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Wolves-Kings game wrap: one down, eighty-one to go

I'd like to spend a little more time on this but the game thread is rapidly approaching critical mass and family will soon be demanding my attention, so here goes.

Random crab from off the top of my head ...

  • I'm certain that 100 years from now, parents and grandparents will still be regaling children with stories of the glorious 82-0 revolution of '12-13, including the story of the season opening victory over the Kings, which would have of course have to be titled "The little steam-powered engine that could" in honor of the valiant performances rendered by the people's heroes, J.J. Barea and Greg Stiemsma . Super-double A-plus grades for both.
  • Show of hands, who can name the last Wolves team that could take the court without its two best players and still be expected to win more often than not? How about the last time we had a reasonably well-balanced roster? Or the last time we had a team with this much depth and talent? Or the last time we had a functional mix of veterans and youth? Or the last time we had a team with this much basketball IQ? Or the last time we had a coach capable of rolling with the punches and adapting to changed and less than ideal circumstances? If your answers were: Never; 04-05; 04-05; 03-04; Never; and, Never ... have a cigar.
  • Pektropolis can wait. Tough night for Pek. Scored his first field goal with only four minutes left in the game. Even still, his presence on the floor forced Sacramento to double him, which created open shots for other Wolves who mostly missed those shots, which happens to be the next bit of random crab on the list.
  • Tough shooting night for many Wolves. Uncharacteristically bad for Budinger and Pek in particular. Hopefully it was uncharacteristically bad for Roy as well, who otherwise looked pretty good (I did not know that "shooting guards" were also allowed to make plays for others, thanks Brandon!). Williams had bad shooting numbers too, and I'm not sure Schved even drew iron on any of the three shots he took, not surprised ... I expect his shooting will be a bit of a rollercoaster ride.
  • Good kitty. BAD kitty! ... Derrick Williams had a very nice first quarter. I was even a little impressed. But this is not my first rodeo. As it so happens, Derrick Williams' return to the lineup late in the second quarter and at the beginning of the third quarter included some HArr-ribble (he said in his best Boston accent) basketball by the uncaged lion and coincided with a huge run by the Kings (a 24 point swing I think?).
  • Happy anniversary! The Wolves played and lost their first regular season NBA game to the Seattle-not-Thunder 23 years ago tomorrow -- a mere 6 days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Only two NBA franchises (LAC and MEM) that have played enough seasons to count have compiled a worse overall winning percentage.

That's it. Have at it. Thanks for being here.

SNP UPDATE WITH BR BOXSCORE:

Sacramento Kings (0-2)

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Basic Box Score Statistics
Starters MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Jason Thompson 33:31 4 10 .400 0 0 2 2 1.000 4 3 7 2 1 2 0 4 10
Tyreke Evans 29:35 3 14 .214 0 1 .000 0 0 2 5 7 4 1 0 2 4 6
Isaiah Thomas 25:45 7 13 .538 3 7 .429 3 4 .750 0 2 2 2 0 0 2 5 20
DeMarcus Cousins 25:19 5 13 .385 0 0 1 1 1.000 0 4 4 0 0 0 1 5 11
James Johnson 20:45 2 5 .400 0 0 1 2 .500 1 5 6 2 2 0 2 3 5
Reserves MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Marcus Thornton 27:39 6 13 .462 0 4 .000 3 3 1.000 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 15
Chuck Hayes 20:09 1 3 .333 0 0 1 2 .500 3 8 11 2 0 1 1 3 3
Francisco Garcia 15:20 0 3 .000 0 1 .000 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0
Jimmer Fredette 15:06 3 5 .600 0 1 .000 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 6
Thomas Robinson 11:35 0 1 .000 0 0 2 2 1.000 0 4 4 0 2 0 1 2 2
Travis Outlaw 8:07 1 4 .250 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 2
Aaron Brooks 7:09 0 5 .000 0 2 .000 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Team Totals 240 32 89 .360 3 16 .188 13 16 .813 11 32 43 17 7 4 11 34 80

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Advanced Box Score Statistics
Starters MP TS% eFG% ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% ORtg DRtg
Jason Thompson 33:31 .460 .400 12.2 8.8 10.4 10.9 1.6 4.1 0.0 14.6 114 101
Tyreke Evans 29:35 .214 .214 6.9 16.6 11.8 23.9 1.8 0.0 12.5 24.3 56 99
Isaiah Thomas 25:45 .678 .654 0.0 7.6 3.9 19.7 0.0 0.0 11.9 29.2 119 107
DeMarcus Cousins 25:19 .409 .385 0.0 15.5 7.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.9 25.6 79 103
James Johnson 20:45 .425 .400 4.9 23.6 14.5 16.9 5.0 0.0 25.4 17.0 76 89
Reserves MP TS% eFG% ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% ORtg DRtg
Marcus Thornton 27:39 .524 .462 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 23.2 114 111
Chuck Hayes 20:09 .387 .333 15.2 38.9 27.3 16.1 0.0 3.4 20.5 10.9 94 89
Francisco Garcia 15:20 .000 .000 6.7 0.0 3.3 0.0 3.4 0.0 0.0 8.8 20 104
Jimmer Fredette 15:06 .600 .600 0.0 6.5 3.3 14.2 0.0 0.0 28.6 20.8 83 108
Thomas Robinson 11:35 .532 .000 0.0 33.8 17.3 0.0 9.0 0.0 34.7 11.1 75 75
Travis Outlaw 8:07 .250 .250 0.0 0.0 0.0 22.7 0.0 8.4 0.0 22.1 65 106
Aaron Brooks 7:09 .000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 21.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 31.4 10 111
Team Totals 240 .416 .376 23.4 65.3 44.8 53.1 7.6 5.5 10.3 100.0 86.9 99.9

Minnesota Timberwolves (1-0)

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Basic Box Score Statistics
Starters MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Nikola Pekovic 31:49 2 8 .250 0 0 5 8 .625 3 2 5 0 0 1 1 2 9
Andrei Kirilenko 30:36 4 7 .571 0 0 2 3 .667 2 5 7 5 0 1 2 0 10
Brandon Roy 30:14 4 14 .286 0 5 .000 2 4 .500 2 3 5 6 1 0 1 0 10
Derrick Williams 21:10 3 12 .250 0 1 .000 2 4 .500 4 3 7 0 0 1 0 1 8
Luke Ridnour 20:29 4 7 .571 1 2 .500 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 1 2 2 9
Reserves MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Jose Barea 27:31 6 11 .545 1 2 .500 8 8 1.000 1 3 4 5 1 0 1 1 21
Dante Cunningham 25:28 3 6 .500 0 0 1 2 .500 1 8 9 0 0 0 1 5 7
Chase Budinger 21:29 3 12 .250 0 5 .000 3 3 1.000 2 3 5 0 0 1 2 1 9
Greg Stiemsma 16:11 3 7 .429 0 0 3 4 .750 2 5 7 0 1 4 0 3 9
Alexey Shved 15:03 0 3 .000 0 2 .000 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
Team Totals 240 32 87 .368 2 17 .118 26 36 .722 17 36 53 17 4 10 11 17 92

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Advanced Box Score Statistics
Starters MP TS% eFG% ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% ORtg DRtg
Nikola Pekovic 31:49 .391 .250 9.2 6.4 7.9 0.0 0.0 2.1 8.0 16.6 92 94
Andrei Kirilenko 30:36 .601 .571 6.4 16.7 11.4 30.5 0.0 2.1 19.4 14.2 115 90
Brandon Roy 30:14 .317 .286 6.5 10.1 8.3 37.1 1.7 0.0 6.0 23.4 87 90
Derrick Williams 21:10 .291 .250 18.5 14.5 16.5 0.0 0.0 3.1 0.0 27.4 82 90
Luke Ridnour 20:29 .643 .643 0.0 15.0 7.3 10.4 2.5 3.2 22.2 18.5 99 84
Reserves MP TS% eFG% ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% USG% ORtg DRtg
Jose Barea 27:31 .723 .591 3.6 11.1 7.3 40.5 1.9 0.0 6.4 23.8 154 90
Dante Cunningham 25:28 .509 .500 3.8 32.1 17.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 12.7 13.0 97 86
Chase Budinger 21:29 .338 .250 9.1 14.3 11.6 0.0 0.0 3.1 13.1 30.1 74 90
Greg Stiemsma 16:11 .514 .429 12.1 31.6 21.6 0.0 3.2 16.3 0.0 22.8 123 66
Alexey Shved 15:03 .000 .000 0.0 6.8 3.3 0.0 0.0 4.4 25.0 11.2 0 92
Team Totals 240 .447 .379 34.7 76.6 55.2 53.1 4.3 14.3 9.7 100.0 99.9 86.9
Officials: Curtis Blair, Sean Corbin, Tom Washington
Attendance: 19,356
Time of Game: 2:17