ridiculous combination of length and athleticism. On the down side, it is pretty obvious that he lacks advanced ball skills and is probably not someone you want on the ball for a great deal of time. That being said, the guy is a bundle of energy and even in a scrimmage it was apparent that he is the most athletic big man the Wolves have had in a long, long time. Long time readers of this site know that we have long called for the Wolves to round out their Jefferson/Love frontcourt with a Joakim Noah/Jason Thompson type player and while we'll need to see him in game action, Hollins fits the physical bill and he will be one of the most interesting story lines heading into the season. Oh, I also caught a peak of Tuesday night's scrimmage during which Hollins put down a slam on...well, the entire opposing squad. BTW: Over at the Strib Jerry Zgoda just put up a good article on Hollins and his potential in the front court.
David Kahn likes shorts

One of the most interesting things about watching training camp ball is seeing how hard the free agent invites work to make the team. The most vocal hard worker of the night was former Syracuse guard Jason Hart, who really got after it on defense while being the only guy on the court without a number. The guy wants a roster spot and he's working like hell to get it. Hopefully he can get a number before it's all said and done with.
In a full arena filled with piped-in music, cheerleaders, screaming fans, and a whole host of other noises, it's pretty remarkable to watch an NBA squad from a few rows up in an empty arena. Watching on TV or from the upper level of the Target Center makes it easy to forget just how vocal and physical of a game professional basketball is. It was especially interesting to hear the interaction between the coaching staff and the players. It was also kind of cool to see a coaching staff that includes Hang Time's Coach Fuller, a Detroit Bad Boy, and the guy who wore the best basketball glasses of the 80s. Note to the Wolves' PR staff: every night at the Target Center needs to be 80s night. If Hungry Like the Wolf isn't played at tip off in about a month I'm going to be pissed.
Oleisky Pecherov spent the practice jogging up and down the sidelines and talking to the training staff. He also gave out a big cheer to Sasha Pavlovic when he made a three. Perhaps it is a Eastern European thing.
Jonny Flynn is going to be a very good player but I think he's going to be in for a long rookie season. On several possessions he looked like a seasoned pro; getting to whereever he wanted to go with the ball, making shots, and expertly facilitating action. On others, not so much...to the point where I'm not sure how he could start over Sessions. Assistant coach Dave Wohl spent a lot of time talking to Flynn about his game inbetween plays. Wohl is the 70s bookend to the 80s Rambis/Theus/Laimbeer sandwich (JB Bickerstaff represents the 90s).
A lot has been made of Al Jefferson's lost weight. I'll just say this: it's pretty striking.

Kevin Love also looks like a new man. He hit a few mid-range jumpers as well as a nice corner three. As always, he controled the boards and he appears to have focused on defense over the summer. As many of you already know, I'm pretty high on Love and I think he has the potential to be something of an evolutionary player at the 4/5. With his combination of ball skills, shooting touch, and rebounding, I think he has the rare opportunity to be something we don't often see in the NBA: an upper level role player who is effectively unguardable while operating in the gaps of the offense. I honestly think he sees an All Star game before Al Jefferson. Scrapping, getting opponents out of position, crashing the boards, keeping possessions alive; Love is going to dominate these aspects of the game and the better the Wolves get, the more these things are going to be apparent and matter.
With the new up-tempo offense in place, Corey Brewer is going to have all the chances in the world to prove that he does or does not belong in the NBA. As the weakest offensive link, he will have no shortage of transition opportunities, 3 point shots, and 15-18 foot jump shots in the 1/2 court. The big question for Corey will be this: Does he have a good enough handle to thrive in transition and can he make as close to 40% of his jump shots as possible? He could be the best defender in the Western Conference but if he can't catch a hot pass from Flynn in traffic, dribble effectively in transition, or be a modestly effective jump shooter, he won't be able to balance his net +/- and be of great use to the club. In this context, Brewer was a mixed bag during the scrimmage. His shot looks dramatically better and he has a much more fluid release than last season. When he hit a 15 foot jumper from the corner, he got a big rise out of his teammates. You can really tell guys are pulling for him. He was also very active in transition, using his length and speed to get out well ahead of the defense. On the down side of things, you never know if he's going to cleanly catch a pass in transition and even when he was able to put together a solid drive into the lane he was unable to get to the rim to finish in what you could call a coordinated fashion. I'll say it again: Brewer is going to get a big chance to shine this year. It could work in his favor or it could be quite awkward. Here's hoping for the former.
Ryan Gomes, Ryan Hollins, and Brewer will get all of the open mid-range jump shots they can ask for this year.
Get used to seeing a lot more cuts in the new offense.
I'm pretty sure I heard Jared Reiner tell Al Jefferson to warm up the bus about 20 seconds before the scrimmage ended in Reiner's team's favor. I'm not sure Big Al took too kindly to that.
Papa Glen was in attendance and he looked pretty good for a guy who, according to the newest Forbes list, lost $1.1 billion dollars last year.

Well, that about does it. If my schedule permits it, I'll be back at the Taylor Center for Thursday and Friday night's practices. If there are any questions you want me to ask to the folks on the team, please leave a message in the comments section.

Until later.