Scrimmage Saturday Night

Sometimes, you just have to see--in the words of the immortal Marvin Gaye--what's goin' on. Traveling down to the Target Center to watch the new club practice without KG has absolutely a different feel to it. My impressions? A lot of bodies, instruction, whistles and semi-dinged players. This team right now is a bunch of guys all trying to make the "big difference" at the same time. The coaching staff drilled the boys on making extra passes...I'm not sure Gerald Green could even spell the word pass. But then again it is four letters, so maybe there's hope after all.

Other thoughts:

Al Jefferson is pretty good. How good is a huge question mark, and it will be a test of the point guards on this team to understand the asset they have. Players with low post skills like AJ tend to make the game easier on offense, and more consistent. One major problem with the Wolves in the last few years was their inability to score during large stretches of the game. When you have a jump shooting team that doesn't share the ball particularly well, what happens is that players have to work very hard individually to get buckets, or in the case of Ricky Davis, shoot quickly before the defense hardens. If the shots fall, great, but more often than not, especially in the fourth quarter, the shots stop falling and the other team makes a successful run to victory. Having quality low post scoring is like having the ace pitching stopper in baseball; a guy who can get a bucket when you need it and stop the other team's momentum. I think AJ can be that guy, but it's a mindset the team has to adopt, and they have a way to go to get there.

It's unfortunate Juwan Howard couldn't stay on this club. I think having a veteran presence of him, Walker, Doleac and Buckner on this team would have paid major dividends. Moving Jaric off the team, and acquiring a veteran third point guard for this club would have been the perfect scenario to help "grow" this club into respectability. As it is however, I'm going to give Walker the benefit of the doubt. He did not look terribly out of shape to me, and as he himself said, it looks like he's got a lot left in the tank. His contribution--either negative or positive--will be one of the keys to progress this year.

I also like the fact the Wolves have two dedicated centers available to them. Michael Doleac is not a whiz around the basket and runs like Herman Munster up and down the court, but although they lost KG, their low post presence overall is potentially better than anytime in the Wolves history. Of course, that's not saying much; it's kind of like saying Mark Blount was the best center in Wolves history to date...ouch! A lot will depend on how healthy Theo Ratliff stays. AJ will be playing a lot of center this year, so Smith, Gomes and Walker will see a lot of minutes at power forward, but the Wolves have a lot of versatility to play either big or small with this group.

Point guard play will also loom large for this club. Can either Foye or Telfair run the team and share the rock? It's pretty clear that Jaric's days as a major contributor should be over if he can't improve his assist to turnover ratio. As I mentioned before, one primary reason for the amount of turnovers on this club is because everyone is trying to make plays, and not letting the game come to them. The pecking order and team identity haven't been established as of yet, which the point guard position affects so drastically. Both Foye and Telfair have some skills; whether it's the type of skills that can provide stability and discipline to their attack remains to be seen.

So, who's gonna be the fourth quarter stud for the club? Your candidates are: AJ, Foye, McCants and--as a distant fourth--possibly Walker. Of course, given the fact they'll be down by 20 in many of the games this year by the 4th Q, this point may be moot. In terms of developing a team identity however, it is very important.

All in all, it will be tough to sit through a season of getting hammered, much like the expansion years. It's easy to continue to lambaste the Iron Ranger and Taylor.org for the job they've done mishandling the team over the last few years. However, if you're going to blow up the team, he's done what he has needed to do; it's the ultimate wait-and-see adventure now. Instead of being instantly negative, it's time to breathe deep and see what this group can bring us. In the end, it may not be as bad as I think it will be. I also think by the end of the season Boston fans will be asking why their new super hero KG isn't better in the clutch.

Time will tell.