I've heard this saying many times throughout my high school sports career, and in my experiences in my short-lived life, i have to agree with this statement.  If you watched Boston close out against a determined Knick team and its raucous crowd, or San Antonio close out against Milwaukee last night, then you know exactly what i'm talking about.  

Our Wolves have been leading at half many times in this young season to great teams like the Spurs, Thunder, Knicks.  And these leads have been double digit, and even into twenty points several times.  We always seem to shoot the lights out during the first half because of Beasley's spectacular shooting ability, Love's offensive rebounding, and increased ball movement.  

The way i see it, the ball moves best when Love, Brewer, Webster, and Milicic, and Beasley are on the floor.  Brewer is always in the lineup when we go on a double digit run, and the intensity and heart is there.  But as soon as the half starts, and the lead starts dwindling, so does my hope.  The ball always stops moving as fluidly as it did before, and turnovers abound.  And even when the Wolves come back late in the fourth as they usually do, they can never pull out a win because their intensity is gone.  Maybe its because they're young and don't have a true leader to bring them over the hump.  I'm not sure, but i also think it has to do with the point guard situation, and their lack of pick and rolls.  

Flynn is too much of an offensive-minded point guard to lead runs when the Wolves lead is collapsing.  Ridnour is more of a father than a facilitator and his drives usually lead to blocked, or wild shots.  I feel like we need a strong veteran point guard like TJ Ford who can really motivate this young team to win, which Ridnour has not been able to accomplish.  

And why doesn't Rambis implement a pick and roll to the basket?  Is it not part of his triangle system? Because whenever Love rolls, he is wide open but he rolls to the three.  I just don't understand.  I want my team to win close games, and its extremely disappointing to see that they aren't capable of pulling it out against any team other than the Clippers.  But maybe the fact that we are close in many of the games that we have lost is an indicatiion that there is more to come; that in the coming years, the team will grow and so will their will to win.  I hope so because i cannot take the heartbreak any longer.