The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

"Five turnovers for Craig Smith in less than 17 minutes? What's up?" Do you remember a few games back when the Rhino went behind his back at half court and the crowd oooh'd and aaahh'd? Apparently those noises turned on some sort of switch in the big fella and he's spent the last few games trying to audition for the Harlem Globetrotters. Instead of just putting his head down and going at the rim like the old, pre-dribble-cheer Rhino, he's now turning to face the basket and putting the ball on the floor a'la And-1. The Wolves played about as well as they could in the 1st quarter. It was an extension of the Jazz game: good ball movement, good sooting (better than good against the Raps), not terrible defense, etc. As good as they played, they were only up by 2 at the break. They continued to shoot well in the second (they ended the half at 59%) but they found themselves down by 8 at the break. They didn't shoot as well after the 1/2 but they still ended the game with an eFG% above 50%. What killed them? Free throws, free throws, free throws, free throws, free throws, free throws, free throws, and.... Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, and free throws. They gave up 11 points at the line and were a -13 with turnovers. Even though they were a push on the boards (against a not-so-good rebounding Raptor team) and they shot better than Toronto, they simply can't make up the free throw/turnover disparity. Shaddy got a bit 3-ball happy which was disappointing because he was 7-8 from inside the arc. This is a perfect example of him needing to realize (or someone pulling him aside and telling him) that he can score in a lot of different ways and if the long shot isn't falling, take it to the rim because, oh yeah, we could use the FTA's. I don't feel too bad about this loss. The Raptors are the anti-Wolves: a long, good shooting, solid defensive club that is efficient and selfless. As long as Raptors roam the earth, the Wolves don't stand much of a chance to beat them (let alone come close) in their current form. They have 3 legit stars in Calderon, Ford, and Bosh. They have solid role players in Kapono and Moon. They have a black (Gopher) hole in the bench with Humphries. It's a nice club and if Ford stays healthy the Wolves (and much of the East) has no answer to them.

So, I'm wondering. Why doesn't Wittman more often employ a lineup of Jaric, Mccants/Foye, Brewer, Gomes and Al? Al and Mccants can cover Jaric's and Brewers spotty shooting while Brewer and Jaric play defense on people McCants can't cover. Most teams will have one guy who doesn't pose much of an offensive threat, so why not put Mccants on that player while leaving Jaric to do the heavy lifting? It might make more sense to have Bassy, McCants/Foye, Jaric, Gomes and Al if you want to play small ball, but since Jaric loves the point so much he plays small forward with a bitterness in his heart and the oft injured Ratliff is the team's only true center, the Jaric, Mccants/Foye, Brewer/Snyder, Gomes/Smith and Al line up makes for the happiest compromise. Alas, this wouldn't work as well for fast breaks as Jaric is more of a half court point guard, but if he doesn't want to be an awesome fast break small forward, so be it. I suppose this might be an issue when the non threat is something other than a two or one, but certainly it could work very well in some situations. When giving Big Al, the teams only reliable offense, a breather, a line up featuring a ball hog like Foye or McCants seems to be a great idea. A better idea involves pairing either one with a more reliable defensive player. Even more so in this league where such slight contact will draw a whistle. Imagine if Foye or McCants get to the point where they've earned some respect in the league and these whistles go their way more often(ok, maybe not likely in McCants case, the refs will probably always hate him), then whenever the offense stagnates the wolves just need a dribble drive to get some free throws. I guess it might send the wrong message to let scorers off easy while Jaric plays defense and gets no offensive glory, but this is the nba and jaric misses too many jumpers. Maybe if you went around playing Jaric at point, Foye and McCants at the two and three, Smith/Gomes at the four, and Al or Theo at the five, Foye and McCants egos will collide and make for an interesting conflict that results in one of them learning to pass. That seems to be what Mchale was thinking when he drafted the pair in successive years. I guess Jaric, McCants, Roy, Al, and Theo looks pretty sweet right now. Now I'm playing fantasy coach and fantasy Gm. What fun!! In that case, Bassy, McCants/Foye, Jaric/Brewer, Gomes/(Beasely), and Al would be an amazing fast break line up if that draft turns out well assuming Beasely isn't a bust. Especially if Foye learns to pass and his "wingspan" allows him to guard a two like it's supposed to. Bassy can't shoot, but he can distribute the ball pretty well. If only he had a three point shot and a softer touch. McCants and Foye need to learn to play offense without the ball in their hands and could work on their D. At the same time, they have some talent for getting to the basket and scoring that's so important in a two. Also, McCants can shoot the three better than anyone else on the team, Al could use some of that to spread the defense. Jaric and Brewer, well poor Jaric really shouldn't be lumped with Brewer. Jaric is an underappreciated talent really. Poorly used more than anything. Excellent defender, near decent spot up shooter, capable ball handler who's height makes dribbling like a traditional guard a bit akward for him. I really really really would like to see him at the three. It would give the wolves the second point guard on the floor they lost with KG and put a crucial perimeter defender on the floor. At the same time, when he runs the point all on his own, the team seems so lethargic. Brewer could learn a lot from Jaric. He'll never be an equal ball handler, but oh well. The rebounding and defense he adds would be great in a small ball situation though. Gomes makes for an undersized four, but if the team pushes the tempo the face up game he's developing would expose slower footed players with more size and his jumper might come in handy. I'd use him like a poor man's marion. I think Beasely basically needs to be in an up tempo offense to succeed next year. Al isn't a five, but not many players are. He seems to survive at the spot anyway. His post up game doesn't fit as well with a fast break style, except you might hope he could establish the low positions he loves so much more consistently with a bigger man stuggling to catch up. That's hoping for a bit much cause Al's kinda slow up the court.

I watched the first half, but only caught glimpses during the second. Looking at our friend the Popcorn Machine, the most surprising move was giving Kirk Snyder extended burn in the 3Q (at the expense of Brewer). I was also happy to see Theo out there, but noticed the very limited minutes he was given next to Al, which I think is a mistake. Of course, Theo doesn't match up very well against the Raps aside from when our boy Rasho is out there, so this is understandable. In the second half, I just saw a Raptors team that was making good crisp passes and just beating our players to "the spot" (evidenced by 6 TOs for the entire game, and evenly-distributed assist numbers). That's when I stopped paying attention, honestly - the Raps were on a mission, spaced properly, and it just didn't look good. If there are any fans of HBO's the Wire out there, did anyone else wonder what Stringer Bell was doing coaching the Raptors? I swear Sam Mitchell must've been a stand-in for him during season 3.

I watched much of the game, and I think our biggest problem was that when we march out Telfair/Foye/Brewer/Gomes/Jefferson we are undersized at every possession, and more importantly, we only have one finisher in the whole group. We had a fast break possession (3rd quarter if I remember correctly) in which Telfair ended up with a layup that he short-armed (like so many this year) embarrasingly. If I were coaching against that team, I would double Jefferson on every possession and make one of the others beat me, which seems to be the overall plan of most teams. I think for better or for worse we need to see how this team works with Foye running the show. I thought he had a number of very nice passes last night, and is light years ahead of Telfair in the scoring threat department.