After Further Review...

The first game is history.

After suffering through the initial hype of Taylor.org selling us on how exciting this season will be, the results weren't all that different from the last few years. Mental toughness and fourth quarter finishing are tough to develop and even harder to trade for, one year of Sam Cassell notwithstanding.

There were good signs though; low turnovers and decent interior defense from time to time, for example. I think it's a reality that the referees--treating us like most rookies entering the league--are not going to give us the benefit of the doubt, even at home. Respect will have to be earned. That will make it even harder to successfully finish out close games in the 4th. There will be little room for error, and given the early tendencies of our club, there will be only a few opportunities to take teams out; when it happens we must aggressively seize them. Otherwise, it's expansion team comparisons for the year, no matter what Jerry Zgoda says.

One thought however...is it any wonder that since the primary selling point of the KG trade has been Al Jefferson, after repeated missives from the Iron Ranger about how good Big Al is, and signing him to an major extension, that teams would actually pay attention and double/triple team him the entire game? Until the Wolves can develop better dribble penetration, ball movement and feed other low post options, it's jump shots in the 4th, baby. Teams will be naturally forcing other players to beat them. The disparity in free throws between the Nuggets and Wolves demonstrates this point. The ability to get to the stripe to stay in the game, and then take over in the 4th is textbook road winning procedure. The Wolves are still skimming the primer...or should I say perimeter?

Having said all that, seeing what Sebastian Telfair can do for the club while Foye is out is extremely valuable. Jaric may whine about wanting yet ANOTHER (sorry Mr. Robson, for using capital letters for effect) chance, but being able to evaluate whether or not you potentially want to be adding another big (see Hibbert/Georgetown) or hunt for still yet a true point guard for next year is important. Seeing Telfair play today in NY should be very interesting. Let's hope it brings back fond memories of his high school exploits.

However, the Knicks will rebound from their opening loss to the Cavs, and win by at least 10. I'd love for the club to prove me wrong. Put it this way...we're still doing better than the Bulls. How disappointed Chicago must be in their season start! (Sorry again, Britt, for the use of exclamation points)