SB Nation - Trenton Hassell

Mavericks Vs Nets: Game 19 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:23:41 -0000

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: The time has come once again for the trade partners to face off against one another. In the previous battles Harris has won the match up with relative ease, does this one go to Harris as well? or does Kidd finally prove that the Mavs made a good trade? Who knows, what I will say is that Kidd has been excellent this year and Harris has been... well not to good.

vs.

Devin Harris: I think I can speak for most everyone when I say that I really like Devin Harris, and have wished that he was still here. However he has been just another mediocre player on an awful team this year. As bad as the Nets are I never would have suspected that of the TWO players on the team with a +/- above zero one of them would NOT be Devin Harris.

Edge: Mavericks (did I really just say that?)

Shooting Guard

Rodrigue Beaubois: Roddy gets the face time as being the starter, but the PT will surely go to JJ and JT. Not real sure what the Mavs plans are for Roddy but the guy should get more than 9 minutes a game, in my opinion, but then again who am I to decide what the Mavericks guard rotation should be? This is one game however that the guard rotation should be irrelevant (I said SHOULD BE)

vs.

Chris Douglas - Roberts: Well the first thing that I saw with Chris is that he has the worst +/- on the team (if he played for the Lakers this would not be such a big deal, but when you are the worst +/- on a hideous team it is a huge deal). However with that in mind he has been much more productive as the teams PG than at any other position. Chris does lead the Eastern Conference sophomore class in scoring at 16.4 per, he will turn the ball over though and the Mavs should be able to capitalize on his poor handling skills.

Edge: Even

Forward

Shawn Marion: Defense, Defense, Defense these are apparently the orders given to Shawn before every Mavs game. This has worked out pretty well so far but I would like to see the Mavs try to get him more involved on the offensive end rather than defering to the heavily over used three guard system.

vs.

Trenton Hassell: Since coming into the league in 2001 Trenton's production has neither gone up nor down, however when your production is less than 1 rebound per 10 minutes and 1 point every 5 minutes, does it really matter that you are consistent?

Edge: Mavericks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: The best Power Forward in the game. Nuff said

vs.

Josh Boone: Once again a former number one draft pick that has failed miserably for the Nets. Josh would be a decent offensive rebounder off the bench, anything past that is not going to be good. The Nets are asking a marginal player to be a starter in the NBA, no wonder this team has yet to win a game.

Edge:

Center

Drew Gooden: While Erick Dampier was sidelined with an unknown Vaginal disease, Drew was absolutely sensational but has now apparently lost his starting spot back to Dampier? This was a bad mistake by Carlisle and a move that may cost the Mavs later on. Erick Dampier is likely to start but should not, therefore he is not in my starting lineup.

vs.

Brook Lopez: He is the lone bright spot on a miserable team. All of Brook's numbers have improved over his rookie campaign. He is a solid scoring option for the Nets and does a nice job on the boards, the Nets offense should and will flow through Lopez.

Edge: Mavericks

Injuries/Suspensions

New Jersey Nets

OUT - Yi Jianlian

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Josh Howard

Prediction: On paper this game is not even close. On paper the Mavs should win this game by 20. On paper this game should not even be played due to the shear destruction that the Mavs would bring upon the Nets. These games however are not played on paper, they are played on the court, and the Mavs have showed over the course of their first 18 games that they tend to play to the level of their competition (excluding the Cavs game), and frankly this game scares me. Since I have been well... not so good with the prediction this yearit will not matter if I am wrong because you are all used to that by now. So my prediction is (drum roll please)

Mavericks: 104

Nets: 86

Lawrence Frank gets Bzdelik'd...

Andrew Feinstein — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:59:02 -0000

For his second franchise in a row, Kiki Vandeweghe has firebombed the roster, sacked a decent coach with the carnage and prayed for some luck with the draft and free agency. It worked for the Nuggets, but will it work for the Nets in New Jersey/Brooklyn?

Let's take a quick trip back to 2002. The Nuggets are floundering with a losing record, a coach/team president that calls a Hispanic fan a "Mexican piece of shit" and an expensive, relatively worthless roster featuring the likes of draft busts Raef LaFrentz and Tariq "Don't Call Me Olivier St. Jean" Abdul-Wahad, the mercurial Nick Van Exel and the grossly overpaid Avery Johnson. In comes Kiki Vandeweghe - a former Nuggets star who had been mentored by the Nelsons in the Mavericks front office - as the new G.M. Vandeweghe's first act, a bold and swift one, is to deal away LaFrentz, Abdul-Wahad, Van Exel and Johnson to his former team, take back some expiring contracts, suck for a season-and-a-half and hope for the best with free agency and the draft.

The huge - and in my opinion, unforgivable - misstep of drafting all-time bust (and Denver Stiffs Hall of Famer) Nikoloz Tskitishvili aside, Vandeweghe's gamble worked. As part of the plan, Vandeweghe brought in a young, hard-working coach in Jeff Bzdelik to change the culture on the floor and the Nuggets remarkably won 17 more games than they should have in the 2002-03 season. 17 wins was low enough, however, for the Nuggets to score Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 draft and by parting with those heavy contracts, the Nuggets had enough cap room to sign Voshon Lenard, Andre Miller and my all-time favorite one-season Nugget, Jon Barry.

Years later and in a new geographical location, Vandeweghe is doing very similar things in New Jersey under the tutelage of Rod Thorn (who in the ironies or ironies swindled Vandeweghe into trading three number one picks for Kenyon Martin in 2004). Hired in late 2007 as a "Special Assistant" to Thorn, Vandeweghe became the Nets G.M. in May of 2008.

During Vandeweghe's tenure with the Nets, the franchise has dealt the aging, overpaid Jason Kidd to Dallas for Devin Harris and several soon-to-be-expiring contracts including Trenton Hassell's, sent the overpaid Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee for Yi Jianlin and Bobby Simmons' soon-to-be-expiring contract and recently traded another max player, Vince Carter, to Orlando for the expiring contracts of Rafer Alston and Tony Battie.

Left in the wake of all these deals is the 26th lowest payroll in the NBA with the salaries of Simmons, Alston, Battie, Hassell, Keyon Dooling and Jarvis Hayes coming off the books in 2010. Plus, the Nets have one of the better young point guards in the NBA in Devin Harris, a solid center in Brook Lopez (even though my Uncle Marty claims he's a Stiff after watching him up close against the Nuggets last week), a good swingman in Chris Douglas-Roberts and even Yi was playing well before going down with another injury. Oh, and the Nets have their own lottery pick plus the Mavericks' first round pick in 2010.

But also left in the wake is a lost season that head coach Lawrence Frank - whom Vandeweghe inherited - is about to take the fall for. Saddled with a gutted-out, injury-riddled roster Frank is being Bzdelik'd. And it's not fair. Lest we forget that Frank won his first 13 games in a row when he took over the Nets for Byron Scott several seasons ago. But life's not fair (Frank does make - gasp - $4 million a year, so I don't feel that bad for him) and unlike Bzdelik's amazing performance in 2002-03, Frank's team is losing all the games they're supposed to lose.

Similar to the situation for Bzdelik in Denver, Vandeweghe won't stand up for Frank (even though this is clearly Vandeweghe's plan) and is just buying time before he can hire a big name coach to right the ship when LeBron James and/or other free agents and a top draft pick join the franchise next summer. Different from what happened in Denver, though, is that Vandeweghe is rumored to take over as head coach. I guess the bottom line is that when you lose your first 16 games (about to be 18), no matter how bad your roster/injury situation is your job isn't salvageable. Good bye, Lawrence Frank.

How's this for a far-fetched prediction moving forward? Vandeweghe takes over as coach for the remainder of the season and - a la Kevin McHale in Minnesota - the Nets beat up on some equally bad teams en route to winning about 15-18 games with a spirited effort on the floor. Then, the Nets score LeBron in the 2010 free agent sweepstakes (I really don't think LBJ is leaving Cleveland, but if he does it's to the Nets who have the best surrounding cast plus cap space to offer him) and none other than current Nuggets coach George Karl takes over as head coach when the Nuggets fail to offer Karl an extension. (On a side note, I used to think that Karl was imposed on Vandeweghe by Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke in 2005 but have since learned that Karl and Vandeweghe have a friendly relationship and get along great, so I'm just connecting the dots here.)

With Karl overseeing a roster featuring Harris at point guard, Courtney Lee or CDR at shooting guard, LBJ at small forward, (enter free agent here) at power forward and Lopez at center, the Nets move into their shiny, new Brooklyn confines in 2011 with the support of their Russian billionaire owner as a championship contender.

Frank might be getting Bzdelik'd right before our eyes, but sunny days are ahead for the Nets and Kiki knows it.

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Bill Kostroun

Preview: Nets at Kings

Ziller — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:00:20 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

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"No mas! No mas!"

THE OPPONENT

Holy crap. Where to start? OK, for one, I don't know if you have heard this, but the Nets have not won a game since, like, April. 0-15. Zero wins, fifteen freaking losses. No team is really that bad, though I remember the awful 1998-99 Clippers, the team that got it's first win against the Kings in Game No. 18 of a 50-game season. That team was this bad. The Nets, though, aren't. Injury has played such a massive role in this bad start. Everyone has that excuse -- even the Lakers and Cavs and Magic and Mavericks have dealt with missing players. But for the Nets, it has been exceptionally rough. Devin Harris is the motor of the team, and he just came back. (Tonight will be his first start since October.) Courtney Lee missed lots of time. Yi Jianlian -- I have no idea what's gone on with him. Chris Douglas-Roberts had the swine flu! Brook Lopez and Terrence Williams are the only two good players on that team that have been in action throughout, and one of them is an apositional rookie. ROUGH.

As I said, Harris is back, as is Lee. Harris-Lopez might be the best young inside-out combination in the league, with the possible exception of Roy-Oden, Rose-Noah and Gordon-Griffin. (We'll see on that last one, as well as Evans-Thompson or Evans-Hawes.) Harris should have some rust, I'd think, but adrenaline might counteract those limitations, and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays as hard as he ever has. If a well (hopefully) Beno Udrih is guarding him, let's hope our Slovenian can funnel him into help defense, because Harris is lightning quick and smart with the rock.

Lopez went for 32/14 in Portland. Aack!

			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
Brook Lopez	15	35.3	6.8	14.5	47.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.9	4.9	78.4	2.9	5.8	8.7	1.5	2.7	0.4	2.6	3.7	17.5
Chris Douglas-Roberts	12	35.5	6.3	13.5	46.3	0.3	1.3	25.0	4.1	4.7	87.5	1.4	3.7	5.1	1.7	1.9	1.1	0.4	1.9	16.9
Devin Harris	5	28.8	4.4	12.8	34.4	0.0	1.6	0.0	4.6	6.4	71.9	0.6	3.2	3.8	6.2	2.6	2.0	0.2	2.6	13.4
Terrence Williams	15	28.1	4.3	11.9	36.0	0.8	2.8	28.6	1.4	2.1	65.6	0.5	5.1	5.6	2.0	2.1	0.6	0.0	1.7	10.7
Rafer Alston	15	34.2	3.7	10.6	34.6	1.1	3.3	34.0	1.9	2.3	82.9	0.3	2.6	2.9	4.8	2.8	0.9	0.2	2.0	10.4
Yi Jianlian	4	29.5	3.3	8.0	40.6	0.0	0.3	0.0	3.3	3.8	86.7	1.3	6.3	7.5	0.5	2.3	0.5	1.3	3.0	9.8
Courtney Lee	8	30.9	3.0	9.8	30.8	0.4	2.1	17.6	3.4	3.9	87.1	0.6	1.6	2.3	1.8	1.0	2.4	0.5	2.0	9.8
Trenton Hassell	11	35.9	3.5	8.1	43.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	1.8	2.3	80.0	1.9	3.4	5.3	1.0	1.5	0.4	0.2	2.7	8.9
Bobby Simmons	13	19.7	2.1	5.9	35.1	0.9	3.2	28.6	0.6	0.6	100.0	0.4	2.8	3.2	0.6	1.0	0.4	0.2	2.6	5.7
Eduardo Najera	8	16.5	1.9	4.8	39.5	0.3	1.4	18.2	0.8	1.0	75.0	1.1	2.5	3.6	1.8	1.0	0.8	0.3	2.6	4.8
Josh Boone	15	17.9	1.9	4.1	46.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.9	38.5	2.0	3.7	5.7	0.6	1.0	0.5	0.6	2.0	4.2
Sean Williams	11	12.9	1.4	2.8	48.4	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.5	1.0	45.5	1.6	1.1	2.7	0.0	1.3	0.5	0.9	2.6	3.2
Jarvis Hayes	1	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	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

THE KEY BATTLE

Lopez vs. Spencer Hawes. Goofy lottery big white dude vs. goofy lottery big white dude. Lopez has certainly started his career off in more bombastic fashion, though obviously Hawes has been no slouch, and these two are effectively the same age. Hawes would do well to pull Lopez away from the rim to open up lanes for the slashers and elbow room for Jason Thompson. On the other end, expect early help, especially if Lopez is going strong in the post.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

The crowd at ARCO is going to be really interesting. I mean, can anything good come of this game for Kings fans? I haven't been this nervous about a game since that time I played strip Parcheesi with Keira Knightley and Fran Drescher. Mix in the holiday weekend, the lack of a pre-game buffet and the anonymity of the opponent, and ... hmm.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Lawrence Frank is going to yell at someone. Not necessarily a Net.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 13.

DETAILS

Game at 7. Game thread at 7. Post-game thread at 9:45. Recap at Boreal.

Why I won't be surprised if Dominic McGuire gets a spot in Flip Saunders' top eight

Mike Prada — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:44:00 -0000

More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images

Will we see a lot of this from Dominic?

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Guessing Flip Saunders' player rotation in August isn't going to be easy when there are so many players who have started games for their respective teams in the last two years. Hell, it's already en vogue for us to throw out names of Wizards that we "shouldn't forget about," as some of us already have.

So take this declaration as an educated guess of sorts, since it's the best we can do at this point.

Okay. There's one guy who has started to become an afterthought that has a much better chance of cracking Flip's top eight than most believe. Yes, it's true that the Wizards just traded for two guys that can play his primary positions. It's also true that he plays the same position as DeShawn Stevenson, a returning starter from two years ago provided he remains healthy. But judging from Flip's past history, I'd say this guy's got a great chance to vault into the top eight.

That guy is Dominic McGuire.

A case for Dominic McGuire to crack the rotation has to begin with what he's done as a Wizard. In a season where pretty much nothing went right, McGuire was the only guy who displayed some growth. He was provided an opportunity when Ed Tapscott took over and did enough to earn over 26 minutes a game. We can argue forever over whether McGuire deserved his opportunity, whether he played as well as the coaching staff thought or whether he was given a longer leash compared to the team's other young players, but the bottom line is that he stayed consistent enough to play very important minutes.

The case for McGuire also has to include the argument that he provides a unique skill set. We've fallen a bit too much in love with McGuire's defense -- it's got potential, but he still loses his man too easily off the ball -- but the very fact that he emphasizes defense over offense makes him a unique player on this roster. McGuire's also one of the best rebounding wings in the league (his rebound percentage of 12.1% would have put him fifth among small forwards if John Hollinger actually listed him there) and he won't use up too many possessions and steal shots from the offensive-minded guys on the team. Plus, in a rotation that gives eight guys most of the minutes, you need players who can swing between positions like McGuire.

However, the best case for Dominic McGuire would be to simply look back at Flip Saunders-coached teams. Every single successful Flip Saunders team has given major minutes to a defensive-oriented, long wing player who can stand at the point of Flip's zone (or guard the other team's top wing) and quarterback the defense. In Detroit, of course, that guy was Tayshaun Prince, who obviously has much more of a polished offensive game than McGuire, but is a very similar type of player. As the point man in Saunders' zoneish schemes, Prince's length and quickness helped keep Detroit near the top of the defensive rankings. McGuire possesses the same type of length and quickness even if he doesn't have the polish or the offensive game.

But the best case study for McGuire involves considering Saunders' tenure in Minnesota. During the 2003/04 season, when the Timberwolves won 58 games and would have made the Finals if Sam Cassell didn't get hurt in the playoffs, Trenton Hassell of all people averaged 28 minutes a game despite scoring just 6.5 points/36 minutes and posting a pathetic 8.2 PER. Like Washington, the 03/04 Timberwolves had a lot of offensive names. Cassell and Latrell Sprewell were just acquired, and despite being vets, they still were very good offensive players. Flip also had Wally Szczerbiak, formerly the second option behind Kevin Garnett, and Troy Hudson, an offensive-minded combo guard who had a great playoff series against the Lakers in 2002/03. And yet, among that mix, Trenton Hassell of all people ended up playing the fourth-most minutes per game on the team.

Why? He played defense and didn't use any possessions offensively to hurt his team. That earned him significantly more playing time than offensive guys like Szczerbiak and Hudson.

There are a lot of statistical similarities between Hassell's 2003/04 season and McGuire's campaign last year. The teams are also set up in a similar way -- Washington, like Minnesota then, has a lot of offensive-first name guys. Other than Kevin Garnett and possibly veteran center Ervin Johnson, nobody on the Wolves leaned defense-first ... except for Hassell. That alone got Hassell a ton of minutes despite his major limitations.

Hassell's case is a good precedent for Dominic McGuire. Don't be surprised if we see history repeat itself.

Evaluating The Shooting Guards Using Statistics

erivera7 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:00:24 -0000

More photos » by David Richard - AP

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	Courtney Lee	J.J. Redick
Games Played	77	64
Minutes Played	25.2	17.4
1 year adj. plus/minus	-1.15	-1.29
net plus/minus	+0.0	-3.2
statistical plus/minus	-1.46	-2.81
PER	10.8	9.8
WARP	-0.9	-1.2
Win Shares	4.4	2.2

As Ben alluded to in the past, we know the storylines for each player on the Orlando Magic. Instead of regurgitating the same information again, I decided to take a look at the statistical production of the shooting guards during the regular season.

Let's talk about offense:

J.J. Redick. Long lauded as one of the greatest shooters in college basketball history, Redick has struggled to shoot the way he did while at Duke University. Shooting percentages (55.9% true-shooting percentage, 50.0% effective field-goal percentage) scream average shooter (maybe a hair above-average), even though the scouting reports on Redick when he was drafted in 2006 scream excellent shooter. His Offensive Rating (107), also, indicate that J.J. is not the most efficient player. Sum it all up and people wonder, will Redick ever break out and shoot like he did at Duke? I don't know the answer to that question, but what I do know is that J.J. is a very hard worker. Before every game, Redick is going to work, shooting the ball, etc. That dedication has to pay off at some point in his career, right? I don't know the answer to that question, either.

As for Courtney Lee, Ben eloquently stated in his evaluation of the rookie this morning that his per game numbers aren't good but his shooting percentages are (55.6% true-shooting percentage, 52.6% true-shooting percentage). Those are above-average statistics. Even though his Offensive Rating (107) is below-average, make no mistake, Lee was an efficient scorer during the regular season. Courtney did a great job of picking his spots and shooting where he was most successful (the corner three, for example). When you take into account Lee's various abilities, he can shoot a.) the three-pointer b.) the mid-range jumper, c.) off the dribble, d.) on the catch, and more, it's clear that the kid's future is bright. In simplistic terms, Courtney is athletic, can shoot, and play defense, meaning he has all the tools to be an impact player in the NBA.

Let's talk about defense:

	Courtney Lee	J.J. Redick
adj. defensive plus/minus	+2.18	+1.80
opponent PER vs. SG's	15.0	14.9
net defensive plus/minus	+2.0	+2.1
eFG% allowed	47.5%	46.3%

The numbers are intriguing, no? Conventional wisdom dictates that Courtney Lee is a good defender while J.J. Redick is a bad defender, but that isn't the case when taking a look at the statistics. Both individuals pan out to be average defenders.

Can Courtney be better than average? Certainly. If head coach Stan Van Gundy is impressed by your defense and started you because of it, you're doing something right. Is Redick a defensive liability? No, he's not. In fact, he can hold his own.

For Lee, his work against Kobe Bryant in Game 3 of the NBA Finals stands out because Courtney was an annoyance and a pest to Kobe, specifically in the third quarter. That's an example of the type of defensive work Lee can put in.

For Redick, look no further than his defensive performance against Ray Allen in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Say what you will, but J.J. played active defense and worked hard to prevent Ray from getting the ball on offense.

Let's talk about everything:

Both Lee and Redick rated as the role players that they were during the regular season for the Orlando Magic. But in the case of Courtney, he has the chance to be more than a role player. What's his potential? Well, I turned to Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus to churn out similarity scores for me using his SCHOENE projection system (thanks, KP). The following list isn't an end-all, be-all for the rookie but it's a good indicator of the type of player he may be in the future. It's also important to note that as Lee improves, the list changes. Those are some things to keep in mind.

Byron Scott	97.2	23.1	1	1984	lal
Sasha Pavlovic	96.9	23.4	4	2007	cle
Morris Peterson	96.8	23.7	1	2001	tor
James Posey	96.7	23.3	1	2000	den
Luther Head	96.5	23.4	1	2006	hou
Trenton Hassell	96.3	23.1	1	2002	chi
Trent Tucker	96.2	23.3	1	1983	nyk
Steve Colter	95.8	23.7	2	1986	por
Dan Majerle	95.4	23.6	1	1989	pho
Aaron McKie	95.4	23.6	2	1996	por

Ton of fringe starter/sixth-man types. That appears to be Courtney Lee's floor. What's his ceiling? No one knows, yet.

Too bad local fans won't be able to find out. It happens.

2001 NBA Draft Re-draft Part 1

Jon L — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:25:28 -0000

More photos » by Steve C Wilson - AP

Don't worry, Mehmet Okur, you won't fall very far in our re-draft. (AP Photo/Steve C. Wilson)

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Sorry this is a little late today - Jon L

Ah, the 2001 draft. A year forever etched in the memory of Washington Wizards fans. We're going to take a second look at the second round, but I thought (and probably should've done this with the others) I'd recap where we are in the draft process.

High-schooler Kwame Brown was the number one pick, selected by the Washington Wizards and GM Michael Jordan. In a way, Brown was selected for the complete opposite reasons that a lot of players are. Jordan focused mostly on Brown's intangibles, or perceived intangibles, and ignored some of Brown's tangible, physical attributes, namely that the guy has small hands.

Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, and Eddy Curry followed. The first round saw the likes of Shane Battier, Jason Richardson, Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, and Tony Parker all hear their names called. The same goes for Rodney White, Steven Hunter, Kirk Haston, Jeryl Sasser and Raul Lopez. All of which, as always, we're leaving in place. The Chicago Bulls are on the clock. There are some stars and some solid players available. Who did they pick? Who will we pick for them? Part 1 is after the jump.

30. Chicago Bulls (original pick - Trenton Hassell)

The Bulls drafted Eddy Curry in the first round and traded for fellow 2001 draftee Tyson Chandler, so they don't need a big man. That Chicago team had a rather patchwork backcourt, with Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, Greg Anthony, Kevin Ollie, AJ Guyton, and Travis Best all getting at least a handful of starts. Oh, you say Gilbert Arenas is available? Yeah, we'll draft him.

31. Golden State Warriors (original pick - Gilbert Arenas)

Arenas wears the number 0 because that's the number of teams that drafted him in the first round. Some teams had multiple picks, though, so it's not like absolutely everyone passed him up. Golden State had just drafted Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy in the first round to complement budding star Antawn Jamison, and Jamison-Richardson-Murphy-Arenas wasn't a bad young core. The team was pretty terrible, though, which is what happens when your centers are Erick Dampier, Marc Jackson and Adonal Foyle. There aren't a ton of great centers in this draft, but the best is undoubtedly Mehmet Okur, whose relative lack of rebounding isn't as much of a weakness with Jamison and Murphy beside him.

32. Orlando Magic (original pick - Omar Cook)

Ah yes, the Patrick Ewing-Horace Grant Magic. Orlando had signed Grant Hill to complement Tracy McGrady, but Hill played only 14 games that year. The team's other offensive options were Mike Miller (fine), Darrell Armstrong (age 33) and Troy Hudson (now you're pushing it). McGrady needed help, and while Bobby Simmons is probably the best available, he likely wouldn't have gotten playing time behind McGrady and Miller. Carlos Arroyo went undrafted that year, but eventually ended up in Orlando as a decent backup to Jameer Nelson.

33. Memphis Grizzlies (original pick - Will Solomon)

Memphis traded for first-round pick Pau Gasol after drafting Stromile Swift the year before, so up front is "set." I don't hate the Solomon pick, as he's made somewhat of a name for himself over in Turkey despite not making much of an impression in the NBA. Beyond fellow 2001 draftee Shane Battier, though, the Grizzlies' small forwards were terrible. He'd need some work, but Jamario Moon would be a good complement to Battier and Gasol.

34. Atlanta Hawks (original pick - Terence Morris)

Morris was traded to Houston, we're making Atlanta keep the pick, etc. The usual deal. Those early 2000s Maryland teams really fooled a lot of NBA teams. Terence Morris has become a top player in the Euroleague, though he's considered a "big man" there despite being about 6'9" and being a small forward in college (if I remember correctly). Atlanta's guards that year were Jason Terry, Dion Glover, Jacque Vaughn and Emanuel Davis. They could've had Jamaal Tinsley, but they apparently thought they were fine in the backcourt and traded him to Indiana. We know better, though, and will draft Trenton Hassell, who's become a defensive specialist and would've been a decent complement to Terry.

35. New Jersey Nets (original pick - Brian Scalabrine)

I wouldn't say that I'm biased, because I have no real reason to be, but I was completely baffled at how much playing time Scalabrine got in the playoff this year. I know Garnett's injury forced the team to go deeper into its bench, but I couldn't name one thing that Scalabrine does well. The Celtics had three first-round picks that year, selecting Joe Johnson, Kedrick Brown and Joe Forte. Then they traded Johnson partway through the season. So, not a good draft. We'll give them Bobby Simmons to give them someone who'd produce after Brown and Forte didn't.

36. Cleveland Cavaliers (original pick - Jeff Trepagnier)

Hassell would've been a nice pick here, as Cleveland's defense that year was terrible (hi, Ricky Davis). Maurice Evans, another defensive specialist, is available, and hopefully he can take some of the minutes away from Davis and Lamond Murray. Or failing that, from Trajan Langdon.

37. Philadelphia 76ers (original pick - Damone Brown)

Yes, that Damone Brown. The Sixers made the playoffs that year with a lineup of Iverson-Snow-Harpring-Coleman-Mutombo. Coleman as in Derrick. That's an okay lineup, but their bench was pretty terrible, especially the frontcourt. As I said earlier, though, there aren't a lot of great big men in this draft. Could I interest you in the lesser Collins brother? How about Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje? Loren Woods? No? I'm not going to lie to you, this one really stumped me, as the team's needs don't really fit the draft's strengths. Sean Lampley has become a decent scorer in Australia, and was an okay-but-not-great bench player in the NBA.

38. Detroit Pistons (original pick - Mehmet Okur)

Other than Jerry Stackhouse and Chucky Atkins, Detroit's guards that year were Michael Curry, Jon Barry, Dana Barros and Damon Jones. Charlie Bell has had his moments in the NBA, and would be a hometown pick.

39. New York Knicks (original pick - Michael Wright)

This might've been the last Knicks roster that made sense. Unfortunately that didn't give them very many wins. That's because they were a bad offensive team, with only three players that scored more than 700 points for the season. Omar Cook is often cited as a guy who went to the NBA too early, and was never much of a scorer anyway, but he showed an ability to rack up assists and steals in the D-League, and perhaps receiving tutoring from fellow St. John's point guard Mark Jackson would've helped him out.

40. Seattle SuperSonics (original pick - Earl Watson)

Seattle needed a shooting guard more than a point guard. Horace Jenkins went undrafted in 2001 and went overseas, where he became a pretty good scorer, and earned a contract with the Detroit Pistons in 2004-2005. He may not have been able to contribute immediately, but he is/was certainly a hard worker and could've developed for Seattle.

41. Indiana Pacers (original pick - Jamison Brewer)

This was the year Indiana made a big trade with Chicago, so Ron Artest, Brad Miller and Jalen Rose spent part of the season on their roster. Indiana was pretty set up front, with Reggie Miller, Al Harrington, Jermaine O'Neal and Jonathan Bender plus Austin Croshere and Jeff Foster (remember that team?). Brewer didn't work out for them, but Earl Watson might have.

42. Seattle SuperSonics (original pick - Bobby Simmons)

Simmons was traded to the Wizard for Predrag Drobnjak. The SuperSonics have a weird history of accepting lousy center from Washington - Drobnjak, Jim McIlvaine, Calvin Booth. Michael Jordan loved Bobby Simmons. Even after he was traded to Detroit as part of the Stackhouse deal, Simmons was cut by the Pistons and Jordan re-signed him. Simmons had a few productive years in Milwaukee before getting injured. Seattle just had a pick, and while they had four centers on the roster that year, they were all lousy. Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje racked up the blocks in college, so maybe he could've produced with the Pacific Northwest's other franchise.

43. New York Knicks (original pick - Eric Chenowith)

This was originally Seattle's pick as well. Chenowith practically defines "well-traveled" as according to, uh, Wikipedia he's been under contract for eight different NBA teams and four D-League teams as well as the ABA and CBA, and has played in France, China and Puerto Rico. Apparently he shoots and runs the floor well for a guy his size (7'1"). Well, the Knicks obviously didn't want him, so we'll go with Loren Woods and hope he can beat out Felton Spencer and Travis Knight for the backup center job.

44. Dallas Mavericks (original pick - Kyle Hill)

This team had a lot of point guards, including Steve Nash, Avery Johnson, Nick Van Exel and Tim Hardaway. Oh, and Darrick Martin. Van Exel could play shooting guard, as could Michael Finley, but that's still a little point-heavy. All of the decent shooting guards are disappearing, so we'll take Jeff Trepagnier, who averaged about 11 points a game with the Bakersfield Jam this past season.

Orlando Magic 105, New Jersey Nets 102

Ben Q Rock — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:38:59 -0000

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic shoots over Keyon Dooling of the New Jersey Nets in Orlando's 105-102 victory

Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

The Orlando Magic earned their third straight victory with a 105-102 win over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night. Orlando outscored New Jersey in the fourth quarter, 22-16, for yet another come-from-behind win. The teams' respective cornerstones did the heavy lifting, as Orlando's Dwight Howard tallied game-highs with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while New Jersey's Devin Harris had 25 points and a game-high 9 assists. Rashard Lewis, the other All-Star in the game, scored the first 6 points of an 8-0 Magic run in the final quarter which gave them a 98-97 lead with 5:22 to play. Hedo Turkoglu took control from there, scoring Orlando's next 8 points and putting the game away on two beautiful fadeaway jumpers from the left baseline. Both times, the Magic were able to create a mismatch with the 6'03" Harris forced to guard the 6'10" Turkoglu in a post-up situation. Mister Fourth Quarter strikes again.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Nets	95	107.4	55.2%	22.1	10.3	11.6
Magic	95	110.4	48.2%	31.7	31.0	16.8

Wins like this one must feel good for the Magic, who once again needed a dominant team-wide defensive stand in the fourth period--the Nets shot 1-for-10 and committed 2 turnovers over the game's last 6:16, says Dave D'Alessandro--to defeat a team on the fringe of playoff contention . Here's how Kyle Hightower put it:

[Stan Van Gundy's postgame] message was simple - playing hard to win in the fourth quarter is good. Always being in a position to play catch-up, however, gets a little tiresome.

For the team's sake, not to mention that of their fans' blood pressure, I hope the Magic wake up soon. Even with their masterful fourth-quarter defense, the Magic had a poor game on that side of the ball by anyone's standards. Devin Harris got to wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted to, and hardly missed in the game's first three quarters. Equally frustrating was Yi Jianlian's efficient performance (12 points, 4-of-6 shooting) and the Magic's failure to communicate effectively. New Jersey runs a simple, dribble-drive offense which is designed to maximize Harris' strengths as a penetrator and finisher. I did not tally how many times Harris or Vince Carter, who played point guard for brief stretches, were able to find a big man cutting across the lane for an easy bucket. Think of it this way: for the first three quarters, the Nets were knifing through the Magic's defense with uncanny precision, like it wasn't even there. And if the New Jersey freaking Nets are carving up your defense in early-March, you might be in some trouble. Clearly, I disagree with Anthony Johnson's assessment of the team's defense tonight. From the Associated Press:

"We haven't really done that in a while," Magic guard Anthony Johnson said of the defensive effort. "It's been a couple months since we put together a full 48-minute game where we've had the defensive focus of a championship team."

However, Orlando's offense was there. Mickael Pietrus, whom I ripped in the news update today, made the most of his 27 minutes. Air France shot 4-of-9 from the field (3-of-6 on three-pointers) for 14 points and added 7 rebounds for good measure. Van Gundy was right when he said Pietrus' size is a boon for the Magic's defense, as he was able to body-up against Carter better than Courtney Lee could ever hope to (though not for lack of trying). Carter had it going on in the second half, but was unimpressive overall, with 19 points on 22 shots.

Also there for Orlando was Dwight Howard. He had a foul-plagued second half, which obscures how dominant he was in the first half. I mentioned Dwight's overall totals before in this recap, but it bears repeating: 26 points, 15 rebounds. Both totals exceed those of the Nets' entire starting frontcourt: Brook Lopez, Trenton Hassell, and Yi combined for 25 points and 13 rebounds. Dwight got whatever he wanted early, and put the Nets' bigs in foul trouble, drawing 2 fouls apiece from Lopez and Yi in the opening period, and 3 from reserve center Sean Williams. The Nets tightened their D on Howard in the second half, but it was too late.

But drawing fouls isn't the only thing; it's only good if you make the free throws, which is why the FTRate in the four-factors chart measure free throws made per field goal attempt. Again, Dwight converted at the foul line, making 12 of his 14 attempts. On a volume basis, that's his finest showing from the line this season. The 85.7% conversion rate is his fourth-highest percentage of the season, and in none of the performances preceding it did he make more than 8 freebies. Since the All-Star Break, Dwight has shot 67.8% from the foul line. That doesn't sound like much, I know, but for a guy who shot 58.8% before the break, it's a huge improvement.

Finally, it must be said that the Magic's point guards did their thang. Rafer Alston missed his fair share of ill-advised floaters, but nonetheless ha 11 points, 4 boards, 6 assists, and 0 turnovers as he made the Magic's offense hum. And because Anthony Johnson made 3 of his 4 shot attempts and scored 9 points, I can overlook his 3 turnovers. Really, all the Magic players had great offensive nights. It's the defense that we should worry about. As Hightower notes in the blog post linked above, this same come-from-behind thing isn't going to cut it against Boston and Detroit, Orlando's next two opponents.

We'll see your sit-the-vets and raise you a Madsen

Stop-n-Pop — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:14:57 -0000

Tank on this suckas. Not going to play your vets for entire games down the stretch? The Wolves will break out the Mad Dog. The man hasn't played 20 minutes since the start of the year. Only going to play Anthony Randolph (a match up demon against the current Wolves roster) 12 minutes through the 1st 3 quarters? The Wolves will give you a double dose of Brian Cardinal and Bobby Brown.

Ahhhhhh...the bottom of the NBA in March. It's FANtastic. Or, as an astute commenter put it, this was a tough match up for the fans. Whatever the case, it's probably a good thing that Papa Glen announced the Early Bird ticket offer before the GSW game.

Speaking of the new ticket deal, I know that the knee-jerk reaction for many long-time Wolves fans (and more-than-casual Minny sports followers) is one of cynicism and mistrust when it comes to anything this team has to sell. Those of us who have had season tickets have, at some point in time, all been hastled by an over-aggressive ticket staff. We've all walked through the concourse only to be tracked down by someone in a Wolves shirt trying a little too hard to sell us something. We've all been through year after year of the Kevin McHale front office administration where each and every single move has been pitched as a...well, let's just say that I'm not going to blame anyone for being a little cynical about this latest ticket offer.

What I am going to do is urge fans (long-term and casual alike) to give this offer a second look. Despite what is currently happening on the court with Al Jefferson down for the season, this team is on the right track and it is positioned to do some really nice things in the next year or two. This isn't a case of anyone on this site wanting to drink Kool Aide. Those of you who have read us for some time know that we don't walk the company line for the club. This team is less than 2 calendar years removed from an unworkable superstar contract, Marc Blount, Ricky Davis, T-Hud, Marko Jaric (who just made his first shot in 22 attempts last night against the Lakers), and Trenton Hassell. They are moving forward with 3 very movable expiring 09/10 contracts (Mike Miller, Craig Smith, Brian Cardinal), a stashed Euro center (Nikola Pekovic), reasonable cap space, roster flexibility, and the possibility of four first round draft picks (with two seconds). If you add in the current economic climate of the NBA as a whole, the Wolves are positioned so as to be able to take on 1 or 2 high level players with their expiring deals and young players without breaking the bank. Remember, each expiring deal can bring back 125% +$100k in existing salary.

Yes, you can look at last night's score, the team's record, and the new ticket deal and come to a pretty damn cynical conclusion. I get that. I've followed this team long enough to know not to blame anyone short of Dan Barreiro and Pat Reusse for taking a level-headed cynical position on the matter. That being said, this team has done a lot right lately. It isn't the easy target that Barreiro and Reusse used to use for an easy target when other material was scarce. Things have changed and there has to be, at least, a recognition of this fact. How have they changed? While the ticket news will likely get glossed over on KFAN as a cynical ploy to move empty seats for a terrible product, check out this little nugget from the PiPress:

Taylor vigorously shrugged his head no when asked if McHale could return to his former front-office role and said he hasn't decided whether to permanently fill the position.

"We sort of have a plan laid out," he said. "And No. 2, right now what's happening is it's going OK. So I don't feel like I'm under pressure where I've got to get that done real quick. I want to look both internally and externally because I think it is a really important decision for the team.

McHale's former duties have been divided among general manager Jim Stack, assistant GM Fred Hoiberg and others this season and Taylor said the system has worked well.

Even so, he said he wants to look at how other teams operate and talk to internal and external candidates before making a final decision on whether he needs a vice president of basketball operations.

"That's what I'm trying to kind of figure out," he said. "Or do I just need a GM? We will have a structure. I want to go through it and see if the way I had it before, is that necessary? Or can I get it done without spending as much money but be more effective?

Taylor repeated that it won't be strictly McHale's call on whether he returns as coach but that he's not sure the Wolves could go out and get another who could do a better job with this group of players.

Incidentally, this is pretty much what we have been saying on this site for months. They will have to make the best of it with what they have but this shouldn't preclude them from looking at what works around the league and bringing in a new set of eyes. For those of you new readers, might I suggest a look or two at our Executive Search series. The McHale front office era is over. "Country Club" is a dated term. Does the team still have issues? Of course, but they have changed and if even if you only aim to keep your cynicism current, you need to take into account the new realities with the squad. Oh, $5 tickets and discounts for 95% of the seats in the house (to say nothing about the low monthly costs) to go see some NBA games (regardless of how much they may or may not matter) is a pretty good deal regardless of anything else.

BTW: Speaking of tickets, don't forget to sign up for Hoopus Night on April 11th (click on the link for details). It's a little more than a month away. We hope to see you there. $25 and you get to sit in a suite with a bunch of basketball dorks. What more could you possibly ask for?

Do we really want to talk about the game last night? I sure don't. It was Summer League in March and you probably could have scripted the game before it started. It had everything: mismatched lineups, Mike Miller passing up shots, Mike Miller milking a soccer injury, Mark Madsen, Sheldon Williams, Craig Smith, Bobby Brown...uh....let's change the subject again.

I'd like to point you in the direction of a new Wolves site written by Sol Lieberman called Minnesota Timberwolves Examiner. It's a good site you should keep your eye on. His latest post is on Papa Glen's New Deal. I think he has a fantastic approach to the site and the angle he is taking on the squad should fit in nicely with what Britt (game wraps), TWolvesBlog (aggregator), and we (stats, charts, draft talk, radical leftist politics) have to offer. Balance is important in blogdom and Sol is not aiming at duplicating anyones effort....just as we do not attempt to recreate what already works with SG & Crew and Britt.

Finally, I would like to wrap this thing up with a quick note about the Warriors' TV crew. All night long they were brutally honest with the talent the Wolves were running out on the floor. Outside of the obvious respect due to Kevin Love, they didn't exactly have a whole lot of nice things to say about our favorite squad. Their biggest target was Randy Foye. He wasn't so much as a target as he was a "This is it?" They were markedly succinct in their take: This is who he is and they don't see much room for improvement. I'll let you draw your own conclusions but I will say this: More so than Love, a player who can fill in the gaps, Foye is the product of who he plays with. He is not the type of player who can be the sole offensive threat on the court. He is not the type of player you can put up against big off-guard. He is the guy who will feel Big Al's injury the most (outside of Big Al, of course). He is, at best, a 2nd or 3rd option. This isn't a bad thing. He still has great worth. He still has potential. It just really, really depends on who else is out there with him. This isn't a strike against Randy or the team. It is what it is and, as mentioned above, they have a tremendous opportunity to improve his supporting cast in the next season.

OK, I lied; I have one more thing to point out. This team misses Sebastian Telfair. Bassy may be a limited player but he's still a guy that has a positive adj +/- and he remains the only player on the squad with a positive net +/-. I know these stats have a large amount of noise within them, but Bassy makes this team tick more so than any guy outside of Big Al. He's the only legit point on the squad and his competitiveness is greatly missed when he's out of the lineup. Going forward, one of the most interesting questions in the off-season is this: If the Wolves are in a position to draft James Harden, do they pull the trigger and eventually bring Foye off the bench or do they draft the best point available? Or, do they hope that Cole Aldrich comes out? Whatever is the case, I'm sure a lot of changes are on the horizon.

Until later.

UPDATE: Looking at the post I see that one of my original paragraphs has been edited out. I don't have the original post anymore but the gist of it was that while the Wolves just put out a fantastic ticket offer and while they have a lot of wonderful assets and opportunities in the next year, they can't afford too many more clinkers like last night's game lest they want to give fans any more excuses to be as cynical as possible about the product. I cannot overstate how awful last night's game was. From end-to-end dunks to garbage rotations to whatever else you want to toss out there, it was brutal. Again, Papa Glen is lucky he didn't have to make the ticket announcement today. This is a tough sell as it is; it gets tougher with games like the one against the GSW.

Witt's end

Stop-n-Pop — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:36:55 -0000

It was a busy day yesterday for yours truly so I'd like to write a few words about the contest against Charlotte before I move on to the ostrich in the room.

Each and every Wolves fan left should be well aware of the fact that this team is a Mike-Miller-shot-with-0.1-seconds-on-the-clock-against-the-worst-franchise-in-professional sports-not-named-the-Detroit-Lions away from being an absolute catastrophe.

Against Charlotte, the squad played like the 3-13 mess it probably should be. (As a quick side note: Earlier in the year I wrote that this team was not a 4 win club; it was shooting poorly and playing a style of ball ill-fit to its personnel. I didn't take into account that I should have seen the warning signs that this is simply another McHale creation that will only drive more and more fans away from the organization.) Before the Charlotte game, and more importantly after a game in which they were annihilated at the free throw line, Randy Wittman complained that his team wasn't being aggressive enough, and that players needed to get to the line more. I.e. they need to drive the lane. In theory, this isn't all that bad of an idea. I have written many times about the fact that the Wolves had the league's worst FTA/FTM differential in the 07/08 season and it cost them upwards of 6 points per game. I have also written about how the Wolves lack a true point guard and are instead populated with a series of players not named Al that are built for up-tempo ball with lots of in-and-out/high-and-low action. The players that are capable of driving the lane are either not that good at dumping it off, can't go right, can't shoot over anyone over 6'6", can't make the shot even if they could, or take 5 seconds to set up whatever sort of herky-jerky drive they will take towards the bucket. In other words, we're still talking about a gap between system and personnel and, in this case, perhaps between tactics and strategy.

Charlotte beat the Wolves by running what looks to be "the book" defense against Al Jefferson. Wolves fans can get used to seeing this for the rest of the season. We'll talk about it in a future post but it is something the big fella has seen for about three games in a row now (and on a few occasions before when it really mattered).

Against the 'Cats, the Wolves took a grand total of 75 shots. It was a stunning display of poor, boring, and uninspired basketball in a game where the win was there for the taking against an equally poor team. In their wins, the Wolves are averaging 80.8 shots per contest. In their losses they are averaging 86.3. At first I thought that this was some sort of mistake but when you take into consideration overtime losses against San Antonio (106 shots) and Golden State (110), the Wolves are simply a moderately paced team that doesn't make a lot of its shots. To be fair to Witt, he's running a team of jump shooters that simply aren't making their jumpers and who are 26th in the league in eFG%. To be really, really fair to Witt, perhaps he has it exactly right. Perhaps he's simply leading a poor shooting team whose only chance to win is to keep the pace as slow as possible and to generate early FT bonuses in hopes to slow the game down even further and distract attention away from the fact that guys like Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, and Ryan Gomes really aren't good perimeter players. Maybe we stat-head fans simply got ahead of ourselves with the idea that if you simply surround Big Al with a bunch of guys who can shoot from the outside to the tune of 40% from beyond the arc, things will be OK; paying more attention to quantity than quality; especially in terms of where, when, and how guys like 4th Quarter and Shaddy get off their shots. Maybe we were wrong about just how useful these players were, and would be, in an in-and-out/high-and-low system. We'll save the doubt post for another day. Instead, let's take some time to talk about the real problem with this team, the Iron Ranger. Before I do, I would like to point out something from over at Britt's place:

"At the start of the game, we didn't get good guard play," Wittman said to Hughes and other assembled media in Charlotte. "We turned it over. We weren't into things. The right people weren't getting touches early on. When you turn it over, you can't get your defense set... We've got to start finding some veteran guys who can follow the gameplan and what we want done. You can't do it selectively... I thought we needed to get Randy off the ball and let Kevin [Ollie] run the show and I thought he did a great job of getting us into things. And Randy became more aggressive. He got to the free throw line. He was a different player than he was after that first half."

Don't think for a second that the "off the ball" comment wasn't directed squarely at the front office. I'm becoming more and more of the belief that Witt is actively trying to force McHale's hand. At this point in the season there is such an obvious gap between system and personnel that any change would either have to do with making a trade (admitting the personnel isn't adequate) or firing the coach (which would do nothing in the long run without changing the front office). Witt is walking a fine line here. On one hand, I love nothing more than thinly veiled shots at the personnel decisions of this team from someone inside of the Country Club. On the other hand, I've worked for bosses like this before and he's probably a few "they aren't following the system" comments away from open revolt amongst his players. He's already a Bobby Knight style coach who yanks players for looking at the scoreboard the wrong way and I can't imagine that free range tweaking in the media will do much more for the players' confidence or their performance. One really has to wonder just how much Papa Glen's promise of employment is worth. Is it worth enough to win a battle with the guy with ugly sweaters? We'll just have to wait and see. Jerry Zgoda takes this point to its obvious conclusion in today's column:

Afterward, coach Randy Wittman said he might need to rely on his veterans to find somebody -- anybody -- willing and able to follow that evening's game plan.

His answer begs a couple of questions: Was it another motivational salvo fired across his young team's collective bow or a solution that is the ultimate indictment of a franchise that has traded away Kevin Garnett, Brandon Roy and O.J. Mayo for a mismatched collection of players who have won four times in their first 16 games?

And if Cardinal, Ollie and Jason Collins are the best they have, isn't this outfit in big, big trouble?

Answer: yes.

Finally getting around to the Iron Ranger, let's say for a moment that McHale makes a deal. At this point in his career McHale is little more than a gambling junkie doubling down on dwindling resources. KG has been exchanged for Big Al. Spree and Sam were swapped out for Ricky Davis and Mike James, who have since been flipped for Randy Foye and a player to be named later. Trenton Hassell has morphed into Corey Brewer; Marko Jaric now runs around with long hair and stories about the Corn Palace; you get the picture. I've written numerous times about how McHale's entire basketball world view is encased in the amber of the 86 Celtics, and that any personnel decision he makes can be viewed in terms as what player is closest to Larry, Danny, and so on and so forth. What I haven't mentioned is that McHale's post-KG career with the Wolves is little more than him trying to recreate 04 with nothing but table scraps. It's pretty hard to argue against this point. He's gone through coach after coach after soon-to-be-coach to make this 04 blueprint work. There are new ad campaigns and players on the court, but it all boils down to the second verse being exactly the same as the first.

This team continues to poke its fans in the eye with an increasingly incompetent storyline: old players are cashed out for lesser versions of themselves, draft picks are either mismatched or misused, and the ones who got away (Josh Howard, Danny Granger, Brandon Roy, Thad Young, OJ Mayo) act like salt in an open wound. Meanwhile, it's always the coach's fault for being unable to make the motley crew work. Flip wasn't able to square the circle, Dwayne wasn't a member of the Country Club, and Randy is about to be exposed as a failure for being unable to put together the pieces that only fit inside the Iron Ranger's mind. Team commercial spokesmen are also not immune to the constant downgrading of McHale's leadership, as Sweetwater Jones has morphed into Don Overbeck. Next year, after the team takes yet another player that doesn't fit the system or existing personnel, we'll have to watch commercials with Pappy Thompson, a 50s era reject with thick glasses and tight shorts who talks about the good ol' days at the Minneapolis armory. Even things out of the team's control follow a sick pattern. First it was Shaddy, then Foye, and now Corey Brewer is missing a significant portion of his 2nd year with a severe injury. K-Love better come out in a protective cocoon in his sophomore season.

Something needs to change. I'm fairly certain it will be a trade or a coaching move, but we remaining fans all know what needs to be done. The issue here isn't Witt (although it may be if he continues on his current path of not trusting players and calling them out in the press). The issue here isn't bad shooting or poor defending post players. It's Kevin McHale. Period. This front office needs to be cleaned out and the furniture bleached of the stench. I am rapidly approaching a point of no return with this club. I find it hard to even watch the games anymore. What is the point if the same crew that crashed the car is going to be the ones behind the wheel with up to 4 1st rounders and a bucket of free agent money? These clowns have been blowing drafts all the way back to 1999. They've been overpaying players since Wally. They've been signing the wrong free agents since T-Hud. Even if they get lucky (and they've been lucky before with Mr. Roy and Mr. Granger landing in their laps), they won't get it right. Even if they change coaches, they won't get it right. Even if they land a free agent, they won't get it right. At what point is enough enough? Fire McHale, blow it up, start over before it's too late.

Until later.

UPDATE: I crossed out the "blow it up" part as it was a bit ambiguous with its distinction between personnel and front office. Midlife Crisis hits the nail on the head with a comment from a previous post:

I’m pretty worried about the future of this franchise when the best that the most obsessed fans can hope for is blowing up the team again, and leaving ourselves another tier down talentwise and again hoping for what, exactly. A top star moving to a small market in an ice cold town with a front office that shipped out then flamed the best nba player (by a long long ways) to ever grace this franchise. Or are we hoping that Ricky Rubio will have a bigger impact than Lebron James.

That's spot on and I'm, admittedly, guilty as charged. Speaking for myself, the "blow-it-up" attitude comes from years of being poked in the eye by the only team I really pay attention to. I have zero idea where they are going and zero faith that they can get there. When I step back from it and get as detached as possible, I can say that this team needs a new front office with a fresh set of eyes. I really am convinced that guys like Miller, Love, Jefferson, Gomes, Brewer and Foye can exist on a winning team. You may be talking about 4 bench players and 2 starters, but they're not bad players and some of them could have value to make a necessary move. This team just needs to have the Country Club blown up. My main disagreement with MC's post is that McHale, by himself, is a constant downgrade machine. By the simple virtue of him running the ship, you get a lesser version of what this team should be. From coaching to personnel to marketing to whatever, this team suffers under his leadership. Papa Glen deserves his fair share of the blame here. Ultimately, the buck stops with him and his refusal to do what needs to be done is a big problem with this team and it continues to downgrade the product and move more fans to the exits with each passing season.

UPDATE ii: I forgot to mention it, but on the way to the gym to watch the 2nd 1/2 while on the treadmill I tuned into local Wolves affiliate 1420 KTOE to listen to the game. Instead of hearing the Wolves v Cats in Papa Glen's hometown, I was treated to the world famous Bethany vs. Luther College tilt from Iowa. Awesome.

UPDATE iii: Inspired by an Andy G comment from an earlier post, I present to you an illustrated history of being a Wolves fan:

With each and every move we talk ourselves into believing, the ball gets pulled away yet again. First it was Ebi, then McCants over Granger, then Foye over Roy, then Brewer over Young...it's now Love v. Mayo and while I still think the deal was a one-sided win for the Wolves, I have a nagging feeling that I may just be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome rather than having a solid b-ball take on the deal that went down.

UPDATE iv: Sterno has some excellent things to say in the comments:

This is where I think my fandom will hang in the balance: if they go with Hoiberg, i think i’m done the Wolves after 20 years. It will be hard, given I generally ike the NBA and have had many great times at Wolves’ games, but life is too short and tix are too expensive.

However, if they step outside the organiation, and hire a real GM, things could look up. New blood. A lot of draft picks. Cap flexibility. Some young players with potential. One of the best low-post scorers in the league. Another frontcourt player who SHOULD compliment the low post scorer on the offensive end. So what if you don’t want to play up for a Van Gundy or a E. Jordan or F. Saunders (not that I like any of those guys anyway)? Why wouldn’t a quality assistant want to start with those assets?

We’re 20% into the season and my only hope is that we have total regime change. Not where I want to be.

Over at Britt's place, A.K. has another interesting nugget:

One of the inducements this season for season ticket holders is the perfect attendance "contest". As long as at least one of an account holders' tickets gets punched for each game they remain eligible for prizes. Through eight home games, only 656 account holders are still eligible. The Wolves already have STH's money - this is about reducing empty seat syndrome.

Think about that - only 656 account holders have gone or found a use for their tickets less than 20% through the season. That's probably competitive with the Swarm. And yet the status quo drumbeat goes on.

I'd be willing to bet that the Swarm average more fans per contest than the Wolves this year. Last year they averaged 11,405 per home game. Is this the year Lacrosse eclipses basketball in the hearts and minds of Minnesota sports fans? I kid but only a little.