By some measures, Gay is one of the worst passers in the league. According to Basketball Reference, Gay uses up about 23 percent of Memphis’ possessions, which is a fancy way of saying nearly one-quarter of Memphis possessions end when Gay does something with the ball. That is an above-average number, though it’s down from Gay’s usage rate of 25.6 percent last season. (That drop isn’t surprising, since Memphis traded for Zach Randolph, a high-volume shooter, last summer).
about 14 hours ago
wyn
5 comments
0 recs
The Story of Darko: A Video History
by wyn on Mar 18, 2010 5:00 AM CDT
2 comments
I intended to post this at a more appropriate time, riding the wave of Darko-inspired optimism. But after the Phoenix loss, I figured a little cheering up with some video highlights is just what the doctor ordered. All signs point to Darko returning to Europe next year, but just forget that for a moment and enjoy what an in-shape Darko can do.
2 comments | 0 recs
What can be built upon?
by Stop-n-Pop on Mar 17, 2010 10:42 PM CDT
151 comments
It's pretty hard to find something good on this club to write about right now. They have the worst offense in team history, their 1/2 court defense is in shambles, their transition defense may be worse than their offense, they are starting two players (Darko Milicic and Ryan Gomes) who may not be with the team next year, Kevin Love is buried deep in the dog house, and even a few Corey Brewer poster dunks are fairly hard to get all that worked up over.
When things aren't going my way I find the best approach to turn things around is to first take stock of what is going right and then move forward by creating small increments where clear goals can be stated, approached, and achieved.
My question for this game-wrap/open-thread is two-fold: What is going right and what does the team need to do until the end of the year to have something to build upon?
151 comments | 0 recs |
GameThread #69: @ Jazz
by wyn on Mar 17, 2010 7:30 PM CDT
141 comments
| 2009/2010 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
| 14-54 (Road 5-29) | vs. | 43-24 (Home 26-8) |
| March 17, 2010, 8:00 PM CST | ||
| Broadcast: | ||
| Radio: 1130 AM KFAN | ||
| TV: FSN, League Pass | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Jonny Flynn | PG | Deron Williams |
| Corey Brewer | SG | Wesley Matthews |
| Ryan Gomes | SF | Andrei Kirilenko |
| Al Jefferson | PF | Carlos Boozer |
| Darko Milicic | C | Mehmet Okur |
| Stats | ||
| (29th) -8.99 - SRS - 5.66 (4th) |
||
| (29th) 101.3 - Offense - 110.7 (7th) |
||
| (28th) 111 - Defense - 104.9 (10th) |
||
| (3rd) 96.2 - Pace - 93.1 (12th) |
||
| Previous Meetings | ||
|
December 5, 2009: MIN 108 - UTA 101 |
||
| Links: | ||
| SLC Dunk / Yahoo Preview / Timberwolves.com Gameday | ||
141 comments | 0 recs
Game Recap Addendum: Audio/Visual
by wyn on Mar 17, 2010 10:01 AM CDT
9 comments
Seth Pollack of Bright Side of the Sun does a great job of sharing media he captures from Suns game with opponent bloggers, and last night was no exception.
Kurt Rambis did do a post-game interview, but it wasn't broadcast on the post-game show as I tweeted. Probably because they couldn't broadcast "I don't give a shit about records."
The only saving grace of last night was another highlight reel dunk from Corey Brewer. If I recall correctly, it was #1 on both ESPN's and NBATV's Top 10 Plays last night . Before and after photos after the jump.
9 comments | 0 recs
Griz owner Michael Heisley told a group of season ticket holders that the team intends to match any offer Gay might receive as a restricted free agent this summer. Heisley spoke before the game at the team’s annual "State of the Franchise" Chalk Talk where season ticket holders could ask questions.
via the The Commercial Appeal
1 day ago
wyn
13 comments
0 recs
Apastration
by Stop-n-Pop on Mar 17, 2010 4:33 AM CDT
161 comments
Surely there has to be a word that describes what is going on with the Wolves right now. It's somewhere in between boredom and apathy, frustration and anger, regret and hope, and all sorts of other polar and not-so-polar dichotomies.
After the worst stampling (another combo word deserving of this team) of the year I can't quite find the right word to describe how I feel about this club right now. On one hand we were told from the get-go that this was going to be a rebuilding year. The team's front office has been very open about this fact and they have engaged in what they call an "aggressive fan development program" to win back the casual viewing sports public in this town.
On the other hand, there are those of us who have been following the team for a long, long time; those of us who have been season ticket holders and jersey/hat/whatever buyers since the Bill Musselman days, or even since KG was doing his pre-anything-is-possible routine to the tune of a Western Conference Final. What rebuilding iteration is this group of fans currently having to endure? 3.0? 4.6? Who knows?
What we do sort of know, and can place our fingers on, is that this year's over-matched squad apparently has begun an early off-season development plan of their own; maybe the good weather has given them a pre-spring golf jones and they simply cannot wait to hit the links.
For all of the good things we have said about Kevin Love over his time with the franchise, it appears that he has checked out for the season and there is no good way of dressing this up. For all of the nice things we really would like to say about the point guard prospects of Jonny Flynn (and we really would; after all, he's a lotto pick), he's showing very little signs of being the player David Kahn said he would be.
It's that last part of the Flynn take that is really starting to take hold with the group of fans who don't need to be reeled in with 1/2 price lower-bowl season ticket offers. There is a striking disconnect between what we were told would be and what is. For each and every fan development season ticket purchase, there's a guy or gal paying close to full price for this year's action and it's pretty hard to dress up any feeling of disappointment that I'm sure they all feel about that fact.
One of the things that I think David Kahn gets a fairly large pass on is the large gap between what could have been this year's status quo and this year's reality. Let's imagine for a moment that the Washington deal never happened and that Kahn used the 6th pick in the draft on a young scoring point guard who really did have a long college record of doing all the things he said his pick was going to do. Let's imagine a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Mike Miller, Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love, and Al Jefferson with Corey Brewer and Randy Foye coming off the bench. Would it have been that hard to move smaller deals like Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith to open up additional 2010 cap space? Would the expiring deals of Miller, Foye, and Brian Cardinal have provided a significant amount of usable cap space above and beyond what the team will use during this off-season? Just how much more is all of Kahn's wheeling-and-dealing really worth beyond two main assets: Ricky Rubio and the security of this year's top draft choice?
Here's the kicker: If this year has shown us anything, it is that Kahn is all-in on Rubio, and, to a lesser extent, the team's top choice in the 2010 draft. Go back and look at what Kevin McHale was attempting to do with this roster before Kahn came in. They were headed in the right direction in terms of cap space and roster flexibility. How much more usable space has Kahn really opened up? Will it be used? Can it be used? Is $14-18 mil over the cap worth much more to the Wolves than $6-8? If it is, then the team will have an additional bullet point to put in its fan development talking points cache. If not, then this season was all about waiting for Rubio and securing the team's #1 pick (which, it should be noted, is a fairly worthy cause in the long run) from the awful Clips/Jaric trade.
Wrapping this thing up, I'm not writing this post in order to complain about what could have been. I suppose there is a little bit of that in there (especially with the Curry pick) ; rather, it's more of a frustration post about yet another wasted season for those of us who have been watching this team for a long, long time. Yes, I'm excited about Ricky Rubio. Yes, I'm very glad and excited that the Wolves will be near the top of the draft. Of course it is nice to have as much cap space as possible. I'm also kind of bummed that the team is virtually unwatchable right now and that I have to wonder, yet again, if this team's front office can truly maximize its considerable assets.
Die-hard Wolves fans have been on the wrong side of too-close chances for the better part of 5 years now. They've been lucky to find themselves in position to draft quality players. They've been astute enough to maneuver their roster in a way that will provide cap space and flexibility. Can they follow through or will we get yet another Blueprint 2.0 Fan Development ticket pitch? At some point the vision of the marketing department has to match up with the viewpoint of Section 136. At some point I hope that game wraps can be only about the on-court action and less about Korean recipes and the broad direction of the franchise.
Until later.
161 comments | 0 recs |
Wolves fans NCAA Bracket
by lordbaldric on Mar 17, 2010 12:32 AM CDT
7 comments
I made this for the Wolves RealGM Board, but since there are not a lot of posters there I figured I'd post it here too.:
I created a group on Yahoo for this year's tourney bracket. All you guys are free to join. 
The more the merrier!
Site: <!-- m -->http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1<!-- m -->
Group Name: RealGM TWolves Board
Group ID#: 167132
Password to join: arooo
I also signed up for the $1,000,000 prize if any of us make a perfect bracket.
7 comments | 0 recs
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