February 2006

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Quick Three-Pointer: Bulled Over

1. The defense restsThe Wolves play again tomorrow at home so I'll be brief tonight. The Wolves yielded 50 points in the paint to a 3-point-shooting team. The Bulls shot 48 percent, and were 36-65 from inside the three-point arc.

The key to Minnesota's success isn't that mysterious. They are 20-10 when they hold their opponent below 45 percent shooting, and 4-22 when they don't. Coach Dwane Casey said he wanted this team to have a defensive identity, and when they were going well, they did. Now the emphasis seems to be on scoring points in transition, which is fun to watch, and may even pay off someday. But the D was painful to watch in Chicago.

The worst offenders (defenders?) tonight were the three starters who are ex-Celtics. Mark Blount looked lost and slow, committing more turnovers than he grabbed rebounds and disappearing in the second half once again, mostly due to foul trouble. Depending on how much you like his game, Ricky Davis was either less selfish or less engaged than he's ever been since arriving a month ago, but in any case had a hell of a time staying with Chicago's squadron of quick, penetrating guards and small forwards. And Marcus Banks has totally confounded the early scouting report on him ever since the Wolves picked him up. The book on Banks was that he defended well but didn't shoot accurately. The opposite again occurred: Banks looked smooth and confident getting his shot, a little less so running the offense, and totally out of sync trying to defend anybody.

2. McCants keeps coming
The rookie had another decent game, going off for 14 points in the second quarter, but, like just about everybody else, his defense took a step back from the acme of the Memphis game. Yet there is no disputing that the guy is a stone delight to watch, so ambidextrous around the hoop and so comfortable in an uptempo offense alongside Banks in the backcourt. A couple weeks back I said that either McCants or Davis needs to be designated a sixth man, a statement that looks wiser all the time (I usually don't resurrect my stupid comments).

3. Premature ejaculation
I probably brought all kinds of porn spam down on this site with that heading, but the past two road games, the Wolves have roared out of the gate and then got wiped out the remainder of the game. Against Washington they at least waited until the second period; tonight, they tossed away a 13-3 lead in 4:26, the time it took Chicago to draw even at 19, and then permanently put Minnesota behind them.

The problem, unfortunately, is perimeter defense. Kirk Hinrich is only the latest backcourt opponent since the Boston trade to utterly roast the Wolves. Because Hinrich is more talented than the Speedy Claxtons, Chucky Atkinses, Demarr Johnsons, and Mike Jameses of the world, he really stuffed the stat sheet, with 30 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and zero turnovers. A blindfolded Sam Cassell couldn't have permitted him more freedom to do whatever he wanted than what the Wolves afforded him.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 28, 2006 11:42 PM | Comments (7)

 

The Three-Pointer: No KG, No Problem

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Leadership
This is going to sound corny, but I still think it's true. For whatever reason, my seat this afternoon happened to be the closest in press row to the end of the Wolves' bench. After a dreadful month (check previous posts for details), Kevin Garnett was having a monster game, just one board and three dimes away from a triple-double at the end of the first half, and his boy Rashad McCants was as happy and animated as I've ever seen him over on the bench.

Then there's the lousy calls and the overblown deal with Garnett hitting a fan with an angry toss (harder than the AP report made it sound, but nothing damaging) and getting tossed himself. And the Timberwolves grit it out, turning back every Memphis challenge in what turns out to be a tense, physical second half.

But the revelation is McCants. After the Grizzlies have hacked a nine-point lead down to a digit during the first 4 and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, McCants drains a big three to give the Wolves some breath back and adds a transition layup 80 seconds later. Knowing McCants, that's not that special. But then, with five minutes to go and the Wolves up 6, Memphis wisely decides to exploit Pau Gasol's quickness against Mark Blount out on the wing. Gasol fakes out Blount, heads for the hoop, and gets absolutely clocked on a brutally hard but beautifully clean foul by none other than Rashad McCants. As Gasol touches his lips to check for blood, McCants casually strolls toward the bench for further advice, unfazed by the collision.

Next time down the floor, exact same play, exact same result vis a vis Gasol and Blount, only McCants is there on the baseline rotation before Gasol can even spin to face the hoop, grabbing the ball and forcing a jump-ball situation, which the Wolves improbably win when Marcus Banks grabs the tap and Bobby Jackson fouls him. Banks hits one of two free throws, a three-point swing, given that Gasol easily could have scored without McCants's defense. And that is the first time I can remember McCants doing an important "little thing" at crunch time to help his team win.

Here's the corny part. I don't think it is a coincidence that McCants played harder and smarter after Garnett went down. Coach Casey and Banks both said that losing their superstar gave the team extra motivation--"youngsters wanting to do well for the big brother," is the way Casey put it--but you just felt it from McCants. And that's leadership: When McCants was laying rotten egg after egg throughout December, and rumors were that coaches would sit and talk to him for extended periods, watch him make the same mistakes and come away shaking their heads, the rookies dependence on the superstar's blessing (or, not shunning) to retain his sanity became a palpable thing. This is not to put McCants in a sympathetic light, because he has underachieved too greatly and too often thus far this year. But whatever KG was doing or saying was making a huge impact on McCants, and when Garnett and the Wolves needed him this afternoon, he came up back with his most complete performance--12 points on 9 shots, two steals, two blocks, zero turnovers, and, believe it or not, decent defense--of the season.

And, parenthetically, we also saw a huge upgrade in Ricky Davis's defense, especially at crunch time when he was denying Mike Miller the ball. McCants is a rookie still finding his way; Davis has no such excuse. I don't expect him to play with the dogged all-out spirit he showed at crunchtime today, but something halfway between that and inept coverage his short attention span on D has provided Minnesota since the trade would go a long way toward shoring up this team.

2. A gentleman on the sidelines
Watching the refs make a series of what seemed to be ridiculously bad calls versus Minnesota in the third period (the fouls leading up to the KG incident were just a piece of the incompetence), I recalled Peter Weinhold's complaint a few weeks back about Casey not sticking up for his team, and found myself wishing that he'd get a technical to highlight the ineptitude taking place. But when I asked the coach after the game whether he'd considered a "strategic technical" at that point, his answer was firm.

"That philosophy doesn't work in this league," the coach replied. "I don't believe in that philosophy. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Then he went on to say that he knew and respected lead ref Bob Delaney and his crew and wouldn't do something to purposefully show them up.

I don't know if I agree with him or not--I guess if forced to choose, I do believe there is a place for strategic T's and I think they can be effective--but I appreciate that it is part and parcel of who Casey is. When Charles Barkley was ripping the Wolves earlier this season and Casey was asked what he thought about it, I remember being struck by the tact and dignity of his reply. At that time, Casey said he liked and appreciated Barkley as a person but that he "respectfully disagreed" with what Barkley was saying. And so, to have it both ways, I guess I'm "respectfully disagreeing" with Casey's take on earning technicals.

3. Banks is da man...unless the roulette wheel changes again.
Today was the first time Marcus Banks was the Wolves' starting point guard. It won't be the last. Casey's direct postgame quote was, "Marcus Banks is going to be our starting point guard until he plays his way out of it, and right now he's doing an excellent job." Now if the Wolves can only sign him at the end of the season.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 27, 2006 12:08 AM | Comments (17)

 

The Three-Pointer: This Team Can't Close

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Ineffective timeouts
After last night's heartbreaking 102-101 overtime loss to Denver, the Strib's Steve Aschburner asked Coach Dwane Casey if he was satisfied by the team's play coming out of the Wolves's timeouts, and mentioned that it seemed as if they couldn't get good shots. Casey was genuinely surprised, said he'd have to go look at the tape but that he was satisfied that his squad was "getting good looks" out of his timeout situations.

The game log backs Aschburner, especially in the second half. It began in the 3rd quarter, when the Wolves turned the ball over the only two times in the period when they had possession coming out of a timeout. But their crunchtime performance was simply horrible. I'll just give you the log.

At 1:02 left in the game and Denver down a point, Casey calls timeout. At 49 seconds, Ricky Davis misses a jumper. At 45 seconds and the score tied at 88, Casey calls a timeout. At 39 seconds, Ricky Davis turns the ball over. At 18 seconds and the score still tied, Casey calls a 20-second timeout. Kevin Garnett airballs a jumper from the top of the key.

On to overtime. With 57 seconds left and Denver up by 4, Casey calls a timeout. At 47 seconds, Marcus Banks turns the ball over. And finally with 3 seconds left and the Nugs up by 1, Casey calls a timeout for the do-or-die play. KG's desperation jumper hits the side of the backboard. Game over.

That's seven second-half timeouts, resulting in four turnovers, two jumpers that didn't hit the rim, and, best result, a missed jumper that actually hit iron.

February is KG's cruelest month
I know its sacrilegious, and no one should ever accuse me of being anything other than a diehard Kevin Garnett fan, but he's put up two lousy (by his standards at least) games in a row. That he was able to get off for only 15 points against Antawn Jamison (a guy who usually eats for lunch) and the Wizards Tuesday, registering a whopping minus-18 along the way, might be chalked up to All Star game fatigue. But against Denver, and Francisco Elson, the doofus who made that "gay" crack about KG during the playoffs two years ago, KG was likewise inert. Nevertheless he was able to get Elson into early foul trouble, which only brought on an old nemesis, Kenyon Martin, who twice got past KG for crucial tip-ins or slams during crunch time last night.

Garnett's shooting percentage is slowly slipping, but of even more concern, he's been prone to defensive lapses in the past few games, and when that happens, this team is screwed. Bottom line, in the past 9 games, the Wolves are minus-79 when KG is on the court and plus-16 when he sits. As unbelievable as that sounds--Minnesota being a markedly better team for an extended period of time without KG than with him--it is exactly what happened last February. Although it was lost among the hubbub of the coaching change from Flip to McHale, Garnett was minus-72 in 13 February games in 2005, when the team's overall figure was minus-62, or plus-10 when he sat.

Maybe this is just the time he hits the wall. In any case, McHale made it a priority to limit his minutes below 40 unless the game absolutely was on the line. Casey would be wise to follow suit, if for no other reason than he plays a boatload of guys in his ever-changing rotations and it might be nice to keep them all play-ready shape for a change.

3. Ex-Celtics update
Here's a quick and dirty take on the four ex-Celts recently, in alphabetical order.

Marcus Banks--Still has dazzling skill set, still has a hell of a lot to learn. When I'm assigned a courtside seat, I'm often next to scouts, and occasionally I can chat them up. Last night, a scout who shall remain anonymous stated flatly that Banks was "not a point guard." And when Banks drove the lane and kicked it back--right into the arms of an opponent--he added, "see what I mean? How many times has he made a bad pass like that tonight--three? You can't do that. You'll kill your team."

Banks also was cited by KG, if I understood him right, as missing the assignment on the game's final play, which resulted in Garnett jacking up an off-balance jumper that had no chance of going in, despite the Wolves in-bounding with 3.4 seconds on the clock. Still, he shot 8-13 from the floor, and has the jets to blow by people and to stay with Earl Boykins. He seemed particularly effective last night playing alongside Marko Jaric, who was miraculously back from the dead. (As a quick aside, Coach Casey said last night that Jaric had his intensity--his "mojo," Casey called it--back, which is why he was back in the rotation. That the trading deadline came and went and that apparently untradeable Jaric still has five years left on the contract after this apparently had nothing to do with his returning to the playing rotation...just like the knee injury that disabled Jaric despite his claim that he could have played the past seven games. As members of the media, we're supposed to dutifully accept these specious claims to mojo and not look at the things Casey, McHale and Taylor are really discussing behind closed doors. Give me a break.)

Mark Blount--The second half of last night's game was the best minutes Blount has provided since he arrived. Counting the overtime, he launched eight shots in 24:51, hitting three but also going to the line four times en route to 9 second half points--with zero turnovers! Contrast that to just one shot in 15:16 first half minutes, which, counting the Washington game, gave him three shots in over 40 minutes covering six periods of play.

Blount needs to be regarded like Wally Szczerbiak back when Wally didn't play defense and couldn't put the ball on the floor. Okay, Blount can't shoot nearly as well as Wally either, but the point is, he needs to get spacing away from KG and then launch some catch-and-shoot jumpers to see if he's on. If he is, more space for Garnett to operate. If he isn't, hopefully he goes to the bench. But if he has open looks and doesn't go into turnover mode (meaning trying to do anything but catch the ball and get rid of it), he can be a serviceable big man. No Eddie Griffin, but serviceable.

Ricky Davis--Denver's Demarr Johnson going off for a season-high 17 points last night is only the latest evidence that Davis seems, shall we say, indifferent to the concept of persistent defense whether or not his man has the ball. And as Bill Simmons pointed out in his very comical inept GM summit linked here in the group of comments to the last three-pointer, Davis has launched more shots than KG in all but two of the games the duo have played together now. Can anybody imagine Davis playing for Detroit, San Antonio, or any other defensive ballclub? Is Dwane Casey really trying to establish a defensive mentality here? Then why don't the answers to those two questions mesh?

Justin Reed--It is looking more and more like the two "throw-ins" of the deal, Banks and Reed, are the most valuable commodities. McHale and Chapman have big-upped Banks plenty, of course, but Reed is likewise a potential sapphire in the rough (he doesn't have the skills to be a diamond). His past two games have been glorious to behold, goosed with grit and blue-collar savvy that finds him delivering the hard foul, taking it to the hole, setting picks, and rotating hard on defense. He's especially good at covering for McCants and Banks on defense (preferably the zone, where you can scramble more surreptitiously). He possesses elements of Fred Hoiberg and Mark Madsen, both pro and con, but isn't it funny how all three somehow manage to post pretty good plus/minus figures when they're on the court. Brains and a nonstop motor are funny that way.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 25, 2006 4:32 PM | Comments (7)

 

The Three-Pointer: Without A Clue

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. 46 points in 36 minutes
That's what the Timberwolves scored in the final three quarters of their disheartening 78-90 loss to the Washington Wizards tonight. The team's offense has steadily declined, averaging fewer points per game in each succeeding month since November. And anyone not driven to somnambulance by their putrid play can see why.

Begin with no ball movement. Precious few are the times when the Wolves make more than two or three passes once they have passed the half court line, and even then the passes are rarely proactive, probing, purposeful. This team doesn't attack with the pass, and after nine years of Flip Saunders it is a shocking contrast. They also don't exhibit good spacing on the court, lack a victorious quorum of reliable hands to catch whatever passes do happen to be doled out, and run a thoroughly unimaginative collection of offensive sets. Other than that, everything's fine.

What's especially troubling about the lack of offense is that it seems to stem from dysfunction. The team's top two scorers are both fine passers and relatively unselfish. And despite all the one-on-one basketball that occurs in place of deft passing, the Wolves rarely get to the free throw line. So why aren't the pieces fitting together?

Even the 32 points Minnesota registered in the first quarter tonight didn't stem from a capable offense. Clearly the Wizards came out flat, missing a lot of shots and not really getting back on defense. The Wolves turned those lapses into a few spurts of transition scoring, with Anthony Carter setting an uptempo pace. When the transition game bogged down, Ricky Davis simply launched jumpers that went in. In other words, even in the first quarter it was very rare for the Wolves to score by executing a set play in the half-court game.

So, again, why aren't the pieces fitting together? I repeat the question because I'm tired of ripping Coach Dwane Casey but I frankly don't know where else to ascribe the blame. I do know that Kevin Garnett owns few players in this league like he owns Antawn Jamison and yet KG received a bare minimum of touches in the 9-point second quarter. I know that if you start Mark Blount at center it is because you want to emphasize offense, and I assume you want KG and Blount to be spaced a fair distance apart. So why was KG constantly double-teamed, yet Blount was limited to just two shots, and no points, in 25 minutes?

Yeah, there are glaring limitations among the personnel. AC can't shoot, and so when the fast break falters, teams slough off him and double others. Ricky Davis loves to jack up shots early in the shot clock. Marcus Banks has loads of physical potential but continues to face a steep learning curve in terms of his passing decisions and general floor leadership. And Mark Blount has lousy hands.

The plan tonight seemed to involve a lot of lob passes to the big men down low. Why not set KG up in the high post, Hassell in the low post, and Blount and Davis on the wings. Run everything through Garnett and sling that rock back and forth. In particular, stop making Davis the fulcrum of the offense in the half-court sets. As well as he passes, he simply doesn't involve people with the same resolute democracy KG sponsors. Since the Boston trade, Garnett's assist total has plummeted. So has the won-lost record. There's a connection there. And if you can't figure out a way to get Blount more than two shots in 25 minutes, what the hell is he doing out there?

2. Anoint Davis or McCants 6th man.
Davis proved in Boston last year that he could be a dependable microwave as sixth man. Sitting him at the start of games would get the ball going through KG immediately, which is always a good thing. And while I understand the disastrous potential of starting McCants, I think this team is now hopelessly bereft enough to lose all pretense about this year and make the future the priority. Opening up with McCants and Banks in the backcourt with KG, Griffin, and Hassell to clean up their mess on defense would probably be a feast or famine proposition, depending on McCants's attitude and Banks's off-and-on ability to stay with his man, but does anyone doubt that the Wolves hope this is their backcourt of the future? And if that is indeed the plan, what the hell are we waiting for?

3. Let's make a deal.
The trading deadline is Thursday. The Wolves have a plethora of ugly contracts--Blount, Hudson, and Jaric foremost among them--that probably can't be unloaded. Personally, I think KG is the only player who isn't expendable. Even players with beguiling potential, like Banks, Griffin, and McCants, or talented performers with fair contracts, like Davis, should be included in any swap that helps this team get a clue, which might even lead to a plan, which in turn could actually lead to trying to execute that plan, and then, just maybe, successfully executing that plan.

What is the plan now; lock up Banks when his deal expires at the end of this year and simply eat the $12 million per year you are paying Jaric and Hudson to supposedly play the point? Foster gradually increased minutes for McCants, and, if so, at the expense of Davis or Hassell? Let Eddie Griffin rot on the bench?

Wolves fans deserve a braintrust--Taylor, McHale, Chapman, Casey, whoever--that cooperatively works with a unified strategy about how to rebuild on the fly. They deserve to see that this franchise has a clue about how far off the tracks this things has gotten.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 22, 2006 12:15 AM | Comments (23)

 

The Three-Pointer: A Win Before The Break

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. What a concept: Team defense
For the first time in nearly a month--I peg it to January 20 when they beat Indiana 90-85--the Wolves won a game on the strength of their defense. They utilized more full-court pressure than at any time this season, and played a very tough, physical style of the sort opponents once deployed to take down Minnesota back in their Brandon-Rasho-KG softness days.

When Ricky Davis and Trenton Hassell can outscore Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, you know good things are going to happen. Because I've been ripping his defense pretty much nonstop since he arrived, special kudos go to Ricky Davis, not because he was a star on D, but because he played his customary strong game on offense--25 points, 5 assists--and hustled, followed the schemes, and rarely committed the lapses that pockmarked his play of late at the other end of the court.

The plan was to rotate hard into double teams on Ray Allen whenever he touched the ball, and it worked very well. Allen had 23 on 10-19 from the field, but didn't dish for a single assist or attempt a single free throw (the latter stat had Seattle interim coach Bob Hill hopping mad, but the whistle belongs to the more aggressive team and tonight it was Minnesota). According to Trenton Hassell, the plan was for him and Davis to switch on Allen and Lewis whenever appropriate, which is what they did in the first half, when Allen had 14 and Lewis just 2, on 1-4 shooting. In the second half, Hassell told Davis he'd take Allen everywhere, with good results. Along with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen is someone Trenton just seems to defend well, and although he had plenty of help, let the record show that in the second half, Hassell matched Allen's 9-point production and added three dimes besides. Meanwhile, Davis shut out a lethargic Lewis from the field, reducing him to 6-6 from the line.

Hassell and Davis are the top two salutes, but another tip of the cap belongs to Dwane Casey for a good scheme. Now, it is true that Casey knows the Sonics personnel better than anyone on the Sonics current bench now that both Nate McMillan and Bob Weiss are gone, and it is no coincidence that two of the past three wins for this squad have been familiarity-related, if you count the ex-Celts trouncing Boston a couple weeks back.

But the bottom line is that Casey had his troops swarming and active--on the border of being chaotic, which oddly enough seems to be one of the ways this team gets itself in rhythm. Seattle is a team that averages 102 points per game (they also give up 107 on average, which is why the Wolves 102 point performance is not that noteworthy); in addition, Minnesota turned the ball over a whopping 20 times, resulting in 26 points off of turnovers (minus-12 compared to their 14 points off Seattle's 20 turnovres), which means that the regular half court D (expanded to full court pressure) was that much more effective in limiting the Sonics to just 92 overall.

2. The McCants yo-yo
Now that Marko Jaric has been exiled to the hind forest of nether oblivion, the player who yanks my hate-love meter most is the gifted, taciturn rookie, Rashad McCants. Casey shrewdly went out of his way to cite him for some postgame praise tonight. First of all, McCants is no longer playing like it's him and nine other guys on the court--or, if he's in a generous mood, him, KG, and eight other guys. He understands there are actual teammates with their own skill sets and egos, actual plays and assignments to follow, and actual defenders with NBA-quality athleticism trying to stop him. I think part of it is that he has weathered the blizzard, the upgrade and synergy of the pace and the physicality that all but the elite rookies must adapt to. Rather than just fending with coping, he's beginning to have court vision with perspective, at both ends of the court. His shot selection tonight was very good, and consequently he was getting good dishes from his teammates. He ran the floor well and found his man on defense as often as he lost him--sincerely, that's progress. And the reward is that Rashad is starting to sniff more quality minutes, beyond the second quarter ghetto. He was a respectable minus-2 in 16:03 tonight, including plus-4 in his 5:03 stint in the 4th quarter.

There was also one play where Marcus Banks fired the ball toward him and it sailed into the crowd instead. McCants made very little effort to reach out and snag it, and probably would have been unsuccessful if he tried. But Banks obviously made a face, or maybe even said something, because McCants made a "I can't believe you think I could have gotten that pass" look that was at once utterly exasperated and totally childish. It's one of those tiny things that you see out of McCants on a fairly regular basis. Do they mean anything? That he's young, definitely. That he's a head case, only as supporting evidence, and the main evidence had better be compelling.

I'm content to admit I don't really have a clue about what makes McCants tick, and I pride myself on parsing rebels, or otherwise against-the-grain players. But I am pretty sure that the negatives don't fuel the positives; that if McCants decided to buckle down and subsume himself to the team game, it wouldn't curb his incredible talent to the point of negation. At the risk of sounding like Archie Bunker, if the kid gets his head screwed on straight, I think he really has a chance to be very very good; but otherwise, the sort of ongoing enigma who winning franchises like San Antonio and Detroit pride themselves on weeding out.

3. Let's feed the big man outside
No, not KG, who can get his own shot plenty well, and did a superb job of dishing out of double and triple teams. If this were hockey, where more than one assist is allowed, Garnett would have had a dozen dimes instead of a paltry two; over and over he made the pass that made the pass that made the basket possible.

But I'm talking about Mark Blount, who rose up and hit a 20-footer with KG on the bench and the Wolves down 8 with 2:09 left in the first period; keying a 8-0 run that tied the score at the buzzer. It was the first time in a long while I remember Blount sticking a shot like a shooting guard, and when he first arrived, it was pretty obvious that that was his primary attribute. I understand that the plan tonight was to attack the basket, and the Wolves did go the line 35 times as a reward for following that edict. Blount had four of those free throws, along with 8 boards in 27 minutes. But it would be nice to see him free up space in the paint by luring big men out with that smooth jumper.

And while we're at it--consider this a bonus 4th point--the other two ex-Celts also had fine nights. Justin Reed chipped in a solid 10:27 in which he was plus-2, and Marcus Banks split time almost exactly with Anthony Carter at the point, but finished plus-10 in his 24:02 versus AC's break-even 23:58.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 15, 2006 10:59 PM | Comments (26)

 

Timberwolves comment area--Toronto game

Filed under: Timberwolves

Britt Robson wrote a Hang Time column for today and thus won't be posting a Three-Pointer on tonight's Wolves-Raptors game. But he is anxious to hear what you have to say about it.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 13, 2006 6:39 PM | Comments (20)

 

The Three-Pointer: Mystery and Malaise

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Mystery
What is Coach Dwane Casey up to? I'm dead serious about this. What is the plan? After last night's game, Casey said it was to develop into an uptempo, transition-oriented team. Well, tonight Minnesota outrebounded the Hornets 54-35, including 36-6 on the defensive boards, the first crucial step when you want to run. With Marko Jaric joining Troy Hudson on the injured and inactive list (as if a bum knee was the major impediment to Jaric's playing time), the Wolves played quick-tempo point guards Carter or Banks the entire game. Quick tempo guard Ricky Davis logged a team-high 45 minutes. Quick tempo front court players Justin Reed and Mark Madsen were both over 20 minutes. And the Wolves had exactly nine fast break points.

The Wolves are no more an uptempo team than they are a defensive oriented team. Remember that one, how Casey was going to emphasize defense? Tell it to New Orelans's starting backcourt of Speedy Claxton and Kirk Snyder. While slightly better than Utah's Milt Palacio and Keith McLeod, it's not regarded among the league's elite, even when rookie of the year candidate Chris Paul is healthy enough to play the point. Well, fifth-year veteran Claxton had 28, one off his career high. Snyder likewise had 28, which *was* his career high. It so happens that the Wolves best perimeter defender, Trenton Hassell, didn't play in the 4th quarter. When asked why he didn't use both Hassell and Reed in order to slow down the high-scoring backcourt, Casey said he wanted to keep Ricky Davis in for offense. Ricky Davis, for those of you who don't watch the Wolves and just listen to inaccurate descriptions from the VP of Basketball Operations, can't play defense.

I didn't even bother to ask Casey why Eddie Griffin wasn't playing. The time for that query may have been when Casey was describing how Marcus Banks and "the big man" were blowing the assignments on pick and rolls involving Claxton down the stretch. With the Wolves up by 2, 90-88, with 2:11 left, everybody knew Claxton--who finished with 21 points and 4 assists in the second half alone--would trigger the offense. Sure enough, in the space of 72.5 seconds, he hit two long jumpers and fed Snyder for a trey. 90-95 with less than a minute left. 27 seconds later he hit another long jumper. Ballgame. Mark Blount played the entire 4th quarter and was usually the "big man" miscommunicating with Banks on those pick and rolls. Eddie Griffin is the guy ranked among the top 10 in the league in blocks, the one who never got off the bench. Tell me again how this is a defensive oriented ballclub?

If you say you are an uptempo ballclub, you should be able to score more than 9 points in transition off of 36 defensive rebounds. If you say you are a defensive ballclub, you shouldn't demonstrate the coaching equivalent of contempt for guys like Eddie Griffin and Marko Jaric, who, if used properly, can be defensive weapons. And you do not become enamored of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount, who will ruin your defensive schemes five times for every time they bolster it.

Every game brings a new mystery as to what Dwane Casey is doing. If he has a plan, it is not only not working, it is not apparent. Except for 27 missing seconds for Reed, all four guys acquired from the Celtics played the entire 4th quarter tonight. Here is what Casey said about the game: "We had a quality game...the guys came to win except the execution closing out the game...I like the way we came together down the stretch." By "the stretch" I presume he meant the 15-2 run in the first 6 minutes of the 4th quarter and not the 12-20 implosion in the last 6 minutes of the 4th quarter.

2. The malaise
Over the past 32 games, Minnesota has the worst record of any team in the Western Conference, at 10-22. The last time this franchise was 6 games below .500, Kevin Garnett was a teenager. The one-year anniversary of Flip Saunders' firing is upon us.

3. Not the same page
It is very hard to believe that Kevin McHale and Dwane Casey would have much affection for each other right now. Those in a position to know within the organization confirm that McHale's guy was PJ Carlissimo. When he was coaching, McHale expressed a preference for "smashmouth basketball," especially by pounding the ball down in the paint. Tonight, Kevin Garnett hit his first shot, a little six-foot turnaround jumper. The rest of the game he went 5-17 from the field (1-9 in the second half), with his nearest make coming from 18 feet out. Kevin McHale traded Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric--after getting the Clips to lock him in on a six-year sign-and-trade deal-- and a first round pick. While Cassell leads the Clips to the playoffs, Jaric is an emotional wreck, questioning Casey's treatment of him, and in the doghouse beside Griffin. The best games we have seen from Ricky Davis and Marcus Banks were the first ones they played for this team. Any more tutelage and they'll have to be sent down to the instructional league.

This was a very good time to take the pulse of the Timberwolves. They have home games against a trio of opponents--Utah, NO/OC, and upcoming against Seattle--that figure in with the Lakers and Golden State as their primary competition for that final playoff spot. They have now lost two of those games.

The break for the all star game weekend is usually a time when struggling franchises assess what is going wrong and come up with a plan to address it, either by trades or firings or resignations or substitution changes. It will be interesting to see what owner Glen Taylor thinks of all this.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 11, 2006 11:17 PM | Comments (9)

 

The Three-Pointer: Tough Transition or Simply A Shambles?

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Upping the tempo
I don't understand Coach Dwane Casey's substitution patterns, and haven't for weeks and weeks now. The massive movement of personnel arising from the Boston deal has only muddled things further.
But to his credit, after tonight's confused and confusing loss to a Utah squad that is less talented but much better self-identified than the collection of individuals on the Wolves, Casey gave me a clear and succinct answer when I asked him what this team is trying to do and where it is trying to go.

In fact the coach seemed eager and pleased to be able to reveal that it was in the midst of transforming from a primarily half-court team to one that is much more uptempo and transition-oriented. That explains the insertion of AC and Mad Dog in the starting lineup (two-thirds of the much dreamed-of, little realized "go go trio" of Carter, Madsen and Szczerbiak that I'd wished Flip and then McHale and then Casey would play as a pace-changer over the past year and a half). But, as Casey explained, there were growing pains involved in this transition and you couldn't get away with it by playing foolishly and turning over the basketball.
I frankly didn't have the heart to press the coach on why, of all four ex-Celts, he didn't then play Justin Reed, who is born to rumble in an uptempo back-and-forth tussle where cleaning up missed layups and laying out flying penetrators is the name of the game.
Casey has at least announced an intention--to play more uptempo and get away from the traditional half-court mentality that has defined this team's offense for a decade or more. Guys who cover Casey on a regular basis say that he's been talking uptempo all season, but I think the athletes he got from the Celts and the expanded roles of AC and Madsen indicate that this is a fresh, more concerted push in that direction. And with this clearer communication we can now see whether the coach has the courage of his convictions to complete this identity transformation, or whether he's scrambling to come up with something amidst a total shambles. Rather than rant, rip, and second-guess in the face of a truly dreadful loss, then, I'm going to keep the powder dry and merely make two quick observations before letting you guys take over.

2. Blount as albatross
For the second game in a row, bringing in Mark Blount was a recipe for doom. He fouled out in 18 minutes of play. He was minus-5 in nine and half minutes of the first half, then was substituted at exactly the wrong moment in the 3rd quarter, after the Wolves had struggled back from an 11-point halftime deficit to be down 3, 53-56, with 5:41 to go in the third. Boom! Over the next four minutes, Utah outscored Minnesota 5 to 14 to pump the lead back to 58-70. Game essentially over.
Blount's stints are depressingly reminiscent of Rashad McCants's horrible second quarters in December, when his time on the court invariably put Minnesota in a hole they couldn't ever escape. The difference is that McCants is a rook making relative peanuts for a relatively short period of time and Blount is an established vet who will be making a king's ransom in 2011.

3. Davis manhandled by Harpring
Let's all repeat this once again: Ricky Davis is not a better defender than Wally Szczerbiak, especially when he has to match up with larger, bruising small forwards. Harpring laid Davis and pretty much everyone else to waste in the second quarter, when Utah seized control of the game, scoring 14 points (en route to 25 overall) in the second period alone while Davis was 0-5 from the field. Again, it would have been nice to see Lenin emerge from the sidelines. But I'm holding my tongue for awhile.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 10, 2006 10:33 PM | Comments (7)

 

The Three-Pointer: Zoned Out

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Centers of Attention
(Apologies for the late post. My fabled computer skills kicked in last night when I had my website open in one area while amending the site in another. Result: Wiped out copy and a trudge to bed.)

By starting Madsen and AC against Phoenix, Casey was sending the message that passion, movement without the ball, playing team D and feeding KG were the priorities. Right message, right opponent, right result. I cringed when I saw Mad Dog remain in the starting lineup versus Ilgauskas last night, thinking that Griffin was the superior option. When it was over, I had to concede that Madsen had played a whale of a game, and increasingly understand why he's getting steady minutes.

First of all, Mad Dog is hands down the best pick and roll defender among our pivotmen. He extends out farther, shows harder and more consistently, and understands when to foul when he's beat and when to let the guy go. On the boards, he's begun to emulate KG's tip drill, with his own wrinkle of knowing he can rarely tip it to himself, so he either directs it to a teammate or tries to knock it out of bounds off an opponent. And it's fairly effective. And the gusto with which he boxes out is almost comedic--demolition derby, sometimes extending two or three seconds after the ball has already gone through the hoop. He hip-checked Donyell Marshall into the stanchion beneath the basket after a made foul shot last night. Is he an extremely limited talent? Yup. But it is hard not to like him, especially after the stink of Golden State.

I'm not going to beat a dead horse regarding Casey's apparent disdain for the contributions of Eddie Griffin, but I do need to dust the scene of the crime for the coach's fingerprints on this loss, and they go straight to opting for Blount over Griffin when Madsen went to the sidelines. The first time it happened, the Wolves were up 19-6 with 5:17 left in the period. Z had a mere four points and the Wolves were kicking ass on the boards (the Cavs first rebound was four minutes into the game). By the time Blount sat with 9:47 left in the second quarter, the 13-point lead had been downsized to 4. In the space of 3 minutes overlapping the first and second periods, Blount committed two fouls and the Cavs rang up three lay-ups and a slam dunk. Only when Blount was tagged with his third foul did Casey go to Griffin, who didn't play that well, but also didn't sabotage his squad by spectating in the paint as quicker, more industrious opponents snatched offensive boards and executed lay-ups. The Wolves were plus-2 in EG's 6:40 (his only PT of the night), and minus-5 the rest of the second quarter.

In the second half, same deal: Blount in for Madsen at 5:04 of the third period with the Wolves up 2, 62-60. When the period was over, the Wolves were down 5, 71-76. If you're scoring at home, that's minus-16 (in a game Minnesota lost by 6) for Mark Blount, in 12:34 of play. The Cavs scored 38 points in those 12:34, versus 59 points in the 35:26 he was mercifully benched. He had zero points, one rebound.
BTW, by far the largest advantage Chris Wilcox has over Eddie Griffin is his shooting accuracy. Their size, age, salary, are all roughly similar. Griffin, of course, is a far superior shot-blocker, and, in my opinion, has a much bigger upside. But the point is, didn't we just swallow Mark Blount's huge contract to have a cohort for KG who could put the ball in the hoop? Griffin for Wilcox would have been misguided before the trade for Blount was made. Now that Blount will be sucking up salary cap space for another millenium or two, with his lone proven skill being the accuracy of his jumper, sacrificing Griffin for Wilcox would be asinine, especially for a team that supposedly wants to establish a defensive identity.

2.Hasselling LBJ
Ricky Davis poured in 33 last night, and KG corralled 18 boards and chipped in 21. I thought Trenton Hassell was Minnesota's MVP.

What makes LeBron James a player who merits watching to see if he can reach the heights of the two greatest NBA swingmen in history, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson, is his sheer inexorability. I'm not even sure that's a word, but it's as good as any to describe the combination of strength and willpower that makes LeBron such a relentless force on the court. Well, last night, Trenton Hassell compelled LBJ to shoot less than 33% (11-34 FG). He did it in pure Hassell style, not bothering to go for steals (LBJ had zero turnovers!), but steadfastly moving his feet and sticking out his chest so that he was always between his man and the basket. Against a foe like LeBron, that is practically impossible.

I think James had a bit of an off night. He seemed a tad disinterested in the first quarter while his team was tanking, and he didn't have a great shooting eye. Other players performed yeoman service on him when the defense rotated or Hassell sat, most notably Lenin-Reed and KG. All that said, during the 40+ minutes Hassell and James were on the court together, there were at least 25 possessions where LBJ had the ball out on the wing in the relatively open half-court, and, unless the Cavs engaged someone else via a pick-and-roll, the Wolves eschewed traps and double-teams and let Hassell handle it on his own. I recommend that high school and college coaches get footage and show their troops what classic on-ball defense looks like, and what can be accomplished even when you are guarding an opponent who is superior in size, skills, and quickness.

Those of you who frequent this board to hector me and the other posters about the Wolves lost season and how they don't have a chance, they suck, etc. ad nauseum, just don't get it. How Minnesota fares is the ostensible topic, I know, but in essence, it really is about this being just a beautiful, beautiful game for its combination of athletic, balletic grace, cognitive strategy, and sheer grit and guts. You never know when you're going to be ambushed by a particularly sterling example of that, but you want to be around when it happens. Hassell versus LBJ last night was one of those times.

3.Oh yeah, the zone
The way the Cavs' zone frustrated the Wolves was my first point during last night's aborted posting of the Three Pointer, but now that the beat writers have hit print (the Strib even matches my headine--mediocre minds think alike...) and Asch and Rick Alonzo have cited the same KG quotes I was using (and in greater detail), I'll be more succinct.

Yes, Minnesota misses the long bombs of Szczerbiak, Hudson, Frahm, and Cassell and Hoiberg, for that matter. In terms of pure form, I happen to think Marcus Banks has promise as a three-point shooter; Ricky Davis less so; McCants maybe so; and Marko Jaric, should he ever emerge from the witness protection program, can pick his spots. You can also attack a zone with penetration, or probe it with crisp passing and pseudo penetration that creates open midrange jumpers.

What was most significant about the Cavs zone to me last night was how much KG fixated on it (Casey too, but less so) after the game. One of the posters to this site has already noted that the Wolves don't dish the rock as much as they did under Flip, and I would argue that, unless you want to hand the keys to Banks and tell him to use his speed and freelance, the best way for the Wolves to combat the zone is to put KG sufficiently far enough out on the high post that the opposing big man is drawn there too. If he doesn't come out, let Garnett burn them from 17 feet out, where he seems as reliable as Peja or Ray Allen--no joke. If the bigs do creep up, back door cuts for Davis and Hassell, who both are pretty fair passers in their own right and can make the extra dish from the baseline to the teammate cutting down the middle.

Bottom line, I think Minnesota has the tools to combat the zone if they just play smart and use their ability. The tools are standard-issue: move the ball, move without the ball, and make them pay with the first good open shot you see. Last night the shots weren't going down. Of course when your three best scoring options are a guy who didn't sit in the second half (KG), a guy who jacked up 29 shots, including 12 in the first quarter (Davis) and a guy who chased LeBron all night (Hassell), fatigue is going to be a factor. And on a team where, after the superstar, the talent differential between #2 and #10 isn't that great, the coach needs to substitute wisely enough to prevent that fatigue.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 8, 2006 11:15 PM | Comments (30)

 

Wolves-Suns comments

Filed under: Timberwolves

Britt Robson taped the game for later viewing and won't be able to comment on the Wolves upset win over Phoenix. But he's anxious to hear your thoughts.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 6, 2006 11:23 PM | Comments (39)

 

The Three-Pointer: Rock Bottom

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Stupid and Lazy
The Timberwolves just lost by 32 to a squad that had lost 11 out of 14. Their shot selection was atrocious, combining a lack of patience with a lack of judgment with a lack teamwork to yield a loooonnnnggg series of too-quick jumpers that short-circuited ball movement and resembled nothing so much as a pick-up game among once-cool small-town high school ballers now trying to stave off a paunch and rewind the clock by attempting things that are beyond their ken.

And the defense was worse. No pick was too flimsy to stop a Timberwolf and free up a shooter, and if a pick wasn't available, the perimeter defenders merely gave them a little more space and invited the open jumpers the Warriors are clearly capable of making. There was no ball pressure. There was also no peripheral vision. Back door cuts, slashes across the paint, basketball 101 drive-and-kicks to the wings and the corners: the Wolves treated all of this as if it were a bewildering new style they'd never seen before. The rotations were slow and often misguided. And the lack of boxing out or jousting for loose balls was absurd.

You can blame a lack of familiarity only so much. Set plays are fine, but you can have ball movement without set plays and get open shots if people are keeping their eyes open, moving without the ball, and playing with a shared sense of purpose. Knowing the defensive sets is certainly required to shut down a good veteran team like the Pistons, but both Portland and Golden State played like jokers on offense; they need a pathetic defense to give them confidence and the Wolves obliged both times. Is there a different catcechism between Minnesota and Boston on fighting through screens? On getting back in transition? On putting yourself between your man and the basket when the shot goes up?

The basketball team I watched tonight played stupidly. They were mentally lazy, and quit providing 100 percent of their physical and intellectual capacity to this game. They became unlikeble; a team for which you do not want to cut slack, a team clearly without pride, or a clue about what they need to do to improve.

2. Honeymoon over for Dwane Casey
All season long there has been a hesitation to rip Coach Dwane Casey. At the time there were some very good reasons for this restraint. Casey is a rookie coach, caught with a team in flux, trying to affect a transition in both style and personnel.

But I'm done with that. After 46 games, does anybody know what the personality and identity of this team is? And is it really in Coach Dwane Casey's interest to continue to feed us all a line of bullshit?

Casey says Michael Olowokandi is sitting because of matchups; we learn through back channels Kandi is on the verge of being traded and that's why he is sitting. The back channel is accurate. Casey says all the trade talk is distracting and that he'd happily go to war for the rest of the season with the guys he's got in that locker room right now. Less than two weeks later, Kevin McHale makes a trade in large part to give Casey the kind of athletic players he thinks Casey wants.

Ever since the trade was made, Casey has habitually put three or four of the ex-Celtics on the floor at the same time. Uh, weren't those same guys playing--or riding the pine--for a team more than five games below .500, even with Paul Pierce as a teammate? And, perhaps more to the point, how are they supposed to learn the new sets when they all used to play together using the old sets, so that there are fewer guys out there who can show them the new sets?

Does Casey want to play Marcus Banks at the point guard position? Then start Marcus Banks at the point and bring Marko Jaric off the bench! You want to light a fire under Jaric, sit him down and let the speedy newcomer get a shot. You want the speedy newcomer to learn the offense, put him in with your top three guys (aside from Jaric, of course) in minutes played in that offense! But don't give Jaric the cursory starter's treatment. That just puts the screws to Jaric's already fragile confidence--you've got the scythe perched over his neck, without ever swinging the blade. Cut the head off and send him to the bench. Let him take a huge breath, realize he's still alive, just not starting, and get him itching to prove you were wrong to bench him. Make the focus on improvement, not demotion. This isn't rocket science.

You don't want Eddie Griffin to shoot from beyond three feet? We all agree with you. Next time Eddie jacks up more than two stupid shots in a period, yank him, no matter how much or little time has elapsed. But don't yank him if he's playing smart and he's 5-6 from the field with 3 blocks in 8 minutes, or if the Wolves are up by double digits and he's not shooting. Don't make him automatically the first starter pulled from every game. Because guess what coach? Mark Blount can't play defense. He can pop the midrange jumper and when you need a high post offensive presence, he's a good option. But if you really claim to want a defensive identity on this ballclub, curb Griffin's shot selection and reward Griffin's paint-centric improvements at every opportunity.

By the way, are the Wolves still supposedly a defensive-oriented team? Then why are you holding your tongue on the childish ineptitude of Rashad McCants? Don't you think it is time SOMEBODY called out McCants, loud and clearly, for being a first-class punk on the court? Is his behavior what you endorse? Your silence says it is. The King of Garbage treats his defensive assignments with contempt. He is smart and he is athletic, so the only thing left to conclude is that he really doesn't give a damn about playing defense. You're the coach. If this team is really going to sink like a stone on your watch, don't you think it is time you delivered a few wake-up calls along the way?

Hell, after only six games, you've got an eminently coachable character like Justin Reed steaming down and launching jumpers (something he should try from out of 12 feet approximately once every three games) like he's World B. Free or something. And Marcus Banks? All the tools in the world, and some decent instincts, at least some of the time. But isn't it time Mr. Banks was introduced to his bread-and-butter, Mr. Garnett? KG goes 12-13--a franchise record!--and doesn't shoot in the last six-plus minutes of the 4th quarter in a narrow loss to a totally inexperienced Blazers team? You're the coach. How about a timeout and a play drawn up for your MVP? How about benching the player who doesn't get that play run for KG? How about some quick hard lessons for the newcomers, so that if and when they ever get around to learning your sets, there will be some priorities to guide them along the way. Here's one, for Ricky Davis: After you get your shot blocked four times driving into Joel Pryz or Ben Ratliff, try something different the fifth time.

Coach Casey, everything about your demeanor demands respect. You are the physical epitome of a disciplined, dedicated, decent coach. But front office personnel are coming into your locker room and yelling at your players. Your top draft pick is sulking his way through a lost season without any outward signs of resistance from you. What you say to the media and what has happened have not always been the same thing. You have intimidated your starting point guard (the one with the six-year contract who will cost you a first-round pick someday) into a steady decline. You use your bench liberally and vary your substitution patterns according to matchups, or what you feel to be the appropriate tool in your "toolbox," yet your bench has been outscored by your opponents' bench in 17 of the last 19 games.

The honeymoon is over. This is your team. At the very least you owe us honest answers about what you are trying to do with it and how well the players are--or aren't--responding.

3. Opinions are like brains...everybody's got one

For what it's worth, here is what I would do.

Sit Kevin Garnett in the middle of the second and 2-4 minutes of the 4th period.

Start Marcus Banks and play him 26-34 minutes a game while hammering home the need to hone his half-court game with better passing, something that will happen the more he relies on KG. On defense, he needs to use his speed to pressure the ball; why do we notice Banks's quickness three times as often on offense as we do on D?

Stoke the confidence of Jaric and Griffin whenever possible, but set specific rules and regulations on their play. Be merciless on Griffin's shot selection and understanding about his lack of body-up defense on occasion. For Jaric it is purely a matter of energy. Freed of the starter's role, spot him in at the 1, 2, and 3 positions, according to matchups, and encourage him to vary his defensive attack--very physical, on-body defense sometimes, hanging back and using his length for steals at other times. When he plays the point and he turns down easy transition opportunities, let him know about it. When he turns down open jumpers that are clearly being offered him by opponents, let him know.

Stop walking on eggshells around McCants. His offensive explosiveness is making him feel like he can half-ass it on defense, and his offense obviously isn't nearly consistent enough to warrant it. Inform the guy that he's in the midst of fulfilling a bad reputation that will be very very difficult to shake two, three, four years down the road, if ever.

Don't be afraid to ask Kevin Garnett for suggestions, and to involve him regularly in your thought process and decision-making. I wouldn't do everything Garnett says, just most of it. The guy has earned it.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 5, 2006 12:16 AM | Comments (18)

 

Timberwolves comment area

Filed under: Timberwolves

Britt Robson will post a three pointer after tomorrow night's Wolves game with Golden State. Any comments you wish to make about tonight's game in Portland belong here.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 4, 2006 12:01 AM | Comments (10)

 

The Three-Pointer: Reality Bites

Filed under: Timberwolves

1. Jaric in freefall mode
So Coach Dwane Casey tinkered with his matchups and went with Hassell on Billups, Davis on Hamilton, and Jaric on Prince to start the game. One would think that cut Jaric some slack--Prince is clearly the easiest of the three assignments--enabling him to be aggressive at both ends of the court. But Marko's either sulking or depressed or hung over or injured, because his assiduously half-assed coverage of Prince allowed the lanky forward to go off for nine points in the game's first eight minutes.

People who like Jaric say he is really hard on himself. Szczerbiak was probably his best friend on the team and the game Marcus Banks put together against Boston, plus Hassell ascendance as a scorer as well as stopper this past month, have put the screws to Jaric seemingly fragile psyche. Whatever is going on, his play is becoming easy to dislike--passive, inconsistent...scared. He had exactly one shot in 19 minutes tonight, to go with two assists, miserable defense, and a minus-14 overall. They docked him for only one turnover but it felt like at least three or four.

This is serious business because the guy is signed for large money through 2011. Between Jaric and Hudson, Glen Taylor is paying more than $11 million for a pair of point guards whose chronic dysfunctions are cementing ugly reputations that will make it very difficult to trade them. I have expressed bafflement over the big galoot for most of the past six weeks, after being an early supporter. And if he snaps out of this funk and begins to play like an above average role player, I won't be a bit surprised. But that means going to the hoop *spontaneously* instead of frequently or never, moving your feet on defense *every game* instead of two out of three and then one out of three. And it means being ready to play whatever role is required of you.

2. There is no D in the words "Ex-Boston Celtic"
Since the trade it has become offhand conventional wisdom that Ricky Davis is a defensive upgrade over Wally Szczerbiak, and folks, it just isn't so. Yes, Davis is quicker, but during his final season here, Szczerbiak both tried harder to stay with his man and had more of a clue about how to do it than what we've seen from Davis over the past four games. If Ricky Davis really is supposed to be the second-best player on this ballclub, Casey needs to teach and motivate him in the basics of footwork and rotation (and yes, Brauer already said this yesterday).

Marcus Banks is better than Davis on defense, but likewise seems to get too easily clogged on pick and rolls, and lacks the dedication Anthony Carter and Trenton Hassell bring to on-ball defense out on the perimeter. Granted, Banks and the rest of the Boston crew don't know the Wolves schemes yet, and no doubt have dubious habits after playing for the Celtics laissez-faire defense. Granted, the Pistons are a smart, talented, unselfish, veteran team running one of the more innovative and sophisticated playbooks in the league. None of that means somebody as athletic as Marcus Banks shouldn't be able to stay with his man better than he did tonight.

Mark Blount's defense is better than I imagined, especially after that sorrowful performance in his debut against Houston, but nobody should mistake him for a defensive upgrade over Kandi. He hustles more and is light-years better on offense, and for that matter is probably more consistent on defense than Kandi. But mediocrity is probably his ceiling at that end of the court. Justin Reed is raw but already the best defender of this quartet of newcomers, on the basis of the (admittedly few) games we've seen thus far.

That said, Banks understands the point guard position. That only makes his 8 shots versus 2 assists all the more aggravating, but seeing his production dip dramatically after his spectacular Wolves debut actually was reassuring, because the quickness, the sure-handed dribble, and the vision are all still apparent even when he's off his rhythm. As for his decision-making and ball movement, here's some free advice--feed KG as often as possible. That's becoming somewhat forgotten during all the hoopla of the past two games.

3. Austin Peay in the house once again
After signing his big contract at the beginning of last season, Trenton Hassell went through some tenuous times. Changes in the hand checking rules were robbing him of his physicality and saddling him with early fouls. Falling production from Spree and Cassell made his timidity on offense a decided liability. The fat contract looked like it might be a mistake.

But for nearly a year now, Hassell has been slowly but surely getting better, a prelude to the past week, when his skills have suddenly mushroomed. He's guarded McGrady, Parker, Pierce, and Billups the past four games and done yeoman service on every one of them, *and* been an increasingly reliable and creative offensive force, whether it is posting up or taking his man off the dribble or the old standby way he used to score, getting the pass out on the wing and launching that rainbow jumper.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 1, 2006 10:06 PM | Comments (29)

 

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