The Rake Magazine

Author: Britt Robson

  • Open Thread: Create Your Own Trey

    Actually this is just a more prominent way of letting folks know I’m overwhelmed with a looming deadline on another story and won’t be able to make the Wolves game tonight–or even see it until tomorrow or Friday.

    So if anyone wants to fill in with their impressions–it can be a trey of your own making, a couple of lines, or maybe focusing on one aspect of the game, as AK proposed a few weeks ago–I’d appreciate it. And if you don’t feel like it, well, I’m shocked that you don’t want to work for free.

    In any case, I won’t be posting. But–unless this story really stays a Gordian knot–I should be back to look at Friday’s home tilt versus Denver.

  • The Three Pointer: A Culture of Losing

    Game #30, Road Game #17: Minnesota 82, LA Clippers 91

    Season record: 4-26

    1. 4th Quarter Follies

    For those of you with hangovers, either from an excess of alcohol or undue loyalty to a dysfunctional, mentally weak basketball franchise, we’ll start with a Joe Friday straight script on the lodging of the Wolves’ latest L. The team was up 11, 70-59, heading into the final period against a woeful Clippers team that had lost six straight overall, seven straight at home, and all 17 games in which they had trailed after three quarters thus far this season. A mere five minutes later the Wolves had missed ten straight shots, committed three turnovers and four fouls, and watched the Clips reel off 15 straight points–the most they had amassed in any one of the three previous quarters was 21–en route to a sudden 70-74 deficit.

    Against stiff competition, the most absurd stat of the quarter was the 13 personal fouls committed up by the boys in blue and green, a pace that would disqualify eight players from the game if enacted for the entire contest. Only one, perhaps two, of those fouls were the purposeful offenses of a team hoping their opponent misses from the foul line in the waning minutes of the game. In any case, the Clips leveraged the hacking for a bounty of 20 free throws in that 12-minute span, making 16, which by itself was enough to top the Wolves 12-point period (which included just 5 free throws). That’s how you come within one miss of tying the NBA record for three-point futility–the Clips finished 0-14 3ptFG–and still win by 9.

    Four of those 13 4th quarter fouls were committed by Rashad McCants, whose regression has entered toxic territory. In the past two games, McCants has gone 2-13 FG–with just three of those shots inside the three-point arc–with zero, count ’em, zero, free throws. Tonight he fouled out in 18:48, registering a game-worst minus -15. But beyond the numbers, McCants seems to be moving at half-speed. His defensive rotations and scrambles back in transition are occurring in invisible molasses. His engagement and desire are MIA. Even as the desperate television stations broadcasting Wolves games repeat the feature on his many tattoos, this hip hop poet and sensitive soul is mailing it in on the court.

    Perhaps Shaddy is sulking over his demotion, watching from the bench as Corey Brewer gets bumped over to his two-guard spot (that went to Marko Jaric before him) and Ryan Gomes takes the bulk of the minutes at small forward. It is hard to argue with Gomes’s effort and performance the past two or three weeks, however–last night he vied with Jefferson as the best player in a Wolves uni, scoring 17 points (8-14 FG) and grabbing 15 boards. In terms of the future, however, it is hard to imagine Gomes resigning here.

    Hindsight is 20-20, and this only became apparent to me as the game was progressing. But the Clippers took the floor was grandpa Sam Cassell and defensive specialist Quinton Ross in the backcourt. The Wolves countered with Sebastian Telfair and Brewer. Coaches Mike Dunleavy and Randy Wittman both seemed content to cross-match the guards, with their taller, defensive-oriented 2s throttling their smaller point guards. That’s because Brewer’s season-long shooting woes made Dunleavy comfortable sticking the 38-year old Cassell (who moves like he’s 76 on D) on the rook. But what happens if McCants starts at shooting guard? That forces matchups of Ross-McCants, Casell-Telfair, and either Brewer-Maggette (who’s 6-6, 225) or Gomes-Maggette.

    Wittman obviously didn’t want to go that way. His plan was clearly to take advantage of the Clips woeful front line, suffering from the season-long absence of Elton Brand, and, last night, Tim Thomas. That’s why he started Michael Doleac next to Jefferson, and put the taller Gomes on Maggette. Besides, Wittman also had to be salivating over the backcourt matchups off the bench. Specifically, 6-7 Marko Jaric would go up against either 6-foot Dan Dickau or 5-10 Brevin Knight. And, as it turned out, Jaric and McCants were greeted by Knight and career-scrub Richie Frahm to begin the 4th quarter. But Jaric never once posted up his nine-inch shorter opponent, But he, McCants and Sebastian Telfair went scoreless (0-7 FG) for the period while Frahm and Knight combined for 6 points, five assists and two steals.

    Judging from his postgame comments, Wittman was more concerned with his backcourt’s inability to execute the paint-oriented gameplan. "I have to find some guards to lead us down the stretch. We had no direction, no leadership. We have mismatches on the inside that we don’t even recognize. It’s the same thing every game."

    Clips center Chris Kamen, who notched 16 rebounds and 5 blocks, was equally frank. "They’re just not that good, so we were able to beat them. We’re not that good either. I mean, it was like a `Dust Bowl" game–two of the worst teams in the league playing each other."

    2. Witt Tightens the Screws

    Last night was the most aggressive I ever remember seeing Wittman coach. He juggled his lineup, inserting Michael Doleac so Jefferson could operate against rookie Al Thorton. When Jefferson committed some early defensive gaffes, Witt yanked his star less than three minutes into the first quarter and kept him on the bench for nearly five minutes. Likewise, timeouts were quickly called after a pair of mentally lazy turnovers in the third period and when Brewer allowed his man to waltz past him for a layup later in the second quarter. Finally, Witt altered his lineup five times in the first 4:36 of that disastrous fourth period.

    There are at least two ways of looking at this. First, Wittman has a thankless job and preferred to have praise and a long leash with his troops result in a steady increase of confidence and, thus, maturity and performance. And when it hasn’t happened, he’s been forced to withdraw the carrots and deploy more sticks. After all, people are finally beginning to understand how magnificently multi-faceted Kevin Garnett can be for a ballclub–all the big and little things he does to enhance your squad. Look at the Celts’ roster and tell me how they are allowing 86.82 points per game when the next best team is ceding 89.25. Then, on top of that, they don’t have Foye or Ratliff at the two most important positions on the court.

    The flipside is that everything Wittman has tried hasn’t worked. The ballclub he is coaching is mentally weak, physically weak, woefully immature and now thoroughly embedded in a culture of losing. Witt fired one of his bullets a couple weeks ago when he essentially told his players they were a bunch of wusses; then, as further motivation, the Strib ran a front-page story openly wondering if this could be the worst team in NBA history, a challenge Witt said affected his team, who proceeded to play their best game of the season in blowing out the Pacers.

    But since then, it’s been almost all regression, with playing time seemingly allotted without rhyme or reason. Last night it was Doleac getting his season high in minutes while Gerald Green and Chris Richard received their first DNP-CD in quite awhile. Why? Yeah, you can say Doleac was a nice matchup on Kamen (my choice for Comeback Player of the Year thus far) and the big lug did a good job. But with Doleac saddled with foul trouble, why not at least try out Richard? I guess it is plain that Wittman really does envision a Jefferson and Craig Smith front line for the future, a depressing thought. And while I am content to watch Green languish, his supporters have to wonder why he didn’t join Walker and McCants on the bombadier squad when Witt was desperately trying to salvage the game in the final minutes–or why he didn’t some of McCants minutes when Shaddy lethargically went through the motions in the first half.

    Once again the question is–what’s the plan? Go with enough vet seasoning to help the young’uns? Give the kids all the burn they can stand? Find out about your expiring contracts–Smith, McCants, Green, T
    elfair, Gomes–as much as possible? Reward hustle and performance or play for the future? Engender experience in specific roles or juggle the lineup to get the best immediate matchups? There is evidence that the Wolves are doing all of these things and thus none of these things very well. Some of it can be blamed on the bad luck of injuries and flu bugs and the travails of youth and immaturity. More of it is bad, inconsistent judgment.

    Bottom line, the problems with this team are fundamental: Executing and defending the pick and roll, moving your feet, boxing out, staying mentally focused, avoiding stupid fouls. They are getting worse, not better. Meanwhile, ten players on the roster average at least 20 minutes a game (a testimonial to wildly fluctuating playing time) and three others average at least 11 mpg,

    3. Hit and Run

    I walked into the Caribou Coffee outlet beside Lund’s in Uptown the other day and saw that if you purchased a pound of Caribou Coffee you would receive two free tickets to the Wolves’ January 6 game against Dallas–while the supply lasted. Meanwhile, if the team’s play doesn’t kill fan interest, the absurdly expanded coverage by FSN will. While Jim Petersen and Mike McCollow are both astute and engaging analysts, promoting a former cheerleader to provide fashion tips or insights on halftime shows or having sideline guy Telly Hughes interview the third or fourth best player on that night’s victorious Wolves’ opponent kills more brain cells than the 180 proof everclear I once got for Christmas from a friend in Alaska.

    After the Indiana win, I pronounced Telfair as having made it in the NBA, claiming that his next batch of bad games should be construed as a slump rather than an immediate ticket to Europe. Since then, Bassy has reverted to the form that earned him his rep as a colossal bust. Last night he shot 3-14 FG, and while the 7/2 assist-to-turnover ratio and the three steals were hopeful, the stubborn fact is that he can neither stick a long-range or mid-range jumper nor finish at the hoop in transition. Aside from Al Jeffersonj, no one will benefit more from the return of Randy Foye–provided it happens this year–than Telfair.

    I have long been a supporter of Wolves owner Glen Taylor, who, especially compared to the likes of Pohlad, Wilf, and the Wild crew, has been willing to step up in a dramatic fashion to invest in his franchise. Taylor’s loyalty to Kevin McHale and Randy Wittman is another matter, and a can of worms I’m not opening here. No, what perplexes me is how and why Taylor stood by while two of his division rivals–Portland and Seattle–have stockpiled assets from a Phoenix Suns franchise that abhors the luxury tax, has abandoned any pretense of building for the future and is doing everything possible to win now. Portland’s owner Paul Allen has gladly accepted Phoenix’s top draft pick the last two or three years, ensuring that the already deep Trailblazer team is a dynamo for the next five to ten years even if Greg Oden can’t fully recover from injury (one, I might add, that deprives the Blazers of a greater potential talent than Randy Foye). Further up the West Coast, Seattle was able to execute a sign-and-trade with otherwise departing free agent Rashard Lewis that provided them with an enormous trade exception against the salary cap. They then peddled that exception to the Suns in exchange not only for Kurt Thomas (whose $8 million deal expires this year), but Phoenix’s first round pick in both 2008 and 2010. By 2010, the Suns should be in a precipitous freefall, giving the Sonics (or whatever they are called by then) a nice addition to the roster as Kevin Durant and Jeff Green enter their fourth year in the NBA.

    Let’s end on a positive note, eh? Doleac demonstrated that he’ll be a solid 15-20 minute performer as the Wolves encounter a slew of legit centers–Joel Pryzbilla, Marcus Camby, Erick Dampier, and Shaquille O’Neal–in the week ahead. Sorry, that’s the best I could come up with.

  • The Three Pointer: Suffocating Hope

    Game #28, Road Game #15: Minnesota 96, Portland 109

    Game #29, Road Game #16: Minnesota 90, Seattle 109

    Season record: 4-25

    1. Play Richard

    Wolves color commentator Jim Petersen and I probably differ as much as we agree on myriad aspects of the team, but as far as I’m concerned, the only thing missing from J-Pete’s constant lobbying on behalf of more playing time for center Chris Richard is a tone of simultaneous anger and disbelief that this elemental notion still hasn’t permeated the skull of coach Randy Wittman. There are many many things that can be blame-shifted or held in abeyance due to the injuries that have befallen point guard Randy Foye and pivot man Theo Ratliff–it is the Swiss Army knife of excuses–but the inability of center Al Jefferson and power forward Craig Smith to defend even mediocre NBA front lines certainly ain’t one of them.

    Is this Timberwolves team sincerely playing to develop the talent and start the learning curve of defining roles for members of its current roster or is this franchise tanking in December? Given how obstinate Wittman has been about putting Jefferson and Smith in a position to fail, it’s unfortunately a legitimate question. I’ve already hammered on this point a couple of times this season, but watching the Wolves get waxed last night and tonight just diddles on the raw nerve of it.

    First, let’s drag out the numbers once again. The latest figures from 82games.com don’t even take into account this weekend’s losses to Portland and Seattle. But they show that Al Jefferson–who everyone and their third cousin knows is a classic NBA power forward–has played the center position for 54% of the minutes the Wolves have been on the court during the team’s first 27 games. During that time, the Wolves were minus -222. During the 46% of the time Al Jefferson was NOT playing center for the Timberwolves, the team was minus -1. People can usually juggle statistics to justify most anything they want, but it is difficult to imagine numbers this stark and dramatic shrieking anything but "Play Jefferson at the 4, beside a legit center!"

    Short of deliberately tanking games to get a high draft pick, there are only two reasons why the Wolves would pursue this wretched strategy. One is that they believe Jefferson will slowly but surely mature into a top notch center and that that is the best place for his skills. I whole-heartedly disagree, but at least that would be a justification that demonstrates some supposed foresight. The other reason is that the Wolves are very excited about Craig Smith and want to give him as much seasoning as possible. This makes a little more sense, because the Rhino certainly has shown he is capable of scoring in traffic against larger foes and be a beast on the offensive glass. But the guy is way undersized–generously listed at 6-7–which is exacerbated by the fact that most of the time he is playing with an undersized center–Al Jefferson. And both are, to put it charitably, defensively challenged.

    Again, let’s go to the numbers from 82games.com. Through the Wolves’ first 27 games, Smith has logged 33% of the team’s minutes at the power forward slot. During that time, Minnesota is minus -125. By contrast, the Wolves are minus -98 during the 67% of the time Smith is not at the power forward slot.

    Why are these plus/minuses so horrible for Jeff at the 5 and Smith at the 4? Well, according to 82games.com, Minnesota yields 108.6 points per 48 minutes (the full length of a game) when Smith is at power forward, and 109.7 points per 48 minutes when Jefferson is at center. That’s at least 6 points more than the 102.2 points per game the Wolves were yielding overall through their first 27 contests. Bottom line, the Jefferson-Smith tandem is a defensive sieve.

    But anyone who watches the games knows that. Portland coach Nate McMillan and the Trailblazer scout watch games. On Portland’s first possession Friday night, 6-10 power forward Lamarcus Aldridge took Smith down in the low post and scored on a very basis and relatively unimpeded turnaround jumper. When the Wolves cut a longtime Blazer lead down to a single point with 7:32 to go in the third quarter, McMillan called a timeout and then called for Aldridge to post up Smith for a rally-stemming bucket. And five of Portland’s subsequent seven shots came from either Aldridge or Channing Frye–who came into the game at power forward, nudging Aldridge over the center–forcing Wittman to sub out Smith with Portland up 5 with three minutes to play in the period.

    Now let’s talk about Chris Richard. I won’t gush over Richard like J-Pete does. Not because Pete gushed over Mark Blount and we all know how that worked out. Because I, unlike Petersen, don’t have to fill up precious airtime polishing the turds Minnesota has been laying with alarming frequency thus far this season. Petersen gushes because he is paid to keep viewers interested, and because he sees the Wolves’ most glaring flaw being that they are a mentally clueless, physically overmatched defensive team. He sees Chris Richard as the player with the most potential to partially remedy that flaw and at the same time follow the Wolves supposed blueprint of playing young kids as much as possible to see how they pan out–hopefully at a position in which they have a chance to succeed.

    Already Richard is a better defender than Jefferson or Smith–not high praise, but a good reason to grant him more burn. He compensates for a relatively small 6-9 height with a reported 7-6 wingspan, and certainly plays taller than he looks. You can tell he listened carefully to good coaching for four years of college–be it pick and roll defense or boxing out and setting picks on offense, he is already fundamentally better than Jefferson and physically more capable than Smith (who is also fundamentally pretty solid). Thus far he hasn’t shown much on offense, but if he’s playing beside relative black holes like Jeff and Rhino, that’s probably a good thing. (There is a reason why Richard and intuitive gunner Rashad McCants are the best two-man combination on the team thus far, compiling a plus +34 together, according to 82games.com.)

    Put it this way: there is only one player on this entire team who willingly and capably does the dirty work, doesn’t need the ball, and is under 25 years of age. He currently rides the bench most of the time for a ballclub with a record of 4-25 that has yielded an *average* or more than 110 points per game over its last six contests.

     

    2. Choose McCants Over Green

    Gerald Green is a child. Friday against Portland, he unsuccessfully swooped down for an offensive rebound and had to scramble at double-time to get back on defense, flying by the jump shooter in the corner who had been left alone by his miscalculation to crash the boards. When he nicked the guy’s arm and the ref blew the whistle, Green grabbed his head–his favorite form of protest–jumped up once and then writhed in agony. Tonight against Seattle, Wally Szczerbiak drew the foul on him with an up fake, then Green missed a jumper before heading to the bench with other players consoling him as he came.

    How about this: Close out on your man when he drifts to the corner for a trey. Know your pick and roll assignments. Now that you are in your third year and have played more than 2300 NBA minutes, understand how to impact the flow of the game in a positive way at both ends of the court. And have enough composure that your coaches and teammates don’t feel the need to constantly coddle your volatile emotions. According to 82games.com, through the first 27 games, the Wolves scored an average of 88.5 points per 48 when Green was on the court and while yielding an average of 104.8 points per 48. That -16.3 point differential was by far the largest on the club, with Greg Buckner second at -13.1.

    Yes, I am picking on Green. Maybe I am trying to model how a team demonstrates to its rapidly diminishing fan base that it is serious about building for the futur
    e. That means making decisions that diminish time for some players so that other players get more burn, and have a larger sample by which to judge them at the end of the season. The Wolves—wisely, in my view–signaled that Green was not likely part of their long term plans by refusing to sign him to an extension this season. His physical makeup–from the springs in his legs to the form on his jumper–is magnificent and his potential is thus very teasing. And as someone who won’t turn 22 for another four weeks, he may yet mature, figure it out, and make caustic critics like yours truly look stupid for ripping him.

    But are there signs that Green is "getting it"? Certainly not from the defense he played against Portland and Seattle. Yes, he had plenty of company in that regard. In both games, Minnesota rotated horribly, aped the keystone cops more often than Duncan and Bowen on the pick and roll, and generally looked either disinterested and/or poorly coached on a wide variety of fundamental defensive sets. By the way, that includes Rashad McCants and Marko Jaric, two players with whom Green is competing for minutes. To a lesser extent, on both counts, it also includes Corey Brewer and Ryan Gomes. There’s a logjam of mediocrity at the swingman slots right now.

    Lately, Witt has been rolling the dice by tossing forth a trio of bombadiers from his bench–Green, McCants and Antoine Walker–with typical boom-or-bust results. Yeah, it’s more fun than the peanut vendors who can sling their wares four or five rows to the point of sale, but is that the way to best evaluate a player like McCants, for whom the team utilized a first-round pick and who is in the midst of his make-or-break season with the squad?

    What has happened to McCants? Is the guy just a rock-solid enigma, ultimately a bigger heartbreak than Gerald Green, or can he become a valuable piece on a good team. The evidence continues to mount for both sides. Against Portland, McCants duplicated what has become something of a maddening pattern: Missing jumpers and otherwise disappearing when the game is close, but suddenly catching fire when the team is down late in the game and rallying them 70 or 80 percent of the way back–but never, except for that first win against Sacramento–to victory. On both offense and defense he is inconsistent not only in his performance but in the particular attributes of the performance. Sometimes he’s a huge defensive liability because he doesn’t rotate; sometimes because he reaches in for dumb fouls, sometimes because his turnovers cause easy transition baskets. Sometimes he hurts the offense because he hogs the ball, or misses shots, or for some reason doesn’t shoot when he should. After nailing a couple of treys against Portland, he and Telfair played catch on the perimeter three times, with Shaddy turning down Telfair’s nonverbal entreaty to jack it up each time–very Kobesque.

    Tonight versus Seattle was typical McCants. His shooting was suspect, not only because he went 2-8 FG, but because only one of those shots wasn’t a trey and he had zero free throws, both of which indicate a lack of penetration against one of the more porous and least intimidating NBA opponents. At the same time, he had four steals, five rebounds, three assists and a block, and was a respectable minus -1 in 21:16 of a 19-point loss.

    Even more than 4-25, what must exasperate die-hard Wolves fans is the lack of any apparent plan, or methodology for examining key talent. I mean, if McCants can’t crack the starting lineup or be the prominent sixth man on a squad missing Randy Foye for the entire season thus far, what does that say about his future? And should the Timberwolves be subtlely sending that negative signal based on such relatively few minutes for such a relatively large investment and potential key cog? I understand the frustration with the enigma–I yo-yo back and forth on the dude constantly himself. But isn’t this the season to stick him in a role–starting two guard or designated scorer and sparkplug as 6th man–and milk it until it is patently obvious he just doesn’t have it, or until you understand how deep the enigma goes? Right now Wittman is fond of starting Gomes at small forward and Brewer at shooting guard. While I generally applaud the recognition that Brewer is physically better at the 2 right now–Seattle’s Wally Szczerbiak was the latest to body him up–and think Gomes has finally started playing the way I figured he could before the season started (although he still gets beaten on D and clangs open looks more than I figured), I think McCants needs to encroach on both Gomes and Brewer, mostly Gomes, who doesn’t figure to resign here, especially if he plays well. (And how was that for a convoluted sentence?)

    3. Quick Hits

    Who else is tired of hearing how rarin’ to go Randy Foye is while Brandon Roy gets named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week two times running and Portland fans chant MVP when he steps to the free throw line? Funny, the Wolves probably opted for Foye over Roy because they figure Foye was a better fit as a combo/point guard and that Roy was more of an injury risk. Who said irony was dead? Personally, I’ll never forget how much Dwane Casey favored Roy over Foye with his body language and tone of voice when the braintrust came down to first announce the choosing of Roy and then the trading for Foye.

    The best time to make this observation is when it doesn’t matter to the outcome of the games and won’t seem like sour grapes: The officials job the Timberwolves almost every game. Part of it is the star syndrome (the Wolves really don’t have any), part of it is favoriting vets, and part of it is favoring hustle and smart aggression. But even granting the Wolves’ paucity in all those areas, they consistently are on the wrong end of the refs’ double standard when it comes to charges versus blocks on player contact, on borderline shooting fouls, and on being sticklers for travels, double-dribbles, moving picks, etc. It penalizes the poor and when you are as poor as the Timberwolves, very noticeable.

    Ever since the beginning of the season, the best half court offensive play for the Wolves has been Jefferson on the block and Ryan Gomes cutting baseline, usually on a give and go but occasionally to clear out so Jeff can go for the turnaround jumper.

    Foye gets the next report on his knee January 7. If more delays are announced, it is time to stop this cat and mouse and engage in a full-blown press conference that lays out all options in a realistic manner. Because it is beginning to look like Foye will never suit up this season and that the team is being very disingenuous about that possibility.

  • The Three Pointer: Redemption Song

    Game # 25, Home Game #13: Indiana 118, Minnesota 131

    Season record: 4-21

    I usually condense two weekend games into a single trey, but tonight’s victory over Indiana was sufficiently exciting and worthy of individual comment that I’ve decided to file this now and let you folks add comments to this and tomorrow night’s road game against New Orleans. I’ll return for a trey after the Golden State game on Wednesday night. Until then, Happy Holidays, and hoops, to all.

    1. The Iron Man

    "When you’re having fun on an NBA floor there is nothing better in the world," said Sebastian Telfair after he played all 48 minutes of the second-highest scoring game in Timberwolves history. Amen to that, Bassy, for you are the MVP of the best three quarters this squad has played in over a year, perhaps two. And the shocking transformation Telfair has made from handy punchline to hardy point guard is complete. He’ll have bad games, maybe even a bunch of them, but now it should be regarded as a slump rather than confirmation of his eventual ticket to Europe and the entree to moralistic fables about NY playground kids not making the NBA leap.

    For weeks now, Telfair has been accruing evidence against initially heavy odds that he belongs in this league, as a credible backup if not a starter. His 780 minutes are second most on the squad behind Jefferson. He’s averaging 10.3 ppg on 42.5% shooting–hardly great, but not awful, and better to the eye than on paper–and boasts a 2.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, Tonight he seized the opportunity the Pacers provided him. As coach Randy Wittman said after the game, "We knew [Indiana] would trap outside and if he got by the big men on the high pick and roll he could get what he wanted."

    Simple enough, until you realize that the key to Minnesota’s 40-point second quarter was relying on a point guard who didn’t go to college and is only nine months older than Corey Brewer having the sense to recognize the looming trap and then the sinew and quickness to thread through it and finish at the hoop. Coming into the quarter down a whopping 20 points, 20-40, Telfair stuck a 16-footer and drove for a layup in the first 75 seconds. A minute later, when Indiana changed up the trap, he fed to Antoine Walker for a trey. Then a flurry; three driving layups in three minutes time and that huge deficit had been halved and then some with more than six minutes to play in the period. When the quarter was over, the entire Indiana team had scored 15 points and dished out 4 assists, while Telfair registered a dozen (5-6 FG 2-2 FT) and issued 4 assists himself, three of them treys by Walker plus a jumper by Corey Brewer. Put simply, Bassy was responsible for 26 points in the second quarter and the Wolves, after being absolutely flattened in the first quarter, yielding 11 baskets on Indiana’s first 12 shots, miraculously had a 5-point lead at the break.

    Three things in particular stand out about Telfair this game. One is his synergy with Corey Brewer, a staple this entire season. Brewer and Bassy are very similar in many respects; both put great pace into the game, fueled by a natural desire to keep going until deterred. Both try to leaven their suspect shooting with smart and quick passing; rarely do you see either one of them simply dribble and survey the floor. And both play all 94 feet on defense, knowing they must rely on speed and guile instead of brawn, looking for poke-check steals, scrambling to stay in front of their man as long and often as possible, and willing to expend the energy rather than concede the layup on a Timberwolves turnover.

    The second is Telfair’s toughness. Tonight he went way up against one of the Pacer’s bigs, trying to keep a high rebound afloat, only to bend back a tad too far in his effort and be slightly undercut enough to land on his rear and back–just as Pacer center Jeff Foster was heading up court to trample him with one calf while kicking him in the head with the other. This was the second quarter of a game in which Telfair never sat. According to Wittman after the game, he probably won’t sit tomorrow night versus Chris Paul and the Hornets on the tail end of a back to back. But while his second half numbers indicated some fatigue tonight–he had 11 points, 4 assists and a turnover after going 16-7-0 in the first half–he expended his emergency fuel where it mattered most, continuing to play staunch defense on Jamaal Tinsley, who shot just 3-10 FG and finished with 8 points and 10 assists after coming into the game averaging 14.8 and 8.7, respectively.

    Finally, one of Telfair’s four second period layups, perhaps the last one, was a dribble-drive through three defenders culminating in a hand-switch of the ball while he was in mid air, and a left-haned banker. It had echoes of the playground and Jordan about it; the kind of shot you only attempt, let alone make, if you’re clueless and desperate or in a groove and very, very confident. When asked by Myles Brown of slamonline.com after the game if this was his best game of the season, Telfair replied, "absolutely." Brown followed up by inquiring what the difference was between the Telfair of two years ago and the one today, Bassy shrugged, squinted for a couple of beats, and then said simply, "Confidence."

    2. The Leader

    The flu bug nailed Rashad McCants as well as Marko Jaric, who both stayed away from the arena tonight. Buckner, Foye and Ratliff are hurt. So is Antoine Walker, but not enough not to heed the call and slap some tape on his aching ankle. Yup, less than a day after telling the Strib that he’d tried to come back too soon earlier this season and was going to let the ankle heal this time, ‘Toine suited up, then buried the Pacers for 23 points in 24:58 en route to a game-best plus +21.

    Remember that high pick and roll Wittman was describing? Well, if the Pacers chose to defend Telfair’s drives, Walker was waiting out beyond the arc. He sank a half-dozen of them in 10 attempts, forming an inside-outside attack that turned the game for the Wolves after that brutal first quarter.

    But it was more than the points, or the solid defense Walker played on ersatz star Jermaine O’Neal. (A not-so-brief detour here to rip O’Neal. Those of us spoiled by years of watching Kevin Garnett never take a night off got a taste of what it looks like when a perennial all-star attitudinally lies down like a dog. Even on two good ankles, Walker has no business negating O’Neal in the low block. JO’s game was epitomized by a play in the fourth quarter where O’Neal was content to watch a long rebound from Al Jefferson’s missed shot go out of bounds. Except that Jefferson hustled over and grabbed it by the sideline, then spun into the lane and dropped a layup over O’Neal. "I think we got him frustrated," Wittman said after the game. That’s charitably diplomatic. O’Neal finished with 8 points on 3-11 shooting and 5 rebounds in 33:59 (he did add 6 assists), plus a minus -18 in a 13-point loss. By contrast, Jefferson had 29 points and 13 rebounds (2 assists) in 33:18. It was a pathetic display by Indiana’s most talented player, who looks to be engaging in a "work slowdown" in an effort to be traded.) No, along with accurate treys and dogged defense, Walker once again demonstrated how a wizened vet with little to gain on a terrible team can exercise the kind of leadership simultaneously designed to brighten the moment and enhance the future.

    For one thing, ‘Toine broke out the shimmy, that little end zone dance transferred to the hardwood that once punctuated particularly meaningful ‘Toine treys on a fairly regular basis. When Walker was in his prime, that shimmy felt arrogant, self-aggrandizing and stupidly provocative, a red flag to the other team. Tonight, in a game where the Wolves had just encountered a first quarter beatdown, had seen their star, Al Jefferson repair to the dressing room for stitches after being elbowed in the mouth, and had been called out the previous
    game by their coach for not having the gumption to respond to a challenge, ‘Toine’s first official shimmy in a Wolves uniform was perfectly timed to announce that the cavalry was here. It announced that not only weren’t the Wolves going to meekly slink away or choke after a lead had been established, but they were going to revel in their temporal greatness and stand confident in their ability to withstand the blowback. If the Wolves lose that game, as they had lost so many others, ‘Toine looks like a fool. But 59 seconds after the Wolves had come all the way back to finally tie it at 52, Walker nailed a trey to boost the lead to 5, at 57-52, with 45 seconds left in the half, and then took that chance, esentially announcing to his team–"I got your back, let’s have some fun and send a message that we plan on keeping this lead."

    Then there is the strong mentorship that Walker is exercising with Gerald Green. Many times during televised road games the camera would catch Walker, waylaid in street clothes with his ankle injury, leaning over talking to Green at GG’s customary spot at the end of the bench. Over the weeks it has become apparent that Walker talks to Green a lot. Tonight it was obvious that Green appreciates the attention and looks to ‘Toine for support and direction.

    With both McCants and Jaric felled by flu, Green was the first player off the bench as the first quarter carnage was wrought, with Walker joining him on the court about a minute and a half later. Now I’ve pretty much done nothing but rip GG whenever I’ve raised his name thus far this season, so let me say that whatever influence Walker had on Green tonight, it was still Green who looked to pass instead of shoot for almost his entire first stint on the floor. It was Green who fought through the brief panics about not knowing who to guard and eventually landed his assignment, usually in time enough not to burn the Wolves. And it was Green who slowly but steadily built from square one, gaining the confidence to do more than the most rudimentary team activity on offense and defense, finishing with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 16 minutes, his best game of the season thus far.

    But having Walker around certainly didn’t hurt. ‘Toine was talking a lot to GG, and shepherding him occasionally on defense. After one  timeout, Walker gathered his teammates together as they took the floor and was talking animatedly in a semi-circle with them before play resumed. On the next two defensive possessions, Green was yelling out switches and impending picks, clearly communicating–the first time I’ve seen him do that this year. What’s more, Walker rewarded Green’s initial ball movement by canning a feed from GG for a trey at the end of the first quarter and again within the first three minutes of the second (remarkably enough, at that point I’m not sure Green had taken a single shot).

    In the third quarter, Wittman countered Indiana’s zone by bringing Green and Walker in together with 7:10 to play in the period and the Wolves up five. Green immediately went off, nailing a trey and a 20-footer in between two assists to Jefferson, one a beautifully executed pick and roll. Walker and his other teammates kept stoking him and for the first time all year, Green began to play both naturally and intelligently, with the right rotations and shot selection. With a little more than four minutes to play in the quarter, Walker threw a football pass to a streaking Green, who was fouled on the layup attempt. As the crowd cheered, Walker extended his arm to the sky and held up his index finger in celebration. At the other end of the court, Green spotted him and extended his arm and index finger. Then he hit both free throws, bumping the Wolves’ lead to 16.

    After the game, a buoyant Telfair said that he and his teammates had been asking for a shimmy out of Walker. "He said if he hit a couple of shots tonight he might do one," Telfair claimed, then later added, "He was a huge factor in this win. And he’s really helping us in the locker room."

    3. The Gambler

    In the last trey, I highlighted the fact that Coach Randy Wittman had called out his team after the Golden State loss, strongly implying that his players lacked the confidence, bravery and competitive spirit to rebuff an opponent’s challenge and then rebound with a run of their own. Noting that some players were injured, I said a coach can’t use that kind of language too frequently, and questioned the timing.

    I still think it was a gamble, that, if the Wolves had gone into the tank, would have further jeopardized Witt’s effectiveness this season. But that was a chance the coach was not only willing to take, but obviously felt like he had to put out there, and tonight he was proven to be right and effective in his tactics. In fact, it is almost as if he wrote the storybook. After the Golden State loss, Witt repeated the contention that when an opponent hits the Wolves, they have to absorb the blow and fight back. Earlier this season, but not earlier this week, he had said when a team hits you in the mouth you have to fight back. Well, tonight the Wolves were not only missing Jaric but their premiere outside threat, McCants. What’s more, their best player, Jefferson, literally got hit in the mouth at a time when the Wolves had already allowed 12 assists and generated only one turnover while allowing the Pacers to shoot 75% (15-20 FG) in the first quarter. And the Wolves did exactly what Wittman had dared them to do, and mocked and belittled them for not doing; they essentially said "enough is enough" and overcame a 20-point deficit with renewed effort and determination and sheer toughness.

    After expressing how proud he was of his team, Wittman also took the opportunity to call out the Strib for suggesting, in a front page story today, that the current Wolves team might rank among the worst ever in the NBA in terms of wins and losses at the end of the season. After enduring so much criticism in recent days–from present company included–the coach probably felt justified in doling a little of it back. "These kids, they’ve got feelings too…We are all human beings and that hurt," Wittman said to beat writer Jerry Zgoda, who wrote the piece.

    Yet whatever tension might have existed necessarily dissipated in the wake of such a convincing, and unlikely, of course, victory. After a few good natured comments, Wittman concluded his postgame comments with a simple, "Merry Christmas, you guys."

    And to all a good night.

  • Abbreviated Trey: Still Going Down

    Game #24, Home Game #12: Golden State 111, Minnesota 98

    Season Record: 3-21

    First, a confession: An interview for another story I’m working on lasted much longer than anticipated, and as it turned out, I walked into Target Center at halftime, with the Wolves holding an 8-point lead. Thus, I only saw the collapse and don’t feel it fair to rip into performances without the context of what was apparently some inspired play, particularly from the recently maligned Rashad McCants, who got off for 13 in the first period and then four dimes and another six points in the second. Yeah, he was going up against Golden State and Nellyball, but those numbers seem to (at least temporarily) rebut my contention that McCants can’t score within the flow of the team’s offense.

    I don’t imagine me missing the first half is what Kelly Dwyer was hoping the future of sportswriting would be like. I don’t know Mr. Dwyer but was incredibly flattered by his generous praise in a column he wrote earlier today, and wish to publicly thank him. Before we drop the subject so it doesn’t go any further to my head, I just want to repeat that it is the quality of the comments on this blog and the knowledge that smart people are reading me that provides much of the enthusiasm that people enjoy in my work.

    1. Wittman Raises The Ante

    Randy Wittman angrily called out his team in the postgame press conference, essentially calling them spineless, and chokers. The coach again invoked the fighting analogy, claiming that when the team gets hit in the mouth it doesn’t fight back, and going so far as to say the team "would not allow people to do that to them in the parking lot." Earlier he had pretty much hollared, "At some point we have to man up, stand up and say `Enough is enough!’" The coach further added that when he called time out with 8:34 to go in the third, "their body language said it all to me…their heads were down." He noted it was something the team "had been fighting all year," specifically citing the 8 point halftime lead tonight, the six point halftime lead Monday in Miami, and the 15 point first quarter lead last week at home against Seattle–all for naught in three losses.

    I understand Witt is competitive, and increasingly frustrated. These losses are like water drips from a faucet when you’re trying to sleep–they’ll drive you temporarily crazy. But calling out a team is the coaching equivalent of firing a bullet–there are only so many chambers in that gun, and he needs to use them wisely. The season is 24 games old–58 to go–and the Wolves were without Foye, Ratliff, Walker, Jaric (felled by the flu) and Buckner tonight, while Craig Smith and Corey Brewer were both reportedly feeling ill.

    Now consider what Wittman is quoted as saying in today’s Strib. First, on Corey Brewer’s shooting woes: "He’s putting himself in trouble, driving the ball into trouble…He’s [taking] bad shots because he’s turning down an open 18-footer and dribbling in for a worse shot." In the next graph, the Strib reported that Witt talked to Jaric after Tuesday’s practice–about regaining his aggressiveness. "He needs to get it back. I don’t know why it left…It is hard for a coach to call on a guy when he’s showing no aggression."

    Got that? Corey Brewer needs to stop driving to the hoop and pull up for 18 footers but if you’re not aggressive, it is going to be hard for you to get in the game. I know Brewer and Jaric are two very different players and he was addressing them separately. But a day after being told to be more aggressive, Jaric is probably cradling the toilet–do you remember how you feel about yourself during that process? Like a baby. Meanwhile, Brewer shot 4-12 FG, which actually boosts his season FG%. Half his shots, but alas, only one of his makes, were from outside the paint.

    Leaving aside the timing of Wittman’s diatribe, he is at least half-right in questioning the gumption and self-confidence of his ballclub as it spits up leads. No matter how young or untalented an NBA is, when it yields 15 baskets in 20 shots, as the Wolves did during the third period tonight, it is a half-assed effort. But shoddy defense wasn’t Minnesota’s only undoing–once again, turnovers played a major role, and contributed to easy transition baskets that made the D look worse. After turning the ball over just twice in the entire first half, the Wolves coughed it up 7 times in a 6:15 span early in the third–and 5 different players were the culprits. I’m not sure questioning a team’s manhood and daring a squad to stand up and say "enough is enough" is going to reduce turnovers. The defense, on the other hand, could use a little of that macho swagger, as well as better cohesion.

    Wittman vowed to figure out how to fix things, which inevitably brings us back to the fact that he is the coach of a team that constantly blows leads and otherwise fails to take advantage of eminently winnable games. On the one hand, what can legitimately be expected of a ballclub without Foye and Ratliff, starting two guys–Brewer and Telfair– who are legitimately suspect shooters who must prove they have to be guarded; an undersized center and power forward if Jefferson and Smith are the tandem, and a mercurial shooting guard? On the other hand, is the aforementioned lineup, plus the likes of Jaric, Gomes, Richard and Walker off the bench, more likely to respond to the carrot or the stick. On this question, I’m a vegetarian.

    Bottom line, the Timberwolves won’t fire Wittman until the end of the year at the earliest–otherwise that is three coaches dumped during the regular season three of the last four years, which would be a loud and damning indictment of front office incompetence in at least two or three different ways. But with a mark of 2-19 to go with last year’s 12-30, Wittman needs to watch how loudly he yells "Enough is enough."

    2. Another Gerald Green Sighting

    Gerald Green had a relatively lovely stat line: 18 points on 6-13 FG, including 4-8 from beyond the arc, and 8 rebounds in 30:10. But I am forced to repeat that the kid is lost on defense. Seventeen seconds after he entered in the third quarter, Stephen Jackson had him swatting at air while executing a layup. Rare were the occasions when Green was properly face up on a man; much more often he was running at the shooter, caught in mid-leap to commit the foul or enable the penetration, or dashing over to the bench to ask what the hell to do when the Wolves went into what looked like a matchup zone. Again, the cavaet is that I didn’t see the 16:04 GG played in the first half, when he knocked in 10 points and grabbed five boards.

    3. Quick Hits

    When I saw Craig Smith gasping for air with 8:12 remaining in the third, I scrawled an angry note about his conditioning and not being ready for Golden State’s pace, only to later learn he is probably ill.

    Al Harrington had a monster night, getting 14 in the third on 5-5 FG and finishing with a game-best plus +27 in 30:43. Just for grins, it would be nice to see if Chris Richard could handle a guy like Harrington, who goes 6-9 250 but can play on the perimeter. Smith is too slow, Brewer too light, making Ryan Gomes the best bet. But Richard, who got only 4:52 all night anyway, might have been a good experiment.

    So, McCants only went 2-6 FG with one rebound and 2 assists in 21:11 of the second half and I still thought he played well, especially as the main defender on Baron Davis. Anyone want to rave about that first half?

    Bassy Telfair played the entire second half against Golden State’s murderous pace with predictible results: 1-9 FG, four turnovers.

  • moe.

    In terms of wank-out psychedelia, this Buffalo, New York-based jam band is more peyote than purple microdot: organic, smooth, and offering a slightly shorter trip than the Grateful Dead or Phish, or their friend Umphrey’s McGee. After using concert improvisations to flesh out the tunes that run like flowing ribbons through previous albums like Wormwood and The Conch, moe. cranked out their latest, Sticks and Stones (due January 22), in three weeks of recording, customizing ten songs to clock less than forty-one minutes total. But between the dual guitars and the wanton back catalogue, the new stuff should be shaggy enough to win over the self-proclaimed “moe.rons” in the audience.

    First Avenue, 612-338-8388.

  • Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

    Ever since Wynton Marsalis seized the reins of the JLCO in the early ’90s, both the orchestra and the organization have been hallmarks of supreme scholarship and top-notch quality control in the effort to enshrine jazz as America’s classical music. The only danger was that Marsalis would smother his project with love, favoring hermetically sealed technique over goosebumps. But the theme chosen for JLCO’s twelfth tour—Duke Ellington’s love songs—banishes those worries. From “Sophisticated Lady” to “Satin Doll,” to “In a Sentimental Mood” and “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good,” the repertoire should set the stodgiest stick-in-the-mud all atwitter. And with a stellar fifteen-piece band—the trumpet section alone includes Ryan Kisor, Marcus Printup, Sean Jones, and Marsalis—channeling some of Duke’s most heartfelt compositions, the gig shapes up as an ideal Valentine’s date, albeit three weeks and three days early.

    Orchestra Hall, 612-371-5656.

  • Abbado Conducts Schubert

    Italian conductor Roberto Abbado knows the difference between flair and flash, or sophistication and ostentation. After a series of typically elegant performances with the Minnesota Orchestra earlier this decade, he became an artistic partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra two years ago and ascended the podium for five weeks of solid Beethoven last February and early March for performances that enhanced this undeniably crowd-pleasing music with rigorous exploration. This season’s three Abbado dates concentrate on another early nineteenth century Viennese master, Franz Schubert. The program includes Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, the “Great C Major”, preceded by his Overture to Rosamunde and Kirchner’s 1960 Concerto For Violin, Cello, Ten Winds, and Percussion, featuring Steven Copes (violin) and Ronald Thomas (cello).

    Ordway Center &
    Ted Mann Concert Hall    , 651-291-1144; www.thespco.org

  • Bill Carrothers’ Armistice Band

    Jazz pianist Bill Carrothers was born in Minneapolis in 1964 and, even as a tyro getting his artistic bearings, elevated the local jazz scene with his cerebral gravitas (No one, for example, untangled the Gordian knots of altoist Lee Konitz better than Carrothers in concert.) While his best-known disc is probably Duets with drummer Bill Stewart, his masterpiece is the two-hour epic, Armistice 1918, which won the Charles Cros Award (the French equivalent of a Grammy) in 2004. It opens with the innocent pop songs of the pre-World War I era, such as “Hello Ma Baby” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” and then wends through a wellspring/maelstrom of affecting originals and period-covers, brimming with impressionistic details regarding, as Carrothers put it in his liner notes, “the call to battle, separation of loved ones … night raids, rum rations … the disillusionment with ideals and finally the silence of Armistice Day.” Many of the original musicians will join Carrothers for this extraordinary U.S. premiere, including cellist Matt Turner, percussionist Jay Epstein, and vocalist Peg Carrothers. Rounding out the ensemble are bassist Jean-Philippe Viret, drummer Dre Pallemaerts, and bass clarinetist Jean-Marc Foltz.

    9 p.m., Artists’ Quarter, 408 St. Peter St., St. Paul; 651-292-1359; $15.

  • The Three Pointer: Miami Vice

    Game #23, Road Game #12: Minnesota 87, Miami 91

    Season record: 3-20

    1. Sabotaged At the Two Guard

    The Miami Heat look terrible. Shaq is shockingly old, his hands lacking grip, his knees unable to help him stop on a dime–he committed two or three fouls (and fouled out) tonight simply bowling people over with uncontrolled momentum–not from passion by lack of muscular restraint against his enormous body mass. Dwyane Wade is obviously not close to 100%–he walks with a hitch and looks five years removed from NBA Finals MVP instead of 18 months. He clanged jumper after jumper. The Heat’s best player on the floor tonight was glue guy Udonis Haslem. And Wolves fans need not regret waving goodbye to Ricky Davis and Mark Blount.

    And yet Minnesota still spit the bit on this eminently winnable game. And this time around, it was the dysfunctional two-guards, Marko Jaric and Rashad McCants, who let them down the most. What happened to Jaric? Was it just a week or 10 days ago that he was playing the best ball of his NBA career, penetrating for layups, dishing off that penetration, and hitting clutch hoops in addition to his usual kamikaze defense? Well, he’s back in the tank. For the second straight game he was held without a field goal, had two of his three FGA blocked, and committed four turnovers, at least three of them simply stupid passes. Wittman yanked him after one such careless perimeter giveaway early in the third, and only inserted him after Rashad McCants fouled out late in the fourth. In no stint was he effective. The mystery continues.

    On a team that has trouble getting out of the 80s in terms of scoring, the ability of McCants to hit jumpers from the outside is desperately needed. Tonight he strode on to the court late in the first quarter and starting raining sweet j’s, ringing up 8 points that included a pair of treys in just 2:47. At the half he had 13 (5-7 FG), neatly counterbalancing Al Jefferson’s 13 in the paint and the Wolves owned a six point lead at the break.

    Any Wolves fan that wasn’t cursing at McCants in the third quarter must have been too busy switching over the Vikings game. Time after time–five times, actually, four of them from long range–the ball was either swung or otherwise found its way to Shaddy stepping up in perfect rhythm for an uncontested jumper. And every single time, the shot didn’t go. The stats will show that the Wolves lost just two points of their lead to the Heat in that 12-minute span, and headed into the 4th still up 64-60. But anyone watching know that the Heat, 2-8 at home and a patently past-their-prime patsy just waiting to be put out of their misery, had actually gained a little ground while consistently trying to give the game away. If McCants just hits two or three of those wide open looks. the lead is double-digits heading into the final frame and Minnesota wins that game.

    When it is all said and done, McCants is on the team because of his ability to stick a jumper from the perimeter and display enough penetrating skills to burn defenders who attempt to jam up that jumper. His line tonight, 19 points on 7-18 FG, doesn’t look as bad as the zero assists and four turnovers, but the simple truth is that Minnesota didn’t need Shaddy to move the ball tonight; the way the game played out, what they craved was for McCants to do what he is supposed to do–burn opponents who don’t cover him on the perimeter, and make them pay at the free throw line if they do get a body out there. Wade sank one fewer FG on four more attempts, but Wade also got to the line a whopping 20 times, including 14 FTA in the second half. McCants was 1-2 FT; Wade was 18-20. That’s how Wade got 30 and won the game while Shaddy got 19 and lost it. And no, I don’t expect McCants to be the second coming of Wade. But as the Wolves’ designated gun-slinger, it sure would be nice to watch him put a team away. It’s happened exactly once, versus Sacramento when he went off for 33. If he’s going to clang 10 of his last 14 attempts, he needs to draw more than one foul in the act of shooting for the entire game.

    By the way, Corey Brewer likewise rolled a goose-egg into the points-scored column, missing all four of his shots to run his current bricklaying to 2-17 over the past two games. Together, Jaric and Brewer produced more than 45 minutes of scoreless play tonight. Brewer did do a nice job hounding Wade however, and Ryan Gomes continued his modest but steady resurgence back from the doldrums of November and early December. Given that the Heat frequently played the two swingmen, Davis and Wade, together, it would have been a good time for Wittman to bump Brewer back to the two-guard slot and play him beside Gomes for a change.

    2. Dinosaurs Roam The Hardwood Again

    Michael Doleac got the start tonight, presumably because he spent the past year or two guarding Shaq in practice and also happens to be the tallest, heaviest MF Minnesota could throw at the Diesel. Handed the opportunity to once again play against his peers at power forward, Al Jefferson predictibly went off 13 points (6-9 FG) and 7 rebounds in the first half, then added 9 points and 13 rebounds even when Pat Riley threw Shaq on Jeff and had Haslem guard Doleac in the third period. I realize some folks think I rely on the plus/minus figure too much, and I really do understand its deficiencies. But when it keeps reinforcing a point, it behooves us to pay attention–especially when it provides statistical confirmation for what we witness with our own eyes. And our eyes tell us that Jefferson thrives at the 4 and struggles at center. Tonight, Big Al was plus +2 in the 26:42 he played alongside either Doleac or Chris Richard, and minus -5 in the 10:37 he played beside Chris Smith.

    3. Silver Lining

    If you’re reading thus far about a 3-20 squad, you probably deserve a little hope and positive thinking. Well, if the point of this season is to sift the talent and see who is skilled and tenacious enough not to fall through the cracks, there are a couple of players who deserve attention. The first is Jefferson, who went off for 22 and 20 and even chipped in a couple of assists, dominating Haslem and contributing to Shaq fouling out.

    The second is Sebastian Telfair, who has gone from suspiciously not sucking to warily pleasant surprise to maybe he’s not bad to a little, dare we say it, reliable play at the point guard position. I’m really beginning to enjoy Telfair’s shot selection and his mixture of jumpers and layups; his increasingly competent doubling-down on big men and his signature strip-down moves on players driving to the hoop. Bassy is playing all 94 feet and despite getting hammered–what should have been a flagrant foul on a straight push to the chest from Shaq on one drive, and crashing into the endline photographers while creating a turnover on the Heat–keeps the motor running. Tonight he had 17 points, 6 assists and just two turnovers in more than 37 minutes. In a perfect world, Telfair would continue to thrive, and Foye would come off the bench a la Manu Ginobili. The Timberwolves’ world is nearly the opposite of perfect, but this Telfair character is doing his part to prolong the fantasy.