Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
Game # 47, Home Game #23: Houston 92, Minnesota 86
Season record: 10-37
1. Telfair and Jaric Stake Their Claims
It may be a long time before Randy Foye earns the starting point guard position. The blueprint has it that Foye will be at the point just as soon as he works himself into game shape from that truculent knee injury that robbed him of more than half a season. For two games in a row he has been the first player off the bench and the plan is obviously to install him as the floor general for this ballclub as soon as possible.
But that doesn't mean he will *earn* the job, especially given the disparity between Foye's stumblebum narcissism and the perspicacity with which the current PG incumbent, Bassy Telfair, performed tonight in a close loss to Houston that was well-played by both teams. It was perhaps Telfair's best game of the season, right up there with the Indiana blowout and the near upset of the Celtics. He consistently dribble-penetrated through the tall trees of China (Yao Ming) and Spain (Luis Scola) and at least four of his dozen dimes were highlight-reel quality, the kind that lift a team's offensive confidence the way a block or a steal lifts a defense.
My personal favorite was the last of those 12 assists, occurring with 3:31 to play and the Wolves down 4, 78-82. Starting out at the left key, Telfair took a near baseline angle on his drive to the hoop, and Houston's entire defense, accustomed to his artistry by now, coalesced around both the dribbler and the two big men in or near the paint. And so Bassy just kept going, beneath the hoop and apparently headed toward the corner, the place where he'd fed Ryan Gomes for a trey on the previous possession. But then he suddenly hooked back upward in a tight circle toward the foul line, getting about two steps and four dribbles before sending a bounce pass across the paint to a driving Craig Smith, who laid it in while being fouled by Shane Battier. These are the kinds of moves that make you happy you are watching hoops--so simultaneously splashy and selfless and filled with David vs. Goliath imagery, and happening in such a flash that the collective roar of the crowd is what most ratifies the fact that you have just seen it.
And in fact we have not seen it very often in the history of the Timberwolves, where even successful points like Sam Cassell and Terrell Brandon didn't exactly glide in for that flash, or polish up the feed on quite so shiny a silver platter. (That's why Stephon Marbury was always regarded as the Judas of Wolves' Camelot for bugging out on KG--and yes I just mixed about a half-dozen historical metaphors.) Hell, Telfair doesn't do it that often, but tonight he made impartial observers wonder why you'd want a replacement--at least until he missed the jumper Houston dared him to shoot (he was 3-7 FG overall) with the Wolves down one with 51 seconds left to play.
Foye was horrible. Most of his passes were benign, around-the-horn types delivered either from a standing dribble or after he'd already picked up the ball, not off penetration. He wasn't quick and he wasn't smart and he was foolishly too confident for his incomplete recovery to game shape. His lone assist, versus four turnovers, occurred when he fed Al Jefferson at the foul line and Jefferson took a jab step to feint out his opponent and then sailed in off the dribble to slam it home--in other words, an assist that was generously awarded. Yeah, I know that Foye can be special, that he likes the pressure, scores most of his points in the fourth quarter, etc. etc. But people forget that last year he shared half-court sets with some pretty fair passers who demanded double-teams when they got the ball--Kevin Garnett and Ricky Davis. You could run the entire offense through either one of them, and in fact the Wolves did so on a variety of occasions when Foye was the "floor general." The other day, Foye told the media that everybody would know he was back and fully recovered when he had "a big game." I got the distinct impression that he meant 30 points a lot more than he meant a dozen dimes. Anyway, he now has five assists and nine turnovers in four games since his return.
Then there is Marko Jaric, owner of the team's most bloated long-term contract, and tarnished by the unfortunate circumstance that he cost Minnesota not only Cassell (who had to go), but a still-to-be-sacrificed first round draft pick. At the beginning of the season, the Wolves could have "disappeared" both Jaric and Telfair and the faithful would have nodded their heads knowingly and figured it was an inevitable part of this rebuilding mop-up. Tonight each inspired in his own way. For Jaric it was chasing around sharpshooter Tracy McGrady until his uniform was sopped and nearly all the color (which wasn't much to begin with) was drained from his Serbian face.
This was particularly stirring during the yeoman third period when Houston ran Jaric through innumerable picks and McGrady was given license to take a five-point halftime lead and parlay it into comfortable double-digits, if not an outright blowout. T-Mac yo-yoed on the perimeter, straining Marko through the screens, ever testing for penetration, or angling to get him aloft with an up fake. When the quarter was over, McGrady was 2-8 FG in those 12 minutes, and held scoreless from the jumper he hit at 10:59 to the free throws he made at 2:59. During those eight minutes Jaric was not marvelous or magnificent so much as unrelenting and tunnel-visioned, winning the third period battle even after McGrady's trey put Houston back on top by 3 in the quarter's final 67 seconds.
Although coach Randy Wittman gave Jefferson his first blow of the second half with 8:40 to go in the fourth quarter, he was appropriately loathe to replace Jaric with another defender on McGrady. But when Houston swelled the lead to 10 with 7:10 to play (with McGrady held scoreless in the 4th but with two assists), Witt needed more offensive firepower and subbed in Gomes for Jaric, sliding McCants over to guard T-Mac. McGrady promptly nailed a jumper from just inside the three-point line, then got into the paint (something that almost never happened with Jaric on him) and dished over to Bonzie Wells for a trey that negated two dime-initiated baskets by Telfair and kept the lead at 9. After that, McCants gathered himself and played pretty staunch defense. But McGrady jab-stepped left and nailed a 17-footer to give the Rockets back a one-point lead with 1:10 left to play, then essentially iced it with a trey with 31 seconds remaining to boost the Rockets' lead to 4. Afterward, Wittman had the answer to my question about Jaric or McCants on T-Mac going before I could finish it, noting the lead that was widening, crediting both players with fine D on a very talented shooter, and saying that the plan had been to get Jaric back in the game at some point. But it didn't happen.
2. Shaddy's Snit
With 4:37 left in the second period, Rashad McCants was whistled for a charge on one of those calls that could have legitimately gone either way. But McCants was pissed and complained to the officials as the Wolves called timeout. After this extended harangue, Wittman caught Shaddy's attention as he was headed toward the bench and harshly told him to get over to the sideline. McCants angrily threw his hand up in Wittman's direction, turned his head away and yelled something on the order of "get fucked" as he went and sat down.
When play resumed, McCants was obviously still seething. After a trey by McGrady, Shaddy nailed a step-back jumper, but then Rafer Alston hit a three, boosting Houston's lead to a game-high 10. McCants' pass was then stolen by Wells, but Corey Brewer stole a McGrady pass in turn and the Wolves headed down the court. When Jefferson fed the ball to Brewer for a jump shot, McCants was standing in the corner, first calling for the ball and then putting his hands on his hips and delivering a malevolent gaze at everyone. Shaddy's fury was not lessened by the fact that Brewer hit the jumper and when Houston subsequently called timeout, he stalked to the bench in high dudgeon, yelling and screaming, presumably at the injustice of not getting the ball. Dressed in street clothes, Theo Ratliff came over first and tried to console him, or at least get him to pipe down. The coaches were still conferring with each other away from the sideline but the players couldn't help but notice McCants going batshit and stole glances, mixed with a few sour looks, his way. When Witt and company came to the sideline and Wittman pulled out his chalkboard, McCants sat down to his right side. His back was to where I was sitting at this point, but it was obvious that his tirade was continuing because Mark Madsen (also in street clothes), a man of infinite patience and goodwill, got a dark look on his face and yelled out something, again presumably to quiet McCants. Finally, Wittman turned to his right, glowered at McCants, and hollared, either "get out of here" or "get the fuck out of here," but in any case, the way McCants's shoulders kept moving, I assume he kept talking, until Wittman finally hollared again, "Shut up!" and then started to work on the upcoming play.
When the players broke the huddle, McCants was no longer in the game. McCants continued to talk while on the bench, no longer quite so angry but demonstrably making his case beside Foye, who looked like he simply wanted the whole episode to be over. Shaddy's teammates likewise regarded his actions as annoying during this entire time. I honestly wondered if there would be a significant blowback. Up in his seats at halfcourt, VP Kevin McHale clearly had a notion as to what was going on and just as clearly didn't look very happy about it.
Yet two minutes after the benching, Wittman called for McCants to re-enter the game with 52 seconds left in the half. And during the second half, McCants was given almost exactly the same minutes as in the first half, in almost exactly the same substitution pattern. So, on the surface at least, no hard feelings. When I asked Wittman about the "tiff" after the game, he asked what I meant by tiff. I repeated the "shut up!" part of the conversation and he said, with a good-natured smile on his face, "That's coaching. When you tell a guy to shut up, it is time for him to shut up." And since it was already near the close of the post-game press conference anyway, he chose that point to walk away from the mic and end it there. McCants was already gone when I got to the locker room.
3. Honorable Mentions
Ho-hum, Al Jefferson had 33 points and 16 rebounds, although the four turnovers were a blemish. Meanwhile, unless Ryan Gomes is going off for 35, as he did against Golden State, or zero, as he did in the first of the back-to-back with Chicago, it is very difficult to know whether he has scored 6 or 25, because he gets them so efficiently in rhythm with the flow of the game. Tonight he had just two at the half, but posted ten more after the break, five in each of the third and fourth quarters, while outplaying his doppelganger Shane Battier, who was held scoreless in the second half and finished with just 5 points and 6 rebounds in 33:43.
As an ex-frequent commenter (nothing to do with the site, mostly external events), I feel a little bummed to have missed the Minnesota version of a flame war (i.e. surprisingly civil). I'm not here to feed the trolls, but I've gotta weigh in. Apologies.
I feel at this point, Al is our only true building block, with Rhino running in second place (which is not a good position for someone who also plays PF). Our last 3 first round picks have obvious deficiencies. Shaddy is too aggressive and lacks vision, Foye is passive and lacks vision, and while I can't yet pass judgment on the rook, if you don't know what his game lacks, you haven't been paying attention.
But can we get some perspective, please? If Bassy were our pick rather than a KG-trade "castoff" (and he's only what, 22?), we'd be riding high, talking about his potential, and how he just needs to work on his shooting. Britt would be writing paragraphs on Gerald Green's latest outburst or red-hot shooting night. But the Kool-Aid always went down a lot easier when KG was here. He gave our draft picks promise. Now he's not, and we're cheering the "new" Wolves - a new breed of Laettners, Riders, Marshalls.
Now I've never been a "McHale can't draft" type, but look at the historical record, not just for this team, but for most. We can't expect to put our faith in young guys to carry the load unless they're obviously special (like Al). Sure, there are the Spurs, Bulls and Suns who have great scouts and draft great players. But when you put all your eggs in that basket, a fine line separates you from the 2006 Bulls and a Memphis or Atlanta.
None of this takes anything away from the joy of watching my Wolves - I just want more for the Jefferson era, and more of what KG was clamoring for in his final years - proven talent. I want to keep Walker, despite his many flaws. I want Theo to have Al's back on D (no matter what Theo's own back says). I want Jaric's savvy, Buckner's D and three-point shooting. And while I'm dreaming, give me a stable of second rounders like Richard and Smith over our "logjam" at the guard spot any day. One solid 30-minutes-per-night vet SG would clear that problem right up, and put the rooks where they belong - working their tails off to get off the pine.
Britt,
Wanted to see what your take is about KG's "possible" return to Minny is.
The fact that he might not even show up really will dissapoint his fans. Despite if he plays or not, do you think he owes his Minnesotan fans to just show up at least in front of a sell out crowd(who all came to see him)?
I think it would be appropriate for him to show up, but I don't think he owes the fans of Minnesota anything, any more than the team owes him any sort of commemoration or citation when he arrives.
Garnett created a lot of great memories here, for himself and his fans. But it would be dodging the issue not to acknowledge that the last few years left a little bit of a bad taste too, for both sides. As a fan of his game, and a dogged follower of this franchise, I have no expectations.
Two non-basketball On The Ball notes.
1) The negative tone creeping into this blog is diminishing my enjoyment. This is supposed to be fun guys. Free-flowing differing points of view are what this spot is all about. But, let's stop couching disagreements in anger and unpleasantness please.
2) I had my first On the Ball small world run-in today (at least that I know about). I had lunch today at Dulono's in South Minneapolis with one of my closest friends from high school. Turns out he's a colleague and friend of Peter Weinhold and the two of them once used my Wolves tickets together!
"We are the World, we are the children"...come on guys... arms around each other, sway back and forth, sing along! - AK
I agree 100% with AK, the tone on this board has drifted slightly towards the snarky contrarian BS which populates almost all internet comment threads. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for different people having different opinions, but the path between enlightened disagreement and arguments for the sake of arguing is a slippery slope. I can't imagine everyone backing up their statements with first-hand accounts and in-depth stats, however I expect more out of the comments on this site than someone just chiming in to say they disagree with someone and then belittling that person's opinion and questioning their knowledge of hoops.
Seriously Britt, this place is like a T-Pups support group to me, and maintaining interest when they finish with 20-25 wins for the next three seasons will be tough. Can you please see to it that commenters have to be registered?
Steve J (and AK)--
It might be tough for me to crack down on folks when I sometimes find myself among the snarling horde. Certainly Captain America, Anonymous, krush, and a few others who I've yapped back at recently might feel that way.
For those who might link those late-night rants under my sig in the comments section to a drinking problem, the truth is I'm usually cranking on some deadline or another in the wee hours--in fact I think that's where the word "cranky" must come from. But I really do appreciate the heads-up about the tone. You're right, it's something I've monitored more carefully in the past, and I've gotten away from it lately, in part because I no longer have to approve comments in order for them to appear, and in part because the number of comments has risen so steadily (ditto readership, for which I thank you).
I'll try to be more vigilant in keeping things forceful and enlightening but with an unstated expectation of compassion toward fellow readers and commenters. And that of course means my own comments must set the example for that standard. We'll see how it goes. And thanks for the feedback.
I don't share the view that things have become too snarky, nor do I think Britt needs to apologize or change his style of response. I've seen, and been a part of some passionate disagreements, but none that cross the line of civility. If we all did the message board version of singing Kumbaya and holding hands, it would make for boring commentary and debate. That's the last thing we need this season.
Anyway, if the consensus is that I am a lightening rod of negativity, I'll stop posting. Note that as long as I post, I will state my opinions (usually backed up by some facts and stats) and call out posters and even Britt when I feel it is necessary (I still feel Britt has been too hard on Foye). I get as good as I give, so feel free to do the same to me.
Paul - I for one would be disappointed if you stopped contributing. My comment wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Britt and his merry band of bloggers is as close to the Algonquin Roundtable as we Wolves fans can get. I want the level of discourse to remain solid and enjoyable, that's all.
Extra points for Algonquin Roundtable reference. I especially like how you crossed it with a Robin Hood reference. First perspicacity, now this. Best. Post/comment thread. Evah.
I think the level of discourse here has been outstanding. It sure as hell beats the comment sections in political blogs. I used to operate one of those things and the comment section/email inbox was absolutely brutal.
My comment was referring to the Anon's which chime in from time-to-time and have almost nothing to add other than trying to dis someone on the message board or rail on the front office (the easiest target in town), hence why I was asking for a registration requirement to post comments. I have no quarrel with Paul and enjoy his contributions to the message board. I simply cannot imagine a better, more knowledgeable group of fans this committed to any other bottom-feeding team in pro sports, let alone that group sharing in a community such as this. I'm over it for now, time to start talking about Beasley.
Things still seem pretty civil to me, but I agree--it would be nice to at least force people to use a name besides "Anonymous" when posting comments. Ideally there would either be someone to approve comments (the way the readership is growing Britt would need to hire an underling to handle it!), or the site would require actual registration to join our Wolvesgonquin Roundtable here, like Salon (for example) does with its user letters.
Before we, including me, lose all perspective, let's note that Foye will have to be a spectacular failure at the point guard position not to claim most of the team's minutes there. Both last year and this preseason, I made the obvious point that Foye is not your natural, classic point guard, that he is at best a "combo guard." But the plan has always been to deploy him at the point, and barring a phenomenal upgrade from Telfair, that is what is going to happen in a major way for the rest of the season.
And, at this stage, it should. Foye is a great athlete, with natural leadership skills, coming off a significant injury. Yes, I ripped him pretty hard for a miserable performance against Houston, and defended myself against people who objected to that ripping. But that doesn't mean I don't understand the longer view here. Whether or not Foye can live up to expectations at the point is very much an open question, and, as such, deserves open-minded assessment as the process unfolds.
Let's not get too carried away with Telfair's shooting percentage. It's a sign that he plays within his ability--(and in shooting terms, that is very limited ability)--and not that he is a good shooter. Opposing defenses consistently welcome him to take shots that many high school players would love to get, and he only knocks down 40%. I like a lot about Bassy's game, but his shooting woes are indefensible at this point, and they allow opposing defenses to help off him and make things more difficult for his teammates' scoring efforts.
Telfair has so much quickness and understanding of offensive flow, it makes it all the more sad that he cant' shoot worth a lick. Even with his horrid shooting, he can be a valuable contributor as the point guard off the bench. I hope the Wolves resign him.
That "Nash-like" pass was beautiful to watch, and more than makes up for watching him clank that wide open crunch time jumper.
I am surprised there ain't more kudos for Jefferson. The guy was, as Mchale would say, a beast. Not only was he unstoppable as a scorer, he also played decent defense. He had a few nice stops on Ming. Going into the game, I was terrified at the thought of Jeff facing Ming, since he usually does poorly when forced to play big centers.
From a scoring and rebounding standpoint, I don't remember KG having many runs that were as dominant. Over the past 5 games he's averaged 29 points and 16 rebounds.
Britt, while I've found your negative take on Foye harsh, considering he is coming back from injury and has had a long layoff, the "stumblebum narcissist" comment was way ot of line and out of character for you.
From everything I've read and seen, Foye seems to be a smart, high character kid with an aggressive on court style of play. He may shoot more than some, but he certainly is no stumblebum or narcissist.
krush--
I think if I called Foy a "stumblebum narcissist" as you say that it would be a little out of line. But what I wrote was that last night Randy Foye performed with "stumblebum narcissism," particularly in relation to Sebastian Telfair (note the title of the point). And yes, I think a team-high four turnovers and one questionable assist combined with 2-7 FG and a trio of treys Wittman himself explicitly stated were unwise shots in his postgame press conference amount to stumblebum narcissism compared to a dozen dimes with zero turnovers and just as many shots (and one more make) in more than twice as many minutes for Telfair.
BTW, my dictionary defines narcissism as "excessive love or admiration for oneself." A smart, high character guy who is not performing with narcissism will realize when it is better to set up his teammates as opposed to trying to take matters into his own hands. This is especially true when the smart high character guy is recovering from a long layoff due to knee injury, and when the supposedly inferior backup to the high character guy has already demonstrated that selfless ball distribution is a successful strategy against that particular opponent.
Players who shoot a lot (not that 7 shots in 15 minutes is a lot) excessively love themselves . . . got it.
What else is Telfair to do? He can't shoot. He's afraid to shoot. Of course he's going to distribute the ball. That's his strength, just as scoring is Foye's strength. The distributor has one of the worst plus/minus ratios on the team (-4.9). Foye, coming off the bench, out of shape and playing with inferior lineups, is +8.8 in limited play. The only thing Telfair has claimed is the role of 6th or 7th man.
Telfair seems to benefit greatly by playing next to a scorer like Foye, even when Foye is not at his best. Bassy's plus/minus jumped to +13 in the 8 minutes he's played with Foye, an 18 point turnaround. Limited sample, but thus far follows what common sense would dictate.
You want to be snide, "Anonymous," I can be snide.
Players who average more than 18 FGA per48, have an assist to turnover ratio of 5/9 and claim their natural position is point guard excessively love themselves. Meanwhile, are you really staking your claim on Foye's prominence because he's a net plus +2 in 79 total minutes that includes two games against a Bulls team without Deng and Gordon, a Clippers team without Brand, Kamen, and Maggette, and a Houston game in which Foye was minus -6?
Telfair can't shoot, you say. Yup, that 40% FG he sports is definitely ugly. But not quite as bad as Randy Foye's current 36.7%. Live by the small sample size, die by the small sample size.
As to your proposal for Telfair and Foye sharing a backcourt, doesn't that kind of make the case that Telfair is better suited than Foye to play the point for this ballclub? Got it.
Oh man!! Britt just smoked Anonymous! He must have known he was going to get burnt bad, that's why he didn't give his name! Ouch! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
Ok. I'm done. Sorry about that. But that was a good one.
So Foye is looking rusty, as should be expected, and he is shooting a bit, and trying to be a scorer, as should be expected. That is his thing. And I don't think we should be too hard on Foye. He is trying to take on the role of leader on a previously leaderless team. That is a tough role to hold and the fact that he wants it has to be worth something.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Foye and McCants are going to turn out to be the same size guys playing the same scorer's position assuming Telfair will be our PG. So we will have to get rid of one of these guys, right? So which one will it be, Foye or McCants? I say ditch McCants.
I don't subscribe to the theory that Foye cannot play point or effectively run an offense. Nor do I think we need to label players. Play him as matchups dictate. The fact that he is a "combo" guard is an asset, not a liability.
I thought he showed development at the point last season. He averaged 4.4 assists per 36 minutes as a combo guard, on a team with two players who dominated ball distribution (9 assists/game between KG and Davis). IMO, he ran the offense efficiently, and his turnovers/36 minutes was not that bad, at 2.9
Jackson,
There is nothing wrong with having two guys who do the same thing and play the same position. That's why there is a bench. IMO, McCants is not a starting player, but is suited well to come off the bench. McCants does not need to be ditched, as long as he accepts a bench role and gets right mentally.
Thankfully, me memory of the Davis era is fading. However, I don't remember Davis being a double team magnet. While KG did get doubled often, Jeff receives similar treatment from defenses.
WTF is Kerr thinking? No way would I trade Marion for Shaq. He just made the Suns older, slower, more injury prone and killed their future. If they were going to get older and go for one title run, they should have done it with KG, not Shaq. Nash, Marion and KG is a helluva lot more appealing than Nash, Amare and Shaq.
I thought the same thing, Paul. Shaq's style of play is completely different from Phoenix'.
I don't know if the trade makes that much sense for Miami either. At least for this season it's rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
If the Heat can resign Marion, it makes a whole lot of sense. Wade, Marion and this summer's lottery pick should have the Heat headed in the right direction.
I haven't been able to catch the last few games, but I'm wondering how Telfair's D has been? It sounded like he had trouble with Sam Cassell, but is he still harassing the other PG full court? I'd feel a lot better about keeping him long-term if he was improving as a game-changing defender. He definitely has the quickness to make an impact. I realize Chris Quinn might be the slowest PG in the league, but Telfair made him look like a 9th grader trying to bring the ball up a while back at the Target Center. If Bassy could handle/distribute very effectively and play that type of defense, he may be a starter even without a reliable J.
If this Shaddy blowup is a common occurrence, then it may be time for him to pack his bags. I realize he has the perma-scowl, but does it frequently blow up like last night? Regardless, his role is a "gunner" and those are nice to have, but they need to come off the bench. If his ego would allow him to embrace it, he could be a nice 6th man, scoring 12 ppg, and guarding the other team's bench for 20-25 mpg.
I think shaddy's blow up is something that is going to keep recurring as the season goes on. He seems not to be able to focus over long periods of time. Then he gets frustrated with himself which spills over to his team, the refs and the coaching staff. At least that is what I see from his body language. I think he will be a player in this league but I don't think he can be one on this team. For whatever reason it appears that he and Randy Wittmans coaching style do not gel. I say play him a lot with the green light to shoot so that we can drive his value up and then trade him as quickly as possible.
I was at the game last night, sitting across from the Wolves' sideline, and also had the feeling that McCants' episode was going to lead to a major benching. It was bad enough that he flipped out over a debatable call, but he essentially dropped out of the offense on an important possession because he was passed over on a ball rotation. I don't know how you coach basic human maturity, but McCants seems to lack it. And there's good reason he was 6-for-14 from the floor: his shots rarely seem to come with the flow of the offense, and he seems to have a perverse love of degree of difficulty. I almost winced every time he made a tough shot, knowing that the next two or three were going to clang off the rim.
Telfair, on the other hand, was a pleasure. If he can keep playing with such composure, he might be our point guard. And on a tangent: I had never seen Yao in person before, and I was surprised by how lethargic he looked. I know part of it is a matter of scale, and he has a lot of biomass to drag around, but the man is really slow (albeit with flashes of grace and obviously good hands).
The Wolves comeback late in the fourth quarter seemed to coincide with a team decision to play lockdown defense, particularly in and around the paint. Feet were moving, bodies were diving and balls were being deflected and stolen. Gomes' travel off a steal unfortunately turned to tide at a critical moment, but the way the team fought back at the end was by bearing down on defense. Nice to see.
I spent a few minutes looking back over McCant's and Telfair's lines in the past nine games starting with the close loss to Denver. During this run Rashad has averaged 14.8 points - about the same as his season average of 14.9. His assist numbers and turnover numbers have also remained about the same - 2.5 assists and 3.1 turnovers per game during this run vs 2.3 and 2.6 over the course of the season. In short, McCants has not been a spark for his team and has not raised his game at all.
Contrast that with Bassy. He's been a model teammate and he has raised his level of play. Season stats: 9.5 points, 6.0 assists and 1.9 TO per game. Last nine games: 10.2 pts, 6.8 assists and 1.2 turnovers. Meaningful improvement across the board.
More Bassy less Shaddy.
People seem to be forgetting that Telfair can't shoot, never has been able to and probably won't be able to in the future. His game has some bright spots to be sure, but how many above average NBA teams have point guards who are career sub 40 percent shooters, make less than 30 percent of their threes and aren't even above eighty percent on free throws? Yea he's young, but it says a lot that he hasn't improved his percentages at all this year with the major playing time he's gotten and the little competition he's received for it.
I'm glad Telfair has been a nice surprise but I wouldn't cement him into the rotation yet if you're looking for this team to make it back to the playoffs in the next decade. Everyone wants to throw McCants overboard but who else on this team can shoot? He's the only even remotely legitimate deep threat and he may take some stupid shots but what big time scorer doesn't? I'm not excusing McCant's stupid behavior, but on a team with this few shooters, he has to play a lot.
Jim, you are incorrect. Please see the quoted statistics in the posts next to mine. Telfair is shooting the same at his point in his career as some of the best point guards in the league did in theirs.
And Telfair is continuously making progress with his shooting. In other words, he is getting better.
Earlier this year he was only shooting slightly below normal percentages for PGs. Now he is shooting averagely and sometimes above average.
It seems to be the kneejerk casual fan's reaction to say, "Telfair sucks" but the facts don't back that up.
"And Telfair is continuously making progress with his shooting"
Ahh, a combined 6-19 in his last three games? Maybe its improvement but that's not saying a lot. He also is shooting less than 25 percent from behind the arc this season, down from slightly less than 30 percent for his career.
It's fine that people like Telfair, but come on. He rarely shoots and when he does he's wide open and still misses. There's plenty of guys we can come up with, like Billups, who have gotten better over the years. But no one ever mentions all the guys who come into the league bad shooters and stay that way until they leave.
"but how many above average NBA teams have point guards who are career sub 40 percent shooters, make less than 30 percent of their threes and aren't even above eighty percent on free throws?"
A: Chauncey Billups. Check out his first 4 years in the league. As recently as 4 years ago he shot below 40%.
If he adds 3-5% on his j, he's a top flight point. He's top 15 in ppr and ast-r and he's shown signs of being able to control the tempo in the last month. Shot selection can take care of a large chunk of his shooting percentage.
I don't want to over-emphasize the last stretch, but up until the Denver game Bassy was shooting 36.1%. Since the Denver game its been 45.5%. He is getting to the paint more, but a 25% improvement in FG % is significant.
Brit,
2 things. First do think it is time to trade Shaddy? I think that is something that the front office should look at. If you look at his body language you can see a player who does not seem to be able to stay focused. And on this type of team that is something we can't afford. The second is Jefferson playing Center. I think it is starting to work out. What are your thoughts?
Joellovr--
Obviously impossible to answer vis a vis McCants if we don't know who would come back in return on a trade. Do I think we should just unload him in an addition-by-subtraction manner a la the Miami deal with RD and Blount? No. I remain legitimately torn on McCants. Nobody on this team can get their own shot as easily as he can, including a healthy Foye. Nobody is a better three point shooter on this ballclub. Because he fills a void on this roster, his plus/minus is among the best on the team.
Does that mean I'm drinking the McCants kool-aid? No. I was a staunch defender of JR Rider way back when, long past the time when everybody else was disgusted with the guy. It was a reminder to me not to be totally seduced by talent. That said, McCants is a long way from Rider territory. He doesn't present the ongoing headaches to the extent Rider did, but he also can't afford to give his critics ammunition, not on a rebuilding team where roles are shaking out and there has been a loudly stated commitment to "character guys." That's why I thought his blow-up last night was detrimental most of all to Shaddy himself. I maintain that there is a lucrative role for McCants on this ballclub if he can wrap his head around it and accept it. If not, then yes, the Wolves need to step up efforts to move him.
As for Al at center, I am a notorious "Yao hater." I have long maintained that he is one of the league's most overrated players and last night certainly didn't lessen that opinion. Between Doleac and Jefferson, I thought Yao was well contained. But Jefferson at center will only "work out" in certain situations. I still firmly believe that Al Jefferson is a natural power forward who really benefits from playing beside a legit center.
Given that McCants is clearly the better shooter, and perhaps the better all around scorer, and that Foye's point skills are being called into question...shouldn't we also consider Foye as a trade target?
Jeez, Foye has only been back for a heartbeat. Give him a minute to catch his breath before you start calling for a trade. He's been out for half a year.
Meanwhile, Shaddy has consistently been a bad character guy. I think that we've seen what we are going to get from Shaddy, or maybe we've only begun to see what we are going to get from Shaddy, in a negative way. Does anyone think that these temper tantrums will lessen with time? After he becomes a bench player? After he ages and starts to peak out? No. Shaddy is just more headaches waiting to happen. Let's get him out of here.
I am by no means calling for a Randy Foye trade. But, if the determination is that Foye is a 2 and not a 1, thereby making either Randy or Shaddy redundant, I don't think trading Rashad is the easy conclusion.
Rashad has better size and better skills for a shooting guard. Randy Foye has the ability to play minutes at point and potentially the better attitude. I am just saying that if one must go, it is far from a slam dunk that we should keep Foye.
The Wolves are in a difficult spot with Foye. Randy needs considerable time to return to game shape, at which point an accurate assessment can be made about his performance. Only game action will bring him to where he needs to be. Meanwhile, his and the team's performance will suffer.
Bassy's dishes were truly artful last night. Britt is right; the Wolves have never before enjoyed such a PG performance. At times the Wolves bigs looked ham handed when the ball was served up to them on a silver platter.
With Foye and Shaddy on the court, the Wolves offense turned into long range shooting contest amongst themselves. No looking inside for the bigs, no inside-out game, just dribble up the court and shoot.
Does anyone else find it interesting that all the apparent "keeper" players on our team are turning out to be Celtics? Jefferson is a keeper. Telfair is looking good. Gomes is solid. But Foye and McCants could be traded for all I care. They are dispensable. I love Smith but he just doesn't fit. He is dispensable. Jaric is ok but definitely dispensable. I guess Brewer is a guy I like but there are some big problems with him currently. Hopefully he pans out. Keep him around probably.
And that is about it. The three guys I would like to see playing on the Wolves next year are all Celtics players that we just got. Telfair, Al, and Gomes. Does that say something about the quality of our team and drafts over the past years?
By the way, talking about McCants being torched at the end of the game (which he was), lets give it up for the Rhino who 3 consecutive times in the 4th quarter over played the help side defense on Yao so badly that he left the backside wide open for easy buckets.
For the first 5 minutes of 4th, Wittman had our all defense tandem of McCants, Smith, and Jefferson complimented by a getting into playing shape Foye and a very tired Jaric. No Brewer, No Gomes to provide not only on the ball but some help side defense. 66-63 became 75-66 with ~7 minutes left.
Just really bad substitution pattern by Wittman.
Points for "perspicacity." Demerit for "dungeon" (as opposed to "dudgeon"). Unless it was intentional, which, when you think about it, could actually fit in that sentence.
Telfair's movement was reminiscent of Nash, always moving with the ball, rarely frantic, keeping the dribble alive, seeing the play develop before it happens (a la Gretzky), and then knowing what to do. That's the way a point guard should play. I'd like to see it more regularly. The issue is the rest of the team. Nash has teammates who understand that style of play and move accordingly. We have guys who tend to run to a spot and stand there and wait to react, rather than moving with the flow of the play. Or, maybe the play is the problem.
Foye, not a point guard. Probably never will be. I would've rather kept Roy and gotten by with (fill-in-the-blank ... Anthony Carter, Beno Udrih, etc. etc.) until someone better/more permanent came along.
Jaric is like McCants without the attitude. He puts up a few great games, then disappears. No consistency.
As Jon Lovitz might say on the SNLs of the 90s: "Yeah, dungeon, my intentional usage all along, a word given to me by Morgan Fairchild...who I slept with."
I have gone back and changed the spelling to dudgeon--no wonder I couldn't find it in the dictionary when I looked it up--and cleaned up some other stuff like "But" instead of "Butt." As faithful readers have undoubtedly noticed, I don't copy edit these things very carefully, especially when I dive in right after a game in the wee hours of the morning. At that point the goal is simply to get my thoughts down as coherently as possible and then go to bed. Going back over the text isn't usually in the gameplan. So, heartfelt thanks to all you readers like El Machino and SnP, who are both erudite enough to appreciate "perspicacity" and playfully point out "dungeon" versus "dudgeon," and yet not so anal that all the little typos, transposed words and other failings of fatigue are called to my attention.
No explanation necessary. The late-night world of the scribe is a lonely one. But surely appreciated. If I ever went back and examined my own typos, I'd hang my head in shame. I only knew the word thanks to The Spouse, who is infinitely sharper than I.
P.S. Nice Lowell Pickett article. Must've been your deadline buster of a few weeks ago.
Britt,
I am rising to the defense of Foye. A big part of his lack of assists is directly related to who Foye has been playing with.
So far, Wittman has chosen to pair Foye with McCants in the back court as part of the second unit. In just this limited sampling, it has become crystal clear that this will not be a successful pairing. Foye needs the ball in his hands to penetrate. McCants needs the ball to do what ever it is he does. Unless we change the rules to allow 2 balls on the court, we are going to have a problem pairing these guys.
The other positions have been staffed mainly by Smith, Walker, and Brewer. While Brewer consistently moves the ball, Smith (like Jefferson at times) is a black hole and Walker usually is too.
Walker, Smith and McCants seem to never move without the ball. Another serious problem for a point guard being asked to set up teammates.
Foye will be in the starting line up soon mainly because the current starting line up lacks scoring punch. Jefferson is the only one that can be counted on to score - everyone else is hit or miss. We can't find ourselves down 7-8 pts midway through the 1st quarter of every game and expect a comeback. The question is will Foye take the Brewer/Doleac spot or the Telfair spot.
Based on last year, I think Foye will thrive with the starters a group that is far less selfish and in far greater need of a teammate willing to shoot.
JaF--
I think Captain America had the better defense of Foye, which is that we simply need to give him more time to get into game shape before we pass judgment. Because I've got to tell you that the problem with Foye right now isn't the folks he's playing with--that doesn't prevent him from driving to the hoop or chucking up threes, for example, and it's telling that he attempted a trio of treys and yet couldn't effectively take his man off the dribble.
Foye has the mindset of an alpha dog; ditto Jefferson and McCants. But Foye, as the point guard, needs to be generous getting other people touches, and be the alpha dog by dint of judgment as much as scoring prowess. It is waaay too early to say he can't accomplish those things, but I am a little concerned that he doesn't even seem to have the priorities of his position straight.
The more crap like this that McCants pulls, the more vindicated I feel from when everyone was ripping on me this pre-season for being down on McCants after our "episode" at NBA City on Draft night....
I would trade McCants for any player in the NBA that has a lesser number of years on his contract AND less total money owed. Literally any player. (Except, I guess not someone that was a known "headcase." That would be whole point of dumping McCants.)
Getting rid of McCants is addition by subtraction, and I stick by that, as I always have.
Foye and McCants on the court together is one of the worst things I've seen in a long while. Please, don't ever use that backcourt...I guess, well, maybe if we are trying to tank or something.
Telfair looks pretty good. He's our best option at point guard for the foreseeable future. Which basically means the rest of this season, since the Front Office will most likely then hand over the reigns to Foye next season... whether or not he's actually the best man for the job. (Which he isn't.)
I've always said that I will (and do) give credit where it is due... so, in regards to McCants defense at the end of the game on McGrady's three; it was actually very good. Regardless of how his defense was for the rest of the game, he really contested the shot and looked like he was putting forth good effort, at least that's how it looked from where I was sitting.
So, I will give him props for that. However, it still doesn't cancel out all the negatives he brings to the table, in my opinion.
Britt--
First a question and then a comment:
Did anyone ask Witt if he thought of fouling on Houston's possession when McGrady hit the 3? Seems like that would have allowed you to sub in Jaric (or Brewer) to cover McGrady and Doleac (who I thought did a solid job) to guard Yao. I know it was the heat of the battle, but McGrady was standing there running down the clock and it's your end of the court, so you could have yelled to do it. Not sure many coaches would have done it, but I think the good ones would have. You still had a timeout which you were going to take after the possession regardless of the outcome, so you would have been able to sub back in.
It was a fun game, and Telfair was clearly the star. He, Jefferson and Gomes have clearly shown improvement throughout the year. Gomes probably because he stunk at the beginning, but the other two have clearly gained confidence and trust. I'm not sure Telfair has the J to be a legit starting PG in the league (at least not without 2 other wing players that CAN shoot on the floor with him), but he abused Rafer Alston, who is supposed to be pretty quick himself.
Also, the other moral victory (no such thing) is if Brewer doesn't have that 5 second call in the Celtics game and Gomes doesn't turn it over late here (when the Wolves were up 1 and had numbers, which I think would have led to points for sure), we're really talking about a good run right now.
Stern--
Nobody asked Witt the fouling question. Truth be told, Sid Hartman dominated the postgame press conference with his usual array of self-important inanities and the beat guys were getting so frustrated about not getting a word in edgewise that I felt bad about the two times I broke through Sid's filibuster to ask about, A) Marko versus Shaddy in the 4th quarter; and B) The McCants tirade in the second period. Followup questions would have been really pushing it.