November 2005

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The Three-Pointer: Clippered

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Maggette Over Szczerbiak.
They didn't guard each other all the time, and Wally played ten fewer minutes (31:33 to 41:28) than Corey Maggette, but this is the matchup that doomed the Wolves to their second loss in three games against the L.A. Clippers last night. Maggette went 11-18 from the field, 8-9 from the line, and had 10 boards to go with his 30 points. Szczerbiak was 3-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, and had three rebounds to go along with 10 points. Wally did register three steals and Maggette had a game-high four turnovers, but the bottom line is Maggette made his shots when it mattered and Wally never got off.

Maggette-Szczerbiak is a legitimate comparison. Their physical dimensions are similar. Both have played the 2 and the 3, both were drafted in the first round of the 1999 draft (Wally with the 6th pick, Maggette the 13th), and their career minutes entering this season are very comparable: 13,160 for Wally, 11,514 for Maggette. And right now Szczerbiak is averaging exactly 15 points per game for his career, compared to 14.9 for Maggette. Szczerbiak is making $10 million this season, and $36 million more through the 2008-09 season. Maggette is making $6.7 million this year and a smidgen over $30 million between now and 2008-09.

As I've said before, this is a pivotal season for Szczerbiak, who needs to step up and handle the role of number two scorer if Minnesota is to have a realistic hope of contending for the playoffs. And right now he is a below-average NBA shooter, making just slightly more than 43 percent of his attempts and averaging less than 14 points per game.

Maggette and Wally both don't defend very well. Before this season, I'd have said that Wally is the superior outside shooter and that Maggette is a slightly better scorer, due to his ability to get to the line. Both of them are apt to be overrated because they don't do enough of the "little things," the so-called "intangibles," which is another way of saying they aren't especially smart or coachable. But even before this season started, and even if the salaries were the same, I'd rather have Maggette.

It might have been revealing or simply a tired response when I asked KG after the game tonight what he thought of the number two scorer only getting nine shots. He thought I was talking about Troy Hudson. Huddy went 1-7, and throw in Richie Frahm's oh-for-3, two of them wide-open looks, and your outside gunners clanked for a combined 4-19. Minnesota odds of winning when that happens are about one in six.

2. McCants gets some crunch time.
Largely because all the other shooters came up empty, Casey threw McCants on to the court to begin the fourth quarter for what may have been the first time this year. It became the rook's first crunch-time when, with the help of a rarely-deployed zone defense by the Wolves, some inside misses by Clips' center Chris Kamen, and a sense of scrambling desperation that Casey considered one of the rare moments of team-wide energy all night, the Wolves sliced a 16-point deficit (12 to begin the quarter) down to two with four and a half minutes left.

McCants was not an overtly influential part of the comeback. He missed an open jumper from the baseline with the Wolves down 72-78, and a wide-open trey from the top of the arc at 74-78. He did nail a three early in the period, and chipped in a nice left-handed finger-roll on a drive through traffic. And he played decent defense, including the zone that encouraged passes inside to Kamen, who went 0-6 for the period (the rest of the Clips were 9-18, led by Maggette's 4-5 with Wally out of the game).

More to the point, the kid got a taste of playing when it matters, and it crippled him somewhat, especially on his final shot, a short-armed, nine-foot floater that barely grazed the front iron. Inserting him into the game was clearly a default move for the coach, the result of all his other scorers abandoning KG (who went 29 [11-18 FG] and 13 but had one measly assist when he earned about 7). I'd like to see it happen more often.

In response to a question from the Strib's Jim Souhan about whether he'd like to see McCants on the floor with him more often, KG provided his usual mix of sagacity and corporate correctness. "I think what Case is doing is a good thing," Garnett said, about "making him earn the minutes." He added that McCants was young and doesn't understand that it's an 82-game season, and that playing 25-30 minutes a night is a lot under those circumstances.

Of course McCants isn't averaging that much, has barely sniffed that amount of time just once, in fact. But the sagacity came earlier, when KG was explaining the link between the Wolves run and McCants being in the game. "McCants can hit the outside shot but he can also go to the basket," KG said, adding that that gave the team "a little versatility." Yeah, like what Corey Maggette brings to the Clips.

3. Odds and Ends.
For all you "Thud" haters (and you know I cop to it as often as not), Huddy didn't play all that badly, except for the small fact that his shot wasn't going down. He scrapped for a steal, blocked a layup attempt by Cassell backing him down in the post that you know he'd seen about 3000 times in practice the past two years, and dished the ball more than is his custom, in part because he missed a couple of early open looks. I'd say that's progress. But I'd still like to see A.C. get some love. And while it has worked very well the previous two games versus Cleveland and Milwaukee, I'm not sure about the Hudson-Jaric backcourt combo at the expense of Trenton Hassell at crunch time. Maybe some of the time. For those of you who like Hassell's post game, I'd agree, as far as it goes. But let it become enough of a weapon that opponents are looking for it and then see how effective it is. For that matter, the same could be said of Hassell's entire offense. That's doesn't mean I don't want him to explore it (provided it doesn't cramp his focus on D), only that the exploration may not yield such dazzling vistas in the long run.

Eddie Griffin hauled in 14 more rebounds. Maybe Yao and Shaq and three or four others are beyond his ability to guard in the low block, but otherwise, he's the man. It is time for Casey to realize that Mad Dog belongs with Kandi and EG belongs with KG, not vice versa.

Casey keeps talking about watching Richie Frahm shoot and how reliable he is. Frahm must have had some monster games versus Seattle in previous years. But let's all repeat again, despite his heroic plus/minus totals, that Richie Frahm is not Fred Hoiberg, the man who loves The Simpsons, whose favorite movie is Dumb and Dumber, whose favorite place to vacation is Ames, Iowa, and who moves on the court with as much intelligence as any role player I've ever witnessed. Who can explain that juxtaposition? Sometimes you get the impression Freddie is sand-bagging people with an exaggerated hick routine.

Finally, a chuckle before we go. In the latest Sports Illustrated, NBA writer Ian Thomsen actually put his name over this lead: "Combine Allen Iverson's speed with Steve Nash's brain and you have T.J. Ford..." Shit like this ought to be blurbed in big bold quotes, like the movie reviewers who claim five or six different films are "the best of the year!" until their credibility is nil. Keep the kleig lights on the stupid stuff until it melts away. As Steve Colbert would say, "Ian Thomsen, I'm putting you on notice."

Posted by Britt Robson at November 30, 2005 12:00 AM | Comments (7)

 

The Three-Pointer: Besting the Bucks

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Wally's Groove
What a difference when Szczerbiak is hitting that jumper, eh?

2. A shorter bench
Friday was also the first time Coach Dwane Casey gave merely seven players double-digit minutes, and I think it made a difference in the team's rhythm.

3. KG when it matters, now and into the future.
As you probably read in the dailies, KG got nailed on the chin and took six stitches for the cause, costing him exactly 5:25 worth of playing time. He proceeded to score ten straight points on his return to the court, transforming a three-point deficit into a permanent Wolves lead.

1. Wally's Groove
What a difference when Szczerbiak is hitting that jumper, eh? (BTW, I love Rob's Suburbiak sobriquet, except that, at least before his daughter was born, Wally was one of the few Wolves who lived downtown.) Nailing eight of his first nine shots, Szczerbiak enabled the Wolves to withstand a furious offensive start by the Bucks. (As KG said after the game, "It's hard when they've got guys like TJ Ford who can probe, Michael Redd who can shoot, and Magloire.") As I've said before, I believe the Wolves' strategy for this season is fairly elemental: Play tough enough defense so that you can win with KG on the low block and Wally on the wing as the meat and potatoes of your offense. Friday night was the first time this season that has happened, and resulted in a win against a quality team.

2. A shorter bench
Friday was also the first time Coach Dwane Casey gave merely seven players double-digit minutes, and I think it made a difference in the team's rhythm.

The unofficial policy of these Three-Pointers (from my end, at least) is to avoid being a chronic scold and reflexively repetitive. Folks already know I think Anthony Carter and Rashad McCants should get more minutes, for example, and they combined for 4:01 on Friday (AC was a DNP-Coach's Decision). But unless it makes a dramatic impact on the game, I'm not going to keep harping on personal preferences--better to analyze what we have in front of us. And yes, I anticipate violating this policy when frustration reigns.

That said, I was pleased to see Casey go to Eddie Griffin early when it became apparant that Olowokandi wasn't going to be able to handle Magloire in the low block. That simplified his decision to stick with EG and KG at crunch time when the Wolves needed boards. After three quarters, the Bucks were up by 3 because their 38-23 rebounding advantage had enabled them to take 12 more shots. With Kandi riding the pine in the 4th quarter, the Wolves reversed the rebounds to 12-4, outboarding Milwaukee on both their offensive and defensive glass, to the point where Bucks coach Stotts sat Magloire and went with another guard. Hats off to Eddie G. who finished with 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists in 23:23 of play.

Casey cited his displeasure with his "second group" in the second quarter as the primary reason for the tighter substitution pattern, and called out McCants by name. Yeah, McCants was indifferent (the Wolves went minus-6 during his four minutes on the court) but Troy Hudson was even more toxic, immediately flipping into mad gunner mode when Casey rested KG. Hudson did emerge with perhaps his best all-around period of play in the 4th quarter, however, paired with Marko Jaric (who defended Michael Redd decently and chipped in 24 points) in the backcourt. The abiding point is that a shorter bench improved the focus and helped the Wolves produce their best crunch time play of the season.

3. KG when it matters, now and into the future.
As you probably read in the dailies, KG got nailed on the chin and took six stitches for the cause, costing him exactly 5:25 worth of playing time. He proceeded to score ten straight points on his return to the court, transforming a three-point deficit into a permanent Wolves lead. For the season he is now shooting a gaudy 64 percent (32-50) in the fourth quarter. Remember when idiots like Charles Barkley were saying KG was too unselfish in at crunch time? Wasn't true then, isn't true now. And now Barkley pops off about the need for the Wolves to trade KG, prompting a rash of utterly stupid rumors (KG for Jefferson and Krstic in New Jersey; KG for Rasheed and Darko in Detroit).

Just a non-friendly reminder to all the asinine pundits out there who need a cheap and easy "hot topic" to spout off upon before heading off for golf, or the bar--do a rudimentary amount of homework so you don't look too stupid. Consider that any team acquiring Garnett needs to sacrifice talent worth at least 75 percent (minus $100,000) of his $20 million salary to make any trade possible. For that to happen, Wolves owner Glen Taylor would either have to accept a truckload of short-term, but still high-priced, bullshit and a slew of draft picks and start from square one, in front of 5,000 fans a night; or the trading team would part with enough value to discourage KG away from the deal. Consider that Garnett has never, not once, even hinted at wanting a trade--on the contrary, he has steadfastly hollared about loyalty, bleeding blue and green, and being a Timberwolf for life. Has he bitched about his job or the progress of his ballclub any more than, say, Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson or Larry Bird--to pick three superstars who stayed with their franchises their entire careers--bitched about theirs? No, he hasn't.

Kudos to Strib writer Steve Aschburner, who was probably sick of being beseiged with improbable scenarios regarding a KG deal, for going to Taylor so that the owner could throw a little reasonability on these farcical rumors. That was followed by KG himself, of course, repeating for the umpteenth time that he doesn't want to be dealt. Followed by the coup de grace Friday night, of KG making like a hockey player and getting sewn up before his routine heroics.

Is it an impossibility that Garnett will be traded? Of course not. But I wouldn't do it unless KG requested it and then not unless something approaching fair value (say, KG for Jermaine O'Neal and either Artest or Tinsley from the Pacers) could be obtained. As for Barkley and all the other dimestore analysts, pay attention to Taylor when he says he'd be more apt to try for an upgrade than to dismantle this team. Which is why he puts every other pro sports franchise owner in this town to shame (with the jury still out on Zyggy).

Posted by Britt Robson at November 26, 2005 11:29 AM | Comments (10)

 

Buck The Idiot Close-Out Picks

Filed under: Buck the Idiot

The grand experiment of BTI comes to an abbreviated close this weekend, as a truncated slate of college and pro football games will reduce my total number of picks from 15 to 10. After that, it's all championships and bowl games--not enough to prove my idiocy. But for those keeping score, I went 7-8 last week, meaning that just once in eight weeks did I pick more winners than losers. Can any other prognosticator provide you more reliability--and for free? Overall mark? 51-66-3.

Okay, on to this week's picks...

COLORADO minus 15 and a half over Colorado.
The Buffs are rolling and Nebraska's West Coast offense will be stymied by the elements and CU's D.

ARIZONA plus 9 over Arizona State.
A rivalry game with a guy named Stoops coaching the heavy 'dog.

HAWAII minus 7 over Wisconsin.
Does anyone think the Badgers will have their head on straight for this one? What are the consequences of a loss? Surf's up and the drinks are flowing...

FLORIDA minus 4 over Florida State.
The Seminoles have been exposed as pretenders and Urban Meyer wants to please the alumni on his first FU-FSU tilt.

KENTUCKY minus 9 over Tennessee.
After the LSU win, the Vols simply packed it in. Why are they giving 9 on the road?

NORTH CAROLINA plus 23 over Virginia Tech.
After two ballyhooed contests versus Miami and Virginia, this is a classic letdown game for VT.

and the college "lock"

MIAMI minus 17 over Virginia.
Nothing like an embarrassing loss to refocus the bad boy 'Canes against an outmanned opponent at home.

As for the pros, here are the three picks, with no "locks"

CLEVELAND plus 4 over Minnesota.
Minnesota is the worst 5-5 team I have ever seen.

JACKSONVILLE minus 3 over Arizona.
The Jags' D is too much for Denny Green, even with the Cards in the desert.

TENNESSEE minus 7 and a half over San Francisco.
The betting line is the ONLY reason to care about this game.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 25, 2005 10:00 AM | Comments (0)

 

The Three-Pointer: A Pathetic Loss

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Sorry Point Guards

Who do you want at the point, Jaric or Hudson? How would you like to die, poison or the electric chair?

Jaric's ineptitude is for me the biggest surprise, up or down, among all the personnel on the Wolves this season. I'm not going to go into lengthy detail, because blasting Jaric will probably be the subject of my next Hang Time in the paper a week from today. But the guy turns the fundamentals of point guard play--bringing the ball up the court, or making an entry pass into the top of the key, let alone the post, in the half-court sets--into a real adventure. He doesn't penetrate to the hoop nor post up nearly as often as he should. Tonight he had Chris Paul, seven inches smaller, guarding him. He tried three shots--two of them from outside the three-point arc--in 17 minutes. He had two assists and four turnovers.

Worst of all, it seems pretty obvious to me that Jaric takes plays off, both physically and mentally. He clearly didn't have his head on straight to play the second half tonight. I'm beginning to understand how the Clippers lost all those games in the 4th quarter last season. Jesus but he was terrible in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter.

On to Mr. Hudson. The Wolves television announcers were praising him to high heaven tonight, saying he was perhaps the second best player on the team recently, and they kept it up even as I watched Hudson jack up shot after shot and consistently get beaten off the dribble by either Chris Paul or Speedy Claxton.

Let's all remember this: Both Hudson and Michael Olowokandi say they are finally healthy. They are being given every chance to succeed. So there are absolutely no more excuses. Kandi has put together four pretty good games in a row (more on that in a minute); at least better than reasonable people who had watched the Wolves the past two years had any right to expect. Hudson? Yeah, he defended Gilbert Arenas as well as any other Timberwolf (eh, Arenas also had 33 points on just 20 shots from the field that game). But any talk of this defensive resurgence due to healthy ankles on the part of T-Hud certainly looked silly tonight.

If you're making the argument that Hudson plays because they need his offense, let's look at the numbers. Hudson's shots per minute played is the highest on the entire team, and he is making 43 percent of them, which is below the team's average accuracy. To be fair, some of those are three-pointers, which increases his scoring efficiency. But the fact remains that Hudson's shot-per-assist ratio (91 shots, 30 assists, counting the New Orleans loss) is more frequent than Kevin Garnett's (160 shots, 57 assists as of right now). In other words, your all-around superstar, who currently ranks among the top ten in the NBA in field goal percentage and is your obvious go-to guy whenever possible, is dishing the ball more conscientiously than one of your point guards--the one who also can't play defense! And imagine how much more of a disparity there would be between them if KG had himself available to pass to?

If you're thinking about injecting Anthony Carter into the conversation, don't waste your breath. It is by now patently obvious that, despite all his talk about defense being the priority, Dwane Casey can't afford to play AC at the expense of either Jaric or Hudson. Both Jaric and Hudson have rather sizable long-term contracts and Carter is playing for peanuts. If the situation were reversed, Carter would be playing ample minutes. The only other explanation is that Casey honestly thinks Jaric and Hudson are outplaying Carter this season, and I know he's not that stupid.

Casey's reluctance to give Carter his due was painfully obvious throughout the 3rd quarter, when the young Hornets were keying on the energy of Chris Paul and roaring back from a dozen down at the half (and 18 down earlier in the second period). It was last season all over again--a quick point guard breaking down the perimeter D. Carter could have significantly slowed, if not halted, that crucial geneation of momentum, but Casey waited until the beginning of the 4th quarter to make his move. Too late. Carter did his thing, and so the Hornets frequently switched over to Claxton, conveniently guarded by Hudson, to initiate the offense in the half-court.

When Jaric spit the bit in the first three minutes of the third quarter, Casey should have gone to Carter to bump Paul off his gathering rhythm, at least for four or five minutes or so until you have to pay homage to your salary structure and get Hudson into the game. Casey has had nothing but praise for Carter this season--he hasn't really had a choice, has he?--but when he needed to back up that talk with a meaningful substitution to bag his first-ever road win, he put his faith in fool's gold. That's one reason to hang this loss on the coach.

2. A tired Kandi.
Here's another reason. Casey wants Kandi to run the floor, rotate on defense, be a prominent option at the offensive end, and generally hustle his ass off. But when was the last time anyone can recall Kandi getting stronger, or finding his groove, the longer he was on the court? Yeah, he had a marvelous fourth quarter against Charlotte the other night, but he'd only played 35 seconds in the third quarter. He also was being guarded by power forward Emeka Okafor, who was saddled with four fouls, and the Wolves were already up 13...

But I digress. Bump Casey's fist for steadfastly maintaining that Kandi would be a factor for the Wolves this season--he has been, and the credit for that belongs to both the big guy and the coach. But don't load Kandi up with all kinds of physical responsibilities and then play him just shy of 36 minutes against the Hornets' young, athletic, front line. I saw Kandi leap out to try and block jump shots more tonight than I've seen him attempt it in two years. And that dribble and roll from the top of the key to a convincing slam in the second quarter; I've never seen Kandi do that. The guy clearly wants to give his right nut to justify Casey's faith in him.

But he ran out of gas. At halftime, the Wolves and Hornets were tied with 22 rebounds apiece. In the decisive second half, New Orleans outboarded Minnesota 27-16. KG went for more than 42 minutes and Eddie G. got a measly 7:41 worth of court time--and in the second half that PT was restricted to being the designated fouler when the Wolves were desperately hoping the Hornets would self-destruct at the free throw line.

Either the smart way or the hard way, Casey will eventually learn that Eddie Griffin is a better crunch time performer than Michael Olowokandi. That is my arrogant opinion. Hopefully Kandi will continue to overachieve beyond my skepticism, even to the point of sinking baskets and defending intelligently when he's been on the court for awhile and the game is on the line. Because I think Casey will not think kindly of Griffin until Eddie establishes a solid post game and stops jacking treys; I suspect it is already the reason we don't often see KG and EG on the court together, despite their obvious synergy on interior defense. It sure would have been fun to see what Griffin and Garnett could have done to slow down PJ Brown and David West in that 4th quarter--and Kandi could have caught a breather.

3. In search of a Number 2 scorer.

It was not as obvious as the point guard mismatch or the rebounding woes that created so many second chances for the Hornets, but another shooting disappearance by Wally Szczerbiak was culpable for this horrid defeat. Wally was 4-10 from the field and every one of those baskets was a layup. No jump shots made in 38:29 of play. And just one trip to the free throw line (he missed that shot too). No wonder the Wolves registered a putrid 32 points in the second half. Their entire offense revolved around KG on the low block and Hudson scrambling like a rasta with his head cut off.

When Szczerbiak is not making his jumpers, all kinds of negative chain reactions ensue. Teams gang up on KG down in the paint, and Casey feels obliged to give Hudson and Richie Frahm more minutes than he should at the 2 and the 3. I know this entire Three-Pointer amounts to me telling the coach what to do, but may I suggest Rashad McCants for a tad more than the 9:02 he logged? His court vision is better than Frahm's and Hudson's put together. No, he can't hit the trey very well, but no one on this team gets to the hole more effectively. He had four free throws in his nine minutes tonight, second to KG's nine trips to the line. He clearly is dying for the chance to team up with KG and he has already shown that he'll work on D and dish on offense. And, ah, he's the best chance of becoming the sort of number-two sidekick that makes Kevin Garnett glad for his pledge of loyalty to this franchise.

After McCants' strong performance against Charlotte the other night, I asked Casey where he thought Rashad's minutes would be by the end of January, early February, if he continued to make progress. "Probably about where they were tonight," [which was 24:52] the coach replied, adding his typical summation of McCants' future: "He is a going to be a good player for a long time in this league."

Well, until Sczerbiak rediscovers his identity as an outside scorer, or Hudson and/or Frahm receive a huge talent transplant, bringing McCants along slowly is a perplexing strategy. Because if you're thinking the Wolves are going to make the playoffs, consider that they are 5-5 despite a ridiculously easy schedule that has included not one single team that really made it a priority to pressure the point guard. And if you're thinking that you are going to instill discipline in McCants by limiting his minutes, consider that the people playing ahead of him at the off guard (besides the redoubtable Trenton Hassell, a worthy role model) are a designated spot-up gunner (Frahm) and a "drop it like its hot, 24/7" ball hog (Hudson).

Nothing is clearer than 20-20 hindsight, especially when it comes to evaluating your own precise prose. But at the beginning of the year, I thought that the Wolves had as good a chance of reaching the playoffs by embarking on their rebuilding project via the likes of McCants and Griffin (with a side order of go-go tempo with AC, Wally, and Mad Dog), than by riding vets like T-Hud and Kandi. After tonight, that feeling has only gotten stronger.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 23, 2005 10:07 PM | Comments (3)

 

This Year's Next-to-Last Buck the Idiot Picks

Last week's mark, 6-8-1. For the season thus far, 44-58-3. The numbers don't lie: Just buck the Idiot's 15 picks this weekend and enrich yourself at your bookie's expense.

On to this week's ten college and five pro football picks against the spread, leavened, as always, by the Idiot's pithy, oh-so-insightful justifications for his choices.

ALABAMA plus 7 over Auburn.
This bitterly fought rivalry between two quality teams will be decided by less than a touchdown.

BOSTON COLLEGE minus 2 and a half over Maryland.
Even playing at home, Maryland doesn't have the talent to get within a field goal of BC.

CALIFORNIA minus 4 and a half over Stanford.
The odds have moved on this since yesterday because bettors know that Cal is superior to the Cardinal and that there really is no "home" team between two schools just a trip down the highway from each other.

NORTH CAROLINA minus 23 and a half over Duke.
When was the last time Duke wasn't horrible? The Tar Heels are familiar with whomping them at Chapel Hill.

NOTRE DAME minus 34 and a half over Syracuse.
When the favorite lays this large of a number, I normally go the other way. But Notre Dame is at home, is fighting an uphill battle with the BCS system, and Syracuse is really, really bad.

PENN STATE minus 7 over Michigan State.
I love the items in the paper saying JoePa isn't even aware of the BCS standings. If you believe that, there's some oceanfront property in Happy Valley he'd like to sell you.

SOUTH FLORIDA minus 19 over Cincinnati.
South Florida has played a brutal schedule, beating Louisville and Central Florida, and losing relatively tight games against Penn State and Miami. And they're playing at home.

TENNESSEE minus 12 over Vanderbilt.
UT is like the bully who gets beaten up a few times, and needs to feed his confidence by whaling on the scrawny kid trying to mind his own business. This one won't be close.

FRESNO STATE plus 24 over USC.
The Bulldogs are a fine football team motivated by the chance to put their obscure program in the national headlines. They'll put a scare into the Trojans.

And my college "lock"

SOUTH CAROLINA plus 2 and a half over Clemson.
A week after beating Florida, Steve Spurrier's team gets points at home against Clemson, who always plays worse on the road.

Now on to the five NFL picks...

CAROLINA minus 3 over Chicago.
John Fox and Lovie Smith are two peas in a pod. But Carolina's edge at quarterback is too significant, even with the Bears at home.

NEW YORK GIANTS minus 7 over Philadelphia.
The Giants lost a game they should have won last week, and will seek to atone. The Eagles are dealing with injuries and a media circus. They are now officially for the aughts what the Buffalo Bills were for the 90s--a demi-dynasty that never could grab the brass ring.

WASHINGTON minus 6 over Oakland.
This is the point in the season when teams separate themselves into contenders and pretenders. It's pretty obvious who is who in this matchup.

INDIANAPOLIS minus 6 over Cincinnati.
I love what Marvin Lewis has done with the Bengals, who will be sky-high for this one. But now that Indy's offense is rising to the excellence of their defense, this team is a steamroller.

Last, and least, the pro "lock"

DENVER minus 13 over the NY Jets.
Does it matter which hapless quarterback is negotiating the Denver weather in November? Two teams going in opposite directions, and both are in a hurry.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 19, 2005 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

The Three-Pointer: A lot of talk

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. KG's comments.

All the beat writers and columnists were in a state of high alert, smelling blood, or at least controversy, so I assume by now you are aware of at least parts of Kevin Garnett's interview with TNT's Cheryl Miller. (If not here's the link to the brief print synopsis and access to what I assume is the entire 3:17 video.) Here's my take.

KG's absolutely right that "business should have been done in summertime" last year, before it infected the team and led to that dysfunctional pratfall. But then he gets vague and says that it was wrong to suggest that the Wolves lost because of Cassell or lost because of Spree. He claims that it was everybody's fault, that everybody needed to look in the mirror, and that the Wolves win or lose "as a team." And to his credit, that is the way he usually conducts himself.

But then there is reality. That wasn't the entire Wolves roster on the cover of Sports Illustrated and on Craig Kilborn's coach in the early months of 2004; that was the "MV3" of KG, Sammy, and Spree. They appropriately got the lion's share of the credit for the team's magical run to the Western Conference finals, and Cassell and Spree appropriately got the lion's share of the blame for the Wolves' implosion last year. So yeah, I'll repeat it: The Wolves lost last season because Cassell and Spree wanted to get paid what in hindsight is now revealed to be an unrealistically exorbitant amount of money, and sulked, dogged it, and otherwise corroded team chemistry when they didn't get it. If you're doing an autopsy on the team's collapse, Cassell and Spree (or vice versa) are exhibits A and A1.

Later in the interview, KG takes a few pointed shots at Kevin McHale, saying that McHale "really in his heart wanted to coach but he didn't want to be the coach," adding that if things were handled differently he believes Flip Saunders would still be coaching the Wolves today. No question that, according to his mood, McHale can either be a lovably grumpy old man or an arrogant prick about how he thinks today's players are playing the game. And that must have been hard on Flip.

When Flip was canned, I thought it was wrong, and wrote about it in a Hang Time column entitled "Scapegoat Time." Here's the link to it.

But, as Garnett said to Miller tonight, "everybody" needed to look in the mirror. If KG had as much of a problem with McHale firing Flip and taking over the coaching reins as he intimates in the TNT interview, he could have done something about it. He was the reigning MVP of the league, for chissakes. Then as now, he was the most powerful person on the Wolves franchise. All he had to say was, "If Flip goes, I go."

Instead, sitting in front of his locker after the second game coached by McHale, this is what KG did say: "This is my third coach. Compared to the first two, he is probably the most fulfilling. He is like a breath of fresh air."

There is more that could be said here--I devoted an entire Hang Time column to it, entitled, "With Friends Like KG..." back in late February. For those who want a detailed rehash, here's the link. Suffice to say that, as much as I love Kevin Garnett (and there are dozens of columns in the archives to attest to that--or simply flip back to the final words of my last Three Pointer), it is more than a little disingenuous of him to now be inferring that Flip was unfairly sacrificed and that McHale was the one who didn't truly take responsibility for what went down.

2. Smith and Barkley's comments.

KG's interview opened the door for Smith and Barkley to trash the Wolves' prospects for this season and declare during the TNT halftime show that the best course of action would be for Garnett to be traded. There were no specifics--it was patently obvious that neither man had seen more than a glimpse or two of the Wolves beyond the first half of action that had just transpired. Barkley flat-out declared that the Wolves wouldn't make the playoffs, which, given the man's abysmal track record, should kindle the hopes of Wolves fans everywhere. I loved Barkley as a player, at least until the final few years of his career, when he was already devolving into schtick. Still, the dude is barely over 6-4, and rebounded like a madman. He had a lot of heart.

But Charles Barkley the commentator is an engaging loudmouth, who is, at his core, a self-marketer. Back in the early 70s, guys like him were disparaged as "suits," even if Barkley's suit is a little more colorful than most. His "controversial" and "irreverent" statements don't make anybody uncomfortable because he isn't taken seriously, because everybody knows he throws opinions like so many strands of spaghetti up at the ceiling and sees what sticks.

Smith said the Wolves have no set style, no identity, no way of playing. As examples he referred to the Pistons' D, and to the "way L.A. used to play," and to "Miami...pounding the ball inside." Well, between the time Zo left and Shaq came, Miami didn't do any pounding. L.A. "used to play" Showtime, and then they used to play the triangle offense, and then they used to play whatever Rudy T was peddling last season, and now they are playing the triangle again.

In other words, unless you've gone to the championship series a few times in the past decade, odds are you don't have a set style; at least not one anybody needs or wants to remember. The Wolves have a revamped roster and a new coach who has never been the top dog before. So, granted, they are feeling each other out. And that's the extent of the judgment on the team? C'mon Kenny.

That said, tonight's win over Washington left me with a weird feeling, one that, if repeated often enough, may make me go back and apologize to Kenny Smith. Coach Casey keeps talking about going into his tool box for the right part. After saying just before the season started that he wanted to pare the rotation to nine guys, he now concedes that all twelve players are viable participants, depending on game conditions and flow. I hope this is a relatively brief phenomenon. There is a difference between building for the future and purposefully messing around; between going into your tool box to make something of lasting value, or jerry-rigging a quick fix.

Like any hoops junkie, I've got my preferences on who plays or sits. And some of the folks I've been ripping lately, including Troy Hudson and to a lesser extent Michael Olowokandi, had pretty good games. I'll eat that, and hopefully give credit where it is due (T-Hud defended Gilbert Arenas as well as Hassell) because on balance I think it will be demonstrated that Anthony Carter or Marko Jaric and Eddie Griffin are the ones you ride when it matters.

But when Casey is vindicated by inserting sharpshooter Richie Frahm in the game, at the expense of Rachad McCants, it doesn't feel right. Playing a second under 11 minutes in the first half, McCants succinctly rebutted the criticisms and doubts people express about his game. He defended decently, registering a nice steal on a help-out manuever, and provided two assists--one on the break that caught KG by surprise, a rare occurrence under any circumstance--without taking a single shot. In short, he earned the right for more minutes in the second half. Instead, the journeyman Frahm got them, and shot the lights out, propelling the Wolves to victory. Short term: A needed win. Long term: A mixed message to a rook trying to play the coach's way, and a slight delay in fulfilling his enormous potential.

3. Reader feedback.

I'm flattered by the quality of comments that have greeted my past couple of entries. I know some of you guys, like Brauer and Walsh, and have come to look forward to Moroni's input. I would love it if this site became a forum for people to kick around their thoughts about the squad, or the NBA in general, on an in-depth basis. But I'm going to be a bit of a jerk when it comes to gate-keeping, so that the basketball IQ remains high, at least by my arbitrary standards. (The webmaster and I have control over what makes the cut.) That means I'll doink any entry that contains less than ten words and four exclamation points, consider comments about Wally's hair gel, albeit clever, to be a borderline waste of time, and seek to honor thoughtful submissions with a response, events in the rest of my life permitting.

So, to wrap up: I disagree with the writer who says Wally can't create his own shot. Wally can't create his own shot very well off the dribble. But he knows how to move without the ball in the half-court sets, when to release downcourt for the baseball pass in transition (KG found him tonight), and when to take it to the hole on the break. And when he's open off the catch-and-shoot, he has been, until this year, deadly accurate with his jumper. Put simply, he is an adequate, though far from perfect, number two option on this team. Unless he chokes, of course, and in another few games, we may be considering that prospect if he doesn't turn things around.

The comparisons of Wally and the Big Dog are legit; they share a lot of vices and virtues. The crucial difference is that Wally is 27 and the Dog is 31, and those four years are often prime time in the NBA. In other words, let the Big Dog lay wherever he is now and go with a guy who can contribute to your rebuilding.

The question about Marbury coincides with my last Hang Time, in which I expressed a stubborn fondness for the guy now generally regarded as a cancerous presence for whatever team is unlucky enough to countenace his marvelous talent and toxic chemistry. Would I package Wally and somebody else--Jaric, Hudson, Kandi, or Hassell--in a deal for Marbury? Absolutely.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 17, 2005 10:24 PM | Comments (14)

 

Are the Vikings better without Daunte?

Filed under: Vikings

Sports Illustrated columnist Jeffri Chadiha dares to say in yesterday's column that the Vikings may be a better team without injured QB Daunte Culpepper: "I hate saying this because I like Culpepper, and his injury was gruesome. I cringe every time I see Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble barreling into Culpepper's right knee like a bowling ball crashing into pins. Yet here's the hard truth about Culpepper that anybody with an experienced eye could see before he went down: He was one of the Vikings' biggest problems." Chadiha feels the rest of the Vikes realize they have to step up now that they can no longer place the team's fate solely on Culpepper's arm. Read the entire column here.

Posted by Corey Anderson at November 16, 2005 11:24 AM | Comments (4)

 

The Three-Pointer: Another Missed Opportunity

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Wally's woes continue.

Dwane Casey's plan for this season is as simple as ham and eggs: Play monster defense to establish a new team identity, depressing the score enough so that KG on the low block and Wally shooting from 16 feet and out are pretty much all the offense you need to win most ballgames. And everything is going according to script, except that Szczerbiak can't knock down any jumpers.

Szczerbiak clanged five straight jumpers to open the game, destroying any chance the Wolves had of blowing Houston right out of gym early--it was 10-2 after the first three minutes. Finally he made a driving dunk off a dish from Kandi (who chose Yao for one of his five or six signature "tease 'em into sticking with me another two weeks with some inspired play" games), and then, whaddaya know, a long-range J from 21 feet. Second quarter, no shots in nearly 4 and half minutes of play. Third quarter, a couple of bunny makes (from 12 and 7 feet out) in four attempts.

Then fourth quarter, crunch time, KG the usual superhuman on the left block. Mr. Second Option? Splat. A wide open trey with less than three minutes to go and the Wolves down by one--not close. Then he passes up a couple of looks, finally hoisting another errant three with the Rockets up five and the game in desperation mode. A meaningless layup off a dish from KG cuts the lead to four with 12 seconds to go.

Szczerbiak finished 5-of-14, with only one make from beyond 12 feet. This career 50 percent shooter is now hitting 39 percent of his attempts this season; from three-point land, the percentage is 21 percent, versus 40 percent for his career. That is now two games where if Wally Szczerbiak does what he is supposed to do--what he has bitched he has been denied the chance to do for lo these many years--the Wolves win instead of lose. The first one was the opening road game against Seattle and the second one was Tuesday night. If 3-4 were suddenly to become 5-2, the Wolves' season would obviouslyh look a whole lot better. And yeah, sometimes it is that simple.

To his credit, Szczerbiak knows it is on him; he says flat out in locker room interviews that he's not fulfilling his role. Casey correctly maintains that he has "every confidence" in Wally. First of all, he really doesn't have a particularly appealing alternative at this time. Second, Szczerbiak's shot should eventually come along.

But it might be nice if Casey goosed it along a bit by playing Wally's favorite cohort, Anthony Carter, more than six damn minutes so that Wally might get the chance to run the floor and pick up some confidence layups in transition. In the paper the other day, Casey said KG and AC were the only two players who could really rely on thus far. True enough. Tonight, Eddie G. sucked out loud, getting housed at the hoop more than a couple of times by Stromile Swift in the second quarter as the Wolves' lead seeped down the drain, at least until a fat cluster of Rockets' turnovers (they really could have been had tonight) bumped the halftime lead back to eight. But hey, how about playing one of your very few reliable guys, especially given point two.

2. You can't preach defense and then play Troy Hudson over Jaric and Carter.

There must be some reason why Casey entrusted Hudson with the final 14 minutes and 43 seconds of the game--leaving both AC and Jaric on the bench as the Wolves turned a three-point lead into a five-point loss--but I can't think of it. Is it offense? Well, T-Hud's field goal percentage is the lowest of the trio, both overall and from beyond the arc. Against Houston, he had 4 assists and no turnovers in 22:23 while the Wolves went minus-10 as a team. Jaric had 7 assists and 2 turnovers--balanced, however, by two steals--in 25:37, during which the Wolves were plus-10 as a team against the Rockets. (AC barely had time to break a sweat, finishing with two points on 1-1 shooting for his only stats in six minutes of action.) For the season to date, the Wolves are now plus-24 over their opponent when Carter is on the court, plus-20 when Jaric plays, and minus-3 when Hudson is in the lineup.

Granted, Jaric can look jittery late in the game. But the Wolves went with a steady diet of KG in the low post and swing passes out to the perimeter in the 4th quarter against Houston. Hudson went 1-5 from the field in that final period. I've got to think Jaric could have done as well.

Down the stretch, Casey had KG surrounded by four guys--Hudson, Wally, Hassell, and Kandi--who couldn't hit shots or create them for anyone besides Garnett. The only basket of the 4th quarter not scored or assisted on by KG occurred in the first 23 seconds, when Eddie Griffin hit a long jumper after a pass from Ronald Dupree with Garnett on the bench. In that 4th quarter, with everyone and his brother draped on him, KG was 4-of-7; the rest of the team 4-of-11.

But here's the trump card: If you are going to announce that your team will live and die by defense, what the hell are you doing playing T-Hud at crunch time? You don't have to know very much about basketball to see that Jaric and AC are both clearly superior defenders, even against quick guards.

3. A grab bag of positives.

It was Ronnie Dupree's night to emerge from the scrub pile, further complicating Casey's effort to pare his rotation down to 9 players. Although he fouled out, Dupree's overall athleticism, defense on Tracy McGrady, and feistiness on the boards--something the Wolves, outrebounded yet again, desperately need--made this his best performance in a Wolves uniform.

Kudos also to Kandi, and let's see if I can bestow them without any snide commentary. No, I don't want him with the ball in his hands when it matters--he blew another easy shot late in the 4th quarter--but his aggressive play on Yao Ming (regular readers know I think the big man from China is fabulously overrated, but he's still a force to be reckoned with) earned him those crunch time minutes. Kandi also set a positive tone for the game by drawing early fouls on Yao en route to a 7-point opening period. He also blocked Yao's shot once and was called for a borderline goal-tend that swung the lead to Houston in the fourth quarter. If he provide similar energy and expertise in at least six of the next ten games, it will be time to take him seriously. Until then, a pat on the back to the big guy for the unexpected boost.

Trenton Hassell put his nose to breastbone with stifling results one more, this time versus Tracy McGrady, who hit only a third of his shots and had 5 turnovers. T-Mac did go to the line 13 times, but only three of those fouls were Hassell's, and the player who spelled him on McGrady, Ronnie Dupree, fouled out in 14 minutes. Dwane Casey praised his entire team's defensive effort, perhaps a little too much so, because it came right after the debacle in Denver, but Hassell was worthy of the kind words.

Last, and never least, Kevin Garnett gave the fans another superstar performance. The rebounds were down again, mostly because Juwan Howard was hitting that little midrange jumper and the size of Yao and Mutumbo prevented those snatched-from-the-weak-side boards that KG specializes in, via what Flip Saunders used to call his "inspector gadget arms." But he brought everything he had (you already knew that but let's never take it for granted, okay?), finishing his night by nailing a desperation trey to make it a one-possesson game, and then fouling out with 4.2 seconds left so the Rockets couldn't simply run out the clock.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 15, 2005 11:31 PM | Comments (12)

 

The Three-Pointer: The Mile High Flub

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. No boards.

Kandi and Eddie Griffin corralled three rebounds in a combined 24 and a half minutes, one more than 5'5" Earl Boykins in the same amount of time. Szczerbiak had one in 26:34 minutes, and 6'7" point guard Marko Jaric was shut out in 24 minutes of play. Even KG was thoroughly beaten by Marcus Camby, who had 22 rebounds and 7 blocks. Two guys who live by hustle, Mark Madsen and Ronnie Dupree, had the Wolves' best rebounds-per-minutes totals. It was a pitiful effort made even more shameful by the fact that Denver has lost power forward Nene for the season and was without their rebounding tough guy Kenyon Martin, a late scratch last night.

Solution? I can't lay this one on the coach, who played all 12 guys at least 9 and a half minutes in search of a group that could box out and/or scramble for loose balls. The Wolves played without energy or intelligence, and all the schemes and substitutions in the world won't cure that. Casey is learning about the inevitably diminishing returns of Michael Olowokandi, however, who still can't guard the pick and roll.

2. The Adventures of Marko Jaric.

I'm beginning to understand why Bill Simmons, the ESPN
"Sports Guy" and a Clippers fan by default while living in L.A. last year, kept tearing his hair out over Jaric. The guy has got such a sublime upside--he's huge, has an intimate understanding of the game, and has shown that, aside from being an unreliable ball-handler against a trapping defense, can do everything well. But he's too often careless, and that lack of mental rigor occasionally affects every aspect of his game.

I believe Jaric would respond to a short leash. Bench him periodically for not moving his feet on defense, for dishing to the wrong people in the wrong situations (like the lead pass he made to stone-hands Kandi running the floor at near full speed on the break against the Lakers recently), and for not boxing out on rebounds. Insert Anthony Carter into the lineup as part of the early rotation (A.C. was the last of 12 men to play against Denver, which is absurd). And play more high-post pick and roll with K.G. and Jaric, who are both good outside shooters and both can penetrate the hole with force.

3. Attention! McCants is Outdefending Wally

That's three strong games in a row for Rashad McCants, who blocked Voshon Lenard's jumper last night and also got himself involved in passing lanes on defense. Coach Casey's preaching, and the copious bench time, have obviously lit a fire under McCants, who is already without question the most capable scorer on the team off the dribble.

Meanwhile, Wally Szczerbiak is probably waking up with a stiff neck this morning from trying to track all the players whizzing past him along the baseline and in the lane against Denver. Granted, the Nugs are very quick, the air in Denver is very thin, and Wally is clearly still not quite 100 percent from the various knee and ankle injuries of the preseason. (Alas, the proof for that is probably never going to be Wally's D, but the number of times he breaks out for lay-ups in transition.) It should also be noted that Szczerbiak led the team in scoring and tied for the lead in assists last night. But he's an obvious liability out there on interior defense, especially when the clueless Kandi is the one who has to cover for him.

Both of these front court starters rely on KG to compensate for their weaknesses on defense, and when the superstar is playing someone like Camby, who is giving him all he can handle by himself, this team is in trouble. Wally, in the midst of a long-term deal at some $10 million per season, is accountable.

But let's leave on a positive note. Those who haven't seen the game will read that McCants got thrown out after picking up two technical fouls for taunting. They will also read Casey's quote: "I told him he will not play in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform if he wants to be in theatrics." Fine, Casey is right to take a hard line. But the first taunting came because McCants and KG were banging chests and talking smack to each other after a KG dunk. The second one came after McCants dunked over Marcus Camby, one of the most accomplished shot blockers in the league, who was in position to take on McCants. Yeah, the rookie has to learn not to rub it in. But the fact that he even has the opportunity to taunt is a hopeful sign for a ballclub is dire need of athleticism.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 14, 2005 8:32 AM | Comments (3)

 

Another Profitably Idiotic Week

Filed under: Buck the Idiot

Take it to the bank, my friends. The Idiot once again muffed 60 percent of his picks against the spread last week, leaving his overall mark at 38-50-2. Because the college game is where his ineptitude seems most pronounced, you've only got a few more weeks to Buck The Idiot and cash in with your bookie.

On to the picks for Week 7...

ARIZONA minus 13 over Washington.
It's been a lost season for Ty Willingham's Huskies and they're not going to magically find themselves in the desert.

BOSTON COLLEGE minus 4 and a half over North Carolina State.
Hard to imagine BC not covering at home against the obviously inferior Wolfpack.

SOUTH CAROLINA plus 4 over Florida.
The spread has been dropping on this game for good reason. Do you really want to bet against Steve Spurrier when he's getting points at home against his old team?

CLEMSON plus 1 and a half against Florida State.
Another compelling home 'dog. Clemson is a tough place to play, and FSU simply isn't that good this year.

TULANE plus 1 over Rice.
I know the Owls are at home, but any time Rice is favored you've got to go the other way.

CONNECTICUT plus 12 over Pittsburgh.
Just a hunch. This has been a star-crossed year for Dave Wannstedt's Panthers and that's a pretty large number they are laying.

TEXAS A&M plus 13 over Oklahoma.
See above. An Oklahoma team that was supposed to be much better than it is giving up nearly two touchdowns to an inconsistent but respectable opponent.

TEXAS minus 33 over Kansas.
This game has "slaughter" written all over it.

ALABAMA plus 3 over LSU.
Yet another appetizing home underdog. Alabama seems like a team of destiny, at least until they run into Auburn.

and the college "lock"

OREGON minus 4 and a half over Washington State.
Why aren't the Ducks getting any respect? The PAC-10 is among the top three conferences this year and Oregon is 8-1. The Cougars, meanwhile, have lost six in a row.

As for the pros, it's a desultory group of matchups this week, but the NFL has been my bitch the past two weeks, so perk up.

N.Y. GIANTS minus 9 and a half over Minnesota.
Remember what Carson Palmer did to the Vikings secondary in Week 2? Remember how Carolina and Steve Smith picked them apart two weeks ago? Well, Eli Manning and the Jints receivers have been hot all year, and even the injury to Fred "Mute" Smoot won't help the Purple.

ATLANTA minus 9 and a half over Green Bay.
Any pretense the Pack had of sucking it up this season pales next to the fact that they are 1-7, decimated by injuries, and can't even be comforted by the notion they are building for the future--because they aren't.

SAN FRANCISCO plus 13 over Chicago.
It's about time for Kyle Orton to exhibit a little hubris. Expect many turnovers and a close game.

MIAMI plus 3 over New England.
It was a hell of a run for the Pats, but the mystique is over. Their secondary is in a shambles and Nick Saban is too good of a coach not to take advantage. This is the week the wraps come off the passing game.

Last but not least, the NFL "lock:"

KANSAS CITY plus 2 and a half over Buffalo.
Dick Vermeil's decision to go for the touchdown on the final play of last week's win is the sort of thing that makes or breaks a team. Even without Priest Holmes, the Chiefs are primed for a monster game. And they're getting points from the oddsmakers.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 12, 2005 6:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

The Three-Pointer: Sweeping L.A. teams at home

Filed under: Timberwolves

1) A.C. Ascendant.
So far coach Dwane Casey seems to be a man of his word, albeit grudgingly. Casey said defense would be the priority this year, but to live up to that pledge he needs to play Anthony Carter when it matters, which is at odds with his efforts to pare his rotation and massage more tender and/or expensive egos.

After Carter was again the best point guard on the court (stifling defense and 5 of 6 from the field versus the Clips) Monday night, Casey said he did "a magnificent job" and was "like an old blanket; I feel comfortable with him." But against the Lakers Wednesday night, the coach waited until late in the second period, after substantial minutes for both Marko Jaric and Troy Hudson at the point, to insert A.C. in the game. In a span of 3:25, the Wolves promptly went on an 11-3 run, flipping a seven-point deficit into a one-point lead. But when the Lakers went large, Casey substituted Hassell for Carter instead of Hudson. Uh oh.

T-Hud had a pretty good game, but he simply can't guard people with A.C.'s cunning and athleticism. Casey held off until the 9:49 mark of the 4th quarter with the Wolves up 69-63. Nearly five minutes later, with the clock winding down, Carter rose up and blocked Smush Parker's jumper from the corner to compel a 24-second clock violation that was a crucial nail in L.A.'s coffin. He stayed in for the rest of the game, logging an overall game total of 13:14. During that period, the Wolves were plus-16; for the other 34:46, they were minus-2. And Casey had to give it up.

"Anthony Carter is a pitbull," the coach said with open admiration after the game, adding that he'd said before the Lakers tilt that he wanted to cut back on his player rotation and get a core group into a groove. But A.C. refuses to be excised, and to Casey's credit, he recognizes that fact. "He's a gutsy veteran, a tough guy, an acquired taste," the coach said. "Going into the season, I didn't think he'd be our defensive stopper."

2. Ditto Eddie Griffin.

Eddie G. likewise has become a crunch-time stalwart. It is just a matter of time before Casey recognizes that Griffin is a better option than Kandi in both the short-term and long-term. He probably already knows it, but Kandi needs the ongoing confidence boost and right now he's not hurting the team too badly.

Like Carter, Griffin is not seizing time by default, however; he's earning it in his own right. Dude now has a dozen blocks in a mere 109 minutes, and has an uncanny ability to get up on a second jump (usually after being faked into the air) so quickly he at least surprises and intimidates shooters who think he's out of the play. He's more disciplined in terms of his shot selection and his pick-and-roll defense. And he's signed at a bargain rate for the next three years.

3. The rook gets a clue.

I was rightfully rough on Rashad McCants' matador D and narcissistic
offense in Monday's Hang Time column. Since then, he's put together two quality outings, including contentious defense on Kobe Wednesday that indicates he may yet give a shit about guarding people well enough to stay on the floor. And he had a crossover dribble against the Clips that broke at least three ankles. The guy's enormous raw talent is just one of many reasons why the recently ballyhooed triple-point-guard lineup will (or at least should) be a passing fad.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 9, 2005 11:38 PM | Comments (2)

 

Colon. Ick.

Well, it's official. The 28 stuffy old guys (that may or may not be accurate) who comprise the Baseball Writers Association of America have plumbed the bowel-like depths of their baseball expertise and flushed out the name of the best American League pitcher of 2005: Bartolo Colon.

It's not worth my time rehashing how unfair this is to our own Johan Santana; this appreciation of Colon's season (which was outstanding), from MLB.com, does a swell enough job:

"The 2005 season was Colon's finest in the big leagues. His 21 wins (against eight losses) led the AL and his 3.48 ERA was eighth-lowest in the league. Colon was fourth in the AL with a .724 winning percentage and he also placed among the league leaders in strikeouts, innings pitched and both road and night earned run average."

Road and night earned run averages? Seems like a stretch. But I guess it's better than admitting that Colon trails Santana in every other stat besides wins. What a pile of crap.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at November 8, 2005 2:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

Reg-gie! Reg-gie! Come on ... everybody! Reg-gie ...

Filed under: MLB

Reg-gie, Reg- ... er, never mind ...

The official Twins statement on the not-that-bigga news about Mr. October's relentless pursuit of the local nine (notice the semantics of still trying to wheedle a stadium deal):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 4, 2005

TWINS STATEMENT REGARDING REGGIE JACKSON

The Minnesota Twins would like to take this opportunity to confirm that the team did recently receive an unsolicited phone call from Reggie Jackson regarding his interest in acquiring a Major League Baseball team. During the phone conversation Mr. Jackson recounted his four previous efforts to finalize such a transaction and went on to inquire about availability of the Twins franchise. Mr. Jackson was told the Twins are not for sale at this time and that the Twins organization was currently 100 percent focused on working to ensure approval of the Twins-Hennepin County ballpark plan.

While not surprising considering the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the franchise's future, the Twins view the publicity surrounding Mr. Jackson's inquiry as unfortunate. To that end, the Pohlad family and Twins organization want to stress that this story was in no way initiated by the baseball team.

- twinsbaseball.com -

And, as my buddy Dave, a Twins fan now living in LA, e-mails:

He's no Tom Clancy. He's not even a Reggie Fowler. He's a Reggie Jackson, Mr. October. Also a well-known spokesman for the Oversized Eyeglass Association. And he never gave up on the moustache as a classy accessory to every wardrobe and occasion.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at November 4, 2005 5:14 PM | Comments (0)

 

Pigskin Picks for Week 6

Filed under: Buck the Idiot

Blah. Any way you slice it, that's the best word to describe the Idiot's thoroughly pedestrian 7-7-1 mark in last week's games. I could spin it to say that in five weeks of prognostication, only once has the Idiot finished with a winning record on his 15 picks. But the real bottom line is that through five weeks and 75 games, the Idiot's record now stands at 32-41-2. That's not too shabby--if you'd Bucked the Idiot from the start, you'd have a fair piece of change in your pocket--but still short of the 60-80 percent lunacy we've come to expect from our wayward oddsmaker.

Enough of this filibuster. On to week 6...

AIR FORCE minus 11 and a half over Army.
Even the Idiot has a winning record picking against pathetic Army this year.

MISSISSIPPI STATE plus 16 over Alabama.
State gets more than two touchdowns in Starkville, playing a 'bama squad that can't help but look ahead to LSU.

MISSOURI plus 11 and a half over Colorado.
Love Mizzou's QB, who should be a Heisman candidate. The Buffs are at home, but still laying too heavy against a capable opponent.

VANDERBILT plus 19 over Florida.
Another disrespected road 'dog playing a solid, but hardly overwhelming, large school program.

IOWA minus 2 and a half over Northwestern.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a bye week; the Wildcats off a dispiriting loss to Michigan. Bad combination for Northwestern.

MICHIGAN STATE minus 5 over Purdue.
Stick a fork in the Boilermakers. Even as a home 'dog, I can't side with Purdue's defense against the juggernaut Spartan O.

STANFORD plus 33 and a half over USC.
By Jesus, 33-plus is a lot of points. USC is living out a marvelous dynasty, and playing at home, but the Cardinal isn't exactly Duke or Army. USC by no more than 24.

TCU minus 7 over Colorado State
The Horned Frogs are very quietly having a wonderful year. And a mediocre road team like CSU isn't going to interrupt it.

VIRGINIA TECH minus 6 and a half over Miami.
When I heard Miami braying about not getting any respect in the paper today, I knew VT had this one sown up. The Hurricanes are bad boyz; they don't do victimhood unless they know they're in trouble.

College "lock"
WISCONSIN plus 11 over Penn State.
Yes, Happy Valley is a tough place to play. But this is a tossup game at a neutral site, between two quality programs with evenly matched personnel. I think the Badgers may even spring the upset.

And my five NFL picks...

ATLANTA minus 2 and a half over Miami.
I understand the Falcons are on the road and that Vick is dinged. But Atlanta's ability to control the line of scrimmage is worth more than a field goal.

TAMPA BAY plus 1 and a half over Carolina.
This game feels like a tossup any way I look at it. So why not take the home 'dog?

PITTSBURGH minus 3 and a half over Green Bay.
An extremely banged up team against an extremely physical team. Even with no Big Ben on one side and Big Bad Bret on the other, I see the Steelers in a rout.

KANSAS CITY minus 4 and a half over Oakland.
Unless Randy Moss is playing possum, Oakland simply doesn't have the horses (how's that for a mixed mammal metaphor?) to keep pace with the Chiefs at Arrowhead.

Last and probably least, my pro "lock"
CHICAGO minus 3 over New Orleans.
The Vikings thumped the Saints. The Packers thrashed the Saints. It has by now dawned on the Bears that, even with Orton as their signal-caller, they are the class of their division.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 4, 2005 1:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Three-Pointer: Season Opener

Filed under: Timberwolves

After most Wolves' games, I'll pick three points to riff on for as long or as little as I feel like it. In the wake of the Wolves' 90-86 victory over Portland to kick off the 2005-06 season, the topics are Jaric-KG, Casey-McCants, and Miles-NBA All Star Game.

1. Jaric and KG
Coming out for the second half, the Wolves set up Kevin Garnett in the high post and either cut point guard Marko Jaric toward the hoop or had them improvise on potential pick and rolls. In the space of four minutes and nine seconds, Jaric and Garnett assisted on each other's baskets five times, bumping a three-point lead up to nine.

The Clippers blew a lot of ballgames in the 4th quarter last year. When ex-Clipper Jaric gift-wrapped a couple of Portland layups with errant passes that helped whittle the Wolves lead from 7 to 1 with less than three minutes to play againt Portland, the potential deja vu of it all must have been playing a tune on his self-confidence. But in the huddle, Wally Szczerbiak told everybody to keep it simple and get the ball to KG. Garnett canned an outside jumper from just inside the three-point line with 55 seconds to play, and nailed a baby hook over the arms of seven-footer Joel Przybilla 16 seconds later. That was the margin of victory.

Coach Dwane Casey said flat-out that those turnovers "broke our back." But the Wolves limped to victory regardless. Jaric has never had a lifesaver like Garnett for a teammate. What that will do for his confidence over the course of a year is exciting to contemplate. Fools talk about how much KG will miss Sam Cassell. Sam Cassell is really going to miss Kevin Garnett. Meanwhile, Jaric and Anthony Carter provided what may have been the most consistent display of quality perimeter defense out of the point guard slot in Timberwolves history (which unfortunately damns the franchise with faint praise). Garnett will grow to enjoy having this big 6-7 European galoot around.

2. Casey and McCants
In his first-ever victory as a head coach, Dwane Casey gave cocky rookie Rashad McCants enough rope to hang himself three or four times over in the third quarter. McCants kept missing and the Wolves once-huge lead kept shrinking. But the coach wouldn't pull the kid. Nor, in his postgame comments, would he blame him for all those shots. Instead, Casey revealed that he told McCants not to worry so much about his defense that his offensive game suffered. Giving a kid with tons of ability and tons of immaturity the room to start realizing and regulating his own arrogance is a gutsy play by the new honcho. McCants hung himself three times. Casey unwound the rope and told him to keep lassooing.

3. Darius Miles and the NBA All Star Game
Come February, I expect that Miles will selected to his first all star team. He absolutely bedeviled the Wolves last night for 32 points, 11 boards, 5 assists, 5 steals (I counted at least 7) and 3 blocks. He's got the right coach in Nate McMillan, someone who will utilize his length and provide tough love to strengthen his D. Over the summer, it looks like Miles has added an outside jumper. And he just turned 24 last month. Don't know whether he'll be merely a star, or a superstar. But if there's any justice, he'll be an all star at small forward for the western conference in 2006.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 2, 2005 10:52 PM | Comments (11)

 

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