Category: Blog Post

Regular Season Game #71, Road Game #37, Utah 108, Minnesota 102

1. The Curse of the Rolling Roles
The best things you can say about last night’s six-point loss to the division-clinching Utah Jazz are that it removed the Wolves from the stench of their monumental collapse the previous evening, and set them further along the road to keeping their precious draft pick. Otherwise, the differences between the two clubs in terms of teamwork, roles, and substitution rotations were far more glaring than the final margin.

Under Jerry Sloan, everyone on the Jazz knows exactly what he should be doing, and why. The club’s starting five is beautifully balanced, with a large, physical, classic point guard in Deron Williams, a low post banger in power forward Carlos Boozer, an energy-oriented disruptor in small forward Kirilenko, an unconventional primary three-point threat in center Mehmet Okur, and a shrewd veteran glue guy cherry-picking his moments in off-guard Derek Fisher.

Now consider the Timberwolves. Let’s face it, there is a vacuum at point guard. Mike James was physically and mentally overmatched against Williams, staying with his “aggressive” mantra to the tune of four shots, zero assists and two fouls in the game’s first 5:37, sending him to the bench with the Wolves down 9-13. By that time, Willaims had already laid down three dimes and gone 1-2 FG. Randy Foye fared a little better, amassing 17 points and 4 assists in a sizable 38:05 that stemmed from James being unable to contain Williams without fouling (at least he tried that instead of the matador of his first three months). But when it was all done, the Wolves’ point guard had 23 points on 22 shots, 4 assists and 3 turnovers. On his own, Williams had 22 points on 9 official shots (he got to the line 14 times, versus 6 for Foye-James), 14 assists and 3 turnovers.

On this ballclub, KG must simultaneously be Kirilenko and Boozer, the banger and the disrupter. And at this point in the season, he’s toast, physically and mentally. Usually he has his way with Boozer, but last night Boozer not only matched his point total (25), but outrebounded (11-8) and outassisted (3-1) KG. When that happens, this team ain’t gonna beat Utah.

Which brings us to Ricky Davis, who must simultaneously be Williams and Fisher–the guy who initiates the offense and the one smart enough to flow to what is needed from the backcourt. Just for “fun,” I thought I’d compare the Wolves’ won-lost records with which players led the squad in points and assists. I’m not totally sure what it means–making definitive conclusions on what really is sort of a random correlation–except that the rolling roles on this squad bring a lot of different players into the mix. Anyway, the charitable way to put it is that Minnesota should rely more on Ricky Davis to carry the load for this squad. The uncharitable way to see it is that the Wolves peform much better on the nights Davis bothers to show up. On the team-high 26 occasions when he has led (or co-led) the team in assists, the Wolves are a gaudy 16-10; every other assist-leader sends the team to a sub-.500 mark. For KG, the margin is close, 9-10. For the point guards, it is not. The Wolves are a collective 7-15 when either James (4-10) or Foye (3-5) lead the squad in assists. They are even worse, 3-9, when small forwards Trenton Hassell (2-7) or Marko Jaric (1-2) are the assist leader.

For points, on the 20 times Davis has led the team, they are exactly .500 at 10-10. For everyone else, not so good. When KG tops them in points, it is 17-24; when anyone other than Davis or KG is the point leader, the team is 3-12.

As I say, making definitive judgments on this stuff is very dicey, if not specious. But it does seem to indicate that the point guards are currently incapable of successfully leading this squad in either shooting or dishing; that they are, at best, complementary pieces to the KG-Ricky Show. As for those top two, one might think their versatility would be an asset, and on a more experienced, better-coached ballclub, perhaps that’s true. But it has not worked out on this club in this season.

2. Blount Trauma
The sad thing about center Mark Blount is that he literally can’t win for trying. Like most Timberwolves observers I’ve been critical of Blount’s absence of intensity and, by extension, integrity, as he has seemingly mailed in his performances since the All Star break, routinely torpedoing Minnesota’s hopes for victory in the process. During the 4th quarter Seattle debacle, Blount sat on the bench frequently sporting a “what me worry?” smirk and exchanging pleasantries with other scrubs like Justin Reed and Troy Hudson, oblivious (or not: it is damning either way) to the carnage taking place on the court.

But last night, Blount was hustling his rear off. Not only did he continue showing hard on the pick and roll (his one strength aside from that sweet jumper), but he fought for rebounds with a diligence nearly always in limbo when it comes to Blount and boards. It got to the point where the tables were ironically turned in crunchtime, as Wolves color commentator and fairly steadfast Blount booster Jim Petersen excoriated him for not covering Mehmet Okur on a crucial trey that bumped Utah’s margin from 5 to 8, a crippling difference with just 2:58 to play; while I, a fairly steadfast Blount ripper, protested to the heavens that Blount had shown hard on the perimeter to Deron Williams, who deftly zipped it to Mehmet while no other Timberwolf rotated over. Now, it is quite possible Pete knows the defensive rotation strategies in play for Utah, and that Blount was supposed to stay with Okur rather than hound Williams so far outside. In any case, Utah’s spacing and savvy trumped Blount’s move, and my sense of inner justice when Blount promptly slammed home a feed from Foye at the other end was tempered when Wittman removed Blount from the game after the next possession.

But here’s the thing: popcornmachine.net had Blount getting annihilated at -18 during his 35:31 of action, way ahead of Davis and Hassell as the next worst entries at -8. And this was a game in which Blount’s hustle and demeanor, if nothing else, were beyond criticism.
The popcornmachine.net numbers also clearly indicate, in reiteration of point one in this trey, that when Jerry Sloan had his main guys working his system, the Wolves were buried. The first Minnesota bonus was when a pair of late draft picks, Craig Smith and Paul Milsapp, were matched up with each other and the Cookie Monster went off, eventually finishing with 14 points for the second period on 5-6 FG and 4-4 FT as Minnesota put up a +11 margin. (Outside of the second period, Smith was 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT and -4 in 9:58.) The second eye-opening stat is that Utah was +18 in the 39:22 that Deron Williams was manning the point, and -12 in the 8:38 he wasn’t.

3. Tick Tock
The Wolves have slipped behind Sacramento to 12th place in the West, out of the playoffs by 4 games with 11 left to play. Minutes for Rashad McCants: 6:48. There is still a mathematical chance for the Wolves to bag that 8th spot of course, but the odds are steep enough that you have to wonder if Coach Wittman really is invoking a “tanking with vets” strategy. The lineup of McCants-Foye-Smith-KG-Jaric was actually allowed to play the bulk of that second quarter last night, and went +2. If you go to the 82games.com website and click on their 5-man floor units page (here’s the link: http://www.82games.com:80/0607/0607MIN2.HTM), you’ll see that that quintet of the three kids plus KG and Marko is a +39 in just 58 minutes together, a rate 82games extrapolates out to a 10-1 record. Giving that unit more time would certainly maximize the potential talent already on this team, but would be hell on securing that draft pick.

Game # 70, Home Game #34, Seattle 114, Minnesota 106

1. Parade of Goats

At this point, you really do just have to shake your head and laugh, don’t you? Up 88-63 with 5:56 left in the third quarter, the Wolves caved and crumbled like never before in their history, scoring just 18 points in the final 18 minutes while allowing 51 to get buried 106-114 to a putrid Seattle squad without Ray Allen, a team that vanquished the Wolves by 3 on Friday and then lost to San Antonio by 41 on Sunday.

This is one diseased ballclub, folks. This is a team that just walloped the Sonics for 71 points in the first half, shooting 60 percent from the field and from the trey while racking up 21 assists on their 27 baskets versus just 5 turnovers. Midway through the third, the assist/turnover ration had swelled to 26/6 and the 19 point lead bumped to 25. After that? Three assists, 10 turnovers. Sclerotic defense at the other end. The worst aspects of panic and apathy, mixed together into a toxic combo of willful selfish ignorance about the right way to play the game of basketball. Ladies and gents, your parade of goats…

Kevin Garnett. Three dimes in the first 1:49, five in the first quarter, eight for the half. Two rebounds and an assist away from a triple double at the end of 3. Then a 4th quarter of exerting leadership right into the dumpster, an inept and ill-advised performance. He wasn’t tired, going only 17:20 in the first half as coach Wittman rested him with a big lead and Utah on the road tomorrow night in the second half of a back to back. He had a decent sit from 2:59 to go in the third to 10:29 to go in the 4th, during which time the Wolves lead was only whittled from 18 to 14.

But in the last five minutes–crunchtime–the Big Ticket was a torn stub. He missed the second of two free throws, holding the lead at 10. Then he traveled. Then he threw a pass that Randy Foye had to use all his hops to snag standing at the baseline (before Foye himself turned it over on a pass back to the cutting but covered KG). Then he missed a 20-foot jumper instead of trying to draw contact. Then he threw the ball way over the point guard’s head for a backcourt violation, on a basic pass to the top of the key that he executes successfully a dozen times a game. Then he fouls Wilcox driving baseline on a three-point play. Then he misses an easy, open jumper. This is all within 5 minutes.

Randy Foye. Two assists and zero turnovers after three quarters of action (12:00 overall), then one assists and four huge turnovers–at least three of them, silly, unforced passing errors–and three fouls in 9:14 of play in the 4th. No poise. No court vision. Shoddy defense, continually pulled on a string via jumpers and penetration from backup point guard Mike Wilks, the co-MVP of the game with Rashard Lewis, who also roasted Mike James, who played like a less assertive version of Foye, which in this case lessened the damage.

Trenton Hassell. Rashard Lewis started to get hot so Wittman went small, putting in Hassell for Smith with Minnesota up 10 with 5:19 to play. It is the job of Hassell, the team’s defensive stopper, to stop Lewis. Nope. Lewis proceeds to score 12 points in the last 5:19, capping off a 21 point 4th quarter that included nine trips to the free throw line. For the game he had 35, and was 16-17 FT.

Ricky Davis. The only guy with a pulse in the 4th quarter, he helped keep the lead at 15 for nearly half the period with two nifty assists and other nice ball movement. But his showboating in the third–a behind the back pass in traffic on the fast break when the Wolves were up big–sent a message that the squad erronously figured it had the game won (this after choking up a sizable lead to this same team four days ago) and was ready to screw around. There was also a few missed shots, a missed free throw, and a costly turnover in the 4th. And his second half defense on little Earl Watson was abysmal.

Randy Wittman. Many timeouts during the collapse, and many substitutions. No response from his team. He may as well have drawn straws for a player rotation and diagrammed plays in invisible ink on his chalkboard during that 4th quarter.

Dishonorable mentions to Smilin’ Mark Blount crossing guard allowing little men into the painted area and a man who enjoys a good internal joke on the bench while his teammates are vomiting up a 25-point margin.

2. Verbatim

Randy Wittman: “It has been the same thing all year; we play the right way for three quarters and then we stop. They trap and we don’t swing it. We try a behind-the-back pass in traffic and they get a layup and suddenly a 20-point lead is an 18-point lead and it begins. They [his players] don’t respect the game and don’t respect the opponent.” During timeouts in the huddle “we didn’t have anybody wanting to step up. When it got tight, they were hoping the clock would run out. This isn’t the first time it has happened this year. We don’t have the mix of guys who want to put their foot on their [opponent’s] necks. They don’t move the ball or make the easy pass with a guy open standing right next to you. For three quarters we didn’t care who shot the ball or made the points.”

Kevin Garnett: “I told everybody when I came in [the locker room after the game] that I felt like it was my fault…I’m very good at dissecting things, figuring out how we take teams apart. I didn’t initiate and do those things and that bothers me…[In the huddles] Ricky kept saying ‘Let’s pick it up! Let’s pick it up!’ but we didn’t have the same people in the game. They had a small lineup in and we didn’t take advantage of it. We stopped playing as a team.”

Media question: “This 25 point lead was the biggest one blown in franchise history. Can you put that in perspective?”
Garnett: “No I can’t. That’s fucked up. That’s fucked up.”

3. Tick Tock

With tonight’s loss, the Wolves are 4 full games behind the Clippers with 12 left to play. If they go 10-2, say, losing only to Dallas and San Antonio while beating the likes of Utah, Golden State and Denver on the road and Miami, Cleveland, and Toronto (Sam Mitchell is undefeated vs. Minnesota) at home, the Clips would only have to split their dozen games to tie at 40-42–and that’s assuming the other three squads ahead of or tied with the Wolves (Golden State, New Orleans and Sacramento) don’t rally.

Playing time for Rashad McCants: 10:09. For Craig Smith: 21:14. For Randy Foye: 24:48.