The Rake Magazine

Tag: Ryan Gomes

  • Wolves firm up roster; and the hot Cubs-Brewers rivalry

    Wolves Sign Telfair and Gomes

    Both of these deals are far better news than the earlier locking up of Craig Smith for two years. Although the Wolves now have 15 guys under contract for the coming year, Telfair is the only one who could accurately be described as a point guard. Randy Foye is a "combo" guard, more Brandon Roy than Jose Calderon. Nobody will ever accuse Bassy of being able to play any other position.

    The local hype machine tried to portray Al Jefferson as the most pleasant surprise of the package wrought in the KG deal, but Big Al was a distant third on that count behind Telfair and Gomes, in that order. Jefferson put up monster numbers during the second half of his final year in Boston and showed every sign of being the low-post load that appeared wearing #25 last year. His inconsistent and underdeveloped defense was likewise no surprise. Bassy, on the other hand, was almost universally considered an immature bust, his premature career beset by clanking jumpers, lousy on-court decision-making, and a weapons incident that fed the stereotype of a NYC prep star fallen prey to too much playground ball veneration.

    From his first day in Minnesota, Telfair was anything but that guy, proving himself to be nearly as modest off the court as he was industrious, and increasingly sage, on the hardwood. He still couldn’t swish a jumper if his reputation depended upon it (and leave-’em-alone defenses indicated that it did), but his ability to step up and give his teammates a taste of what the various sets in Wittman’s half court system looked like with a true point on the perimeter proved to be invaluable in the development of Jefferson, McCants and the rest of the team’s scorers.

    The Telfair signing feels like a rare bit of good news for those hoping Rashad McCants doesn’t get lost in the personnel shuffle. Bassy and Shaddy always felt like a complementary backcourt duo, and sure enough, Telfair’s plus/minus numbers with McCants are easily better than with anyone else on the perimeter. The Wolves averaged 93 points per 48 with Telfair last season, but that number jumped to 100 pp48 when McCants was riding shotgunner on the wing, without inflating the 103 pp48 the Wolves ceded on D in Telfair’s minutes. One hopes that Foye is paired in the starting lineup with Mike Miller and that Telfair and Shaddy come in together.

    Ryan Gomes was a bit of a surprise only in that you hear about guys doing the "little things," but it is very tough to appreciate until it’s laid out on a daily basis. Gomes was an inconsistent shooter early last year, especially from long range, and he suffered the embarrassment of being the woefully undersized power forward beside Jefferson’s undersized center, but naturally registered no complaint. I’ve extolled his virtues in other fairly recent threads and think whatever Glen Taylor and co. forked over to get him was well spent, so long as it was below the MLE. Gomes provides flexibility, continuity, an easy-going balm in the locker room during a long season. He’s bright and well-spoken with the media and fans, enhancing the image of the star-crossed franchise. And I suspect that he will be thrust in different roles and also see his minutes fluctuate quite a bit–being able to accept that uncertainty without getting sour or mopey is a huge benefit to a ballclub still rapidly and comprehensively building on the fly, without anyone being really certain how things are going to shake out. Put it this way, if Craig Smith is worth $4.8 million over the next two years (more than had been previously reported) than Gomes is worth double that, and is probably receiving less. In contrast with Smith, Bassy’s near-identitical $4.8 m over two years, with a $2.7 m option on a third, is more of a bargain.

    As mentioned earlier, Minnesota now has 15 players signed, with Kevin McHale expressing the opinion that Chris Richard will also join the fold. Presumably this means goodbye to Kirk Snyder, who showed promise last season and should find a spot at the end of a good team’s roster (I’d say the Celts, who remain a little thin and wouldn’t hurt their defensive identity with Snyder on board). I’d say there is also a pretty good chance we won’t see Calvin Booth ever suit up.

    My starting five on July 26 looks like a front line of Collins-Jefferson-Gomes, with Miller and Foye in the backcourt. Kevin Love and Corey Brewer would be my first off the bench, with Collins and either Gomes or Miller sitting, depending on the matchups. Then McCants and Telfair would be in the second wave, with Smith coming in for Jefferson along with Collins to beef up the front line. At crunchtime, I’d seriously consider Foye, McCants and Miller spreading the floor and giving Jefferson room to operate, with Collins, Love, Brewer or Gomes being among the choices for the fifth guy, again depending on the matchup. I’ll try and remember to look back on this in mid-winter and read how silly (or less likely, prescient) that sounds.

    Last but not least on the Wolves for now, while Vegas Summer League doesn’t often mean anything, Brewer’s inconsistency there is a slight cause for concern. It is amazing to me how much personality plays a role in how a player is regarded, more so sometimes than actual performance. You rarely, if ever, hear McCants mentioned by the front office, while the gushing for all the things Brewer supposedly brings to the table remains unabated. But all the talk in the world doesn’t obscure that this is a crucial year for Brewer, who needs to demonstrate that he can parlay great defense against large swingmen like Paul Pierce into a reliable asset–a consistent, kamikaze pace-setter–*and* not be a Telfair-like nonfactor when scoring. If Bowen and Raja Bell truly are the templates, he’s got to learn to stick an open jumper, and have a little nastiness besides. And please, no more Dennis Rodman comparisons. They are somewhat similar in the way they move their feet and try to make a catalytic effect without the ball, but Rodman also happened to be one of the top two or three rebounders in the game during his heyday.

    Cubs and Brewers Fight For A Pennant

    For the first time in my life, I went to Summerfest, Milwaukee’s huge, 10-day music gathering out on the shore at the end of June through the 4th of July. It was a glorious time, as I saw at least a dozen bands in three days/nights that I would have ventured out to see headlining all by their lonesome, climaxing in a stupdenous show by The Roots, who are really featuring a tuba player now, and a guitarist who totally tears it up. It is a long way from when the dual rappers, ?uestlove (the second greatest rock timekeeper in history behind Charlie Watts) and the beatboxer, Raheim, ran the show. Jesse Helms had died just earlier that day, and ?uest gave him his due, noting that he’d vehemently opposed almost every bit of civil rights legislation ever enacted in this country, and finishing off the aside by saying "good riddance" and "rest in peace" in the same sentence. A half-hour later the band was pinwheeling their way through a massive, psychedelic rendition of Dylan’s "Masters of War," which segued into Hendrix’s "Machine Gun." Maybe my best 4th of July ever.

    But I digress. What was particularly noticeable at Summerfest, from a sports standpoint, was the somewhat edgy and yet good-natured bristling that continually took place between fans of the Cubs and Brewers. In late March, I took the great 95-year old blues pianist Pinetop Perkins down from a gig a few miles north of Milwaukee to catch a plane in Chicago (I was writing a Pinetop profile for No Depression magazine) and it struck me how incredibly close these two cities are from each other. As an east coast resident, it reminded me of Baltimore and Washington, or, to a slightly lesser extent, the Boston/NY/Philly triplets. Officially I guess it is 90 miles, but it is a straight shot down the highway and if you press the metal you can go round-trip and spend an entire day at whichev
    er one you are visiting. Vikings fans love to claim this huge rivalry with the Packers, for instance, but anyone who has ever lived near Green Bay tells me that the Bears are the rivalry that matters.

    Anyway, when a Milwaukee DJ introduced the Chicago band Alkaline Trio and half-kiddingly tried to whip up a little Cubs-Brewers frisson, the hefty response he received was eye-opening. From that point on, I began to notice the plethora of both Cubs and Brewers clothing worn by the festival patrons. It was really pretty extraordinary. (And this prompts another digression about sports and Summerfair. The Milwaukee Bucks had a booth at the fest and Yi jerseys were going for $5! Of course Yi is now a New Jersey Net, but that fact makes the dirt-cheap Yi merchandise *more* desireable–I almost bought one, and why not; it costs labout the same as a slice of pizza or a brat. On the other hand, I am not aware of exactly how bad Yi underperformed for the Bucks last year, and whether he contributed to the mightly sense of ennui that wafted off that ballclub whenever I saw them play. I know the Wolves have deeply discounted Ricky Davis merchandise on the gift-shop side of their website, and I would buy a RD jersey for a plugged nickel to give to my worst enemy. The karmic juju would be too dangerous. Okay, back to the Cubs-Brewers.) The drunken yahoos that are the real unofficial logo for any of these big music confabs also enjoyed egging on their rivals, be they Cubs or Brewers fans, whenever there was a moment of quasi-silence in the prevailing din and crush of bodies.

    Then, a few days after I came home, the Brewers acquired ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia from Cleveland. A day later, the Cubs responded by filching Rich Harden from the A’s. Harden is more injury-prone and less experienced in knowing how to pitch than is Sabathia, but the price the Cubs paid–no prime prospects or on-field starters–was far less than what the Brewers gave up, and the rest of the Cubs rotation is stronger than Milwaukee’s sans CC.

    For some reason I’m giddy over this. The Brewers started becoming one of my favorite teams when they brought up Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder two or three years ago, and then Corey Hart and Ryan Braun. Once they had finally rid themselves of that gasbag Bud Selig and the rest of his dunderheaded family, they drafted and traded smartly and then, after bagging a new stadium, waited for the kids to come through. And now they have. Ben Sheets has stayed healthy enough to start this year’s All Star game for the National League, and with Sabathia gives the Brewers a dual-ace top side to their rotation, one of the key ingredients for going far in the playoffs.

    Sabathia has been phenomenal. A huge kid–large-boned, physically gifted and fat all at the same time–he’s thrown three complete games in his four starts thus far for Milwaukee, with the Brewers winning all four while CC has yielded just 5 runs and struck out 31 (walking just 8) in 33 innings. Meanwhile, Harden likewise has been as good as advertised. He’s fanned 30 batters in just 17 and 1/3 innings in his three starts, while surrendering a measly 8 hits and two runs over that span. The problem, however, is the 17 and 1/3 in three outings. As a power-oriented strikeout pitcher, Harden throws a lot of pitches, and as a chronically injured young hurler, the Cubs have been wise to limit his pitch counts. Unfortunately that makes him much less valuable than Sabathia–a complete game helps your entire pitching staff by resting your bullpen and thus not taxing your other starters should they need to be lifted. Today, for example, Harden gave up only two hits and one run while striking out ten (his fourth straight game in double digit K’s), but the Cubs lost to Florida, 3-2 in extra innings. As gaudy as Harden’s numbers were today, and as much fun as it is to watch him pitch, Chicago’s bullpen still labored seven innings on a day when he was given the ball. By contrast, Sabathia has been relieved for a grand *total* of three innings in his four starts.

    As even casual baseball fans know, the Cubs haven’t won a championship in exactly 100 years, replacing the Red Sox as the quintessential underdog baseball franchise. I don’t have much sympathy for their drought–Wrigley Field is a huge cash cow which the Cubs’ various ownership groups have dutifully and increasingly milked in the past couple of decades. But with the feisty Carlos Zambrano (who got into fisticuffs with his catcher last year) as the rubber-armed ace, and Harden mixing in with former reliever Ryan Dempster and the sharp but risky fly-ball oriented lefty Ted Lilly in the middle of the rotation, rounded out by above-average journeyman Jason Marquis (and with 16-game winner Rich Hill still battling baffling control problems in the minors), the Cubs have a marvelous cadre of starters.

    But the Brewers appear likely to give them a legitimate run for their money. Sheets and Sabathia make them dangerous in any short series (although Sabathia was terrible in his last post season appearances), and the rest of the rotation, while not on a par with the Cubs, isn’t too shabby, with Dave Bush and the young lefty Manny Parra. (If only another talented youngster, Yovani Gallardo, hadn’t gone down with a knee injury in May.)

    The point is, neither the Cubs nor the Brewers (who last went to the World Series in 1982 and have never won it all, although the Milwaukee Braves turned the trick a mere 51 years ago behind Warren Spahn) are dynastic franchises. Both have occasionally spent (and overspent) to try and win, but are a long way from the Yankees and Red Sox. Both have long-suffering fan bases and a wonderful collection of players on their respective rosters. I think they are the two best teams in the National League and wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the NL Championship series in October. Just thinking about Zambrano versus Sabathia and Harden versus Sheets, with hitters like Fielder and Braun for Milwaukee and Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez for the Cubs working for runs…It’s enough to make a hoops freak patient before the opening tap of the 2008-09 NBA season in November.

     

  • Recent Hoops News

    Timberwolves Resign Craig Smith

    This thoroughly minor signing justifiably barely caused a flutter league-wide in the NBA, but smart Wolves fans have a right to wonder why it happened. The Rhino is an undersized power forward on a ballclub that just drafted an undersized center and traded for a journeyman legit center to pair alongside their star power forward who frequently was forced to play out of position in the pivot last season. So, are we going to see Smith and Jefferson form a disastrous frontcourt again this season, or has the Rhino been signed to a 2-year deal to be 10-minute backup at the 4? The money is reportedly right, less than $4 million over two years, which inevitably leads to speculation that Smith is a placeholder as the Wolves continue preparing themselves to be a major player in the 2010 free agent market.

    Forgetting for a moment that big time free agents almost never come to this frozen tundra, the more immediate concern is, what happened to Ryan Gomes being this team’s top priority among its own free agents this summer? The trade for 6-8 Mike Miller and last year’s drafting of 6-9 Corey Brewer coupled with the signing of the 6-7 Smith doesn’t leave a lot of options for the 6-7 Gomes, who swings between the power and small forward positions. All Gomes did last season was do whatever was asked of him without complaint, while posting the second-best season, behind Jefferson, of anyone on the roster. He merits a $4-5 million payday and is exactly the kind of player who won’t embarrass a team that signs him for 3-4 years.

    The devil’s advocacy position is that neither Smith nor Gomes fits into the Wolves’ long range plans; that unlike Gomes, who will draw more interest, Smith is a cheap placeholder and that a team counting on a nucleus of Jefferson/Love/Foye/Brewer, and perhaps Miller and McCants, doesn’t have need for shorty 4’s or even swing 3-4’s. I understand this, although it makes laughable Kevin McHale’s frequent argument that people get too hung up on position at the expense of skill set and savvy. Ryan Gomes is a basketball player, the embodiment of that dictum; he makes others around him better in myriad little ways. Craig Smith is a specialist–an occasional nightmare matchup for teams in the low block–in a specialty that is neither particularly unique nor frequently required, meaning there is high supply and low demand.

    The probable good news is that Gomes may be eligible for the Kevin Garnett supersized bonus package: You get shunned in Minnesota only to land in Boston, where your services are recognized, properly invoked and handsomely rewarded in terms of both wins and dollars. There may be someone else on the market the Celts perceive as a Posey replacement, but I don’t know who. Gomes is not the defender Posey is, nor as money-certain in the clutch from long-range, but he’s younger, would be slightly cheaper, and is a fan favorite in Boston from his two years there.

    Brand Goes to Philly; Camby Lands With the Clips

    Let’s start with my minority opinion that Marcus Camby is a more valuable basketball player than Elton Brand. The market has obviously said otherwise–Brand signed a 5-year, $80 million deal with the Sixers, spurning a Clipper franchise that would have topped those numbers, while Camby is getting a mere $20 million over the next two years and was just given away for a second-round draft choice by the Nuggets. But that’s because even NBA general managers apparently undervalue defense in this league. Marcus Camby was named the league’s best defender two years ago. He is just a whisker behind Tyson Chandler as the best defensive center in basketball. And Nuggets gave him away because they didn’t want to pay the luxury tax!!

    How fucking stupid can the Denver management be? I get it that the Nuggets laid a giant egg last season and don’t want to lose a ton of money on a team that isn’t going anywhere. But to scapegoat Camby for this is asinine. What, you say Camby isn’t scapegoated, he’s just the one guy on the roster whose salary could be unloaded? Well then why is coach George Karl still around–wasn’t he the guy who couldn’t get this squad full of superstar contracts to play a lick of defense (aside from Camby, who led the NBA with 3.61 blocks per game to go with his 13 rebounds and 3.3 assists)? And why did Denver management explain they were dumping Camby to clear cap space to eventually sign free agents like chucklehead JR Smith, he of the $50 hops and 10-cent brain?

    Had Camby been kept on the squad this year, his ten mil would have been half of what Allen Iverson will make, more than four million less than both Melo and K-Mart will draw, and about $320,000 more than Nene will "earn." If I was a Nugs fan, I would be screaming bloody murder. You lose Camby but you keep Karl and the rest of the malingerers who sleepwalked through the season at the defensive end of the court? You’re seriously thinking that JR Smith is the key to your future? You have a $10 million trade exception for a year (about the only worthwhile thing received in the deal) but have the increasingly suspect Melo as your cornerstone, Iverson coming off the books at the end of the season, and the often-injured Nene and scrub Stephen Hunter as your centers alongside the often-injured K-Mart on the front line.

    If Karl is still around by New Year’s Day 2009, I’ll be amazed.

    But back to Camby versus Brand. I’ve long admired Brand’s work ethic and the way his integrity saw the Clips through some very lean years, which makes his apparent bait-and-switch with his former ballclub all the more ironic after the team, at his urging, had gone out and signed Baron Davis. Folks who favor Brand over Camby can point to him being a rare 20/10 career man after nine seasons in the league, and five years younger than Camby to boot.

    I think Camby, despite their huge age difference, will be more valuable than Brand in two years’ time. Because of Camby’s early history with injuries, he actually has fewer total NBA minutes than Brand–23,500 for EB; 21,301 for Camby. And Camby is getting better with age, setting career-highs in blocks, rebounds, and assists last season. Over the past three years he’s never grabbed fewer than 11.7 rebounds per game nor blocked fewer than 3.3 shots per game. By contrast, if we eliminate last year for Brand, who ruptured his achilles tendon and sat out all but 8 games, over his three previous (healthy) seasons, he grabbed 10 rebounds per game once (and then exactly 10.0), never blocked more than 2.5 shots per game, and registered fewer steals and assists than Camby. The only place Brand has it all over Camby is on offense. Brand’s 20.3 career average is nearly double Camby’s 10.7, and his shooting percentage is 50.5 versus Camby’s 46.7.

    But what’s harder to find, points in the paint or interior D? What’s a harder position to fill, center or power forward? And who has the better shot at being injury-free the next few years, the 6-7, 254 bull coming off a significant achilles injury who specializes in low-block offense or the 6-11, 235 shot-swatter who gets his few points mostly on mid-range jumpers? Camby is a young 34; Brand an old 29. The Clippers made out like bandits on this exchange, paying $6 million less and with less long-term obligation, for a better player.

    Yes, Camby is more redundant on a team that already has a legit center in Chris Kamen. Teams would be smart to try to run on a Clips team that sports a front line of Kamen/Camby/Thornton with the defensively challenged Baron Davis at the point and perhaps rookie Eric Gordon on the wing. But here’s a trade proposal I think would be great for both clubs: Camby and Cuttino Mobley to the Miami Heat for Shawn Marion. The Matrix would be a perfect fit between Kamen and Thorton, provide Davis and Gordon (and Thorton) with a dyamite running mate, and be the jack of defenders he was in Phoenix. Granted, Marion’s weird unhappiness with the perfect situation he was given in Phoenix, and at an inflated salary, is troubling in terms of him b
    eing a veteran leader in LA, and a contract agreement (or a sign and trade after an extension by Miami) would have to be worked out. But with Davis/Marion/Kamen as your nucleus and Eric Gordon and perhaps Deandre Jordan in your future, the Clips could make some noise in the tough Western Conference.

    Meanwhile, Miami would have Camby to go with Wade and Beasley, a perfect complement. Those who think the Heat are (or should) be building slow and sure have a lot more confidence in Wade’s ability to absorb punishment without future injury than I do. No, Miami should be in a win-soon mode, and putting a leviathan like Camby in the pivot and Wade and Beasley (and Mobley, don’t forget) on the wings is a nice little recipe for success. Just a thought.

    Posey Makes the Hornets Favorites in the West

    The best way to describe James Posey to fans in New Orleans is that he’s the anti-Bonzi Wells; a guy whose game is always better than his stats, and whose results are almost always better than the process you see before your eyes. Posey isn’t pretty–well, unless he’s making like the heir to Robert Horry on those big-time treys–but the kind of defense and rugged physicality he brings to the court isn’t meant to be pretty. He fits in so smoothly with Tyson Chandler and David West that it is tempting to think about bringing Peja Stojakovic off the bench as a 6th man of the year candidate. The ideal signing, and, if not for "Camby for a second round draft pick," the coup of the off-season acquisitions.

     

  • 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.

  • The Three Pointer: Bad Loss, Good Loss

    Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images)

    Game #35, Road Game #18: Minnesota 82, Houston 113

    Game #36, Road Game #19: Minnesota 88, San Antonio 105

    Season record: 5-31

    1. The Emergence of Gomes

    Let’s begin with the good news. In terms of being a complete, synergistic basketball player working to enable his team toward victory, Ryan Gomes has put together the best three-week stretch of anyone in a Timberwolves uniform thus far this 2007-08 season–better than any comparable peak period from Jefferson, McCants, Jaric, you name it. The numbers by themselves are mildly impressive: In the 12 games beginning with the Indiana win on December 21, the 6-7 forward has averaged 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 47% from the field and 86.7% from the line (39-45 FT, nearly 4 FTA per game). But three factors bolster the value and context of those figures.

    First, consistency: If you throw out his horrible performance last Sunday against Dallas, Gomes has scored in double figures every game in the past eleven and snagged at least five rebounds in all but one of them (getting just two versus Seattle). Second, role-playing: Gomes is getting his points despite rarely having plays called for him as happens with Jefferson and McCants, and is snagging rebounds despite rare appearances at one of the two frontcourt positions that would ensure him more boards. Third, intangibles: This goes beyond role-playing and addresses basketball intelligence, the trendy way of saying Gomes knows how to play the game. When Gomes was mired in his mysterious doldrums in late November and early December, it was remarkable, and depressing, to see how much the Wolves’ basketball IQ was elevated when long past his prime vet Antoine Walker stepped out on the court. Aside from Walker, the guys with half a clue seemed to be the two Florida rooks, Brewer and Richard, and ‘Toine, despite his admirable spunk in response to the thudding career comedown of joining the Wolves, still was a guy ultimately most comfortable in going for his. Ditto Jefferson and McCants, without the court savvy. And while point guards Telfair and Jaric seem to know how to play, they each exhibit crippling flaws (for Telfair, shooting; for Jaric, lack of quickness in playing the point) that prevent them from executing.

    That’s what has made Gomes so invaluable during this stretch. As mentioned in the last trey, he’s a glue guy, doing the things that don’t always make the stat sheet; not so much an initiator or a finisher in the half-court game as a linchpin between the two, not only fostering ball movement for its own sake, but making the smart, slightly creative, yet still high-percentage pass that exploits the defensive seam in a way that forces adjustments and opens larger seams for open jumpers and layups that generate assists on the next pass. If basketball were scored like hockey, with multiple assists, Gomes would rank just behind the two point guards for dishes. He’s already second on the team in rebounds per game, and fourth in points per game (and seemingly destined to pass Craig Smith in the next few games to be third behind Jefferson and McCants). He rates alongside Jaric, and just ahead of Brewer, as the most versatile defender on the team, committing fewer stupid fouls–a huge Wolves bugaboo–than anyone getting regular minutes. Now all he has to do is stop jacking up treys: After shooting 44% (15-34) from behind the arc in November (while clanking from two-point range; which I believe was the psychological catalyst for the overall deterioration in his game earlier this season), Gomes has been wretched from outside. Take away his 10-36 performance from treyville since 12/21 and he’s hitting 54% from the field (54-100 FG).

    Unfortunately, there was a glaring gap between Gomes and everyone but plugging center Michael Doleac in terms of consistent aptitude on the Wolves roster during the two losses this weekend. He was the only Wolves player with a pulse in the first half of the blowout Friday night in Houston, tying for the team lead in rebounds with 4 and the sole Timberwolf converting more than half his shots–Gomes went 4-7 FG while the rest of the squad was 8-28 FG–as Houston rumbled to a 61-31 lead at the break and transformed the entire second half into garbage time.

    Last night in a much better team effort against San Antonio, Gomes was again Minnesota’s clearcut MVP. Responding to the Spurs’ opening gameplan of denying McCants and Jefferson easy looks, he burried a couple of open jumpers, then, as the perimeter players began closing out on him, fed McCants for a pair of treys to knot the game at 24 in the first period. By halftime he had a game-high 6 rebounds, was second only to Jefferson in the game with 11 points (again on 4-7 FG), and committed no fouls nor turnovers in 19:14 of action. Yes, he was on the court for most of the second half as the Spurs outscored the Wolves by 18 points, and contributed to that deficit by not responding quickly enough to the Spurs inside-outside offensive ball movement (at 250 pounds, rapid defense from paint to perimeter in the half court is not Gomes’s forte). But anyone watching the game would acknowledge that the Spurs’ full court pressure on defense and ability to score (or provoke mismatches) inside were the two biggest factors in their win.

    For the game, Gomes had 21 points (9-15 FG), second only to Jefferson’s 24 (on 10-18 FG) and a game-high 9 rebounds. As color commentator Jim Petersen noted two or three times, he continued "taking what the Spurs gave him" in the Wolves’ half-court offense and added a pair of opportunistic baskets in transition to close out both the second and third quarters on a strong note.

    It is a long season, of course, and even a consistent three-week run by Gomes doesn’t guarantee that his role or his performance will continue unabated on a team that has a surfeit of unproven performers it must cull through before next year’s draft. Wolves’ stat guru Paul Swanson has informed me that Gomes is a *restricted* free agent at the end of this season, meaning the Wolves can match any offer, a vital distinction not indicated in the salary figures for either hoopshype.com or shamsports. Even if the Wolves feel compelled to take Michael Beasley as the top talent in the NBA draft–who, folks tell me, clones the best of Gomes and Jefferson–Gomes is exactly the sort of smart, consistent player that will always be a valuable commodity.

    2. Jefferson: Spelled with an O, no D

    On a ballclub without stars, it is difficult not to love Al Jefferson, who turned 23 last week, and is already giving the team 20 points and 11 or 12 rebounds per night by dint of mucking hard in the paint. Throw in his acceptance of a longterm contract that certainly could have been higher had he waited a year–and screwed the Wolves by signing elsewhere–and he’s a feel-good story and burgeoning cornerstone on a ballclub crying for a public identity in the post-KG era.

    But here’s the rub: Nearly halfway through his fourth NBA season, the evidence continues to mount that Al Jefferson is a lazy defender. Perhaps what damns him most of all in this regard is the huge disparity between his doggedly refined low-post game on offense and his frequent willingness to get undressed on defense. When the Wolves set up in the half court, Jefferson’s precocious footwork, vast array of shots (jump hook, funky push jumper, up-and-under scoop, beneath-the-rim baseline banker, and well-calibrated wrist flick), cunning in avoiding predictible patterns on his moves and fierce determination to go up and finish in traffic already make him a top ten NBA scorer in the paint. To develop such multi-faceted skills takes dedication and intelligence. Neither of those virtues are apparent, to put it charitably, at the other end of the court.

    Yes, Jefferson has been yo-yo’d between his natural power forward spot and center all season since the injury to Theo Rat
    liff. And it seems that physically he is a ‘tweener on defense–lunched by leviathians such as Andrew Bynum yet zipped past or feinted to a faretheewell by small, savvy post performers like Houston’s Luis Scola on Friday. But how does that excuse all the times he shows too hard and can’t recover on the pick and roll (or, conversely, allows the p+r shooter an open look on the switch), or is caught napping on an interior pass for an easy layup, as happened twice with Francisco Oberto last night? He also doesn’t get back in transition very well, and his rotations are adequate at best–and inferior to Michael Doleac or the undersized Craig Smith.

    Again, what is especially aggravating about these consistent lapses is that Jefferson continues to improve on offense–even on weak spots such as passing out of double teams, or raising the accuracy of his midrange jumper–while the fundamentals of his D remain fundamentally flawed. It bespeaks of ignorance to that part of his game, and diminishes his otherwise well-earned rep as a blue-collar stalwart. I understand the incentive for such imbalance in a league where Vince Carter is a fan favorite for dunking at one end while tanking at the other, and where no one wants to talk about how the universally lauded Yao Ming is totally ineffective on defense against a half-dozen NBA teams, and couldn’t guard relative lilliput Carlos Boozer when a playoff series was on the line. But despite Jefferson’s gaudy offensive numbers and my overall admiration for what he has accomplished, albeit only when his team has the rock, I don’t believe he deserves to be an All Star this season. Let’s not start handing out carrots to a young player with a marvelous upside who is currently staging perhaps the most impressive half-assed season in Timberwolves history.

    3. Hosannahs and Brickbats

    After alternately arguing for first Doleac and then Richard to be slotted in at center beside Jefferson, this weekend’s performances had me agreeing with Doleac’s starting assignments and Richard trading in his uni for street clothes on Saturday. As well as Richard recognizes rotations and hustles on defense, he simply abandons any pretense of offense–he’s even more unbalanced than Big Al. Twice on Friday his teammates,against all odds, bothered to pass him the ball, simply because he was so wide open. The first time Richard fumbled it; the second time he sent a carom so strong off the glass and rim it would have flown to half-court if not rebounded. Hard to say whether it is nerves, overdoing the self-effacing defensive-oriented role, or simple lack of talent at that end of the court, but Richard isn’t such a stud on defense that he can afford to let everyone take him for granted on offense.

    Meanwhile, Doleac showcased that midrange jumper I kept harping on while arguing for some playing time for the Pale Rider earlier this season. He also knows how to commit the hard interior foul that prevents "and 1" from happening when someone loses their man in the paint. He play at both ends of the court was obviously bedeviling the Spurs on Saturday, as they ran multiple plays right at him after he’d picked up his 4th foul. Finally they were able to draw the fifth infraction with 5:50 left in the third period, sending Doleac to the bench for Smith. San Antonio promptly extended a 58-55 lead to 73-60–a 15-5 run–over the next 4:42 and that was essentially the ballgame. Word is that Theo Ratliff will be in the lineup soon. A Ratliff-Doleac platoon at the 5 gives the Wolves a fighting chance–and consistent minutes for Jefferson where he belongs–against squads with legitimate big men. Let that happen with Foye at the point and then we can finally see what we have on this roster.

    Ah yes, the point guard spot. It is becoming more and more dramatically obvious that Telfair’s future will be determined by his ability to hit an open jump shot. Houston and San Antonio both gave Bassy a wide berth out on the perimeter–to the extent that it was almost 5-on-4 with the other players–and Telfair shot 1-10 FG in a combined 69:58 of play. That’s one shot every 7 minutes, or less than 7 per 48, a huge reluctance when the opponents are daring you to score–and yet, as Telfair’s wayward aim demonstrated, a wise reticence on his part. Meanwhile, brickmeister Bassy got the minutes because Marko Jaric may as well have been sidling in quicksand against the likes of Tony Parker, Rafter Alston, Jacques Vaughn and Aaron Brooks. Jaric himself shot 1-3 FG in a combined 39:06, fewer FG per minute than Bassy. Hmmm, maybe it is time to spot McCants in at the point every now and then, with Brewer, Gomes, Jefferson and Doleac. It would give the ego-laden tattoo aficionado incentive to distribute the rock and perhaps prompt him to be more turnover conscious. A gamble, yes, but the current alternatives aren’t exactly delivering dividends.

    Even when he was going 7-9 FG in the meaningless second half against Houston, Brewer’s form is enough to give Fred Hoiberg an ulcer. Can he make NBA defenses respect him with that mid-air flailing? Well, Telfair certainly looks pretty going up, and the ball doesn’t go in. But the burden of proof to turn that mess into points is squarely on Brewer.

     

  • 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.