Game #67, Road Game #35, Minnesota 95, Sacramento 89
1. Fine Points
There probably was a game way back in the Casey-coaching days of ’06 when both Randy Foye and Mike James played with confidence, aggression, and efficiency, but it sure felt like a revelation in a water-for-the-parched win over Sacramento last night. It matters only a little that the Kings’ Mike Bibby may be the most overrated point guard in the league and has never played decent defense–there have been literally dozens of games when James and/or Foye haven’t bothered to look for penetration off the dribble, or even a quick crossover or two that would free them up from outside. Instead, “better safe than sorry” seemed to be the mantra in their heads, instilled either by overcoaching or their own memory demons. Not so last night, as the pair (who never played together) combined for 36 points, 6 assists and just 2 turnovers in 48 minutes.
Two-thirds of those point and assist totals were Foye’s, registered in barely more than half the minutes-played. Foye was also a +9 to James’s -3. But this is not the time to denigrate James just because, for a boatload of reasons, he has no business starting at this juncture of the season. For the third straight game he stopped playing like a deer in the headlights, even anticipating a lazy inbounds pass for a steal and layup midway through the third quarter, one of three layups he converted in the period en route to a team-high 10 points that helped the Wolves hang around until Foye could take over the game with 14 points in the 4th quarter.
Where has that Randy Foye been lately? “Learning” the point guard position, apparently. Whether it was Foye or Wittman or whoever who decided it was time to take the shackles off and “let Foye be Foye,” it certainly helps put some juice back in the rook’s self-regard, right in sync with three upcoming games against Seattle’s Luke Ridenour (twice) and Portland’s Jarrett Jack, a pair of foes over which a flourishing Foye enjoys a distinct advantage.
Two more things. We all know that ex-coach Dwane Casey is looking smarter all the time in absentia, and it is interesting to note that Wittman reverted back to Casey’s old substitution pattern with Foye last night, playing him almost exclusively in the second and fourth periods. On that note, the ever helpful Wolves stat guru, Paul Swanson, sent along this interesting bit of info in the wee hours of the night/morn.
Inspired by Randy Foye’s game-clinching jumper with :16.8 remaining at Sacramento:
2006-07 Minnesota Timberwolves
Scoring in Last 24 Seconds of 4th Quarters & Overtime Periods
(through Mar. 21)
Player FGM-A 3FG-A FTM-A Pts
Foye 11-21 2- 4 10-10 34
Garnett 6-20 3-10 13-16 28
Davis 9-23 3- 7 6- 8 27
James 3- 7 2- 3 8- 9 16
Blount 4- 6 2- 2 0- 2 10
McCants 2- 2 1- 1 2- 2 7
Hassell 1- 3 0- 0 4- 4 6
Hudson 1- 4 1- 2 2- 2 5
Smith 1- 2 0- 1 2- 2 4
Reed 1- 4 0- 0 0- 0 2
Wright 1- 3 0- 1 0- 0 2
Jaric 0- 2 0- 1 1- 2 1
Madsen 0- 2 0- 0 0- 0 0
Griffin 0- 1 0- 1 0- 0 0
Now Swanny’s list doesn’t include minutes played or assists, but it is pretty clear that Foye is the go-to guy, the Cassell replacement this team envisioned as James’s role heading into the season (and it should be noted that James’s numbers aren’t that shabby here).
The other thing Wittman did well last night was realize the synergy that occurs when Foye and Marko Jaric play together. All but 43 seconds of Jaric’s 21:52 came alongside Foye last night, and it is no coincidence that he was a team-high +15. In fact it bears noting that the Wolves staged their 4th quarter comeback with 4/5 of the same lineup that earned the comeback over Indiana: KG/Smith/Foye/Jaric, with Ricky Davis subbing in for Rashad McCants this time as the 5th man.
2. The Big Banger Theory
With Brad Miller and Kenny Thomas both waylaid with injuries, the Kings went with a frontcourt of Sharif Abdur-Rahim and Corliss Williamson. Since Garnett lunches on Ab-Ra every time they play, Sac coach Eric Musselman wisely decided to matchup with Sharif on Blount and Williamson on KG.
Unfortunately, Williamson had his way with Garnett in the first period, going off for 10 points and 6 rebounds to propel Sacramento to a 28-22 margin. Williamson would only get 7 points and 4 boards the rest of the game while playing 37:07, and KG hauled in a game-high 18 rebounds, so everything was all right in the end. But it once again drove home the point that the biggest need for this ballclub by a wide wide margin is acquiring a big banger who can patrol and intimidate in the paint, allowing Garnett to avoid the wear-and-tear that his injury-resistant body continually absorbs.
This isn’t solely for Garnett’s sake (although easing life and maximizing production for your superstar is Priority One for most ballclubs that have one); it would dramatically improve Minnesota’s competitiveness. Don’t forget that the most successful season in team history was accomplished with the hydra-headed trio of Erv Johnson, Mark Madsen and Michael Olowokandi rotating in at center. Of those three, an already aging Erv started because he set the tone on the court as well as in the locker room: Stay at home down low. Box out. Communicate on defense. Don’t worry about how many points you score; just anchor the defense and allow no easy points in the paint. This is a lesson that undersized Craig Smith (+10 last night, second only to Jaric) understands. Players like this really aren’t *that* hard to find for a million or two a year. Instead, we have Blount for more than 6 million.
On that note, here is another part of the Paul Swanson package from late last night:
2006-07 Minnesota Timberwolves
Offensive Fouls Drawn
(through Mar. 21)
Smith 21
Davis 17
Blount 13
Garnett 11
Foye 10
Madsen 10
Hassell 7
Reed 7
Jaric 6
James 5
Hudson 3
Griffin 2
McCants 2
Wright 1
2006-07 Minnesota Timberwolves
Plus/Minus by Month
(through Mar. 21)
Player G Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Tot
Blount 67 + 3 -21 -37 -62 -80 -197
Davis 66 -24 +38 +34 -35 -98 – 85
Foye 67 +17 -45 -12 -24 -25 – 89
Garnett 66 +18 +48 +40 -16 -54 + 36
Hassell 62 -16 +14 +22 -73 -18 – 71
Hudson 34 + 8 +21 -43 – 7 -45 – 66
James 67 -33 – 6 -25 -42 -24 -130
Jaric 60 +17 -26 -60 +15 -53 -107
Madsen 45 + 7 -16 +40 -20 – 3 + 8
McCants 23 DNP DNP + 1 – 7 +27 + 21
Reed 33 + 2 – 7 -28 – 5 + 7 – 31
Smith 67 + 6 +15 -44 -20 -21 – 64
Wright 14 + 6 – 4 +27 – 4 + 2 + 27
x-Griffin 13 -46 -26 DNP DNP DNP – 72
Wolves 67 – 7 – 3 -17 -60 -77 -164
You’ll note that despite low minutes and the fact that we gets robbed by the refs at least half the time on these borderline charging-or-blocking calls, Smith has made taking charges something of a specialty (second only to Joe Smith in Wolves’s history; it must be the mundane last name that compels such unsung behavior). To be fair, Blount also takes more than his share (ditto RD). But move on to the plus/minus totals. Blount’s plus/minus is the worst on the squad by a wide margin, and the worst over the past two months as the Wolves have swooned. Davis is second, and the worst in the month of March.
Of all the confounding things about this franchise, their inability to secure and nurture at least one decent banger throughout their history–Felton Spencer comes closest, and they traded him after three years–is the most inexplicable, and Exhibit A in the mishandling of KG’s career.
3. Quick Takes
I think I’ll stop bashing Ricky Davis long enough to note that he had another really good game last night, helping Jaric (and to a lesser extent, Trenton Hassell) put the clamps on Kevin Martin and Ron Artest (although Martin missed a bevy of open j’s and Artest was the “bad” Artest in terms of shot selection and overall team corrosion). Ricky even guarded Bibby a little bit to throw him off at the start of the game. He was a dishing maestro, with his 7 assists not doing his passing justice because of the would-be dimes that prompted fouls or easy misses, and the pass-before-the-assist-pass momentum that he stoked. To cap it off, he nailed a pair of crucial treys in crunchtime. Much as I wanted McCants on the floor for that final comeback (for the good of the future, which should be the point right now), to win this game on this night, Davis was the right choice.
Since the ankle sprain (and actually a bit before then), Hassell has had trouble finding his niche. Right now the ballclub clearly performs better with Jaric in the lineup. It really is a contrast of styles: Jaric runs around like the absent-minded professor, making all sorts of good and terrible things happen. Hassell is steady as Grandpa Molasses, making sure no opponent gets an easy look at the hoop and kind of ensuring the same for his teammates with his current inability to hit an open J or force the opposing D to respond to him in any other meaningful fashion.
IMHO: The less said about the playoffs, the better. One, it isn’t going to happen. Two, if it does, the Wolves will lose a draft pick and suffer enormous embarrassment on a national stage in the first round, goading KG in the direction of bolting. Anyone who remembers my rant over the Madsen’s clownfest in last year’s finale knows my take on tanking. You honor the game and your karma by putting forth your best effort. Fortunately, in this case it means playing a young lineup–something Coach Wittman (who needs to go 12-3 to match Casey’s .500 mark) either doesn’t understand, or, as has been speculated by others, knows full well as he conducts a guerrilla campaign to get that draft pick.
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