It is going to be a looong season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is not surprising, of course. Nor is it as disheartening as it might have been watching a team without much future upside try to overachieve its way into a bottom-rung playoff spot. No, this is a team with definite long range potential–no guarantees on how much it will be fulfilled–that will be out of the playoff race by Valentine’s Day at the latest.
If that sounds like too much of a snap judgment based on a single 92-81 loss in an early October exhibition game, well, then, you didn’t see the game. The sobering reality is that, without belittling the chance for improvement, the Wolves are offering spirited competitions between the inept and the clueless for key positions on the court, without any way of distinguishing between growing pains and permanently rude comeuppances. The team’s most versatile, talented, experienced, and heady player would require an identity transplant and a fat, anti-rebuilding contract to still be here next year. Most of the people in the large batch of hot young talent that has gotten visionary fans excited have revealed disfiguring flaws in their games–the odds of them becoming overvalued mediocrities are just as good as them becoming solid core starters, let alone stars.
Alright, let’s stop speaking in generalities. The play of Randy Foye at the point probably will make or break more games this season than any other single factor. Today, Coach Randy Wittman started Sebastian Telfair instead of Foye, and benched Foye for the rest of the game right after the Celtics stole his casual second-quarter pass to the sideline–a rudimentary, let’s-set-up-the-offense double wrist-flick–for his third turnover in less than eight minutes of action. Perhaps Foye is dinged up (I haven’t read anyone’s account of the game), or perhaps Wittman is sending a loud message very early that half-assed execution won’t be tolerated. Either way, it is a lousy start for Foye, expected to be one of the two or three essential building blocks for the franchise.
Telfair exhibited very little court vision and a lack of confidence on the dribble–he’s a shield the ball with the body dribbler, meaning he often has his back to at least part of the court. The old coach Hubie Brown appropriately griped throughout the first half that the Wolves kept moving well without the ball but that no one was feeding the cutters. Telfair was a culprit, ditto Foye. Marko Jaric was clearly the best Wolves point guard on the floor today, but it was a game we’ve all seen many times before–great anticipation, quick hands, disruptive defense, good tempo-setting; and falls in love with risk, plays like a kamikaze, caffeinates instead of calms his teammates, and shoots 1-6 from the field.
Corey Brewer played like a rookie. Inexperience breeds incomprehension, forcing him to lose the top gear–that’s why they call it “getting up to speed.” He hustles on defense, is certainly coachable, and will probably learn when and how to penetrate. But he is a fair to poor shooter even when he has time to get his feet set and his aim straight; rush him and air balls will likely ensue. And his development is still well ahead of Gerald Green, who simplifies the concept of shot selection by jacking it up whenever possible. Rashad McCants was better than Brewer or Green and still committed a half-dozen glaring mistakes; it is just that he had more positives to balance them out. McCants has a clue; he’ll commit the smart foul when Paul Pierce is headed for a transition layup; make the extra interior pass for a teammate’s layup; and play the physical, mix-it-up style you want to see from everybody, not just the guys who are trying to stay out of the D League. But there is a question about McCants’s hops, folks. The drives to the hoop he made as a rook, almost inevitably drawing the foul, now can result in him getting lunched a fair bit, and more often creating a contact situation where maybe he was fouled and maybe he was stifled. The difference is small, but vital. McCants has lost the barrel chest he developed last year; a good sign, I think, in that he worked on his below the waist game instead having to resort to pumping iron this off-season. But those explosive first and second steps are compromised, and would thus really benefit from Shaddy being able to stick the jumper with some regularity. One game is a tad incomplete for a sample size, but Brewer is green and Green is, shall we say, in need of constant tutorials. McCants, who has been heavily coached by the likes of Roy Williams and Dwane Casey, could seize a good-sized role. But Brewer almost certainly will ripen with age and Green is a freak athlete–right now they’re both minor-league all-stars. If Shaddy can’t grab minutes now…
Want some good news? Ryan Gomes guarded the hell out of Paul Pierce, especially in the second half. Al Jefferson could be a stud in the low block if the Timberwolves made him the first option most of the time and then went to Plans B, C, and D based on how opponents adjusted to a diet of Jeff. That is, of course, if we knew somebody could consistently deliver him the ball. Theo Ratliff could be a nice backup center for 8-10 minutes a game before the Wolves cash in on his expiring $11 million contract. And Ricky Davis can be your classic stat-stuffer on a bad team, single-handedly bringing the squad back from 20 down up to 7 down, or so–Tony Campbell with a little more athletic mustard and relish. Last but not least, Mark Blount, DNP.
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