Welcome to Secrets of the City, formerly rakemag.com and mnspeak.com. Learn more and submit feedback.

On the Ball

The Three-Pointer: Breakthrough

by Britt Robson   ::   posted on Nov. 20, 2008 - 2:24am

Photo copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Game #10, Home Game #5: Minnesota 102, Philadelphia 96

Season record: 2-8

1. Not Bad Enough To Lose

It looked like yet another hideous choke job. Up 11 heading into Wednesday night's 4th quarter against Philly, the Wolves once again began enacting their self-fulfilling mentality of doom. The team that had committed just 9 turnovers in the first 36 minutes sped through three--a Kevin Love offensive foul and Bassy Telfair first stepping out of bounds and then tossing a steal--in the period's first 92 seconds. Less than two minutes after that, Corey Brewer threw the ball away. The Sixers, who came in leading the NBA in fast break points per game, finally began to score in transition, grab offensive rebounds, and simply play more aggressively as the Wolves grew glassy-eyed with dread. With four minutes to play, the lead had been cut to two.

Minnesota fans had seen this happen more often than not over the course of the team's 8-game losing streak; now they were staring at yet another seizure of poise for consecutive loss number 9. Even in last year's putrid 22-win season, featuring no fewer than 9 losing streaks of five games or more, the ballclub never dropped 9 in a row. And the three-week interim between the Sixers contest and the Wolves' opening night win over Sacramento was already a longer stretch between victories than last year's squad had endured. Coach Randy Wittman paced the sidelines like his job was in the balance, and it seemed like rational behavior.

Then Al Jefferson broke the pattern. He did what he does best: Score in the low post against two or three people determined to stop him. First he spun and hit a short jumper while being fouled by center Samuel Dalembert, the seven-footer who gave Big Al so much trouble around the rim last season. Then there were two moves in a row on the left block: Feint, jab, upfake, and dervish baseline spin as he banks in the layup as the double (and then triple) teams were arriving. Sure the Wolves couldn't stop the Sixers at the other end: Andre Miller was toying with Randy Foye and Andre Iguodala was a warrior penetrating to the paint. But for the three straight offensive possessions in the 62 seconds between 3:35 and 2:33 to play, the Wolves had a counter, hanging on to the lead and feverishly trying to kindle their confidence. With less than 40 seconds to play it was a one-point game. Jefferson got the ball on the left block and Philadelphia's defense sold out trying to stop him.

Jefferson flicked it out to a wide-open Mike Miller. Up to that point, Miller had continued his absurdly unselfish ways, hoisting up a grand total of 6 shots in 39 minutes of play. In the previous four games, he'd played between 31:06 and 35:44 and averaged a titch over 7 shots per contest. Miller had proudly told reporters that he didn't take bad shots, and wouldn't take bad shots, which sounds dandy--"play the right way" and all of that--except when you consider that coming into Wednesday's game, Randy Foye was shooting 36.3%, Rashad McCants 35.8%, Corey Brewer 38.6%, Kevin Love 38.2% and Bassy Telfair 32.4%. By contrast, Mike Miller was making 51.7% of those good shots he was taking, which made one or two Wolves partisans interested in finding out what might happen if he threw up a few bad ones, because even if only 40% of them went in, it was better than the other alternatives on the wing. Fortunately for Miller's integrity, this dish from Big Al was a very good shot indeed, a three pointer with no distractions. Miller drained it, giving the Wolves a 4-point lead with 30.4 seconds to play. Ballgame.

"We made plays," Wittman said after the game, and then explained why: "We played through Al. He was a load. His three baskets down there when he was doubled were huge."

In the locker room, Jefferson was talking about his attitude after the recent slew of final period fades, saying that he told himself at the beginning of the 4th that if the Wolves were in that situation again, "I'm going to take over." And he did. "I got it out to Mike and he had a big shot. Randy did a great job; he kept calling plays for me," Jefferson added, with a trace of irony or false humility. "We did a great job with the ball going through me." 

2. Night of the Rhino

Yours truly has been telling you how beneficial it was going to be when center Jason Collins finally became healthy enough to create a large front line with Jefferson and Gomes, and how much of a distraction, and thus irritant, wide-body 'tweener Craig Smith was to that strategy. So the Wolves start that big front line and get waxed, 19-8 on the scoreboard and 11-3 on the glass, before Wittman subs in Love for Collins after 5:56. It would be another 4 minutes, at 1:44 to play in the period, before the night's secret weapon stepped on the court--the Rhino himself. Ten seconds into his first possession, Smith used his telepathy with Shaddy McCants to take a feed and convert a lay-up. In the waning moments of the quarter, he got fouled and nailed both free throws. That's 4 points in 1:44, including rare perfection at the line. But that was mere prelude to the Rhino's second quarter. The only Timberwolf to play all 12 minutes during a 32-25 Wolves advantage, he racked up another 9 points on 4-5 FG and 1-2 FT, executed a steal and, the biggest eye-opener, dropped three dimes, including a beautiful bounce pass that set up a slam-dunk +1 for Love, the rook who hasn't been able to buy a bucket for a few games now. Then Smith was first off the bench in the third, and was second only to Jefferson in 4th quarter scoring for the Wolves, putting in 7 points (2-3 FG and 3-4 FT).

In a night with a fair share of pretty box score lines (Miller had a team-high ten rebounds and a tied team-high six assists along with ten points), Smith was 7-9 from the floor and an impressively active 7-10 from the charity stripe. In an odd twist, he didn't garner a single rebound in 25:53, yet not only scored 21 points, but doled out 5 assists, tying his career high, en route to a plus +5 on the court. When Philly went small and put Thaddeus Young at the 4 late in the second half, Wittman countered with the Rhino and forced the Sixers to revamp. The coach called it his best game of the year, although as a fairly consistent Rhino basher ever since KG (an ideal front line complement for him) split town, I've got to admit there have been two or three others in the past ten days that were strong, including the second Portland game. The numbers demonstrate that Smith is a matchup nightmare for the Wolves as well as their opponents, but he's been less foul-prone, is running the floor better, has extended his scoring range a tad, and, perhaps most surprisingly, is delivering gold-star assists (versus the garden-variety dish for a pop) once or twice per game recently. I still believe extended minutes for Craig Smith is not in the long-term interest of the ballclub. But that doesn't mean he should be denied credit for the substantial and subtle improvments in his game.

By the way, I asked Wittman why the Wolves were outrebounded 11-3 to start the game when they had the big front line on the floor. The coach probably thought I was looking to rip Collins (he doesn't read On The Ball--I'm shocked) and thus gave me one of those "how the hell should I know?" type looks and then indeed professed ignorance. Then he defended Collins' value in clogging the lane and being a staunch big man in the pivot. Maybe it was just the luck of the bounce (the Wolves were 11-9 to the good on the boards during Collins' second stint) or the fact that the Wolves were missing much more than Philly, creating defensive rebounds for the Sixers. But Collins is going to have to get to more caroms if this Tallball movement is going to have legs.

3. Mop-Up Impressions

Bassy Telfair looked better on paper than he did on the court. A game-high 8 assists in merely 14:14 buttresses his passing credentials, but his only shot attempt was wide-open midrange jumper that he clanked after Philly doubled others and laid out the welcome mat for him to shoot, and his cluster of 4th quarter turnovers got an already mentally-fragile team that much tighter. And the Wolves were fragile, which made Wittman's explanation for Minnesota's season-best 51.4% shooting--"Confidence. I thought we played with a lot of confidence tonight."--seem like blatant spin and/or wishful thinking.

Shaddy McCants was felled by back spasms when splitting a double team on the pick and roll in the first half tonight, but Wittman explicitly noted his 6:40 of play (which led to a game-best plus +9) and being "pretty good basketball by him. Patching up is easier after you win.

Wittman also claimed that Love "played better," but that's like saying the flu is better than the mumps. Love's game remains uncertain at the moment, which is especially damaging to a player who typically gets by on brains and savvy more than abundant athleticism. For example, he still know a shot is a good shot, but he's been making so few that he hesitates a split second and that gets him lunched.

To avoid a potentially ugly Mike Miller-Andre Iguodala matchup on defense, the Wolves switched over in transition so that Gomes was on Iggy and Miller guarded Thaddeus Young. Miller's stuffed stat line and game-clinching trey get the last laugh tonight, but I still maintain that when you're 6-8 and you're being guarded on the perimeter by backup point guard Louis Williams at 6-2, its better to shoot over him than dish the ball in the low block to the currently shaky Love.

On Friday night, Kevin Garnett plays at the Target Center for the first time since the trade. That the Wolves gave away free ducats to the Sixers game to entice further purchase of tix to the Celtics game--which should be sold out--indicates that this insipid, "he so square he's hip" marketing icon Don Overbay is no better than Sweetwater Jones.

The Three-Pointer: Searching for the Bottom

by Britt Robson   ::   posted on Nov. 17, 2008 - 8:33am

Photo copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

 
Game #8, Home Game #4: Minnesota 83, Portland 88
Game #9, Road Game #5: Denver 90, Minnesota 84
Season Record: 1-8
 
1.    The Power of Negative Thinking
 
Over the course of their 20 seasons in the NBA, the Wolves have slapped together some pretty dreadful teams. Between the 1991-92 club and the 1994-95 edition, they never won more than 21 games in a season. That happens to be the period I started covering the team, and while I don't remember it well, there was some fairly vivid bickering, back-biting and clueless performance out on the court.
 
But I don't remember a team as mentally screwed up as this one has been the past two weeks. I don't remember a team consistently playing well enough to post double-digit second-half leads on various opponents and then figuring out a thousand different little ways to disfigure their self-respect, to unfurl a potpourri of ineptitude that goes waaay beyond a failure to box out or a lack of ball movement or a bone-headed play-call or substitution. Forget about mental toughness; this is a team without survival skills, a ballclub silently pleading to be blown apart.
 
They were up 13 in the third quarter against Golden State last week, the third time in their four road games they'd been up double-digits. They were up 9 midway through the fourth, and lost in overtime. So they come home and play inspired ball against a good, deep Portland team, up 11 with two minutes to play in the third quarter. After three, they'd hit more than half their shots, 29-57 FG. In the fourth, Al Jefferson shots 4-7 FG and the rest of the squad makes one shot in 13 attempts, frittering away the ballgame. In the postgame press conference, Randy Wittman calls it Groundhog Day, another one just like the other ones.
 
So what does he say after tonight's loss to Denver on the road? Minnesota is up in the high altitudes against a Nuggets squad that is pumped by the trade for Chauncey Billups and has won 4 of 5. So naturally the Wolves play relatively smart, impressive basketball and build a 9-point lead with 6:25 to play in the final period. They probably could have gone another minute or two playing well and still lost the game, but they needed to make sure,  and began choking their way to a 21-4 Denver run that sewed up their 8th straight loss.
 
Denver did not play particularly well, but that's beside the point. One gets the impression that even if Denver played like champions the first three quarters, the Wolves might well have elevated their game in kind, and that no matter how low Denver could go in crunchtime, Minnesota would find a way to burrow beneath it. It's actually becoming a bit of a mystery as to what opponent will play badly enough to end this hari kari habit, this jones for abasement that has quickly come to stand in for what we normally think of as character.
 
I'm not trying to be cruel, I'm trying to accurately report about an enormously resilient level of dysfunction. Almost every night during this eight-game losing streak, the Wolves have reinforced the notion that they have some talent. This isn't lovable-loser days of Scott Roth and Tod Murphy, or the days when Doug West was the team's best player. Nor is this a case where important players clearly disdain each other, as happened with Laettner-Person, Marbury-Gugliotta, Garnett-Szczerbiak. Nor is there heavy drama between the coaches and players-the biggest source of friction is between Wittman and McCants, and anyone who saw JR Rider and Bill Blair, or heard stories after the fact about how much Dwane Casey disliked Ricky Davis, knows that any contretemps between Shaddy and Witt is strictly small potatoes.
 
No, the problem here is between each player and coach and what he sees when he looks in the mirror. The Wolves and their fans have to hope it is just a spell, a freak of (human) nature broken by a necessarily miraculous win. The evidence suggest that it has become something like a fever, and that the performance equivalent of cold sweats and delirium will eventually abate. But history also suggests that teams this chronically dysfunctional don't transform themselves overnight. These Wolves may tamp down their demons, but they're not likely to banish them. Meanwhile, until something happens to change the circumstance, attitude will be the dominant influence on the won-lost record.
 
2.    Let's Talk Hoops Anyway
 
I'm not going to pretend this is all Randy Wittman's fault. Looking at the Portland Trailblazer lineup and then over at Craig Smith, I probably would have left Smith on the bench the entire game Saturday night. But Witt gave Smith 23:10 of burn and the Rhino responded with probably his best game of the season thus far, demonstrating great discipline on his shot selection (2-2 FG) while upgrading his defense and ball movment on the way to a team-best plus +7.
 
But on Sunday night I started bawling out my TV set for the second time in three games regarding Wittman's choice to leave Smith in the game as the opponents wiped out a Wolves lead in crunchtime. Watching the Rhino get punked in the paint was double disappointing because Wittman had begun the third quarter with the year's first extended period of playing time for the quintet I regard as possessing enough complementary skills to be the logical starters: A large front line of Collins-Jefferson-Gomes, with a large backcourt of Miller and Foye. They played less than 2 minutes in the first period (and were a minus -1) after Foye replaced Telfair and before Collins sat for Kevin Love. But in the first 8:17 of the second half, they demonstrated the makings of an effective half court offense, with Miller and Jefferson running some nice high post pick-and-rolls and same-side inside-outside dishing, Gomes drifting to the baseline for catch and shoots, Foye and his teammates happily reconciled to his combo-guard status in the proceedings, and Collins not only cleaning up the garbage, but executing a nice pass or two. And at the other end, well, it is an alien experience watching a Wolves' opponent have to adjust his shot because of the size of the man guarding him.
 
Bottom line, they turned a four-point halftime deficit (40-44) into a 62-54 lead with 3:43 to play in the third, a nifty 22-10 bump caused by Jefferson bingeing on offense while not having to be the main stalwart in the paint on D. Ah, but this was the thin air of the mile-high city, Collins was only in his second game back from injury, and Witt needed to rest his troops for the final period. With Love and Smith in for Jefferson and Collins, the Wolves lost their length and their rhythm at both ends of the court. The Nuggets scored more points in that last 3:43 then they'd had in the entire period up until then, and the lead was whittled to two with a quarter to play.
 
Wittman brought back Jefferson and Foye, but was compelled to give Gomes a blow, and subbed in McCants and Brewer for Gomes and Miller.  It worked for awhile, mostly because Billups was getting a rest to start the 4th, enabling the Wolves to start the period with an 11-4 run. But when Chauncey and K-Mart returned, soon followed by Nene and Wittman left McCants and the Rhino in there, it was relative Smallball. McCants frequently found himself getting posted up by the 6-9 Melo, who teamed with K-mart and Nene to start getting offensive rebounds and working an inside-outside game with Billups and JR Smith. It wasn't until Nene snagged an offensive rebound off a missed free throw on Smith's side of the lane that Wittman finally brought Collins back, but by then there was just 2:18 to play and the Wolves were down a point.
 
My other specific criticism of the coach involves his continual hectoring of Foye over on the sidelines during breaks in the action during crunchtime. Just about everyone on the team is a part of the current dysfunction but if anyone if the poster boy for the fragile psyche the team has demonstrated during this losing streak, it is Foye. During the past two losses, the erstwhile "4th Quarter Foye"  has shot 11-19 FG in the first three periods with 6 assists and 3 turnovers, then gone 1-10 FG in the 4th quarter with 2 assists and two turnovers. Meanwhile, a pair of team leaders who perhaps best represent the kind of combo-guard abilities that might serve as a template for Foye's skill set-Brandon Roy and Billups-were stepping up in the clutch and seizing the game by displaying a keen sense of when to shoot and when to dish. Don't think Foye is oblivious to all of this. The last thing he needs is Witt chewing him out on the sidelines with the game on the line.
 
On a happier note, Witt's tough love with Rashad McCants was more successful. Asked about McCants-who jacked it up 9 times and got to the line another 3 in less than 9 minutes Saturday night, Wittman barked, "next question." Shaddy was one of the last people off the bench Sunday night. And for the first time in a long while, he started looking for his teammates in the offense
 
3.    Mike Miller Holsters His Gun
For the second game in a row, Miller had more assists than he did made baskets. This is not a positive trend. If anyone should be catching and shooting it is Miller, a career marksman who, somewhat remarkably, leads the Wolves in FG% and 3pt FG attempts. Yet Miller has been too gunshy, with just 12 FG attempts in a combined 67 minutes of action versus Portland and Denver, or less than 10 FGA per 48 minutes. Meanwhile, the Wolves haven't shot 45% as a team since their opening night win over Sacramento.
 
 

New Thread: Fessing Up and Some Wolves Stats For Perspective

by Britt Robson   ::   posted on Nov. 14, 2008 - 12:45pm

Photo copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Steve Yeater/NBAE via Getty Images)

A few of my faithful readers who also contribute to the most erudite NBA comments page around made a humble request yesterday for a new post so they don't have to comb through the thicket of our admittedly abstruse comment patterns to figure out who has chimed in recently. Since I won't post another trey until this weekend's games are complete--meaning late Sunday/early Monday--I thought it appropriate to accede to their wishes.

But what to write about to prime new pumps and perhaps short-circuit dead-end arguments from the previous post? Well, I didn't see many folks predicting a Wolves season as unsuccessful as last year's. And I know that I picked them to win 30 games--lower than most locals, but still a robust 8 game improvement. So, it is time to fess up on what has happened negatively that we didn't expect. To get the ball rolling, I'll not only give you my prioritized list, I'll add in the places in my NBA picks where I've felt particularly smart or dumb thus far. And I'll finish up with some stats to mull over regarding the Wolves through the first 7 games.

Reasons Wolves Have Underachieved My Expectations

1. Smallball

For all the complaining I did about it last year, and all the warning I voiced about it during the preseason, you'd have thought I would have seen this coming, and factored it in. But then coach Randy Wittman played Mark Madsen quite a bit en route to a 6-2 preseason, leading me to believe that the front office had seen the folly of a Jefferson-Gomes frontcourt tandem and would play Mad Dog in the pivot until Jason Collins got healthy, if only to get Big Al and Gomes accustomed to their more suitable roles and hitting on all cylinders with Collins's return. Notice that I wasn't even expecting much out of Kevin Love in the low post, regarding him as an evolving project along the lines of the past three first-rounders.

Well, I underestimated the braintrust's capacity to stick with what doesn't work. Seven games into the season, Mark Madsen has all of 13 minutes, and Jefferson and Gomes have seen the overwhelming majority of their minutes at positions for which they are relatively undersized. Even more damaging, Craig Smith, a player I was frankly perplexed they re-signed, someone I expected to get mop-up and early foul trouble minutes only, has played 116 minutes thus far, or more than 16 minutes per game. When Smith subs in, Smallball almost always gets smaller. There are precious few power forwards, let alone centers, that the Rhino can adequately defend. And then there were times when it was Smith and Gomes in the frontcourt!

Last but not least, Jason Collins has not been brought back with alacrity. If reports are true that Collins was ready to go against Golden State but was held out because of matchups, I ask who better to guard Biedrins--a guy with absolutely no shooting range outside the paint, a terrible free throw shooter who should have a player who can afford the fouls guarding him, and a guy ranked second in the league in rebounds who needs a player dedicated to boxing out putting a body on him--than Jason Collins? Or why not Collins on Rony Turiaf, who turned the game around for GS in the first quarter when Nellie went big?

But forget Collins. Merely flipping the minutes between Madsen and Smith gets this team a couple more wins, in my opinion. And 3-4 against sub-mediocre competition puts them in range of my 30-52 prediction.

2. Commitment To Defense

I bought the line that the Wolves would devote the entire preseason to firming up their D, and thus emerge much improved in that area this year. Obviously Smallball is the biggest dent in that supposition, so perhaps this should be rated 1a instead of 2. But the perimeter D has likewise been incredibly shoddy and ballclubs once again dribble-drive with impunity. Fact is, this franchise has *never* defended the perimeter well; it's just that KG covered up for that glaring weakness for quite a few years. Well, Al Jefferson is not KG in that regard. And with the exception of Corey Brewer, there isn't a player on this team that should be proud of his defense thus far this year. That's on Coach Wittman, who proclaimed it a priority and is being shown up. And that's on the players, for lacking the pride, discipline and common sense to follow through on the most important aspect of winning games in the NBA--cohesive team D. Or did everyone miss the Celtics lesson of a year ago (if so, they're renewing it now)? 

3. Foye's Uncertainty

Regular readers will know that I had few illusions about Foye's capability to play the point. Put simply, he is not a point guard. But I thought we'd see the Foye of the last six weeks of the previous season; someone who distributed the ball just enough to hold on to the job and also fill the other criteria of a legit combo guard by scoring from various points around the court, from the three-point line to (less often) the paint.

This year? Foye has occasionally looked lost. He allowed his two-game, 3-24 FG performance to affect other aspects of his play, including dishing and defense. And his surreal pretense that nothing is wrong and that he's fundamentally a stud at the point who can do and get pretty much whatever he wants with the ball in his hands has to be really grating on his teammates, who are dependent upon him at least being the barely-adequate distributor he was last season--and scoring besides.

I think Foye will improve. But his standing on the team, and, I'd bet, in his heart of hearts and his own psyche, has been diminished. And that's not good news.

4. The Stubborn Style of McCants

Again, I didn't expect McCants to suddenly become Manu Ginobili or Stephen Jackson or somebody else who scores in bundles but still manages to do his job in other large and small ways on the court that connote leadership. I didn't expect McCants to be a leader, if for no other reason than the franchise has never treated him or cared about him in remotely that capacity. But I did think McCants would take a breath and survey the future of his career as he came upon a pivotal season for him. I thought we'd see better defense, more conscious passing, and less totally tunnel-visioned offensive spurts, where opponents can feel safe triple teaming him on his way to the hoop, secure in the knowledge he lacks the handle, the peripheral vision and, most of all, the wisdom, to dish it to the open man. Again, as with Foye, I thought we'd at least see the McCants of a year ago, and probably someone taking another step in this, his 4th year in the league.

On to the NBA.

Stupidest Prediction

Clips in the playoffs. Man, what a credibility-crusher that has turned out to be. Don't know why I stupidly figured Baron Davis and Marcus Camby would make it through the season uninjured. On the other hand, how the hell is a team with Camby and Kaman ranking last among all 30 teams in rebounding differential? And the games in general have been blowout after blowout? At this rate, newly promoted Mike Dunleavey is in the crosshairs of the Elgin Baylor loyalists inside that franchise. If the Wolves think they have problems, check out the Clippers, the worst team in basketball sharing an arena with the best team in basketball.

The other things that have gone awry are less egregious. I still think the Spurs will pull it together enough to make the playoffs and can at least take credit for saying their time as legit contenders was fading if not extinguished. I underestimated the resolve of both the Lakers and the Celtics to remain the class of their conferences, and it looks like I might have undersold the Jazz (I had them 4th), who blitzed out of the gate even without Deron Williams. And once again, I underestimated Reggie Theus and the Kings, who for the second year in a row are making me look dumb for calling them the worst team in the West. And Mike D'Antoni may in fact win 35 games with the Knicks this year, a notion I ridiculed.

Looking Smart So Far

I don't most folks were shoveling dirt on Dallas with quite the same vigor as I was to start the season. Now they're 2-6 and it turns out that Avery Johnson wasn't the problem after all. I also was less than enamored with the trendy pick of the Sixers as legit Eastern Conference contenders, figuring they'd make the playoffs but not much further. I had Washington's nonstop injuries finally taking their toll this year, and they have. I thought Mo Williams would be the best teammate LeBron ever had in the backcourt, and he has been. I said a few other things right, but most of it was conventional wisdom.

Wolves Stats

One commenter in the last post noted that Minnesota was ranked 2nd in the league in assists, and near the top in fewest turnovers, and wanted to know how they were losing so often. Well, the answer is defense, and a lot of it is due to Smallball. The worst raw number is 105.57, which is how many points this ballclub is yielding per game, and that, folks, is the worst among all 30 NBA teams. So why is this happening?

Minnesota ranks 27th out of 30 teams in opponents FG%, watching 47.5% of enemy shots fall through the hoop. Given that their 3pt FG% allowed is only 20th in the league (36.4%), that means they are getting housed inside the arc. In fact, if you consider the ppg allowed and all the dribble penetration we've seen, plus the Smallball front line D, I'd imagine that the Wolves have yielded more points in the paint than any other ballclub by a wide margin.  And Smallball also has put them 26th in the league in rebounding differential. Throw in the fact that they're 24th in steals, and it doesn't matter if they drop a lot of dimes, don't turn the ball over much, and are in fact 5th in points scored. It still adds up to 1-6.

Okay, before turning it over to the commenters, one brief note: For those of you who have signed on for my "Twitter" comments, be patient. I'm not remotely close to being competent with this stuff, or in even understanding how much fun and enlightening it must assuredly be. Fact is, the site manager is behind the Twitter push. Any maybe in the near future I'll grasp the technology completely and play along. But don't bet the mortgage.

The Three-Pointer: A Maddening Choke Job

by Britt Robson   ::   posted on Nov. 12, 2008 - 7:35am

Photo copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Steve Yeater/NBAE via Getty Images)

Game #7, Road Game #4: Golden State 113, Minnesota 100 in OT

Season record: 1-6

1. Knowing How To Lose

Well, that certainly was a psychologically crippling contest for this already reeling Wolves franchise to absorb--and inwardly encourage, with their corrosive blend of inexperience, self-doubt and thus self-fulfilling incompetence. Up by 9 points with 4:30 to play, the Wolves allowed a Warrior ballclub missing three starters (Monta Ellis, Al Harrington and Corey Maggette) to come back and tie it in regulation, then go on to win in overtime. 

You want reasons, there are plenty of reasons and they are fairly easy to identify. Most blatantly, the Wolves couldn't score, getting seven points the final 12:06 of the game, a period's worth of offensive ineptitude that encompassed the last 7:06 of regulation and the five-minute overtime. They missed 14 of their last 15 shots. Not coincidentally, the only player on the floor during that time who truly wanted to step up and be the crunchtime go-to guy, Al Jefferson, couldn't get touches, let alone a good look at the hoop. That's right, after going 11-19 FG in the first 41 minutes of the game, Jefferson was 0-0 FG in the final 12.

It is no fun to kick a man when he's down, but the hard truth is that the substitution patterns of Coach Randy Wittman played a significant, probably decisive, role in this defeat. The game turned when the Warriors went to a zone defense midway through the fourth period, denying Jefferson the rock, deterring penetration and daring the Wolves, who had trouble shooting the trey most of the night, to beat them from outside. There are those who will say that Witt should have responded by putting in Bassy Telfair for Randy Foye, when it became clear Foye lacked the point guard skills to get the ball to Jefferson or otherwise set people up with feeds that fostered their natural athletic rhythm and took their thoughts of choking out of the equation. I'll agree with this to some degree--after all, Foye wound up playing the final 26:25 without a break. But after a brutal start to the season, Foye had finally found his vintage game during the third quarter, and was playing inspired ball at both ends of the court. I understand Witt trying to ride that for both the short and long term. Besides, no matter how good Bassy's handle and court vision are, he is a career 39% shooter who'd gone 2-8 FG Saturday against Portland and was 0-5 FG in this game--not exactly a zone-buster. By contrast, after a slow first half (1-5 FG), Foye had 4 buckets (in 8 attempts) 4 dimes and two steals while going a plus +17 in the final 9:25 of the third to turn the game around in Minnesota's favor, then began the 4th by dropping three more dimes in the first 3 minutes of the period. As I say, I probably would have gone to Bassy at least to give Foye a blow and see if the change of pace helped against the zone. But there are decent justification for staying with Foye--not least because one of the abiding questions this season is whether or not he can ever be an effective point guard.

No, where Wittman fell down on the job was in leaving Kevin Love on the bench for the entire fourth quarter and overtime. It was inexplicable and had me swearing at the television set with a fervor normally reserved for stupid commercials and politicians.

Consider that Love was plus +10 in 26:28, second only to Corey Brewer's plus +11 among all players on the court (and Brewer didn't get any 4Q or OT burn either). He picked up two quick fouls that sent him to the bench with the Wolves up 8-2 just 2:28 into the game. He played the entire third period when the Wolves were rolling up a season-high 37 points. But most importantly, Love was simply a much better fit for the circumstances than Craig Smith, the man who replaced him for the 4th quarter. Smith has historically not teamed up well with Jefferson, and lacks the range to either pull the zone away from Jefferson in the low block or stick the jumper. Love has worked well with Jefferson and has a midrange that requires coverage. He's also a much better passer than Smith, which would have been a big help to Foye. But most of all, Love is a far superior rebounder than Smith at both ends of the court. How crucial is that? Well, Golden State outrebounded the Wolves *16-3* in that 4th quarter, while primarily playing two bigs, Biedrins and Turiaf.

Smith did not play badly. He had two of the team's 3 boards in the 4th, had two assists early in the period, and took a charge that was vital in keeping the Wolves close in the final minutes of regulation. But he was way too strong on a layup the Wolves needed in crunchtime, had a rebound go off his foot to lose a possession and, most maddening, had Biedrins reach over him for an offensive rebound that led to second-chance points for the Warriors that the Wolves couldn't afford to yield.

With the Wolves down two 61 seconds into overtime, Witt finally sent Smith to the pine--and brought in Mike Miller to play alongside Jefferson, Gomes, McCants and Foye. That was the real head-slapper. Miller probably should have been in the game, but for Shaddy McCants, who yet again demonstrated that he cannot hit shots in the clutch. (On the other hand, judging from his strange crunchtime play tonight, Miller simply doesn't shoot.) By going small, Witt not only left Love on the sidelines, but turned Gomes into a power forwad, effectively taking him off Stephen Jackson. 

Perhaps the coach has a problems with his short-term memory. Jackson had been killing the Wolves all night when Wittman came up with a novel idea that had Jim Petersen, me, and most every other person who has been watching this team this year jumping for joy--he went with a big front line of Jefferson, Love and Gomes, sticking Gomes on Jackson with 4:58 to play in the third and the Wolves, fueled by two Foye steals for baskets, down just two, 73-71.  Freed from the chains of the power forward position to which he'd been shackled for most of the past year-plus of dreaded Wolves Smallball, Gomes went nuts, blitzing Jackson at both ends of the court. At the time Gomes entered the game, Jackson had played 30:02 and scored 20 points (8-13 FG, 1-3 3pt, 3-4 FT) with 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. In the 16:58 from the time Gomes entered until the end of regulation, Jackson scored 4 points (1-3 FG, 0-1 3pt, 2-2 FT) with zero assists, 1 steal, and two turnovers. Meanwhile, Gomes had 14 points (6-10 FG, 1-2 3pt, 1-2 FT) with 4 rebounds (to Jackson's 1 during that time), 2 turnovers and a steal.

Hey, maybe a large lineup that has Gomes at the small forward slot might come in handy sometimes. But apparently not down by 2 in overtime with a well-rested Kevin Love on the bench. Instead, Miller subbed in for Rhino, Gomes, probably a bit spent from playing 17 straight minutes (most of them guarding Jackson), moved to power forward, and McCants now guarded Jackson. A couple minutes after the substitution was made, Jackson hit a back-breaking trey, putting Golden State up by 5 with 2:16 to play. The way the Wolves' offense was going, it was an unsurmountable margin.

2. Showing the Strain

For the second Three-Pointer in a row, Jefferson's words from Media Day are coming back to haunt him. This time it is his claim that he wasn't going to berate his teammates for not getting him the ball; that he was going to become more of a leader, encouraging his troops both in the locker room and on the court. But after Golden State effectively deployed that zone and Foye had a lazy, arching pass to Jefferson picked off, Big Al started screaming at his point guard, and continued to express his displeasure for the next couple of possessions. Finally he apologized as Golden State was shooting free throws a while later. But as Foye came to the sidelines a little after that, he got an earful from Wittman--perhaps related to what occurred with Jefferson, perhaps not.

A nonstop diet of defeats (6 and counting this year now) clearly has a lot to do with this, but it must be said that mentally and emotionally, the Wolves are a very callow, unreliable outfit. After months of implying that playing the point was no big deal, comparing himself to Steve Nash, and in general talking up his command of a difficult position that he hasn't played very much or very well, Foye has been exposed for false bravado. Usually this is a sign of deep-seated anxiety that someone is trying too hard, verbally and physically, to overcome. That's why I have some empathy for Wittman's decision to go with Foye throughout the second half and overtime. But if the alpha player and the coach both lambaste Foye when he makes a mistake stupid enough to be obvious to all (and thus especially to him) it just puts a little elbow grease into the churn of a vicious cycle.

Then there is the odds-on candidate for veteran leader, Mike Miller. Can someone explain why this notorious marksman, ballyhooed in the opening television segment for all the scoring success he's had against Golden State, refused to spot up and shoot the damn ball as the Wolves were collectively wrapping the hands around their throats down the stretch? Blame Wittman for deploying Miller less than 2 minutes in the 4th, making his 0-1 FG (it was a trey attempt) understandable. But no shots in 3:58 of overtime, when it was glaringly apparent that Foye and McCants had no confidence and were looking for others to step up, and that Jefferson wasn't going to touch the ball without a couple of Warriors sustaining mortal wounds. You ostensibly have acquired Miller for just this purpose, to squeeze the trigger and make the opposition respect the long-range game, perhaps peel a player away from Jefferson in the zone. At the very least, instead of making a big to-do about jumping into a perimeter weave with the enthusiasm of a drunken square-dancer, Miller should have glanced at that orange circle with the twine draping and seen if just maybe he could have tossed that orange ball through it.

At least one try. He's Mike Miller. The ball might have gone in. Instead, as McCants went 5-17 FG and Foye 7-19 FG against free-wheeling and depleted Golden State, Miller remained stubornly stuck on 4-9 FG from the third period on, finishing with over 31 minutes played.

3. Silver Linings

Aside from his temper tantrum, which was ill-advised but not without cause, Jefferson had a great game, willing himself through a nasty ankle turn that had him grimacing and limping for a long stretch of the third period to register 25 points and 12 rebounds. More significantly, he played very good defense, not only blocking four shots, but fouling a penetrator who had gotten past a gambling Love and showing harder than usual on the pick and roll.

Corey Brewer thrives on chaos and Golden State is usually a chaos factory. The most improved aspect of his game--effective, purposeful passing--was again on display via three assists. Then there was the signature Brewer gambit of hounding a young opponent having trouble corralling a rebound off the free throw, eventually swiping the ball and going in for a layup. While Stephen Jackson proved to be too big for Brewer to defend effectively, his effort was complete and his glue guy persona an appealing fit. Let's resist the temptation to siphon away what are already precious minutes for Brewer in the direction of Rodney Carney, who was minus -9 in 4:49.

And last but not least, Gomes at small forward.

 

Follow Britt's updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/brittrobson

The Three-Pointer: Still Winless In November

by Britt Robson   ::   posted on Nov. 09, 2008 - 11:07pm

Mike Love of The Beach Boys watches his nephew Kevin Love of the Timberwolves

Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Game #5, Road Game #2: Sacramento 121, Minnesota 109

Game #6, Road Game#3, Portland 97, Minnesota 93

Season record: 1-5

1. No Illusions 

Let's not have any illusions about how poorly the Minnesota Timberwolves have begun the 2008-09 season. Not a single one of the opponents in the Wolves' first six games has a record above .500, despite the distinct advantage of getting to play Glen Taylor's lackluster, underachieving ballclub from the northern tundra. The combined record of Sacramento (twice), Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Portland against Minnesota is 5-1. Against the rest of the NBA, those teams are 4-17, for a composite 9-18. The Wolves have yet to play any of the league's 7 consensual elite teams: the Lakers, Utah, Houston, New Orleans, Boston, Cleveland or Detroit. They have been relatively unscathed by injuries. And after a vow by their head coach that the team would emphasize little else but team defense during the preseason, they have begun their regular season by yielding the fifth-most points per game in the 30-team NBA.

When a ballclub stumbles out of the gate this badly, there is obviously plenty of blame to go around. With the exceptions of this year's first-round pick Kevin Love and backup point guard Kevin Ollie, there isn't a player on the roster whose performance has exceeded my expectations thus far this season--and I predicted a 30-52 record. In reviewing this weekend's latest pair of defeats, it becomes increasingly apparent that some things need to be called out, even if (especially if?) longtime readers notice some redudancy in the complaints.

2. Twin Damns: Smallball and Big Al's Inconsistent Defense 

During the Media Day gathering traditionally held just before the onset of the preseason, team leader Jefferson was asked how the Wolves could become a better defensive club. "I think by me being a better defensive player the team will be better on defense. That is one thing I have to step up on this year and I've been working on it," Jeffeson earnestly replied. Then, with a little smirk on his face, he added, "One thing I messed up on was showing the coach I could do it [play defense] last year, and he's going to be expecting that out of me all the time." In response to whether he'd play the center or power forward spot, Jefferson said, "Whichever one I play, I feel like if the players see me as the captain on the defensive end it will makes things a lot better."

Well, yes, it certainly would. Except that Jefferson decides to take plays, quarters, and--judging by the absence of sweat equity in Friday night's ugly, lazy loss to the Kings--perhaps even whole games off. In that sense he is indeed the "captain" of this ballclub on defense. 

Yes, Jefferson carries the load as the waystation for the team's offense at the other end of the court. And yes, he is consistently played out of position at center when it is obvious that he is more comfortable and effective with a staunch, defensive-oriented big man beside him. And yes, there are others on the squad whose flagrant inability to guard people can be as egregious as Jefferson's failings--on Friday, depending on his mood, Kings' forward John Salmons alternately undressed, de-pantsed and wedgied Mike Miller.

But that's no excuse for the way Jefferson mailed in his mental and physical commitment to defense in what should have been one of the few eminently winnable road games the Wolves will play this season. If he wasn't getting beaten down the court in transition or posted up by Brad Miller or Mikki Moore, he was AWOL or, at best, woefully late, on help rotations or in guarding the rim against penetration. When the Sacramento Kings get 50 points in the paint, and 121 overall en route to shooting 54.8% from the field, well, it is time to remember that big talk from Big Al on Media Day, and remind him how cheap it sounds.

Coach Randy Wittman was appropriately livid following the Kings' pasting, putting the Wolves through a strenuous practice despite the fact that the team was about to take the court on the second end of a road back-to-back against Portland Saturday night. And so what do you know--Jefferson came to play against the Blazers. When Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge ran gazelle-like down the court in hopes of a breakaway layup, Jefferson hustled back with him in transition and was there to deter the downcourt pass. Then there was the memorable series where he thrice went up and blocked Blazer shots in a single possession during the third quarter. As Jefferson noted on Media Day, these outbursts of quality defense demonstrate that he's capable of being a force at that end when he puts his mind to it. Which, given his gross inconsistency since donning a Wolves uniform, damns his commitment and tarnishes his reputation.

But here's the painful rub: According to plus/minus numbers compiled before the two games this weekend, Jefferson is missed more than any other Wolves player when he goes to the bench in terms of points allowed by the defense. Unfortunately, this has less to do with the stellar caliber of Big Al's D than it does with the rotten alternatives wrought by Coach Randy Wittman, who actually goes *smaller* with his front line when subbing in for Jefferson. 

Through the San Antonio overtime game, the disparity of points allowed per/48 minutes when Jeffeson was on the court (92.8) versus when he was off (108.5) was the widest of anyone on the ballclub. But it isn't hard to figure out why: The second best disparity belongs to Kevin Long. The worst disparity is posted by Craig Smith, whose numbers are nearly the mirror opposite of Jefferson's: 108.9 points allowed per/48 when he plays, versus 91.9 points per/48 when he doesn't. Mike Miller (who's slow defensive reactions and lack of lateral movement have been a bad revelation thus far) is second-worst; but third-worst is Ryan Gomes--101.7 pts per/48 when he's on the court, versus just 92 pp48 when he's on the bench.

So what does this mean? Just maybe, that when Wittman plays people who are mediocre at post defense (Jefferson and Love), the Wolves defend a lot better than when the coach puts out undersized, overmatched players (Smith and Gomes) in the post.

This weekend's games amplify the point. You didn't need a plus/minus chart to see how badly Jefferson was faring on defense Friday night against the Kings, yet it was still a damn-sight better than when Witt *teamed up* his pint-sized bigs down in the paint. That's right, there were three different stretches when Smith and Gomes played C and PF together, for a grand total of 8:08, during which time the Wolves were minus -13. During the 9:35 he played without Smith, Gomes was a net zero; during the 6:07 he played without Gomes, the Rhino was minus -3.

Even more revealing is what happened on Saturday night, when Wittman *finally* deigned to play his lone healthy big who makes low post defense his abiding priority--Mark Madsen. Prior to Portland, Mad Dog had either been consigned to street clothes or DNP-CD. And Gomes had had one cup-of-coffee length workout at the small forward slot the entire season. But during two separate stints covering 9:04, Madsen at center, Smith at power forward and Gomes at small forward were a plus +4. When Gomes likewise got 4:08 at small forward beside Smith and Jefferson, he was a net zero. Yet in the 6:55 Gomes played power forward, he was minus -7. 

In other words, during this weekend's games, Gomes was a net plus +4 for the Wolves during the 21:53 when he wasn't playing the 4 beside Craig Smith against Sacramento, and wasn't playing power forward at all versus Portland. But because Gomes did log that 8:08 with Rhino in Sactown and spent 6:55 playing power forward against perhaps the tallest frontline in the NBA, the numbers show him as a composite minus -16 in those two games. Bottom line, the way Randy Wittman is using Ryan Gomes makes him look a hell of a lot worse than he really is.

3. Wittman and McHale

As some of the more astute commenters on this site have noted, the two biggest questions facing the Wolves franchise going forward at the end of last season were whether or not Randy Foye could handle the point guard duties and if the Wolves had enough size to adequately defend in the paint. Six games into the season, Foye's capability (or lack thereof) to run the offense and the team's interior defense remain at best huge question marks. Responsibility for that stasis rests with Coach Wittman and VP McHale.

Longtime readers will remember that I repeatedly emphasized that Foye was not a point guard throughout his rookie season, and that I caused a fair amount of consternation among some of the faithful here in my rough assessment of Foye after he came back from injury last year. This season, knowing that the alternative was poor-shooting Sebastian Telfair, I decided to cut him some slack, merely noting that if Foye could justify the faith placed in him by the Wolves front office and coaching staff, I''d add another five wins to their victory total.

It is entirely understandable that ill will has begun to coalesce around Wittman's performance thus far this season, given that he has actually lowered his career .333 winning percentage while guiding a ballclub he repeatedly claimed would be improved over last year's model. In fact, Witt has become such a lightning rod that less ire is directed at his immediate boss, Kevin McHale, than was true a year or two ago. Granted, McHale has made some savvy moves in that time, dumping almost all his onerous contracts (Blount, Davis, Jaric, Hassell, Hudson) getting decent (but nowhere close to equal) value in the Garnett trade, and pulling off a nifty draft-day swap that brought Miller and Love to Minnesota.

But Wittman wasn't here when McHale drafted Brandon Roy and traded him to Portland for Randy Foye and cash, claiming the Wolves preferred Foye all along, even as then-coach Dwane Casey, who was an assistant with the Sonics while Roy was tearing it up as a prep school star in Washington state, alternated between grimaces and looking like he wanted to throw up. And it is McHale, as much as Wittman, who is so fond of saying that people don't have set positions--that "they're *basketball players" instead of point guards or power forward or centers--and thus belittling the suspicions that Foye couldn't florish in the point guard role. It is McHale, as much as Wittman, who keeps claiming that with the hand check rules and the open court style of play, that most teams don't utilize classic centers anymore anyway, so having Jefferson and Gomes or Jefferson and Smith as your front line is neither unique nor a disadvantage.

I'm not excusing Wittman. The lack of improvement--both individually and as a team--of the folks on the roster, especially when you consider his miserable track record to date, is a legitimate cause for concern. He's also already begun last year's habit of fluctuating between lavish praise and not-so-veiled threats and complaints about his team's lack of effort (although any coach that wouldn't be furious about how the Wolves played on Friday is in the wrong profession).

The point is, an objective observer could say that McHale scapegoated Flip Saunders and scapegoated Casey. At the end of last season, even before the draft day trade that he clearly feels has benefitted the Wolves, McHale was claiming this team could win as many as 40 games this season. That put Wittman in a position of looking like he was dialing it back when he likened the squad to Portland of two years ago; in fact he was stepping forward with a claim that the Wolves would improve by some 8 or 9 wins this season, which would be no small accomplishment.

Whether a team is going well or poorly, the cause-and-effect between coaching and player performance has always been a chicken-or-egg situation. When Wittman goes on a tirade and compels a brutal practice in the middle of a back-to-back, do we credit him with the improvement in Jefferson's performance against Portland? Or do we wonder why a team that supposedly worked on almost nothing but defense and proclaims it wants a defensive identity is playing such woeful, shoddy defense just 5 games into the season? Do we notice that minutes are being apportioned in a manner that contradicts the notion that defense is the priority here?

Making up bastardized pejorative nicknames for a coach or GM or player and venting with far more heat than light about what they are doing wrong describes the behavior of a segment of most every team's fan base. As the moderator of the comments sections, I can tell you that criticism of any and all members of this 1-5 team is not only welcomed but warranted--provided it is backed up with examples and analysis that isn't already shopworn and predictable. For that matter, a smart defense or more nuanced analysis of the pros as well as the cons of the current franchise would probably be more stimulating and enlightening right now.

But that positive take just isn't in me right now. I can tell you that even when he is having a dreadful game, as against Portland, that Kevin Love is a precocious rook with a potentially bright future. I could have spent one of the points in this trey talking about how, despite his self-identified claims, Foye looks so much more relaxed coming off the bench splitting duties between both guard spots rather than wearing the role of "starting point guard." And I could have emphasized how the ballclub responded to their coach's tongue-lashing and extended practice with the best half of their season to date in the first two quarters versus Portland. Instead, I see 1-5 against below-average competition; uncertainty at the point; stubborn stupidity in the front court rotations; more McCants melodrama and bricks from Bassy and Brewer, and newcomer Mike Miller defending in slow motion.

If it comes to pass that Wittman too gets scapegoated, I humbly request that the coaching duties fall to McHale. Not only is he the second best coach (behind Saunders) in Timberwolves history, but he's the guy who has praised both Jefferson and Love to the high heavens, consistently lauded Smith for the mismatches the Rhino can generate, pooh-poohed position purists, and in general is on record as believing an inferior version of this squad could win 40 games this season. He's not only the architect of the blueprint, but the head of its public relations campaign.  And right now the blueprint is messed up.