The Rake: On the Ball

NBA Second Round Update Thread

Britt Robson — Sun, 11 May 2008 15:15:51 -0500

Celtics-Cavs Update: Squared series after 88-77 Cavs win last night.

NBA Second-Round Playoff Preview

Britt Robson — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:57:28 -0500

^{Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images}

NBA Playoff Update

Britt Robson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:25:30 -0500

^{AFP/Getty Images/Gregory Shamus}

Yeah, I know I still owe the second part of the Wolves season recap. But I confess that this steady diet of *quality* NBA basketball has made a return to Wolves-think fairly depressing. I will get to it in the next few days. Meanwhile, here are some thoughts on the playoffs thus far...

Celtics and Pistons both in a dogfight

Wolves 2007-08 Season Recap, Part 1

Britt Robson — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:02:38 -0500

Note: I know I said I'd have a Wolves recap for you Monday, but with all the playoff ball consuming my time (not to mention other writing projects--my editors know what they are) I now realize I'm never going to get this done unless I break it into parts.

Saturday Playoff Thread and Sunday Playoff Series Picks

Britt Robson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:56:17 -0500

^{AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, Joshua Gunter}

The obvious pundit's take on yesterday's playoff games was that the big guys stepped up, especially LeBron, Duncan, and CP3. Here are some of the dominant impressions I came away with after plastering myself to the rocking chair and catching all of two games and the majority of two others.

Cleveland 93, Washington 86

2008 NBA Honors and Saturday Series Playoff Picks

Britt Robson — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 03:01:09 -0500

Okay, we've waited until the last minute and now it's time to roll. I still reserve the right to change my mind about Coach of the Year and MVP.

Defensive Player of the Year

Winner: Kevin Garnett

Runner-Up: Rasheed Wallace

Honorable Mention: Tyson Chandler, Kobe Bryant, Raja Bell

Postseason Housekeeping

Britt Robson — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:31:37 -0500

First of all, I apologize for the inactivity vis a vis On The Ball, and once again offer my kudos to my dedicated commenters who are proving perfectly capable of continuing intelligent discussion without me. That said, I owe readers a little heads up about how I'll be handling postseason posts.

The Three Pointer: Painless #60

Britt Robson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:33:56 -0500

^{AP Photo by Carlos Osorio}

Game #81, Road Game #41: Minnesota 103, Detroit 115

Season Record: 21-60

1. One More Smallball Razzing

The Three Pointer: The Last, Best Weekend

Britt Robson — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:22:59 -0500

^{AP Photo by Nikki Boertman}

Game #79, Road Game #39: Minnesota 102, Orlando 101

Game #80, Road Game #40, Minnesota 114, Memphis 105

Season Record: 21-59

1. Wanting It More

Abbreviated Three-Pointer: No D in Wolves

Britt Robson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:15:58 -0500

Game #78, Home Game #40: New Orleans 122, Minnesota 90

Season Record: 19-59

1. Trying to Trade Baskets

The Minnesota Timberwolves shot 73.3% in the third quarter last night, 11-15 FG, including 3-4 from beyond the 3pt arc. The worst shooting performances were Ryan Gomes and Chris Smith at 1-2 FG; Al Jeffeson was 2-3 FG, Rashad McCants was 3-4 FG, and Marko Jaric and Kirk Snyder were each a perfect 2-2 FG. Eight of those eleven baskets were assisted, led by Gomes with three dimes.

The Three Pointer: Unprepared

Britt Robson — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:01:39 -0500

Game #77, Road Game #38: Minnesota 119, Charlotte 121

Season Record: 19-58

1. Plenty of Blame To Go Around

The Three Pointer: Two Ugly

Britt Robson — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:06:40 -0500

Game #75, Road Game #37: Minnesota 88, Phoenix 117

Game #76, Home Game #39: Memphis 113, Minnesota 101

Season Record: 19-57

1. Jefferson Finally Cracks

The Three-Pointer: 3rd Quarter Fold

Britt Robson — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:22:16 -0500

Game #74, Road Game #36: Minnesota 100, Utah 117

Season Record: 19-55

1. One-Way Jefferson

The Three Pointer: Giving One Away

Britt Robson — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:18:23 -0500

^{AP Photo by Paul Battaglia}

Game #73, Home Game #38: Detroit 94, Minnesota 90

Season Record: 19-54

1. A Rough Night For Foye

Open Thread: Wolves Top Jazz Again

Britt Robson — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:17:01 -0500

Minnesota played its best basketball game of the season to beat Utah earlier this season. They played one of their worst, least inspired games in the rematch with the Jazz, a contest in which my criticism of the Wolves' effort was greeted by many commenters with: "We knew they had no chance because Utah remembers what happened the first time and wants revenge."

Okay, I wasn't there this afternoon--out of town on another assignment--so what happened?

2008 Major League Baseball Forecast—American League

Britt Robson — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:02:19 -0500

^{AP Photo by David J. Phillip}

American League East

1. Boston Red Sox

2008 Major League Baseball Forecast—National League

Britt Robson — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:16:20 -0500

^{Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images}

National League East

1. New York Mets

The Three Pointer: Back To Earth

Britt Robson — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:27:09 -0500

Game #70, Road Game #34: Minnesota 86, Houston 97

Season Record: 18-52

1. Stubborn Smallball

The Three Pointer: 3-1 for Patsy Week

Britt Robson — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:45:46 -0500

^{AP Photo by A.J. Olmscheid}

Game #68, Road Game #33: Minnesota 113, Indiana 124

Game #69, Home Game #36: New York 93, Minnesota 114

Season Record: 18-51

1. Illusions of Mediocrity

The Three Pointer: 5 out of 7

Britt Robson — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:33:06 -0500

^{AP Photo, by Tom Olmscheid}

Game #67, Home Game #35: Memphis 94, Minnesota 98

Season Record: 17-50

1. Jefferson Dominant

Glen Taylor Opens another Can of Worms

Britt Robson — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:09:21 -0500

^{Copyright AFP/GETTY IMAGES, photo by Ronald Martinez}

The Three Pointer: Finishing Strong

Britt Robson — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:12:12 -0500

Game #66, Home Game #34: Los Angeles Clippers 90, Minnesota 99

Season Record: 16-50

1. Pick and Roll Call

Abbreviated Three-Pointer: No Tanking Here

Britt Robson — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:21:54 -0500

Game #64, Road Game #31: Minnesota 121, Seattle 116

Season Record: 15-49

1. Engines In the Backcourt, Stoppers Up Front

The Three Pointer: Lost in the Crunch

Britt Robson — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:30:52 -0500

Game #63, Home Game #33: Portland 103, Minnesota 96

Season Record: 14-49

1. When It Matters Most

The Three Pointer: Getting off the Mat

Britt Robson — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:31:57 -0500

Game #61, Road Game #30: Minnesota 111, Sacramento 103

Game #62, Road Game #31: Minnesota 99, Los Angeles Clippers 96

Season Record: 14-48

1. The Exploits of Foye

The Three Pointer: Coming Home to Roost

Britt Robson — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:57:43 -0600

Game #60, Road Game #28: Minnesota 76, Utah 105

Season Record: 12-48

1. Giving Up

The Three Pointer: Flat

Britt Robson — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:51:30 -0600

Game #59, Home Game #32: Charlotte 109, Minnesota 89

Season Record: 12-47

1. Getting the Message

The Three Pointer: Seattle Slew

Britt Robson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:20:58 -0600

Game # 58, Home Game #31: Seattle 111, Minnesota 108

Season Record: 12-46

1. An Improving Beast

The Three Pointer: Power Outage

Britt Robson — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:26:01 -0600

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

Season Record: 12-45

1. The Price of Youth

What a discouraging game.

Open Thread: Back In the Bucket vs. Toronto

Britt Robson — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:34:45 -0600

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.