The Rake Magazine

Regular Season Game #72, Home Game #35: Miami 92, Minnesota 77

1. The Fab Five Strike Again

The Timberwolves were being blown off the court by the supposedly aged Miami Heat. In the space of 67 whirlwind seconds, the Heat had stolen passes, leaked out on Minnesota's missed shots, and just generally hustled themselves into four layups, turning a three-point deficit into double digits in a blink, running the score to 10-21 with 3:26 to go in the first quarter. It was the latest shoulda-been embarrassment for the club that knows no shame.

Trenton Hassell was the designated scapegoat, banished to the bench after that flurry, never to return. Never mind that point guard Jason Williams assisted on three of the hoops (not counting the two he dimed before the run) and scored the fourth, while Minnesota point guard Mike James was...where? Never mind that Ricky Davis was guarding either James Posey, who had four points (two of those leak-out layups were his) and one assist, or Eddie Jones, who had six points at the time (Hassell had the other one in non-zone situations). This isn't to defend Hassell, who played like crap, but did manage to have two points (and a pair of missed FTs) and an assist, plus a rebound and a turnover. James? He went scoreless--not just in the first quarter, but in the entire 19:22 *he* was allowed to play--but had two assists and zero turnovers at the time Hassell was benched. And Davis had zero points, zero assists and a turnover at that 3:26 mark when Trenton was banished.

Asked after the game if the flurry was why Hassell didn't return, coach Randy Wittman, without mentioning Hassell, said, "Those four guys I just mentioned came in and gave me effort. Those are the guys who were going to play."

Ah, those aforementioned four guys Wittman called out by name--Jaric, Foye, Smith, and McCants--who teamed with KG. *That* lineup: the one that won the game against Indiana in the 4th period and has been used only in high-substitution situations or garbage time, at best, ever since. The lineup that is so obviously meshes best in the present while building for the future, to the point that Wittman's aversion to it has led to the suspicion that this squad is tanking games to ensure they keep their draft pick. That Fab Five did eventually play together--with 9:31 to play in the second period, a good six minutes after Hassell was given the hook.

Here's the way Wittman got to that five: Jaric for Hassell with 3:26 to go in the first. Foye for James, and Smith for KG, with 1:33 to go. End of first period with Minnesota down 11, 14-25. Then, after Antoine Walker hit a six-foot bunny, Posey glided in for another layup, repeated it for a reverse layup, followed by a Udonis Haslem slam, all within the first 2:22 of the second period, Randy Wittman decided to use his most effective lineup down 16-33 with 9:31 to play in the half. He subbed in McCants for Davis, and KG for Mark Blount.

Boom. McCants drove for a layup. Garnett fouled Mourning, who hit both free throws, but then KG nailed a 17-footer, stole a pass from Walker and fed Foye for a layup as he was fouled (Randy completed the three point play), and McCants blocked Mourning's shot. A slightly nervous Pat Riley subbed Shaq back for Zo and Eddie Jones in for Posey, which didn't prevent KG from nailing a 21-footer off a feed from Smith; Garnett making another steal off a Haslem pass and eventually hitting another long J on an assist from Foye, and then, to top it off, Garnett barreling down the floor and just before he was about to go up dumping it back to a roaring Smith, who tomahawked home a slam dunk. That's a 13-2 run, folks, cutting the lead to six, and although the Heat quickly doubled it on successive treys by Williams and Jones, the tenor of the game had changed from the absurd blowout that was brewing before the Fab Five were allowed to reunite.

Miami's lead was 10 when Mark Madsen replaced Smith with 3:47 to go in the half, followed a minute and a second later by Davis replacing McCants, and 59 second after that by Blount subbing in for KG. We wouldn't see that lineup again. Oh well: Wittman said those guys who gave effort were going to play--he didn't say they were going to play together. Because you can't have *too* much effort in one place when your personnel guy has fumbled away a draft pick if you play too well. Miami won going away, 77-92, making Minnesota a net -195 versus their opponents over the course of 17,388 minutes thus far this season. Because the Fab Five got to play a whole 5:44 together tonight and were a +7, that makes them a +46 in 64 total minutes of play this season. That works out to a 34 and a half point win per 48 minutes of play. And, not incidentally, it unites and energizes the team's superstar by playing him alongside the team's top three draft picks from the past two years, and a complementary player already signed through 2011.

When it was noted after the game that this Fab Five seems to have a nice rhythm and flow going whenever they do get the chance to play together, Garnett replied, "They do have a nice flow but if it ain't on the floor, I have to flow with what's out there. It is more of an energy group. They are agressive, they play with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence." And KG, who had 22 points and 20 rebounds in the 15-point loss, mostly had to "flow" with the likes of Blount (33:02, 4 rebounds, -18), Davis (35:14, 5 turnovers, -22).

2. Tick Tock

Coupled with the Clippers win, the loss to Miami puts the Wolves five games behind the 8th and final playoff spot with 10 games left to play. Minutes for Foye: 28:38. For McCants: 15:14. For Smith: 14:31.

3. Talk Amongst Yourselves, or Chime In On the Diamond Diablog

There will not be a trey following the Wolves-Orlando game on Sunday. Instead, I will post a "diablog" between myself, David Brauer (former sports columnist for the Twin Cities Reader among many other things), and Brad Zellar (the author of the baseball blog Warning Track Power at this rakemag.com site) about the upcoming Twins season on Monday morning. Use the comments section vent and wax eloquent about tonight's game and the Orlando tilt. Rest assured I'll be posting Three-Pointers on most of the rest of the Wolves games this season, and into the NBA Playoffs. But this blog has a sort-of generic name for a reason: I'll be posting about the Twins as well during their season, and if the response is good, may just keep it going until the suddenly coveted NBA draft and beyond.

Regular Season Game #71, Road Game #37, Utah 108, Minnesota 102

1. The Curse of the Rolling Roles
The best things you can say about last night's six-point loss to the division-clinching Utah Jazz are that it removed the Wolves from the stench of their monumental collapse the previous evening, and set them further along the road to keeping their precious draft pick. Otherwise, the differences between the two clubs in terms of teamwork, roles, and substitution rotations were far more glaring than the final margin.

Under Jerry Sloan, everyone on the Jazz knows exactly what he should be doing, and why. The club's starting five is beautifully balanced, with a large, physical, classic point guard in Deron Williams, a low post banger in power forward Carlos Boozer, an energy-oriented disruptor in small forward Kirilenko, an unconventional primary three-point threat in center Mehmet Okur, and a shrewd veteran glue guy cherry-picking his moments in off-guard Derek Fisher.

Now consider the Timberwolves. Let's face it, there is a vacuum at point guard. Mike James was physically and mentally overmatched against Williams, staying with his "aggressive" mantra to the tune of four shots, zero assists and two fouls in the game's first 5:37, sending him to the bench with the Wolves down 9-13. By that time, Willaims had already laid down three dimes and gone 1-2 FG. Randy Foye fared a little better, amassing 17 points and 4 assists in a sizable 38:05 that stemmed from James being unable to contain Williams without fouling (at least he tried that instead of the matador of his first three months). But when it was all done, the Wolves' point guard had 23 points on 22 shots, 4 assists and 3 turnovers. On his own, Williams had 22 points on 9 official shots (he got to the line 14 times, versus 6 for Foye-James), 14 assists and 3 turnovers.

On this ballclub, KG must simultaneously be Kirilenko and Boozer, the banger and the disrupter. And at this point in the season, he's toast, physically and mentally. Usually he has his way with Boozer, but last night Boozer not only matched his point total (25), but outrebounded (11-8) and outassisted (3-1) KG. When that happens, this team ain't gonna beat Utah.

Which brings us to Ricky Davis, who must simultaneously be Williams and Fisher--the guy who initiates the offense and the one smart enough to flow to what is needed from the backcourt. Just for "fun," I thought I'd compare the Wolves' won-lost records with which players led the squad in points and assists. I'm not totally sure what it means--making definitive conclusions on what really is sort of a random correlation--except that the rolling roles on this squad bring a lot of different players into the mix. Anyway, the charitable way to put it is that Minnesota should rely more on Ricky Davis to carry the load for this squad. The uncharitable way to see it is that the Wolves peform much better on the nights Davis bothers to show up. On the team-high 26 occasions when he has led (or co-led) the team in assists, the Wolves are a gaudy 16-10; every other assist-leader sends the team to a sub-.500 mark. For KG, the margin is close, 9-10. For the point guards, it is not. The Wolves are a collective 7-15 when either James (4-10) or Foye (3-5) lead the squad in assists. They are even worse, 3-9, when small forwards Trenton Hassell (2-7) or Marko Jaric (1-2) are the assist leader.

For points, on the 20 times Davis has led the team, they are exactly .500 at 10-10. For everyone else, not so good. When KG tops them in points, it is 17-24; when anyone other than Davis or KG is the point leader, the team is 3-12.

As I say, making definitive judgments on this stuff is very dicey, if not specious. But it does seem to indicate that the point guards are currently incapable of successfully leading this squad in either shooting or dishing; that they are, at best, complementary pieces to the KG-Ricky Show. As for those top two, one might think their versatility would be an asset, and on a more experienced, better-coached ballclub, perhaps that's true. But it has not worked out on this club in this season.

2. Blount Trauma
The sad thing about center Mark Blount is that he literally can't win for trying. Like most Timberwolves observers I've been critical of Blount's absence of intensity and, by extension, integrity, as he has seemingly mailed in his performances since the All Star break, routinely torpedoing Minnesota's hopes for victory in the process. During the 4th quarter Seattle debacle, Blount sat on the bench frequently sporting a "what me worry?" smirk and exchanging pleasantries with other scrubs like Justin Reed and Troy Hudson, oblivious (or not: it is damning either way) to the carnage taking place on the court.

But last night, Blount was hustling his rear off. Not only did he continue showing hard on the pick and roll (his one strength aside from that sweet jumper), but he fought for rebounds with a diligence nearly always in limbo when it comes to Blount and boards. It got to the point where the tables were ironically turned in crunchtime, as Wolves color commentator and fairly steadfast Blount booster Jim Petersen excoriated him for not covering Mehmet Okur on a crucial trey that bumped Utah's margin from 5 to 8, a crippling difference with just 2:58 to play; while I, a fairly steadfast Blount ripper, protested to the heavens that Blount had shown hard on the perimeter to Deron Williams, who deftly zipped it to Mehmet while no other Timberwolf rotated over. Now, it is quite possible Pete knows the defensive rotation strategies in play for Utah, and that Blount was supposed to stay with Okur rather than hound Williams so far outside. In any case, Utah's spacing and savvy trumped Blount's move, and my sense of inner justice when Blount promptly slammed home a feed from Foye at the other end was tempered when Wittman removed Blount from the game after the next possession.

But here's the thing: popcornmachine.net had Blount getting annihilated at -18 during his 35:31 of action, way ahead of Davis and Hassell as the next worst entries at -8. And this was a game in which Blount's hustle and demeanor, if nothing else, were beyond criticism.
The popcornmachine.net numbers also clearly indicate, in reiteration of point one in this trey, that when Jerry Sloan had his main guys working his system, the Wolves were buried. The first Minnesota bonus was when a pair of late draft picks, Craig Smith and Paul Milsapp, were matched up with each other and the Cookie Monster went off, eventually finishing with 14 points for the second period on 5-6 FG and 4-4 FT as Minnesota put up a +11 margin. (Outside of the second period, Smith was 1-4 FG, 0-0 FT and -4 in 9:58.) The second eye-opening stat is that Utah was +18 in the 39:22 that Deron Williams was manning the point, and -12 in the 8:38 he wasn't.

3. Tick Tock
The Wolves have slipped behind Sacramento to 12th place in the West, out of the playoffs by 4 games with 11 left to play. Minutes for Rashad McCants: 6:48. There is still a mathematical chance for the Wolves to bag that 8th spot of course, but the odds are steep enough that you have to wonder if Coach Wittman really is invoking a "tanking with vets" strategy. The lineup of McCants-Foye-Smith-KG-Jaric was actually allowed to play the bulk of that second quarter last night, and went +2. If you go to the 82games.com website and click on their 5-man floor units page (here's the link: http://www.82games.com:80/0607/0607MIN2.HTM), you'll see that that quintet of the three kids plus KG and Marko is a +39 in just 58 minutes together, a rate 82games extrapolates out to a 10-1 record. Giving that unit more time would certainly maximize the potential talent already on this team, but would be hell on securing that draft pick.

Game # 70, Home Game #34, Seattle 114, Minnesota 106

1. Parade of Goats

At this point, you really do just have to shake your head and laugh, don't you? Up 88-63 with 5:56 left in the third quarter, the Wolves caved and crumbled like never before in their history, scoring just 18 points in the final 18 minutes while allowing 51 to get buried 106-114 to a putrid Seattle squad without Ray Allen, a team that vanquished the Wolves by 3 on Friday and then lost to San Antonio by 41 on Sunday.

This is one diseased ballclub, folks. This is a team that just walloped the Sonics for 71 points in the first half, shooting 60 percent from the field and from the trey while racking up 21 assists on their 27 baskets versus just 5 turnovers. Midway through the third, the assist/turnover ration had swelled to 26/6 and the 19 point lead bumped to 25. After that? Three assists, 10 turnovers. Sclerotic defense at the other end. The worst aspects of panic and apathy, mixed together into a toxic combo of willful selfish ignorance about the right way to play the game of basketball. Ladies and gents, your parade of goats...

Kevin Garnett. Three dimes in the first 1:49, five in the first quarter, eight for the half. Two rebounds and an assist away from a triple double at the end of 3. Then a 4th quarter of exerting leadership right into the dumpster, an inept and ill-advised performance. He wasn't tired, going only 17:20 in the first half as coach Wittman rested him with a big lead and Utah on the road tomorrow night in the second half of a back to back. He had a decent sit from 2:59 to go in the third to 10:29 to go in the 4th, during which time the Wolves lead was only whittled from 18 to 14.

But in the last five minutes--crunchtime--the Big Ticket was a torn stub. He missed the second of two free throws, holding the lead at 10. Then he traveled. Then he threw a pass that Randy Foye had to use all his hops to snag standing at the baseline (before Foye himself turned it over on a pass back to the cutting but covered KG). Then he missed a 20-foot jumper instead of trying to draw contact. Then he threw the ball way over the point guard's head for a backcourt violation, on a basic pass to the top of the key that he executes successfully a dozen times a game. Then he fouls Wilcox driving baseline on a three-point play. Then he misses an easy, open jumper. This is all within 5 minutes.

Randy Foye. Two assists and zero turnovers after three quarters of action (12:00 overall), then one assists and four huge turnovers--at least three of them, silly, unforced passing errors--and three fouls in 9:14 of play in the 4th. No poise. No court vision. Shoddy defense, continually pulled on a string via jumpers and penetration from backup point guard Mike Wilks, the co-MVP of the game with Rashard Lewis, who also roasted Mike James, who played like a less assertive version of Foye, which in this case lessened the damage.

Trenton Hassell. Rashard Lewis started to get hot so Wittman went small, putting in Hassell for Smith with Minnesota up 10 with 5:19 to play. It is the job of Hassell, the team's defensive stopper, to stop Lewis. Nope. Lewis proceeds to score 12 points in the last 5:19, capping off a 21 point 4th quarter that included nine trips to the free throw line. For the game he had 35, and was 16-17 FT.

Ricky Davis. The only guy with a pulse in the 4th quarter, he helped keep the lead at 15 for nearly half the period with two nifty assists and other nice ball movement. But his showboating in the third--a behind the back pass in traffic on the fast break when the Wolves were up big--sent a message that the squad erronously figured it had the game won (this after choking up a sizable lead to this same team four days ago) and was ready to screw around. There was also a few missed shots, a missed free throw, and a costly turnover in the 4th. And his second half defense on little Earl Watson was abysmal.

Randy Wittman. Many timeouts during the collapse, and many substitutions. No response from his team. He may as well have drawn straws for a player rotation and diagrammed plays in invisible ink on his chalkboard during that 4th quarter.

Dishonorable mentions to Smilin' Mark Blount crossing guard allowing little men into the painted area and a man who enjoys a good internal joke on the bench while his teammates are vomiting up a 25-point margin.

2. Verbatim

Randy Wittman: "It has been the same thing all year; we play the right way for three quarters and then we stop. They trap and we don't swing it. We try a behind-the-back pass in traffic and they get a layup and suddenly a 20-point lead is an 18-point lead and it begins. They [his players] don't respect the game and don't respect the opponent." During timeouts in the huddle "we didn't have anybody wanting to step up. When it got tight, they were hoping the clock would run out. This isn't the first time it has happened this year. We don't have the mix of guys who want to put their foot on their [opponent's] necks. They don't move the ball or make the easy pass with a guy open standing right next to you. For three quarters we didn't care who shot the ball or made the points."

Kevin Garnett: "I told everybody when I came in [the locker room after the game] that I felt like it was my fault...I'm very good at dissecting things, figuring out how we take teams apart. I didn't initiate and do those things and that bothers me...[In the huddles] Ricky kept saying 'Let's pick it up! Let's pick it up!' but we didn't have the same people in the game. They had a small lineup in and we didn't take advantage of it. We stopped playing as a team."

Media question: "This 25 point lead was the biggest one blown in franchise history. Can you put that in perspective?"
Garnett: "No I can't. That's fucked up. That's fucked up."

3. Tick Tock

With tonight's loss, the Wolves are 4 full games behind the Clippers with 12 left to play. If they go 10-2, say, losing only to Dallas and San Antonio while beating the likes of Utah, Golden State and Denver on the road and Miami, Cleveland, and Toronto (Sam Mitchell is undefeated vs. Minnesota) at home, the Clips would only have to split their dozen games to tie at 40-42--and that's assuming the other three squads ahead of or tied with the Wolves (Golden State, New Orleans and Sacramento) don't rally.

Playing time for Rashad McCants: 10:09. For Craig Smith: 21:14. For Randy Foye: 24:48.

Game #69, Home Game #33: Minnesota 94, Portland 93

1. Two Cheers For Wittman, Davis and James

I originally wasn't going to post after the Portland game, if only because I usually only go once on the weekend when the online traffic is down and already posted yesterday after Friday's loss. But the Wolves pulled out a win in the last second against Portland this afternoon and some of my favorite targets of late did well for themselves. Specifically, I've ripped coach Randy Wittman, Ricky Davis and Mike James to varying degrees over the past month of two--and still regard them heavily responsible for the team's disappointing season--and have been particularly scornful during the recently concluded five game road trip. So, silence after a rare win didn't seem quite fair.

I really started sharpening my fangs when Wittman replaced Rashad McCants with Mike James alongside Randy Foye in the backcourt with 5:04 to play and the Wolves down 80-82. The Trailblazers had a big lineup in the game and on Portland's first possession after the substitution, James was on soon-to-be Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy. As soon as Roy received a pass, Minnesota went into scramble mode and Zach Randolph eventually was fouled to save a slam dunk. The next time down, Martell Webster nailed a trey. Then Randolph tipped in a miss. Blount and KG were pressuring the perimeter to help out the small backcourt, opening up the inside. When they didn't help, Portland had open looks. I expected a substitution adjustment.

But Wittman stuck with it, and Ricky Davis began playing some monster defense on Roy, compelling two turnovers in the last two minutes, one occurring when he forced a jump ball with Zach Randolph and then won the jump with a perfectly timed leap on the toss. This was in addition to Davis's eight assists, including one beautiful stretch early in the third period when Pretty Ricky fed James for a 19-footer on on possession, Blount for a 20-footer on the next, and KG for a finger roll on the next--3 dimes in 65 seconds, taking the Wolves from one down to three up.

"Ricky was huge," Wittman said after the game. "Forget about his offense--his defense ignited us. At 89-84 [the Wolves down five], he started us getting us back into it, which obviously he can do." Then Wittman addressed the little backcourt. "I decided to go small because I liked Randy and Mike giving us more pressure." When it was pointed out that Randy Foye went off in the 4th quarter once again with a series of beautiful drives right up the gut of the defense, Wittman pointed out that the plan was to spread the floor, putting James on one corner baseline and Davis on the other so that Foye had room to penetrate in the middle or dish it to a three-point threat. And he was right--James and Davis were worthy decoys if that's what Portland chose to cover, and decent threats to hit the big one if they didn't. So, nice work all around.

2. KG Saves the Day He Almost Lost
It was a beautiful turnaround jumper by Kevin Garnett at the buzzer which won the game by a single point, and that's probably what is being shown on the television highlights tonight. But Garnett's traveling violation when he didn't anticipate Roy come down to double on him with 20 second left and the Wolves up 1, and then his (and Blount's) inability to keep Lamarcus Aldridge off the boards for a tip-in that gave Portland the lead had Garnett pencilled in as the goat of the game without that sweet swish at the end.

I've been reluctant to criticize Garnett for not going to the hole over the years (and months, and days), because he has done it more than his reputation would indicate, because even though he is 7-1 and the best rebounder in the NBA over the past 5 years, he is not a paint-oriented warrior, and because it feels like nit-picking compared to all the marvelous things he does do. But the last two games have seen KG especially reticent about going hard to the hoop and drawing fouls. As I mentioned in the Seattle trey, he was almost always double and triple teamed versus the Sonics and still only got to the line once. Today, he tried three finger rolls, the sort of pastry moves that don't earn you the respect of officials even if you do get wacked a little. Yes he was 10-19 FG, but only got the line 4 times, had but 9 rebounds (a rare non-double-double) and four turnovers. Getting just two calls on the rook Aldridge in 29:15 seems a wasted opportunity.

3. Foye versus Roy

I know there is quite a pitched battle going on in some internet hoops circles about the whole Foye-Roy switcheroo the Wolves pulled on draft day, with many claiming that Roy's wonderful year coupled with Foye's inability to immediately grab the point position and make it his own indicates that Minnesota made a mistake and should have kept Roy all along. Color me brightly ambivalent. I've been very impressed with Foye most of this season, and likewise really have enjoyed Roy's game the three of four times I caught him on television. But live, Roy is even better, a tough sonavagun (ditto Foye), simultaneously unselfish and with a nose for the hoop. The Wolves obviously spent a lot of their pregame planning figuring out how to stop him, and frequently displayed a zone with KG at the top of the key to disrupt his playmaking. When it was over, Roy had 22 hard-earned points (9-14 FG), 5 boards and 2 assists in a team-high 35:56, with the two crunchtime turnovers the major blot on his line. (One occurred when Davis and Blount mugged him on a pick and roll that got a no-call from the refs.) Foye had 17 points (7-10 FG, 1 rebound and three assists) in 23:13 and, characteristically, put up 13 points (5-6 FG) in the final period. It may sound like a cop-out, but I honestly think there is no "loser" in this competition--or if there is, we won't know which for at least another three or four years. I'll close with this bit of info from Wolves stat guru Paul Swanson on Foye's crunchtime proclivities.

Randy Foye, 2006-07
* Has scored 319 of his 646 total points in the 4th & OT (49 percent)
* Shooting 47.9% [from 2], 38.7% [from 3] 90.3% [from the line] for the season in the 4th & OT
* Has seven double-digit scoring 4th quarters (four in the last nine games)

Game #68, Road Game #36, Seattle 85, Minnesota 82

1. Listless in Seattle

I realize the competition is stiff, but last night's travesty is probably the worst basketball game collectively played by the Wolves and an opponent thus far this season. Without their KG-equivalent, Ray Allen, the Sonics showed every sign of wishing to roll over and die in the first period, jacking up long, wayward jumpers early in the shot clock--5 and half minutes into the game they had scored 2 points on 1-10 FG--and defending raggedly. After 12 minutes the Wolves were up, 19-12, and even a mediocre effort commensurate to the mediocre talent on the squad would have had them leading by 15 or more. Both sides were willing to let the other score, and both sides refused to oblige, missing wide open shots. It was dreadful to watch.

I am a stone cold NBA fan over college hoops, but checking out the Elite 8 games in the NCAA tournament on commercial breaks, I can't for the life of me see why anyone would stick with the Wolves unless they had some kind of daft obligation such as these destined to be increasingly cynical three-pointers. Anyway, here's what you smart people missed...

Seattle continued to brick shots in mind-numbing fashion, converting less than a third (19-58) after three quarters. But their strategy of constantly doubling (with the center's man sliding over) and occasionally tripling (with a guard coming down if Garnett was in the low block) KG paid off in holding the score down to a mere 61-54 deficit after three periods (although the Wolves did lead by 14 with about 5 minutes to play in the third). The Wolves moved the ball impressively, but had trouble nailing the open shots they were creating. Mike James and Ricky Davis were a combined 1-6 from three point range and the club's overall 45% field goal accuracy after three was, given the lack of difficulty, pathetic. Because Seattle's plan was to shut down Garnett, the team's two leading scorers after 3 were Craig Smith and Mark Blount, with 13 and 12, respectively. Trenton Hassell was next with 10, with Davis (9), Garnett (7), and James (6) all out of double figures. Blame Garnett for not compelling a single shooting foul against this blanket coverage during the first three periods, and getting one free throw the entire game. The Wolves had only 10 free throws through 3, five by Smith, who made one. That's how you keep an abysmal shooting team with no superstar and their minds on a better draft pick in the game long enough to steal it in the final period.

In the 4th quarter, the Wolves essentially choked during the last four minutes of the game, blowing a nine-point lead. They were up by 11 with exactly ten minutes left: KG had just completed a three-point play (his lone FT) off a nice feed from Randy Foye. Then Seattle went small, with Chris Wilcox the de facto center and either Rashard Lewis or Damian Wilkins as the power forward. Together, they chipped the lead down to six with 5:30 remaining. That's when Randy Wittman showed his unerring instinct for making exactly the wrong move, inserting Mike James and Trenton Hassell in for Randy Foye and Marko Jaric.

Yes, James and Hassell had clearly outplayed Foye and Jaric up to that point. But when will Wittman learn not to base his decisions on the last game, the last quarter, the last rotation, the last play? In the last trey earlier this week, I passed on info from the team's stat guru convincingly demonstrating that the best clutch player on this team over the previous 67 games was Randy Foye, to the point where Wolves announcers Hanny and J-Pete reveled in calling him "4th quarter Foye." And Jaric has over time demonstrated that he is the best person to be riding shotgun while Foye is trying to guide the offense.

Things got off to a promising start, as Davis (whose passing was superb all night) zipped a dime to Smith for a slam, followed by a James trey to bump the lead to 75-66 with 4:09 to go. At this point, with the Wolves in the 11th playoff position and down by 2 and a half games for the final 8th spot with (at the time) 15 games to go, you might think a nine-point lead with 369 ticks on the clock against a .400 team playing without their superstar would be in the bank. And if it wasn't, you might finally, finally, begin to think there was something diseased about this ballclub, something that you don't ever ever want to put on display against the Mavs or Suns in nationally televised games that matter.

The Wolves choked. That sub-mediocre and then crucially depleted Seattle squad proceeded to go on a 16-2 run and put the game away. Mike James? He couldn't find Seattle point guard Earl Watson with a compass on defense. And on offense, once the Wolves' lead had completely melted, he became too animated, running around like a headless chicken and jacking up shots with plenty of time on the clock. Yes, on one drive he was fouled and made both free throws. But anyone who wasn't yearning for Foye--the top draft pick, the clutch closer, the guy who finally snatched his confident personality back just one game ago--is into ensuring that the entire Wolves braintrust looks as absolutely foolish as possible, Randy Wittman foremost among them.

Ricky Davis? He had one turnover in the first 46 minutes, and two ugly ones in the last 2. Kevin Garnett? He caught the ball halfway between the endline and center court with the Sonics trapping and tried to dribble through the opposing team, with predictible results: a three pointer by Lewis that gave Seattle its first lead of the game with 1:41 to play, a lead they never relinquished.

Any talk of tanking is a moot point. Just let this ballclub continue to do what it does, and has done for the past two months. That draft pick will be there, with a pretty bow on the box.

2. Leadership

Much is being made of Randy Wittman's comments in the PiPress to the effect that the Wolves' lack leadership in the locker room. Specifically, the coach said, "We don't have a quote-unquote, leader that's going to control the locker room. That when stuff's going on that shouldn't be going on, that somebody stands up and says, 'Hey, all right, enough of this.' I don't think we have that." Hanny and Pete mentioned it in passing last night, and Asch had it in a side story in this morning's Strib. (Credit PiPress beat guy Rick Alonzo with the original story.)

Here's my take: I don't know which would be worse, if Witt was clueless or cognizant about the inevitable stain he is putting on Kevin Garnett with this remark. The superstar of a team is the leader of it on the court, in the locker room, and with the general public. In all three milieu, Garnett has, for better and mostly worse, been conflict-averse. But people lead in different ways. For KG, it has always been going hard in every practice, studying every inch of available film, communicating with his teammates, playing through injuries, playing with passion, and remaining loyal to a franchise that has handled his career with seemingly no understanding of what would best complement his game. People who are gritty underachievers new to the Wolves, guys like, to choose a recent example, blogger-bit player Paul Shirley during the preseason, almost invariably come away from being inside the Wolves organization raving about KG's work ethic and dedication to improving himself and the ballclub.

Last week, Kevin Garnett said that if Randy Wittman wasn't the coach of the Wolves next season, he didn't want to be here. At the time, Witt had lost approximately twice as many games as he had won, after inheriting the same personnel that the previous coach had been fired from for coaching them to a .500 record. It was a gutsy show of loyalty, that, given Wittman's inexplicable decision making and lackluster (to put it kindly) results, was a huge, probably unsolicited favor to Wittman. Yet within days, Wittman is saying that nobody polices the locker room, having to know that the first person fingered for such inaction will be KG--and if he doesn't know that, it explains a lot about the past 28 games.

How about this: Kevin McHale is the guy who brought in the likes of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount--both seasoned veterans with checkered histories playing for chronically underachieving teams--and Randy Wittman is the guy who plays Davis and Blount at the expense of rookies and second-year men with higher potential upsides. If you don't have an intimate, nuanced knowledge of Kevin Garnett's personality--his strengths and weaknesses on the court, in public, and in the locker room after his 12 years with the ballclub, what good are you to the organization? And if you do know him that well, why are you hanging him out to dry for a lack of locker room enforcement? The VP of Basketball Operations is the one who assembled this motley crew, with 47 guards and no quality banger; and the coach is the one enabling the most questionable characters on this team with a substitution rotation that simultaneously tanks the present while retarding the development of a successful future for this team.

Where are Randy Wittman's stones? Who specifically has been doing "stuff that shouldn't be going on" and why hasn't he taken steps to correct it? And if that's a private matter, why did he make it public? There's a lack of leadership on the Timberwolves alright. But Kevin Garnett isn't exactly the first person I'd point to as the culprit.

3. Tick Tock

The Clips and the Warriors both won last night, putting the Wolves 3 and a half and 3 games, respectively, behind those two clubs with 14 left to play. Against Seattle, Rashad McCants played exactly 5 minutes, Foye 19:30.