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On the Ball
Belly Up: Wolves Concede to Warriors in First Quarter
Photo copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Game #60, Home Game #31: Minnesota 94, Golden State 118
Season Record: 18-42
No three-pointer tonight. There's not much purpose in belaboring an unprofessional effort. We've all seen teams that for one reason or another decide that a commitment to victory is not on the agenda during that particular 48 minutes of the season. So it was for the Wolves, who performed shamefully and insulted the patronage of an announced crowd of 14,780. The defense was indifferent, the offense selfish, the cohesion nonexistent, the notion that players are accountable for their performance obviously beyond the ken of this clueless crew.
The night's signature play occurred early in the second quarter, when Craig Smith missed both of his free throws, the Warriors rebounded the second, and Corey Maggette had a floor-length dribble, uncontested layup 6 seconds later.
Minnesota didn't get back on defense. Oh, sometimes they ran back, and then stood around when Golden State pulled up for open treys and dribbled in for easy hoops. Sometimes they didn't run back and the Warriors could score however they chose. The Warriors, who carried a three-game losing streak into the contest and had dropped 11 of their past 12 on the road, was up 66-35 with ten seconds to go in the first half.
When the Wolves went to offense, the Warriors offered precious little resistance, maintaining their status as one of league's most porous ballclubs. No matter: Minnesota shot 35.9%, with corroding cornerstone Randy Foye bricklaying at a 5-19 FG pace, including 1-10 from beyond the arc. For the 4th straight game, Mike Miller led the team in assists (4) and turnovers (5) while shooting less frequently (3-8 FG in 41:31) than anyone but Kevin Ollie. But disappointing individual efforts took a back seat to collective ennui and an immature desire not to compete that filtered through the entire team.
"That's my fault. The guys weren't ready to play and that falls on me," a terse and furious Kevin McHale said after the game. Calling the effort "as bad as you can play," McHale listed the greivances: "We didn't defend. We didn't get back. We didn't do anything. We drove in and threw some crap on the board; didn't get fouled."
Was it as bad as you've seen it from this team? "Yup," the coach said. Asked if the method of conducting tough practices and then giving the players their way during the games has worn out, McHale replied, vengeance in his voice, "Oh we'll have a good practice tomorrow." Prodded to acknowledge Kevin Love's 18 points and 14 rebounds, McHale was asked if Love had bounced back from two tough games versus Portland and Houston. "We all better bounce back," he said, straining to tamp down his anger. When he was done taking questions, he wadded up the box score and walked away.
The ire is justified. The coach has been almost universally encouraging and positive, even in sad-sack games of questionable effort that have begun to crop up more frequently in the absence of injured stud Al Jefferson. His players have taken this rope and hung themselves with it. They are an unlikeable bunch right now, betraying a lack of fiber that besmirches their character. Not a single player performed well. Veteran grinder Brian Cardinal was probably the closest to adequate, and he's an unathetic salary cap dump who really didn't do many things well, but played hard and relatively smart, two qualities that were rarely in evidence among his teammates. The new Sacramento additions don't look to be helpful; Shelden Williams is out of shape and Bobby Brown is a combo tease who's inconsistency makes him fool's gold.
There are 22 games left to play. The season has become garbage time. The Wolves have individually and collectively taken note, and are playing like garbage.
Golden State's win boosts their record to 21-39. The Wolves next two games are on the road, against the Lakers and Portland. At the end of January, McHale stressed that the goal is to become a better team with each passing month. We won't be hearing that again until next season. The end of February offered a sobering slap in the face to the notion that this franchise, sans Jefferson's presence, had the wiles and willpower to remain competitive and spring the occasional ambush, as occurred against Miami, when the Wolves had to double their opponent's rebounding total to snake out a victory. The end of March can't come too soon.
20 Reader Comments
You think the Wolves' front office and PR folks were embarrassed that their big season ticket renewal plan was unveiled on a night when the product on the court couldn't have been worse?
I've seen a lot of bad Wolves games, but this one is up near the top of the list.
That game was...difficult to watch. I tried. By halftime I was letting my daughter watch Noggin before bed.
Hmmm. It looks to me like McHale has spent whatever mojo with the players he may have come in with. Just exactly how will McHale motivate the guys now? His "they're professional" lines were really getting tiresome to me.
The "Good News" in this morning's Strib is Glen Taylor assuring us that McHale will never hold a front office job again, at least with the Timberwolves.
Avert your eyes. That's all I could think after peeking in on this game.
Tonight my son and I will be at an event with the team. He will have a ball playing games and getting autographs and photos snapped with Timberwolves players. I will need to muster some perspective, I think, in order to join in his fun.
Same ending, different season. I just hope this is not Maddog chucking 3's writ large for 22 games. That would be like the Bataan Death March through mid-April.
The team is tracking STHs with perfect attendance. My tickets went unused once in early January - at that point there were 600 or so with perfect attendance. At the season's final game I believe those who battled through will be recognized. What do you think the crowd's reaction will be on April 15?
OK, here's one reed of hope to grasp this morning:
The three biggest holes on this team, even at full strength are size, PG and defense. Our three inactives due to injury are Big Al (size), Bassy (PG) and Brewer (D). Pluck the best a team's got from its acknowledged three weakest areas and what happens? The team's performance deteriorates. Still, the hopelessness of the effort is hard to get past.
I liked two things Taylor said in his interview.
1. McHale is not going to be back in the front office next season.
2. He is committed to looking both inside and (yes!) outside the organization for front office help and reorganization.
What's seemingly bad is that Taylor is inviting McHale to coach again. How can he do that when he (at least potentially) doesn't have a GM in place for next year? Will any seriously qualified front office candidates want to work for MN when the head coach position is already given to the former leader of the FO?
Ouch.
This ain't no silver lining, but at least it's a dull grey edge to the darkness: Kevin McHale the coach has the courage and class to say what Kevin McHale the GM never had the courage to say. It is refreshing to hear honesty from him finally. But, then again -- and this is the scary part -- how different does his current fury sound from the all-too-frequent fury of Randy Wittman? Maybe we've just got a box of junk.
Gross. Don't know why everyone didn't just retire to NBA City at halftime. Found myself most excited about the DiGiorno Tic Tac Toe game during the timeout.
Agreed that Taylor couldn't have picked a worse game to unveil the new ticket plan. Maybe the unveiling of cut rate tickets isn't a great motivator for a team. But $15/lower level to watch next year's squad (hopefully with Big Al back and a bunch of first rounders) could be a great deal, as long as you don't lose your job and have to give the tickets back.
Funny you say that, TVD. There is a camera angle (I think its the guy at floor level mid-court next to Hanny and Jim Pete) where you can clearly see my seats in the Wolves corner. It was mid-third quarter and my seats were empty. I called my brother to send my condolences and he was sitting happily with his friend in NBA City, debating whether or not to go back in to the Collisium for the final quarter of massacre.
I mercifully missed the first half, so I could keep the game on through the second half and the post-game analysis while doing homework.
It was nice to see the TV analysts finally start to hammer on Mike Miller only taking 7 shots a game, and where is the Memphis Miller? Seems like Britt has been saying this for months. Long-term, the current edition of Mike Miller brings little to this squad, and I hope the Wolves shooting guard-small forward scorer in the draft because of his presence. They clearly need a scorer at that position, as Foye is too streaky and too small. Maybe they can trade for Brandon Roy?
Question: If the Wolves get a shot at Blake Griffin or Greg Monroe, do they take a power forward?
I meant to say the Wolves should not pass on a 2-3 combo scorer in the draft, just because of Miller.
They take Blake Griffin and thank their lucky stars if they get the #1 pick....which is where they would have to be to get Griffin. Take the BPA and work out the messy details later.
Yup, might as well end the season now. We know everything we need to know at this point going into the offseason:
- Foye is ideally suited to 6th man combo guard.
- Love is the real deal that can be one of the pillars of our franchise.
- Jefferson is what he is - a pillar, but not THE pillar.
- We need more length and athleticism at nearly every position.
- We could use a big time backcourt scorer/playmaker.
There is really nothing to gain from the rest of the season and it's clear our "professionals" feel the same way. Yes, the added reps help a guy like Kevin Love, especially on offense where he can continue to tinker with ways to get his shot off and get more comfortable playing against NBA bigs. But with all due respect to Bobby Brown and Shelden Williams, there are no other youngsters outside of Love to develop at this point. Ahhhhh, thank god for March Madness!!!!
I agree with SNP that you take Griffin if he's there since he has the highest market value. Now whether you keep him or not is another issue. But you have to take the BPA.
Greg Monroe I don't like. Ooooh, he knows how to hit back door cutters. So did Roy Hibbert. If Monroe was a pogo stick like Amare or Dwight Howard, I might get more excited, but he's a soft face-up PF with some decent length and skills. I'm not saying he's going to be terrible, I just think some of the mock draft sites have him a bit overrated.
I can't decide if Greg Monroe is more LaMarcus Aldridge or Channing Frye, so mentally I put him in the middle of those two and conceded that he's a better passer. At the end of the day, though, I'm not sure that he addresses the problems that we all basically agree on. (Ah, Tyson Chandler, what could have been.)
On the game last night: I was disgusted. Mike Miller, a good Midwestern kid for whom I've really tried to pull since high school, is officially on my shit list. It's embarrassing to watch defenses not bite one bit on Miller's drive and kicks. It's clearly not just predictable for those of us who follow the team seriously-- the NBA has paid attention. Miller refuses to shoot and has tanked his own stock; both things hurt the team. And for someone I've generally regarded as a good kid, this is just disappointing.
I want to go on record that I enjoyed myself immensely at the STH event last night at Gameworks. The only missing players were Big Al (can't stand up for long) and Rhino (sick). Everyone else could not have been more gracious. Standouts in that department included Foye, Love, Ollie, Cardinal, Gomes, Brewer. But really, everybody was great.
Also, I ran into someone still in the perfect attendance sweepstakes. She told me they are at about 199 - she thought when Al went down that the number would drop precipitously, but it didn't.
by the way, did anybody follow rashad mccants and the kings after the trade? or could even watch them? since i live in germany its hard to follow any nba games live (just via streams in the internet)
i just brought this thing up, cuz i've seen some kings-videos on youtube, in which rashad is talking about team defense and sees himself being an solid to above average defender. that made me grin a little bit. but he also said some surprising things like "who cares how many points i had if we lost" after the pacers game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcLLoKW9cJE). on top of that he took only 6 shots in 30mins of play, maybe he's starting to turn it around on a consistent basis (i hope so).
sry for offtopic, but i thought it might fit in this type of situation, where nobody likes to talk about the wolves anymore ;)
greetz from germany, keep up the good work *turn back to reading mode*
Britt, if you ever find yourself without a paycheck I think you should put up a paypal link on your blog for making donations. I, for one, would be willing to make a regular donation for the privilege of reading your insights into the MN sports scene.
http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/03/04/7146/britt_robsons_timberwol...
Gday
can't say this was the most fulfilling game report, but these aren't exactly the franchises glory days. just wanted to say thanks for your blog britt, i never see games (from oz) and your insightful game breakdowns and franchise direction reports/opinions/insights beat the hell out of crappy espn recaps.
anyway cheers, and here's hoping the front office pull their (collective) heads in and make some trades that will actually benefit the side.
following this team is an exercise in masochism. been a fan since '89, but paying to watch this team-or even just investing 2hrs to watch them on TV- is admitting you have nothing in your life.
brit, i don't know how you do it, but i have to agree with APB. you're consistently the most insightful,educated TC sports read. thank you, good sir.
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