Swing and a Miss
by Peter W on Oct 23, 2008 7:32 AM CDT
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Photo credit: David Sherman/NBAE/Getty Images
Nope, I'm not talking about the World Series, it's the Wolves failed comeback attempt last night, losing to the Bulls 85-75. After taking another first quarter off against Chicago like last week, this time the club decided they could also use a break in the fourth, scoring only 9 points in each of those quarters. At home. Ouch!
Positives and Negatives from the game:
Positives (not many):
Big Al. Offensively, he's back. Defensively, he's still a work in progress, but his low block play is beautiful to watch. Jefferson scored 19 points with 11 rebounds, and was +5 for the night. The fact he had no assists was more from the fact the rest of the team had shooting issues all night.
Rashad McCants. This one could go either way, but given the poor play of the other players, and the fact he was a +1 for the night, he gets a positive rating. His entrance into the game was underwelming with two straight turnovers, but he made some shots in the second half, and seemingly saved most of his scowls for the bench. Given what Chief Vindicator Jim Petersen said about Shaddy accepting the sixth man role, and needing to be in the team flow, I still have a feeling Wittman and McCants will be butting heads throughout the season.
Derrick Rose. Yeah, he's the opposition, but this kid can play. Even with 5 turnovers against 6 assists, he had 17 points and a +12 for the night. He needs to develop a clutch mid range shot, but barring injury Rose is going to be a very good to excellent PG in this league.
Negatives:
Kevin Love. Last night, K-Love was awful, with 1-10 shooting and a -19 for the night. But he only had one foul in 24 minutes of play, which is better, because this year he may well replace Craig Smith as the referee's favorite whipping boy on the Wolves team. I'm still on the fence regarding Love's future in the league, but Reusse's article on the rook this morning was unfair and premature.Give Love a Chance!
Corey Brewer. On the telecast last night, I swear I saw mothers shielding their kids as he was shooting. After a nice start to the preseason, he's reverting to form, clanking shots with impunity. I'll say it again, with the type of game he's got, he can score points with defense, hustle and transition opportunites. Yes, he needs to shoot better, but concentrating on what he does best and letting the rest come to him as he develops is his primary challenge.
First Quarter Starts. The Wolves have the shooters--and the low block stud--to get out of the gate faster in most games. Maybe if they came out ready to play defense, it would help them on the offensive end. Get some easy buckets, apply pressure, and for Jim Pete's sake, guard the perimeter better.
Summary:
Shooting 32.5 percent doesn't win many games, so let's just say it was an off night, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Regardless of tonight's contest, the Wolves have had a decent preseason. There's a ton of stuff to work on, and some roster decisions to be made, reportedly starting today. We still don't know what big men will be sticking around, or getting signficant minutes. As long as the expectations are kept reasonable, this should be a more fun team to watch. They really need to come out of the gate with more intensity though, especially at home.
As S-N-P said in the thread below...remember to cast your Love Song vote!
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I hate to say it
for the first time in maybe ever I agree with Reusse. You are correct that PR is premature, unfair and even typically immature. Last night was probably the worst you will see of Love. He’ll be OK and will certainly be more productive than he was last night, but the fact remains Love is lacking some basic skills that are necessary to be a success at this level. He was routinely pushed under the hoop last night, he was out jumped for rebounds by Joakim Noah. When your NBA pluses are IQ and outlet passing but your minuses are lack of explosiveness, plays below the rim and may struggle defensively that does not spell out a good NBA career.
What I’ll say in Love’s defense was that things looked a little fast for him last night. Once the game slows down for him he’ll be able to find ways to contribute. And Pat is wrong in that Love will be able to score. The problem is that his scoring will have to come from others. When AJ get’s double teamed, Love will be able to find an open spot on the floor to score. And when Foye penetrates, he’ll be able to dish to Love for easy buckets.
My issue is that we had the #3 pick and we acquired a guy who has to rely on others to score and will never be better than our #3 option.
what you say here can, and will, be used against you
Brutal
Was at the game last night (actually only the first half — couldn’t take any more). My brief thoughts:
1. I was expecting a big improvement in terms of wins this season (figuring 8-12 should qualify as “big” when you only won 22 last year), but they way they played last night, that number is drastically overstated if the rotation looks anything like it did last night. They Wolves are going to face a paradox: do they play Love and Brewer, the last two lottery picks, who are clearly going to lose the +/- battles most nights as they figure out how to use their strengths, and, more importantly, minimize their weaknesses in the NBA game. I was most dissapointed in Love (not him, really, it’s not his fault, but he certainly looked overmatched athletically at some points, which was the big knock on the trade). Sure, he’ll make some of the bunnies he blew last night, but he looked like a guy who had learned in the last few weeks that he’s going to have to be extra quick if he wants to get rebounds and his shot off against bigger, more athletic bigs. He was clearly rushing, but i’m concerned that’s how he’s going to have to be if he wants to put the ball in the hoop in this league. Brewer looked exactly the same as he did last year — weak on his jumpshot and out of control when he drove the lane. The defense looked to be there, but not much else. If these guys each get 24 minutes a night (and i think they should), the wins are going to be tough to come by.
2. The best and worst of McCants was on display last night. Kudos to Wit for benching him after Shaddy crapped the bed in his first stint. McCants came back later in the second quarter and was by far the most active of the team’s guards, both offensively and defensively. It also appeared to me that he and Jefferson have built some real rapport. He also continues to get to the line. Here’s hoping Shaddy plays a lot of the 2 and miller plays lots of the 3, because that will mean less time with brewer on the court.
3. I don’t see Telfair supplanting Foye anytime soon. Telfair just isn’t strong enough to guard the Roses and Williams of the world on a nightly basis. And if he can’t get to the hole, there’s nothing he brings to this team. Say what you want about Foye and his future as a PG, but right now he’s the only one on the roster that is viable at the position for 24-36 minutes a night.
4. I did think that the team defense was somewhat better. People seemed to know their roles, and they when they got beat, they were forcing them to defensive help. Doesn’t matter if you only shoot 32%, though.
5. The new home unis are terrible.
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