Rock, Meet Hard Place

Would McHale be this friendly with the opposition if it were Phil Jackson?

Photo by the AP, 2009-02-01

Okay Wolves fans, lets review the last three games:

Game 1 vs. Detroit. Unable to execute in the half court offensively with Randy Foye primarily at the point in the fourth quarter, or guard Rasheed Wallace either down low or behind the arc. They lose.

Game 2 vs. Lakers - Unable to outscore one of the top offensive teams in basketball, or stop the appropriately sized Andrew Bynum at center (Kobe's always a given). They lose again.

Game 3 vs. Boston - Unable to out rebound or compete with oneof the top defensive teams in basketball, even when the Celtics lost their intensity in the second half. They lose once more.

Three losses against one above average and two upper echelon teams. What does that say about this roster?

In the short term, not much. Kevin McHale has succeeded in putting this team back in alignment with expectations for this year, somewhere in the mid 30 win column, give or take a couple of games. Barring a total collapse or another January type month, they have restored some sembalance of hope. Who cares if they can't win against championship or playoff caliber teams, that will come later...right?

Rock, meet Hard Place.

It's pretty obvious to any objective viewer that the Wolves have neither the size or the defensive acumen right now to compete against the "bigs" in the league. The hope seems to be that one day in the near future, Love and Jefferson will channel the late 70's duo of Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes and restore the club to relevance. I was in my late teens at the time, but I seem to remember there was a ton of pot smoking in the league back in that day as well. So, as the Wolves gravitate toward mediocrity, the haze in the room only gets thicker, the vision gets blurred. It will harder and harder for the franchise to realize that a more sure way of re-emerging as a contender is to add front court size and skill, and commit themselves to defense.

Meanwhile, Al puts up big numbers offensively, gets excited a bit on defense when the game is close (but only for a time), and Love's starting to yap at the referees more. This will be entertaining for awhile, but for how long?