SB Nation - Al Jefferson

Tell it like it is, Mike!

Stop-n-Pop — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:59:37 -0000

There are two thankless jobs in the Wolves' organization. First and most obvious are the poor saps who have to sell tickets, especially the ones to the luxury boxes. We here at Hoopus have no idea how the ticket reps we come in contact with do it. We'd loose our cool by mid-afternoon on our first day...which is probably why we're no longer in sales.

Second, the Wolves' TV crew has to fill roughly 4 hours of airtime per game night. Think about that for a moment. When the Wolves start a game out going down by 10 with only about 5 minutes run off the clock, what are you going to talk about? How are you going to spend several hours describing a team that can be entirely defined by a haiku?

McHale's ghost still here

Out manned? Yes! Sasha Hollins!

Lower bowl upgrade.

You know what I'm talking about.

After watching hours of League Pass, I really have an appreciation for the Wolves' TV crew, commercial free halftimes, post-game tutorials, and the hours and hours and hours of material that J-Pete and Hanny come up with to describe the team we are starting to run out of ideas about with the written word. "They're not talented enough," "they have future assets," and "Kevin Love is really good" can only take a guy so far.

Anywho, my favorite TV moment of the year happened during the first half of last night's game. The TV crew is constantly trying to make a sometimes unwatchable product entertaining and to assure fans that at some point somewhere down the road, all of this...well, crap...will pay off for the long term benefit of the team. Like it or not, that's part of their job.

This little fact often leads them down the road of getting players and/or coaches from the other team to draw comparisons from their squad's questionable past to their current success. This angle is ridden hard when teams like Portland and Atlanta come to town.

Last night the Wolves' new sideline reporter (and Telly-slayer) Robby Incmikoski asked Atlanta coach Mike Woodson to wax poetic about the parallels he sees between this year's Wolves and a past version of his currently upper-level Eastern Conference Hawks. The answer went a little something like this: "I suppose they do remind me of what we were going through 6 years ago."

At this point several thoughts rushed through my head. First, I felt bad for Robby. That answer must have been the sideline reporting equivalent of getting shot in the face by Dick Cheney. He was clearly going for something inspirational and he ended up getting pointed to the second thought in my head: Mike Woodson just compared the 2009/10 Wolves to the 13-win Atlanta Hawk squad that was probably the worst team of the decade.

My third thought was "Who on god's green earth was on that putrid team and how on earth would any of them remind Coach Woodson of the Wolves?" This question is the fan equivalent of getting shot in the face by Dick Cheney. The 04/05 Hawks were led by Al Harrington and Antoine Walker. They had young wings Josh Childress and Josh Smith, as well as a young Boris Diaw. They also had Kenny Anderson, Tom Gugliotta, Jon Berry, and Kevin Willis. This is the team that reminds Mike Woodson of the 09/10 Wolves? Ouch.

OK, it's time to think a few happy thoughts before I get to the big downer.

Kevin Love is a fantastic basketball player. Last night he finished with 19 rebounds (8 offensive) and 15 points on .500 shooting. He carried an absurd 26.9 oReb rate for the game. He had a team-high 1.02 points contributed per possession used (the next closest teammate was Al Jefferson with 0.85). He filled in the action outside of the box scores with wonderful outlet passing, solid screens, as good of help defense as he could muster alongside Al Jefferson, and a few of his patented 1-on-4 impossible tips to teammates.

The best Love highlight of the night brings up an interesting question about the diminishing returns of defensive rebounding. Namely, is a defensive rebound in the hands of Kevin Love worth more than a defensive rebound in the hands of Al Jefferson or Ryan Hollins? The play in question was started with an Atlanta jump shot that was corralled by Love. The second the shot went off Corey Brewer started to drift towards half court. When he saw that Love had the rebound, he turned on the jets. Love pivoted and delivered a strike to an in-stride Ramon Sessions who took a few dribbles and delivered a perfect bounce pass to the cutting Brewer for a two hand dunk. If Ryan Hollins or Al Jefferson get that defensive rebound, what do you think are the chances for a Brewer dunk? How do you measure the impact of something like this? Are Love rebounds worth more than Jefferson rebounds?

Kevin Love is off to a tremendous start this season. He has extended his range, improved his rebounding, increased his assist and steal rates, lowered his defensive rating, and increased his offensive one. He's the best player on this team by a country mile.

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	G	MP	PER	TS%	eFG%	ORB%	DRB%	TRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%	ORtg	DRtg	OWS	DWS	WS
2008-09	20	MIN	NBA	81	2048	18.3	.538	.461	15.1	27.3	21.0	6.8	0.9	1.9	12.4	21.0	112	109	3.4	1.9	5.3
2009-10	21	MIN	NBA	11	341	23.4	.584	.530	16.1	30.0	22.9	11.6	1.8	1.1	11.6	19.7	121	105	1.0	0.4	1.4
Career			NBA	92	2389	19.1	.544	.471	15.2	27.7	21.3	7.5	1.0	1.8	12.3	20.8	114	108	4.4	2.3	6.7

Before we get around to what Love's improvement means for another very specific player on the team, let's take a moment or two to sing the praises of Corey Brewer.

At the end of the day it will be noted that Joe Johnson had 21 points on 9-18 shooting. It should be put into the record that Brewer made him work for each and every single one of those points while keeping him out of the paint and away from the line. Brewer fought through a maze of screens all night long and he showed an amazing ability to keep the smooth-scoring Johnson somewhat off-balance (as off-balance as you can get with 20+ points) with an array of long arms, oddly-timed jump-outs, and pure grit. Brewer is actually fun to watch on defense. He really thinks about it and his effort and thought is obvious. For instance, watch how he closes out on jump shooters. He tries to use his quickness to make the aforementioned oddly-timed jump out so as to distract the shooter as much as possible. It's distracting on the shot and it allows him to stay in better position to cut off drives to the hoop. He's also one of the best players I've seen in terms of being able to cut off a pass to the wing. 6'9" guys have no business being as quick as he is and he really uses that to his advantage with man-to-man defense. Now, if only he could turn into a solid weak side defender. My guess for this aspect of his game is that his man-to-man instincts kick in far too much when the ball is on the opposite side of the court and he sags away from his man far too much with the idea that he needs to help his awful defending interior teammates (cough...Al Jefferson...cough). He gets burned for a corner three on an almost nightly basis and last night's game was no exception.

One more thing about Brewer: He is turning into something of a showman in the open court. Between the Derek Fisher poster dunk and last night's 2-handed transition slam, Brewer is taking the ball to the rim HARD and it has led to some of the only non-Love entertaining moments in several recent games.

OK, now that we have the good stuff out of the way, let's get around to the elephant in the room: Al Jefferson.

Here is a comment that was dropped in last night's game thread:

i hate that

people remember how good jonny flynn was with good teammates but nobody wants to believe that al jeff could be great with some solid shooting teammates…

by NuthinBurger on Dec 22, 2009 10:59 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I don't single out this comment because I think it's invalid; rather, it made me think about what Jefferson really brings to the club, especially in light of having the night kicked off with comparisons to the 13-win 04 Hawks squad.

The comment has an interesting point but it also begs a question going in the opposite direction: What else does Al Jefferson bring to the table that could be combined with solid shooting (and good) teammates? On a night when Big Al didn't have it going offensively, and on a night where the Wolves were getting torched in the paint early on, what does Jefferson bring to the table? My big Big Al memories of the night were a) watching him try and fight Kevin Love for defensive rebounds that were in no danger of going to an Atlanta player, b) getting a text from someone at the game saying he got into a tussle with Rambis in the 2nd half, and c) hearing a teammate yell "AL!" at him in a futile attempt to get the big fella to turn around and stop a Hawk with a clear path to the bucket.

Knee injury or no knee injury, what exactly will Jefferson bring to the table besides upper-level interior scoring? Let's say that the Wolves do get a solid supporting cast. Is he good enough beyond the low right block to be a functional defender? Can he facilitate the action out of the high post or on a pinch post screen? I don't disagree with the commenter that Jefferson will be an even better interior scorer if he were surrounded by better shooters, but what about the rest of his game?

Last night's tilt was the first time I really completely believed that he'll get moved at some point during the next 2 years. Last night's tilt was the fist time I really thought that there is no way this guy will ever "get it" beyond the low right block. This is in no way suggesting that he is not of value or that he is not a tremendous player. What he is is a flawed player who is being paid to be a building block. You can't build around a guy that is not a two way player. That should be a basic basketball principle. Knee injury or no knee injury, Al Jefferson is not a two way player. He's a scorer. He's the last person on earth you want to have as the lynch pin in a motion-based offense that is supposed to thrive on ball movement. He's the last person on earth you want to partner with in an undersized defensive front court.

I'm not at the point where I'll opine for a Shaddy/Foye-esque death match between Jefferson and Love but I am at the point where I no longer believe it can work and that one of them will go. I think it's obvious who I would side with if ever such a contest came down the pike, but I no longer see a good way of making this happen. Not with the coaching changes and the amount of assets they've sunk into the point guard position. It's gotten to the point where I mutter an "oh crap" when Al comes in the game for Love. This team is transitioning to a perimeter-based system and they will throw some money at someone like Rudy Gay and/or Joe Johnson while drafting another wing. Al Jefferson is the last Minnesota dinosaur at this point and he doesn't have much longer until the asteroid hits.

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

It is really frustrating to watch Wayne Ellington miss open shots. I know that he is dealing with the new role of being a bench player but he was never a high usage guy at UNC and I was hoping that his ability to hit open shots would transfer well to the NBA.
The Hawks had 28 shots in the 1st quarter. That's insane. To give you an idea of just how insane that is, the Milwaukee Bucks lead the league with 87.2 FGA/game. At the half, the Hawks were on pace to have 122 FGAs in the game. Thankfully, they took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half. I wish I had the numbers for 2nd chance points. The Hawks were getting trips down the court with 3-4 shots/possession. It wasn't all just offensive rebounding. The Wolves were making ridiculous errors that gave the Hawks the ball right back after a missed shot.
Ryan Hollins developed a new way to lose hold of a ball during last night's game. He was going up for a layup when the rock suddenly shot out of his hands.
Lost in the shuffle last night was the fact that the Wolves took 11 more free throws than the Hawks...and that they missed all 11 of them. Ish.

Well, that about does it for now.

Until later.

lost this game at the line...and crawford can hit from the wing

Get Ryan Gomes

Jeff Clark — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:57:16 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Go get Gomes.

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I've got this college buddy of mine that I love like a brother. A few years after college, he moved away for personal/logistical reasons. We keep in contact and he's doing wonderfully where he is so I'm happy for him, but obviously it isn't the same as having him around. I've recently got word that there's a chance that he could be coming back into the area. Needless to say, I'm excited. Things will be different of course. We both have families now and we've matured (a little). But I just know that he'll fit right in and we'll have a blast hanging out again.

That was my long winded analogy for how I feel about Ryan Gomes. I don't have any inside information or even a vague rumor to throw out there. All I have is a few guys on another site that have reminded me that the TWolves have an option on Ryan's contract at the end of the year and there's a chance (however slim) that they could release him or trade him to a team that would release him for cap flexibility reasons.

If such a glorious event were to occur, you can bet that I'll be leading the charge to urge the Celtics to bring him back to Boston (where he belongs). You see, I've always thought that Ryan was more valuable to the Celtics than he would be to any other team. Sure he's got enough talent to make it work anywhere, but he's also a tweener that isn't capable of being the first, second, or perhaps even 3rd option on a team seeking alpha-males to lead them. What he is, however, is a great glue guy that does all the little things you need to win basketball games.

One man's tweener is another man's versatile utility infielder. Much like a taller Marquis Daniels he would fill multiple roles on the currently constituted Celtics roster. He'd be that big 3 that has eluded Doc for many a year. He would spell Pierce (which would have a noticeable trickle down effect on the rest of the roster) and he could fill in at the 4 in smaller lineups. He's even developed a reliable jumper that would fit perfectly into Doc's offensive schemes (floor spacing) and he's bright enough to pick up the defense quickly I'm sure.

In terms of personality, you couldn't ask for a better lockerroom and community guy. He was Mr. Ubuntu before Doc introduced that term to the team in '07. Even as a youngster, he was wise beyond his years and there were times when he looked and sounded like a veteran (and maybe at the time he was one of the older players on the team). I can't find the quotes at this moment but when he was traded away, Danny Ainge singled him out as being one of his favorite people and talked about how hard it was to include him in the deal.

The sad thing for his perspective is that he never got to taste that Championship and he has had to toil (with Al Jefferson) on another rebuilding team. We've been able to move on and put those rebuilding years behind us. He has had to relive them over again in another town.

If the Wolves don't plan on releasing him but don't see him as a fixture in their long term plans, I'd be more than willing to use a few of our expiring contracts to swing a deal for him. Perhaps the rejuvenated Tony Allen and JR Giddens could get it done?

Ryan hasn't turned into an All Star or anything, but I don't think that was his fate anyway. He has steadily improved his game over the years and would be a great addition to a championship contender.

If there's any chance of getting him back in green, nothing would make me happier. Just like seeing an old friend move back into town.

Daily Links - 12/21

Jeff Clark — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:01:24 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

Old friends battle once again.

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FLCeltsFan is taking a vacation from the links, so here's my small attempt to provide a few links for you this morning.

Green Street " Inside the Game: Paul Pierce and the Art of Versatility

After nearly 12 years in the league, Pierce has learned how to accentuate his talents to help the Celtics win. He ranked first on the Celtics in scoring and 3-point shooting, second in assists, and third in rebounding heading into Sunday’s game. This overall versatility is what makes him one of the most dangerous players in the league.

Three cheers for Paul Pierce - BostonHerald.com

By shooting 6-of-6 from downtown as the crux of his 29-point performance, Pierce became the third player in franchise history to hit six treys without a miss. Walter McCarty, who went 6-for-6 on Nov. 2, 1999, in Toronto, and Ainge, who did the same on Jan. 4, 1988, in Utah, have company.

Rondo passes up quite a chance - The Boston Globe

Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 15 assists in the Celtics’ 122-104 victory over Minnesota last night. But Rondo was regretting one of those assists after being informed that Paul Pierce had a chance to break a team record for 3-pointers without a miss. "I had no idea, I didn’t know he shot 6 for 6 until I saw him do an interview,’’ Rondo said. "You know, I looked him off on one, too. The skip pass to Ray [Allen], Paul said he was open, too. He made sure he told me that right after.’’

Timberwolves' Jefferson, Celtics' Perkins at head of this class - The Boston Globe

High school centers are far from guaranteed to produce at the NBA level, especially those who played against much-lesser competition in high school. Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge scored on both Perkins and Jefferson because they possessed the talent and work ethic to remain in the leagu

Al Jefferson plays with perspective - BostonHerald.com

"It’s a blessing to be in the league," Jefferson said before his team’s 122-104 loss to the Celtics [team stats] at the Garden. "I’m just happy I’m still in the NBA. I’d rather be in the NBA losing than not be in it at all. "We’ve got a young team. I’ve been on a young team the last five years, but that’s a part of life."

‘Mad respect’ for Kendrick Perkins - BostonHerald.com

Modestly aside, Perkins is doing far more than carving a niche for himself amid a cast of more celebrated teammates. It became almost cliche to throw in several lines about how helpful it is to play next to Garnett whenever he would have a decent game. But ask not what your Big Ticket can do for Perk, for, conversely, Kendrick Perkins does much to make Garnett’s life easier. He would be a great success if all he did was play defense, hit the glass and make teams have to guard him a tad. But he’s become so much better with the ball that sleeping on Perkins will give an opponent a nightmare.

Tony Allen has an impact - BostonHerald.com

Allen took the ball right to the hoop and posterized Minnesota’s Corey Brewer with a one-handed slam. "Actually I kind of surprised myself. I wanted to lay it up, but I saw him running so hard, so I just had to finish," Allen said. "I was pretty happy after that. It actually motivated me throughout the game."

Celtics respond to tough loss with win over Wolves

Jimmy Toscano — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:22:00 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

Tony Allen helped the Celtics take care of Al Jefferson and the Wolves Sunday night.

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The Boston Celtics responded to an embarrassing home loss against the Philadelphia 76ers exactly how they should have- with a convincing win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Celtics took a 15 point first quarter lead and turned it into a 25 point halftime lead. Although the Timberwolves made a rally in the fourth quarter, bringing the deficit to 12 points, the Celtics pulled away once again, scoring a season high 122 points in the 122-104 win.

Paul Pierce led all scorers with 29 points on 8/14 shooting including 6/6 from three point territory- tying Danny Ainge and Walter McCarty for the most three pointers in one game. He also added seven rebounds and four assists.

"We talked yesterday and I just told him he needs to get back to playing with his instincts," coach Doc Rivers said of his discussion with Pierce. "I thought he was trying to get everybody involved which you want him to do too but I think our three really instinctive players are Kevin [Garnett], [Rajon] Rondo, and Paul [Pierce] and I think all three of them, they have the curse of a high basketball IQ. And at times I think they start wanting to ‘think' the game, and try to get this guy off; instead of just playing. Their instincts will take over and their IQ will play into it

Rajon Rondo recorded a double-double once again with 13 points and 15 assists. Ray Allen, playing with a hyper-extended ring finger, ended up with 20 points.

The play of the night and maybe season, however, goes to Eddie House and Tony Allen. Early in the second quarter House tipped the ball away from Ramon Session, sending the ball towards the sidelines. House got to the ball just as it was to fall out of bounds and threw a behind the back pass to the streaking Allen. Allen caught the ball cleanly on his way to the hoop and threw down a thunderous slam over Corey Brewer for the points and the foul, sending the crowd and Allen's teammates to their feet.

"Well, first I didn't think (House) was athletic enough to get to the ball," said Rivers. "So the fact that he got to the ball, I was shocked. And then he made a play once he got to the ball- it was pretty spectacular. It was great. I was happy because it was a great defensive play."

Allen finished the night with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists, but more importantly zero turnovers. The Celtics needed Allen to fill the void left by Marquis Daniels who is out roughly until the All-Star break, and so far since coming back from his injury he has done just that.

"He's been huge man," Pierce said of Allen, "just his energy and what he's been able to bring especially with Marquis [Daniels] out because he's a guy who can come in and slash, score, and also what he's best known for is his defense. He comes in right away and he gets a steal and a fast break layup to start the game off when he gets in the game.

Kendrick Perkins was matched up with his old friend Al Jefferson tonight. Perkins finished the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jefferson recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds.

"Perk [Kendrick Perkins] is getting better and better every game," said the Timberwolves' Al Jefferson. "If he keeps playing the way he's playing, he's going to get a big contract. He's a great defensive player, always has been... Plus his offensive game is getting better."

If the opponent can see the improvements Perkins has made, you can bet his teammates notice them on a daily basis. Perkins has really come into his own and embraced his role on this team. He has worked on his low-post moves and takes way more high-percentage shots than he has in previous seasons.

"He's improved," Kevin Garnett said of Perkins. "The one thing Doc expressed here is knowing your role, he tried to go out and do that every day, every night, even in practice. But the thing that stands out about him, because I get to see him every day, is that he works on his game every single day and that's what you want from a young guy."

"I know I had a tough matchup," Perkins said of his bout with Jefferson. "I just try to make things hard on him. You're not going to stop Al [Jefferson], you just try to make things tough on him. He will still hit you with some things you won't expect."

Deja Vu Averted

Jeff Clark — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:29:54 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

Play of the year?

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The Celtics were flat on Friday and lost to a team they had no business losing to. You would think that they would keep the throttle down tonight, but not so much. After building a 20 point lead early in the 2nd quarter, they let the Wolves maintain that margin by trading baskets for much of the game. Then the Wolves made a run in the 4th forcing Doc to insert the starters back in the game. Where's the killer instinct? Like Tommy said, when you go up big early, go for a 50 point win. Oh well, it ended up being a large win anyway. I just hope they can shake this trend.

Question for number 42: Who are you and what have you done with Tony Allen? I only ask so I can welcome you to the team and make sure you disposed of the body properly. (15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and zero turnovers)
Pierce was a perfect 6 for 6 from three point range. Gotta love that.
We may have seen the play of the year with that Eddie House around the back save to Tony for the facial dunk and the foul.
There was a nice encore with Rondo lefty-spin-long-bounce pass to Tony who put a wraparound pass into Perkins' hands for the easy slam.
Al Jefferson still has it. Nice to see.
I will say, the goodwill I have for that team with Big Al and Ryan Gomes is nearly negated by the presence of Rambis and Laimbeer.
Johnny Flynn (go Syracuse!) sure can play, can't he?
Rondo keeps racking up the assists. 15 tonight to go with his 13 points. All Star. Period.
Seven, count 'em, seven players in double figures (and Eddie added 7).
Tommy had some fun with the fact that there were only 2 refs (due to the snow). Good times.
According to Jessica Camerato: "Celtics improved to 4-0 when scoring more than 30 points in the first quarter. They are also 4-0 on Sundays."

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.

Preview: Kings at Wolves

Ziller — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:00:26 -0000

More photos » by Rich Pedroncelli - AP

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THE OPPONENT

Remember the Timberwolves, who last Saturday fell in defeat at the boots of the Kings at ARCO. The Wolves have four victories, including one this week against Utah. Minnesota's four wins (in 26 games, whoo) have come against the Nets, the Nuggets and the Jazz twice. The Wolves have the worst point differential in the league, have the third worst shooting clip in the league, the second worst offense overall and the 24th ranked defense. The Wolves suck.

THE KEY BATTLE

Al Jefferson and Kevin Love vs. Jason Thompson and ... Andres Nocioni? No word as of press time on whether Spencer Hawes will get his starting position back. Facing a Scantron and No. 2 pencil, I would scribble the 'B' bubble, assuming 'B' is associated with 'no.' Hawes had a solid spell in relief on Wednesday, but Spencer's bad outing against Minnesota on Saturday was surely part of the eventual post-Blazers benching.

(And please do not believe Paul Westphal's spin regarding the Wizards match-up. It's been discussed insightfully by others here on StR, but seriously. He got benched. He got benched.)

There are pros and cons, to me, in benching Hawes against teams like the Wolves. First of all, one of the few strengths of Minnesota is its offensive rebounding, between Jefferson and Love. We saw Jefferson own the offensive glass early in Saturday's game. He ended up with five offensive caroms, and Love had four. Benching Hawes, no matter how disappointing he has been on the boards this season, doesn't help when Omri Casspi is the replacement. Omri is a great rebounder at his position ... which is not power forward or center. We saw Nocioni play power forward in Hawes's stead Wednesday; if Hawes sits for Omri, that'd be the case again, with Thompson marking Jefferson (and risking foul trouble) and Noc handling Love. But Noc isn't a PF-level defensive rebounder, either. You open yourself up for exploitation on the offensive glass, something we saw executed perfectly early on by Washington.

Of course, adding Omri to the Evans-Greene-Nocioni-Thompson group makes the offense wail. Casspi is a perfect match for Evans and Thompson, just perfect. So what do you do? If it were my choice, I'd either start Hawes and keep all five Kings back to help rebound (you can score on Minnesota in the halfcourt) or I'd start Kenny Thomas and Omri (the latter in place of Noc), match K-9 up against Jefferson, let Thompson take Love ... and sub in Hawes the second Jefferson sits (or as soon as Thompson picks up his second foul, whichever happens first). Ryan Hollins is a good offensive rebounder, but less of a threat to do anything with the ball and an absolute sieve on the other end.

I have a feeling we'll get Omri in the starting five with Nocioni, which means we'll get a shoot-out, which is probably best for all viewers.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Reggie Theus will arrange for Sam Amick to be forced to sit next to Minnesota's most slovenly, smelly man.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 6.

DETAILS

5 PM tip-off. Comcast SportsNet and KHTK 1140 AM. Just one game thread tonight, plus the post-gamer (7:45) and the recap (eventually).

Preposterous Statements

Stop-n-Pop — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:45:35 -0000

For those of you who are fans of the noon to three program on KFAN you are probably aware of the (in)famous preposterous statement contest where the host and the interim producer gather the silliest and most over-the-top statements from the world of sports and then run them off against each other in a winner-take-all tourney for preposterous statement champion of the world.

During yesterday's pro'grum they added the following statement (from a caller): "If [the Wolves] add a good shooting guard and a center, they'd be a .500 team."

There are two angles to this statement. On one hand, the idea the Wolves are two competent players away from being a .500 team isn't all that far out of an idea. In fact, we here at Hoopus have said over and over that the Wolves need to add a wing player like Rudy Gay and an athletic big like Joakim Noah or Jason Thompson in order to take the next step before hoping that the Sessions/Rubio/Flynn/(Wall?) battle can play itself out at the point.

On the other hand, the idea that the few remaining Wolves fans are in a position to talk excitedly about the addition of 2 more competent players in order to make it to an even split in their record is...well, that's kind of preposterous. It's really preposterous.

What is also preposterous is trying to draw any conclusions about this team from any single game of action. After performing like up-tempo gangbusters against the talented Utah Jazz, the Wolves came out an laid a preposterous egg against the Clips. This team is a whole lot of hit and (mostly) miss right now and if I had to pick one or two angles that would determine whether or not they will win, it would be the play of Jonny Flynn and the nondescript wings. Against Utah, Corey Brewer and Jonny Flynn went off and the team was able to compete. Against the Clips, not so much.

OK, that in mind, and with clear understanding that there are no grand themes you can take away from any of these games other than that Minny is out manned by a mile, let's get around to last night's tilt. It was notable for three reasons:

Effort. Last night the Wolves played like dogs. With OKC/Dallas and Sacramento/Washington on ESPN, there were plenty of other entertaining NBA viewing options last night and yours truly took full advantage of the remote in order to see them. Again, I don't think this effort is indicative of a larger trend (i.e. a team that quits); rather, it was simply a bad night in terms of effort and focus. Who should be blamed for this? Ultimately, the coaching staff but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that I found it pretty damn easy to flip the channel to watch the Thunder and Kings, two teams that were worse than the 2008/09 Wolves and who are now both hugely watchable, entertaining, and competitive. I think the Wolves are filled to the brim with a bunch of fine outstanding citizens who I really want to see succeed (for example: Brewer and Gomes) but ultimately there is a line that I'm not going to cross in terms of watching a bad product. Last night's game was a bad product. Too many blank stares and possessions with no ball movement. The Wolves had a chance to cut the lead below 10 with a few minutes to go in the 3rd. Instead of moving the ball around and attacking the paint like they were in the first quarter and a half of play, they ended the possession with two soul-sucking Al Jefferson 15 foot jump shots that book-ended an offensive rebound to keep the play alive. Each time he got the ball during this stretch, Big Al grinded the possession to a halt, faced his defender, and moseyed around a bit before jacking up a mid range jumper on a night where he wasn't shooting well. During the first quarter and a half, the ball was moving, players were driving and kicking, and the Wolves were scoring in transition. At somewhere during the middle of the 2nd quarter, it seemed like a switch went off and ball movement went out the window.
Shooting. A byproduct of bad ball movement and poor effort was a mountain of long and mid range jumpers from a squad that doesn't have any good shooters. The Wolves ended the game with an eFG of 39%. If you throw out Kevin Love's 7-12 effort, they only posted a 35% eFG while going 0-9 from beyond the arc. It's not just that the Wolves were taking long and mid range jumpers, it's that they were taking contested long and mid range jumpers without making attempts to turn their bad look into something better for a teammate. Again, effort contributed to the poor shooting and it led to many a click over to the Dallas/OKC game where I was almost blinded by the awful orange shoes of the Thunder.
Weak side defense. Ouch. I can't remember how many times during the game where I watched a Clipper player (usually Baron Davis) dribble to the corner, get doubled, and then kick the ball across the court for an open shot and/or drive. It wasn't just that the Wolves were doubling a guy they should have been begging to shoot, it was that the other three puppies on the court seemed hell-bent on drifting towards the double-team, further opening up the weak side of the court. I'm not the only person to notice this:

Minnesota has no orientation whatsoever to their defense. Like a lot of young units, the Wolves’ off-ball defenders overplay the strong side. There are moments when Baron is trapped in the right corner with two other defenders cheating that way (2nd, 3:50). Smart teams beg Baron to shoot from that distance, but for some reason the Wolves think they can beat the Clips by pressuring Davis. This dynamic is one reason Rasual Butler is able to find as many clean looks as he does against Wayne Ellington and Corey Brewer in the second quarter, and why the Clips are able to reverse the ball for easy shots at will.

It was also noticed by the coaching staff:

"Our weakside defense was awful. It was absolutely awful. We were unattentive, we didn't anticipate, we didn't read. Very poor," Rambis said. "We didn't root guys off the post, didn't try to deny post opportunities, and our double teams were sporadic. Getting to cutters, rotating to shooters, the whole thing collapsed. That was a disappointment."

It was atrocious. Aggressive double teaming is one thing, having the other guys on the floor getting locked in on the double team and drifting towards it is another. Again, this is another example of poor effort and a lack of concentration. The Wolves really blew it last night. They had a chance to put together their first winning streak of the season against a below average Clipper squad at home. Instead of taking advantage of an opportunity to (relatively) raise the roof and give their hometown fans something to be excited about, they laid an egg and made them turn the channel. Now that's preposterous.

GameFlow can be found here. Four Factors if you care:

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
LA Clippers	98.0	122.4	57.8%	17.8	31.0	10.2
Minnesota		96.9	39.0%	26.4	28.6	12.2

You may notice that today's post was led off with a picture of a Sacramento Monarch. That woman's name is Rebekkah Brunson. She is the 6'3" former All Star forward taken by the Lynx with the 2nd pick in the WNBA dispersal draft. She has a career 18.5 reb% and last year she put up a PER of 19.1. While the Wolves are busy putting up dud efforts on nights where they should be giving their equivalent of a playoff effort, the Lynx are busy putting together one of the best young rosters in all of professional basketball. Is it too late to put Roger Griffith in charge of the Wolves? if you are a fan of great basketball, the best basketball in town for the next few years will indeed be played in the Target Center...by the Lynx. They are putting together a championship caliber squad. Here's hoping David Kahn can follow suit with the guys in the men's locker room.

Congratulations Utah!!!

Stop-n-Pop — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:46:03 -0000

You are now responsible for 1/2 of the Wolves' victories. Well done. A zombie dance for you.

Game wrap in a bit.

UPDATE: Game wrap below the fold.

The Jazz are an interesting team. On one hand, they have some thoroughly non-enjoyable/unlikable talent. Carlos Boozer is a Dookie in preparation for leaving a 2nd team in his wake, Kyle Korver is a silly Iowegan, and Jerry Sloan will continue to coach as if the league were still in the midst of a coked-out pre-80s haze. On the other hand, they have the player I consider to be the best and most entertaining point guard in the game: Deron Williams. As much as I cannot stand to watch a backstabbing Dookie, Coach Cleaver, and the most annoying fellow Creighton Jayhawk in the world, there is no player I enjoy watching more when he is "on" than the former Illini point.

A couple of games ago the Wolves' TV crew ran a poll about who they thought was the best point guard in the game. I can't remember who they ended up picking, but for my money's worth, if I'm putting together a squad to win it all, here are my top 3 picks at the point: Williams, Rajon Rondo, and Tony Parker. Williams, to me, is the greatest surgeon in the game. He's not as flashy as Chris Paul or Steve Nash but he's physically dominant for his position with a balanced game that picks apart his opponent with precision and consistency. From the line, from mid-range, from beyond the arc, in transition, in 1/2 court...the guy does it all. He was playing out of the post of several key possessions in the 4th quarter and it baffles me that Sloan didn't ride that horse hard. Plus, when the game is on the line and time is running off the clock in a must-win playoff game, he can get his shot off in traffic, which is an amazingly important trait that some possess while others do not. Sorry CP3, I want D-Will for that possession.

Anywho, the first thing that should be pointed out about last night's tilt was that Williams was the best player on the court and it wasn't even close. He shot the lights out from the floor, got to the line a ton, dished out 13 assists, and...well, (robot voice on) Jerry Sloan is a fantastic coach and he knows exactly how to use Mr. Williams (robot voice off).

OK, now that we've talked about Utah's point guard, let's take a few minutes to gab about Jonny Flynn. Flynn undoubtedly shows flashes of brilliance. His quickness is world class and while he still needs to learn a thing or two about running a pro offense, his court vision is top shelf. His outside shot is surprisingly serviceable and should he ever develop an ability to dish off of the drive, he'll be damn near unguardable. That being said, the flashes of brilliance are accompanied by stretches of outright boobery. The CP3 inbounds boner in the NOLA game stands out over anything else but he is also guilty of overdribbling, going too much to his right, and inexcusably holding the ball when it is rotated his way on a nightly basis. Adding to our T-Wolves dictionary (first addition: Brewsist) is the Jonny Stop: The way in which a freely moving ball is stopped by an ultra-quick lead guard who uses the opportunity to survey the court and negate his greatest strength, his speed.

Watching Flynn play the point you can practically see his High School/AAU/Syracuse coaching play out in a motion picture thought bubble above his head. This kid has been the dominant lead guard for so long, and he has played for so long against such relatively inferior competition, that his first instinct in close games and/or highly leveraged situations is to do what he has always done: Be the be-all/end-all of ball movement and end the damn possession for his team. At Niagra Falls High, NY AAU, and Syracuse, his speed alone was enough to get the job done. No need for setting up teammates. No need for creating angles. No need for worrying about the shot clock. When the heat was on, it was Jonny, the ball, and his defender. This kind of nonsense will not fly in the NBA for a player like Flynn. He's not that quick. Maybe it will have its time and place in a few years when he gets the benefit of the whistle and learns how to better incorporate his teammates, but not now. While Flynn ended the contest with a career high in points while shooting the lights out from beyond the arc, he stunted several key possessions with the Jonny Stop. Also, while I'm very, very happy that he made the game winning shot, I think I suffered a Randy Foye flashback with the kamikaze drive down the right side of the lane. At least he didn't try and bank it off the shot clock.

Let's wrap this up with some bullet points.

Should the Wolves have lost, Kevin Love and Damien Wilkins would have been my choices for goats of the game. There is no dumber shot in all of basketballdom than the foot-on-the-line 3. There is no excuse for it. It has all the risk of a 3 pointer with none of the reward. Dumb, dumb, dumb, and more dumb. Love and Wilkins both made toe-on-the-line 2 pointers.
While Flynn took some heat earlier this season for an ill-conceived behind-the-back pass attempt, he and Love ran the behind-the-back pick-and-roll twice in the last two minutes of the game and it netted them two wide open three point attempts. It's really not a flashy play and it has the potential to be a nice addition to the offense. I want to see a lot more of the middle pick and roll with Love and Flynn.
The star of the game has to go to Corey Brewer. There were a few points in the game where Brewer reverted to the holy-crap-he's-everywhere kind of player that we got kind of excited about a few weeks ago. He was dunking, sticking shots, rebounding, and holding people up on defense all night long. It really is amazing how different this team looks with competent wing play. Imagine if they had some outside shooting to go along with the competent wing play. Paging Rudy Gay.
If the flash went to Flynn and the star went to Brewer, the workhorse award goes to Big Al Jefferson. The guy is really starting to return to form and he played the role of the bruising running back, grinding out short yardage situation after short yardage situation in order to keep drives alive and his team in the game. This site has been home to a long standing debate over the relative worth of Jefferson and Kevin Love for about 2 years now and my current thoughts on the duo are this: The problem with the Wolves is not Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. Neither has the advantage of playing with a consistently competent wing player or an outside shooter worth his salt. Neither has the advantage of playing with a group of properly-sized perimeter players. There is nothing wrong with having 1 or 2 undersized players in your rotation provided that you surround them with athleticism and length. Al and Love have complimentary skills and they are obscenely skilled on the offensive end of the court. My take on the pairing is that they are still in need of a Joakim Noah/Jason Thompson 3rd wheel and a pair of athletic slashers on the wing. I have been saying this since before Love came aboard. In the front court I want the aforementioned Noah/Thompson type and on the wing I have opined for, in order, Josh Smith, Trevor Ariza, and Rudy Gay. This team can put it together with some competent wing play and for either Flynn or Ricky Rubio to work out at the point...or for John Wall to land at the doorstep of 600 First Avenue. Wings, an athletic backup big, and hashing out the point guard situation, these are the things that need to be worried about before talking about whether or not Love and Jefferson can play together. Rudy Gay, Rudy Gay, Rudy Gay. Please, get 'r done. It has been obvious for over 2 years.

OK, that does it for tonight's wrap. We'll have a very cool announcement on the site tomorrow and then I'll follow that up with a post on the Lynx's choice in the supplemental draft, Rebekkah Brunson.

PS: If you really want to know why the Wolves won, it was because they collected a very large number of their misses:

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Minnesota	98.0	112.2	52.4%	27.7	32.6	15.3
Utah		110.2	53.7%	25.9	17.1	12.2

When you have an eFG of over 50% and you are collecting a 1/3 of your misses, life is good. This is another reason why you don't want to monkey with the Love/Jefferson duo. If you surround them with competent perimeter players, they will destroy the boards. BTW: We need to come up with a Wolves Dictionary term for when Love grabs an offensive rebound in between 3-4 defenders.

Kings Destroy Wolves 120-100

Ziller — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:46:23 -0000

More photos » by Steve Yeater - AP

Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Reggie Theus, left, remembers how it feels to lose by 20 in ARCO Arena. Head coach Kurt Rambis, right, tries to remember where he put his lunch receipt. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)

Browse more photos »

The optimistic can honestly believe the Kings defense tightened up in the second half, because it did, a good degree. The Kings sealed off the defensive glass better than they had in the second quarter, where they gave up six Minnesota offensive rebounds in 14 opportunities. Minnesota also shot much worse in the third frame (9-24) and Sacramento ripped away four steals during the period. The Sacramento defense played well ...

... and a really terrible offense, one which looked exceedingly tired. On its best days, Minnesota isn't going to be a fireworks show. And Saturday wasn't one of Minnesota's best days. So I'm chalking this victory (in which the Wolves scored 100 points in 105 possessions) up to minor defensive improvement against a really crummy opponent.

It'd be difficult to understate how bad a group of shooters Minnesota plays. Aykis hit on this in his "View" in the FanPosts, but seriously ... it's a wonder this team ever scores from outside of 10 feet. Missed shots that hit front iron are typically assigned exhaustion as a cause, but that's where the misses hit all night. Clank clank clank. Minnesota shot 43 percent from the field, in the second half just 36 percent. But again, that's not terribly rare: on the season the Wolves shoot 44 percent.

Meanwhile, the Kings offense hummed, scoring those 120 points in 105 possessions for an offensive rating near 115. Of the rotation players, only Donté Greene could be marked as inefficient (2-11 floor, 1 tov), but he was fantastic on defense in the halfcourt and in transition. Jason Thompson shared ownership of the paint with Al Jefferson, Spencer Hawes made deft passes, Tyreke Evans played well (even though he seemed muted most of the night ... I'll take 18/5/5, especially since most of that came during the contested first half). Sergio Rodriguez had -- and this is not a joke, this actually happened -- six assists in a 6-1/2 minute stint during the second quarter, and three assists in a 2-1/2 minte stint during the third. Nine minutes, nine assists, zero turnovers. (He also happened to be a +17 in those minutes.) His fourth quarter (no assists, four turnovers in 12 minutes) clouds Rodriguez's real impact, considering the game was never contested during the fourth.

In such a dominant win, there's really not much to say. The Kings definitely have more work to do on defense. But that's irrelevant against tired, terrible teams like the Wolves. The Blazers in Portland will be a far stronger test of whether this team can put together enough defense to be a season-long success story.