Blue Wednesday

Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Looks like I picked the wrong day to watch Minnesota basketball. Both the Gophers and Wolves went down to defeat; the Gopher game was over in about the first three or four minutes, the Wolves took another disjointed, awful game and made it close until the end, losing 94-86. You can watch a video recap of the Wolves game here...it's safe to watch this one.

Even though Minnesota shot like they were charter members of a bricklayer's union (.364 for the game), this game was more entertaining than the Indiana contest, and was filled with subplots. We had the starting of Kevin Love, the resurgence of Mike Miller's outside shooting, and the return of Rashad McCants.

I'll be up front: I'm not a McCants fan. There are continual apologists out there who still try to sell the fact that at the time of their drafting, McCants and Indiana'a Granger was a pick-em game. I don't think that's true, but even if it was, passing up someone with size and shooting ability over someone much smaller and who had already been exposed as "mercurial" emotionally while still in college was a bad idea from the get-go. As I remember, Dick Vitale was the only one who stood up for McCants on draft night. That sealed the deal for me right there.

Having said all that, I'd rather see someone with Rashad's talent on the court; there must be a coach somewhere who can get that knucklehead to play the right way...consistently. Then again, JR Rider is out of the league, isn't he?

Rashad's appearance was an indicator that some proverbial walls had been hit. It's been offered that the Wolves were pooped after playing their third game in four nights, but it's more obvious that for whatever reason, the poor shooting of Sebastian Telfair was the primary explanation for a McCants sighting. As much as Telfair's shooting enhanced the effectiveness of the Hawks' zone defense and propelled Rashad into the line-up, it also meant Randy Foye had to play point guard in the fourth quarter, in a primarily half-court game. This is increasingly becoming the kiss of death for Minnesota. If the game is a free flowing, run 'n gun affair, that's one thing, but in the half-court with the game on the line...we need another point guard. Execution in the half-court against winning teams is one of the next indicators of progress for this club; finding someone in the off-season who can run the team and shoot for a higher percentage is crucial.

Love's starting appearance was a result of Craig Smith being hurt, still, in slightly over 30 minutes of play, the excuse NOT to play him at clutch time in the fourth quarter was officially because Atlanta went small. Here again...with as many shots as the Wolves were missing, and being the fact that night after night we hear endlessly about his rebounding ability, couldn't we have used that skill, and made someone adjust to US? Gomes was having a terrible night. When will the defacto third pick overall in the last NBA draft be given a chance--like all the other top rookies--to expand his game, particularly on an extremely mediocre basketball team? It's not like anyone is making a playoff run here. Set Love free!

With road dates in Houston and New Orleans coming up, the Wolves may be tarnishing their recent success a bit until after the All Star game, where they get to play Toronto and Washington. The dog days of the season are quickly coming upon us, it will be fascinating to see how the Wolves keep their mojo alive, in search of a 30 win season, and McHale's future potentially hanging in the balance.