Avoiding complete disaster
by Stop-n-Pop on Mar 31, 2010 10:37 PM CDT
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PrintNo franchise record losing streak, no league-high losing streak, no 0-for-March, no chance at tying the league's all-time worst record by losing out for the season. With their first win in 36 days the Wolves avoided all sorts of super embarrassments in an already embarrassing season. Can an actual victory be a moral victory too? It sure seemed like it.
The game started out with one of the most entertaining quarters of the year. It was back and forth action with solid shooting, good ball movement, and almost zero stoppages. It also featured some of Jonny Flynn's best play in a Wolves uniform. Flynn's secret? He realized his meal tickets are the big guys down low. He also seemed to be more concerned about setting up his teammates. In one of the best catches of the year, the TV crew isolated a play where Flynn kicked the ball out to Ryan Gomes for an foot jump shot. What was remarkable about the play was that Gomes had to be yelled at by Flynn to take the shot...a shot that Gomes just happens to be very, very good at (he's one of the best shooters from 15-23 feet in the league). Long story short, Flynn was getting the ball where it needed to go and he was vocal in directing traffic.
Unfortunately, after the wonderful first quarter he reverted to someone who gets paid by the dribble. Jonny Flomax was in full effect for the better part of the game. That being written, I suppose a baby step here and there is worth noting and his play in the 1st was right up there with anything that Ramon Sessions has done all year long.
The story of the game was Darko Milicic and Al Jefferson. The duo controlled the paint on both ends of the court, clogging things up and making it hard for the Kings' best player to do what he does best: get to the rim. Evans managed 20 points on 18 shots with only 7 trips to the line. Milicic and Al also combined for 16-25 from the floor with 10 blocks and 17 rebounds at the other end of the court.
Not too much else to say about tonight's game. It was entertaining and nice to see but something else caught my eye during the commercial breaks. I had never really paid attention to the David Kahn commercials with the moving sketches before. During one of them, Kahn made the claim that the team would be competing for a championship in 3-4 years. That reminded me of Kevin McHale's claim that the 2007/08 Wolves would be 42-40 in 2008/09. No further comment except this:
At 22-60 the Wolves are a .268 club with a fairly good chance of improving their record in the 2008-09 season. Unfortunately for the Iron Ranger, a 20 win improvement is nearly out of the question.
The probability of a 25-30% club improving their record in the following year is a hefty 73%. With a high draft pick and a full season of Al Jefferson and Randy Foye, the Wolves should be able to, at the very least, match their paltry victory total in 2007-08. Just how much they will improve is the question. The expected change in winning % for a 25-30% club is 9%, or about 7-8 wins (30-52 is a .366%). (Source: Basketball on Paper by Dean Oliver; p.111.)
In order to get to an even .500 (which is just below McHale's lofty projection), the Wolves would have to increase their winning percentage by an amazing 23.2%.
...
Needless to say, there aren't too many teams in the history of the league to sport such numbers right before a massive turnaround. The closest example I could find is the 97-98 Spurs…or, as the event is otherwise known as, When Duncan Came to Town. Barring the introduction of a historic, game changing rookie, there is nothing in the Wolves stats, roster or schedule to suggest that they are in any way, shape, or form capable of running off an additional 20 wins in the 2008-09 season. Unfortunately, as I have been saying for some time, the sudden appearance of Basketball Jesus appears to be a large part of the Blueprint. And then something magical happened...
Just to give you an idea of how rare a 20 game turnaround is, the 2003-04 Nuggets won 26 more games than the previous season, ending up with a 43-39 record. The reason why? They added Andre Miller, Carmelo Anthony, and Marcus Camby. This is the 8th greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history. (Jason Kidd and the Nets had an equal turnaround in the 2000-01 season.) The 72 win Bulls are also on this list, improving by 25 games from the year before.
The biggest turnaround in NBA history is the Boston Celtics' 36-game KG-fueled championship run (from 24 games to 60). That's pretty outrageous and if the Wolves were able to manage...well, let's not get crazy. Let's give them something still out-of-the-ordinary but not completely over the top (but very close to it). How about the Nugget turnaround? It's similar to what I think most Wolves fans would like to see: a stud draft pick + 2 starting additions. Were the Wolves to improve by 26 games next year, they're still a .500 team. It is far more likely that they improve in a slow incremental fashion (a'la Atlanta) for 3-5 years before they are ready to compete for a 1st round home court advantage.
One of the little drawings in one of the Kahn commercials was a pressure cooker. That's about right. Kahn and his front office is pitching a bill of goods to the team's fans that is so above and beyond the norm that it falls somewhere in between a curiosity and outright farce. Compete for a playoff spot in a year, compete for a championship in 3-4. That's what we've heard lately from Chris Wright and David Kahn. I think the Wolves are in a position to do some very good things this off-season. Really good things. The kicker is that I have no idea whether Kahn can execute on this excellent position. How do we get from this point to taking a pitch that is nearly without precedent seriously? If it happens, it is because of the great rule of NBA general managing: anything significantly above average is all about luck.
Anywho, I hope everyone enjoyed the victory. Until later.
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All starters had at least 3 assists
Al and Darko combine for 10 blocks, and Corey scores 10 points in 2 minutes flat.
This game was an anomaly, but hey, a win’s a win
You missed a big one
Sasha shot better than 50%. The same Sasha whose FG% + 3FG% + FT% is threatening to add up to less than 1.
"I'm not even mad, that's amazing"
.995 right now.
I think its a foregone conclusion.
Dark Love is a-Brewin...
Disagree to an extent
The Wolves won despite the Kings shooting 64% from 3 and the Wolves coughing up 19 turnovers. They played sloppily and the Kings were sharp in enough areas that they could’ve won. Their shooting was definitely an anomaly, though. They had more fight in them than normal.
by pagingstanleyroberts on Apr 1, 2010 5:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Darko
I’m officially buying a Darko jersey. I’m going to customize it so it says Darko on the back instead of Milicic. I’m hoping Darko makes like Nene / Yao & goes the one name route. It’s the key to his stardom.
by Jumping to Pass on Mar 31, 2010 10:59 PM CDT reply actions
Two items
In the past, some people thought Al and Love could be C and PF. I think we now agree this isn’t going to work. However, could a Darko, AL, Love front court actually be successful. There would be some bad match-ups, but could it work against the majority of the league? Darko definitely seems to make a difference, shockingly. I’ll admit, my first reaction to the trade was, WTF…until I read why Rambis and Kahn thought it was worth a shot.
Other item…let’s shoot for a 10-15 game improvement next season. That will probably be in the 27-32 win range. Of course my preference is to be just bad enough to land one more pick before giving one to the Clippers. If they can find a way to 40 wins without sacrificing the future, that works for me, just not sure how it happens.
Sure it could work
Contrary to the accusations leveled at me by a certain, ahem, retired Canis Hoopus poster, I’m not a Kevin Love homer any more than I am an Al Jefferson homer. I’ve always wanted for the Wolves to find a way to add a third big man to make them all work in a rotation. If Darko is capable of being that guy, great.
It sounds like Jim Peterson is on board with this plan, too. He went on a tangent about how he likes the idea of using these three exclusively as a three big man rotation. Now if we can just put together a system that doesn’t marginalize their talents and magnify their weaknesses…
That rotation has looked good enough in spite of lingering injuries to Al & Love and Darko being out of shape to warrant a run next year.
This team isn’t in a position to downgrade talent for roster balance (thinking about Al or Love trades). If you can trade Al or Love in a way that upgrades starting-quality players, so be it. Otherwise, draft and free agency to round out the 1-3.
I’m not sure there is a place for Pekovic though. I agree with Peterson that 4 post players is too many if you have guys who can play. If Darko comes back, best to package Pekovic in the offseason.
My concern is that none of these three is athletic in the Josh Smith, Amare, Odom PF mold so we’ll constantly run into match-up problems. I’d rather see either Al or Love go and bring in Favors as that third big man.
by TWolvesFanInLA on Mar 31, 2010 11:51 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm praying that Hassan Whiteside falls to #17.
His strengths:
-shot-blocking
-athleticism
-lateral quickness
-mid-range shooting
Granted, he’s rawer (rawr!) than most high school players at everything else, but a 6’11" guy with those attributes would be perfect. As long as he’s not Ryan Hollins.
he has some major attitude problems though
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x879456100/Landon-Whiteside-lets-down-in-the-CIT
A question for ya all
I swear in the last 10 games or so that I have seen Darko make about five awesome, long passes to wide open guys for three pointers, and each one has been missed (lost assists). Have you guys noticed this..they are nice, crisp, good vision passes? I think if the Wolves find a sharp shooter this summer Darko will be even more effective.
the Al / Love / Darko Combo
could work. They’ve had a few games where all 3 had double doubles. Darko fits next to both & when Al & Love are only paired for limited minutes they can create some mismatches.
I would prefer to deal Al for an expiring + a lotto pick. then sign TMR. Roll with Darko / Love / TMR front court.
by Jumping to Pass on Mar 31, 2010 11:30 PM CDT reply actions
Darko
I watched a little bit of the postgame show (I didn’t get to watch the whole game, just the last minute or so. Darn you classes!). They said Darko’s hook shot was a big reason why the Wolves won.
I would love to see Darko develop as a star here in Minnesota.
Brewer’s got my vote with his awesome steal and dunk at the end to solidify our win. MIP indeed!
Now we can go into Canis Hoopus Night on a WINNING streak! Woot!
Ski-U-Mah!
by CrazyCollegian on Mar 31, 2010 11:32 PM CDT reply actions
Darko's hook shot
Not sure how I feel about them pumping him full of confidence in that shot. It seems like he shoots it flat and frontrims it a good 70% of the time. David Thorpe had an insightful comment in an ESPN chat this week. He said that he thinks Darko’s confidence has been battered for so long that it’s as if he’s forgotten how to attack the basket. If he were coaching him, he’d have him dunking 100 times a day in practice.
Right. Darko’a drawn a foul on only 3.7% of his attempts since he’s joined the Wolves. Holy Marc Blount, Batman! He’s going to need to…what, quadruple?, triple at least?…that rate before he’d be a viable starter. The question is, is this a skill that can be developed, or is it more of a hardwire tendency? Big Al’s only about an 11% draw-foul guy, so when you run those two out there, the Wolves are too soft offensively in the post. Kevin Love’s good at drawing fouls, but is there enough of a post presence offensively when Love’s out there with Darko? If Darko’s hitting his shots like he was last night (while making some major leaps in his aggressiveness), then probably. But that seems TBD, to put it mildly.
We all know there are some things to really like about Darko’s potential to be the 3rd wheel Jefferson and love need up front: his “true center” size, he’s a fluid athlete for his size, he’s an adept rim protector, he can pass. And while Darko should be better on the boards than he his given his tools, that’s not too big a deal on this team as Love and Al are excellent rebounders.
in the end, my opinion is Darko’s a big step up from the Ryan Hollins’s of the World, but unless he gets much meaner, I think a Al/Love/Darko frontcourt will always have a sum-less-than-its-parts feel to it.
I think a part of this is mentality.
For nearly his entire NBA career, Darko has been reeling due to expectations, lack of playing time, lack of development time, lack of any sort of consistency. I think you can easily see that uncertainty in his game. I would be very surprised that an off and camp with drills working on aggressive moves, dunking and work with Laimbeer, didn’t result in a more aggressive and confident game.
I don’t think he’ll be an top tier center, but he could be a very solid center for a good team.
by Krotz the Wall on Apr 1, 2010 8:43 AM CDT up reply actions
Prediction
Wolves will finally get the #1 pick… neither Wall or Turner will enter the draft due to there teams being so close to the final 4.
That being said, WE WON!
Every single player on the fence is at least going to test the waters
With a lockout looming, this will be a great draft to have 3 first round picks.
Over on ESPN...
…they had the McDonald’s HS game in Columbus with Turner in the stands talking on camera about how great the two OSU recruits in the game looked. They were 6’7" and 6’9" wingmen with amazing athleticism…you know, exactly the type of player OSU needed against Tennessee and I don’t think that point was lost on Turner.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
How great a job is Thad Motta doing at that football school? I mean, given the NCAA game, you always need a little skepticism, because you never know. Maybe he has 12 lavish harems behind a secret rotating wall in the OSU lockeroom. But short of that, he’s the poster child right now for those huge schools that want to poach a smaller program coach.
he's killing it..
…if he could have kept one of his 7 footers in the last 3 years they would have been tough to deal with this season. Oden, Koufos, or Mullens…just one of them would have completely changed that team this year.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Imagine how much better the Wolves would have done
if they would have played Hollins!
R. Hollins DNP – Coach’s Decision
Hey you clowns
I’m back from celebrating Passover with the family, which mainly involves eating a ton of food fried in schmaltz (Yiddish for chicken fat). Did ya miss me?
Having scrolled through the threads from the past few days, my main reaction is: we need some news in the worst way.
Welcome back!
Just in time as we fans were suffering some serious tsuris here at CH. Eric seems like a real Jewish name. Perhaps you’re the Walter Sobchak of Canis Hoopus?
"Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have." Steven Wright
Thoughts
I had some better seats for this game (still wondering why there wasn’t more demand for a March 31 Kings-Wolves matchup with 70 degree-weather outside). Anyway…
- Tyreke Evans looks like a linebacker. A lot like Rodney Stuckey. He’s incredibly right-handed, but it doesn’t seem to limit him very much. Although, Brewer did a good job of playing his right hand down the stretch. When he goes left, he’s looking to pass. Looks to score when going right. Very tough player.
- Darko plays better when he’s a little upset. Not “okay, you asked for it, I’m going to tear off this jersey (literally) and start trash-talking this ref’s family” upset, but when his opponent gets a little physical with him, he asserts himself and goes hard to the basket. When his opponent backs off, he’s totally comfortable just waiting for someone to pass to. If he ever gets in shape, we might have ourselves an all around good center.
- Jefferson is still slow, but at least he’s backing off his man now. He let Landry take semi-contested jumpers (which he often made) instead of getting torched to the bucket every time, which has happened a lot recently.
- Enjoyed watching Love and Brockman battle underneath. In a game with such bad teams, it was impressive to see that type of chippiness and spirit. Love started rebounding like a maniac when Brockman started with the dirty stuff.
- Flynn isn’t a point guard — at least not yet. That realization is setting in for me. He can’t run the pick & roll (never uses the screen properly and usually has something close to a turnover) and he can’t feed the post. Well, those are pretty important skills for a point guard. I hope he learns them someday.
- Brewer is a big game, big moment player. I’ve always thought he played his best in close games. Whether it’s a 3/4 court heave to force OT in Houston, driving hard and
drawing a foul on KGlosing the ball against the Celtics, or shutting down the Kings in the final minutes of last night’s game, the guy has another gear when the game is on the line.
- Nice post-game interview with Darko. Fans cheered loud for him when he said he liked it in Minnesota.
+1000
“He can’t run the pick & roll (never uses the screen properly and usually has something close to a turnover) "
I don’t do the +1 thing, but this deserves it. I thought I was the only one who had seen this, given how so many people say he’s a great p&r point guard just being misused in the triangle.
Jonny is about the most likeable guy on the team, and I’d love for him to succeed…and I’d also move him for just about anything at this point. I suspect if we don’t we’ll just end up not picking up his quite expensive option in a couple years. I’ve said it before, but the list of 6’ or shorter scoring guards who’ve made a mark in the modern nba is countable on your thumbs.
Agree mostly
But aside from a couple key plays, I don’t see Brewer as a crunch time player. Set aside the couple of blown plays that cost the TWolves games this season. His “crunch-time” stats on 82games are incriminating. It could easily be small sample size (how many games are the Wolves within 5 pts in the final 5 minutes?) but Brewer eFG% in those situations is 0.329, with an eFG% of 0.260 for jumpshots. That is wickedly bad, and combined with his 6 assists vs 4 passing turnovers and 3 ball handling turnovers suggests that you really don’t want Corey handling the ball for you in crunch situations. At least not this season.
I did like watching Love play mad much more than seeing him play dejected. I wish he could have gotten a bit more burn while he was fuming.
Glad for the win.
I credit maynholup. The first quarter was a lot of fun.
As for possible increases in wins next year, I just don’t know. I certainly think that a Denver like turnaround is possible. The one mitigating factor here is PG play. Are we starting with a new PG, like Wall, who will have his ups and downs. Are we hoping that somehow Flynn develops into a real PG. Do we give Sessions a try? I really think the difference between a 10 to 15 win increase and a 25 win increase will come down to better PG play (not to mention better defense from the PG).
25 win Increase doesn't seem too difficult...
If you believe, like I do, that we had the talent THIS YEAR to win between 27 and 33 games. The issue all year long has been Rambis’ inability/unwillingness to play our best players.
I think we'll improve significantly
only if there are at least 2 new starters on next year’s team compared to the squad that took the floor last night. Drafting Wall and pairing with current wings and front court won’t do it. Neither will drafting Turner and pairing with Flynn, Brewer, Al, and Darko. Even with an improved bench via draft or FA it’s not a good enough team. If we draft a big who backs up or replaces one of our productive bigs it’s even more bleak.
Personally, I’d like to see 4 new starters, 1 from the draft, 1 from FA and 2 from some combination of trade or Rambis altering the depth chart.
How many new starters does anyone else expect next year, and how many are seen as necessary for improvement?
3-4
I’m pretty sure that’s almost the stated goal at this point. I’m not sure how many impact players stay on the bench and they have said 3-4 new impact players are the goal.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Apparently a minimum of one
I’m not sure how many impact players stay on the bench
"He's always got something brewin"
I can’t believe it took a cheesy MIP campaign before this came around!
Dark Love is a-Brewin...
A few comments from the stands
last night.
Rambis is not going to be a championship level coach. I have 2 major concerns leading to this:
1 – The truly level championship coaches seems to have a 6th sense about them – knowning just exactly when the tide is turning – before it actually happens! They anticipate to create favorable situations (and to avoid unfavorable ones). Rambis is a reactionary coach – not all that unlike Flip. He just follows the textbook – on timeouts, player subs, etc. His “play who is playing well” philosophy almost costs us the game last night leaving his “energy” catalyst – Brewer – on the bench for 12+ minutes because others (Sasha / Ellington) were playing so well – right up through a 16-2 run that got them back into the game. Some will say this is just Rambis inexperience showing through. May be. But I have always felt that the championship coaches anticipated and made those moves earlier in their careers. Just don’t see any signs with Rambis.
2 – For a club focused on player development as our key MISSION statement, we have a roster full of players who are playing, in general, far worse now, than at the beginning of the season. Brewer for sure has improved – part injury recover but certainly he is adapting well to the coaching. Big Al, for sure too, though I see that improvement more as being gained from return to form than anything he is being coached to do differently. A free pass on Darko – too late in the season. So, who else is improving? Love? Sessions? Gomes? Flynn? Frankly, not seeing it. Go down the bench further. Wilkins? Hollins? Sasha? I would honestly say regression here.
Considering the overall talent level is low (I think everyone, including the Twolves staff agrees with that statement), should we not have expected to see some improvement? I mean, for some of these guys, there should be some pretty quick upsides. Not that they are going to be developed in 1 year into the next LeBron. But should we not see at least a few develop into solid role players? Even if that means – they come off the bench 2x per game and grab us 6 rebounds type of role players.
I have watched 20+ games in person and another 25+ on cable/league pass. I am just not seeing it. Which makes me very nervous about the future. From my perspective, we are always going to be forced to rebuild from the draft (thank God Kahn finally realized this!!), so player development is the key. But I am not seeing it. Is anyone?
Perhaps
if you change your view of player development, or rather the roles some of these guys arguably should be being groomed for.
So, has Jonny Flynn improved as a starter? Maybe, but that’s grasping at small quarter at a time deviations from the norm. Jonny as a backup/instant offense? I have to think all this experience will be extremely valuable in creating a better bench player. Hollins has shown improvement, sort of, but he’s just such a flawed player I don’t think it really matters. I think Jawai has a chance in the next couple years to be a nice 4th big man.
What’s interesting is that many of the names you listed – Love, Sessions, Gomes, Wilkins, Hollins, Sasha – are all veteran players. Are we really expecting Gomes, Wilkins, and Sasha to suddenly improve after 4-6 years in the league? It raises the question for me about what I thought Kahn meant by player improvement – I had always thought it applied to only young players – the Sessions type and younger – and not veterans like Gomes or Wilkens. But maybe I’m wrong about that.
"Thankfully, they are not straw-colored brain bats."
How are Love and Sessions veteran players?
Unless your definition of veteran simply means not a rookie anymore. I hope you don’t think that Love and Sessions are incapable of any more improvement because they’ve been in the league for more than a season.
That's kind of my point
Whenever I heard about ‘player development’ I always imagined it targeted three groups of players:
1) young guys up through about their third season or so (rooks through the Sessions/Love/Brewer type players)
2) ‘stars’ with one or two flaws to their game (Al, ahem, playing defense or passing) – basically specifically targeting one deficiency and not their entire game
3) ‘flier’ guys – the Jawai’s, Hollins’, and even the Henk Norel’s and yes, Darko’s, of the world – guys who are raw, flawed, or for some other reason haven’t really shown or been given a good chance to show what they can do. Most will flame out, but if one or two stick around and become useful, well that’s good for us.
The rest are just bench players and role players – guys who fill out a team and are there precisely to do what they do – guys like Gomes, Sasha, and Wilkens. Of the three development groups, you hope guys from group 1 become group 2 guys. The group two guys are the pillars of your team. The group 3 guys you hope become the useful role/bench players.
"Thankfully, they are not straw-colored brain bats."
Lack of improvement has been the great disappointment this season
Not just in individual players, but the squad as a whole. Considering how healthy we stayed and the type of continuity we’ve had at certain positions (for example, Flynn and Brewer starting), it is very troubling to see how we regressed in the latter part of the season.
by Rascal Flatts on Apr 1, 2010 10:43 AM CDT up reply actions
I share your concerns
it is just incredibly difficult to evaluate Rambis this year. It will be easier to evaluate him as a coach once the only goal is winning. But I hope that Kahn is keeping an eye on Rambis and that he does not exercise too much patience.
As I’ve said before, OKC did not hesitate to fire their head coach in his second season removed from being an assistant on a championship team from a great organization.
See my fanpost
but Taylor just said that basically this year wasn’t about winning at all (tanking), but that next year the pressure will be on both Kahn and Rambis to produce.
"Thankfully, they are not straw-colored brain bats."
Yeah, but OKC's head coach
was PJ Carlesimo. I don’t think he was hired to be part of a winning program, more of just a way to kill enthusiasm for the team in Seattle.
Mismatch
I’m so used to the Wolves countering or working with the mismatches our opponents throw at us. For once, Al and Darko created a mismatch for the opposing team that Wesphal had to counter. Loved it. Al and Darko played great together last night.
by Mac of the MIAC on Apr 1, 2010 10:33 AM CDT reply actions
Al on defense
Anyone else notice the nice AL quote about defense?
“One thing I have to realize: We play well when I play great defense,” Jefferson said. “That’s what’s going to win a lot of games for us.” (from Star Trib)
Perhaps he’s dropped lines like this before and not followed through. But if this is an actual realization and efforts flows from this realization…that would be nice. (although somewhat troubling in the tardiness of its arrival) Al has got to bring it on defense. If he does not bring it on defense the whole Love, Al, Darko thing does not work. That doesn’t mean that Jefferson is shipped out, but an AL that scores but can’t play defense needs better defenders around him in the post.
Now, of course, we can argue but Al’s assessment of his defensive performance as “great.”
Ya
I don’t understand why this is still a dawning realization for Al. It’s been out there pretty much since the time he was traded here.
"Thankfully, they are not straw-colored brain bats."
The comment seemed odd to me as well
Although I guess if he’s just realizing the fact and wants to do something about it, maybe it’s a good sign.
Jefferson plays lazy
I’m not sure if it’s always been the case, and I doubt he is really lazy, since I think he works hard on aspects of his game, but I watch him and I don’t see him put in any real effort for the most part until the ball is in his hands. I base this on three areas he seems lacking that are really mostly about effort.
1. Defense. It’s been beaten to death, but if the official scorer could award baskets due to “defensive indifference” the way they do stolen bases in baseball, Jefferson would be a real stat stuffer.
2. Screens. Typically Jefferson will leave this to anyone else on the court, but when he goes out there to set a ball screen, he gives it the most prefunctory, half-assed attempt. Then, after whiffing on the man he’s trying to pick off I don’t think he typically aggressively rolls to the hoop. It may be my perception, but he doesn’t really look to get the ball on the move, and I assume he likes to receive the ball with his back to the bucket.
3. Posting up. Yes, he’s active when he receives the ball, but he really never fights for position. He’s much more interested in actuially receiving the ball than getting it in an advantageous position, so he’ll keep giving up ground in order to encourage the entry pass, which is the opposite of how it works. Typically, he’ll end up getting the ball way out of the paint, requiring much more manuevering to get into his hot zone. That or he’ll settle for the 15 foot jumper at that point.
I really never see Jefferson fighting for anything on the basketball court. But if you see it differently, feel free to make your case.
Agreed on all counts
Point # 1 made me laugh so loud, my nearby coworkers all popped up their heads like whack-a-mole. AND I left my hammer at home.
Great points
I agree on all counts. And at this point in his career, we shouldn’t expect any of these areas to improve much.
by Rascal Flatts on Apr 1, 2010 6:18 PM CDT up reply actions
"One thing I have to realize: We play well when I play great defense,"
The I guess judging by the Wolves record, Big AA, you seldom play great defense.
That San Antonio Season
Was both the day that Duncan came to town AND when David Robinson returned after sitting most of the season with an injury.
Pining for a Troy Hudson/Marko Jaric backcourt.
you are correct, sir
they definitely went nuts with that duo.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
btw..
…i think the denver turnaround is essentially kahn’s plan.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
At least it provides an interesting roadmap
Just going off of bball-ref (and so I don’t know who got traded or released or anything, if that happened at all)…
in 2002-2003 Denver finished 7th in the Midwest at 17-65 (a bad offensive team but a good defensive one)
in 2003-2004 Denver finished 6th in the Midwest at 43-39 (a good offensive and defensive team who lost to us in the first round)
In ‘02-’03 their core was Juwan Howard, Nene, and some filler (including a youngish Marcus Camby, Mark Blount, Chris Anderson, James Posey, and others – none of whom did much to help them win. Two of Camby’s three worst seasons came in his first two years in Denver before he took off following the departure of Howard and the arrival of Melo). At different points of the season 7 different rookies found minutes, 4 second year players, and 2 third year players – more than half of the players on the roster were third year players or younger, including a third of the roster being rookies.
In ‘03-’04, then, they landed Melo and did some housekeeping. Juwan Howard was shipped out or let go allowing Camby and Nene to flourish. Their guard play had been absolutely atrocious, headlined by Shammond Williams and Junior Harrington, and so they brought in Andre Miller, Earl Boykins, and Voshon Lenard to shore things up. Instead of the two pillars of the team being Howard and Nene (as it was the previous year), Nuggets found collective success through Miller, Camby, Melo, Nene, Boykins, and Lenard.
While not a perfect, there is a bit of a surface and philosophical resemblance between us and them. Consider:
in ‘02-’03 the team was built around interior players (Howard, Nene, Camby, Skita, Anderson) but had terrible guard play (and threw a lot of young guys at the position). Despite the depth of talent in bigs, none of those guys has ever proven to be a foundational type player-
Howard – 26.1 Usg, 16.6 FGA/36
Al Jeff – 24.6 Usg, 16.8 FGA/36
Nene – 17.0 Usg, 9.9 FGA/36
Darko – 14.9 Usg, 10.2 FGA/36
Camby – 19.9 Usg, 13.3 FGA/36
Love – 22.5 Usg, 13.7 FGA/36
Changing the identity of the team to be about Melo forced them to part with some good, productive players but also allowed them to reap the benefits of other players in better roles. Camby did better, Nene did better, Chris Anderson did better. Darko fits Camby’s role and abilities in just about every aspect except for rebounding. This is offset by whoever is kept between Al/Love (who’s rebounding is superior to Nene’s any day of the week). Al/Love are a little better offensively (though slightly less efficient) than Nene, who is the superior defender. The biggest addition for Denver could be argued to be through subtraction – instead of your best three bigs being the offense of the team and jacking up 31.3 FGA/game in ‘02-’03, you have your three best bigs as primarily defenders/rebounders/shot blockers and attempting only 18.7 FGA/game. That 12.6 fewer shots per game coming from inside represents a HUGE philosophical shift, one I hope the Wolves are willing to commit to next year, be it Turner, Granger, or Wall.
This isn’t about whether Al’s a good player or not, or whether Juwan Howard was a good player. It’s about how sometimes moving players out of certain roles (carrying the offense, for example) into other roles (defense and rebounding) after acquiring a perimeter scoring star can pay huge dividends down the line (26 more wins for Denver). Granted the guard play must be significantly improved from this year, but with Rubio waiting we are looking solid there for the future. I still think we must bring in a solid, Terry Porter-type vet to mentor Flynn and/or Sessions, and to provide some consistency during those parts of games where we suck inexplicably for 10 minutes – a guy like (off the top of my head) Mike Miller or Jason Williams (not saying those guys exactly, just trying to illustrate a point).
In ‘02-’03 Denver’s inside trio accounted for 36.8 points per game (or 43.7% of the team’s total) and they won 17 games. In ‘03-’04 their top inside trio accounted for 13 fewer points per game (23.8 – or 24.5% of the team’s total) but won 26 more games.
Our top trio scores 39.4 points per game (40% of our points), and we’re hopeful to win 17 this year. Kinda similar, eh? Please please please Rambis/Kahn – fundamentally change the identity of this team this off-season!
"Thankfully, they are not straw-colored brain bats."
by biggity2bit on Apr 1, 2010 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Also..
..i think the market/weather thing is similar.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Luck in the lotto +
2-3 new starters via trade/free agency.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Targets would be
For matching salaries with Al at positions we need – Granger, Deng, and who else?
For crafty vet PG – ????
Draft – Turner or Wall
What are people’s thoughts on Josh Childress?
"Thankfully, they are not straw-colored brain bats."
I’d completely overpay for Granger as in Al, Flynn and Brewer for Granger and TJ Ford’s contract.
The crafty veteran PG? Maybe he’s already on the roster? Sessions actually has a somewhat comparable game to Andre Miller in that neither are great shooters and make their living getting into the lane. I know I’m not alone in thinking that Sessions has gotten a bad roll this year.
Turner would fit more with a Carmelo type impact.
Josh Childress: Depending on how much, he’d be a great addition. Good length/defense. Efficient offensively.
I'm a huge Josh Childress fan
mostly because he is super efficient. I gotta believe playing in Europe has expanded his game to a degree too.
by Rascal Flatts on Apr 1, 2010 6:20 PM CDT up reply actions
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