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Minnesota Timberwolves 81, Miami Heat 97

March 5, 2013 by
AP Photo/Jim Mone

AP Photo/Jim Mone

Game Summary

Well, that was fun.  The Miami Heat visited the Twin Cities and left with another victory, their 15th win in a row this season.  The Timberwolves brought a lot of effort but their shorthanded staff really hurt Monday night and honestly, no one should really be surprised.  Here is how the game transpired.

The Pups were still without Pekovic and Kirilenko – to go along with the ‘regulars’ who have missed significant time this season.  The starting five for the Wolves was the same from Saturday night in Portland and included Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  No surprises from the Heat, who opened up with Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh.

The game got off to slow start offensively.  Going into the first timeout of the game, the Heat held an 11-8 lead.  The Wolves turned the ball over twice early, and Rubio missed two free throws.  In essence, not much changed since the road trip.  Meanwhile, it was the Wade and James show on Miami’s end.  They accounted for all 11 points and several highlight moves around the rim.

At the end of the 1st quarter, the Heat held a 22-16 lead.  Chris Bosh also came to life in the latter stages of the quarter, chipping in 5 points and 3 rebounds.  No one on the Wolves had more than 4 points and it was a rather dull opening twelve minutes.

After Miami widened its margin to double digits, the Wolves answered with their own 9-2 run to cut the lead to 4 points.  Derrick Williams hit a few mid-range jumpers while Rubio was active on the defensive end which led to fast break points.  The remainder of the 2nd quarter was played at a nice pace with the home team being able to keep it close.  Unfortunately for the Wolves (and the pad underneath the rim), Rubio missed a tip-in as time expired in the half.  (Rubio subsequently right-crossed the pad and stormed into the locker room.)

At the half, the Heat held a 50-43 advantage.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • JJ Barea was 1-7 from the field in the 1st half and completely maddening to watch
  • I wish Rubio’s effort and visible frustration with losing was more contagious with the Pups
  • Mike Miller gets 0 PT in Miami (although I figure he will see some time in the 2nd half)

The Heat opened up the 3rd quarter with a 12-5 run and opened up their biggest lead of the game to that point (14 points).  However, once again the Wolves were able to respond with a 6-0 run of their own.  This included Ricky Rubio pickpocketing Mario Chalmers around half court and scoring on a layup on the other end of the floor.

Ricky Rubio, Derrick Williams and small contributions from Shved and Cunningham, helped keep the Wolves in the game through three quarters.  While the Pups were trailing 69-63, they were right there going into the final twelve minutes, despite the albatross that is, JJ Barea; who was 1-9 from the field through three quarters.

Minnesota continued to scrap with the Heat, which included JJ Barea getting under Ray Allen’s skin by … being JJ Barea.  Allen wasn’t amused at all and some choice words were exchanged.  During a commercial break, the refs decided that Barea’s foul was a Flagrant 2, which made absolutely no sense.  To make matters worse, the refs also gave Adelman one technical and on the next trip down the floor, called Alexey Shved for a leg kick-out after a made three pointer, which nullified the basket and essentially killed the Wolves momentum.

When an actual basketball game resumed, the Heat took command of the game and pulled away from the Wolves.  This included the aforementioned Mike Miller sighting.  With nothing more to say about the game itself, Jim Pete went into a thirty second rant about how infuriating Miller’s time with the Wolves was.  Thank you Jim, thank you!

After Barea was tossed, the Heat closed the game on a 21-11 run and took their 15th straight victory with a 97-81 win at the Target Center.

Keys of the Game

  • Strength – Sounds ridiculous huh?  Well, when you have LeBron James and Dwyane Wade against an undermanned and undersized Wolves team, I’ll just go with “strength” over “talent”.  James and Wade were able to do virtually whatever they wanted, particularly in getting to the paint.
  • Shooting Percentages – This is getting old right?  Heat = 51% FG%, 84% FT%; Wolves = 38% FG%, 67% FT%.
  • Bad JJ Barea – I’m not talking about his trucker/potty mouth either.  1-11 from the field, and no regard for running Adelman’s offense.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Dwyane Wade – Wade abused Ridnour and the rest of the Pups that tried to guard him.  32 points on 15-23 shooting, to go with 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
  2. LeBron James – For the first time seeing LeBron play (this work week), I have to say he is pretty good.  James finished with 20 & 10.  Despite the 7 turnovers, James dominated around the paint and set the tone early with Wade.
  3. Ricky Rubio – The Unicorn finished with 14 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 6 steals.  Quite the performance from Ricky on another nationally televised game.

Derrick Williams (and not Mike Miller) gets an honorable mention as DWill had another double-double (25 & 10) for the Wolves and remains the only bright spot on the club beyond Rubio.

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Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Portland Blazers 109

March 4, 2013 by
Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Game Summary

Closing out the western swing, the Timberwolves visited the Rose Garden Saturday night to take on the Trail Blazers.  Minnesota entered the game on a four game losing streak while the Blazers still have hopes of grabbing the bottom seed in the western conference playoffs.

Unfortunately, more changes were needed in the Wolves starting lineup Saturday night as both Kirilenko and Pekovic were scratched from the game.  The Pups starting lineup consisted of – Rubio, Ridnour, Gelabale, Williams, and Stiemsma.  The Blazers opened up with Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and JJ Hickson.

Going into the first timeout / stoppage of play, the Blazers had built a 7 point lead, 17-10.  Greg Stiemsma was already on the bench with two quick fouls.  With Pekovic’s injury it was a given that Chris Johnson would get minutes Saturday night, but Stiemsma’s inability to stay on the court and avoid foul trouble has become a bit nauseating for Wolves fan (or at least one of them…).

The Wolves defense struggled to do anything to stop the Blazers in the 1st quarter, as the home team held a 31-19 lead after the first twelve minutes.  Story of the quarter is vastly similar to the past few weeks (months?) for the Pups: 9-24 on FG’s for 38% and 0-4 from 3PT range, while the Blazers were 12-23 from the field for 52% and 3-5 from 3PT range.

The 2nd quarter was pretty slow going, or at least it felt that way.  The Pups outscored the Blazers 25-20 in the quarter but trailed by six points, 51-45.  While the Wolves were able to cut into the lead, no one stood out on the team beyond Derrick Williams (broken record alert).  The Blazers cooled off in the 2nd quarter and that felt like the crux of why the Wolves were back in the game more than anything else.

Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • I’m just going to assume that Ricky Rubio is going to be working on his jumper all offseason and will be a solid offensive threat next year.  (Fantasy league stud in 13/14)
  • An underrated move from several weeks ago was the Blazers acquisition of Eric Maynor.
  • Chris Johnson needs more PT.  Please!

The game more or less fell apart for the undermanned Wolves in the second half.  The Blazers built a 17 point lead in the 3rd quarter at several points.  Without Pekovic, the Wolves had no answer for JJ Hickson, who hit the double-double threshold early and kept going.

I’m not sure if Alexey Shved has hit another wall or not, but Adelman is not giving him heavy minutes and it really can’t, or at least shouldn’t be, due to what Ridnour and Barea are doing on the court for the team.  At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Blazers held an 83-71 lead.

The Wolves made several very small runs but never truly threatened to take over the game in the 4th quarter.  Luke Ridnour caught fire early in the quarter, but it felt more like a nice run by an individual player vs. the start of a big move that would help catapult the team to take over the game.  Sure enough, Terry Stotts would call the appropriate timeouts and get his team back in gear.

The Blazers outscored the Wolves 58-50 in the second half and pulled out the 109-94 victory.  The win completed the season sweep for the Blazers over the Wolves, which wound up being the fifth time in six seasons that Portland has been able to claim this feat.  Given all of the missing cogs in the Wolves machine, this really should not have been a surprise for anyone watching the game on NBA TV.

While Rubio flirted with another triple-double (12, 9, and 9), he continues to turn the ball over too much and opposing teams are laying off of him on the offensive end, daring him to shoot jumpers.  Unfortunately for us Wolves fans, that plan is working, as Rubio continues to struggle to with his shot.

Rather than harping on that particular part of the game, I found myself asking what would be the better scenario for the Wolves moving forward more often than not while watching the second half.  Is it moving forward with Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, both, or the supplemental players that the team can put together by moving one or the other in the future?  I need to think about this a lot more before putting down my thoughts on paper.

Keys of the Game

  • Talent / Health – I am absolutely copping out on this one, as this claim could be made for most of the season.  The Pups were missing way too much talent on the floor in Saturday’s game at the Rose Garden.
  • Shooting – The Wolves shot under 40% again for the game and only made 1-12 3PT’s.  While the team continues to show an ability to get to the FT line, they missed 11 FT’s, going 25-36 from the charity stripe.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. JJ Hickson – Hickson finished with 18 and 16 on the evening and torched Stiemsma and CJ throughout the evening.
  2. Damian Lillard – Newsflash, Lillard is good, putting up 24, 6, and 4 for the future ROY, and a game high +22 in the +/- category.
  3. Derrick Williams – Williams missed his season high by one point but still put up a 23 and 8 for the Wolves and was probably the lone bright spot for the team.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Los Angeles Lakers 116

March 1, 2013 by
Photo Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Photo Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Game Summary:

In the second of their three-game road trip, the Timberwolves squared off against the steadily-improving Los Angeles Lakers on a court that they had previously lost the past twelve games on. Without starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko, matters were made worse as the Wolves lost yet another important member of their squad due to injury. Behind a terrific night from reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Kobe Bryant, the Lakers blew out the Wolves 116-94 as they continue to claw their way back from a terrible start to the season.

To be fair, Minnesota kept it close… for one quarter. One of the key matchups of the game was that of Dwight Howard vs. Nikola Pekovic, two of the biggest and strongest players in the league. Early on, Pek did a good job of establishing inside position while Ricky Rubio did a brilliant job of finding him for easy looks on multiple occasions. However, the after playing only 9 minutes, Pekovic was forced to head to the locker room late in the first quarter with what turned out to be an abdominal strain. His prognosis came out in the second period as we learned that Pek would miss the remainder of the game and would be out indefinitely. The big fella finished with 8 points (4-6 FG) and 3 rebounds.

With injuries completely obliterating Minnesota’s depth, the Wolves looked to young Derrick Williams to do his best against, ugh, Kobe Bryant. While D-Will did not do a terrible job guarding Kobe, he had very little help from his teammates as the Timberwolves were very slow rotating and closing gaps on defense.

The Lakers came out of the gate with some hot shooting which foreshadowed what was to happen for the rest of the contest. To Minnesota’s credit, they were severely under-manned and the Lakers had several blatant mismatches to exploit. Minnesota hung around in the first period as they did a good job of spacing the floor while Ricky dazzled the LA fans with some incredible passing.

The Timberwolves trailed Los Angeles 28-22 heading into the second quarter. With no Pekovic in the lane, the Lakers were able to effectively stretch the floor on offense leading to many open three-point opportunities, which they knocked down at a high rate. Offensively, the Timberwolves had a very difficult time creating offense with Rubio getting a breather. Alexey Shved had a difficult time against the physical LA perimeter defense, and he did not do the Wolves a favor by continually settling for long two-point  shots. Defensively, the Wolves were awful on their rotations as noone pushed out to contest shots on the perimeter. Getting the start for AK-47, Dante Cunningham was ice-cold and could not hit his 18-footer that he loves so much.

At the half, Los Angeles led the Pups 57-47. My observations of the first two periods are as follows:

  • Luke Ridnour had the hot hand for Minnesota, knocking down two corner threes and hitting just about everything he took.
  • Dwight’s duties were made incredibly easy without Pekovic in the lane, and the self-proclaimed “Chocolate Shoulders” did a phenomenal job of protecting the rim against the team that finishes at the rim worse than any other NBA team.
  • The Wolves could be seen with three point guards on the court at times, and if that doesn’t make you wince, you need help.
  • Can’t say enough about Rubio, he was the only thing keeping this game from exploding into nightmare in the first half.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody watching, the Lakers controlled the game in the second half with the game getting ugly in the final quarter. Despite three strong overall performances by Ridnour, JJ Barea, and Rubio, the size differential between the two teams completely inhibited the Pups’ ability to compete on both ends of the floor. I could continue to elaborate on the second half, but I will save you the misery.

Notable Performances:

  • Jodie Meeks made 4 of his 9 three-point attempts after missing his first 3 tries from deep, and reminded LA fans why they went out and got him last offseason.
  • Steve Blake had a highly productive 25 minutes finishing the night with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench.
  •  Luke Ridnour did just about everything he could have done for Minnesota and his great performance will most likely be overlooked by the end result of the game. Ridnour scored 19 points (7-10 FG, 2-4 3PT) and added 3 steals in an efficient offensive performance.
  • Derrick Williams played 39 minutes and was a game-worst -26 on the floor. I do not want to rag on him too much because he was asked to play out of position guarding Kobe. Williams contributed 15 points (6-14 FG), 8 rebounds and 3 turnovers in a long night for the second-year player.

Keys of the Game:

  • Three-point shooting - I cannot emphasize enough the importance that perimeter shooting played in this one. The Lakers used the simple formula of feeding the ball into the post drawing Minnesota defenders into the interior, while Howard and other Lakers bigs found their open teammates waiting contently on the outside for wide-open three-pointers. LA converted a ridiculous 16 of their 32 attempts from deep as Minnesota shot a reasonable 7-21 themselves.
  • Rebounding - LA 49, MN 35. No Pek + no AK + no Love = no rebounding. It’s a pretty simple formula.

Three Stars of the Game:

  1. Kobe Bryant - Oh boy, was the Black Mamba hot tonight. Kobe finished with 33 points (13-22 FG, 4-8 3PT), 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes tonight. He showed off his range with a couple of very deep three-pointers and posterized Pekovic before the big man ultimately left with injury.
  2. Dwight Howard - Loved what I saw from the Dwightmare, who completely set the tone for LA defensively. The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent is beginning to come into his own as a Laker and in 33 minutes finished with 11 points (5-6 FG), 13 rebounds and 4 blocks.
  3. Ricky Rubio - Rubio came very close to recording his first career triple-double but fell 2 rebounds short, as he finished the night with 13 points (5-11 FG), 13 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 turnovers in 33 minutes. I am sure many Laker fans left the Staples Center satisfied of what they saw from the young Spaniard.
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Minnesota Timberwolves 99, Golden State Warriors 100

February 24, 2013 by
Photo Credit: David Sherman/NBAE/Getty

Photo Credit: David Sherman/NBAE/Getty

For this afternoon’s game, John and I spontaneously decided to co-author the recap of the Timberwolves 100-99 home loss to the Golden State Warriors so that you can ponder the thoughts of two bummed-out Wolves fans instead of one. Enjoy.

Game Summary

Big Al:

Luke Ridnour’s last second floater over a trailing defender went up and rimmed out just moments before the buzzer sounded, completing the Warriors come-from-behind victory separated by a single point. Despite trailing by as many as 16 points in the first quarter, Golden State overcame Minnesota’s 5-point fourth quarter cushion and narrowly escaped with the victory on a night where nothing seemed to be going right for the playoff-destined Warriors.

Losing their tenth game when possessing a lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves imploded in the final period and were impacted by questionable officiating throughout the contest.

The imposing Golden State frontcourt featuring All-Star David Lee and backup extraordinare Carl Landry got off to a very slow start as Nikola Pekovic and Williams established themselves on the low block. The Pups displayed strong ball movement in the interior courtesy of some fancy passes from Andrei Kirilenko.

Andrew Bogut, who was acquired last season in a trade involving Monta Ellis, did not travel to Minnesota for Sunday’s matchup after an MRI revealed a disk protrusion which was causing back spasms. The 7-foot center has been one of the most injury-riddled players in the entire association since being taken with the first pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Bogut, who has been limited to only 12 games since returning from surgery on his troublesome ankle, has not been worth his $13 million price tag since arriving in Oakland. The Warriors hope Bogut can be healthy in time for the playoffs when they will greatly need him for their frontcourt depth.

John:

The Wolves jumped out to a very strong start, taking an 18-6 lead heading into the first timeout and receiving positive contributions from everyone in the starting lineup.  At the same time, Stephen Curry picked up two quick fouls and had to take an early seat on the bench.  This normally would have been a net-positive for the Wolves, but Jarrett Jack came in and hit two quick three pointers.

If it weren’t for Jack, the Warriors would have been down quite a bit more.  Jack had 11 of the Warriors 18 points in the 1st quarter.  However, he couldn’t contain the strong play of the Wolves, who filled the highlight reel in the first twelve minutes.  Rubio, Pekovic, Kirilenko and Williams all had very strong 1st quarters.  At the end of the 1st, the Wolves held a 32-18 lead.

Slowly but surely, the Warriors cut the Pups lead throughout the 2nd quarter.  With under a minute to go, Golden State cut the lead to one point due to poor execution on both ends of the court.  The quarter got a little chippy between the two teams with Jack and Stiemsma going at it a bit.  The officials were letting the teams play through a lot of banging and slapping in the paint.

At the end of the first half, the Wolves held a 55-52 lead.  Here are a few halftime thoughts through my Wolves lens:

  • Minnesota dominated the paint, particularly in the 1st quarter and needed to revert back to this quickly (36 points for the Pups vs. 20 for GSW in the first half)
  • A very nice team effort from the Wolves in the first half, with four players in double digits
  • Rubio was doing a little bit of everything – 4 points, rebounds, and steals, to go along with 5 assists

Despite some questionable officiating, the Wolves were able to maintain their lead through the 3rd quarter, going into final 12 minutes, holding an 81-76 lead.  Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio helped lead the charge for the Wolves in the quarter, playing the entire twelve minutes and putting in a number of highlights.  In fact, Williams led the Pups with 18 and 11, putting up another double-double in only three quarters.

Big Al:

As mentioned above, the Wolves dropped their tenth game after heading into the final quarter with the lead, which leads the NBA. Minnesota’s woes in the fourth quarter were largely due to their inability to hit the long ball (0-7 in the final quarter) and too many mental and physical mistakes leading to 5 fourth-quarter turnovers. Jack and Curry each hit big shots in the final minute to seal the victory while Minnesota couldn’t buy a basket (AK-47 wide-open airball, Ridnour missed floater).

Keys of the Game

  • Three-point Shooting - The most blatant difference between Minnesota and Golden State revolves around the two teams ability (and inability in the Wolves’ case) to knock down three-pointers. The Pups shot a horrendous 1-11 from downtown while the Warriors converted on 7 of their 17 attempts. Jack was an assassin from deep as he drilled 5 of his 7 three-point attempts.
  • Free throws - In games that are ultimately separated by a few points, it is easy to point to missed free throws as the scapegoat. While the results of a game extend much further than a couple of missed attempts at the charity stripe, it must be noted how significant Rubio’s only missed free throw was following his and-1 late in the final period. Golden State got it down from the line as they converted 19 of their 23 tries (83%), while Minnesota hit just 24 of their 31 tries.

Three Stars of the Game

  1. Jarrett Jack - What a game for the Warriors 6-man as he finished the night with 23 points (8-19 FG, 5-7 3PT), 8 assists, 5 rebounds and only 2 turnovers in 36 minutes. Jack, who is playing for his fifth team in eight NBA seasons, is enjoying what may very well be his best season of his career off the bench for the Warriors. The former Georgia Tech standout has become the leader of one of the top second units in the league, and will undoubtedly be a leading candidate for the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year award.
  2. Ricky Rubio - Although he appeared shook and heartily disappointed with the end result, Ricky provided a ridiculous performance in which he gave a legitimate run at a quadruple-double finishing with the line of 16 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 6 turnovers in 39 minutes for the Wolves. Turnovers were a problem and he had a tough time shooting the ball (3-10 FG), but he affected the game in so many ways that his shortcomings were easily overlooked. The Spaniard gave tremendous effort on both sides of the ball all night and made Stephen Curry earn every point that he got this afternoon.
  3. David Lee - Big night for the All-Star following a slow start for the big fella. Lee notched a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds and was a big part of the Warriors late-game run which culminated in the Warriors stealing a game on the first night of their 5-game road trip.

 

 

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Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors, 2/24/13

February 24, 2013 by

Photo Credit: Adidas

Photo Credit: Adidas

Our Pups return home after a high scoring affair Friday night against the OKC Thunder to take on the vastly improved Golden State Warriors Sunday afternoon. While the Wolves season has fallen apart, the Warriors are meeting or exceeding expectations to this point in the season. Minnesota comes into Sunday’s game with a 20-32 record, while the Warriors come into the game off of a big, overtime victory Friday night against San Antonio, improving their record to 32-23 on the year.

Before Friday’s game, the Warriors announced that Andrew Bogut would miss another indefinite amount of games due to problems with his back. This has to be frustrating for Warriors fans as the team has climbed to the six seed in the conference largely without their starting center. One must wonder “what could have been” if Bogut was able to stay healthy, particularly in an effort to avoid the Spurs and/or Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. That said, I don’t think the Warriors will get many pity points from the Timberwolves or their fans given what has transpired this season for our Pups.

These two teams have not met since November, when the Warriors handed the Wolves two losses over the span of eight days. Golden State took the first match-up 106-98 at the Target Center and then the second match-up in the Bay area 96-85.

Finally, in case you missed it, the Warriors launched a new jersey in Friday night’s game on ESPN – the Spurs-Warriors game followed the Wolves-Thunder match-up on ESPN’s doubleheader. The jersey is more t-shirt vs. jersey and is certainly an interesting mix into the lineup. The cynic in me suggests that this type of “jersey” makes it an easier transition for the NBA to start putting brand logos and advertisements on their apparel.

Player to watch:
David Lee – Lee had two solid performances against the Wolves in those November meetings, putting up 18 points and 13 rebounds in Minnesota and 17 & 8 in the following match-up. Without Kevin Love again, it will be important for Minnesota’s frontcourt to keep Lee off the boards as much as possible and to stay in front of him in the isolation sets, not allowing him to fly by the defender and/or having a second defender backing up whoever is matching up against Lee directly.

Match-up to watch:
Ricky Rubio vs. Stephen Curry. The could-have-been teammates are the primetime match-up in Sunday afternoon’s meeting. About the only positive topic the Wolves have going right now is the on-going improvement in Rubio’s game as he continues to build/gain confidence in his knee. Curry is having a career year this season, coming into the game averaging a career best 21.1 ppg, 6.6 apg, and 4.0 rpg. He also has a 19.8 PER, which is good for fifth highest in the league among PG’s.

Predictions:
The Warriors are coming off of a solid win against the Spurs Friday night, so there is a chance of a letdown here at the Target Center. However, I won’t go on record predicting one.
Final score prediction: Twolves 104, Warriors 112

Three stars of the game predictions:
1. Harrison Barnes
2. David Lee
3. Nikola Pekovic

Lets go Wolves!

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Timberwolves 2013 Mid-Season Roundtable

February 18, 2013 by
How will the second half fare for Ricky Rubio?

How will the second half fare for Ricky Rubio and the Timberwolves?

Welcome to the Minnesota Timberwolves 2013 Mid-Season Roundtable. We have gathered some of the most devoted Timberwolves minds from the web in order to debate some of the hottest topics surrounding the Timberpups’ current state of affairs. Joining me in this effort are Howlin’ T-Wolf’s own Derek James (@DerekJamesNBA), Andy Grimsrud (@PDWolves) of Punch-Drunk Wolves, Ben McDonald (@BenMac_STOB) of STOB Blog, and Timberpups very own John Flesta (@jflesta).

 

1. What is the Timberwolves biggest need, what can they do to address it, and when is it appropriate to do so?  (Trade, Draft, Free Agency)

 

Alex Glennon, Timberpups:

The Timberwolves rank dead last in the NBA in three-point shooting and currently lack a legitimate shooting guard on the team’s entire roster. To put into persepective the importance of three-point shooting, take a look at the top 6 three-point shooting ball clubs in the league as it currently stands: Golden State, OKC, Miami, San Antonio, Atlanta, and New York. Each of these teams are headed to the playoffs and have versatile rosters which allow for a much more balanced offensive attack that does not rely too heavily on one area of scoring.

Obviously, the loss of last season’s three-point champion in Kevin Love was a huge blow for a team with very little shooting depth, but this season has put spotlight on the Timberwolves’ desperate need for perimeter shooting and a real, legitimate shooting guard who thrives when playing off-ball. Alexey Shved has been a pleasant surprise this season, but the fact remains that he is not a traditional shooting guard and he should not be looked at as the future starting 2-guard for this team. Depending on Minnesota’s draft position (and number of first-round picks) it would most likely be a good idea to find a youngster to throw into the mix for next season, but I believe that the Timberwolves brass must do everything in their power this summer to bring in an accomplished sharp-shooter to man the position. Some possibilities that immediately come to mind are JJ Redick, Kevin Martin, Anthony Morrow, and Kyle Korver.

Derek James, Howlin’ T-Wolf – Rufus on Fire: 

Shooters, right? Of course, injuries will help with this some once Kevin Love and Chase Budinger get healthy, but after them, there still aren’t a ton of guys on this roster that are capable of stretching the floor. As a result of all of these injuries, the Timberwolves have become the leagues most dismal shooting team, and it’s no doubt cost them some games. It sure didn’t help that the Brandon Roy gamble didn’t pay off because that would’ve meant having an extra shooter at their disposal. As far as fixing it, I don’t feel like trades are the answer at this point, and I don’t know enough about the draft to really say there. So, that likely means seeing what niche players are out on the market this summer.

John Flesta, Timberpups:

Yes, shooters are the answer to this question.  I agree with Derek, I don’t necessarily see the ultimate fix being via trade, specifically before the forthcoming deadline.  If we can get rid of Barea (OK fine, Ridnour) for a complementary piece that would help next season and beyond, that would be nice. Ideally, that would just help balance out the rotations a bit more vs. having to use multiple PG’s all the time.   However, I think the long term answer is most likely found in the draft with a lot of luck or in free agency.

Andy Grimsrud, Punch-Drunk Wolves:

The cop-out answer is that the Timberwolves’ biggest need is a healthy Kevin Love.  Love is a great player in any system, because of his elite rebounding and foul-drawing abilities.  But his jumper — and the way it stretches opposing defenses — is what is missed most, right now.  The Wolves are dead last in the NBA in three-point shooting accuracy, and by a significant margin.  In that Thursday night TNT game versus the Thunder, Love teased us (by shooting well, with his bad hand) with a sampling of what could be with this team of Rubio/Shved, Love, and Nikola Pekovic.  Great passing, shooting, and interior scoring looked incredible for one night.  But Love’s hand hasn’t been right ever since he broke it and that needs repair more than this team needs anything else.

Outside of the current roster?  A wing that can shoot threes, defend and run the floor would be helpful.  Maybe that’s Chase Budinger?  Mickael Gelabale?  I’m not sure, but I think a team led by Ricky Rubio should do more damage in transition than it is doing, right now.  Some speed and shooting ability would help.  

Ben McDonald, STOB Blog:

I have an ongoing discussion going with a buddy about this.  I vote we need a shooting guard most. He argues small forward is more an area of need.

My argument is that Shved is our only true shooting guard, as Budinger over his career has played most often, and his best, at the small forward position.  I’m yet to see if Malcolm Lee will ever be a competent NBA player to the extent we can trust him to be the backup to Shved.  Following this year, I never…EVER…want to see Ridnour starting at shooting guard for this team.  I’m flat embarrassed for our team when Ridnour is being posted up by the likes of Kobe Bryant.  It isn’t Luke’s fault and I applaud him for battling the way he does with the mismatches he has to face almost nightly.

My buddy’s argument is that once AK’s contract is up after next year he will either A) leave or B) start showing his age to the point that we become very thin at small forward especially since it seems D-Will isn’t going to become a small forward anytime soon.  We’d be left with (if we re-sign him) Budinger as our only true small forward.

I look to the best in the league and see how I can copy them.  The old “if you can’t beat em, join em” holds true.  One of Miami’s most effective lineups according the 82games.com is Wade-Allen-Battier-James-Bosh.  In affect, they play a SG/SG/SF/Freak/PF lineup.  If you are one that needs the assignment of positions to all basketball players and wants a PG/SG/SF/PF/C perfect lineup every time, then this is sacrilegious, but it works.  With that in mind I’m trying to fight that instinct the more I see the game transition away from pigeon holed position players, to more diversely skilled and sized players working together without the worry of position.

With that being said, the Wolves biggest need to me is a wing player.  Honestly, if we could just clone the Budinger we were seeing in those few precious games we got from him earlier this year, that’d be the guy I’m looking for.  Can play multiple positions, has good size, athleticism, can hit an open shot, attacks the rim and is basketball smart.

To acquire this type of player I truly think the draft will be our best bet.  Looks like we’ll be in the lottery, maybe Stern throws us a bone for once and we win the thing.  Then we get Ben McLemore and live happily ever after.  Otherwise if we get everyone back healthy at the end of this season and D-Will starts warming the bench more than the nets, and we get a late lottery pick, I look to trade up in the draft or just a trade using D-Will and our pick in hopes of grabbing that guy.

 

2. Nikola Pekovic is sure to garner a lot of attention this summer and may even receive a max-contract offer sheet. With that being said, what should the Timberwolves do with their Montenegrin bruiser? Is he worth matching a max contract extension should he receive one? If he is not worth a max contract, how much money is he worth?

 

Alex Glennon:

Here is where David Kahn’s situation gets very tricky. How do you value a player who has been injured a significant percentage of his time during his first three years in the league, but when healthy, has been one of the most destructive scorers on the low block. Last season, Nikola Pekovic held the highest offensive rebounding percentage in the NBA and got jipped out of the Most Improved Player award after averaging 13.9 ppg and 7.4 rpg with an astounding 21.47 PER. The 27-year-old Montenegrin center has proven to be an ideal teammate and student of the game and has gained the admiration from a future Hall of Fame coach and a highly regarded assistant coaching staff.

Here is my take on the Pek situation: listen to trade offers before the deadline in case another team offers a great haul of cheap and young assets, but otherwise match any offer that Pek shall receive. It is no secret that Minnesota owner Glen Taylor has a long history of taking the “cheap” route in free agency, and I do not know if I trust the Timberwolves management to make use of the extra cap space should they decide not to match a Pekovic offer sheet. Pek is simply too important for the future of this team and gives Minnesota a presence on both ends of the floor that few teams get from the center position.

Derek James:

The Pekovic situation isn’t an easy one. He will get attention, and likely a lucrative offer. Being able to re-sign him will also be determined by how willing the organization is to go over the cap to keep him, which they can do since they have his Bird Rights. Somewhere between $10-$12m to keep him makes a lot of sense. Let’s be careful not to overrate our own player here, and try to justify paying him upwards of, say, $15m to keep him when he’s been inconsistent at times and susceptible to injury. I like Pek a lot, but at the right price.

 John Flesta:

If Pekovic gets a max offer from Portland, he should be wearing a Blazer uniform next season.  Under no circumstance should we match that contract offer.  None.  The $10-$11 million range is the ceiling I would put on the new contract.  As long as it isn’t a max contract offer from Portland, you probably match it unless they have something up their sleeve – i.e. Pekovic for Batum or something like that.

Andy Grimsrud: 

Pekovic must be re-signed.  Even if he signs a max offer sheet?  Yes.  This is much more, “Pek is worth 4 years/$60 Million to the Timberwolves” than it is, “If Pekovic were an unrestricted free agent, he’d receive 4 years/$60 Million from Hypothetical Team X/Y/Z.”  It’s difficult to assign “market value” to any player.  But the Wolves can pay a lot of money to Love and Pek for the next two seasons while still having Ricky Rubio and Alexey Shved signed to cheap deals.  If and when a time comes when the luxury tax threatens, they can do exactly what Memphis did with Rudy Gay.  Guys like Love and Pek will always have enough value to be moved.  For what it’s worth, I don’t expect Pekovic to receive a full max offer.  I think it’ll look more like what the Wolves offered Nic Batum, and it might even be Batum’s team that signs the deal.  But they’ve got to keep Pek.  He’s a huge fan favorite and worthy of a big salary. 

Ben McDonald:

Max contract offer is tough to stomach but at the same time the fact is there are only a handful of centers out there on the level of Pek.  Wolves need to be smart on this one and really hope that they can get Pek for something in the range of what OKC gave Serge Ibaka and Memphis gave Marc Gasol, 4 years around $50 mil.  I think that is the range you have to pay to keep a big man with the skills that Pek has.

Portland is going to be out for blood with Pek though and that price may rise, then the decision makers need to be smart to not put us in a situation in which we can’t afford Ricky/Love/Pek all together when the time comes to pay the piper on all three.

 

3. With Rubio improving and logging increased minutes, is it time to trade either JJ or Luke?  If so, which one do you keep and why?

 

Alex Glennon:

Despite recent criticism, JJ Barea has had a decent season and has clearly out-played Luke Ridnour at the point guard position. However, with Ricky back in the starting lineup and Ridnour functioning much more efficiently as a shooting guard, Barea has become Minnesota’s most frustrating guard and has had trouble adjusting to his ambiguous role.

I would like to see Minnesota move one of the players before the deadline in exchange for an expiring contract, a young asset or a draft selection. It is abundantly clear that there is not a need for both players on this team with Rubio healthy, and I think that it may be a wiser choice to move Barea due to his longer contract and potentially higher trade value. Many contending teams would love to acquire the sparkplug, high-energy role player and he offers an affordable contract to a playoff-bound team in need of bench scoring.

Derek James: 

Well, apparently they already are shopping one or both. Both have similar contracts, but I feel like Ridnour has the most value of the two, and if you want to get a good return, you have to give something. If that’s how they improve their shooting situation, then that’s fine, but Luke is also one of this team’s top shooter’s even when this team is healthy. The thing is, if he’s at least an average to above-average shooter who plays at the off-guard, don’t you have to at least try and get back a better shooter at that position? Otherwise, I feel like you’re trading a proven player on a very reasonable contract for a player who may cost more, and may not be as good of a fit.

John Flesta:

Until this season I have been saying Ridnour.  I’ve completely flip-flopped like Obama or Romney on this one.  (Yes, that was a political reference and please note that I called out both parties.)  I would like to see JJ traded for that more complementary wing player.  This gets us out of the longer contract (between the two of them).  I’m OK with waiting on the trade itself until the summer, where perhaps either one of them are packaged with Derrick Williams for a bigger contract / better player.

I can’t stand the way Barea is playing this year.  Look, Luke has his faults, but you know what you are getting from him when he is out there.  You have no idea what type of mood Barea is going to be in each night and how he is (or is not) going to play within the system.  Throw in how much he has been banged up over the past year and a half and that makes the decision that much easier.

Andy Grimsrud:

I don’t know if this matters too much, except to one or both of those guys if they see their minutes drastically cut.  Between the two of them I’d rather keep Luke because his contract is shorter.

Ben McDonald:

Definitely.  If I had it my way, I’d likely trade JJ.  Barea drives me insane.  I wrote about this dilemma on my blog a week or so ago and in the end I came to the conclusion that, though Barea makes my skin crawl, we deal whoever the teams we are trading with are willing to give the most for.

I can stomach either Ridnour or Barea as our back up point, so let’s get as much as we can for whoever someone else wants.  With Shved we don’t need to carry a third point guard (if we get another shooting guard) since Shved can also play point when needed.  If you can trust the rumors, seems as if Luke is going to be the odd man out.

 

4. Speaking of La Pistola, what is your take on the early results? Are you disappointed with his return or is it unfair to judge the flaws given his return from major knee surgery?

 

Alex Glennon: 

Over the past two weeks, we have seen Ricky take a huge step forward in his game as he is becoming much more comfortable looking for his shot and initiating contact in the lane. The Spaniard has done a great job getting to the free throw line where he has converted at a nice rate, and his abilities as a passer have been on full display as of late.

The blatant flaws in Ricky’s shooting should be taken with a grain of salt as he did not have a proper offseason to improve his stroke. His woes from behind the three-point line have caused frustration when considering he shot a relatively strong 34% last season, but it must be noted that without proper lower body strength, it is extremely difficult to shoot from long range. As he continues to build his confidence and log increased minutes, it is only a matter of time before we see Ricky knocking down his spotted-up looks.

Ricky ended the first-half of the season on a very positive note and I am sure he will only improve from this point on.

Derek James:

Rubio’s struggles returning were to be expected. A lot of fans in Minnesota expected and Adrian Peterson like return, but that is by far the exception, not the rule. What you want to see from Rubio is gradual improvement, and I think that’s what we’re seeing. Everyone just needs to be patient.

 John Flesta:

Here’s where I turn into a homer.  Rubio’s return has been about what I expected.  He has clearly turned a corner over the past few weeks and is playing a lot better.  However, I do want to see him be a little more careful with the ball (way too many turnovers) and start hitting his shot more consistently.  I don’t think the latter will come this season, it is going to take more time and effort in the offseason.  That said, I fully expect it to happen.

Andy Grimsrud:

I’m not at all disappointed with Rubio’s return.  He struggled for a handful of games — particularly with his shooting — but he looks to be quick on defense and in great physical shape.  He played 40 great minutes last night against a good Utah team, nearly posting a triple double.  In the off-season, I hope they perform reconstructive surgery on his jumper (instead of his knee, this time) to get his mechanics fixed and his confidence up.  But so much of his game helps the Wolves that it’s hard to feel anything but impressed by his prompt return to quality point guard play.

Ben McDonald:

He is back!  Ricky was struggling big time up until about 2 weeks ago.  I was very concerned and was starting to wonder if that spark he had would come back this year or ever.  Unbelievably excited that it seems to have fully returned, as I write this he is coming off a 1 rebound short of a triple double performance and over his last 10 games he is averaging 13.1 ppg and 8.6 ast.

This is the guy this franchise needs to be built around from here on out.  I’d lost that belief a bit with his struggles post-return, but the faith is back.  Every organizational decision from here on out needs to be prefaced by the question, “does this work well with what Ricky does?” 

 

5. Injuries have come to define the Wolves this year, but how would you evaluate them as they move forward? Is there enough talent on this team to make the playoffs in the future with a healthy roster, or is this team in need of further re-tooling?

 

Alex Glennon:

Coming into this season, I thought the Wolves were a lock to make the playoffs. Countless injuries later, I consider myself much more of a pessimist towards Minnesota’s chances of landing a bottom seed in the Western Conference. The Wolves’ miserable predicament has absolutely zero reflection on what this team could do when completely healthy, and I wholeheartedly believe that this very roster could reach a playoff berth under more favorable circumstances.

Without Love, much of the Pups hope goes out the window as he has been their go-to guy for the past three seasons and is the team’s national symbol for optimism in Minnesota. His injury situation was a very unfortunate series of events for Timberwolves fans, and it looks like fans will have to wait even longer in order to see what this team can do when healthy together.

Regardless of how the team’s roster may currently look, much is set to change as we draw nearer to summer. If Minnesota decides to match a big Pekovic offer, how will that affect the possible signing of Budinger who is also set to become a restricted free agent? Will Minnesota have 2 first-round draft picks, and if they do, will they use or deal them? Will this team acquire three-point shooters, and can we finally have an actual shooting guard manning the 2?

Derek James:

There is absolutely enough talent on this team to be considered a playoff team, and I think we’ve seen a flash or two of that at certain points in the season. Yet, being decimated by injuries, this has been a bit of a lost season in that regard, to me. People have been so quick to want to trade for someone to fix it for this season when there is already a good team in place that needs to get healthy, and you don’t try to use a permanent solution to fix a temporary problem. Even when Johnson and Gelabale were signed and people were crying out that they weren’t signing “Player X” or “Player Y”; well, guess what? All of the good players are on NBA teams already, and no team wants to trade a top player in their rotation for the Timberwolves’ spare parts. Again, we just have to be patient, even though we’re sick of waiting. But, with what we’ve seen, it looks as if we’ll get there eventually.

John Flesta:

The current roster, if/when healthy, is certainly a playoff team in my honest opinion.  Are they a championship team?  No, they aren’t.  The right steps in the process were finally taken this past offseason with trying to sign Batum, landing on Kirilenko, Shved, and Budinger.  As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, it would have been nice to hear that Kahn somewhat aggressively went after OJ Mayo before picking Brandon Roy.

I wish the Wolves would hire a draft guru because that has clearly been missing during Kahn’s era (and before).  If that were to happen, I would have much more confidence in this team being able to use just the forthcoming offseason to turn itself into championship contender and giving itself a two year window to compete for the title.  I don’t think it would take much beyond the following: good health for a season, resigning Pek, trading Barea and/or Derrick Williams for an above average SG and finding more depth at the wing position via the draft to put into the rotation.  This really shouldn’t be too hard.

 Andy Grimsrud:

It’s difficult to evaluate the Wolves as a potential playoff team because we have yet to see them at full strength.  Certain statistical models had this team (assuming only Rubio’s injury) winning north of 50 games before this season.  Injuries to Kevin Love and to a lesser extent Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger obviously changed that.  I think the Western Conference is loaded with good teams and any spot above a 1/8 matchup with Oklahoma City means a realistic chance at advancing to the 2nd Round.  Are the Wolves that good?  I think they could be, but it’s impossible to predict with any confidence because of the strength of the West.  In the East, a good team can be sure it’s making the playoffs.  Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way in the West.  What CAN be guaranteed is a competitive season with 70 or more games that are enjoyable to watch.  We were going to get that this year, until the injuries came on.

In terms of whether the team should re-tool, I’d say no; not right now.  Obviously that could change if some unforeseen trade offer lands on David Kahn’s desk, but from the outside looking in I’d rather they get healthy and try again with the Rubio/Kirilenko/Love/Pekovic core, with some Shved and Dante Cunningham sprinkled in.  Some internal improvement (Ricky’s continued rehab, Shved refining a few of his weaknesses) should happen with a young team and “just getting healthy” might prove to be the only remedy this team needs.  A Derrick Williams trade might make some sense, but I don’t know if he has much value to bring back helpful assets.

Ben McDonald:

Every team needs further re-tooling.  Look again to the best, Miami didn’t rest after its championship last summer; they re-tooled around their base and may have gotten better.

Moving forward this season I think there are a few things I’m looking to get out of what is no longer a playoff hunt:

First, I want to find out if a trio of Rubio/K-Love/Pek is going to be our foundation or not.  Getting Love back healthy for the remainder of the year and keeping Rubio/Pek healthy at the same time will be necessary for this to happen.  If it looks like we are a mid level western conference playoff team with everyone healthy for the final 12-15 games of the season, then we ensure we get Pek back and look to fill in the holes around the big 3.  If not, maybe we let Pek go and look elsewhere for that third cog.

Second, I want to see if Derrick Williams fits in with everyone back and healthy.  This entire year you couldn’t tell how D-Will would fit in with everyone healthy due to Love being out and AK also missing time.  If he doesn’t fit in, then the Wolves need to look to make a deal this summer using Williams and getting a player who more aptly fits our needs.  Williams is such a key to me because of the players we’d likely trade (unless you believe Love is on the table) he has the highest value. Therefore, D-Will should not just rot on our bench until Love breaks his hand again next year buttering his toast.  Mix in some milk K-Love!

I do believe this team has the overall talent to make the playoffs currently on the roster and am hoping to see that potential met if we can ever get everyone on the court at the same time before this season is over.  Kahn will have a real difficult time with offseason decisions if he doesn’t know how this team would play as it is currently put together.  It will be a small sample size, but even a few games would help.

 

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed our discussion. The Timberwolves begin the second half of their season as they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: , , , ,

How Our Pups Fared Over the 2013 NBA All-Star Weekend

February 18, 2013 by
Ricky and Alexey

Ricky Rubio and Alexey Shved were both participants of the 2013 Rising Stars Challenge.

This year’s All-Star Weekend has very little to do with this season’s Timberwolves roster and that’s unfortunate for a number of reasons.  I will only mention this in the beginning and then move on to more positive thoughts and highlights from the weekend.  The Pups don’t have anyone playing in Sunday’s All-Star Game due to the injuries Kevin Love has suffered.  Also worth noting is that second year pro Derrick Williams couldn’t do enough to get into the Rising Stars game despite Love’s injury.

OK, that’s enough of a recap of how bad things have gone for the Wolves this season.  Let’s concentrate on the positives – Ricky Rubio and Alexey Shved were asked to participate in the Rising Stars game.  Ricky was a late addition to the game given his turnaround over the past few weeks, his global appeal, and the fact that his flair is absolutely perfect for this weekend.

The glass-half-full view allows us to also gloat that David Kahn signed Alexey Shved this past offseason and he has been nothing short of solid for the Pups thus far this season.  At the break Alexey is averaging 10.5 ppg and 4.4 apg.  While his shooting percentages have tailed off, he has been a little bit of a savior for the team given all of the injuries they have had to absorb.

Here are a few highlights Rubio’s performance in Friday night’s Rising Stars game:

  • Despite being a late entry into the game itself, they put Rubio in the starting lineup.
  • Early and often, Rubio looked to drop dimes to the rest of Team Chuck.  In the first few minutes, Rubio’s passes were slightly off, broken up, or his teammates didn’t finish the play.
  • However, things got rolling shortly thereafter.  Towards the very end of the 1st half, this between the legs, no look pass to Bradley Beal happened; amazing!
  • In just over 15 minutes of play, Rubio finished with 10 assists.  Ironically, he was the only player on Team Chuck with a negative +/-, at -2.  The highlights were worth it.

Beyond Kenneth Faried’s MVP performance and Kyrie Irving’s sick dribbling display late in the game, I’m not sure anyone else stole the show as much as Shved in the Rising Stars game.  Here are some highlights:

  • Shved was the first player to come into the game off either bench, likely in an effort to get him on the court with Rubio.
  • Throughout the game, Shved showed off the entire package – slick passes, three point shooting, and a handful of athletic dunks; that included a nice reverse dunk off of a lob pass.
  • At the very end of the game, there was a dunk-off and Faried gave the ball to Shved to try one more dunk.  The dunk itself would have been spectacular … if it didn’t clang off the rim.  Doh!
  • In 18 minutes of play, Shved finished with 12 points and 4 assists.
  • Great performance from Alexey, and it seemed to open up the eyes of the broadcast team (which I don’t know how I feel about that if watching basketball is your job…).  In any case, Chris Webber provided the following, “I tell you what, I’m gonna be watching the Minnesota Timberwolves, baby”

Beyond the BBVA Rising Stars game, there were only a few more references, highlights, etc. that involved the Timberwolves.

Kevin Love was doing some promotional work for Sprint during the celebrity game earlier Friday night and said that his hand was feeling well and he was about a month away from returning.  Hinted at hoping there were meaningful games left to play.  (Nope)

There was very little Wolves-related content on Saturday night’s festivities, unless you want to count a few highlights from past performances.  We saw clips of Love’s winning performance in the 2012 3PT contest over Durant.  In the highlight montage for the Dunk Contest, you saw Isaiah Rider’s East Bay Funk Dunk as well as one of Gerald Green’s dunks.  For those that don’t remember, Green won the contest in ’07 as a Boston Celtic and finished second to Dwight Howard (ugh) in ’08 as a Timberwolf.  The NBA production team showed one of Green’s dunks from his ’08 performance.

Admittedly, I had to skip live coverage of the All-Star Game on Sunday to play the role of a husband.  (Kidding …)  In flipping through the DVR after seeing the final 10 minutes or so, there was virtually nothing Wolves related, excluding a commercial for NBATickets.com that starred Al Horford of the Hawks and our own Ricky Rubio.

(Unrelated to the Wolves, if you enjoy basketball history, please do yourself a favor and watch NBA TV’s Mr. Russell’s House Monday night.  Bill Russell’s interviews are always top-notch.)

Filed Under: Team News Tagged With: ,
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