Put yourself at point for last year’s Wolves and this year’s Wolves. Its a whole lot easier to be thinking like a pass-first PG when you have multiple positive options as you bring the ball upcourt.

Last season, you’d be choosing between getting the ball to a double-teamed Al, Brick-Layer Brewer, Legend-in-his-own-mind McCants or maybe Gomes.

This season, Al’s gonna see fewer doubles, Love will be a viable inside option, Brewer seems able to find the twine often enough, McCanys will be playing more for a contract rather than his own ego, Gomes remains solid and we add Mike Miller to the list of options.

will definitely make Foye a more effective point guard. As far as pushing the ball upcourt, Foyes responsibility will more often be slowing it down and setting up an offensive set after the outlets from the bigs to the wings racing down the floor has been countered by opposing teams transition defense. In other words, the ability to run begins with the defensive rebound and outlet passes to the wing players and guards releasing down court, which might be Foye, Brewer, Carney, McCants, Miller, ect. If Foye gets the oultet and the scoring opportunity is there on transition he should take it, but just as often he will need to be the one to pull back and let Jefferson and Love get set up in the halfcourt offense, especially when the fastbreak opportunity isn’t there.

An NBA point guard distributes the ball to players who are scoring threats. Having a limited supply of those types of players is a liability. Last year Foye and the Wolves were placed at this disadvantage for most of the season and with most rotations with Jefferson as the only other scoring threat on the floor and opposing defenses able to double or triple team him. WIth the pg responsibility for getting the ball to Al, this often led to unnecessary turnovers. A great point guard, such as Steve Nash, Chris Paul or others might have been able to still be effective if they were exchanged with Foye last year and found themselvs in a Twolves unifrom. However, there is little doubt that having Miller and Love on the floor with Foye runnign the point will open up Al down low and give Foye other opportunities as well. If Foye doesn’t get more assists and less turnovers this year than last then we will know he is not going to be the pg of the future that the Wolves need. I think offensively, things are going to be much easier for him, though.

If I am on the perimeter, guarded with the ball and I see last year’s Brewer out of the corner of my eye squared and open from 19, my calculus is that a pass to him results in a bucket maybe 35% of the time.

Same scenario this season, but its Mike Miller ready to rock from 19, my probability calculation goes to high 40’s. I make that pass all night long. With last years Brewer, I dribble aimlessly a la T-Hud hoping that Big Al gets semi-open before the shot clock hits 5. Totally different approach.