The Rake Magazine

^{Copyright 2007 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)}

Game #57, Road Game #27: Minnesota 84, Cleveland 92

Season Record: 12-45

1. The Price of Youth

What a discouraging game.

Wanna bet that the Cavaliers had a scout at Target Center for the Wolves win over Utah last Tuesday? Coach Mike Brown seemed to set his stellar defense for a team that would deftly move the ball and present probing, multifaceted threats. In particular, Brown, thinking he had 20-point scorers like Foye, McCants and Gomes to worry about, decided to single-cover Al Jefferson with the Luthuanian leviathan known as Z, and let tall, panther-quick cohorts like Ben Wallace and LeBron James scout the horizon beyond the paint.

That was fine with Jefferson, who was enjoying the elbow room even before Z (surname Ilgauskas) committed one stupid foul by going over the back on a free throw miss, and then another one showing too hard on a perimeter pick and roll in the first six minutes of play. That sent him to the pine, to be replaced by Anderson Varejao, a Raggedy Andy-headed string-bean quite the opposite of the bald Z. He promptly got flattened (half shoulder, half patented Varejao fffflop) for a Jefferson slam. Brown understandably flipped Varejao over to Gomes and so it was Ben Wallace's turn to guard Jefferson. By the half, Jefferson had hit half of his 16 field goal attempts for 18 points and 5 offensive rebounds (out of 7 total) at intermission.

Alas, the rest of the team also had 18 points, on horrendous 7-30 FG. The ball movement and constant stabs at penetration--not to mention the silky, visually pleasant teamwork--so much in evidence against Utah was kaput, with a capital dipthong. Just a few quarters beyond his breakout game against the Jazz, Randy Foye broke back in, displaying all the bad habits that caused me to sour on him earlier this season-- the ill-chosen, off-balance jumpers early in the shot clock, the running alongside of his opponent's dribble so he can he can get a better profile on the man's successful jumper, and the lazy entry passes that, while not usually stolen, certainly give defenses the time to cogitate and react.

Hopefully the offensive gameplan was for Ryan Gomes to exploit the smallball matchup and take Ben Wallace out on the perimeter, the only justification I can come up with for the normally prudent Gomes chucking it up like the second coming of Rashad McCants, at 2-7 FG in 11:04. Speak of the devil, Shaddy checked in with 2:41 to play in the first quarter and managed to squeeze off three before the buzzer, then added three more in 8:41 of the second quarter. Three and three make six shot attempts and six misses for zero points in 11:22 first half minutes. Foye? Zip for three but a literal bonus point for being allowed to shoot the technical on a defensive three-second call against Cleveland, and thus transform his halftime goose egg into a straight line. After his first quarter delirium, Gomes came back to earth with but one clank in the second, and thus finished the half with 4 points on 2-8. For those of you slow with the abaci (abacuses?), that's a collective 2-17 FG and a whopping 5 points from the squad's second, third, and fouth leading scorers in the first half--and because of shot selection and general disdain for the first pass, let alone the extra pass, they collectively deserved almost every miss.

This is what happens with a young ballclub. They play well and then they don't, learning painful lessons on the job. Coach Randy Wittman addressed this after the Toronto loss Wednesday, but it is typical young club behavior, the habit of relaxing after a grand victory. The vexing aspect of it was not so much Toronto, however, but this game, after their Canadian clubbing theoretically taught them the error of instant self-regard. They had the contrast--fun and bloody games a la Utah, or belittling suffocation a la Toronto. The irksome thing is that they mentally opted for another bout of belittling suffocation, this time in Cleveland.

At the half, Hanny and Pete were marvelling about how nice it was to shoot only 32.6% and yet be down a mere four points at 36-40. But from the time the Cavs' Devin Brown opened the game by waltzing down for an easy jumper and Randy Foye followed that matador D with a travel, until the time McCants rang the garbage time dinner bell by nailing his 4th quarter treys, there was not a single moment when I seriously thought the Wolves were going to win this game.

In the second half, Mike Brown took a gander at the stat sheet and decided Big Al needed a double team after all. With Z and Big Ben--and isn't it ironic that Z is much bigger than both Big Al and Big Ben?--taking turns as the primary matchup and sometimes tag-teaming, with a little guy flashing over to boot, Jefferson had 4 points and 3 boards in 20:36 of the second half after going 18-7 in 20:39 of the first half. With all this attention focused on the undersized center, the undersized power forward, Gomes, managed to sneak outside for a 7-point flurry in 71 seconds to knot the game up at 51-51 midway through the third quarter. But by the end of the third Foye and McCants were a combined 1-14 FG and the Wolves were back down by 7.

When it was mercifully over, Foye was 1-9 FG for 4 points, two assists, and three turnovers in 33:32, not a good line for a point guard or off guard, even one given a fistful of free passes for making a ginger transition from one-and-a-half to two good knees. McCants had a totally deceptive double-digit night--six of his ten points came on meaningless three-pointers in the final minute of play--but to his (small) credit he did register a team-high 3 assists while finishing sixth in minutes-played at 27:37.

With just 1:22 to go in the game, the Wolves had amassed but 75 points and visited the free throw line 10 times. For the game they shot 39.1%. Young players or not, it is worrisome that the ballclub, which ranks 29th among 30 NBA teams in points scored per game, can be so inept offensively despite the fact that three players perceived to be cornerstones--Jefferson, Foye, and to a slightly lesser extent McCants--are all much better offensively than they are on defense.

2. Management Follies

About the only good thing about owner Glen Taylor's halftime "interview" with Tom Hanneman tonight was that it spared us the cheerleader report and Sweetwater Jones. As infomerical entertainments go, it was somewhere between the Victoria Principal/Susan Lucci testimonials and the somewhat clownish guy walking around with all those question marks on his suitjacket. Actually the latter wouldn't be a bad analogy for the current state of the Wolves.

Taylor let it be known that he is really enjoying this team, especially compared to the underachieving teams of the previous two years. He knows, in other words, that this 12-45 team is not underachieving, but likes the job coach Randy Wittman is doing--Kevin McHale and the rest of the front office are not discussed. He says he has many people telling him and writing him that they like this team better than other recent editions too, and would like to invite still other folks to come out and decide for themselves. And, oh yeah, the new Timberwolves season ticket packages for next year are about to go on sale soon. If Taylor was this subtle in his wedding invitation business, the fancy, script-flowing marital announcements would go out complete with a picture of a the father of the bride holding a shotgun between the groom's shoulder blades.

In very much related news, the Wolves have bought out the contract of Theo Ratliff and would very much like to do the same with Antoine Walker. The spin that dumping Ratliff will open up more playing time for rookie Chris Richard is about as disingenuous as the earlier spin that Ratliff's return would enable the Wolves to see how well Al Jefferson plays with a shot-blocking center. Richard got a whole 3:21 worth of burn tonight (his plus +1 led the team, of course), which is approximately how much Ratliff and Jefferson played together after Theo's return.

For quite some time now, it has been apparent that Wittman prefers Jefferson at center and Gomes at power forward. Smallball. Game by game, it has worked out much better than I would have imagined. Tonight, for example, the shrunken banshee lineup battled to a 40-40 draw on the boards with the top rebounding team in the NBA. Wittman likes to spread the floor with his small unit and give Jefferson room to operate down low. He also likes the other players utilizing this spacing and their quickness to crash the boards and outhustle as much as outmuscle opponents for position under the hoop. Perhaps this lineup is giving Jefferson experience getting his shot off against the tall timber, and hopefully learning how to survey the floor and dish back out when teams pack the paint to defend him.

But I can't embrace it. Anyone who watches Jefferson knows he's a classic power forward that, even by the standards of the "new" NBA, with its paucity of dominant big men and anti-hand checking rules, is best suited to operate beside a center precisely like Ratliff, who can help out on defense, is laterally quick around the hoop, sets a good example by showing hard on peimeter pick and rolls and doesn't need the ball. Even if we all know Ratliff wasn't part of the future here, isn't that kind of pivot man something this franchise should be manuevering towards? Shouldn't we get Jefferson and Gomes ingrained in those habits now, in their formative stages? Do we really need Jefferson playing 69% of the center minutes for this ballclub and just 5% of the power forward's minutes? (According to the 82games.com web data.) And do we really need the Wolves' 8 most popular 5-man lineups to feature Jefferson as the center--especially when the most popular 5-man lineup that doesn't feature Jefferson as a cetner puts Mark Madsen in the pivot instead?

Perhaps there is guerrilla tanking going on here. A Timberwolves team with Jefferson and Ratliff playing beside each other for most of the season would be very close to 20 wins by now, in my opinion, which would vault them ahead of another five teams in addition to Miami. Perhaps that's a little too close for comfort on losing that Clips' pick this year for the Jaric deal.

Then there is the money angle. Taylor himself acknowledged (in the newspaper, of course, not the infomercial) that the buyout would save him a chunk of the remainder of Theo's $11 million contract this year--on the order of the $3 million or so that he had remaining. Meanwhile, consider that Ratliff has missed 45 games--officially more than half of an 82-game regular season. Consider that with his injury history there is a possibility that he is insured against loss of play due to injury. When I tentatively asked around, through a member of the communications staff, about whether the Wolves were getting any insurance money due to Ratliff's injury, the staffer reported back that he couldn't find out. Now that Ratliff is gone, I'll be a little more aggressive and ask the question myself to Taylor or GM Jim Stack or some other team representative. And I wouldn't mind if a daily beat writer traveling with the team beat me to it.

3. Silver Linings

Not all is amiss and awry in Wolves land tonight, and amid all the dolor, I thought I'd save the best for last. First off, Sebastian Telfair has begun to improve his shot much as he hiked up his court vision and sense of command in prior months. For the past 8 games, Bassy has shot 48%, (12-25) from beyond the arc. He has scored in double figures in 6 of those 8 games, along with running the offense far better than Foye or Jaric or McCants in terms of pace and proactive passing. Let's face it, he's the only point guard on the roster. That said, I wouldn't go so far as to label Telfair a reliable shooter. Tonight, after hitting some big shots in the 3rd quarter and clearly establishing himself as the second-best Timberwolf behind Jefferson, he got a little too happy with himself and clanged a pair of stupid shots that were crucial to helping the Cavs pull away. On the second of these, McCants was literally pointing down toward Jefferson in the paint as Telfair drew iron with a trey. I understand Bassy is feeling--and sort of thriving on--the heat of competition for playing time with Foye, McCants and Jaric (the current short straw man, logging just 6:26 tonight). But excitability is his enemy.

By contrast, Corey Brewer seems forever excited and unruffled at the same time. The rook's work on LeBron James tonight was as staunch as one could hope for against a player who wound up with 30 points and 13 assists.(And if we're talking about real silver linings, that would go to everyone lucky enough to see James's monster dunk midway through the fourth quarter, when he tried to thread his way through two or three Wolves and stumbled around the foul line, losing the ball a little out in front of him, only to grab it as he stumbled a bit and rise up with literally incredible speed and elevation to slam it home. "That is a different look than anything I have ever seen in my life!" Petersen claimed, rightly going batshit. "TV doesn't do it justice." Perhaps, but even on TV it looked like somebody hitting the fast forward button on a dude who disappares behind players for a second only to emerge as if jumping on a trampoline to slam it home.)

Whatever is said about Brewer, and I've been pro and con, the guy is dogged and he plays the game like he's memorized the handbook. Tonight he racked up 15 points (5-10 FG) and 4 steals, but it was his simple foot movement and determination to stay in front of LeBron that was most impressive. Meanwhile, if you want a half full/empty glass, think about how shrewd Brewer's shot selection is--the ex-Gator almost never shoots outside the flow and rhythm of the offense and hustles hard enough to put himself in many great positions to score. Now consider that despite taking such an inordinately high percentage of good shots, Brewer is still making less than 35% of them. Blame it on his youth, and cross your fingers.

Game #56, Road Game #26: Minnesota 85, Toronto 107

Season Record: 12-44

Well the Foo Fighters were great until they strung a trio of their pop hits together at the encore--the hard rockers were their metier, and the acoustic set, while solid, simply disrupted their stride and made it difficult to settle back into that raging sweet spot when they returned. Serj Tankian (lead singer of System of a Down) was as daft and operatic on his own as he was with System, and Against Me! was a killer opening act churning for only half a house.

Uh, I was at Target Center tonight and the Wolves weren't. Went to the concert with my son. Sorry to be obnoxiously glib up top. Was going to tape the game but I'm too swamped to guarantee a worthwhile analysis so, once again, the floor is open.

I did watch the first 1 and a half quarters, saw Foye's boomlet of points that contributed to the quick start. I also note that Bosh went off for 28 a game after Boozer's 34--slippage for Jefferson? Frankly, I didn't think Jefferson played that badly on D vs. Boozer. And watching Bosh nail that well-guarded trey as the first quarter was ending was an omen that even good defense wasn't going to stop him tonight.

But I wasn't around for it so instead I'll prompt with leading questions:

Shaddy five more attempts than any other Timberwolf, including 1-9 from trey territory. Was he ball hogging or trying to get the Wolves back in the game in a hurry?

Jefferson was 9-12 and Foye 7-10. I remember hearing Hanny say Foye had hit his first five shots. So why did he and Jefferson stop shooting? Too judicious? Good Raptor double teams? Other players dominating the ball? Bad pt guard play from Bassy?

Five turnovers for Craig Smith in less than 17 minutes? What's up?

I see the Wolves forced only 6 turnovers after getting 24 vs Utah the night before? Was Wittman right to call out the ballclub? Did they lie down in the second half? As Toronto began to open up a little lead in the second just as I was turning off the set, it still wouldn't have surprised me to have seen a close game result--they weren't playing that badly. How and why did it crumble?

Or just give me your own take.

^{(AP Photo/Jim Mone)}

Game #55, Home Game #30: Utah 100, Minnesota 111

Season Record: 12-43

1. The Beauty of Teamwork

It's been a long time--certainly a year, maybe two--since fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves have seen this kind of 48 minutes from their ballclub. There have been some really nice wins thus far this season: The roaring final 3 quarters that produced the 131 points versus Indiana, the two convincing wins over Phoenix, and the solid rousting of Philly just last week. And there have been enjoyably well-played losses to Boston (the one on the road), Atlanta (the one on the road), and San Antonio (last week). But Indiana and Philly are sub-mediocrities, the style Phoenix plays is prone to their occasional pratfalls, and the losses were ultimately losses, after all.

Tonight the Wolves beat a very good team--19-4 in 2008 heading into this game--by mixing aggression and sound judgment, tenacity and tact, and, above all, a full-fledged sense of selflessness for the sake of the ballclub. Such teamwork is harder to describe than witness--it's always easier to isolate what's wrong with a car than why it works so well from ignition to muffler--but worth the effort if only to savor it. There are all the little things. Randy Foye jumping right in the middle of the paint to set a pick for Al Jefferson. Rashad McCants diving toward the hoop wide open and not receiving the pass, yet diligently circling back out to probe for other ways he can extend the play. Ryan Gomes rotating over to deter penetration and cover for his late-arriving teammate, then sliding to the other side of the lane to box out his own man after the shot goes up. Corey Brewer scrambling to the sideline and backhanding the ball in to save the possession, then getting back in time to tip in the subsequent shot less than two seconds later. Foye scrambling back hard enough in transition to be able to set his feet for a charge.

Utah is a physical team, charter members of the Frequent Foulers Club, expert in rubbing out obstacles with back-door picks and other traffic-jamming Xs and Os designed to sap your spirit and bruise your muscles. They wait to seize the lapses that are the byproduct of fatigue. But the Wolves beat Utah at their own game. Wittman threw new man Kirk Snyder on Utah enforcer Matt Harpring and Snyder, who practiced against Harpring often his rookie year after being drafted by Utah, went shoulder to shoulder, toe to toe and more than once joined him on the floor in their mutual mania for the round orb. Theo Ratliff took the measure of another bench bruiser for the Jazz, Paul Milsapp, and, although it required 5 fouls in 12:31, helped flummox the second year player. By the third and early in the fourth period, many Utah shots were banging front iron.

Muckers like Craig Smith and Ryan Gomes mucked, but so did Foye and McCants and Telfair, and Big Al. They gave little away for free to Utah, staying with their men by wedging themselves over picks or switching off smartly, alert to the entire court, vertical and horizontal, the breakaways and the back-door cuts. They kept their heads on a swivel and their hands up for deflections, grabbing 16 steals (one short of the franchise record) and disrupting at least that many other possessions. Utah did not execute poorly--the Jazz shot 46.4% and had 26 assists--but the Wolves also forced them into a season-high 24 turnovers. Three Wolves--Jefferson/Foye/McCants--had three steals and Telfair and Gomes had two.

The offense was even more fun to watch. It brimmed with minor decisions that made already good possibilities just a little bit better. Telfair led the team with just 4 assists, and two big men off the bench, Smith and the newcomer Snyder had 3. McCants would have an open look for his jumper but see Jefferson sealing his man and already anticipating the double team, so he'd dump in the entry pass, watch Jefferson spin one-on-three into the lane and draw the foul. McCants gets the glow of feeling unselfish; Al the gusto of barging into the teeth of Sloan's boys in the paint, a Jazz player is that much closer to foul trouble and Jefferson nails the free throws (he was 8-10 FT overall). Another time down, Jefferson has the ball and is crab-dribbling into the double until he push-passes a final dribble into the hands of McCants, swinging over five feet behind him and getting his feet in position, even as Jefferson becomes the de facto screen on his two men and the other McCants has just rubbed off him. Shaddy nails the open look (8-17 FG), Jefferson drops an easy dime (one of two tonight) and Utah knows there are legit threats being wielded at either end of this two-man game.

Except that it's a five man game. The three-headed monster Wolves fans have been pining for--Jefferson, McCants and Foye--all take their closeups, damn well linger in it, maybe for two or three possessions in a row if the matchups are right, abetted by the other four teammates in the little ways described above. But then, for one of the few times this year, the emphasis moves before it has to. Foye's hot, but cedes to Shaddy, or Al, who goes and gets some, but doesn't mark the territory for pecking order purposes. In the first half, Foye has 9 shots, Jefferson 7, McCants 8; for the game Foye has 16 shots, McCants 17, Jefferson 17. Jefferson and McCants tie for the scoring lead with 22, Foye a whisker behind at 20.

And 20 from Ryan Gomes makes it only the second time in the last 10 years, and the first time since January 2004, that four Wolves go off for 20 points or more. Gomes, of course, is different. He is the best individual barometer for this team, because his game is glue, everything geared to teamwork, meaning his perceptive movements without the ball will get him a bushel of sly, easy looks at the hoop if others notice and feed him. Tonight he was 7-15 FG and grabbed team highs in rebounds (11) and offensive boards (4). When the Wolves play this unselfishly, he is probably the most emblematic, and will likely be among the most obscure, especially in relation to his contribution.

2. Coming Out Party

Hey, it's Randy Foye, circa January or Feburary 2007. Those who have been counseling us Foye critics to wait until the guy was back in game shape can gloat a little off this performance. Too often in his first 11 appearances this season Foye wallowed in boom-or-bust mode, bent on arching up treys or taking his shakey wheels for a traipse through the lane. Tonight he threw in the deceptively tough stuff, the midrange game, the runners and the pull-ups and the dish on the move. It made a huge difference both in making the treys and the lay-up tries more unpredictible and in fostering the ball and player movement so much on display tonight. As I mentioned earlier, and am anxious to repeat, Foye, McCants and Jefferson passed the baton fairly regularly tonight. There were three go-to guys and nobody bitched/sulked/malingered or otherwise acted out if one of the other two was bogarting the crayons in the sandbox. And while Foye is not a point guard (16 shots, 2 assists), he is a buffer against the idea of either/or between Jefferson and McCants.

"We've said we have to be patient with Randy," an elated Wittman cautioned after the game. "There's probably going to be another down before there is another up."

And when there is, I'll describe it and probably criticize it. But tonight's effort gave credence to the "still recovering from injury" feeling about Foye; there was physical confidence in this "up." Yeah, Foye missed a chippie or two, but the shot selection was light years better than the chuck-fests he showed previously. Maybe this won't be so much of a "limbo" season for Foye after all.

3. In Praise of Wittman

With ten minutes to go in the game and the Wolves clinging to a one point lead, Randy Wittman opted out of his big lineup, subbing in Ryan Gomes and Craig Smith for Ratliff and Jefferson, with Foye, McCants and Snyder filling out the rotation. For those breaking out the slide rules at home, that's no player above 6-7 (if you believe Craig Smith is 6-7). As a stalwart big lineup guy, I sharpened the poison pen.

But Wittman had noticed Utah coach Jerry Sloan sitting his best players, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, limiting the Jazz's options on offense. And he knew a front line of Okur (6-11), Harping (6-7) and Millsap (6-8), might have trouble defending a quicker team in the 4th quarter.

Boom. Foye nailed a trey off a feed from Gomes. Harping tried a jump-hook over Smith on the baseline that didn't go. Foye missed another trey attempt but Gomes got the board. His shot was blocked by Millsap but Smith got the board. His shot was blocked by Harpring, but Smith got it back, and laid it in. Millsap missed a jumper from the side of the key and Foye rebounded, leading to a neat layup by Gomes on an assist from Snyder. Sloan hurriedly called timeout and got Boozer and D-Will back in the game, but, in just 1:54, the smallball Wolves had bumped a single digit up to 8, permanently changing the complexion of the game.

Had it gone exactly the other way--smallball giving the Jazz a quick seven and swinging the tide--the anti-Wittman venom from me and others would have been righteous. Because he's got a lousy won-loss record, he's fairly bland, he stunk up the joint in his coaching stint last year, and he enjoys the support of McHale, Taylor and some others who have been incumbents of the downfall. We're quick to criticize and slow to praise.

So give the man his due for the smallball gambit--it's not like that quintet had ever played a minute together before, and it may have been the difference tonight. Wittman also chose this game to showcase Kirk Snyder, who doesn't know all the team's plays but logged an effective 24:09 tonight because Witt liked matching him up with the beef of Harpring and Kirilenko at the small forward slot. He probably also knew Snyder had that stint in Utah and Sloan doesn't change spots that much. Snyder, anxious to make a splash and mindful of his impending free agency, was the right feature at the right time. There was also the fabled Wittman discipline, but lower-keyed and effective this time. After the Wolves raced out to an 8-2 lead, Utah scored the next ten points, leading to a no-nonsense time out from Wittman. Smart move whether he said anything or simply broke the prevailing momentum--the Wolves scored the next seven points.

PS--City Pages writer Jonathan Kaminsky has a nice, long, profile of Al Jefferson up on the citypages.com site. Worth reading.

^{Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)}

Game #54, Home Game #29: Dallas 99, Minnesota 83

Season Record: 11-43

1. Really Kidding

As someone who was contemptuous of how much the Dallas Mavericks gave up to secure Jason Kidd, let me sheepishly report that the clearcut MVP of tonight's game was...Jason Kidd. Believe it or not, his line of 17 assists (versus 3 turnovers), 4 steals, 12 points and 7 rebounds doesn't do him justice. The dimes were doled with numbing regularity (the period totals were 6-4-4-3), but the most memorable were in the second half, especially a pair to center Erick Dampier early in the third, both touch passes as Kidd was falling out of bounds getting a rebound and receiving a feed near the hoop, respectively. All Dampier had to do on both occasions was lay the ball in (in fact he was 4-4 FG and every hoop was gift-wrapped by Kidd on a silver platter). This helped push the Mavs to their first double-digit lead, one they eventually lost as the two ballclubs matched quarter scores for three straight periods--a tie at the end of every one.

With 5:10 to play in the 4th and Dallas up just 4, Kidd--who'd been penetrating and turning down makeable shots all night for the sake of ball movement--started sinking nails in the Wolves' coffin. First was a driving layup that few, including Telfair, expected him to finish. Then a 20-foot jumper relatively early in the shot clock. Then a feed to a driving Jason Terry and, following a Nowitzki jumper and 1, a transition layup off a steal that yielded his own three point play. Just like that the lead was 14 with 2:41 to go, and after doling out a relatively pedestrian 17th assist to Josh Howard, #2 from Oaktown was done for the night. Ditto the Wolves.

Those of us who fancy ourselves "students of the game" will always marvel at how Kidd's court vision makes basketball intelligence a thing of beauty, and cherish him because of it. But here's the rub: The Kidd who performed tonight was a very different player than the Kidd manning the point for New Jersey earlier this month. That Kidd was indifferent to the point of laziness on defense, made the competent passes but not the ones that get teammates excited about moving without the ball, and comported himself like a man with a heavy burden. Ironically, that New Jersey team also sported Vince Carter, a player whose admitted tanking in Toronto so offended us "students of the game" because the beauty of his play was so raw and physical, the near opposite of Kidd's cerebral gambits. But the evidence of our eyes in the way Kidd rejuvenated his game for Dallas tonight--with nearly a third of his 17 assists of the eye-popping sort, 4 steals, and a skipping gait that shows the burden lifted somehow--is that Kidd was tanking in Jersey perhaps no less than Vinsanity withheld himself in Toronto. So, does being "smarter" give Kidd immunity on being slacker?

2. Jefferson + 4 = -1

Al Jefferson is getting better in a hurry. He denied any difference in commitment and attitude when I asked him after the Spurs game if he'd rededicated himself to anything going forward from the All Star break, but elements of his game that do not affect his personal point total--passing and defense--have both noticeably sharpened. Whenever Jefferson has blown a defensive assignment in the past three games, he's either slapped his chest or, if the play is quickly in transition, held up his finger as a sign of taking responsibility. He is much more aggressive about going for the block or the foul when opposing use dribble penetration. And his passing has helped foster some of the best ball movement the Wolves have executed this season.

Jefferson gives the Wolves something elemental--a big man constantly at threat to score in the low block. Yet an increasingly vexing problem as the season has progressed has been finding him a worthy partner, a relatively potent and consistent player who can score and dish on the perimeter to create space and synergize the offense. Unfortunately, the quartet of candidates being seriously auditioned thus far have varying degrees of skill in terms of commanding the floor and shooting the ball, ranging from the "pure" point Telfair to the point machine McCants, with Marko Jaric close to Telfair and Randy Foye closer to McCants in skill sets.

At the beginning of the year, Foye was the obvious choice, and remains the most likely to grab the role, if only by default thus far. Further complicating matters is that Foye is a combo guard just as Jefferson is a combo big man--the Wolves would like to see them grow into the point guard and pivot positions, when in fact they seem most at home at off-guard and power forward. Whatever you want to call him, Foye took a small step backward tonight, nailing but one of six shots and delivering a lone assist against two turnovers in 25:04. "He's going through some ups and downs right now and has got to get his confidence back, which will help everything," Wittman said after the game.

But with just 28 games to go, the possibility grows that this is a "limbo" season for Foye, much as last year was for McCants; any judgements, pro or con, on what he can and can't do are occluded by the injury. That's almost worse than a definitive yes-or-no answer for a franchise that will have a very good pick and two high second-rounders in the draft.

When the Wolves got the pou pou platter for KG during the off season, Wittman specifically said the squad was looking for two or perhaps three or four of the glut of young'uns populating the team to emerge as potential stars. As expected, mission accomplished for Jefferson. On the winnowing out end of things, Gerald Green has left the premises. But anyone who can say with any confidence that they know how Telfair, Foye, McCants, Brewer and Gomes are going to turn out is kidding himself--not a good sign

I understand that this is hardly a startling insight for folks following the team, but tonight's checkered play by the checkered players and the realization that the season is over in 8 weeks seems to throw it into sharper relief. Telfair continued his recent uptick in shooting accuracy but was frequently overmatched by Kidd's length and rejuvenation. McCants poured in 17 points in 28:08 but continues to epitomize the "different drummer" cliche with a playing rhythm and inherent decision making that is silk for him but often off-kilter for his teammates. Jaric, a rare known commodity, shows why he could be an 8th or 9th man on a playoff contender by assembling one of his 7 point-6 rebound-5 assist games with a little disruptive D thrown in for good measure. And Craig Smith, who was absolutely blistered by Dirk Nowitzski in an obvious mismatch situation earlier in the season, defended Dirk as well as anybody on the team this time out and had me biting my tongue on the lack of Ratliff-Jefferson tandem play that's occurred since Theo's return.

Wittman felt the game turned sour when his team held Dallas without points for seven straight possessions but couldn't convert themselves. Not surprisingly, Jefferson wasn't on the floor at the time. Wittman also correctly explained that the difference between the Wolves who shot 71% in the second quarter (to be 59% at the half) and the Wolves who shot 26% in the fourth quarter was aggression, not settling for jumpers, and moving the ball. Not incidentally, Jefferson was 4-4 FG in the second period, 0-3 FG in the final stanza, and mightily pissed over his lack of touches and the team's inability to score without him. "We lost our composure with each other a little bit and got frustrated," Wittman conceded. No feuds, and nothing specific, just general angst.

Telfair, Jaric, Foye, and McCants. Is there is a legit partner in that crew for Big Al? The longer there is no definite answer, the answer is no.

3. Smallball Update

Wittman explained that he doesn't want to bring Ratliff back too quickly against smaller lineups, so he played sparingly alongside Jefferson at the end of the first and third quarters. Okay, but why bring back Chris Richard if he isn't going to get any burn? And why does the coach enjoy smallball with this personnel so often? Despite shooting a higher percentage than Dallas (49.4% to 45%), the Wolves were outrebounded 43-35 and got to the line only a third as often as the Mavs, 9 to 27 FTA. Jefferson's FT totals in the three Dallas games have steadily declined, from 14 to 8 to 4. Does Kevin McHale want only one smashmouth big man barging around?

^{(AP Photo/Jim Mone)}

Game #53, Home Game #28: San Antonio 100, Minnesota 99

Season record: 11-42

1. Crunchtime Dysfunction

The first thing I want to do is praise these post-All Star break Timberwolves, a ballclub that embodied the cliche "plucky" by refusing to do the expected thing and roll over and die after Manu Ginobili carved them up seven ways to Sunday (how's 44 points on 18 FGA for efficiency?) and Tim Duncan found his fundamentals long enough to nudge his team up to the game's first and only double-digit lead with 3:29 to play in the third period. This team is quickening, accruing confidence, and starting to identify itself via ball movement and Al Jefferson's post-up game and a steadily improving team defense. They scrabbled back in that third period to set up a taut, well-played final period in which the lead for either team was never great than 5, was tied with 3:20 to play and was a one-possession game for the last 1:31.

The whole shebang was so much fun to watch that I want to say neither team lost it, the Spurs simply won it. Except that's not true. Minnesota had two chances to ice a victory, coming downcourt with a one-point lead and 29 seconds to go and getting a final possession down a point with 6 seconds to go. During those two possessions neither leading scorer Jefferson nor second-leading scorer Rashad McCants touched the ball. On both possessions the crucial decision-maker was the (hopefully) still recovering Randy Foye and the final possession the shooter was Sebastian Telfair. To put it mildly, the Wolves did not have the right people doing the right things down the stretch.

Remember "4th Quarter Foye"? Randy Foye certainly does. It's a nifty catchphrase, with its cogent rhythm and stark alliteration, but what it stands for isn't all good. As Wolves' publicity has informed us on numerous occasions, Foye got more than half his points in the final period last season. Translation: The guy the ballclub would really like to transform into its starting point guard looks for his when the game is in the balance. This could rightfully be spun as a hopeful attribute when the front office was casting about for a worthy sidekick and complementary talent to go with Kevin Garnett, who liked nothing better than to make the "right basketball play" to win the game, be it an assist, steal or turnaround jumper. But on a team with Al Jefferson still spreading his offensive blossom, nurtured by contact and grit in the paint, the abiding priority for 4th Quarter Foye should be to get him the rock in the low block by any means necessary.

Instead we got the alpha Foye in a beta situation. The first time he reprised his signature move still stencilled on last year's scouting reports: A hard, guts-for-glory drive down the right lane that waits almost until he's out of bounds before leaning in slightly and lofting hooky jumper that he hopes will bank in over the outstretched leap of a couple of converging defenders. Tonight it barely grazed the front iron. The second time he got the inbounds, sought to drive, got bolloxed up, ditto the double-team Jefferson, and, in mid-air, flailed the ball over to a wide-open Telfair near the top of the key. If you are San Antonio, this is a job well done: No touches for Jefferson, giving Foye's ego enough rope to hang itself, and having the game decided on the do-or-die accuracy of Telfair's J.It went back iron.

Coach Randy Wittman was trying to play the role of dejected loser, but was too enthused to keep the satisfaction from creeping into his voice when describing the game. And he's right. Wittman bitched about a flagrant foul called on Telfair, who inadvertantly slugged Ginobili in the mouth when Manu went one way and Bassy the other out on the perimeter. Ginobili, who can take a dive on little or no contact, sold it beautifully and the Spurs had two foul shots *and* the ball with 1:40 to play and a two-point lead. Again, Wittman was right: obvious foul but just as obvious no flagrant foul. But at some other point in those last 100 seconds, Ginobili got mugged on a drive with no whistle, and although he showed the ref the scratches later (you gotta hate and love the guy) he took maybe a tenth of a second to beseech the ref when the play happened and then hustled hard back down the court. So yes, the free throws he hit off the flagrant counted mightily. But the winning margin of the game came when Ginobili got the ball with 10 seconds to play--as everyone who had just seen him go for 42 points thus far to that point *knew* would happen--then, after Foye cut off his brief left handed foray toward the hoop, slid to his right via a behind-the-back dribble, rose up and canned a 16-footer, the last of his 16 points in the final period. What "4th Quarter Ginobili" lacks in alliterative rhythm is more than compensated by the truth in advertising.

The point being, San Antonio got the ball to the guy they wanted to have it at crunchtime and the Wolves didn't. Asked about those final two possessions, Wittman replied, "We wanted to run the clock down and then run a two-man game with Al and Foye...On the high pick and roll, Al was beating them all night...Al was our first option."

Over in the Wolves' locker room, Jefferson was still sitting in his uni, large ice packs on both knees. A throng of nearly a dozen media did the pack-herd semicircle thing, microphones outstretched, like zoo animals reaching for food. In the adjoining locker to Jefferson's, Randy Foye dressed in relative oblivion. He was not happy, but enough of a pro to take my questions in stride, albeit with clipped responses. What happened on the next to last possession--too much rust from the injury or did they defend it well? "It was good defense," he said. And on the last possession? "That was the play," he said, a little edgy. "They double-teamed me and Al and I kicked it over." After Foye and nearly all the media had left, I asked Jefferson if he felt he could have gotten the ball on either of the last two possessions. He gave it a second to plot the response. "Well, Bassy had a great look on that shot. If we had a chance to do it over again, he'd take that shot and he'd make it."

And the other play with the Foye layup that came up short? "We ran the pick and roll." Short pause. "Randy took the shot and missed." Longer pause, as Big Al gathers up the starch for his classy follow-through. "If we do it over again, Randy takes that shot and he makes it."

To put the game in perspective, Telfair came out aggressively with 6 points in the first 2:18 of the game and a team-high 8 for the period. He finished with 15 points on 7-14 FG. Jefferson was by-now typically marvelous at 11-19 FG, with many of the attempts a flat out race to see if he could get the shot off before the double team converged. He also got to the line 9 times and had 28 points (albeit just 5 rebounds). And Foye had his best game of the season thus far, with a team-high 7 assists and 13 points on 5-10 FG.

But all three sported nothing but gooseggs in those last two possessions.

2, Theo's Return

For those of us excited to see Jefferson back at his natural power forward position beside a legit shot-blocking center, well, it happened for all of 2:16 in the fourth quarter tonight. Wittman used the remainder of Ratliff's 14:11 of PT having his spell Jefferson in the pivot. For what it's worth, the Wolves were plus +3 during the brief stint with Jefferson and Ratliff both in the game; othewise, Jefferson was a net zero and Ratliff at minus -4. The first thing Theo wanted to do after a 45-game layoff was shoot a jumper, but after he got that clank out of the way, he made his only other three attempts. While not as striking as he was on opening day and for a week or two before he got hurt, he moved relatively well, yet needs a little more time to get his timing down. He didn't block a shot tonight, while Jefferson and Duncan each swatted away a pair of the other's layup attempts. VP of Personnel Kevin McHale says the front office wants to see how Jefferson and company operate with a shot-blocking big man patrolling beside them. Don't we all, even on questionable matchups like the Dallas front line, which is likely to be Dampier-Dirk-Josh Howard. Counter with Theo-Jefferson-Brewer and let's see what happens.

3. Trades

I don't think I've ever witnessed a player with a bigger gap between his physical talent and his strategic comprehension than Gerald Green. Both the Wolves and Green are best separated, and if the second round pick two years hence yields a shot-in-the-dark glue guy or the cash considerations Houston threw into the deal along with Kirk Snyder help pay for Corey Brewer's weight supplements, than perhaps the trade won't be quite as insignificant as it seems today. Snyder is not likely to stick here. As for Green, you can never say never about a performer with that much spring and such sweet mechanics on his jumper, but until the technology develops to put a chip in his ear telling him what to do next on defense, I fear Green will forever wander the hardwood--sometimes with his headband on, sometimes without.

The Wolves may rue not getting rid of Antoine Walker (not that they didn't try, I'll bet), whose tenure as solid citizen and cheerleader/mentor is wearing thin for him as the playoffs approach and the trading deadline has come and gone. 'Toine was in street clothes tonight and the body language and derisive smirk he couldn't keep off his face may be a portent of trouble ahead.

In the deadline day's other swaps, the three-team merry-go-round between Chicago, Cleveland and Seattle favors the Cavs. I honestly don't know how much Ben Wallace has left in the tank, but a proud pro on his last legs has a potent incentive helping to enable LeBron to get his first ring. More significant is the pickup of Delonte West, who has looked impressive every time I've seen him play and, if he plays defense, has a good shot at regular minutes at the point on this team. And Wally Szczerbiak may be due to become a sharpshooting 9th man on a legit playoff contender. Joe Smith is a gamer. As a Mike Brown fan, I think he might be able to wheedle these pieces into something decent by the first round of the playoffs. In any event, Drew Gooden is overrated and Larry Hughes, while occasionally magnificent on D, is injury-prone and grossly overpaid.

I have no idea what the Bulls are doing. With Hughes and Gooden added to Sefalosha and Noah and Deng and Gordon likely leaving in a year or so, they are going to win and lose a lot of 88-85 games. But how bad does shipping out Tyson Chandler and bringing in Wallace look now?

Seattle is still tearing down for the future. Can you believe Kurt Thomas has brought them three top draft picks? Meanwhile, Steve Kerr has to hope the Suns don't face the Spurs early in the playoffs, because it could be Kurt Thomas demonstrating how foolish it was to get Shaq when they could have gotten better defense and a more simpatico style player for much less money. The Spurs are smart; Thomas fits better than Francisco Elson, Brent Barry is slipping fast and that 2009 pick won't be worth much unless the inevitable happens quickly and this team gets old and hurt in an epidemic hurry.