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On the Ball
The Three-Pointer: The Bucks Stopped Here
Photo copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Game #36, Home Game #18: Minnesota 106, Milwaukee 104
Season Record: 11-25
1. The flaws of Jefferson, the stones of Sichting
First, to avoid any misunderstanding: Al Jefferson is the best player on the Timberwolves. Every scout and coach in charge of sussing out Minnesota begins with how to negate Jefferson. He is at worst a top-five low post scorer in the NBA, he wants the ball at crunch time, he rebounds very well and he generally plays hard.
But now that the Wolves who come after Jefferson in the pecking order are playing with more confidence and ability, Jefferson's disinclination to foster ball movement at the offensive end becomes more problematic. And with his team more competitive, the need for "Big Al" to make more of an impact on the defensive end becomes more pronounced.
The Wolves beat Milwaukee 106-104 Saturday night for their 5th win a row despite Jefferson as much as because of him. The Bucks had raced to a 24-10 advantage by throwing the best defense the Wolves had seen in over two weeks--nose-to-grindstone stuff that you expect from a team coached by Scott Skiles. Most of this shutdown effort came on classic man-to-man effort, with defenders fighting through screens and rarely switching off. "They denied us and we were like, 'Please don't deny me, I'm trying to run our play,'" said coach Kevin McHale after the game. The Wolves were 3-6 from outside the arc but just 3-15 on two-pointers for a composite 28.6% during that first period, in which Jefferson was held to 3-4 FT and 0-2 FG.
But then player of the game Bassy Telfair began executing the modified drive-and-kick that has been a staple of the current win streak. Most of the time Telfair doesn't go far into the paint, if at all, but instead cuts hard to the hoop and then fires to the wings and the corners when he's somewhere around the foul line. He dropped dimes on four different teammates in a span of 2:41 midway through the second quarter that jump-started Minnesota's offense. At the halftime buzzer, the Wolves had 32 points and zero turnovers in the second period. But the Bucks' big two of Richard Jefferson and Michael Redd were both hot, especially R-Jeff, who had 18 points in the half on 7-8 FG despite some pretty fair defense by Ryan Gomes, who held to his plan of denying penetration only to have the former Nets star bury 6 jumpers of more than 20 feet during the first two periods and Milwaukee went into the break up 60-51.
As the game evolved, Al Jefferson was becoming increasingly obvious as a ball stopper on offense, much to the chagrin of acting coach Jerry Sichting, who had taken over when McHale had been tossed from the game at the end of the first period merely for trying to engage official Tommy Nunez about a couple of calls--no profanity or heated tones--and crew chief Sean Corbin gave him the bum's rush. When Sichting took over for a couple games in December 2007 when then-coach Randy Wittman had back surgery, I'd been impressed with his game management, especially a surprise back-door layup he called for Marko Jaric of all people with 2.2 seconds on the clock of a close game against Atlanta. The Wolves lost that game on a last-second heave by the Hawks, then came back to win only their third victory of the season the next game. But Sichting, who left a quality job at Marquette to come back to the Wolves out of loyalty to Wittman (prior to the Marquette gig he'd been an assistant under Flip Saunders in Minnesota for nine years) has a reputation of being a little bit hard-assed and old school, a Wittmanesque approach that had failed miserably this season. Indeed, probably the single-biggest factor in Minnesota's recent turnaround (aside from the lower caliber of competition, anyway) has been the way McHale has stroked the egos of his players, who were frustrated and dubious of themselves under Wittman's harsh and unpredictable tongue-lashings.
But as Al Jefferson increasingly tried to boil the Wolves offense down to his manuvers on the low left block, you could see Sichting's irritation rising as the ball movement, and then player movement, ground to a halt. When Jefferson committed an offensive foul at the 7:46 mark, Sichting got up and began barking at him. At 6:33, Jefferson went to his signature move, the jab step to the center, then the baseline spin up-and-under banker, only to have it blocked for maybe the first time all season, by Andrew Bogut. At 4:16, when Jefferson ignored two viable kick-outs, spun and missed a jumper, Sichting summoned Kevin Love to the scorer's table. Jefferson went to the bench shaking his head and with a sour look on his face at 4:07. The Wolves were down 10, 75-65, and he had taken twice as many shots, 18, as any other Timberwolf. Worse, while both Jefferson and the rest of the Wolves were shooting just a hair below 40% from the field at the time (Al was 7-18 FG, his teammates 16-42), his teammates were 7-15 from beyond the arc. Bottom line, Jefferson sat down and the Wolves promptly drained three treys in four attempts over the last four minutes of the third to close within 5. A Randy Foye three-pointer with 8:42 to play in the fourth gave Minnesota its first lead. Al Jefferson finally subbed back in for Cardinal at 7:05 with the Wolves' down 2, meaning the team was plus +8 during his 9-minute absence.
Then Jefferson's other flaw came to the fore. With the score tied at the 5:40 mark, the Bucks twice isolated Bogut on Jefferson in the low right block, and Milwaukee's 7-footer established position he wasn't getting on Love and tossed in a pair of 7-foot jump-hooks to put Milwaukee up 4. Two possessions later, Jefferson committed his 5th foul, and second in a 4-minute span on another Bogut shot attempt. Jefferson was putting forth the effort, but there remains a gigantic gap between his sophistication, footwork and body sense and control on offense versus defense. Nevertheless, Sichting refused to double down on Bogut, fearing that Richard Jefferson and Redd would beat the Wolves from outside. Besides, Bogut missed both free throws and then Bassy hit Jefferson for a lay-up and then Foye for a trey to push the Wolves up by 3, until Bogut's layup trimmed it to one. A Foye layup (he was 0-4 FG through 3, and then 4-8 FG in the 4th) pushed it to 3 again before Jefferson fouled out on a borderline call sliding over to stop Richard Jefferson's penetration at 1:29. Love came back in and the Bucks were held scoreless the rest of the way.
It took a lot of guts for Sichting to coach his own style, benching his best player and then compelling him to play Bogut head-up in crunchtime down the stretch. Since McHale is the one who came out for the postgame press briefing, I asked if he would have sat Jefferson for not moving the ball and in any case what he thought of the gambit. The coach gave a politic and yet absolutely appropriate and accurate answer, saying that Jefferson is so prolific in the low block that sometimes you indulge a little risk (of ball-hogging) to get a little reward (points). At the same time he acknowledged that Big Al was probably bogarting the orb a little too much. In other words, he was neither defending nor hanging anybody out to dry on this, while leaving the distinct impression that he would have given Jefferson a longer leash.
As it was, it worked out perfectly. Jefferson and his teammates were shown that the Wolves could come back without him--Jefferson was a team-worst minus -10 in 32:09 of a two-point victory. Sichting dramatized that the big man needs work on his ball distribution and defense without alienating anyone or losing the game. And the Wolves in general got a little dose of tough love without McHale having to sacrifice any of the avuncular charm of his game-day persona.
My two cents is that Jefferson is still not worthy of All Star status. The most persuasive argument--that he joins Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan as the league's only 20-point, 10-rebound guys--is praise by association, without acknowledging that a lot of the luster accrued to Howard and Duncan stems from their stalwart defense. And yes, there are a lot of lousy defenders who get voted to the All Star game. I don't think they belong either.
2. Carney Barking
I have not been a champion of Rodney Carney this season--far from it, I think his hamstrings are way more developed than his brain cells (owing to inexperience more than stupidity), that he is incredibly streaky with both his jumper and his defense, and that he is redundant with Corey Brewer in the long-term plans of the franchise. But I'd have to be perverse not to tip my cap to Carney's performance on Saturday. At his best, Carney has demonstrated an explosive ability to get to the rim, a quick release on his three-pointer, and the athleticism and tenacity to stay with opposing sharpshooters. The problem is that he isn't close to being consistent in any of these virtues, and in fact gambles too frequently trying to take shortcuts to the promised land. Even Saturday, he frequently lost Richard Jefferson in the half-court sets. On the last few possessions when it was vital for Minnesota to make a stop, however, Carney's D was first-rate, deterring a dynamic scorer. Meanwhile, he sank 4-6 3ptFG and thrived in both uptempo and half-court settings, getting a game-high 22 in 30:02, his plus +8 second only to Kevin Love's plus +9. There's something about his game I don't trust, and haven't all season. It would be nice to be wrong.
3. Quick Hits
Craig Smith also got a fairly early hook from Sichting, so it was a misery-loves-company scenario when the benched Jefferson sat down beside him in the third period. But Ryan Gomes wouldn't let the dolor take hold, engaging both Jefferson and Smith and leading the cheers from the sidelines as the Wolves climbed back into the game. It's just another way Gomes adds value to his solid two-way skills. This is a guy on good terms with everyone on the team, both in the locker room and on the court, and not in a mascot-Madsen manner either. Watching the Celts lose to the Cavs the next night, it became glaring how thin Boston's bench is this season, and how much they missed the boat by not going after Gomes. Sure, Gomes was restricted and Minnesota could match, but the Wolves wound up paying about $7 million for two seasons. Meanwhile, Boston spent about $5.6 million on Eddie House and $5 million on Tony Allen over the next two years. Gomes was a fan favorite in Beantown (And why not? It's an intelligent fan base and Gomes is a player for who looks better to the cognescenti than the average joes.) and would have become a poor man's James Posey without much accomodation on either side in terms of skills and systems.
Love is enjoying his best stretch of pro ball by a country mile these past few games. Not only is he more confident and willing to deploy his midrange jumper, he showed a rare feisty streak battling for rebounds on Saturday. He's always been tenacious going for the caroms, but more likely to utilize positioning and hustle rather than forearm-to-forearm jousting.
Telfair not only had 11 assists (out of the team's 23) Saturday, but scored 17 points on 11 shots (5-11 FG, 2-5 3ptFG, 5-7 FT). His progression from being benched by two coaches to getting his offense by getting to the line, to converting layups in the paint to now sticking the jumper at a better (maybe up to mediocre) rate has been a godsend for a ballclub that is without journeyman Kevin Ollie and should be loath to rely too much on Foye at the point. Foye is repeating the line he told me the other night; that he is neither a point guard or a two-guard so much as a "playmaker" who can dish or score depending on what is needed. Ironically, the role model for that description is probably the guy he was traded for, Brandon Roy, and then the guy he plays on Tuesday, Miami's Dwyane Wade. Both the Wade-Foye matchup and the contest between Telfair and the rook the Wolves gave away on draft day, Mario Chalmers, should add intrigue to an already promising game as Minnesota goes for its 6th straight.
49 Reader Comments
Love what I've seen from Gomes and Telfair of late. Both bust their asses each night and both are obviously very vocal and respected by their teammates. In a postgame interview after one of the back to back games this week (i forget which) Telfair mentioned how coming off the bench, he was looking to be more aggressive offensively but now inserted into the starting lineup, knows his role is to be the "floor general". You get the sense Bassy knows what he needs to do to become a good point guard in this league and the more he's on the floor the better the team seems to play.
Gomes and Telfair for the long term.
Very fun game to watch--and a halfway decent crowd to see a hard-fought win.
I agree about Carney. I think the biggest reason that I don't trust him, is that his missed treys are usually missed by about five feet in any direction. He'll follow up a swoosh with an airball, followed by a brick. Couple that with his questionable shooting form, which looks like he's shooting it almost off his left-eye, and I don't necessarily expect the hot shooting to continue. Still, he deserves a lot of the credit for that last win.
Why did Foye sit so much, before the 4th? I thought he must've been sick or injured--but once he came in and got going, they left him out there. He wasn't productive, earlier in the game, and had one bad backcourt turnover, but he wasn't playing bad enough to warrant getting benched. I was confused by that--maybe it's just the new logjam with Miller back from injury and Bassy the full-time point.
I watched with interest at the Bucks' end of the court in the 4th--when Bogut posted up Jefferson. First off, Britt is right that Jeff was giving way too deep of position. Second, (and I'll say it for the 100th time) this was good evidence of how the league hasn't gotten any smaller, and the McHale/Wittman remarks before the Love trade were complete bullshit. Bogut is huge and commands either a big defender or a double-team. I realize that Love got the job done for a possession or two, but neither of our big men are built for that matchup.
Britt, saying that the other "lousy defenders" don't belong in the All-Star Game either, sort of begs the question of who do you think belongs? In the Jefferson example, I've read that it might come down to Shaq, Jefferson or Biedrins for a backup center spot (behind Yao, who will win the fan voting for the starting spot).
For debate...did Sichting show stones by NOT playing McCants?
I was not a witness to the Milwaukee game, but the Popcorn site shows that once again, the combo of Love and Cardinal somehow managed to get the Wolves moving in the right direction without doing much that showed up in their personal box score stats. I would hold this up as evidence that Al Jefferson's style of play (both offense and defense) is simply NOT winning basketball.
Has McHale ever played Carney 30+ minutes? I don't think so. Sichting showed some smart stones when he saw there'd be a lot of chasing on the perimeter with Redd and RJeff going off and matching that up with Rod. As inconsistent as Carney's game is, he's got size, unselfishness, and defensive intensity over McCants (as does Brewer btw). And the more Foye lights it up from deep the ever more redundant Rashad becomes. This is gone on far too long. He's got to go.
First, to answer levi's question: No. He showed what the staff thinks of McCants' ability to help the team right now.
A couple comments: I was on the floor for early warmups Saturday as my son was pre-game ball boy. It was really fun.
When we arrived at 5:05 two guys were on the court WORKING (not just shooting around). Love was working hard on inside moves with JB. Carney was by himself near half court working on ball handling. He was dribbling two balls - stuff like that. I don't think its a coincidence that those two have been key cogs in the run and particularly in Saturday's victory.
I think too much is being made of Bogut late in the game. I spent the last quarter plus sitting on the floor at the Bucks' end (snuck down with my kid). Bogut made 2-3 nice plays in the paint, but as Britt mentioned, there was no double. The team made the decision to not let Redd and Jeff beat 'em.
Its a lot easier to take a harder line on Al these days becauuse there are other players who can deliver. Al's been the team's cornerstone for 118 games now. The first 109 there was no one else the team could count on game to game to do much of anything. Cut the big guy a little slack.
Last thing. The Bucks game was as much fun as I've had at Target Center in 2-3 years. Keep it rolling, gentlemen!
I like it when your best player wants the ball. It's pretty refreshing in comparison to watching KG for all those years. For all of his talents (many of them), didn't seem to want the ball or excel in crunch time in terms of trying to take over a game.
That being said, I do understand that the 24-year old Al Jefferson has to make that leap in order to even come close to say ... Olajuwon status. Ironic that Kevin McHale, as a player would be referenced by Bird as the Black Hole.
I could be wrong, but I think Brit was trying to hint that next year's successor to McHale (if he decides to leave) would be Jerry Sichting. I remember Sichting's fill-in games and I remember he had a much tighter rotation than the wondering, reaching for a spark - Randy Wittman. If they do keep it in house, the other ex-Celtic and former McHale teammate will more than likely get the job m'thinks.
Of course, I had an obligation and missed the entire second half of the game, so I'm relying on this blog to help figure out what happened.
I agree on Carney - there's something about him that makes me nervous, but let's not remember Brewer with rose-colored lenses. He brings more disruptive energy to the defensive end, but can anyone see him knocking down corner treys like that? Brewer's unreliable shooting is going to be a poor option in the drive-and-kick that has worked so well for us as of late.
Props to Sichting for having the stones to pull Al - there have been numerous times this year that the Wolves have gone on enjoyable runs while Al is sitting on the bench. I think we should be less concerned about getting him consistent minutes and more concerned about how he impacts flow when he comes in.
Most importantly, I hope our recent success has convinced our players that we're not bottom-feeders in this league. Yes, I know our opponents have been subpar, but those are all games that we need to win and build on in order to move forward instead of looking back. Confidence can really go a long way in this league, and right now, we've got it.
Will, I didn't read that far into it, but I really think we should try to keep McHale as coach. Not sure of the politics involved (or how Kevin will feel after the season), but rattling off 5 wins after that demoralizing loss to Dallas is a good sign. Maybe it's Sichting's "turn" but if he's going to coach like Witt, what's the point? We all have issues with how McHale ran this team at his previous job, but this job appears to suit him better - he's instilling confidence in our young players. There's nothing that would make me happier than a "told ya so" from McHale.
I agree with you Anton about McHale. Here is the question I have. The Wolves are not that far removed from losing their lottery pick to the Clippers. How much more improvement can we stand?
I know what Britt would say and I agree. But, soon, we are going to hear those cries for losing for a lottery ball and calls for the threepoint shooting Maddog.
However, this team is improving and we still have three late first-round picks if the Clippers get our pick. We could package them in a trade to move up or find some diamonds leftover late in the round. It looks like the core group of players (Jeff, Foye, Telfair, Gomes, Love, Brewer) we have right now have the potential to compete and we don't need that lottery pick if we can dig outselves out of the bottom dregs of the league.
I was at the game on Saturday, boy was it a pleasure to see the Wolves play their hearts out. A friend of mine (who has been an avid fan for about 3 weeks) turned to me after Cardinal came in and took a great charge and said, "they're playing like they actually WANT to win." How true. A couple of notes:
1) Saturday's game was my first trip to the Target Center this year. Everytime I go to a game live, I remember how much of the action you miss on tv. This week's revelation: Brian Cardinal. It's not just his much-vaunted hustle, but also his basketball smarts. The guy jumps out defensively on screens, makes crisp passes, boxes out, and plays the angles on offense. Aside from his energy, the sheer quality of basketball the Wolves play increases noticeably when he's on the floor, especially (as has been often noted) when he's paired with Love.
2) I still can't figure out what Mike Miller's role on the team is. Another one of those "only in person" observations: Miller's positioning on offense works two ways. He either jogs down, plants himself in the corner, and bends over with his hands on knees and watches the play unfold. OR he brings the ball up (more than once on Saturday), then swings to the wings, and heads to the corner. It's not just that he's not looking for his shot, it's that he almost looks like he's not a part of the offense. He's not going to get open shots from his guy doubling on Jefferson, because (at least Saturday night) that's what Ridnour was doing. Instead, Miller ended up as an observer on most offensive possessions. On the rare occasion that he did get the ball on the perimeter, he'd kick and drive. Now, I'm not necessarily complaining about Miller's role, but I think it's far from what the Wolves envisioned when they traded for him.
I think immediate improvement is much more valuable to Glen Taylor than the promise of yet another prospect coming in. A competitive team puts butts in seats, which is priority #1 for every team in the league. The tanking possibility is several months off anyway, but we need to face the fact that we can't hold off on that pick forever. If we keep our losing mentality, we risk giving the Clips a good pick when we really might need it (when lottery protection is removed).
Our late-first rounders will definitely soften the blow - there are always contributors to be found, and I'd much prefer to bring a less-touted prospect along slowly than forcing a high pick into contributing immediately.
Tanking? Are we really talking about not being a bottom ten lottery team already? Short memories seem to be melding seamlessly with the Wolves subpar competition of late to promote some delusions of granduer here. Here's a prediction based on some historical evidence: The Wolves will be between the 5th and 8th team in the league record-wise. They will then draft Stephon Curry, who they will immediatly trade for BJ Mullins and $94.00 (Canadian).
As for the draft pick, I think it would be difficult to move out of the top 10. The East will potentially have one or more sub-.500 teams in the playoffs, so every team but Washington is still in the mix. Three teams from Miami, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Indiana, and New York will make the playoffs, and none of those teams are in a rebuilding mode, so many of them will populate the lower third of the lottery and not tank. Also, at least one good team in the West (currently Utah or Dallas) won't make the playoffs. That's 7 teams. Maybe they're not that far removed now, but they might not move much further than this even if they continue to get better. Over half of their remaining games are against playoff-caliber teams (Lakers 3x, Hornets 3x, Jazz 3x, Rockets 3x, Suns 3x, Blazers 2x, Mavs 2x, Nuggets once, at Celtics, at Cavs, Pistons, Hawks 2x). It's too early to speculate about this because it depends on a lot of things that are outside of their control and we have yet to see whether this can carry over to winning games against the best of the league. Actually, though, it's kind of nice to be thinking about this as a potential problem again. Who would've thought that the team would be 10th in the conference (no matter how deceiving that is) after the start they had?
Does anyone know Carney's contract status? I seem to remember seeing the wolves have a team option on him next year. Granted it's only one game, but he is showing improvement and finding his niche on the team. Also, keeping him another season would allow for more development and would be insurance if Brewer struggles with his recovery. Carney and Brewer could certainly co-exist even if they are similar players. The wolves could really go small and quick with both of those guys and create havoc on the court, especially with bassy running the point.
It certainly seems the glaring need for the wolves (since their guard play is improving) is a long athletic defensive center that could mitigate teams height advantage in the front-court. Someone like Dalembert would be great, but his contract is terrible. Wolves should be hunting for centers in this years draft or looking to move some of their expiring contracts/draft picks for an established defensive center.
I'm happy for McHale and the success of the team. We all know some of his front-office decisions were awful, but the way this team is playing right now has to be what he had envisioned on the court. Foye and Love are starting to show us what they can do and those trades are looking less one sided.
I'm noticing some more frequent game summaries by Britt... Winning has benefits :)
FLinger,
You could be right on the Wolves final position. Right now they sit right in the spot you say they will end up at. However, they are not too many games back from catching Charlotte at 9 and a modest improvement from there brings them out of the lottery and even with Chicago and Toronto. I don't expect they will get much beyond that, but there is no doubt that we can continue to beat up on teams that are below us and play .500 with teams that are even with us or slightly above us. What we can do against the elite teams is another matter.
1.OKC(6-32)
2.Wash(7-29)
2.LAC(8-29)
3.SAC(9-29)
4.GS(11-28)
5.Memphis(11-26)
6.MINN(11-25)
7.IND(13-24)
8.NYK(13-22)
9.CHA(14-24)
10.TOR(16-22)
11.CHI(16-21)
12.PHI(17-20)
13.MLW(18-21)
14.NJ(18-19)
DR_J,
According to this mornings strib, Carney is an unrestricted FA this summer.
I'm with Anton and APB, but I don't know if McHale is coming back next year, unless he really, really enjoys his second stint at coaching. His wife doesn't want him to coach for gosh sakes. I don't know about you guys - but my significant other can be a household bully (...with benefits!).
I also agree with the concept of maybe trying to get another good veteran to the mix. Veteran talent that is better than Mike Miller. I think the Wolves can package a number one pick or two, an expiring contract, and maybe a young player to get someone like Caron Butler, and still have some draft picks to build for the team's long term future.
I agree, this is the year that the Clips get our #1 draft pick. This is not a tribute to the Wolves excellence. It's more an observation that there are really a lot of bad NBA teams out there, and the Wolves of late have been beating all of them. The Wolves are getting better as the season goes along, and I think .500 is a reasonable goal.
APB:
I guess the question is then, if the season were to begin today, what winning percentage do we think it might have? Basketball is a game of runs, and its seasons are also a series of runs (a twelve game losing streak here, a five game winning streak there). I'm guessing that this current positive run might end at the hands of D Wade, but if not, it shall end soon enough. So from there on, where are we against the whole of the NBA, and not just the dreggs we've been matching up with the last few weeks. I'm guessing the Wolves win around a third of its games for the rest of the season.
I also think that Ind, GS, and the Clips are teams with the requisite talent so go on mini-runs of thier own. I would also assume that as the season progresses, both New York area teams are likely to come back to the pack some.
The Wolves will end right about where they currently are. I'm just glad the games in the interim are now much more likely to be watchable.
DR_JPK:
Hoopus has a Wolves contract page with up to date info on all contracts:
http://www.canishoopus.com/pages/contract-info
From cap holds to player options, we have the contract info there. Fellow Hoopus writer Wyn knows the ins and outs of the team's salary/contract info like nobody else.
I'd love to get some thoughts on this Big Al quote lifted from Sid/the Strib (article marked as last updated Jan 12):
"I know me playing center on this team, I'm the captain on defense. When I'm playing great defense, the team plays great defense. So that's something that I had to take upon myself to get better. I have a long ways to go, but just know my teammates know I'm working at it. I'm trying to get better at it, and it's something that I want to get better at, and it's going to happen."
Is this comment telling in light of Al getting pantsed by Bogut as described above? Or is this more "I'm turning the corner and becoming a complete player" lip service b.s.?
It *is* heartening that there seems to be a good camaraderie and work ethic in the Wolves' "locker room".
I'd like to shout out for the players like Miller, Madsen, Ollie, Cardinal, and (if we can believe todays STrib) even Carney, who have much to do with the reported good vibes amongst the Timberwolves.
APB opines that the Wolves "core group of players (Jeff, Foye, Telfair, Gomes, Love, Brewer)...have the potential to compete and we don't need that lottery pick if we can dig ourselves out of the bottom dregs of the league." Contrarily (and nothing personal APB), I will opine that the "core group" merely have the potential to compete with the dregs of the league -- and probably not a whole lot more. At virtually each position, the team is shorter, lighter, slower, and less skilled than their nightly opponents.
Great camaraderie helps, but in this league, a mismatched set of role players, oft playing out of their most suitable position, just won't get much past the middle of the table.
Color me as "Hoping for the lottery".
34 wins even if the ice fish go .500 the remainder of the season, so some sort of lotto pick is all but locked and provides space to drop a few by experminting with Love as a small forward and 3-point shooter, along with some much wanted Calvin Booth time.
Carney's worth keeping around if for no other reason than he's doing what Miller and McCants were supposed to be doing and provides some Brewer quickness and length. Points for made 3s priority 1, pretty looking jumpers 5th (after D, dribbling, and movement without the ball), as the cupcake boys McCants and Green will no doubt inform you.
I think this core can compete if a few key things happen:
1- Al realizes that 16/12 with situational defense and ball movement is better than 25/10 with matador action.
2- The Wolves pick up an honest-to-Pete perimeter player at the 2 or 3 and move either Gomes or Foye back to the bench.
3- The Wolves pick up an athletic backup at the 4/5.
4- The Wolves pick up either a quality starting point with size/athleticism or one that can split minutes with Bassy.
1 is out of everyone's hands but Big Al's. I think it is quite clear at this stage in the game that this team needs him to become more of a team player. Britt, I think you hit all the right notes in this article. He's the best offensive player but he's also the guy that can make the entire operation go haywire. This team is going to have to win a'la the Pistons and that means there are no A1 scoring options. It's going to be an up-tempo team effort and he needs to realize that favorably ended possessions are not just the ones where he himself puts the ball in the bucket.
For point #2 I think they need to address the 3 more than anything else. They need someone there with better size and athleticism than Gomes as well as the potential for a more developed offensive game. I'm thinking along the lines of Caron Butler, Marvin Williams, or should those two efforts fail, Trevor Ariza. I'd love to see the Wolves approach the Wiz about a sign and trade for Butler or the Hawks about a sign and trade for Williams. Williams is restricted so he may be tough to get away from the Hawks but they do have a few other players to worry about in the next 2 years and they just blew a wad of cash on Smith so who knows? Ty Thomas is another guy who, if he could just wrap his head around the idea that he could be an awesome Josh Smith type defender/shotblocker, would be an interesting choice.
Part 3 is where I'd really like to know what is going on behind the scenes with Joakim Noah. I think a Smith + Shaddy for Noah deal works for all parties involved. The guy is exactly what this team needs as a front court backup provided his head is screwed on straight. I'd love to see him and Love hit the boards together.
Part 4 is a guy like Rubio or Holiday. I think we've seen enough of Foye at the 1 where we know that can't work in the long run. It will be interesting to see if they have the chance to draft Harden. I think Holiday is the guy to keep an eye on here.
Randy Foye is such a wild card for the team at this point. If he continues to play well at the starting two guard spot hopefully the coaching staff will realize their other main building block is also playing out of position. I read at hoopshype that a three-way trade between the Bobcats, Mavs, and Thunder just fell through involving Ray Felton, Nazr Mo., Diop, among others. Dallas is looking to add to their backcourt, why not go after Diop? Or for that matter why not go after Nenad Kristic last week? I'd have to think he could give us more than Booth, Madsen, or Collins is currently.
I think parting with Glen's money for a journeyman center and indefinate returns is not likely. At this point, better returns are happening without spending a dime, and it's been years since a player move has produced favorable results (except by subtraction).
I think we should focus on the here and now...
we're only 11 games out of the last playoff spot.
I agree with Midlife crisis that there's a pressing need to focus on the team we have in place right now, although I think the implication that this this club may be playoff worthy is frankly laughable. The development of Foye and Love are the most paramount things to this franchise now. Finding out if Foye can sustain his high level of play of late, at the Deuce, or if he's just doing what steak shooters tend to do, shooting in streaks (that's my best guess, but I'd love to be wrong) dictates our offseason strategy. One way or the other we need to know if come draft time we're able to pluck one of the talented point guards available, or if we have to worry about the 2.
I agree on Noah, however, and if we're able to get him for as cheap as it seems like we could that would be a step in the right direction.
I think my Celtics would love to have Gomes. I think you're under-estimating how difficult (and rare) it is to pry a RFA from another team though. From what I've seen over the years, GMs don't bid up RFAs unless they're pretty sure the other side won't match. For one thing, you're locking up your cap space while the other team decides whether to match and if the the offer you're making isn't significantly higher (forcing the team with the rights to let the RFA go) then all you've done is pissed off the other GM which appears be contrary to NBA mores. UFAs are a whole different ballgame however.
I'm a bit mystified by the support for Noah. As I read the comments about him in Chicago, he is not in shape, really doesn't have much game, and seems to be a bit of a head case, lacking the level of desire it takes to excel in this league.
For better or worse, I'm holding on to the hope that Mike Miller is the "honest-to-Pete" two/three that stop-n-pop identifies as his second key priority for the Wolves. Between poor coaching, trying to fit into a new team, and then the injuries, I think we have not seen the best of Miller. He'll never be a Kobe /Wade level superstar, but I'm OK right now with mere competence. I think he's more likely to achieve that than anyone else currently on the roster and he's already here. Britt has pointed out his apparent unwillingness to shoot, at some point soon, I think he'll give himself the green light and his offensive assets will outweigh his defensive shortcomings.
So in my grand scheme, the Wolves should be plotting to shore up the center position. I will never be able to swallow the kool-aid that Al Jefferson is a center. So what news of Jason Collins - the only Timberwolf who actually looks like a "5"? Hmmm, like McCants, Jason Collins has disappeared right there in front of us. Finding another true center and rehabbing Jason would be my goals. But then, I thought Doleac was a contributor.
Nice flag in the sand, SnP.
You laid out three moves and one transformation. Among the moves, the Noah / athletic big man off the bench is most pressing and most viable this season. I'd like to see more games from Carney/Gomes and from Bassy with Foye at the 2. Big man back up is my vote.
With Al, I agree with your assessment. I point out again, though, that from October 2007 until Christmas 2008 there were no reliable alternatives on offense for the Minnesota Timberwolves. For the past three weeks it appears the team has viable 2nd, 3rd and even 4th options. Now the big dog needs to adjust his thinking and where he puts his emphasis and energy.
I have to agree with Levi here. I'm surprised at all the talk here about adding Noah. This is a guy who's been suspended twice by the Bulls (once by his teammates for a near fight with Ben Wallace and another time for cussing out an assistant coach). When the Wolves played the Bulls last week, he bitched after every foul call on him. He has no offensive game. His shooting form is terrible for an NBA player. He's tall, but not a true center. Who's minutes is he going to play? Smith is undersized, but at least has an offensive game that can be highlighted in certain matchups. I don't want anything to do with him.
Looking at SnP's contract info. We have a 1.5 million trade exemption from the Green trade that expires in Feb. Miller is on the books for 10 mil next year, with a $14 million team option in 2010. Collins has an $9 million expiring contract in 2009 and Booth has 1.3 expiring. Shouldn't we be looking to cash in on some of these expiring contracts? Instead of buying out Theo last year, we could actually turn this into something.
Bill Simmons kept bringing up Miller's name in his podcast about being an attractive trade piece in say Cleveland or Orlando. I like Miller and hope his game comes around, but he's making $10 mil/year to defer to his teammates and play matador D. Couldn't we try to get Felton or Wallace from the Bobcats? Kristic (probably a waiting period b/c he just signed) & Wilcox from OKC? Kaman & Jordan, or just Kaman straight up for Miller & any of the expiring contracts? What about Pryzbilla? The Blazers are surely going to need cap space now. Personally, getting Kaman would be ideal. I'd even take Camby. Move Al back to the 4. Have a legit center who can pass, score, and play some D.
The point is that's been made here before, we don't need the Clipper pick. We're already wading our way through developing draft picks the last 4 years. History shows we don't always take the right guy anyway. If we somehow come out of the season with four 1st Rd picks, we're not going to use them all, so shouldn't we try to use the cap space we created with taking on these shitty contracts & draft picks? Why not try to obtain the player that fills a need & has been in the league a couple years? Thoughts?
a thought britt - have bartel pony up some bread to get a NBA podcast going and invite the finest minds on this forum to be guests.
/subscribe
Also not a big fan of Noah. Didn't he get punked by Kevin Love recently? Now if it was Tyrus Thomas or Samuel Dalembert (Mike Miller and Rashad McCants for Dalembert works) I might perk up a bit. Both those guys have warts (contracts, more potential versus productivity), but they are what this team needs - a young, athletic front court player.
Noah would definitely need to be checked off on in terms of off-the-court issues but we here on this board have no way of knowing any of that stuff so I prefer to stick to the stat sheet. For every Big Al scowl there's a story from AK about him being a solid teammate in shoot-arounds or a Strib blurb about him buying steak for all front office employees. It's impossible to guage a player's locker room worth. That being said, it's hard to ignore the reports and one would hope that should such a move be contempated the Wolves would put the footwork in to figure out what sort of personality they are getting.
Stats-wise, Noah has what this team needs. He isn't a scorer but he is a fantastic rebounder who can create turnovers with steals and blocked shots. He can play minutes at both the 4/5 and he has legit size above and beyond Smith. He would give the Wolves positional flexibility off the bench as well as another fantastic rebounder. I highly suggest this article about the guy:
http://dberri.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/assessing-joakim/
Also, I think the Wolves need to move Miller for the best expiring contract they can get. If they haven't approached Cleveland for a Miller + Cardinal for Wally deal yet I don't know what in the hell is wrong with them. This would give them over $20 mil off the books this off-season and they could either take a flier at a free agent (UFA or sign and trade for a RFA) or, depending on their luck in the lotto, sit tight with the cash.
I'm pretty sure Kevin Pritchard is on record as saying he wouldn't want Miller and at this point there are two things working against any deal with Portland: a) the dick move they just pulled on the league with Miles and b) they won't trade Pryz because he's better and more reliable than Oden right now.
Miller is most valuable as a guy who can help move Cardinal's deal or who can expire in 2010. He's not a guy they can bring back extended salary with.
The Wolves can be the off-season player in 09 if they find a way to move Miller (and hopefully Cardinal) off the books before the trade deadline. They have the chance to have 4 1st rounders, $20+ mil in cap space, and only 10 guaranteed deals heading into the off-season. That's crazy. There's a lot they can do with that amount of resources. Personally, I'd dial up Atlanta and see what it would take for a sign-and-trade with Marvin Williams as well as using any additional resources to get either Jrue Holiday or Rubio in the draft. They have the type of resources available to get Williams or Ariza and Holiday or Rubio...all the while coming in well below the cap. Pick up the phone to Cleveland, start working with Atlanta, and throw everything else in order to move up for one of the best 2 points (hopefully) available in the draft. Git-r-done!
Jefferson came out of the game with 4 minutes left in the 3rd period and you said he was "pulled".
Jefferson has come out of the 3rd period with 4 minutes left in the period - more or less for about 10 games. [The same is true of the 1st period.]
That is HIS REGULAR ROTATION.
He was not "pulled".
He did return a little later than he normally would, but the Wolves were on a roll and it was smart to let it continue. When it "flattened out", the wolves cut the lead but didn't pull ahead, Jefferson came back in.
I do agree that opponents have abused Jefferson down the stretch in games defensively. It's not just Bogut.
The most glaring was Okafor in the Charlotte game. [And there have been others as well.]
Opposing coaches attack Jefferson for three reasons.
1) They can
2) To make him work on defense, to take away his offense.
3) To foul him out.
The problem is that "they can".
Love as a rookie is a much better one-on-one and team defender than Jefferson in his 5th season.
Jefferson NEEDS to improve his defense, but you make much too much of Sichting, "pulling" him.
Its just not true.
I read the article you posted and it makes some good points. Aren't we just continuing with the small ball scheme? I know Noah is 6'11", but I don't see him developing into a center like Chandler or Bynum (less prototypical center types that can hold down the role). If he's playing the 4, Love's on the bench? If he plays the 5, again, wouldn't that cut into Love's minutes? Yeah, as a role player, he could fit in. He hustles, rebounds, and plays D. I guess I'd like to see the Wolves go after a true center. Someone that would permanently put Jefferson at the 4, with some spot duty for Al at the 5. Already having Love & Jefferson at the same position has forced us to play one at the 5, which we all agree is a disadvantage. Look at the better teams in the league: Cleveland, Houston, LA, Orlando, Phoenix, New Orleans, Portland, Boston, & Utah. They all have legitimate centers. When have we ever a serviceable legitimate center? Rasho? I just don't like the idea of adding another tweener to this roster.
Speaking to your point about Pryzbilla. I agree he's valuable to Portland right now, but time is running out. Miles plays in 2 more games and they're over the luxury tax. I think this will happen. They will also need to, at the very least, pay big money to Roy, Aldridge, Fernandez, & Oden in the next 2-3 years in extensions (Roy, Aldridge, & Rodriquez are RFA in 2010). Not to mention Outlaw is up after next year. Fernandez is not playing for qualifying offer of $1.25 in 2010. They also need to work Bayless into the rotation.
The Blazers will have to move some of these guys & will be looking to take back expiring deals. They simply cannot resign all these guys. Sooner or later, they'll have to go with Oden as their primary center. I suppose Pryzbilla's contract is decent right now, but his heir apparent & #1 overall pick will have to be played 30+ minutes a game at some point. They'll have to at least listen to offers. His stock probably hasn't been higher than it is now. Maybe they don't want Miller, but maybe Booth & Collin's expiring deals ($10 mill) or Smith/Green Trade exemption and/or a #1 for Frye & Pryzbilla? They free cap space & get something for Frye (RFA after the season) & move forward with Oden. We get a legit center and a 6'11" guy who averaged 11/6 his first two years in the league (granted for the Knicks), who is a RFA after the season. Worth a shot.
I couldn't disagree more about the need to have a center simply for the sake of having a center. Boston plays a center the size of Big Al, the Lakers made it without Bynum, Cleveland has a guy with 1/2 a foot, Chandler isn't exactly the bee's knees (he's a bit of a tweener as well), and Utah has an atypical guy in Okur. Are there concerns about Love/Jefferson? Yes, absolutely. But they don't get solved simply by adding a 7 footer. The Wolves are playing their best ball of the year without Collins. They are built to be up tempo and inside/out. What sorts of centers can fit into the existing roster? This team needs a big with positional flexibility to help out when the match-ups get to be a bit insane. The teams you bring up and the players you reference are more notable for their freakish talent than their position. Dwight Howard is 6'10". Yao is one of the tallest people on the planet. Shaq was a historically singular talent. These guys aren't good because they're centers.
Noah doesn't need to develop into a prototypical center. There are 96 minutes so spread out at the 4 and 5. Al is going to get 35, Love is eventually going to get 30, and that leaves them with 34 minutes left to hand out to a tweener 3/4 (Gomes) and a backup 4/5 (Noah). This team has never, ever, ever developed a center. They are built for a style of ball that doesn't play well to the type of ball a prototypical center would bring about. They have heavily invested in Jefferson and Love. Their perimeter play is still their biggest weakness. In other words, getting a "real" center is probably far, far down on their list of things to do.
Pryz is signed through 10/11 with the last year being a player option for ETO. He's only getting paid between $6-8 mil/year. That's a bargain and he'll be there for the long run. I'd love to have him on the Wolves but Portland needs him with Oden and he's an absolute bargain for what he brings to the table.
The Blazers are going to come up on a time where they'll have to pay or move some guys. Here's hoping that the rest of the league won't play nice after the Miles nonsense.
stupid brain fart....my math is off on the above scenario....there would be 31 minutes left to split with the bench.
Great comments guys.
If you look at the successful NBA teams, they play 8, 9 at the most, with the top 7 playing ~25 min. (One of my biggest complaint against Wittman was he played too many guys). Al, Foye, Bassey, Love, Gomes and hopefully a recovered Brewer, give us 6 of the 9 players that likely fill those spots over the next 3-5 years. From there, you need to fill in the missing pieces - post and guard size and outside shooting.
I am a huge Noah fan for the reasons SnP gives (size, energy, rebounds) plus the very important fact that Noah does NOT NEED THE BALL. If Al is going to be your cornerstone player up front, you have to find a 4/5 with size that does not care if he ever gets the ball. Sort of like Ervin Johnson was to KG - but a lot younger.
I think the biggest missing piece to the team is to find the younger, faster version of Mike Miller to play the 2. (This would be the gunner Miller of old, not the current pass up the shot Miller). A bigger (6'7"), 3 point shooting, 2 guard is a must to fill our back court. Bassey and Foye are simply too small to pair with another smaller guard. That is what initially intrigued me about the Wallace possibility. But after watching him play against us, it was clear that he is far more of a slasher verses a shooter. To me, that is too similar to Bassey and Foye's game for my liking, and has cooled me on the idea.
I am going to be a big contrarian here and say that I really hope we are NOT the big player in 2009. I simply think we already have too many unknowns to roll the dice big in 2009. Will Love figure it out offensively? Will Brewer come back? Will Gomes continue his pace? Can Bassey get a jump shoot? Will Foye grow as shooting 2? These are all young guys, and to me, it is still a toss up as to if the answers will be yes they can. Then, lets add the front office instability. Do you want either the current group or a brand new person(s) making over the team this summer by using up all the assets? Before making any big move, I would like a little more certainty in all these areas.
If you take the 6 players above, keep Cardinal and Ollie for another year, I think you can take some assets to get the big 2 and 4/5 while pushing some assets out to 2011. (Skipping 2010 all together) Even in 2011, not 1 of the my 6 will be 30 yrs old - the prime of an NBA player's career.
I guess I am on the slow build course rather than the big bang 2009 bandwagon.
Did anyone read David Aldridge's column on NBA.com about '09 being a better year because of the types of players available and because less competition creates a better chance to get good players (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/01/08/aldridge.dose.090107/index.html). It raised an interesting point that made me think it might be a good idea to move things up to '09.
However, I'm still skeptical. To me, the best this team can hope for in either year is one up-and-coming young player and one vet who can still play (like Terry Porter or Sam Mitchell in KG's rookie year). Which year, though, would be better for finding that guy? Less competition in '09 (11 more teams), but better players in '10.
Either way, though, I think if this team gets all of the picks they're supposed to (4 in the first and maybe 3 in the second), they need to figure out a way to keep at least 6 or 7 of them. That doesn't mean they all end up on the roster, but they're used to get players who eventually make the roster. That could mean stashing some guys in Europe, having 1 or 2 in the D-League, doing a 2 for 1 trade, etc. That will have an impact on whether they should try for '09 or '10.
I'm not advocating the Wolves add a center to add a center. I mentioned Bynum & Chandler in the category of less than prototypical centers, but still effective rebounding & defensively at that position. Perkins probably fits that lesser mold as well. I should have qualified that the majority of these centers have a combination of either legimate size to guard & rebound against the opposing team's center and/or a semblance of an offense game that makes them a threat on the offense end & can pull the double/triple teams off of Al. Not sure Noah's body type will allow him to at least beef up like Bynum or Chandler.
i don't want Jason Collins on the floor because he's a 7 footer. This team may have been built for speed and an inside/out game, but given the teams fortunes the last few years with this design & demotion of it's architect, reversing course & trying to seek out a serviceable center shouldn't out of the realm of possibility. I'm glad to see the Wolves playing better, but a 5 game win streak should not set in stone the idea of going forward with this plan of "playmakers" versus players. The fact that this franchise has never developed a center should not prevent them from attempting to do it.
How many players on the current Wolves roster would you trade to improve this team, even if that means, changing philosophies? I say everyone's available except Al. When you say the team was built for speed & inside/out, would adding a legitimate center, who can play both ends, be a detriment to Al's style of play? What players would suffer? Everyone besides Telfair & Miller plays out of their natural position for stretches of games. I like Foye, but we drafted him as a 1, he's finally starting to show life as a 2 stretching the floor. Gomes seems like he would adapt to any game plan, but best suited at the 3.. Again, I like Bassy, but he has yet to establish himself as a starting point guard, so he's not a lock for the future.
Respect your insights, so I'm not trying to get into written war. Adding Noah aside, my question is how married should the Wolves be to their current plan for the future of undersized players? Even a more finesse center type like Okur or Bogat would be in intriguing compliment to the roster. In line with what I said above, if we did, in fact, trade Smith/McCants for Noah, I would be optimistic & no doubt be an upgrade given the players involved. However, I do think a legitimate center, with a skill set on one end of the floor, would better serve the Wolves much better & move guys back to their natural positions.
Doubleplusgood,
While I agree that the Twolves have few, if any, untouchable players, I think the more pertinent question is how many can you trade/cut/draft at the same time and KNOW you are going to improve the team? Barring of course that magic ping pong ball that drops a Shaq or LeBron in our laps (don't hold your breath). I can't see us being able to effective add more than 3-4 players over the next few years. The key is to add the right ones at the right time.
As to the under sized comment, Bassey is slightly under sized at 1, Foye is fine at 1, undersized at 2, Gomes and Brewer have proper size at 3, Love is undersized at 4 (but would seem to be effective at least rebounding wise). Al is proper size at 4, under at 5.
The glaring size shortage in this line up in total is really at 2 and 5, hence my call for a big 2 and a legit 7' 5.
JAF,
Good points. I guess my whole rant started in response for adding Noah for Smith/McCants, which on the surface is an upgrade. But it got me thinking about whether there is ever going to be a plan in place to move Al over to the 4? It seems that come playoff time, the game goes half-court and run & gun style teams can't hang. Yes, they can outplay certain teams, but eventually they have to grind it out. Al's such a force down low, if we attempted to add an above average 7 footer, I'd love to see how that would open Al's game down low. I understand S-n-P's point that Noah would be closer to this than the current situation, but Noah, in particular, doesn't strike me as the guy I want to be that player. I'd even settle for Nikola Pekovic playing 10 min/game next year and seeing what we have, if anything. He can have Booth or Madsen's spot next year.
I know it would be nice to have a center on this squad. But when it comes to actually putting the rubber on the road I just don't see where this player is going to come from. Thabeet? Andrew Ogilvy? How about a guy like Spencer Hawes? Would I like to see this team change philosophies? If it meant an immediate whole-sale coaching/front office change, yes. But that just isn't going to happen. It has nothing to do with a 5 game win streak. I'll go back to what I asked at the time of the McHale coaching switch: what if he's good? If he gets this team winning on a 25-30 win pace (extended back to the beginning of the season) he's back. If he's back than Hoiberg, Babcock, and Stack are back because no GM is going to come in without being able to pick their own coach. If these guys are all coming back they're not going to change horses midstream. Foye is going to be the shooting guard. Jefferson is going to be the center. Love is going to be the power forward. It is what it is and if they continue to win at anything approaching what they have done in the past 10 they'll be even further locked into small ball.
I think winning in the NBA has less to do with pace, positions, or whatever as it does having tip-top talent. Until or unless Basketball Jesus shows up I think fast paced entertaining ball is as good as it gets. You can hide a lot of deficiencies with fast paced ball. The Wolves are bad on defense, they don't have any great 1-on-1 players, they lack size across the board, and they can't shoot all that well. Adding a defensive center puts even more stress on them in all the wrong spots. They may gain a bit on defense but...well, I'll go back again to what I have said about this being akin to wanting the Twins to become a home run hitting ball club. 11 out of the 12 guys that play are small ball types. Their best player is a dominant post player who would probably be a better fit at the 4. Had they made the trade to New Jersey for Brook Lopez we'd likely be talking about how to move Toine and Buckner's contract in order to get a solid 3 and they might be a whole lot better. They missed their opportunity to bring in a real starting center.
I completely hear what you're saying and I'm really not trying to argue; I'm really not. I just think they're locked in to a particular style of play and they may as well go whole hog in on it. They know what this year's draft would probably look like last year and they passed up the best true center available in both years. We'll see where it gets them.
SnP,
I think winning the Championship in the NBA has always been about having at least 1 (if possible 2) superstar talents that are then surrounded by players that fill in the rest of the gaps (defense, rebounding, 3pt shooting, etc.). Pace and style come after that - hopefully (but not always) matching your superstar innate ability. (Lakers with Jabbar and Magic as an example of a mismatch in pace/style that still worked)
Is Al our superstar player? I am going to somewhat reluctantly say yes. While he is missing a few superstar traits that I prefer (most notably the ability to raise the level of play of his teammates), he does in my eye have the most critical superstar trait - the ability to score at critical times against a defense set up to stop you. A trait that KG never had (in my opinion)
Can we get a more complete superstar on our roster? Doubtful. Minnesota is not a preferred weather destination for free agents. With our current play, we are unlikely to finish low enough in the standings to have a realistic shot of drafting one (if one is even there to draft as you point out).
Realistically, we need to build around Al. What does Al need to be effective? People that can pass to him. People that can defend bigs (so he can conserve energy on defense). People that can spread the floor by their shooting.
Most NBA games are decided in the last few minutes of a game. Can Al play those minutes as a 5? Surely he can if his 4 can rebound and defend a big during those same few minutes. I think Love has a chance to develop into that.
Can Al play 5 all game? Absolutely not - if he wants to be effective. Too much energy to expend defensively which reduces him from superstar to plain old good player.
So, I go back to the pressing need is a legit 7' defensive focused 5 and a big, 3 pt shooting 2. It will be our next step toward trying to build a championship contending team.
Garnettsarmy--
Were you at the game? Did you see the interaction between Sichting and Jefferson or ask McHale about the dynamic between them after the game? Or are you just going on what is Jefferson's normal rotation and then accusing me of sensationalism?
If you are going to question my veracity, please present me with a compelling rebuttal--point out something I probably haven't taken into consideration or offer a good argument as to why I would bias my case.
Otherwise, you appear ill considered and idiotic. I look forward to your response.
08: Boston- Center = Perkins
07: San Antonio- Center = Thomas
06: Miami
Ok...I'll cut it short. Shaq, David Robinson, and The Dream are the only centers to win in nearly the last 20 years and they did so because they were a) all time talents and b) surrounded by all time talent (Clyde, Duncan, Wade, and Kobe). Al is not a tip top talent. He's a very nice scorer who is having a team built around him. He can win like Rasheed Wallace can win. He needs teammates and lots of help. This roster is going to be filled with as many slightly above average players as possible. It is going to be somewhat gimmicky and they will need to depend on superior ball movement, hustle, and rebounding. There are no A1 scoring options. Al can be very effective if he learns to play help defense and focuses more on defensive effort, ball movement, and rebounding than scoring. This team does not need 25/game from the guy.
I believe that Al Jefferson's true height is a touch over 6'8" -- SnP compared Al's height to Kendrick Perkins, who I believe is very close to 6'10". Given the inaccuracy of the NBA roster sheets, we'll just have to wait for Feb 1st to see the man-to-man comparison. I'll agree that Perkins is on the short side for a "5", but IMO, Jefferson is on the VERY short side.
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