The Rake Magazine

Tag: Randy Wittman

Abbreviated Three-Pointer: No D in Wolves

Game #78, Home Game #40: New Orleans 122, Minnesota 90

Season Record: 19-59

1. Trying to Trade Baskets

The Minnesota Timberwolves shot 73.3% in the third quarter last night, 11-15 FG, including 3-4 from beyond the 3pt arc. The worst shooting performances were Ryan Gomes and Chris Smith at 1-2 FG; Al Jeffeson was 2-3 FG, Rashad McCants was 3-4 FG, and Marko Jaric and Kirk Snyder were each a perfect 2-2 FG. Eight of those eleven baskets were assisted, led by Gomes with three dimes.

The Wolves were outscored 41-27.

The front line of the New Orleans Hornets annihilated Minnesota’s frontcourt, shooting a collective 14-18 FG, including a trio of treys by Peja Stojakovic, for a collective 31 points. Chris Paul chipped in 8 points on 3-4 FG and 1-1 FT and dropped five dimes with nary a turnover. Morris Peterson went 2-3 from the free throw line to complete the scoring.

In the fourth quarter, the Hornets cooled down a tad, shooting only 57.1% (12-21) after the blistering 77.3% of the third. Alas, Minnesota could only muster 5-20 FG, making the final a blowout 32-point loss after being a bucket down at the half.

Asked how tough it was going up against MVP candidate Chris Paul, Randy Foye was begrudging. A lot of it is the people around him–they have great finishers," said Foye, adding, "we were stopping him."

The operative word in that last sentence is "were." Yes, Paul failed to register a field goal in the field half, arriving with just two points (2-2 FT) and one rebound at the break. Foye, meanwhile, had exploded for 16 points in the first period, including 4-4 from three point range in his 6-7 FG overall. But Paul also had 8 assists in the first half, compared to Foye’s 2. So if we compared the two *point guards,*, Paul generated only four fewer points–his 2 points and the 16 from his eight assists–than Foye’s 22 generated points (18 scored plus 2 assists).

And that was the first half. In the second half, Paul shot 6-7 FG, added 3-4 FT, grabbed four rebounds and again dropped 8 dimes in the half, to finish with 16 assists versus one turnover. Foye went 0-6 FG and 2-2 FT in the second half, with three assists and zero turnovers. Final line: Foye outscored Paul 20-19 but got out-assisted, 16-5. Asked about what happened in that second half, he was still begrudging, noting that "I got in a little bit of foul trouble, picked up some cheap fouls."

Paul’s teammates may be great finishers anyway, but it helps that the frontcourt towered over Minnesota’s front line by 3, 4 and 2 inches, respectively at the center, small forward and power forward positions. That explains how five of Paul’s assists were alley oop dunks.

2. It’s The Meat (Size) and the Motion (Penetration)

After the game, coach Randy Wittman bemoaned the fact that his team went with the jump shot as the default position. "We need that guy who will put it on the floor," he said. "We have struggled all year getting free throws–we had 9 tonight–and we’re settling for jump shots." When Foye’s first quarter scoring explosion was mentioned, Wittman re-emphasized, "Yeah he made some jump shots but then he kind of fell in love with that…We moved the ball pretty good but we have got to look for people who will put the ball on the floor and get to the rim."

Asked if that is the team’s biggest need, Wittman gave an answer that should be applauded for folks who are sick and tired of smallball. "No, we need to get bigger. What is prefereable?" he asked rhetorically, the penetrator or the larger bodies? "Whatever presents itself. We also need outside shooters. Al is a willing passer."

3. McCants and Brewer

Whatever drama may have existed between Wittman and McCants is again on the back burner, as Shaddy played 30:09 off the bench and was his usual self, leading the team in points and field goals and tying Foye for the high in FGA. Foye and McCants combined for a gaudy 9-17 in three-point shooting and yet the ballclub still got pasted by 32 points. Not coincidentally, defense has been an achilles heel for both Foye and McCants this season.

On the other side of the ledger, Corey Brewer continues the out-of-body experience of watching his season disappear down the rabbit hole. As happens enough to be something of a pattern this season, Brewer came out and stuck his first two jumpers, including a nifty dribble-drive left, put on the brakes and nail a fade-away sequence early in the second period. But then he came down and chucked up a heat-check J on the very next possession that clanked, leading to five more misses that were lucky if they clanked. Also in the second period, Marko Jaric drove beneath the hoop and fed the rook on the baseline for about a 10-footer that he flat-out airballed, a shot so inept that the 12,000 or so people in the stands were murmuring about it for the next 15 seconds. Then there was the four footer he was gift-wrapped in the second half that barely grazed the front iron. In all seriousness, I’m not certain giving Brewer any more burn in these final four games is a good idea. Better just to let him keep practing and then proscribe an off-season diet of milkshakes, bench presses, squats and cheeseburgers along with a daily diet of about 10,000 jump shots. The boll weavils have infested his confidence and it will take a few months to clean them away.

April 10, 2008
The Three Pointer: Unprepared

^{Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)}

Game #77, Road Game #38: Minnesota 119, Charlotte 121

Season Record: 19-58

1. Plenty of Blame To Go Around

Coach Randy Wittman thought the Minnesota Timberwolves came to play without passion or commitment tonight on the road against Charlotte, and he was spot-on. I wasn’t there to ask any of the players–and they wouldn’t tell me anyway–but I imagine they thought Wittman’s stubborn smallball strategy put them in a position to lose, if not outright embarrass themselves, and that might have had something to do with the half-assed effort. At the end of the night, the only mystery was how this wretched ballclub found itself with a chance to win the game on its last two possessions.

Let’s deal with Wittman and smallball first. I’ve stopped writing about it because it’s arrogant and boring to be a johnny one-note when you have no influence on the outcome and the team has lost 39 more games than it has won–it’s not like there aren’t any other foibles to point out. But on a game like tonight, when the small lineup was immediately and definitively proven to be disastrous choice of matchups, it probably serves a purpose to grab some of the nearby factual ammo to highlight the stupidity, and then remind folks that it really doesn’t *have* to be this way.

On Charlotte’s first two offensive possessions, center Nazr Mohammed fed an interior pass to power forward Emeka Okafor who shrugged off Ryan Gomes (if he noticed him at all) and laid the ball in. After the first time, color commentator Jim Petersen chuckled ruefully and said that Okafor would be a tough matchup for Gomes tonight. No kidding. Okafor is three inches taller than Gomes and much stronger in the upper body. He likes to score in the low block, mostly because he’s good at it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the lane, Mohammed was abusing Jefferson to the tune of 9 points in the first 5:40 of action.

The first time Charlotte scored off a jump shot, they already led 21-12, having scored 21 points in the paint in a cool 6:21, which works out to about 80 points in the paint per 48. Petersen, who is paid to be diplomatic, began calling for Chris Richard to join Jefferson and Gomes on the front line. Instead, Wittman subbed out his entire front line, bringing in Richard, Craig Smith and Kirk Snyder for Jefferson, Gomes and Brewer with the score 27-12 and 3:26 to go in the first quarter.

Randy Wittman is a hard guy to defend. Indeed, one could make the case that, even with personnel that has been mediocre to inferior in terms of overall talent, he has underachieved on that talent level pretty much every year he’s been the head coach in this league. I don’t know why he has continued to deploy Jefferson at center, but after 76 games and a couple weeks’ worth of steadily declining production, Jefferson finally said "uncle!" over the weekend and declared himself physically and mentally toasted. And how did he say he was going to prepare himself to play with more rigor next season? By losing weight. Now does that sound like a guy itching to remain in the pivot with the leviathans, or somebody sending a message that he’d like to go back to his natural power forward slot next year?

Now, I didn’t say Wittman was an impossible guy to defend, and if I’m going to club him for the smallball, I owe him a little context. Jefferson *has* come out relatively weak and unwilling to mix it up the past three first quarters. He could barely dribble straight countenancing doing his patented spin moves and dipsy doodles against Shaq and a rejuvenated Amare the other night, and laid an egg in the first 12 minutes against Memphis and Darko, of all people. Tonight it was passive D on Mohammed and an inclination to settle for 15-foot jumpers.

But Wittman hasn’t backed down. He called out Jefferson after the Memphis game and benched him alongside Gomes and Brewer. At halftime, Jefferson had gotten just four seconds more burn than Craig Smith, and less playing time than Gomes or Randy Foye. And for whatever reason Wittman did not play him for one second at power forward beside Chris Richard. Now do I think that’s stupid coaching? Yes, I do. But in Wittman’s defense it must be stated that Jefferson came out and destroyed Charlotte in the second half on offense, scoring 29 points on 12-13 FG and establishing himself as a horse that the Wolves’ rode to an amazing 68 points in the paint and 51.5% shooting for the game. The only shot he missed in the second half was a desperation jumper from the corner with .7 seconds left on the clock. It wasn’t like the team was running its offense through the guy who happened to register 40 points: 10 of his 18 field goals were unassisted, included 4 putbacks.

So if one buys the argument that Al Jefferson is really the only sure thing this franchise has to work with, than an argument can be made that Wittman is tempering him with fire and ice and everything in between, wearing his ass out in the paint against bigger and stronger personnel. I don’t know if this is true, but nothing else makes sense. And to the extent that Jefferson is gathering himself up and rising as best he can to the occasion–and 40 points is a pretty good response–the drill sargeant bit is working.

To continue along this track, Gomes is arguably the second best player currently on the roster and is also being fed a steady ration of pounding in the low block. Again, the only way this makes sense is to enhance Gomes’s toughness and durability over the long run. Personally, I’d argue he needs more time and seasoning at the small forward slot, learning how best to use his size and bulk out on the perimeter. Tonight, after Wittman did finally relent to the point of playing Smith at the power forward and Gomes at the 3 (prompting the Wolves’ comeback, not coincidentally), Gomes did some posting up of Jason Richardson, who, as a strong, athletic 6-6, probably isn’t used to defending it. Gomes customarily quietly had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists tonight.

Of course neither the coach nor the players operate in a vacuum. Wittman is justified in castigating his players for coming out flat and essentially losing the game in the first five minutes. But his smallball very obviously lessened the odds of his team’s success, something the players know better than anyone. And as he cracks the whip on a 19-win team 77 games into the season, is he surprised that some, if not most, of the players are rebelling is ways both passive and aggressive? On the other hand, while the players are justified if they note the coach blew the matchups and don’t appreciate the demonstrative scenes he makes on the sidelines in response to their mistakes, they aren’t coming out ready to deliver a solid night’s work either. Bottom line there is plenty of blame to go around.

2. A Gold Star for Buckner, A Lump of Coal For McCants

Both Petersen and Strib beat writer Jerry Zgoda appropriately lauded little-used reserve Greg Buckner for his catalytic performance (PiPress writer Rick Alonzo was less effusive but didn’t neglect Buck). After not playing for a month, Buckner climbed off the bench and delivered a game-best plus +17 (six better than second-best performer Raymond Felton of Charlotte) in 31:05. Even watching on television, you could see that Buckner was operating at a higher gear than every one of his teammates, a scathing indictment of their effort that almost certainly raised their caliber of commitment. Along with his example, Buckner provided a rare semblance of defense (Charlotte shot 62.3%, led by a combined 23-29 FG from Okafor, Mohammed and shooting guard Matt Carroll), and nailed 3-4 treys and 5-9 FG overall. Amid all the gushing, however, the cavaet must be inserted that Buckner fell prey to his primary weakness–trying to do too much once he gets on a bit of a roll. In a game decided by just one or two possessions, it would have been nice to see him deemphasize his offensive contribution in shooting and dribbling. Ditto Ryan Gomes, who let fly with a trey from the corner
and another jumper that I’d really wished he’d pounded into Jefferson.

Rashad McCants was among those not ready to play tonight. With the Wolves down 9 after just 6:21, Wittman threw him in for Foye and it took Shaddy all of 12 seconds to dribble around two opponents out on the perimeter and jack up a trey. After that, his only smudge on the box score was for two silly fouls, the first catching Carroll on the follow-through to his missed jumper, the second simply crowding his man too much in the corner. Wittman sat him after that and never brought him back–he played a scoreless 3:11 and was a minus -8 during that brief period. After the game, according to the beat writers (again, I wasn’t there), Wittman said he didn’t bring Shaddy back due to a lack of professionalism and was quoted as saying that McCants knows what he did. For his part, McCants left the locker room before the media could reach him.

I’ve been accused of being both a McCants-lover and a McCants-hater and I plead guilty on both counts, and suspect Shaddy wouldn’t have it any other way. It is certainly possible McCants did something Wittman considers unprofessional, but it would frankly surprise me if it was heinous or malicious–until the situation gets explained further, there is no way to know.

What I do know is that Wittman and McCants mix like oil and water, for obvious reasons of temperament and personality. I also know that this is a situation engendered by the front office. When Kevin McHale selected McCants in the draft three years ago, he openly acknowledged that Shaddy had some baggage but that the Wolves, unlike at least a handful of other teams, believed his talent was worth the gamble. Then a year and a half ago, the same McHale tabbed Wittman to replace Dwane Casey because he felt the team needed a little discipline and a kick in the pants. So you gamble on the volatile McCants and then you hire a taskmaster coach and everything is supposed to go well?

I find it disappointing but not surprising that Wittman met with both Jefferson and Foye, but pointedly not McCants, the other day to talk about what is expected of them as future leaders of this team. In a comparison of Foye and McCants, I believe Foye is the more likely player to put together 6-8 solid seasons in the NBA, but that McCants has more star potential. True, he is a gamble, which is precisely why a team like the Wolves–who are looking at pretty formidable competition from Portland and Seattle in the next 5 years–need to cultivate him. I see the scowls and the ball-hogging and all the rest. I also know that McCants has produced as many important assists–synergistically creative ball-sharing–this season as Foye. Granted, Foye hasn’t played as much, but on the flip side, Foye is supposedly a point guard.

Yes, Foye has been felled by injury. But that doesn’t change the fact that, flat-out, McCants has been a better player than Foye on the Wolves thus far this season. Or that he is the team’s best perimeter scoring threat–it isn’t even close. Now, does that mean McCants is or should be superior to Foye on the pecking order of this ballclub? No, not necessarily. But consider that tonight in crunchtime, with the Wolves down three with 30 seconds to play, Foye bulled his way to the hoop and tossed up a too-strong airball layup that was fortunately rebounded by the Wolves and converted into a Jefferson bucket. Consider that with 12 seconds to play and the Wolves down one, Foye turned the ball over on a misguided feed to Jefferson–flashing it too strong and not realizing Jefferson had a bad vision angle because he was visually screened by the man guarding Foye. Consider that Foye continues to have difficulty stopping dribble penetration and has increasing difficulty executing his own dribble penetration because defenders properly seek to take away his right hand.

This is not to say that the Wolves should abandon Foye, who had a solid 19-6-7 and was plus +2 in over 40 minutes of action tonight. But it is to point out that his play does not suggest him to be a sure bet as a team leader. And to add that if he is regarded that way, to the point of publicly announcing meetings with just him and with a no-doubt leader like Jefferson, then somebody ought to consider that McCants would be offended. I don’t know if that was related to the recent spat or "unprofessional" behavior that Wittman views Shaddy as having committed. But if you are going to go buy a can of oil and a jug of water, don’t be surprised if they don’t mix–and think long and hard about which is more valuable or what else can be done to improve the situation.

3. Nice Guy Finishing Close To Last

Of all the players wishing the season would end, Corey Brewer is probably near the top of the list. After a brief stint of decent accuracy, Brewer has shot 3-13 FG over his past three games and increasingly seems to be melting on defense as well. Jason Richardson had about as much regard for his physical prowess as Okafor had for Gomes tonight. A year from now, Brewer needs to be in conversations about "most improved player." Right now he is hurting the club more often than not when he steps on the court. He hustled down floor on the fast break tonight and finger-rolled an airball. Just by watching him this season it is hard to imagine him as anyone other than a proud, hard-working professional who is used to being respected and rewarded for the results he creates. This must be a hellish spring for him.

April 9, 2008
The Three Pointer: Not Enough Talent

^{AP Photo/Jim Mone}

Game #37, Home Game #18: Golden State 105, Minnesota 98

Season record: 5-32

1. Low IQ. Low skill level. Low chance of winning.

All things being equal, the Minnesota Timberwolves without Randy Foye and Theo Ratliff, opposing the Golden State Warriors on a sub-zero January night having already clearly established themselves as the worst team in the NBA, will lose to the Golden State Warriors.

Well, all things were essentially equal tonight. Al Jefferson and Rashad McCants were off their games a bit, but Antoine Walker emerged from a long slump, Ryan Gomes continued his solid play, and I thought Randy Wittman both coached well and summed up the defeat in a succinct, intelligent fashion from the postgame podium. Or maybe this loss sort of blurs into the other 31 because I’m just not inspired enough to hash out particularly innovative nuggets of wisdom that seem particularly different than the various recaps of so many other games. This wasn’t a special loss in that it was a tough, close encounter or a monster blowout, or that one particular facet of the other team was vitally important or one particular player on the Wolves was the giant goat. So rather than pretend we’re doing depth tonight, let’s just wing it with the impressions and see what happens.

But first, Wittman’s take. Asked about the large disparity in backcourt performance (Monta Ellis and Baron Davis were a combined 39 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists, 5 steals and 4 turnovers in 73:34, versus Telfair-Jaric being 16-7-11-2-6 in 70:05), Witt rued the decision-making. "We talked before the game about how they are the number one team for turning turnovers into points," he stated, noting that the Wolves coughed the ball up 20 times, costing them a whopping 31 points, 13 more, in a 7-point loss, than Golden State yielded via its 12 turnovers. His troops were committing the kind of turnovers that result in 3-on-1 breaks in transition, Witt lamented, then shrewdly observed that instead of making the extra, safer pass, "we tried to split the seams with our passes" and the seams weren’t there.

Without calling anyone out by name, Wittman cited the dumb inbounds pass McCants made that was stolen by Baron Davis in the last 4 seconds of the third period and transformed into a layup by Matt Barnes just before the buzzer. This concluded a sequence where, after McCants drove for a layup to cut the lead to 10 with 1:08 left in the third, the Warriors scored 7 straight points to bump it to 17 at the conclusion of the quarter. Witt also called out the turnover spree after the Wolves had whittled the lead back down to 4, 96-92, with 4:11 to play. McCants had his shot blocked, Walker committed an offensive foul, and Jaric was called for a carry, a borderline whistle after a series of inept calls that prompted Wittman to earn a technical.

2. The Little Two

Normally the big two, at least in terms of scoring, Jefferson and McCants both had off nights. Shaddy’s was by far the more obvious. On a day when the Strib had spotlighted his inconsistency in a feature piece,he showcased most of his flaws, including the stupid fouls–ladled with an increasing sense of victimization that is at once partially accurate and conveniently overblown in his own mind and emotions–the holding of the ball in the half-court, the silly turnovers, and the sporadic bouts of energy and lethargy. It all amounted to 11 points in 30:12, albeit with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a team-best plus-minus of zero, which only makes the time he is forced to sit on the bench more aggravating. When he grabbed his second foul with 3:23 to play in the first, for instance, the Wolves scored a mere 4 points in the next 5 minutes, turning a one point lead into a 5 point deficit in the process before Walker went on one of his handful of personal mini-runs (he finished with 26 points).

Jefferson had better numbers: 18 points on 7-14 FG, and 14 rebounds, but Wittman didn’t like his lack of aggressiveness looking for his own shot. "Al let them off the hook too much in the first half," said the coach. "No offense to anyone, but if [Al] can get Austin Croshere [guarding him], he’s got to back him down and put it in the basket." Jefferson was a game-worst minus -19, Croshere a game-best plus +17. Actually, Jefferson looked for his own shot more in the first half, when he was 4-10 FG, versus the second half, when, despite 3 offensive rebounds, he only launched 4 shots, making 3. Yes, ‘Toine was rightly the focal point of the offense, but no way Jefferson should be tied with Marko Jaric as the team’s fifth most-frequent shooter in the second half, especially against a paint-challenged squad like Golden State. (For the record, ‘Toine had 9 second half shots, Shaddy and Gomes 7 apiece, and Telfair 6.)

For what it’s worth, Jefferson ducked the media after the game. He follows the now standard custom of not wanting to conduct postgame interviews until he is fully dressed. He came out, put on his pants, then went back into the trainer’s area. A few minutes later, a Wolves’ locker room assistant came out and scooped up the rest of his clothes. Jefferson still hadn’t emerged by the time almost all the media had gone.

3. Quick Hits

‘Toine’s breakout game was his first bout of productivity in weeks. Because both he and Gomes understand how to play the game so thoroughly, they are fun to watch, but recently only Gomes has been able to take what he sees the opponent giving him–‘Toine simply hasn’t executed. But Golden State’s fly by night D has a tendency to heal all slumps. Playing at the power forward slot, ‘Toine already is a natural floor spacer, causing mismatches either on the perimeter on down low and finding the open man or making a team pay for whatever mismatch they choose. Tonight he shot 4-5 FG from down low, especially little turnaround jumpers spinning baseline on the left block, and 3-4 from beyond the arc. Half of his 26 points came in the fourth quarter, when he went 5-5 FG. He also snatched 10 rebounds, second only to Jefferson among all players on both squads. But zero assists, because, as with Jefferson, the Warriors weren’t emphasizing the double team.

Corey Brewer may be hitting the proverbial rookie wall, usually judged to begin slightly before or after the midpoint of the 82 game season. Yes, I know Brewer’s minutes have been cut, but it isn’t the game-time lack of energy so much as the constant practicing, travel, level of competition, and, in Brewer’s case, all the losing. A key point in tonight’s game occurred when Brewer subbed in after McCants’ third foul with 6:13 to play in the second and the score tied. Mickeal Pietrus proceeded to school him for a trey, reverse lay-up and alley oop dunk in the next 1:48, compelling Wittman to utilize a quick hook and bring in Greg Buckner. That followed a desultory first quarter stint where Brewer committed a turnover and a foul in his first 70 seconds of action. For the game he had one missed shot, one assist, one block, three fouls, two turnovers and was a minus -12 in just 8:24 of action.

Asked what happened in the Brewer-Pietrus matchup, Wittman said the difference was "just experience. I would be comfortable putting Corey on him again." But 8:24 proves he was not comfortable with it–and appropriately so–tonight.

The referees were horrible. The worst display was a no-call on a breakaway layup where Stephen Jackson clearly travelled, but there were a bevy of others. McCants and Craig Smith both got jobbed and then had reason to overreact to all the legit fouls called upon them–there is a reason they lead the team in whistle frequency. But what was also telling is McCants getting whistled for pretending like he was going to fling the ball into the stands, a situation where he seemed as mad at himself as at the refs; versus the veteran Walker screaming at them for no calls during a rebounding scrum and getting only a delay of game for tossing
the ball away. The terrible crew: James Capers, Scott Foster, and Tommy Nunez Jr.

While I laughed at Gerald Green running around like a chicken with his head cut off while constantly looking to the bench for instruction on defense, GG went plus +10 during his 8:25 on the court–not coincidentally spent almost entirely with Walker.

Sebastian Telfair is dinged up, perhaps his back. Teammates took turns holding on to his arms and gently lowering him to the floor (instead of a chair) during his times on the sidelines.

January 16, 2008
The Three Pointer: Off the Schneid

Game #34, Home Game #17: Miami 91, Minnesota 101

Season record: 5-29

1. The Importance of Glue

Other players scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, doled out more assists, and generally exerted a higher-profile on tonight’s rare Wolves victory than the two glue guys I consider to be most crucial to the win, Ryan Gomes and Marko Jaric.

For that matter, Gomes himself has had games, especially recently, where he’s shown off more obviously than he did tonight. But this Miami game is what I had envisioned when I penciled in Gomes as the team’s second-best player at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t just that his versatility enabled coach Randy Wittman to get away with a daring lineup switch. He was also the calming agent on a squad dripping with flopsweat at crunchtime, the one who took the hands away from the Wolves throat when it looked as if the team was going to choke away what was once a 19-point lead to the second-worst team in the league.

We’ve all seen it before from this ballclub: the rote perimeter passes and faux-aggressive dribbling accomplishing nothing but wasting time. Then, tick-tick-tick, the spin-dribble in traffic, or the forced lean-in trying to draw the foul, or the shot taken almost deliberately off balance for no ostensible reason, or–at long last–the now-gallant chucking up of a prayer because the 24-second clock is expiring. These are the crunchtime moves of performers angling to hedge their choke against extenuating circumstances. It’s a mentally frozen team psychologically preoccupied with not looking stupid or of being the goat, which of course dramatically increases its chances of looking stupid and being the goat. That’s the way the Wolves played most of their half-court sets in the 4th quarter tonight. But Gomes was a prominent exception.

When I mentioned Gomes’s ability to remain unruffled during an otherwise rocky crunchtime, coach Randy Wittman didn’t entirely agree, inferring that Gomes, too, turned down a couple of easy shots he should have taken–and given that Wittman was understandably both ebullient and relieved by the win, and in a mood to slather credit on his troops, he might be right. But the coach then identified two of the three plays that had me pinning gold stars on #8, and correctly called them "the big shots" of the game.

First the one Wittman didn’t cite: With nine minutes to play and the Wolves lead dropped to 8, Gomes faked a jumper, dribbled to his left and nailed a 17-footer. For most of the season Gomes has been a catch and shoot guy, and for him to vary the script and still go up easily and in rhythm was body language telling everyone he wasn’t feeling any pressure. Fifteen seconds later, Jaric committed a foul and the Wolves were in the penalty with 8:51 to play, against a player, Dwyane Wade, who had 16 fourth quarter FTs against them in Miami. The heat, if not the Heat, was on.

But with 8:02 remaining and the Wolves up 9, Jaric found Gomes in the corner for a trey and again he didn’t hesitate, went up smoothly, and buried it. At a time when the Wolves’ offense was clearly floundering, this was a big basket; and a signal they wouldn’t fade under the expected barrage of free throws Miami was going to be shooting. Then, with 2:36 to play, Miami cut the lead to 6–closer than they’d been since midway through the first period. The squads traded misses until, with about 90 seconds to go, Gomes got the ball and drove down the left lane, suddenly dumping it off to Jefferson for a lay-up that put the Wolves up by more than two possessions with barely over a minute to play. Huge basket.

The preceding paragraphs are also an abject lesson in why you don’t go chapter and verse about glue guys. Describing subtle contributions, or steady play in relatively dramatic moments–and watching the Wolves tighten up as their lead eroded on their most winnable game of the month was, unfortunately, dramatic–still can’t do them justice.

Anyway, Gomes was also crucial to Wittman’s decision to shake up his lineup by replacing Craig Smith with Rashad McCants. That put Gomes at the power forward slot, opposite not Udonis Haslem, who guarded Al Jefferson much of the time, but Heat center Mark Blount. Now all Wolves fans know that Blount is a shrinking violet in the paint. But it’s still notable that the 6-7 Gomes was trusted with the assignment of containing Blount, which he did mostly by fronting him, but occasionally playing behind him on the low block. Gomes also had to play all the rotations on zones from the power forward slot. The bottom line is that Gomes outrebounded Blount 6-4 (surprise, surprise, eh?) and also grabbed three steals and dished for 3 assists against just one turnover while getting 13 points–stats better than Blount’s across the board.

I’ll be more succinct about Marko’s glue heroics. First and foremost, he was the primary defender on Wade, forcing him to make a bevy of acrobatic layups in order to get his 25 points. More importantly, he stayed in front of Wade well enough to prompt six turnovers from the Miami superstar, including four in the fourth quarter, and to draw a charging call on Wade for his 5th foul, further limiting Wade’s aggression (kudos to gutsy ref Dan Crawford–the best in the game–for making the right call there). He also hit 6-9 FGs (5-6 from inside the three point line), and dished as well as scored off of penetration, finishing with an 8/2 assist-to-turnover ratio. It was a game tailor-made for the "good Marko"–chaotic, sloppy, and prone to spurts of opportunism.

2. Inside-Outside

Having argued in my last trey for less Jefferson-Smith on the front line and more burn for McCants, I was pleasantly surprised by the rejiggered lineup. In retrospect, I don’t think it was the difference in the outcome of this game–during his brief stint, Smith murdered Blount in the low block by flashing down into the paint and using Blount’s well known distaste for flesh and flesh contact, getting 7 points and 6 rebounds (and, alas, 5 fouls, an ongoing Rhino vexation) in just 13:43. But having McCants around for the opening tap is really the only way right now to prevent Wolves opponents from packing the paint against Jefferson, especially when Shaddy erupts, as he did tonight, for 18 first half points on just ten shots (8-10 FG, 1-1 3ptFG, 2-2 FT). What Wittman appropriately demands, and what McCants has done recently, is to vary his attack, from full-court dashes in transition to explosive penetration in the half court to quick midrange jumpers and, finally, three-pointers.

When McCants is on his game, there is more room and less pressure for Jefferson to score. Hell, there is more space for everyone to score–that’s why an inside-outside scoring tandem is fundamental to even mediocre offenses. That the Wolves have been trying to get by exclusively pounding the ball into Jefferson–or relying on the likes of Telfair, Jaric, Brewer, etc. to score from outside–is a rather large reason why they’ve been so dreadful on offense the past month. Toss Randy Foye into the mix, and you’ve got three players capable of getting bushels of points in the paint–with about two dozen cavaets–involving health, maturity, pecking orders, etc.– that we won’t go into right now.

Besides, even this win comes with a sobering reality check. After combining for 30 points on 70% shooting (14-20 FG) en route to a 59-point first half, the Jeff-Shaddy combo played like jokers and exerted no leadership or command against an opponent begging to be put out of its misery in the second half. The most jaw-dropping stat in last night’s box score is zero turnovers for Jefferson. That’s only because all the times he muffed well-timed and -delivered entry passes resulted in him putting up a more difficult shot instead of an easy make, or being forced to pass it back out. His only basket in seven third quarter attempts was a tip-in 15 seconds after intermission, and in the fourth quarter one of his two baskets was the crunchtime dish from Gomes,
who did all the heavy lifting. At 3-10 FG, Big Al came up small in quarters three and four.

McCants was as bad in the fourth period as Jefferson was in the third, going 2-10 FG after nailing 8-10 in the first half and 2-4 in the third quarter. Wittman inferred that some of that might have been because Shaddy was willing to step up and let it fly while his teammates were fearfully spurning better shots. But even granting the point, McCants seems better able to bang home those treys or finish those serpentine journeys to the hoop when he team is up or down by 20 points, or in the first half, rather than when the score is close and the game is late.

Nevertheless, balance out the bad and the good and you still have a player who went off for 27 points–pretty much his average the past two games as well–on 12-24 FG. Shaddy wrested a missed Jefferson free throw from Udonis Haslem (no mean feat) and laid the ball in. He snuck in for another offensive rebound and putback midway through the second quarter. He hit a respectable two out of five treys but also muscled his way through traffic for at least two left-handed layups. Oh and there were also the 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Overall a fabulous game, but, McCants being McCants there was of course some bad with the good, just as his "bad" games frequently contain silver linings.

3. Hit and Run Observations

Watching Ricky Davis pile up the turnovers–five, in 25:24–take breaks on defense, commit a dumb foul or two, and wring about three percent of the potential from his talent produced some Pretty Ricky flashbacks that actually put McCants, who schooled him most of the game, in a much more favorable light. Then there was Blount and his pathetic defense, aversion to contact, 4 boards in 35:37, and dutiful going through the motions. About the only consolation for Heat fans is that Antoine Walker had one of his worst games of the season. That said, ‘Toine’s been a stand-up teammate under trying circumstances, Minnesota bagged a first-round pick, and the Wolves don’t have the toxic twins poisoning their locker room.

Minnesota would have won by 25 or 30 tonight if Sebastian Telfair could shoot. Let the record show that Bassy finished 3-10 FG and turned down about three times as many wide open looks throughout the course of the game. Nine assists versus three turnovers is nice, but the more frequently defenses can disdain his jumper, the less and less passing alleys and angles he’ll have against dropping-off defenders.

Randy Wittman pointedly mentioned a very rigorous practice the team had yesterday in the context of tonight’s uptempo win. If the Wolves beat one of their next eight opponents–Phoenix and Golden State twice apiece, plus Houston, Denver, Boston and San Antonio–maybe I’ll buy that taskmaster approach. Meanwhile, it was just good to be able to see him smile at that postgame podium for a change. He opened his remarks by saying, "Well, we got off the schneid finally." Yes, yes you did coach. Here’s hoping another schneid isn’t headed your way.

January 9, 2008
The Three Pointer: Squandering Development Capital

Game #32, Home Game #16: Denver118, Minnesota 107

Game #33, Home Game #17: Dallas 101, Minnesota 78

1. Beating A Dead Horse

Al Jefferson and Craig Smith took the floor for the opening tap Friday night so you knew the Timberwolves would fall behind early. And, why, yes, Denver scored the first 12 points of the game and was up 12-2 when coach Randy Wittman mercifully subbed in Chris Richard for Smith with just 3:24 gone in the game. By the time Smith returned alongside Antoine Walker for Richard and Jefferson seven minutes and three seconds later, the score was 28-21, meaning the Wolves had outscored the Mavs 19-16 during that stretch. Nevertheless, to begin the second half, it was again Jefferson and Smith matched against Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin. And again Denver jumped out, this time 5-1 to go up 66-53 before Wittman gave Smith the hook, in favor of Walker.

When I asked Wittman after the game why Smith was yanked twice, he said because the Rhino wasn’t getting back quickly enough on defense. Okay, got it.

The Dallas Mavericks came to town this afternoon. They started a front line of DeSagana Diop, Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard. The tricky matchup, of course, is Nowitzki. Ah, but not for Randy Wittman. He goes with the old tried and untrue, Jefferson at center, Smith at power forward and Ryan Gomes at small forward.

Listen folks, I really would like to be more original in my criticism of this ballclub. But when a squad is losing 29 of its first 33 games, including the last 8 in a row, and is getting demonstrably worse, not better, I feel it is important to point out the main reasons why this seems to be happening. And with precious few exceptions, it has to be said that when Jefferson plays center and Smith plays power forward, the Timberwolves get their ass kicked.

You have a wealth of stats to back this up, and I won’t go back and get them (scroll back on previous posts if you want). Let’s just focus on this afternoon. By what logic do you send out a beefy undersized former second round draft pick, who was twice benched in the last game for not getting back on defense, and who has trouble guarding players outside the paint, as the one to match up against the reigning league MVP, who just happens to be a half-foot taller, quicker, and a deadly outside shooter? Do we really need a manual with the words Craig Smith vs. Dirk Nowitzki = bad matchup in bold print to prevent this from happening? Apparently so, because when Smith went to the bench with 2 fouls in the first 3:35 of the game, Nowitzki already had 7 points and the Mavs were up 7, 11-4.

Now without question Nowitzki is a brutal matchup problem for most every team–that’s a main reason why he’s MVP. But there were at least three better options for Wittman than Craig Smith. One would have been to play Jefferson at center, Gomes at the power forward opposite Nowitzki, and Corey Brewer at small forward on Josh Howard. Or kick Marko Jaric up to the small forward slot and slide Rashad McCants–he of the 34 points the previous game–in at shooting guard. Or go big, with Chris Richard or Mark Madsen (Michael Doleac didn’t dress) at center beside Jefferson at the power forward and Gomes at the small forward. Or throw a front line of Jefferson at center, Walker at the power forward guarding Nowitzki, and Gomes on Howard. Because Gomes, Jefferson, Walker, Jaric, Madsen, and Richard are all better matchup options on Dirk Notwitzki than Craig Smith.

And indeed, all but Richard got a chance to guard Nowitzki at some point in the game. For the most part, Nowitzki burned them all, finishing with 30 points on 12-20 FG and 5-5 FT. But Walker and Gomes took away his easy looks from three-point range, and it was good to see Jefferson reach down and get feisty with Nowitzki in the 3rd and early 4th quarters, bodying him up and making it a personal battle. Jefferson lost that struggle but the notion that he waged it, wagered a little of his personal identity on trying to stop someone for a change, was one of the few silver linings in this nasty 23-point spanking that wasn’t even that close.

Again, I understand I’ve said all of this before and am "beating a dead horse" as they say (unfortunately a very fitting analogy for this Wolves team right now). But Al Jefferson and the Minnesota Timberwovles play much much better with a legitimate center on the floor. Today, Richard and Madsen played center for a combined 21:08. During that time, Dallas outscored Minnesota by 2 points. In the 26:52 Madsen or Richard was not playing center, Dallas outscored Minnesota by 21 points.

This continues a year-long pattern that surely has been noticed by *someone* in the organization by now. The only logical explanation is that Wittman and the front office stubbornly see some benefit in perpetuating a consistently bad lineup. Yeah, one coujld argue that Dallas’s first quarter blowout quickly made the Madsen/Richard minutes in the second half garbage time, negating the plus/minus emphasis. (A full six minutes into the game, the Wolves had 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and were allowing the Mavs to shoot 78% (7-9FG).) But then how to explain Richard going plus +3 in the first quarter against Denver the other night–when the game theoretically was still in reach–only to never again see action during the other three quarters? No, the Jefferson-Smith pairly has been willfully rammed down the throat of Wolves fans by this coaching and front office staff. Wittman has occasionally justified it as providing better front court offense, but the awful defense from duo more than negates that supposed advantage.

Wittman stalked away and cut off his press conference early today, once again vowing to make "changes," and once again callign forth all kinds of fighting analogies to say that the Wolves lack heart. Well, yes, it appears that way. Certainly less heart than they showed in November, and slightly less than they showed in December. But what the coach needs to remember is that the hearts of players grow, like their confidence, when they are put in a position to succeed.

2. Make McCants Prove Himself

Ironically, pairing Jefferson and Smith on the front line is one of the precious few things Wittman has done consistently for most of the season. Another, by default, is playing Sebastian Telfair at the point. What consistent Wolves watcher doesn’t have a very clear idea of what Jefferson, Smith and Telfair can and can’t do?

But if Wolves fans are to endure an epically horrible season, they deserve that management, A) Identify which key players need to evaluated, and B) Get as large a sample size as possible by which to evaluate them. Put simply, there are certain players that need to prove or disprove themselves this season. And I’d put Rashad McCants at the top of the list.

Why? Because McCants is the team’s premiere scoring threat on the perimeter. Because he has undergone microfracture surgery and needs to be physically vetted. And because McCants is a player of great virtues and vices, and the Wolves need to see if the virtues can be maintained with more consistency, and if the vices are a product of simple immaturity of something more fundamental.

For all you McCants doubters out there, I understand. I see the scowls, the reach-in fouls, the neglect to penetrate and simply jack up jumpers, the bushels of points that don’t matter and the paucity of key hoops that could swing a game or two Minnesota’s way. But I also saw him get a career-high 34 in the flow of the offense Friday night. And I saw him get to the line 17 times in 55:24 over the past two games. The McCants supporters can appropriately note that if Al Jefferson goes off for 34 and 21 and shoots 17 FTs, we are all more apt to overlook his shakey defense, lack of passing and other deficiencies.

Besides, what are your backcourt options, folks? Sebastian Telfair looks fried, Corey Brewer can’t stick a J, Marko Jaric is approximately as
inconsistent as McCants, and Gerald Green is earning a C- in Basketball 101. Yes, perhaps McCants is a perpetual tease and a toxic head case destined to be more trouble than he’s worth. If the Wolves believe they know that to be true already, then they ought to be force feeding Corey Brewer in the backcourt rotation with Telfair and Jaric and given the vet Greg Buckner a little more burn to try and pull out a win or two. I think McCants remains an enigma. After awhile, that ceases to become a teasing mystery and turns into an deadly flaw–call it strangely willful inconsistency. But isn’t this lost season supposed to be about getting to the bottom of enigmas, and tossing away the bad apples and priming and then accelerating the development of those who seem to be getting a clue?

Stick Shaddy in the starting lineup for 30 minutes per game, minimum. State that this will continue at least until Randy Foye returns, and quite possibly beyond. Take some of it out of Telfair’s minutes, some of it out of Jaric, and some of it out of Gomes–Telfair needs a breather (psychologically if not physically), we know the Jaric rollercoaster intimately already, and Gomes is hardly a sure bet to stick around once his contract expires. The notion of a Foye-Jefferson-McCants triad on offense remains the rosiest point-scoring scenario before the next NBA Draft.

3. Quick Hits

Remember all that talk about how much this team pulls for each other and how tight and enthusiastic they are? It has been true and it has been remarkable. But it can’t last much longer without some good news, like a win or two or Foye’s imminent return and a lineup shift that suddenly pays big dividends. Al Jefferson in particular is starting to get surly, McCants is a couple of weeks from blowing, especially if his minutes continue to yo-yo, and Randy Wittman’s post-game snits are already running out of juice.

Also, remember all that talk about what a brutal schedule the Wolves had in December, and how things would improve in January? This was almost totally based on home games versus road games. For the record, the January schedule is if anything tougher than December’s. Portland, Denver and Dallas were all correctly figured to be losses. Miami at home without Wade and Shaq looks to be a golden opporunity to bag the squad’s first W since the Winter Solstice, but after that they have Houston and San Antonio on the road, Golden State at home, then Phoenix and Denver on the road before going to Golden State and Boston on either side of playing Phoenix here. If you’re wondering at what point the Wolves’ winning percentage falls behind Philadelphia’s NBA worst-ever percentage of .110 (9-73) from 1972-73, it would be 4-33.

Kevin McHale, quoted in Wolftracks magazine: "Another solid veteran for us is Antoine Walker. He gives us a different look at the four spot and also can play the three spot. He can shoot and help spread the floor– and he understands the game very well." All true. And ‘Toine at the 3–what a concept.

January 7, 2008
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.

January 1, 2008
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.

December 30, 2007
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.

December 22, 2007
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.

December 20, 2007
The Three Pointer: A Big Bad Muddle

Game #21, Home Game #11: Seattle 99, Minnesota 88

Game #22, Road Game #11: Minnesota 92, Milwaukee 95

Season record: 3-19

1. Draw Straws, Flip A Coin, Plug a Leak. Or Not.

After the Timberwolves fell to the equally young Seattle Supersonics at Target Center Friday night, I asked coach Randy Wittman if he had any sense of what he could expect from his team from game to game. "It feels like sometime you plug one hole and then another one leaks," Witt conceded.

After another pratfall against a mediocre opponent Saturday night in Milwaukee, on-the-spot television analysts Jim Petersen and Mike McCollow were voicing similar frustrations. There simply is no consistency, at least as it relates to quality control and some semblance of reliability, on this ballclub. Praise or criticize any member of the team and you’re liable to look foolish within a game or two. Every week seems to contain different goats, players who were valiant heroes during the previous week’s losing cause. At the same time, guys you were discounting for their ineptitude suddenly show a pulse and make their case for being included back in the mix. Meanwhile, the losing continues.

So sure, for what it’s worth, we can perform an autopsy on the past two games. Seattle’s zone defense totally bewildered the Wolves on Friday, especially Marko Jaric and Al Jefferson. Jaric had three of the team’s 8 turnovers in a 4 and a half minute span early in the third quarter that initiated a tumble from a five point lead (50-45 with 10:40 to play in the third) to a 14 point deficit (55-69 at 3:52 of the period). And once Jefferson was able to get the feed from the perimeter, he seemed to wait before making his moves, the absolutely wrong way to attack a zone.

The next night, Michael Redd toyed with Corey Brewer at one end of the floor while Marko Jaric and the rest of the Wolves were unable to take advantage of Redd’s notoriously porous defense at the other end until it was too late. The stats will show that the Bucks shot 43% both overall and from beyond the arc, but that is factoring in the horseshit performance of Milwaukee’s bench, which bricked 14 of 15 shots, including all half-dozen treys. The Bucks starters were better than 50% from the field (32-62), and, led by Redd, a gaudy 60% from trey-ville (9-15).

What a weird game. The Chinese rookie Yi and Craig Smith took turns embarrassing the other’s defense, with Yi finishing with a career-high 22 points on 9-14 FG, while Smith went off for 30 for the second time in 4 games–and a night after he scored just 3–on 12-17 FG. Combined with Al Jefferson’s 11-19, that gave the Jeff-Rhino tandem 23-36 FG, yet during the 26:32 the pair were on the court together, Milwaukee scored exactly as many points as the Wolves. Jaric attempted 3 shots and registered one lousy point in 34:58, during which the Wolves were minus -16. Brewer built the Taj Mahal out of bricks, going 2-13 FG.

Smith had 12 in the first and 14 in the third. Ryan Gomes had a dozen in the second. Jefferson had 13 in the 4th and McCants chipped in another 12. And yet the Wolves hadn’t cracked the 90 point mark until McCants threw in a meaningless trey at the buzzer.

I’m not going to pretend to know what it all means.

Or, better yet, for the sake of sport, I’ll pretend I do.

2. Foolhardy Analysis

It probably isn’t a good idea to issue prescriptions for any team as constantly in flux as the Wolves, seemingly duty-bound to flummox logical examination. But what else are we going to talk about; the fact that FoxSports can’t sell ads for its telecasts and are thus giving us commercial-free halftime reports?

If I were god, or perhaps just Randy Wittman, I’d avoid matching Al Jefferson up with legitimate centers whenever possible. If you go to the 82games.com website, click on Minnesota Timberwolves, and look at their Individual Player Floortime Statistics, you will see that, through December 15, the team’s top three plus/minus performers per 48 minutes are, in order, Chris Richard, Mark Madsen and Theo Ratliff. And you will see that, aside from the hapless Gerald Green and Greg Buckner (BTW, wouldn’t Trenton Hassell have looked fine guarding Michael Redd last night?), the two worst plus/minus Timberwolves per 48 are Craig Smith and Al Jefferson. Now, unless you think that Richard, Madsen and Ratliff are an indomitable trio and the Jeff-Rhino duo are rancid mincemeat, it would appear putting a legit center on the court beside Jefferson (or Smith) is a better idea than turning Jefferson and Smith into a frontcourt mismatch. Against relative bantamweight front lines such as those deployed by Atlanta and Phoenix, Jeff-Rhino is a formidable combo. But otherwise, eh, have you seen Chris Richard play the past couple of weeks? The dude is just 13 months younger than Craig Smith, and actually a month older than Jefferson, and arguably has learned the game as well playing for Florida’s Billy Donovan as Smith and Jeff have under the likes of Doc Rivers and Randy Wittman. And if Richard comes up a cropper, well, there’s Mad Dog and the Pale Rider, and maybe even Theo once the crocuses start to bloom.

In the backcourt, while we all Wait For Foye with bated breath, it is time to put Marko Jaric and Rashad McCants in direct competition for the off-guard position. Both players possess beguiling strengths and crippling weaknesses in their respective games; both are maddeningly inconsistent, and both seemingly need perpetual outside motivation. To some extent, Wittman is already doing this on a more subtle level. The year’s most pleasant surprise thus far, Sebastian Telfair has earned the starter’s position and, at least until Foye returns, starter’s minutes. I’d continue starting Jaric beside Bassy, but deploy a quicker hook as soon as the need for McCants’s perimeter scoring prowess becomes manifest.

Too often on a bad team, you wish you could combine the best attributes of two incomplete players into a single dynamite package. So it is with McCants and the offensive instincts of Corey Brewer. One could argue that McCants’ biggest weakness is that he seems to play only when he wants to–allegations of his selfish and inconsistent play have dogged him ever since Chapel Hill in college, and he’s done little to diminish them during his tenure here. Yet there have been recent signs of McCants getting the message: He’s cut down on his turnovers and begun to move his feet more on defense. But a flaw in Shaddy’s game that is seemingly beyond his control is finding a way to regulate his offense in the normal flow of team play. Put simply, McCants usually performs as if he’s constantly looking for his shot or constantly, very consciously, trying to enable others–there’s no middle ground. His natural tendency is to go for his. The fact that he can be an effective teammate in terms of sharing the ball and fostering a flow attests to his court vision and basketball intelligence. The problem is that there seems to be no blend between the sharing Shaddy and the dynamic scoring Shaddy. Compare that with Brewer, who almost always plays within the flow of the game. Nearly every shot Brewer attempts is a "good" shot on paper, in that he is usually unguarded and set in position when he lets fly…which makes his putrid FG% even more of a concern.

In any case, after subbing in McCants for Marko, I’d leave him in for as long as either the sharing Shaddy or the shooting Shaddy is paying dividends, and yank him when the doldrums of either behavior are apparent. Maybe he can figure it out. But I think it is fair to say that the potential upside of McCants is much greater than that of Jaric, and fills more of a need among the team’s current personnel. On the other hand, Jaric has shown enough positive flashes, and has at the very least gilded a path for Telfair to gain some rhythm and confidence, to earn good minutes as McCants’s foil. And if he beats out Shaddy fair and square, more power to him.

At the small forward sl
ot, the job should be Brewer’s regardless of whether or not Gomes is outplaying him. The reasons for this are plentiful: Gomes’s expiring contract, Brewer’s hefty upside, the pace and synergy Brewer can put into the game, the way he already has established a rapport with Telfair and Richard (two guys I’d be starting right now), and the flashes of glue-guy brilliance Brewer has demonstrated via rebounding, defense, and blocked shots. All that said, Brewer needs to stop shooting quite as much. Yes, as I just said, they’re "good" shots–for most everybody but Brewer. And while you don’t want to suffocate what are clearly well-refined basketball instincts in this precocious rook, the idea of banging the ball down inside to Jefferson–especially Jefferson versus a power forward–needs to be more firmly established. Or, when McCants is on the floor, feeding the Dying To Be Loved dude. Because bad shots from McCants are more likely to go in than good ones from Brewer.

Off the bench, I think you have to reward the attitude of Antoine Walker, who has tamped down his pride and sucked up his resolve in order to be a positive influence on this ballclub. Right now Wittman is giving ‘Toine nearly all of his minutes at power forward. Since Walker ah, doesn’t defend the 4s very well, what about giving him some burn at the other forward spot? Specifically, I’d like to see what a lineup comprised of Richard and either Jefferson or Smith at the 4, with Walker, Jaric and Telfair on the perimeter, could do. That’s a long unit with the ability to penetrate, bomb from outside and own the boards–and, if Richard and Jaric are playing the roles, isn’t going to be embarrassed too much on defense.

To sum up then, against teams with a legit center, start Richard alongside Jefferson and Brewer up front (Smith in for Richard if the frontcourt opponents are small enough). Teams may still guard Jefferson with a big, but hopefully Richard’s defense will overcompensate at the other end. (Only Buckner has a worse opponents-scoring per 48 figure than Smith, both because Craig has difficulty defending good 4s and because Jefferson doesn’t defend centers well at all.) Keep giving Brewer 32-40 minutes a game at the small forward slot, and give Walker, and–if fouls and other factors intervene–Gomes the remainder. Set up a backcourt rotation among Telfair, Jaric and McCants, and if McCants and one of the others isn’t playing well, consider kicking Brewer into the backcourt for brief stints and giving Gomes or Walker a little more burn. Green, and to a lesser extent Buckner, are emergency or garbage time subs only.

3. Wittman On Parole

Randy Wittman is having a better year on the sidelines than last season’s macabre performance in which he reigned over a horror show that even sapped the seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm of Kevin Garnett. Having just admitted that this ballclub is incredibly unpredictible and inconsistent, it is difficult for me to "blame" Wittman for the squad’s 3-19 mark thus far, particularly with Foye and Ratliff logging a combined 161 minutes out of the 5280 that were available. Others are more confident castigating Witt, specifically because he can’t generate any positive momentum or patterns with this squad. It’s a chicken-or-egg situation. But if it continues throughout the season, and especially when (if?) Foye returns, the egg will be on Wittman’s face.

While giving Wittman the benefit of the doubt, however, the doubts are growing. Unfortunately for Witt, the team seemed to start gelling in the three games Jerry Sichting roamed the sidelines, and little things that Sichting implemented–like resting Jefferson near the end of the third rather than the beginning or middle of the 4th quarter–Wittman has belatedly adopted. Some of this may be political, always an underrated hazard that most any coach not named Jackson, Riley, or Popovich must encounter. By contract and every other way imaginable, Wittman’s bosses in the front office, Kevin McHale and Glen Taylor, have planted a wet kiss on Al Jefferson and anointed him the cornerstone of the future. So when the game is on the line, Wittman has to think twice about running a pair of plays that both result in Jaric sinking layups, which is what Sichting called, using the element of surprise to his advantage, in Atlanta. And maybe Jefferson not getting his number called in Atlanta helps explain his shout-out of support for Wittman after he destroyed Amare Stoudemire the very next game. At the very least, Wittman was far more likely to draw up a play that had Jefferson going against Samuel Dalembert–and getting lunched for the fifth time in the game–in the final minute of a loss to Philly.

Then there is the question of demeanor. A disciple of Bobby Knight, Wittman isn’t usually one to cloak his ire, or even disgust, as the Wolves are floundering. His sideline antics were blatant during the collapse versus Seattle on Friday, complete with quick hooks for lapses in concentration, tongue-lashings for players coming to the sidelines, and all manner of winces and frustrated body-spins and mutterings to himself. This would all be forgiveable, not to mention understandable, if the Wolves responded by righting the ship and learning from the tough love. Instead, Wittman’s second quarter tantrums merely led to more cluelessness and less hope and enthusiasm on the part of his troops as they gift-wrapped the victory ofr the Sonics in that fateful third quarter pratfall.

The bottom line is that Randy Wittman has a record of 15-51 as head coach of the Timberwolves thus far. That’s close to Jimmy Rodgers territory–a chilly outpost indeed. The excuse of Foye’s injury will buy some time. But if the Wolves continue to play at an 11-win pace for the rest of the season, even as Kevin Garnett angles for a second MVP Award, the revenue streams for this stumbling franchise will increasingly run dry. And that, more than anything else, is what makes heads roll.

December 16, 2007