Last Call

The current recipe for the complex cocktail known as the Timberwolves franchise:

• 1 part hopeful off-season
• 2 months disastrous start
• 1 firing of a head coach
• Mix in demoted VP as new head coach, stir roster, then chill for 13 losses.
• Add in 1 recovering month
• shake franchise vigorously with unlucky injury

And there you have it... you can call this concoction Basketball Brutal. The first taste is pretty bitter, but after you get used to it, you tell yourself with a few tweaks (hold the Shaddy, add some Love), this is going to taste okay.

This is where I belly away from the bar, because unless the mixologist changes, the drink itself will never really change. The proprieters of the franchise consistently try to sell you on what good taste really is (30 wins, low playoff seeds, etc), and suggest you should be thankful for the product. The one year they had a great drink special, it was judged a failure. Go figure.

Well, while not quite the equivalent of a 12 step program, I'm going to go on hiatus for a bit and try to move in a different direction. I'm going to be writing for a site called American Chronicle, and expand my beverage selection. We'll see what happens...

See ya when I see ya.

No Al AND No Defense

REUTERS/Eric Miller (UNITED STATES)

"When you say let's play faster, that seems to be code for "You don't have to play defense.' I'm going to have a find a different way to say it."- Kevin McHale

It was inevitable that the Wolves would mourn the loss of their stud, Jefferson. The reality is however, Al wouldn't helped beat the Raptors, because--just like the other 33 losses they've suffered this season--this team doesn't play defense. Even with the loss of their own legitimate All-Star, Chris Bosh, who's equal or better than Big Al, Toronto won the smallball contest 110-102. A video recap of the game can be found here.

There are times when being stubborn is a good thing; when it's wrapped up in an arrogant vision of how a team--first as a franchise executive, and second as a head coach--should be assembled and play, then it has to be evaluated on it's own merits. Here's the essential flaw in an organization where cronyism is valued over results: there's no one who can apparently step back far enough to parse the details correctly. This team has let one good month go to their heads, because the alternatives apparently are too overwhelming to consider. And now since Al is shelved, they have great cover to stick their heads in the sand, apply for an exemption to grab a couple of D-Leaguers, and play the majority of minutes with no one over 6'9 in their starting lineup. Why? I guess because the Iron Ranger says so, with little to no push back at all, apparently. Here's a guy who has done little right in the last five years, and where--even with Al in the lineup--they are undersized at every position. Even with Al in the lineup, their defense is awful. Now, with Al out of the lineup, what's the solution? Go smaller, play less defense, and try to outscore another admittedly bad team who still is built on an European model, a lot of outside shooters and a couple of post players, when healthly. The mind boggles.

I'm not a huge Kevin Love fan yet, I think it was another draft miscue by the franchise, but the kid knows a lot about team play. It's obvious to even bloggers who are always accused of knowing nothing that if you leave him out on an island with no help or no size, the combination of additional minutes and battling solo against bigger opponents will wear a body down. I thought we wanted to develop the rook! When a broken down Jermaine O'Neal starts toasting you at crunch time, what's to be learned from that? Only that for the rest of the season, if Love remains at the five instead of the four, every big man and their cousin are going to run at him, because he doesn't block shots. They're going to try and get him in foul trouble, or create a consistent help situation where the opposition will just sit on the double team, swing the ball to the open perimeter shot, and score with impunity.

Even Kevlar doesn't offer unlimited protection over a hail of bullets.

Here's hoping for the rest of the season, they can put a bigger body out there to save the lad and actually have him gain some confidence over the last half of the season, because--with no other moves made--it's one of the things this club can do to retain hope the rest of the year. People WANT this kid to succeed. Having Love become another casualty of a mediocre basketball vision doesn't do anyone any good.

The bottom line is, with enough assets assembled for the next couple of years, the Wolves don't have to blow the team up again. But someone, anyone other than Kevin McHale needs to assert themselves into the franchise mix, and add a serious defensive attitude and presence to this club, as well as a little size. That's how real progress is going to be made, and enthusiasm is built, even with your primary offensive stud on the shelf.

Luck

A few weeks back, while the Wolves were racking up wins against teams with injury-depleted rosters, I opined that their luck might finally be turning.

Oops.

Just for information sake, here's a couple of links talking about general ACL surgery:

http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05018.htm (somewhat old)
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/anterior-cruciate-ligament-acl-surgery

We don't know the extent of the injury as of yet, but I think while it might take awhile for Big Al to get back, the odds for him making a full return are good...if he's lucky.

There's that word again.

At the risk of being self-indulgent (I'm not sure there's any other definition for bloggers who write on a continual basis for free), I think Wolves fans are going over a little over the top on this. Al was a top notch offensive marvel on a bad team. Were they improving? Sure, but the goal here was modest: 30 some wins. Much like our economy, before Al's injury, they were going to need another "stimulus" to really make the jump to the next level, because frankly, Kevin Love probably isn't going to be it. He could turn out to be a nice piece on a 8-9 man rotation because the quality traits he does have--passion, fundamentals, and a great basketball IQ--is great for team play. At least we may finally get to see how good he can get in the last half of the year.

However, it was obvious that the club was going to still need major help across the board; Love and Jefferson are/were redundant at power forward. As a result, the Wolves have to depend on what has been their weakest link--personnel management--to pull them out of the doldurms.

Here's what I wrote on 1/24:

"A popular opinion about the Timberwolves franchise was that it is cursed, or unlucky at best. Such awful win-loss records, no #1 choice ever. Stephon Marbury. Tom Gugliotta. Joe Smith. Malik Sealy. Bad draft choices. Poor trades and mediocre free agent acquisitions. The evidence is substantial, when you think about it. While a lot of these results can be square put on the shoulders of human error and bad decision making, one has to consider that SOMETHING supernatural might have affected the franchise's fate up to this time."

Looking back on it, I was being kind. The truth is past the Sealy tragedy and bad ping-pong lottery bounces, you really do make you're own luck in this league. It's not about perfection, it's about the percentages; the ratio of good draft picks, free agent signings and trades to bad, the way talent is developed. The Wolves haven't been very good for years in that aspect; to overcome this unlucky break, they're going to have to significantly improve the ratio of good moves over bad.

In the end, that might just make the entire franchise--and their luck--more successful.

Insult to Injury

Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Okay, losing to Houston on the road isn't the end of the world, in fact it was expected. Against New Orleans however, where the Hornets were missing two starters (Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler), one key reserve (Morris Petersen), and for the second half their other all-star (David West, in his premier as a WWE enforcer), that's insulting. On top of it, Big Al gets hurt.

If Jefferson is on the shelf at all, the fact that the All-Star break (no pun intended) is coming up is indeed fortunate. However, if it's more serious, where substantial healing time is needed, a little lemonade making will be in order. This will be a time where our dear Iron Ranger can have every excuse in the world to adjust his vision and put in a traditionally big lineup--albeit with journeymen-type bigs (Collins, Booth) at the five, and Love, Cardinal, Gomes at the four. This means no more cherry-picked minutes for young Kevin; he can demonstrate how he handles in part the ball running through his meaty hooks.

Folks have to remember that since Randy Wittman got fired, it's not just about restoring hope, it's about saving face. It's about Kevin McHale proving to the world that his version of smaller ball, up-tempo, not quite run and gun, five-guys-who-can-play-despite-their-size basketball can be successful. The dude is former President Bush stubborn. McHale's played his hand; people like Britt Robson in his latest post over at Secrets of the City may be getting annoyed at the fact no veteran big gets off the bench, but this is about proving everyone wrong. That's why he started Craig Smith and Rashad McCants in the first game post-Wittman, and that's why no one over 6-11 is getting in the game. If McCants wasn't such a knucklehead, he'd still be getting minutes. It's all about the Ranger.

Injury can change that, and give McHale the perfect cover for mixing things up.

If it sounds like I'm rooting for Al to be seriously hurt, I'm not. But Love had his half-season of getting used to the league. On an irrevelant team where he was a top five draft pick, he needs to start showing what he's got in ALL types of on-court situations. Similarly, to be able to throw in a big or two at the five in stategic points--setting picks, blocking shots--might just be a revelation for McHale. Given the fact that team has regressed to the point that Jefferson is the only one capable of creating any consistent offense, they'll probably lose "big" as well, but they're back to losing anyway. They know what they have in Jefferson, it's time to see who else can truly step up and play.

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.

10 Seconds of Porn Would Have Been Better

Copyright Notice: 2009 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

During Tuesday's Wolves-Pacers game, I chatted with a NBA League Pass rep, asking them if they had the 10 seconds of porn shown during the Super Bowl. Anything had to be better than what I was watching on FSN. I would have taken even Cinemax soft porn, Showtime's L Word...anything.

Can any of the broadcasters, reporters or bloggers who advocate offense over defense justify a game like this? Does anyone objective still wonder why the Wolves can't consistently beat quality teams? From my Useless Press contacts, I understand even Norm Coleman is demanding a recount of the score...he feels jobbed.

No matter, the Wolves "won"116-111. Randy Foye, awful in the first half, (nine turnovers overall) made a couple of key defensive plays and scored five points in the fourth to secure the win. Secure is a term to be used loosely, because the club suddenly brain-locked late in the fourth and allowed the Pacers a chance to tie the game. TJ Ford, normally a great free throw shooter, bricked the back-end in two consecutive trips to the free throw line to prevent Indiana from extending the contest. I guess they felt the fans had seen enough.

Meanwhile our pro-wrestling television broadcasting equivalent--Jim Petersen and Tom Hanneman--continue to spin to a miniscule audience. Frequently guffawing when Kevin Love grabs a rebound, as if Love just won a tough man competition, Petersen hasn't quite realized that with a half year under the belt, most watchers have developed their opinion of dear, undersized, overweight Kevin. They even are trying to come up with a new nickname--Kevlar--to describe how "rugged" he is. Hanneman marvels what a year Love has had, even though he's only 20. Of course, he neglects to say that most quality college players now only play one or two years of NCAA ball, making them around 20 when they land in the NBA.

For the record, Love was born Sep 7, 1988. Taking a small sampling of those who actually MADE the Rookie Game roster All-Star Weekend, Rose, Westbrook and Lopez were all born in the same calendar year. There are a lot of young'uns making signficant contributions to their club in their rookie year, Tom. Kevin Love is not the baby Jesus, the second coming of Wes Unseld, or even Dennis Rodman. He's an above average rebounder who's at best a mediocre finisher. And, McHale is still cherry picking his minutes, as opposed to the before mentioned rooks who are making noise in the league.

But I guess there has to be some data the Wolves are getting that are telling them their audience is eating this stuff up. If true, it's once again a reminder that stats often don't tell the real story.

For those who really, really must...a video recap of the game can be found here. Here's a hint: Saw V is a classic compared to this.

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?

Homerism in Minnesota

It's time again for another episode of "Minnesota Gets Shafted", where angst-ridden sports fans can vent about the injustices that professional sporting leagues have wreaked on our local franchises.

Today's topic: The NBA All-Star weekend -"LOVE AND JEFFERSON GOT JOBBED!"

Your host: the one, the only, our Chief Vindicator, Jim Petersen...

Nope, I'm not going to mock anyone today. But reading some of the local missives here in the Great Cold North, you'd think the wind chill had gone directly into the bloodstream. On the other hand, I had my first Chuck Norris shot last night, so maybe I'M the one hallucinating.

Did Love deserve the nod? Sure, but I can understand why he didn't make it. As I pointed out last post, it looks like the primary consideration was the quality of minutes played in the first half of the season. Here, actually I'm giving credit to the Wolves organization; they did the right thing by babying Love along. It looks like compared to Marc Gasol--who is older, more experienced and started sooner--Love's stats didn't get the benefit of the doubt. People who say that Love should have gone instead of say, Eric Gordon, aren't paying attention to the idea that probably the NBA doesn't want a roster full of lumbering forwards playing in a showcase exhibition. In the end however, I think the Wolves have no one else to blame but themselves in not letting Love develop on the court. If he continues his progress--and the Iron Ranger actually starts him sometime--he will represent the Sophmores next year, if they decide to actually continue that ridiculous event.

Jefferson, on the other hand, is an offensive, not defensive All-Star. Being that the All-Star game features absolutely no defense, his skills would have certainly been showcased for a nation of basketball fans. But politics, small vs. big market, and won-loss record all factored in when Shaq got the nod instead of Big Al. Don't forget that in the last few years that KG was in Minny, there were calls for him not to make the squad because the Wolves were awful. In that case, the politics and longevity angles worked for us.

So, put down the bias-ridden stats, grab a paper bag and breathe deep. Quit whining. Love and Jefferson were slighted a bit, but not jobbed. As the cliche goes, hopefully they will use it as motivation, since the best team in West is actually showing up for a game tonight.

BTW, how about the Gophs last night? It's amazing how a young team can overachieve when they play great defense...

Wolves Game Prep vs. Pistons

Suffice it to say Pistons rookie head coach Michael Curry will never probably coach a run and gun, Euro-ball team:

"We shoot 50-something percent with five turnovers and 100-plus points and lost the game," Curry said of Sunday's loss to Houston. "What I told them today is: Don't worry about your offensive efficiency numbers. Be in the top five in field goal percentage defense and points allowed and ... you got a chance of being really good in the playoffs."

Of course, he probably won't be coaching the Pistons after this year, if they continue their mediocre season (24-19 overall, 5-8 in January). But it is refreshing to hear from someone who knows the difference between playing well in the regular season and succeeding as a playoff team.

As with the Denver Nuggets, Allen Iverson has not been the Answer for Detroit, although his expiring contract may help in renovating the team in the off-season. I can remember all the folks here in Minny that wanted him so badly...including KG. Looking back on the non-trade, I'm guessing that event was Garnett's initial epiphany that continued success in Minnesota wasn't going to happen.

For the moment, these two franchises are headed in opposite directions, though they may meet at briefly at mediocrity. Check out two Detroit Free Press articles: the current team mid-season grades, and the cyber complaining about the before-mentioned Curry. Hmm...bloggers unhappy with their coach...where have I heard THAT before?

The Wolves have another opportunity to catch a team on the downswing, or it could be Piston revenge for the drubbing a then bad Minnesota team gave them in Detroit back in November. Rasheed Wallace is a barometer for his club; if he's enthusiastic about defending Big Al, the game should be interesting. If not, Minnesota could come up with yet another January win. Detroit gets energy and scoring off their bench with both McDyess and Hamilton, we have no one that really matches up with the way Rip moves without the ball and curls off of screens. Our bench has been better most nights than the opposition, and Kevin Love should be able to continue his rebounding prowess against a underwhelming Pistons front court.

With the Lakers coming to town on Friday, this contest may prove to be a good warm-up to the premier statement game of the month.

Detroit Probable Starters:
Allen Iverson, Rodney Stuckey - Guards
Kwame Brown - Center
Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince - Forwards

Minnesota Probable Starters:
Sebastian Telfair, Randy Foye - Guards
Al Jefferson - Center
Craig Smith, Ryan Gomes - Forwards

Target Center, 7pm
Local TV Broadcast: FSN North
Radio: KFAN-1130

Getting Their Gloat On

Photo by the Associated Press

The Wolves scored 27 points in both the second and third quarter to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 90-83 Monday night. A video recap of the game can be found here. Big Al led the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds; Ryan Gomes played the able and clutch sidekick, scoring 22 points and delivering the knockout blow with a 27 foot, three point shot with 1:46 left to play. The game was primarily won on free throw disparity and the fact Milwaukee tried their best to channel their fallen star Michael Redd in jacking up the three-ball, but only went 1-14 from behind the arc, the Wolves finishing 8-27. Both teams shot poorly (.400) and were content to jump shoot their way to a potential victory, instead, it was the means by which the Bucks lost and Minnesota allowed Milwaukee to make a run in the fourth quarter, scoring only 16 points.

If you watched even a minute of the recent television broadcasts, you can't help but hear five primary themes the last few weeks, repeated ad nauseum:

1. The Wolves have the best record in the NBA since Christmas.
2. Al Jefferson should be an All-Star
3. Kevin Love was a great draft pick.
4. Jim Petersen is always right.
5. Other people don't understand.

Fair enough. Given this team has been bad for so long and have been criticized for so long, a little gloating is in order here...I guess. I mean, the team did have to trade it's Hall of Fame player last year, a potential Rookie of the Year candidate this year, fire a coach and release Randy Foye's latent basketball genes just to get to a point where they could have a dominant month. And, after well over a decade of second chances, Kevin McHale might have found his calling. Call me Pollyanna, but if I was a major player in a franchise with as poor of a track record as this one has had in recent memory, I'd be simply be happy and a bit relieved that the fans have a reason to watch us again. Instead, the team seems happy for only themselves, in a smug, self-serving sort of way, like if all the bad decisions George Bush had made as President had turned out to be good ones.

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that this cursed franchise might finally have found a little luck, because they have played many teams missing some very core players. However, if you think about it another way, this team is finally having some success, in the worst economy in recent history. Even if the fans wanted to come, they may not have the money to plunk down for a ticket. Talk about your luck!

It's just another reason why the club might want to tone it's smugness down a few degrees, and let success--and the product--speak for itself.

Picking on Al

Boy, there has sure been a lot of nitpicking on old Al Jefferson these last few days, particularly over his defense. Yep, it's bad...but on this team there's more than a few bad defenders to pick from. And, with a hefty contract in hand, I'm sure he barely hears the refrain from folks like us, the last fans standing, watching an irrelevant franchise trying to rebuild. Since I have been haranguing broadcast commentators and bloggers alike about their arguments relegating defense to some back pew at the basketball cathedral, let me offer some perspective.

It seems to me that people who could be classified as winners--in any walk of life--mostly share a common trait: the ability to do what is necessary to advance and improve. Defense requires a tough minded outlook, it's hard, and often requires the cooperation of other teammates to do it really well. If that is a true statement, then watching how a team plays defense will reveal more about chemistry and identity than any color commentator can blather on about. Why should I believe a spin-creating, supposed insider who gets "special" access at shootarounds and practices, when I can watch the players perform on the court?

It's been a long time since the Wolves played any meaningful defense. KG was a great defender, but during this franchise's decline, only Trenton Hassell was anything resembling a defensive stopper. In the front court, creaky old Ervin Johnson played fundamentals well enough to compliment Garnett, but that was the exception and not the rule. Now Garnett is raising hell with the Celtics and we only have his replacement--Jefferson--to examine as the club tries to resuscitate the franchise. We love the way Al works down low on offense--as opposed to KG--but really wish he would pass the ball and be at least a more enthusiastic defender. In other words, what we really still want is the perfect Kevin Garnett. That obviously is unreasonable.

In the end it's not about one player, it's how the team accepts the challenge of becoming a winner. So Al's not a great defender; can he take the challenge to improve any shortcoming and show his teammates that he's willing to pay the price? Is Sebastian Telfair or Randy Foye willing to commit themselves to denying penetration on the perimeter? How about Mike Miller? What makes Brian Cardinal such an effective role player is that he takes whatever talent he has and adds heaping portions of hustle on top of it. It's the hustle, the ability to do what's necessary beyond the natural skills of the individual that will make the team better.

One can pick on Al all day long; you wouldn't be wrong, but the team as a whole needs help. This whole argument about whether you need to be top ten in offense or defense first is silly. My point has been that there's been a lot of talk about defense, but the results on-court have been disasterous. Trying to consistently out score NBA teams will only bring you a modicum of success. Seeing your supposed "core" players understand their limitations and accept the challenge to get better in any way possible will to more to put the team in a position to succeed than anything else.

In short, it's the effort to improve fans should be looking for at this point. When the entire team is pretty much chopped liver defensively, picking on one guy doesn't do any good. They all just need to get better.

Po-Town Showdowns

Julianne Viani passes the ball against Tania Kennedy of Saint Peter

Poughkeepsie (Po-Town), NY -

Talk about your victorious double headers: a Marist/Minnesota dynamic duo.

One of the true delights I have in bringing back my daughter to Marist College in Poughkeepsie for another semester is the chance to watch one of the best mid major women's basketball teams in the country, the Marist Red Foxes. Currently ranked 21st in the nation by the AP, this team is a well coached example of how a relatively small school (approx 5,000 students) goes about creating a success program that at times can compete with the majority of bigger, more well known programs. Their burly coach--Brian Giorgis--is a stern tactician that has brought this team to the NCAA tournament the last three years, reaching the Sweet 16 two years ago, and the second round last year.

This team plays the right way--tough defense, passing, exploiting matchups and giving your core players a chance to win the game. Friday night the Foxes pummeled Saint Peter 78-58. Rachele Fitz, currently 10th in the nation in scoring with 21.6 points a game, scored 22 points last night. Redshirt senior guard Julianne Viani added 18 points in a victory that at times had the Red Foxes up by nearly 30. Marist withstood Saint Peter's consistent full court pressure and excuted superbly; though without either Viani or Fitz in the game, the Red Foxes had problems getting into their offense.

Since their conference--the MAAC--only brings one team into the tourney via their tournament, it would be an upset of major proportions that any other team would make it to the women's Big Dance. Keeping Fitz and Viani healthy and on the court is going to be a key, especially if they are fortunate enough to land back into the tournament.

Of course, the other big story was the Wolves 105-103 victory over Phoenix. In a game where the club didn't die when the Suns went on a run to go up by 11 in the third, Minnesota took advantage of Randy Foye's five fourth quarter points, good offensive rebounding, and somewhat clueless play calling by the Suns to secure the victory.

Five players figured prominently in the win--Big Al, Craig Smith, Randy Foye, Kevin Love and Rodney Carney. Jefferson did his usual with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but I thought the real catalyst in the game was Carney, giving the club energy and athleticism off the bench with 17 points. Love's 14 rebounds were also huge, but the reality is that he, Jefferson and Smith are problematic as a playoff ready front court.

Why the Suns--who in the third quarter were having clear success with dumping the ball into either O'Neal or Stoudamire--started their usual jump shooting, getting away from what worked to build the 11 point lead is a head scratcher. Kevin McHale attempted to get Stoudamire in foul trouble by running continual plays for Smith in the third, but Steve Nash was not his normal clutch self in trying to score over the top against Minnesota, shooting only eight times, scoring just six points. Watching the game on NBA League Pass Broadband, Suns broadcasters Gary Bender and Eddie Johnson tried to offer the 4 am arrival time of the Suns back in AZ as a result of their last game against Denver as an excuse, but clearly the Suns let the Wolves off the hook, and to their credit, the Wolves hung around and showed more energy in the fourth quarter, racking up 32 points.

That Minnesota finished off a winning team in a game that was clearly theirs to have is another indication of progress. The Wolves have a long way to go, but this team has rejoined the ranks of watchable teams, and has renewed hope at least in the short term that they are head to somewhere other than oblivion.

All around, it was a fantastic night for basketball.

Heat Stroked

(Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Yep, it's true. The juggernaut known as the Minnesota Timberwolves finally lost a game in 2009, losing to Miami 99-96. It's also true that if Mike Miller (1-7, 4 pts) and Al Jefferson (4-14, 9 pts) had better games, the result might have been different. Truth is a curious animal however, a door that swings both ways. For example, it could very well be true that good teams--especially playing at home and full of confidence--should find a way to win games like this. Unsound fundamentals--bad passes by Love and Telfair with under 3 minutes left, Michael Beasley stealing a rebound off of a free throw with 8 seconds left--helped the Wolves lose this game.

Will the guys learn from their mistakes?

"That's just the way we play now," Foye said. "We get the ball out quick. Obviously, sometimes there will be mistakes. [Wolves coach Kevin McHale] didn't say too much about it because that's the way we play." - Randy Foye, via the StarTribune.

and...

"We're still confident," Wolves forward Rodney Carney said. "We won five in a row. We can start anew." - Rodney Carney, StarTribune

Okey-dokey. Enough said. Let's move on.

I won't get too negative here...as was pointed out in Britt Robson's post today, especially with around 8:49 in the second quarter, we witnessed great ball movement and scoring, a model for how ideally the game of basketball should be played. The Wolves now play with purpose and an emerging identity, dynamics that Kevin McHale can clearly take credit for developing. Did he sabotage or prevent Casey or Wittman from developing those same dynamics? Maybe, but as the cliche goes, I'll give credit where credit is due.

My only caveat here is once again the fan base is too beaten down with the Wolves' incremental improvement to see the familiar warning signs on the frigid horizon. Witness this excerpt from Jerry Zgoda's supporting piece in today's StarTribune, with our Iron Ranger discussing bringing in other players:

"Somebody asked Wolves coach Kevin McHale before Tuesday's game if Minnesota's infamous cold might drive free agents away.

"I can tell you right now, if you go to Detroit, if you go to Chicago, it's cold there, too," McHale said. "If you win, they'll come."

Miami rookie Mario Chalmers, a Timberwolf for about two seconds on draft night, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and he called Tuesday's cold worse -- "Not even close," he said -- than anything he experienced growing up.

"He's crazy," McHale said. "I just saw Fairbanks is minus-45. I don't care, it's cold in Alaska, it's cold in Minnesota, it's cold in Chicago, it's cold all over the Upper Midwest. I don't think that's a big deal."

Here's where an objective sort might go...WTF? We couldn't surround KG with talent when he was here; the one year we did was labeled a "failed experiment". In the history of this franchise, we haven't signed a truly huge free agent. Those are simply the facts; to ignore them, and the person who supposedly gave up his VP slot to coach, would be pretty foolish. It IS cold here, the tax environment is uninviting, and it's a small market where it's harder to get endorsements and visibility for any young knucklehead who thinks he's the next Lebron James. Kevin McHale is repeating the same sort of cluelessness that drove this franchise into the ditch in the first place.

In the same article, a quote from Dwayne Wade:

"It's unbelievable cold," said Heat star Dwyane Wade, a potential marquee free agent in 2010 who will be well out of the Wolves' reach. "It shows me that I love Miami, I know that."

That's a stance you can take to the free agent lottery bank of 2010. Playing better and reaching a 30 win plateau is one thing, developing a true NBA contender is another. I'm all for positivity, but a healthy dose of reality mixed in is the key to true success.

Heavy Mettle

met-tle
–noun
1. courage and fortitude: a man of mettle.
2. disposition or temperament: a man of fine mettle.
—Idiom
3. on one's mettle, in the position of being incited to do one's best. Example: The loss of the first round put him on his mettle to win the match.
Origin:
1575–85

So, as pointed out by my good friends at Canis Hoopus, we have games against Miami and Phoenix this week, a heavier test of the club's basketball mettle. We have, of course, the obligatory MSM story about another in a series of players who got away from the Wolves, one Mario Chalmers, drafted in the second round and traded to the Heat almost immediately. The "explanation" is that we had too many guards around, the team would have had to cut him.

Huh? With an entire offseason to make roster moves, and issues still at point guard regardless of Telfair's signing, they couldn't have held onto him longer? Ah well...there's been plenty of bile expressed about this trade already, so I'm not going to rant, but it's one more reason why McHale had better be a superior head coach--his personnel skills are mediocre at best. And, he's extremely G.W. Bush-like in his refusal to acknowledge his mistakes:

"I really like Mario, we liked him a lot," McHale said, shrugging when asked if he regrets the trade and its timing. "We said we'd trade that pick, and then everything changed. That's the way it is in this business sometimes." - StarTribune.

Enough about the Iron Ranger, let's talk about Miami for a second. At 19-17, the Heat are currently 6th in the Eastern Conference. With a rehabilitated Dwayne Wade at off-guard, pared with Chalmers at the point, this team will be a tougher test for the Wolves, especially considering Randy Foye will be primarily shadowing the gold medalist. Michael Redd ripped the lad on Saturday night; a more athletic Wade will be slashing his way to the basket if Foye can't find a way to stay in front of him.

First round (2nd overall) draft pick Beasley--as mentioned by this morning's Trib story--has yet to find his groove. He's averaging 13.6 PPG, in around 25 minutes per game, shooting nearly 46% from the field. Not game changing by any means, but not "bust" territory either. With other front court members Shawn Marion, Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem and Jamaal Magloire--not to mention the artist formerly known as the second best center in the Western Conference, Mark Blount--the Heat are serviceable, but underwhelming. Our former starting center is not playing much at all with Miami; I'm assuming the only "paint" he patrols are the brightly colored outdoor bar patios of South Beach. Big Al should be able to make a dent against this crew.

It may come down to whether the Wolves can control Wade at all, and make sure their bench perimeter shooters like Chris Quinn and Daequan Cook don't get off easily against Minnesota's defense. The Heat have more athletes than the Wolves; this would also be a perfect game to for Beasley to find himself and blister the Wolves.

A better indication of Minnesota's progress starts tonight. This is where the team's mettle gets tested.

Stuff You Can't Make Up

I've been enjoying the Wolves victories against lower division rivals as much as anyone. Beaten down as this fan base is, the path to 30 victories is as exciting and dramatic as any championship run in recent basketball history, or so it would seem. There are moments though, where you simply have to stop, scratch your head (or other parts of the anatomy), and wonder what reality are people embracing at that moment.

Case in point: Sid's StarTribune column of today, Monday, January 12, and a few of quotes attributed to one Al Jefferson:

"Yeah, it was one of those games that we just had to grind it out," Jefferson said. "Even earlier this year, we would have given up and put our heads down, but we kept fighting. I fouled out, and my teammates stepped up and we got the win.

Okay, no real argument there.

"It's just being dedicated. We knew we had to play defense, and we knew we lost a lot of games that we should have won. I think guys just made up their minds to be dedicated and just go out and play hard and leave it all on the floor and play together, not give up. I think that's what turned it around."

I think delusion is starting to set in. Defense? Is that what you call defense? And more, commenting about "Fourth Quarter Foye":

"[Foye's] defense has been good, and he's been playing like an All-Star right now. His last 10 games, I think he's been averaging like 25 points a game," Jefferson said. "When he's playing the way he's playing, he really takes a lot of pressure off of everybody."

Randy's offense has been decidedly better, but as a defender, there's miles to go before he sleeps, or becomes close to an All-Star. I hear Milwaukee's Michael Redd is petitioning the league to play the majority of his games against Randy.

I wish the Magic/Spurs game played on Sunday would have been on national television, because if one wanted to see how perimeter defense should be played to close out a game, the Magic went to the head of the class. With under 20 seconds left and down by five, 103-98, the Spurs spread the court, in order to free up either Wolves killer Manu Ginobili or Michael Finley for a three ball. The ball was whipping around the perimeter, in order to find an open shot. The Magic contested every touch, and the Spurs ended up shooting two air balls and fouling Jameer Nelson to close out the game, the Magic winning 105-98.

Of course, with Dwight Howard in the middle patrolling the paint, it's easier to extend out to the perimeter, because it's not as necessary to double team an opposing front court stud. This is again why having both Kevin Love and Jefferson playing major minutes together will not be a recipe for playoff success, unless one or both decide to get serious at the defensive end. Sure, they might get to 40 or 45 wins eventually, but another big is going to have to get into the mix, and then the other players will have to hustle to guard the perimeter, much like the Magic did last night, if they want to be considered "contenders".

The first step however, is to not get too delusional about your current success, Mr. Jefferson. You folks have a long way to go.

Cliche Sunday

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

Hmm...I wonder which cliche is most appropriate for the Wolves 106-104 victory last night against the Bucks:

1) It's better to be lucky than good
2) Let's give credit when credit is due
3) You can't argue with success
4) They made a living behind the 3-point arc
5) This team has finally learned how to win

For today's post, these five all fit, but feel free to search for your own. A handy reference site is SportsCliches.com, where you can look at a decent list of frequently used statements to explain your favorite team's victory or loss.

After "holding" the Bucks to 44 points in the second half, the Wolves used the three point shot and a resuscitated Randy Foye to eak out a two point victory against Milwaukee. This came after the Iron Ranger was booted between the first and second quarters, apparently for arguing over Al Jefferson's jump stop travel call late in the first, and a non call on Mike Miller. Watching the game on FSN Wisconsin, I saw McHale yelling at the referees to tell them Al's jump stop was legal, but then switched the channel to track the progress of the Carolina-Arizona NFL playoff upset. By the time I switched back, he was gone.

The Wolves played horrible defense in the first half, letting the Bucks score 60 without breaking any sort of sweat. In the second, Milwaukee started missing a lot of those same shots. It certainly wasn't because of any Minnesota defensive pressure; possibly it was result of playing the second night of a back to back, or the fact that holding onto leads has also been a problem for the Bucks, but 44 points for a half is still decent.

At any rate, when Big Al fouled out with 1:29 left to play, the Bucks inability to take advantage of the moment was a key point late in the game. Luke Ridnour--the last second scoring star of Friday's game against the Nets--missed a seven foot shot with 0:13 left. Michael Redd--who torched Foye all night long with 32 points on 12 of 24 shooting--missed a fall away 10 foot jumper with one second left. So the Bucks had their chances to tie and send the contest into overtime even after giving away the lead. It is at times, better to be lucky than good.

But give credit where credit is due. Minnesota hung in all night after the Bucks took an early lead and didn't show any signs of giving it up, especially in the first half. And, given that the Wolves "stars" were having relatively off nights--Al went 8 for 20 and fouled out with a -10 while playing matador defense the entire night, Foye was 4-12 and couldn't handle Michael Redd at all when playing the off guard possition--the fact that Rodney Carney stepped up with 4 three pointers, can't be overlooked. For once, instead of complaining about the Wolves lack of perimeter defense, the club was able to make a living behind the 3 point arc.

Again, even those their opponents have been relatively soft, you can't argue with success. At the lower, junior varsity levels of the NBA, the Wolves are beating who they're supposed to beat, and re-establishing some hope that in a season that was thought to be totally lost, progress can still be made. Until they start playing better defense, add a real starting point guard and can mix in more size in their front court, thinking this team could in a year or two contend for the playoffs is still a great stretch. But they are finally learning how to win, and that's a huge compliment for a team I've enjoyed mocking the last few years.

No question about it.

P.S. - I thought the FSN Wisconsin broadcasting team was a tad better than ours as well. Less spin, more analysis. Kudos to those gents, Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin.

Love vs. Lopez vs. Mayo

There are some things people won't let go of. Norm Coleman isn't giving up the thought of being senator. President Bush's aides believe Americans will judge him favorably after, say, 100 years or so. Bill Maher hates religion and loves marijuana. Garrison Keillor will always be above-average.

For the Wolves and their so-called player development, up until one Kevin Love came to town, bloggers and fans were still spending a fair amount of time hating the draft day trade of a couple of years ago, when Brandon Roy was sent packing for one Randy Foye. That one has been a clear mismatch from the beginning; even after one year it was easy to proclaim that the Blazers got the better of the deal. As you know over the summer we had another such deal--this time with Memphis-- moving one OJ Mayo and a couple of bad contracts (Jaric, Walker) for Love, Mike Miller and one particularly bad contract (Brian Cardinal). For the record, Greg Buckner and Jason Collins were also swapped, but the main focus here was acquiring Love and Miller, as well as dumping those contracts.

Those that loved the trade--the good folks at Canis Hoopus, for example--called it highway robbery. One of their esteemed bloggers went so far to rather amazingly say he would have picked Love straight up with no strings attached. For that comment, he has a special place in the Kevin McHale/Jim Petersen personnel hall of fame. Those that disliked the Love pick--Patrick Reusse comes to mind--continue to rip the Wolves, and in one particularly premature column, Love himself. When OJ came to town last month in the Wolves first win against the Grizz, Reusse couldn't resist pining for young Mayo.

The deal has given Minnesota fans (what's left of them) a renewed sense of controversy and debate, as if the recent political campaigns weren't enough. Tuesday night, as the Wolves were winning their third straight--once again our Memphis trade partners were the victim, 94-87-- gave yet another opportunity to prove SOMEONE right or wrong.

It didn't happen.

Randy Foye was the star, playing clutch in the last few minutes of the game and for the night had 23 points. Mayo led his team with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists; Love had a quiet game with 6 points and 7 rebounds. The reality is that both Minnesota and Memphis are still bad teams, and it's going to be hard to proclaim a winner unless one of these clubs breaks from the pack with either Love or Mayo helping to lead the unwashed out of the wilderness. Mayo is clearly the more skilled and advanced player right now, Love is the monster rebounder and decent passer who is struggling in every other aspect of his game. Until Memphis has a stronger front court, and can play a stronger "inside-out" game, the Grizz aren't going anywhere. Until the Wolves develop consistency with someone else other than Al Jefferson on offense, and can play at least better team defense, winning against mediocre to bad teams is the best they can hope for.

With the current winning streak, it certainly can be argued that this is the Minnesota team we expected coming out of the gate. The Wolves tempo, ball movement, and offensive execution are much better under the Iron Ranger than under Wittman. For the fans sake, this is a positive development. However, proponents of smallball or run and gun play have no sense of NBA history...whatsoever. Since Minnesota's bar is so low currently, smallball WILL be an improvement, if the talent is there. But not unlike a recent political controversy, it's a bridge leading to nowhere. Spending all this time, talent and effort just to taste a playoff slot is illogical, on the verge of dysfunctional. It represents a fan base so beaten down with failure, that ANY improvement is met with a gush of hope and optimism, facts be dammed.

Based on those conclusions, I say again-- although very prematurely--that right now the better pick for the Wolves last summer would have been Brook Lopez, not Mayo or Love. He's rebounding better than Love, and like Mayo, has been able to break into the starting lineup and continue the Nets transformation they started with the trading of Jason Kidd last year and Richard Jefferson over the summer. With Devin Harris at PG and Lopez at the five, you have youth, speed, and size to build upon--whatever they decide to do with the overrated Vince Carter.

That's a better balanced approach, from both a personnel and an on-court perspective.

New Year's Revolution

Yesterday was a tough day for winning NBA teams. Both the Wizards and Knicks beat the Cavs and Celtics respectively, and the Grizz did what the Wolves couldn't do, hold on in the second half and beat the Mavs. Now, since we beat both New York and Memphis, does that mean we're better than the Celtics and Mavs? Of course not. Following a similar line of logic, does the fact we've won two straight against bad teams represent a corner turned?

If you believe that, there's a job in Norm Coleman's Senate office waiting for you. As we keep hearing ad naseum from just about everyone in the NBA, it's a long season. The great teams aren't always going to be great, and the bad clubs...well, they HAVE to play other bad clubs sometime. To their credit, Minnesota beat bad teams missing at least one or more of their core players. For the Warriors, it was Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette. For the Bulls, it was Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, and Drew Gooden.

However, you just KNOW what will be spinning for the next couple of week from our favorite broadcast propagandists--Tom Hanneman and Jim Petersen. They'll be talking about all the naysayers who think the franchise is moribund and think Kevin McHale is an idiot. Petersen will in particular talk about how--based on his "inside" access--hard they work day after day, and just how good a teacher McHale really is. They'll talk about the energy and enthusiasm of the club now that they're believing in themselves again, confidence being everything. And, maybe as they did with Mike Miller during his recent injury outage, they'll spend a couple of second quarters talking about pheasant hunting and parenting. As was reported by the Useless Press a few weeks back, Roger Ailes of Fox News is looking for someone to go head to head with Rachel Maddow of MSNBC in the 8pm (Central Time) slot. Petersen, like every other conservative broadcaster alive in the world today, can never admit he's wrong, thus making him the perfect candidate for the position. I'm not sure he'd give up the Lynx assistant coaching gig for that job, but he should get an audition. He'd be perfect in that role.

Which leads me to my New Year's Revolution...maybe the first of many.

Exactly why are all NBA teams paying for television broadcasters?

Given the Wolves meager television ratings, it seems like money poured down a rabbit hole. Last summer, the Olympics had multiple basketball games simulcast, but only the lead game was broadcast by the NBC crew. All the other games had television feeds and real arena atmospherics, no talking heads at all. Simple inserts and pop-ups would give the audience stats, keep the score up-to-date, and should even allow analysis from the fans as well as an "expert", instead of those god-awful, softball, text messages Petersen and Hanneman field night after night (Example: Is Craig Smith too small to play power forward? Petersen: Great question!) It seems to me that in this digital, high definition age innovation should rule the day.

Think about it. A true interactive broadcast, with divergent points of view and little spin. Kind of like Britt's blog and Canis Hoopus, in hi-def. The mind boggles.

Vivacissimo Minnesota

Grandmaster Starbury in the TC House Friday

According to Wikipedia, "tempo (Italian for 'time, movement') is the speed or pace of a given piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece." Friday night, the Wolves played at a Vivacissimo (very fast and lively) rate, out running Nellie's Warriors, 115-108. A video recap of the game can be found here.

The political spin has reached the player roster; according to the Associated Press, Randy Foye mentioned that “we’re just happy to get one game, no matter three out of the last five.” Well...okay, the club is playing a better brand of ball, and is showing that it can kind of keep it together against bad teams. Let's give "Coach" McHale kudos for that, straight up. They are--for the moment--taking teams they should beat. Two clubs they have recently vanquished--the Knicks and Warriors--play absolutely no defense whatsoever, but a win is win right? Especially at 7-25, the second worst record in the league, and after a humiliating, team worst collapse against a decent, but not great, Dallas team. Put in the same situation, I'd be telling whoever wanted to listen that the franchise glass is a quarter full as well.

Everyone played fast last night; the Wolves shot 90 times vs. 80 for the Warriors, so even though their FG percentage was worse than Golden State's, the fact they were able to hit three more baskets (41 vs. 38) and five more free throws (25 vs. 30) offset the Warriors slightly better percentage from behind the three point arc (7-20 vs. 3-13). Al Jefferson attacked the rim much quicker than usual and was very decisive against Andris Biedrins, who out of all Nellie's roster is probably their best interior defender and shot blocker. In 40 minutes of play, Al went a dominant 11-22, with an excellent 10 for 10 in free throws, for 32 points and 10 rebounds, a superb +14 for the night. Starters Ryan Gomes, Randy Foye and Kevin Love off the bench also had great support for the big guy, with 21, 17, and 19 points respectively. Foye, playing off guard, had 7 assists, while Gomes and Love helped Al clean the glass with 18 rebounds between them--10 for Ryan, and 8 for Kevin.

The Wolves also showed some defense in stretches...but not a lot. There's not any great individual defenders on this roster, but team defense is more about effort, and the club showed it was interested in playing both ways from time to time. Given the Warriors shot a respectable .475 for the game, it was the decision to up tempo the game, stop GS just enough and create more scoring opportunities that allowed the Wolves to finish out their "masterpiece" successfully.

With Chicago coming in tonight, where do we go from here? Unfortunately, the Wolves can't schedule a competition against one of the premier high school teams coming to play today before the NBA tilt; they are still in basketball purgatory, not good enough to beat winning teams, but now starting to show life against losing teams. The fan attendance--especially in this economy--is getting worse by the moment, especially against teams like the Warriors and Grizz. They have one player(Jefferson) who can consistently play huge on the offensive end; everyone else is kinda-sorta, depending on the team and matchups. Kevin Love plays big against smaller, weaker opponents, but plays terribly small against bigger, stronger players. Randy Foye can't run an offense, but from the two guard position, keeps the ball moving and has a decent assist total. Gomes--as always--shows flashes of energy, but when the game gets tense against teams that can ratchet up their defense, simply disappears.

And, incredibly enough, "Coach" McHale is starting a 35 year old journeyman at the point, for a little on-court leadership. How's that for developing a roster?

Actually, this seems to be all about face-saving rather than rebuilding. Eak out some wins, prove that you're not the worst team in the league, and demonstrate that there are at least a couple of players who can contribute to a roster. With a better managed cap and draft choices...we'll see what happens. Play up tempo, try and entertain the rubes, and we'll go from there.

Not a great orchestration for the future, on any scale.

I'm Punch Drunk, So Hold the Mayo...

Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Tim Heitman/NBAE via Getty Images)

One of the saddest sights I've seen in sports history was when champion boxer Larry Holmes pummeled an aged, over the hill Muhammad Ali in the corner of the ring, pleading for the referee to stop the contest in Ali's very last fight. It was one of those situations where an athlete was way past his prime, but either needed the money or couldn't admit to himself that he no longer was the greatest. I kind of felt that way about "Coach" Kevin McHale last night against the Mavs, as they literally imploded in front of our eyes and blew a 29 point lead, losing 107-100. There was the Iron Ranger as the meltdown continued, windmilling his arms like a baseball third base coach waving a runner home, trying--as he put it in the post game press conference--to restore pace in their game, and get back, get back to where they once belonged.

Who said this guy could coach?

Kevin, it's over. Much like Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker in the 1970's, who had to lead a small contingent of Republicans to the White House and tell Richard Nixon he could no longer be President, someone in the Wolves organization needs to man up here and be the one to walk up to McHale and tell him to leave. This doesn't mean he's not a great basketball mind, or that he wasn't a great player, or that he's not a loving father, or a superior hunter, or tall, or funny, or walks with a limp, but this guy is not a coach of a rebuilding team that one day could be contenders.

The response from the in-denial Timberwolves organization of course is that last night was weird, one of those days. The team was on a back-to-back game, with an overtime victory last night against the Grizz. Without Brandon Roy, the Blazers beat the Celtics. On Lebron's birthday, the Cavs lost to the Heat. The Israelis and Hamas are still fighting in Gaza.

Whatever.

From not calling enough time outs when the levee started breaking, to not making the adjustment of getting Craig Smith--who couldn't guard the taller Nowitzki if his life depended on it-- out of the game, to not getting Kevin Ollie or anyone to put a body or clamp down on Jason Terry as he was torching the club, McHale simply doesn't look into the coaching thing at all. He looks tired, spent, lost. Kind of like Ali did.

Mr. Taylor, throw in the towel and stop the fight.

Now, a quick word or two about the Grizz win:

My jet lag wasn't kicking in as of then, so I bothered to watch the Grizz and Wolves duke it out in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft Third Pick Superiority Bowl. The Wolves won it 108-98 in OT, with Big Al going for 38 points and 16 rebounds. The "real" story of course, is how OJ Mayo and Kevin Love did, given the draft day trade that swapped their franchise uniforms. Both did well, although Love's points (17, with 7 rebounds, and a +8 for the evening) were a bit of misnomer; Memphis had longer players guarding him (Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick), but no one bigger and stronger who could block his shot straight up, or prevent him from getting into position on the block. As we saw last night against the Mavs, guarded by folks like DeSagana Diop, Love was back to his poor shooting ways, not being able to hit the baby hook or shoot from the outside. Still, the fact that Love was able to hit outside shots and that pretty little jump hook repeatedly gave some insight into how the lug COULD play eventually. Mayo was also good (23 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists); late in the fourth tried to take over the game with seven straight points, but in the overtime session no one from the Grizz could hit their deep three pointers consistently and Al was simply dominant, scoring 7 points in the extra frame.

Columnists, bloggers and fans have been taking up the OJ vs. Love theme ever since the trade. Patrick Reusse wrote about Mayo yesterday morning; he's clearly on record about who got the better of the deal. For most other folks, the worse the Wolves were and the more Love struggled resulted in posts about how many points Mayo scored on a given night, and how once again the Wolves screwed up a major draft choice. I maintain that this is a false premise; that this whole situation isn't solely about OJ vs. Mayo.

Truth be told, right now it isn't Mayo that would have had the biggest impact for us in the draft, it's...(drumroll please) New Jersey Net and Stanford center Brook Lopez! Monday, the broadcast comedy duo of Petersen and Hanneman made a big deal about how Love is leading the rookies in rebounding, but overall Lopez is tied with Love at 7.8 rebounds a game, and is also scoring nearly 10 points (47.1 FG%) and blocking 2 shots in around 28 minutes per contest. Considering how small the Wolves front line is, a 7 foot, 260 pound functional center along with Big Al would have given the club a solid front court to build from. Mayo's a scorer, but considering the real gems in the draft were considered to be Rose and/or Beasley, everyone else was a "wait and see" pick, even at number three.

Again, truth be told, I didn't think the lumbering Lopez would be a great pick at #3; Petersen actually blocked one of shots in his pre-draft visit here to Minny; that in my book was the kiss of death right there. I also didn't like the way he moved up and down the court. But I was clearly wrong, this guy--not Love, not Mayo--would have been the right choice to make stand alone at pick three, or in this case, trade down a few slots, pick up another draft choice or some cash, and get his services there. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?