Timberwolves in Mexico City, Has Their Shooting Touch Been Hiding There?

Good morning everybody. It was a fun holiday weekend (for me, anyway). For the Wolves, eh. Getting that road win in Dallas was important, and I thought they played fairly well in Oklahoma City, but what are you going to do when Durant won't miss?

Thanks for your patience with the limited posting schedule over the last week; it's tough to keep up while travelling (and drinking).

Also thanks to Tim for keeping things going. We should be back on a more regular (whatever that is) schedule starting today.

The Wolves are in Mexico City trying to grow its brand outside the U.S., which doesn't make Rick Adelman happy, but Glen Taylor likes it.

They will face the 15-3 Spurs tomorrow night before what is expected to be a sellout crowd. The Spurs three losses have been to the Blazers, Thunder, and Rockets, though the latter two have been within the last week.

Meanwhile, the Wolves have fallen into something of a familiar pattern, in which they are collecting losses despite frequently winning three of the four factors. This happened against the Thunder, in which they won Oreb%, TO%, and FT/FGA, but lost because they got out shot from the field. We saw this a lot last season, and are seeing it again this year.

They are dominating three of the four factors on the season, but getting badly hurt in the most important one. Opponents are once again out shooting them from behind the arc, at 38% to 33%, and from 2 point range as well. We expected this to be a problem defensively--they would force turnovers and rebound well and not foul, but give up a high shooting percentage--all of which has happened. We were hoping that they would shoot better themselves, but it's been a rough go so far as they are 23rd in efg%.

Amazingly, they remain in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating, and have a pythagorean record of 12-7. Variance and bad luck suck, especially when we are on a decade long run of crap.

Today in History:

• 1621: Galileo invents telescope
• 1847: Frederick Douglass publishes first edition of "North Star"
• 1947 Streetcar Named Desire (T. Williams) premieres in New York
• 1966: U.S. performs underground nuclear test in Mississippi
• 1979: 11 trampled to death at Who concert in Cincinnati

Today's musical birthday is rocker and reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne, who was born in 1948

This is an open thread. Let's talk.