Making it Wayne
by Stop-n-Pop on Oct 22, 2009 10:53 PM CDT
79 comments
OK, credit is due where credit is due, and I can't think of any better way to start this post than to give the Line of the Year (So Far) to LoveTo for his catchy turn of a phrase for when Wayne Ellington gets hot from beyond the arc. It's a long year and it will be a hard-fought contest, but LoveTo is in the early lead.
Getting around to the game, the Wolves finally put together 48 minutes of exciting ball. I can live with losing. I can live with being outmanned. What I can't live with is a sports entertainment franchise being boring. For far too long the Wolves have been both bad and unentertaining. Last night the Wolves scrapped, ran, moved the ball around, played scrappy defense, and out-efforted the Pistons by a wide, wide, wide margin, especially in the second half.
The Wolves had six players in double figures, two more with seven ponits apiece, 22 assists (well above their 16.3 average in the preseason), 46 FTAs, and only 9 turnovers. With their two best players out of action, the Wolves turned in an all-around team effort built on grit and hustle. The result isn't something you'd really want to bet on, but the effort was more than enough to make you want to watch...and that's about the best we can ask for with this young team.
A few random observations:
- Ben Gordon is an $11 million bench player who duplicates what Rip Hamilton brings to the table...sans 4 or 5 inches.
- Before the start of the Pistons game, 31.3% of the Wolves' preseason points have come from the charity stripe. That's a lot of free throws. Over 40/game to be exact. I could learn to live with that.
- "Pinch Post" and "weak side action" are words casual Wolves fans will have to get used to with this new offense. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these terms, here is a link to a Pinch Post description and here's a video:
In other words, keep your eyes on the side of the court with two players. Also, get ready to fully understand why the Wolves will need a versatile swing man.
- Speaking of swingmen and weak side action, the most important possession of last night's game started with just under 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter:
- 10:30: Richard Hamilton personal foul (Damien Wilkins draws the foul)
- 10:25: Richard Hamilton personal foul (Damien Wilkins draws the foul)
- 10:12: Richard Hamilton personal foul (Damien Wilkins draws the foul)
- 10:11 Jonas Jerebko personal foul (Brian Cardinal draws the foul)
- That was the ballgame right there. 4 fouls in under 20 seconds and the Wolves were in the bonus with less than 2 minutes gone in the 4th quarter.
- Hanny will always be a homer and he'll be easier to stomach when the Wolves finally turn the corner, but I have a feeling that J-Pete is in for a solid year of color commentating (is that even a word). I'm really looking forward to hearing how his coaching stint with the Lynx is going to affect his coverage. I want to hear about offensive sets, off the ball decision making, advanced stats, and other pro nuances and I think Jim is going to deliver. He's off to a solid start this season. Best of all, Jim is a big internet follower and I think he has a firm grasp on the role of blogs in team coverage and fan conversation. The guy knows ball and I think he's going to work his way into a solid groove where he will enable casual fans to have a much deeper understanding of the pro game.
- Speaking of offenses and nuances, I was watching the Wolves' version of the Triangle and all I could think about was that one of the big things the Triangle offense is not known for is upper-level point guard play. I'm not saying that I'm not glad that Ramon Sessions, Jonny Flynn, and the rights to Ricky Rubio belong at 600 First Avenue, but does it qualify as an irony that the Triangle's "weakest" position is the one the Wolves sunk the most resources into? BTW: As a long time Bassy fan, let me put in my vote for Sebastian Telfair as the league's Most Improved Player. He was my favorite T-Wolf and I never did get my Bassy jersey. At least my daughter got an autograph.
- Ramon Sessions needs more minutes. Dude can ball and he is a deceptively good defender. He hides in traffic and bursts out of nowhere into passing lanes. I have a bad feeling that Mr. Sessions will be involved in a mid-season trade.
- Ryan Hollins is an athletic foul machine. He also jumped 7 feet in college. Holy. Crap.
- Mr. Ellington, you are here to shoot the long ball. Good game.
- Corey Brewer is showing some signs of being a...wait for it...NBA starter. For the first time in a long time, I watched a Wolves game where it was obvious that Brewer had confidence with his game and his shot. He was disruptive, all over the place, and he even had a few nice moves to the rim, one of which almost looked like George Gervin, with a sweet finger roll at the end. Brewer is my de-facto favorite Wolf now that Bassy is gone and I'm really rooting for the guy.
Well, that about does it for the wrap up. What say you?
Until later.
BTW: How cool was it to see this:
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at least someone caught it...
…i was really trying to work in “misunderestimate” but i couldn’t find a good spot.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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Somone should upload NBA.com's highligh videos when they're on youtube
Flynn and Brewer both looked fantastic.
People really need to watch the video of Brewer. He’s a completely different player this year.
I'd like to see a replay of
that foul sequence. Rip is usually a good and smart defender. What happened?
And I don’t think anybody is misunderestimating the difficulty behind using the word misunderestimate.
Hamilton...
…tried to body up Wilkins to prevent him from posting up and with each successive attempt he got a bit more aggressive.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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It showed the strength of the triangle...
A team can still go with a good matchup if it’s working for them because of the offense’s flexibility. In that case, I think it was just Wilkins recognizing the situation and heading to the box.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 10:08 AM CDT up reply actions
Brewer
I’ve defended Brewer for over a year now. I’m a huge defensive guy so in my book we should never cut him (see: Nick Punto for the the Twins) and from the little I saw of him last year, I knew he could piece together a good offensive game that would warrant him quality minutes… but what he’s done this preseason is ridiculous. I know it’s the the PREseason, but still, he’s putting together 20 point games like it’s nothing recently, where did this much offense come from? Even without Big Al and Kevlar (I like the nickname… sue me) I didn’t think we would see this much offense in only 24 minutes a game
Oh and Jonny Flynn is a BEAST
He won't get some of those foul calls once the real refs return
But I do think he should keep getting to the rim and forcing them to make the call because it’s obvious that his ability to make FTs helps his confidence on that end.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 10:10 AM CDT up reply actions
agreed
he won’t be able to play like this in the regular season, especially when the replacement refs come back. But if you take the drive and dish from Flynn once he sucks the D in, if Brewer immediately attacks the rim with it, I don’t see see why he couldn’t potentially keep those free throw numbers up. The opposing D won’t have a choice but to foul out of desperation or let him have a (supposedly) easy 2
I like that you felt the need to put that (supposedly) in there.
It does seem like nothing comes easy for Corey. For the Drunken Dribbler, the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line, but rather to turn the ball over, steal it back, miss a layup, get your own rebound, and bank in a three.
oh and...
throw in the Ellington game that was had today. If we could get that kind of performance from Flynn/Brewer/Big Wayne on a constant basis and we use our free agent money wisely on a center (I’m thinking someone whose name rhymes with Pish Posh) and a quality SG/SF to add some depth to the team… we’re looking at the new “Portland Trailblazers” as my buddy put it. The sky would be the limit for this team next year or the year after
Big Wayne
may be the best nickname proposal I have heard for Ellington since we drafted him.
by TheEvilProfessor on Oct 23, 2009 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions
Sorry, but I have to go
with Big Wayne. He even has a couple of Lil’ Wayne songs to choose from for his theme song.
by TheEvilProfessor on Oct 23, 2009 10:36 AM CDT up reply actions
I still like "The Duke"
Jazz great, and that summer league game where he was introduced as graduating from Duke.
by aarendsvark on Oct 23, 2009 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions
The Duke is not unique
That was his nickname in college. I like it too.
by Rascal Flatts on Oct 23, 2009 1:53 PM CDT up reply actions
I like Duke too
but perhaps a variation, like, the “Dukester” or “Dukereeno.” Now, where did that inspiration come from I wonder?
When he's raining threes
the nickname is “Fountains of Wayne”
by Eric in Madison on Oct 23, 2009 4:01 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm sticking with Make it Wayne
It works on multiple levels….
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Make it Wayne
by far the best… i can’t stop laughing…
by Wu on Oct 23, 2009 7:07 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm more of a "Sheets of Wayne" kind of guy.
This is Chopper Dave's made for TV movie, Blades Of Vengeance. See, he's a chopper pilot by day, but by night he fights crime as a werewolf... YEAH!
by Kevin Loves McHale's Navy on Oct 23, 2009 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Plus
A sports team isn’t complete without someone on the squad with a nickname that sounds similar to “boooo”. That way when The Duke reigns in a 3 and the hometown crowd appears to be chanting, “booooo!”, Hanneman can say, “Those aren’t boos you’re hearing. They’re cheering for The Duke! Duuuuuuuuuke!”
by Rascal Flatts on Oct 23, 2009 5:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Rains in, not reigns in....Duuuuuuuuuuke!
by Rascal Flatts on Oct 23, 2009 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Wayne would hate to be called "Duke." So just don't do it.
No one at Carolina would EVER refer to Wayne Ellington as “Duke,” so no, that was not his nickname in college. No matter how clever it is, no Carolina player’s nickname has ever had or will ever have anything to do with that faux Gothic fortress of evil in Durham. You can take the boy out of Carolina, but you can’t take the Carolina out of the boy, so I don’t think Wayne would much appreciate having the same name as the institution he hates most in the world.
As for “Make it Wayne,” that has been around for years. Because Wayne’s name at UNC was actually Wayne “The Rain” Ellington.
See http://www.makeitwayne.com/ if you don’t believe me. You can still buy the T-shirt.
by Heels with Tar on them on Oct 25, 2009 12:20 AM CDT up reply actions
SnP, you cant be on the Brewer bandwagon after all the crap you talk about him. It is nice that he is playing so well after all the crap I get on realgm for him.
btw, I have coached motion-type offenses for years. The triple post is similar. The idea that we need strong swingmen, but do not need anything but a shooter at the pg is wrong. What we need is strong handler/finishers and shooters to complement them. For Chi/LAL the handler was the SG and the shooter was the pg. But we could easily run it with our pg being the handler/finisher and the swing player spotting up on the weakside. The beauty with the offense is that it plays to the strength of the player regardless of position.
I agree that Sessions needs more minutes. 13 minutes is crap. He is 6’3 and has experience playing the SG. Give him all the back-up pg and a bunch of SG minutes.
Think of it...
…as rooting for a nice guy who is over matched.
Also, I’m not sure where the either/or argument on the triple post is coming from. I’m just saying that it’s kind of weird that the Wolves are running this offense and have invested so heavily in a position filled by guys like BJ Armstrong and Derek Fisher, and that if you are going to run weak side action through your 3, you need to have a guy who can pass well out of the pinch post, hit the pick and pop shot, or put the ball on the floor. My point with that was to highlight the probability that Gomes, Brewer, Wilkins, etc aren’t going to light it up in that position in this offense.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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Also...
….with all the turn-around on the team, I think I get a break for having to have a de facto favorite player simply by way of attrition. ;)
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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Don't you think, though
That having players like MJ, Pippen, and Kobe as the dominant stars to play in a triangle offense skew our perception a little?
"Come on Eddie, let's get serious."
Indeed...
…I’ve harped on the system before as being more talent-driven than anything else.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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True, but...
It’s not like the 93-94 Bulls were the most talented team. I think part of biggity’s point is that because the talent was at the 2/3, that’s who handled the ball the most. Jim Pete said during the Bulls game that this is a “glorified junior high offense,” so there’s definitely a talent aspect to it, but the other part of that is that role players play extremely well in the system (not sure whether that’s the offense or Jackson).
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 10:16 AM CDT up reply actions
This last point...
… is the most encouraging bit to me. I think this is a lot of why you’ll see improvement from the likes of Brewer. The offense simply defines minor roles better than either previous coach. Between Wittman telling the role players they were turds in the punchbowl and McHale telling them they were simply “basketball players” and rooting them on, I think it will come as a relief to players like Corey who just need to know which two or three niche skills they have to develop to contribute on the offensive end. Maybe, as PSR notes, that’s more a factor of Jackson’s zen spells than the mechanics of his offense, but I’m willing to bet (or at least hope) that it’s the latter.
That's fair...
…my point with the triangle was that with Jordan/Pippen and in-his-prime Shaq/Kobe, Jackson could have run any system in the world and had it work. The guys without the ball have a chance to shine on the weak side and with the open kick out. Also, in this up tempo offense, Brewer is going to have every chance in the world to show he belongs. If he can’t make it in this offense, he’s not going to make it anywhere.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
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Agreed
And re: Brewer – doesn’t it make you feel good/optimistic that he’s producing? Granted it’s a small sample size, preseason, etc etc. I’ll happily take what he’s shown because it far and away surpasses the ramifications of the alternative.
"Come on Eddie, let's get serious."
Oh, and the wilkins/Hamilton foul thing was not the refs being bad. It was the wolves being smart. The very thin Hamilton continued to be attempting to defend the stronger Wilkins on the left block (first option on pinch post before the swing) Rip continued to foul him. I just re-watched the sequence and it was just a good chess move.
Telfair to Brewer?
Is it a goal to have huge draft busts for favorite players?
Flynn is a beast
…at getting players open shots. If Mike Miller would have been a little younger — he would be a great fit. If he shot the ball and if he stayed off of the floor and if he cut his hair….if…if…if
Yeah. There was one play where Flynn sliced into the lane from the top of the key and delivered a laser beam to Beef Wellington in the corner the second his defender turned to help. It wasn’t a spectacular or flashy play, but showed ability to deliver the ball exactly where the shooter wants, which is huge for a PG because Wayne was able to catch it and knock down a 3 without skipping a beat.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.
Is this a glimpse into a Jefferson-less future?
While, I don’t expect we’ll see too many 50%+ fg/60%3pt fg games in the future, this outing was a testament to the benefits of up-tempo and sharing the ball.
Even if we don’t have the talent to win a lot of games with this system, it is vastly more entertaining and much better for the development of the team than watching Jefferson take 25 shots a game and have every one else stand around waiting for a rebound.
They did look great last night, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the apparent correlation to Jefferson being off the floor and the offensive flow being much improved.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.
I’ll be blunt…guy is as big of a black hole as anyone in the league, and I think the only reason it isn’t more widely known is that few people outside of MN actually watch our games and instead only glance at the box scores and the stats tables (which may change now that there is a little national interest in our beloved Wolves).
It’ll be really interesting to see if the team can keep competing with Jefferson out of the lineup, because I think the effort and pace we saw last night, regardless of the outcome, is much more in line with what Rambis and co. are looking for. If so, the addition by subtraction case is going to become clear.
No, it's not.
It’s a preseason win over a team that is going to struggle to make the playoffs in the East.
Jefferson is the Wolves’ best player, by a mile. Rather than get excited to watch the trainwreck that was The Wolves Without Jefferson, again this year, I’m a little bit intrigued to see a Jefferson-Hollins front line in the 6-8 weeks that Love is out. Don’t get me wrong, Love is much-better than Hollins, but it’ll be the first real chance to see Jefferson play next to a big, shotblocking center. Theo Ratliff hardly saw the court in ’08, so Jeff played mostly center, then, too.
"was" a train wreck
Things have changed since last season’s no-Al run. New players, new coach and a new system that is dramatically more accommodating to maximizing the majority of our team’s strengths and minimizing their weaknesses.
We’ll have to see how it plays out, but I think there is a strong chance that Rambis may like what he sees more with Jefferson off the floor. I know it is only one game, and not a top quality opponent, but if this is the vision of where things are going (a balanced, attacking, uptempo game)…I am on board.
I’m all for balance, attacking, and running the floor. But I’m not for huge drops in talent. No NBA teams win without talent. And Jefferson is leaps and bounds ahead of his teammates in this area.
If Rambis has a vision that will amount to winning, it will surely include the only All-Star caliber player on his roster.
I agree. Jefferson’s game this season is going to look off, anyway, much like Brewer’s did in summer league because of the proximity to when the knee injury occurred. As badly as he looked in the preseason, so did his teammates. If he’d been playing last night, they still would’ve won, and they certainly wouldn’t have been blown out so badly by Denver a couple of nights ago.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions
As for Jefferson being a "black hole"
Hakeem Olajuwon had a similar assist percentage as Jefferson until he was 30 and started playing for Rudy T. New systems can bring changes in players.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 10:35 AM CDT up reply actions
you're assuming...
That Al’s lack of passing is simply a choice and/or a result of the system he has played in. Does Al really possess the all around skill level and feel for the game of an Olajuwon? Put another way, a guy like the Dream could thrive in any system and I am not sure we can say that about Al. This season will obviously be the test.
One thing I remember hating during the home stretch last year, was the continuous cycle of penetrate, kick, penetrate, kick, etc. Pretty soon, the shot clock is at 2 and Telfair launches a desperation heave.
It’s nice to have finishers. Minnesota has one. It’d be better if we had two, or in the alternative, one finisher with a great point guard a surrounding cast of complementary pieces.
It’s not good to have zero finishers in NBA basketball. That’s where we’d be without Jefferson.
doesn’t an uptempo, balanced attack by definition eliminate most of those desperation heaves as the shot clock expires?
It’s a question of can Jefferson adapt to this system, and can he still maintain his effectiveness if he does?
Rambis isn’t going to redefine NBA Basketball as head coach of the TWolves. No matter how much we think we’re going to run, the game always slows down, and every team needs guys that can score against tough defense.
Jefferson doesn’t need to adapt to anything, except his surgically repaired knee. As long as he returns to his form from early last season, the Wolves have a bigtime player that any team would love to have.
Not only that, but good players don’t turn into bad players just because a new system is in place. Jefferson didn’t look any worse than his teammates in the games they played together, and he’s coming off of an injury that sometimes takes up to a year to recover from (I didn’t expect him back at the beginning of camp). My guess is Phil Jackson adjusted his system when his center changed from Luc Longley to Shaq, so it’s not like there’s only certain guys who can run it.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 11:36 AM CDT up reply actions
Right
The injury will take some time, but Jefferson has proven himself as a building block and great player to keep around.
As soon as the TWolves have a bigtime guard that commands the respect of opponents, I think there will automatically be more balance on offense. And I think Jefferson would welcome that as much as anyone.
Hopefully Flynn or Rubio is that player.
I didn't say he was as good as Olajuwon
But the Olajuwon from his 30s was not the Olajuwon from his 20s; that guy was more like Amare Stoudemire or David Robinson than the savvy post player he turned out to be. I’m not saying it’s simply a choice; I’m saying that he can improve with age and that Olajuwon’s success as a passer improved with age and with a coaching staff that utilized his supporting cast correctly. Plus, you’re forgetting that Olajuwon’s teams were consistently in the playoffs and probably had more productive role players than any team Jefferson’s been on.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Exactly
How often has Al played with guys who a) understand how to get open for Al to make the pass and can knock it down when they get it, and b) played with guys who will demand the pass? I have the sense that Flynn and Love won’t have a problem letting Al know if he’s leaving points out there by not passing and instead trying to force it himself.
"Come on Eddie, let's get serious."
Foye
when Randy Foye was at his best (January last season) you saw him and Al develop a chemistry that showed Al can be an unselfish player. He just puts up a bunch of shots because, quite frankly, he was the only player we had that could create his own shot. When Foye was on, you saw Al sucking in the D and Randy stepping out and taking the pass from Al and draining a 3. If someone on the team can consistently show they can score, I promise you Al gives the ball up. He’s showed that he cares more about winning than he does his stats.
The second half was a real pleasure to watch. I haven’t felt that way about a Wolves game since January. My favorite play was Flynn coast- to – coast, running behind Hollins down the lane for an easy layup. Damn, I am gonna have to buy some tickets. This looks like fun!
by Dave T on Oct 23, 2009 11:00 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Fun to watch a team hustle, be aggressive and win for a change. So maybe we won’t wind up 0-82. But it is just one game. Detroit is not a terrible team, but certainly not a quality team right now. We won without Jefferson or Love, so I guess that means we really would be better off without them, right? Cory Brewer looked like a potential all-star, so nothing to worry about in that department, right? Sessions didn’t play as much as Flynn. I suspect he’ll be traded midseason, right? It’s one game in a long process. Enjoy the moment. Projection just leads to frustration.
The opposite is true...
Claiming the losses say more than the wins is just reverse homerism. Maybe this team isn’t great, but watching more of them than other teams leads some (I’m not saying you specifically) to think only of the good about the other teams when they have their problems. Maybe it doesn’t say a lot, but beating a healthy team without your two best players does say something.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 1:14 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh, and “Stewie” played a quality game. I think that should be noted, since I feel he’ll be getting some significant playing time as one of our big men. I know he’s not an attractive individual, but the announcers say he is just 23 (he only looks middle-aged). Maybe he can reach a “Rasho” level or better.
Maybe in terms of overall production (although I’d say that’s optimistic), but never in the same way. Rasho was a quality defender/shot-blocker who had some decent post moves. Stewie appears to have two skills going for him: rebounding and 3pt shooting. If he has a path to success it will be through those specialities.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.
pleasantly surprising ...
…was "Stewie"’s rebounding. He showed me a little something last night. It’s clear that stronger teams will be able to push him around a bit, but with Rambis, Laimbeer, and (yes) Kevin Love showing him how far grit and determination will carry you, perhaps he can become someone to rely on — off the bench.
I will, however, constantly worry that he’ll go all Eddie Griffin on offense and just hang out at the top of the key, waiting for a three.
im only gon say dis wunce
actually im prolly gon say it a thousand times. repeat after me yall:
Al Jefferson will not will not will n ot will not will not will not will not will not will not wiil not git traded mayn!!!! yall MUSS be chiefin on de sherm stick wun uv de reasons i aint been postin iz cuz all yall thank we need ta trade Jeff or Love NO WE DONT never say dat again mayn we would not git CLOSE ta equal value an why would we givbe up arguably de bess yung big in de game????? WHO WILL WE REPLACE HIM WIT?!?!?!
1. Oden? yea righ dat wud be terrible.
2. Lamarcus? haha mayn dat boi sucks
3. we not gittin Dwight obviously
4. shit i cant een think uv any big men i would trade Al for.
if u have suggested we shud trade Al jefferson for Azuibuike nad Morrow u need to be embarrased both as a wolves fan an a human being. iss not happening nor should it mayn. so less leave it at dat.
MAYN HOL UP!
by MAYNHOLUP on Oct 23, 2009 2:02 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Equal Value is the key
Although I’m on the fence with Jefferson (sorry Mayn), I think you bring up a good point about equal value. We have to remember that his contract is valued at a level of a #2 or #3 player on a contender. He is not being paid #1 money, and he’s arguably not even being paid #2 money. So unless we truly think there is some addition by subtraction value with Jefferson, then it’s tough move to move him. I think we need to play out this season and see where we’re at. He’s always carried a stellar PER, but that hasn’t always been supported by strong On/Off numbers (witness his Durantesque year two seasons ago). But then last year we played better on both ends of the court with him On versus Off. We definitely need to play it out this year to see if he can adapt his game to Rambis’s system and be a net positive while on the court.
by Rascal Flatts on Oct 23, 2009 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions
Plus
and I made this point on the Love-for-Morrow-and-a-pick board, this franchise is at the point where they need to be trading up, not down. A team can find role players but finding guys who have a top-level skill like Jefferson’s post scoring can’t be traded for a prospect and a pick unless the prospect is someone like Blake Griffin.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 4:13 PM CDT up reply actions
Mayn says it
Agree 100%, people gotta stop this stupid trade Al stuff…. Unless we are getting one of the top 5 players in the NBA. This guy has unique skills, I mean there is no one, I repeat, NO ONE, with this guys low post game right now in the NBA.
"Carmina Burana" has many appropriate uses
We hear it all the time in movie trailers and so on.
But “Illustrative Basketball Video about the Triangle Offense” is not a case where you really need to roll out Carl Orff.
I also find O Fortuna to be one of the more funny songs
When used ironically in comparatively unserious situations or videos. But if you’re just describing something as tedious as a basketball offense, I don’t quite understand why you’d use it (or have the mp3 on your computer, for that matter!)
What I'm surprised about so far...
Is that they haven’t run pick and rolls out of the pinch post yet. They had a couple of nice give-and-gos between Gomes and Brewer, but it seems like the guy coming to meet the pass could just keep coming and set a pick.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Oct 23, 2009 4:15 PM CDT reply actions
I totally agree about the idea of
making pro basketball around here fun to watch again. The recent great Sun’s teams couldn’t win a title, but at least they were fun to watch. You obviously want to win the title or at least get to the finals, but considering the dynasties that usually exist there are few teams that actually get that far (see T-Wolves circa Y2K). Build for a winner, but make the base be fun, this is entertainment after all.
I find the Brewer discussions very interesting. I have no idea how good he gets, but I’ll throw out something I haven’t seen anyone else write – Nobody on the current Wolves will have a bigger impact on the Kahn plan. Not saying he is as good as Love or Al, but how he develops will determine if this is a two year rebuild or a four year rebuild, I’m serious. If he makes it, a difficult starting position is filled (defensive perimeter) by someone who is not selfish offensively. Also, it allows all the resources accumulated lately to be used to acquire the couple big parts they need. If he fails, it is another spot that needs to be filled, and will take several years to develop. Also seems to have the good guy/teammate thing going for him.
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