Last night’s game was the most entertaining game in a real long time. Even though they lost, the Wolves looked like they were giving keys to a car and they never driven before. Everyone seemed like they were having fun, players looked like they could stand one another and with some tweaks a point guard (Ollie was horrendous in the 4th) the Wolves may hit stride by mid Jan.

It would be nice to see more picks and cuts but that will come in time. Maybe a trade for a pass first, great offensive awareness, mid to far range shooting point guard would help (E. Watson, J. Hart)?

…also appeared to be very pissed when McCants turned the ball over on the final inbound pass.

I agree that Al shouldn’t be spazzing on his teammates so much. A different question, though: why was Shaddy making that pass? He isn’t known to be our best passer or decision-maker; in fact, he’s one of our worst. The only reason I can think of is that maybe there was a play for him to inbound the ball and then for it to come back to him ftw. But I don’t know why you’d want Shaddy shooting that shot, either, given how he looked the rest of the night.

Last night I got to attend my first home game this season (I’m back visiting from the West Coast). I couldn’t believe how few people were there. My friends and I estimated that there weren’t any more than 4500. Ouch.

Andy G:

Agreed re: Carney. He does look like he’s playing with something to prove. However, his legs move faster than his brain, and he’s going to be prone to many of the same mistakes Brewer makes. His defense isn’t quite as stifling/niggling as Brewer’s, though. I wish Corey were healthy.

Agreed re: Carney. One reason I was looking forward to McHale taking over was because I thought he wouldn’t play Ollie anymore. I was wrong. Rather, Bassy was taken out of the rotation. Ollie made a pass that would’ve made a slumping Foye blush, and that turnover really killed us. Not to mention Ollie’s questionable shot selection down the stretch and that horrible foul you mentioned. He didn’t look like the cliched “steady veteran who doesn’t make mistakes”.

Good take on Jefferson. Boozer would’ve been a tougher challenge, but Millsap isn’t a slouch, and he didn’t abuse Jeff except for that short stretch you referred to. And Al looked sharp making a few nice weak side blocks. We’ll see if he can play as well tonight against Nene.

Love’s offensive game still looks VERY ugly, but his rebounding has helped make up for it. I do wonder what will happen when defenders start playing him straight up rather than reaching for the ball when he brings it down (which is how he draws so many fouls). He got bailed out at least twice yesterday when he put his head down and bulldozed into the paint. I love how he gets after it on the offensive glass, though. He fights hard.

Do you guys think the Wolves have a built-in tactical advantage for the next few games? While they will have a good scouting base for the teams they play, other teams won’t have any/much tape on the McHale-coached Wolves for at least another few games.

And I assume the team strategies and tendencies will be evolving for a while until McHale has his system in place.

Just a thought and question for the knowledgeable CH crowd.

I agree that last night’s game was the most fun Wolves game to watch in a while.

Ollie played 25 minutes last night and telfair plays 10 minutes. One thing that didn’t bother me about the Wolves giving away Chalmers to Miami in the draft was their full roster and the commitment I thought they probably had at the time to signing Telfair as their backup Point guard.

I really didn’t think the competition in training camp for the 3rd point guard amounted to much and I never expected that Ollie was going to get much playing time and rather would be a good guy to have around as a veteran to be an example in the locker room and occassionally to get some playing time when Foye and Telfair need some guidance for how to run a certain set a play against a certain player in the league.

McHale did give Love and Jefferson time together last night while also letting McCants, Smith and Gomes extended playing time. But, what’s up with Telfair? It makes me wonder. Was Telfair Wittmans guy and his signing over taking Chalmer’s done to appease Wittman? Telfair was the one guy with quotes saying how much he was going to miss Wittman.

He was +7 in his 10 minutes last nights to Ollies -4 and Foyes -1.

Guys,

It isn’t uncommon for Rhino to look unstoppable on offense this season. At first I thought it was just a flash in the pan, but he’s put together a nice 20 games, or 1/4 of a season. Is he really becoming a starting caliber ballplayer? We all know his (literal) shortcomings, but he’s a fine, fine offensive player. I’m now more confident going to him for a tough basket than Foye, Miller, Shaddy, or Love, mostly because Rhino can both create and finish shots. I’ve always been very anti-Rhino, but I feel like we can’t deny anymore that he’s something we should be thinking about how to best use. This might involve showcasing him for a trade or giving him a larger role on our team, but color me impressed: Rhino is a legit NBA player and has shown a lot of improvement this year.

…great point about that horrid lineup. I forgot to comment on that. McCants should under no circumstances be allowed to play the three, and neither Bassy nor Ollie should ever be playing the two. There were a few particularly ugly stretches when we were swinging the ball around the perimeter to guards who can’t shoot.

Ditto Carney. He can’t shoot either, and fans shouldn’t get excited that he has made a few three point shots in the past couple of games. The guys on the bench were actually laughing after his second three last night, suggesting that they couldn’t believe he had made it. I was waiting for the MJ “shrug” from Carney as a sheepish admission that even he couldn’t believe he had made two threes.

I’ve always been curious about who that guy is. I assume they were intentionally trying to keep a Wally-looking person affiliated with the Twolves because Wally was popular here? Could it be another example of Taylor trying to rekindle the past?

is that he looks so much better in a suit than those daffy sweaters.

…and his comments in stories like this is one reason why:

http://www.twincities.com/timberwolves/ci_11183839

I’m glad Shaddy was willing to talk about “how good McHale knows he (Shaddy) is” after a big loss. I realize that there’s a context here, but I still think that this is another piece of evidence that suggests Shaddy only cares about himself. I hope we can ship him out, but if he continues making mistake after mistake, he’ll be lucky to get a vets minimum contract somewhere else next season.

…then Shaddy is a 14/1 guy who hurts you in other ways. (Btw, I don’t buy the argument that Jefferson doesn’t bring anything else to the table, I’m trying to magnify how little Shaddy does on the floor except chuck). Shaddy is the worst kind of one way player, and he makes Al’s all-around game look like Hakeem Olajuwon’s. I agree that we need shooters out there, but at this point I’m not even sure whether having Shaddy’s shotmaking ability on the floor outweighs his negative qualities. Hopefully I’m wrong, and all he needs is some confidence and playing time. I know McHale is going to try to give him both.

Jefferson also has 40 blocks

2 blocks per game isn’t too shabby

but yea there are times where his defense disapears

…it seems like they always struggle with the ultra-athletic frontline of Nene, K-Mart, and Melo. We’re not going to be able to exploit one-on-one matchups as well as we did last night, methinks.