See How They Can Lose

Both the MSM and alternative media are going pretty soft on the Wolves right now. The StarTrib's Souhan literally gushes about Big Al and takes another shot at KG. Britt Robson is more detailed and substantiated, offering that Randy Wittman is doing a good job of getting the Wolves ready to start the game, not mentioning the job he did the last three quarters. Okay, they're looking for positives, evaluating rationally...it's a long season after all.

Whatever.

In last night's loss, it wasn't anything that Wittman did, it was Orlando who let up and allowed the Wolves back into the game, as opposed to the coach "wanting the game". The Wolves announcers were throwing their hands up in resignation when Lewis was draining clutch threes, but how about a defensive adjustment, maybe even attempting to deny him the ball, or run the gent through a couple of hard picks at the other end? How about picking up Arroyo closer to half court and applying some on ball pressure? That's smash mouth, intense basketball, not the sort of namby-pamby stuff we've seen so far.

I'll agree with Wittman's take on playing better straight up defense and being more aggressive, but when the only bitching you hear from the Wolves section is the VP a few rows up, it's Casey's disease all over again. How about the coach getting a little intense and leading by example? Please, at least a technical or two...throw in a good cheap shot at Dan Crawford, telling him all bets are off now, he can go back to calling the game. Respect comes not only from aggressiveness, but letting the refs know YOU know what's going on here--the same old crap entry level teams get in this league.

Losing is contagious; you have to fight with every weapon you have in your arsenal to make sure you're not irrelevant by December, developing team or not. Until that little spurt in the fourth, why should the fans who attended the game come back?

Maybe Sweetwater Jones should have been activated for the game. He's got a little fight in him.