USE THE FORCE, KYLE LOWRY!

Last game: Minnesota: W, 108-105 vs New Jersey, Houston: 99-81 vs Phoenix

The Timberwolves fought through a tough game last night on the road against the Nets, allowing essentially everything ever to go wrong, but still managing to leave with a win. Anthony Morrow hit (approximately) 150 three-pointers, but Nikola Pekovic scored a career-high 27 points for the Wolves, who improved to 11-12 on the season.

The Rockets snapped a two game losing streak last night against the Suns, winning easily in Houston. The bench scored 50 points, and the Rockets weren’t seriously threatened after taking a 20 point half-time lead. Kevin Martin led Rockets scorers with 17.

The Key Questions

#1. Seriously, we have to play these guys again?

Three times in two weeks. At least we can expect both teams to be well scouted. Just as a reminder: in the first meeting, Kevin Martin absolutely torched the Wolves and Houston handled Minnesota easily, 107-92 at the Target Center. But earlier this week, the Wolves handed the Rockets just their third loss at home, 120-108. Michael Beasley had his best game of the year thus far, scoring 34 points on 10-14 shooting. So basically, one can expect to have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen tonight.

#2. What will we get from Pekovic tonight?

Pek has been playing great lately. His advantages offensively over Darko are striking. He is incredibly strong and he uses his huge body to get closer to the basket. Plus, unlike Darko, he actually has touch around the rim. It’s difficult to predict what Adelman will do on a night to night basis lineup-wise, but it’s not hard to imagine Pekovic getting a start tonight based on his performance over the past week.

#3. Why has .500 become such an elusive goal?

Yet another chance for Minnesota to get to .500 tonight. It would be the latest in the season they reached that mark since the KG-era. I don’t know what that means, but it feels quite significant.

The Key Matchups

Kevin Love has played really well against the Rockets, scoring 29 and 39 in the last two games. Luis Scola has scored 15 and 8 in those games, so outplaying Scola will be important for Love.

The Ricky Rubio vs. Kyle Lowry match-up has been interesting. Last week Rubio made several costly turnovers that enabled Houston to go on a huge run to put away the Wolves, while Lowry scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists. But on Monday, Rubio flirted with a triple double (18 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds) while Lowry had just 11 points and 3 assists. It seems fair to say that whoever plays better will put his team in a good position to win.

The Rockets don’t have anyone who matches up well against Michael Beasley. If Beasley plays smart, efficient basketball again tonight, there’s no reason he can’t have a good follow up performance to his last game against Houston. Also, if I win the lottery, there’s no reason I can’t be rich tomorrow.

The Outlook

Both teams played last night, both teams had some serious travel to get here, and both teams have been playing well lately, so the game should be very close. I honestly don’t have a prediction for this one, but I’ll be at the game tonight and I’ll be tweeting about it quite a bit, so (shameless self-plug) follow me!

Game starts at 7 on League Pass

Is Pek's production unsustainable?

Some wins look bad on paper.

Beating New Jersey by just three points is one of those wins. I wasn’t able to watch the game live, so following it on my phone, I was really discouraged seeing the Nets continue to fight back whenever it felt like Minnesota was about to put them away. The Timberwolves went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter and a 12-0 run in the third, and both times they failed to administer anything resembling a killing blow.

But watching the replay on League Pass, I was more encouraged. Maybe it was just the sweet pass from Rubio to Wes Johnson, maybe it was Pekovic suddenly turning into mid-90s Hakeem Olajuwon, I’m not sure. But here’s a short list of the things that Minnesota weathered to come away with their 11th win of the season:

• Anthony Morrow: Destroyer of Worlds. Morrow scored a career high 42 points.
• Wes Johnson fouling Morrow: Destroyer of Worlds on a three point attempt that gave the Nets a four point play and brought the game within one.
• A mediocre night from Kevin Love. (He had a 20-10 double double, but needed 16 shots to do it and was bullied by Kris Humphries all night.)
• 15-46 shooting from the starters.
• A road game on the East Coast (despite a startling number of Rubio fans…is he creating road fanboys?)
• 16 turnovers as a team.
• An obnoxious fan who looked a little like The Situation jumping around on the sideline. I’m just impressed nobody punched him.
• Deron Williams vs Ricky Rubio.

Somehow, despite all that, Minnesota pulled out a gutsy victory. New Jersey is not a good basketball team this year. But if a team has Deron Williams and a player who drops 42 points, they are a good team for the night. So how did they pull this one out?

One very big man putting together a very big statline: Nikola Pekovic.

Sometimes when a player scores a ton of points, it’s really difficult to imagine him ever scoring that many again.

For example: Michael Beasley against Houston on Monday. Will he score that many points again at some point? Probably. But 34 points on 10-14 shooting? 2-3 from behind the arc? Probably not going to continue. He demonstrated some really positive signs, posting up more often and working to get to the basket, but Beasley’s long twos historically don’t continue to fall the way they did against Houston.

Friday night’s performance by Nikola Pekovic is a little more intriguing. Pek scored a career high 27 points against the Nets in 34 minutes off the bench. He shot 11-14 from the floor and even contributed a huge assist, finding Ridnour open in the corner for a late three.

Take a look at Pekovic’s shot chart for a second. The thought that has been bouncing around in my head (and tripping me out) since last night is this: none of those shots are unsustainable. They were all easy layups or shots close to the rim, created either by a series of nice post moves that utilize his strength, or beautiful passes from Rubio. That’s the big difference between Pekovic and Darko: Pek catches Rubio’s passes and finishes them with ease. Darko lets them bounce of his fingers out of bounds.

And yeah, I know that Pek will struggle when matched up against taller, longer defenders. But there are going to be very few players who can match his strength. While expecting 27 points per game is completely unreasonable, I honestly believe that he can develop into a productive center for Minnesota.

That roughly covers last night’s game. It didn’t always look pretty but Minnesota needed a win and they got it.

Tonight, they go for .500 again. Much more coming soon.

The Minnesota Muskies jerseys were classic. The Muskies' play? Not so much.

Who would’ve thought that a tiff between Danny Granger and Kevin Love would be a huge swinging point in what was supposed to be a tight game? And who would’ve thought that swing was in the favor of the road team?

Usually those kinds of moments swing momentum in the home team’s favor but that was the biggest difference in tonight’s loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Wolves lost 109-99 to a very good Pacers team led by Granger’s big second half.

Granger proved tonight, at least to me, that he is a #1 option for a good team like the Pacers. Granger couldn’t miss a shot in the third and fourth quarters, which just so happened to come after he shoved Love after a lose ball foul.

Love swung his paw down hard over the top of Granger on a lose rebound. Granger didn’t take a liking to it and shoved right back with some words for Love and the rest of the Muskies. Shoving commenced and both sides had to be seperated by the referees. From that point on the chippiness was at an all-time high. Whistles were ringing from all around the court, which seemed to throw off the Wolves’ focus. But not Granger’s. No, Granger took advantage of that moment, where he received a technical, and lit up the Target Center up until the final buzzer.

Granger’s big night was just ridiculous. Part of it was due to poor on-ball defense from Wes Johnson and Martell Webster but most of it was just Granger being on fire. 29 of his 36 points came in the second half, including five dagger-like three pointers.

The Timberwolves — donning Hardwood Classics featuring the ABA Minnesota Muskies jerseys from 1966-1967 season — were unable to answer Granger’s play all night long. Love, who I thought was going to rejuvenate this team after his tussle, never got much cooking in the second half. His three-point stroke wasn’t working tonight, which disappointingly seems to throw off his entire offensive repertoire. And without Love hitting outside shots, Ricky Rubio’s outside options are nearly exhausted. Instead, he was forced to go through other options, such as Michael Beasley and Nikola Pekovic, who couldn’t muster up enough to match Granger’s play.

Let’s finish with some bullets:

• The Wolves’ defense was bad tonight. That patented scrappiness we’ve come to love this season wasn’t there, and when it was, it just turned into boneheaded fouls. As mentioned earlier, Johnson and Webster struggled to cover Granger all game long. Even point guard Darren Collison was using his speed to blaze by Rubio and company; it was the first time I noticed Rubio completely overmatched on the defensive end; he didn’t even register a single steal tonight, the tell tale sign that the defense just isn’t clicking or nearly as active.
• Darko Milicic officially made his bid to be Pekovic’s backup for good tonight. He went 2-9 in just 18 minutes. But those seven missed shots are way worse than you can imagine; just the ugliest, flat hook shots I’ve ever witnessed. And again, there were multiple dunk opportunities that he bypassed for a hook/layup looking shot. Just not a good game for the good guy and it may be time for him to take a permanent seat. His defensive prowess is still needed in specific matchups but he can be better utilized from the bench.
• Speaking of bench players, JJ Barea made his return tonight and it could’ve come later. Barea’s first stint on the floor after returning from injury was rough; he went 0-4 and was stalemated by the oversized Pacers’ frontcourt. Even his second stint, where his shooting and points increased, he still struggled to squeak through lanes inside. Indiana was just too big, way too big.
• Beasley followed up his 34-point night in Houston with an 11-point dud. Remember how in Houston he worked for his shots? Well, he tried to get those same looks without trying for them. It might not make sense but just check the box score and you’ll know what I mean. I did, however, enjoy seeing him get back to the free throw line. More of that, please.
• Going back to the starting center saga, check these numbers: Pekovic recorded his second double-double in the last five games. He’s also scored in double-digits in four of those five tilts. ‘Nuff said.
• The Wolves hit only three of 17 three-pointers. The Wolves had 16 turnovers. The Wolves missed nine free throws. This game should’ve been much closer between two very well matched teams but the Wolves didn’t show up with their best effort.
• To sum it all up, this was a tough loss indeed but I’m thankful it came to a really good team. The Indiana Pacers will challenge some of the East’s best like Miami and Chicago, especially if Granger can pull his weight like he did tonight. The Pacers have a deep bench and one of the most complete rosters I’ve seen in the NBA. I expect big things to keep comin’ from Indiana. Way to go, Larry; GM of the year, indeed.

The Wolves go to New Jersey Friday night. Hopefully they don’t have Dwight Howard by then, although a Pek-Superman matchup would be pretty special to watch. Definitely another winnable road game that could give the Wolves some momentum moving forward into an easier schedule over the next few games.

Team	Offensive Efficiency	Defensive Efficiency
Houston Rockets	102.8	100.4
Minnesota Timberwolves	100.6	99.9

Last game: Minnesota: W, 120-108 vs Houston, Indiana: W, 106-99 vs New Jersey

Surprisingly, the internet isn't full of pictures of the Timberwolves playing the Pacers. The Warriors have similar colors. Just pretend.

The Timberwolves picked up an encouraging road win against a scorching Houston team on Monday. The Wolves used a huge third quarter (42 points, a new franchise record) to blow open a close game, as Michael Beasley scored 34 points off the bench on hyper-efficient 10-14 from the field. Other things that happened on Saturday: the sun rose green and the clouds were purple.

Indiana beat New Jersey last night 106-99. On the one hand, Indiana only beat New Jersey by seven on their home floor, George Hill hurt his ankle and will be out for quite a while, David West only took four shots from the field in 34 minutes of action, it was last night, and tonight is the second night of a back to back on the road. On the other hand, this.

The Key Questions

#1. Holy…can Michael Beasley keep doing that?

Jonah already did a great post on this topic right here, but…

Hey Mike. Tom from Howlin’ T-Wolf here. That was awesome, buddy. Seriously. You were killer against Houston. It was like you were back at K-State overpowering everybody on the offensive end. We were all a little blown away, and we all enjoyed the crap out of it.

But Mike? Please, please pleaseplease don’t let it get out of hand. I know you made 2-3 shots from behind the arc against Houston. But no matter how well it went against the Rockets Mike, you aren’t a three point shooter. We definitely appreciate the threes you have made. But don’t make them a regular part of your arsenal. You need to trust me on this. Keep taking shots close to the basket, keep playing to your strengths.

Thanks man. You are my favorite. I love watching you get minutes, which is why I say all this stuff. Keep up the good work.

-Tom

#2. Are the Pacers for real this season?

That depends on how one defines the phrase “for real.” Are they a playoff team, especially in the Eastern Conference? Most definitely. Could they win a playoff series, given the right match-up? Yeah, probably. Are they ECF contenders? Without everything falling into place (key injuries to opponents, the Celtics/Magic inexplicably knocking off Miami or Chicago, career performances from role players, etc.), it’s pretty hard to project.

Please note: I am absolutely not underestimating the Pacers. They are an excellent team right now, and they have some excellent pieces and a lot of really interesting cap room going into the next two off-seasons. They are extremely well positioned for the future. It’s just hard to see them making it past the second round this season.

#3. Will we finally see Barea return?

Reports indicate…YES!

The Key Matchups

Listen, I love Nikolai Pekovic. He works hard. He gets some rebounds. He can score around the basket. He has a super badass tattoo. But Pek can’t defend a player like Roy Hibbert. You thought the Lakers were long? Try going 40 minutes against a 7′2 super-athlete with long arms and a developing post game. Quite simply put: when Hibbert is in the game, the Wolves will struggle if they go small. Pek isn’t nearly long enough. Darko is closer, and he is supposed to return to action, despite continued dizziness.

David West is a fine basketball player, but he isn’t a truly plus defender, and he isn’t Kevin Love. The Timberwolves will need to win this matchup tonight.

Darren Collison vs Ricky Rubio will be interesting mainly because Collison is the kind of super quick point guard that scouts didn’t believe Rubio could defend coming into the NBA. Rubio, of course, has been using his ridiculous length to his advantage against such point guards and should be able to play Collison well.

If Minnesota’s deep bench can beat Indiana’s relatively deep bench (shallower without George Hill, but still), then Minnesota is probably in good shape, since Indiana’s starters will probably be tired after New Jersey yesterday.

The Outlook

While this projects to be a very good game, I like Minnesota’s chances at home against a weary Pacers squad. Then again, I said the same thing about LA on Sunday, and the Wolves played very poorly. And I didn’t like Minnesota’s chances against Houston, who they handled solidly. So. Minnesota will probably lose by 30. It’s going to be a blowout.

Game starts at 7 on Fox Sports North

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]]> http://www.howlintwolf.com/2012/02/game-22-indiana-pacers-vs-minnesota-timberwolves/feed/ 0 http://www.howlintwolf.com/2012/02/game-22-indiana-pacers-vs-minnesota-timberwolves/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HowlinTWolf/~3/ftAA33MMvqU/ http://www.howlintwolf.com/2012/01/the-undesirable-reserve-role/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:16:27 +0000 Jonah Steinmeyer http://www.howlintwolf.com/?p=3978

Michael Beasley came to the Wolves for next-to nothing. Therefore his role doesn't need to portray his actual value.

Michael Beasley is far from a reserved guy. He’s spontaneously goofy off the court and oftentimes psychotic on. For a bulk of his life he’s always been the center of attention due to his freakishly long body and insanely outstanding skills on the court — especially possessing the skill set he has at the size he is.

After injuring his foot early on in the season, Beasley was forced to sit for 11 games. He made his return last Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs, prompting some to wish he had never come back in the first place after an ugly return — Just seven points on 3-11 shooting.

Wolves fans, and I’m sure Heat fans when he was with Miami from 2008-2010, have been and still are a little hard on Beaz. There’s no reason to think he doesn’t deserve it, though. He was the second overall pick in 2008 behind the reigning MVP in Derrick Rose; he had extremely high expectations going into the draft with some even believing he should’ve gone first.

Nearly four years later and brand new, lucrative extensions, we’re close to seeing exactly who has panned out already and who is still piecing together an NBA career from that draft class. We’re close enough to pegging those guys that, if the draft were to happen all over again, it would’ve drastically changed; Rose would stay at the top but then Love would likely make the jump to second overall. Beasley? Well, he’d probably drop to fifth, maybe even sixth overall.

It’s not the talent that’s in question, by any means, rather the drive and the determination to be the best he can be. We’ve seen how Beasley can get disconnected from the game when he misses a few of his patented jumpers. We’ve seen how he refuses to pass the ball until he works out the kinks in his own game. We’ve seen him glare down rims after missing free throws as if it was its fault.

Like I said, he’s had a lot to live up to as an NBA player and the second overall pick in 2008, and, whether it’s the pressure or something else, it hasn’t quite panned out. Nor has it been atrocious, though; there are still glimpses of greatness we see from time-to-time. Last night was one of those nights. Beasley, still semi-recovering from his sprained foot, came off the bench for the third straight game since returning. Contrary to Friday night’s pitiful game against the Spurs, Beasley caught fire last night and lit the Rockets up for 34 points in just 32 minutes.

The most frustrating thing about Beasley’s game is his inconsistency and selfishness within the offense; think Carmelo Anthony but even more inconsistent (Yikes!) But last night we saw Beasley take advantage of his decreased role on the court by upping the efficiency and taking cleaner, crisper shots. It got me thinking: What if Beasley was meant to come off the bench his whole career?

Obviously you don’t take a player second overall to have him come in off the bench his entire career but there are players that have made a living by being the sixth man. Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford and Lamar Odom, just to name a few, have made their careers by coming off the bench and jumpstarting offenses when the starters fail to get off to their expected starts.

In the 2008-2009 season, Beasley spent the majority of the season on Erik Spoelstra’s bench in Miami. He sat watching and learning until it was his name called to be that go-to player. He was never called to that duty all season long leading to a rather impressive rookie season. Beaz finished with nearly 14 points a game in only 24 minutes. That was also his best season shooting from the field at 47% as well as his lowest TO rate, just over 10%. Despite receiving less minutes, Beaz didn’t let that get the best of him. He still played his game when he finally saw the court and posted a respectable usage rate of 27.7%.

Last season was arguably Beasley’s first attempt at becoming a solidified starter in the NBA with the Wolves. He had a good year, posting career highs in points and assists per game (19.2, 2.2). Those numbers, especially the points per game, are awfully deceiving, though. In his rookie season, he only needed just under 12 shots a game to average nearly 14 a game. But last season, Beasley needed over five more shots a game to score just five points more on average than his rookie season. Statistically speaking, that shouldn’t be happening.

The inconsistency may be a constant debate over Beasley’s NBA career but the biggest difference between those two season were his role in the offense: Reserve vs. Go-to Starter. Adelman might have this figured out without even looking at the numbers. By decreasing how many minutes Beasley can play as well as throwing out the pressure of starting off the game on a good foot, Beasley is forced to take more efficient shots, thus taking advantage of the smaller role. But it all comes down to whether his ego is too big to settle into a supporting role for this team rather than that go-to starting scorer. If he can, he might be able to revitalize his career and, ultimately, help this team win throughout the season and even secure himself a new contract to play alongside Rubio and Love for seasons to come.

Super Beaz in action

Holy moly, Batman! You mean to tell me that the slow-starting, sometimes sluggish offense of the Minnesota Timberwolves dropped 120 points on the road against the Houston Rockets?! And Michael Beasley caught fire, scorching the net for 34 points?!? It’s almost as if they should’ve been firing on all cylinders like this all season long!

Sparked by a 42-point third quarter, the Wolves secured their tenth victory of the season and move that much closer to a .500 record for the season.

The story of this one wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to discover. The Wolves opened a full-onslaught of offensive power against the Rockets and never looked back. The buckets were raining down and the points kept going up, ’nuff said.

But it really felt good to watch. It just feels like Finally!, you know? The Wolves have struggled from the field for the last few weeks. Actually, the Wolves have only shot 50% just once this season against the San Antonio Spurs — They also nailed 12 threes in that one but still only scored 106 points compared to the 120 tonight; that oughta tell you something about how efficient Beaz and co. was tonight at the offensive end.

Speaking of Beaz, he was doing his thing tonight, lofting contested jumpers from anywhere and everywhere, prompting fans to yell the usual, “Cut it out, dude! Pass the ball!” The only difference to tonight was that those shots found their way through the net also prompting each and every Beaz critic, as well as Rocket fans, to shut their faces. Coming off the bench yet again, Beasley played a whole 32 minutes, scored 34 points on 10-14 shooting. To make things even sweeter, Beaz was able to shoot 12 from the charity stripe; he nailed all 12. It’s an improbable performance likely to never be repeated again but it was special. So special that it reminded me of why he was drafted only behind Derrick Rose in the 2009 NBA Draft. Keep playing like this and he’ll exceed his current value tenfold but that’s been his problem all career long. No consistency, diminishing potential and you’ve got the Beaz. Still, here’s to hoping things can turn around … for good.

Though Beaz’s ridiculous contributions were the deciding factor in this one, don’t look past what Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio are continuing to do on a nightly basis. Love and Rubio combined for 47 points on 16-25 shooting. They were also a combined +42 on the floor, in large part to that incomparable third quarter.

Throw in great production from Martell Webster, Nikola Pekovic and Anthony Randolph and the Wolves put together one of the most complete games I’ve seen this season.

After losing to the Rockets just last week at home, this sorta felt like a must-win. They didn’t just deliver a win but they made a statement that they’re not to be messed with. Furthermore, they showed that an emotional loss to the Lakers won’t get the best of them on back-to-backs, even when on the road.

Not much more than that tonight … Just a fun game all-around. Next up comes the Indiana Pacers into town. That will be Wednesday night, as said, at the Target Center.

Team	Offensive Efficiency	Defensive Efficiency
Houston Rockets	102.8	100.4
Minnesota Timberwolves	100.6	99.9

Last game: Minnesota: L, 106-101 vs Los Angeles Lakers, Houston: W, 97-84 vs New York

Stopping Kevin Martin will be essential for the Wolves tonight.

I’d say Minnesota started off cold against the Lakers yesterday, but that would be severely underselling the point. LA ran out to an 18 point lead in the third quarter before Rubio’s heroics brought the game back from the brink of a blowout. The Wolves managed to tie it halfway through the fourth, but Pau Gasol’s size and Kobe Bryant’s clutch shooting doomed Minnesota.

The Rockets continued to roll on Saturday, dropping the free-falling Knicks 97-84. Houston’s bench scored an astounding 61 points, while holding New York to just 5-26 shooting from behind the arc. The Rockets are 9-1 in their last 10 games.

The Key Questions

#1. STOP WITH THE COLD STARTS!

Not really a question so much as a requirement to win basketball games. Look, I love a good comeback story. My favorite NBA game of all time was Game 4 of the 2008 Finals when Boston came back from being down 20+ in the third quarter to beat the Lakers in LA (suck on that, Minnesota Kobe fans). But Minnesota CANNOT continue to dig themselves out of their own graves. Teams just don’t win that way. Teams win by playing the way Minnesota did against San Antonio. Allowing a team as hot as Houston to get on a roll early could turn into a blowout quickly.

#2. Will the Wolves have enough energy for this game?

Minnesota got done playing the Lakers, hopped on a plane, flew to Houston, and now faces one of the only other teams in the league with a bench as deep as their own. Merely throwing more and more bodies out on the court won’t be enough against the Rockets. Real rotation players are starting to work their way back into the lineup for Minnesota (Webster, Beasley) and apparently Barea might be back tonight (he traveled with the team, but is doubtful to play). Here’s hoping they make a difference.

#3. Why can’t the Wolves get back to .500?!

Four times this season, Minnesota has been one game away from .500 and lost, once to Milwaukee (which barely counts, the Wolves were 0-1 at the time…but still), once to Memphis, once to Utah, and now to the Lakers. Beating the Rockets would mean that the Wolves could go for .500 against yet another excellent team (the Pacers) on Wednesday. Sigh.

The Key Matchups

Boy, you can really tell Kevin Love hates his new contract. 31-10, 18-16, and 33-13 over the past three games? Dude is clearly hurting. Four games ago against the Rockets, Love put up 39 points. A repeat would be fun.

Even though Rubio tallied 12 assists last week, Kyle Lowry won the matchup. Not only did Lowry score 16 points and dish out 10 assists, but Rubio turned the ball over several times at truly inopportune moments. Last night, the Wolves took excellent care of the ball. They will need to do that again tonight to beat Houston.

Kevin Martin’s long range shooting obliterated the Wolves in their last matchup. Wes Johnson will probably be able to make a difference guarding him. One would hope, anyway.

Derrick Williams has been shooting very efficiently lately, but you can always tell which of his shots are going to go in and which are going to clank badly off the side of the rim. If he has enough time to visibly think “I wonder if I should shoot this” (seriously, you can see it go through his head), the shot is going to be a uglier than sin. If he catches and shoots immediately, he will drain it.

The Outlook

Minnesota’s record on the second night of a back to back this season, as previously mentioned on this very blog, has been ugly, just 1-5. Also, this is a tough road game against a hot team that got some rest last night. Tonight could be rough.

Game starts at 7 on Fox Sports North

We're taking the good with the bad when it comes to Rubio

Just one week ago, head coach Rick Adelman was just pleading for bodies, any at all, to pitch in their weight to create serviceable rotations. Tonight, Adelman pleaded for big bodies, just anything, to combat the brute force of the Lakers’ frontcourt.

Let’s just say he never really figured it out. Throw in 35 points from the greatest scorer in the league in Kobe Bryant and the Wolves didn’t have much of a prayer in this one.

But somehow they did. And somehow they made this game way closer than what it should’ve been, especially considering how atrocious they played in the first half.

In front of hundreds of Wolves fans and thousands of Kobe Bryant fans, the Wolves got off to their typical slow start. The defense never found a rhythm and Pau Gasol caught on. Gasol ended the quarter with 14 points, pressing all of the Wolves’ options; they tried Love and Pekovic on him to no avail.

The second quarter only got worse, as the Wolves’ shots continuously failed to hit net. The shots taken were all open, nearly all good shots but they just wouldn’t fall. But somehow the Wolves did just enough to stay competitive and keep it far from a blowout. The biggest reason they stayed in it all was ball control. Granted their shots weren’t falling, at least they were able to shoot them. We’ve seen high turnover rates in the last two games, mostly due to Ricky Rubio, which always ends up with the Wolves stepping all over their own feet. The Wolves finished with only four turnovers tonight and, as a result, were awarded for their controlled fast pace with 104 looks at the hoop. Also, one of the most beautiful plays I’ve seen run all season long helped keep things close late in the quarter. A Pek ‘n’ Roll, coined by Zach Harper via Twitter, freed up Rubio to drive on Bynum into the paint. Rubio’s gravitational pull drew him away from the hoop allowed Kevin Love to cut baseline to the hoop where Rubio promptly delivered the rock. Love threw in the layup and even drew the foul from Bynum, sending him to the line for an And-1. And with that, the Wolves went into half partially alive and only down eight. (Believe me, it could’ve been a lot worse.)

The Lakers’ shooting in the first half was painfully efficient but I knew in the back of my head it couldn’t last. Into the second half we go, sure enough, it does. Kobe came out firing, hitting three contested three-pointers in the grill of Wes Johnson, prompting the talk, smirks and, of course, all of the “Ooohs” and “Aahhs” all around the Target Center. As the Kobe-lover just three rows above me put it, “Black Mamba gets his!”

A change was needed at this point. The game was slipping away, things were growing uglier with every second ticking by. The crowd was non-existent with the exception to those bandwagon-ers. Adelman replied, after a fourth personal foul on Pekovic, with a change to the rotation. Clearly, going small wasn’t working with Luke Ridnour who was a glaring liability on defense and failed to hit his shot all night long. Adelman inserted Martell Webster for Ridnour and Anthony Randolph for Pekovic. Randolph hadn’t played in a few games and I feared for his efforts against the physical ogre that is Andrew Bynum tearing him apart in the post. But that’s when Adelman made the biggest change of all: the zone.

As anyone who bleeds NBA basketball, a 2-3 zone is only a temporary fix; a stretch of the imagination really, just hoping that the offense gets confused and starts taking bad shots and turning the ball over. And you’d think that a veteran-spotted team like the Lakers would take a defending zone and slice it to pieces. But that wasn’t the case tonight. The zone gave just enough pressure and the Lakers responded with poor shots from the perimeter and multiple turnovers. It worked!

This gave the Wolves just enough space to breath and gave the offense a deadly jolt, a jolt that helped ignite a 19-6 run at the end of the third. That quicker, hard-pressing lineup stayed in to start the fourth and the strategy continued to pay off as the Wolves eventually took a slight lead.

But it just wasn’t enough. The magic lost its luster and Kobe morphed back into the Mamba, nailing two huge floaters in the lane to put the game out of reach.

It truly was a valiant effort on behalf of the Wolves. The scrappiness will never get tiring and the will to win will never burn out. Some how, even up against all odds including a troublesome frontcourt, bothersome superstar-loving referees and thee Black Mamba, these Wolves find it within themselves to always fight back. And this is a big thanks to Rick Adelman. Never would you see this kind of effort last season under Kurt Rambis’ authority; they would’ve been happy to roll over and die than fight back with all they have. It’s a complete 180 compared to last season’s efforts in mighty close games like these against mighty opponents. Adelman is giving this team the best opportunity to win night in and night out. It all comes down to execution and tonight it just wasn’t enough.

If I don’t bore the hell out of you already with that exaggerated narrative, here are some bullet points to sum it all up:

• 104. That’s how many shots the Wolves took tonight. Not all were great, not too many were that bad. In large part to Rubio, everyone is getting their fair share of open shots but it comes down to hitting them and hitting them earlier on, so they’re not spending the rest of the game scaling out of the hole they created. That’s what happened tonight before the Lakers stepped on their fingers, sending them back into the abysmal, metaphorical hole I mentioned.
• I talk about how the Wolves simply need to start nailing open shots set up by Rubio. Well, how about Rubio start hitting the shots he sets up for himself? He gets wide open looks constantly but can’t hit them. He only went 2-13 from the floor tonight, telling me that the last game was a fluke and that the struggles shooting continue. All I can say is I hope he keeps shooting and we can only pray that a couple more each game start to fall.
• The Wolves desperately missed Darko Milicic tonight. Now read that again. Darko’s sheer size would’ve helped tonight. Although Randolph was impressive as was Pekovic, the minutes that Brad Miller played tonight, which was his season debut, should’ve been dominated by Darko because he would’ve helped much more on defense. Everyone was getting thrown around by Bynum underneath and Darko would’ve been able to combat that a lot more than what Miller did.
• Michael Beasley was good tonight, not great. He made open shots and his rebounding was outstanding (13). But he’s still struggling with his career-long issue of getting better shots. Just because he gets closer to the rim doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better shot. Many of his shots inside are contested or even blocked. If only he can start to squeeze those up and in more often, his post game may actually become relevant.
• Wes Johnson posted a pitiful +/- tonight at -15, but don’t take that for granted. His defense on Kobe was exceptional (Beaz actually played fantastic defense on Mamba as well) as he forced him into a lot of bad shots. Only problem was that Kobe is Kobe and bad shots for him are still likely to go in. All I’m saying is don’t write his defensive performance off.
• Pekovic had seven offensive rebounds. What a tank?

That’s all for now. Next up is the Rockets again tomorrow night, this time in Houston. Until then, cheers.

Team	Offensive Efficiency	Defensive Efficiency
Houston Rockets	102.8	100.4
Minnesota Timberwolves	100.6	99.9

Last game: Minnesota: W, 87-79 vs San Antonio, Los Angeles: L, 100-89 vs Milwaukee

The Timberwolves beat the Spurs on Friday at the Target Center, winning against Dallas and San Antonio in consecutive games for the second time this season. Minnesota’s balanced scoring attack kept the venerable Spurs at bay. Kevin Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds, while Rubio chipped in 18 points and 10 assists.

The Lakers have been struggling lately, dropping another bad loss yesterday to the Bucks. Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, but needed 21 shots to do it. Pau Gasol struggled as well, shooting 6-18 from the field and failing to get to the free throw line. If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would miss them.

The Key Questions

#1. Will the Lakers struggle on the road against Minnesota?

Los Angeles is 1-7 on the road so far this year. Plus, this is the second night of a back to back, and the Lakers lost a demoralizing game to the Bucks last night. Kobe played 42 minutes, Pau played 39, and Andrew Bynum played 36. The Wolves should attempt to push the pace against a Lakers team that is likely to be gassed.

#2. Are the healthy Wolves a dangerous team?

It sure seems that way. As more and more players come back from injuries, the Wolves seem to get more and more dangerous, especially on offense. Martell Webster’s return should add some needed three point shooting. Beasley’s shot creation is now back (as is his inattention on defense, but I’m trying to stay positive). Add that to Pek’s productive minutes (probably not something we can count on every night) and Wes Johnson’s newfound aggression on offense (probably not something we can count on every night, either) and the Wolves…well. The Wolves might be considered a legitimately good team.

#3. When was the last time the Timberwolves were favored over the Lakers?

No, seriously. Look for yourself.

The Key Matchups

Kevin Love and Pau Gasol have battled each other well in the past. But Lamar Odom was the Laker who used to give Love the biggest fits, and he’s gone this year. In his place, the Lakers have a trade exception. The trade exception has been playing well so far (0 ppg in 0 minutes), but there’s little doubt the Lakers miss Odom’s production.

Kobe will get his points, even if he takes 30 shots to do it. It will probably be up to Wes Johnson to make sure that he does. Ruh roh.

Andrew Bynum scares me. He’s huge, he’s volatile (someone hide Barea…), and he’s talented. He’s probably going to give Darko fits, although Darko is the one Timberwolf with enough length to bother the enormous Lakers.

Minnesota’s biggest advantage should be from the bench. The Lakers have several players who can contribute baskets every once in a while (Jason Kapono, Josh McRoberts, etc.) but none aside from the big three who can score regularly. This is a bad offensive team. The Wolves, however, can bring offense off the bench at any time, especially considering the open looks Rubio can create. The Minnesota bench will need to badly outscore the Lakers tonight.

The Outlook

I hate to be a jinx, so start knocking on wood immediately, but I really like Minnesota in this game. The Wolves youth and athleticism should go a long way agains the road-weary Lakers. And for the first time in several years, Los Angeles is having trouble scoring. Their defense has been good (7th in the league in opponents ppg), but teams need to score to win. As long as Kobe doesn’t score 80, I could very well see Minnesota winning this one.

Beat LA.

Game starts at 6 pm on Fox Sports North.

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]]> http://www.howlintwolf.com/2012/01/game-20-los-angeles-lakers-vs-minnesota-timberwolves/feed/ 0 http://www.howlintwolf.com/2012/01/game-20-los-angeles-lakers-vs-minnesota-timberwolves/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HowlinTWolf/~3/gopxBEdAMfw/ http://www.howlintwolf.com/2012/01/why-the-wolves-should-pursue-chris-kaman/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:54:52 +0000 Jonah Steinmeyer http://www.howlintwolf.com/?p=3953

Beasley-Darko for Kaman. Any takers?

Reports released last night entail that the Hornets are actively shopping Chris Kaman, who they got as part of the Chris Paul deal. They working so “actively” that they’re even benching Kaman until a deal is done. Talk about prudence.

The good news is that the Hornets and Kaman have mutually agreed that this is the best decision for both parties. Even better news is that the Wolves may be in the market for a new, shiny center.

The Wolves do indeed have some money locked up at the center position with Darko Milicic (signed through 2014 after inking the erroneous 4 year, $20 mil deal), Nikola Pekovic (signed through next season at 3 years, $13 mil), and Anthony Randolph, who is more of an afterthought at this point.

By removing a heavy contract at center — Darko — and maybe something pretty enticing for a young rebuilding team like the Hornets — Michael Beasley — well, you got yourself a pretty fair trade for both teams involved, if you ask me, sending Kaman to Minnesota.

There’s no denying that Darko and Pek have played big minutes all season long — Just last night, Pek worked Tim Duncan in the post like he wasn’t even there, and Darko recorded a season-high seven blocks against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. But neither are true long-term options. Kaman would clean Kahn’s slate of awful contracts given to centers, and be plugged in alongside Love to form a fearful duo; Love with the sheer rebounding and shooting and Kaman with the defense and refined post game.

Currently, Kaman is set to become a free agent at the end of this season, meaning any trade would also mean committing to a long-term deal with the Michigan product. But the Wolves are in luck. After resigning Kevin Love on Wednesday to an awfully flexible deal, the Wolves have money to play with over the next three years, as they continue to piece the puzzle together. Of course the key would be to get Kaman at a premium, which is entirely possible due to his age and drop in production, I’d put it around, oh, 3 years, $20 mil.

A steady center like Kaman alongside Love at that kind of price could be what this team is looking for. And the trade also pays the Wolves a huge favor by ridding them of Beasley’s drama.

Do the deal. Make it happen.