Al's low minutes

[InsideOut]

Why is Al only getting 33 minutes a night? He hasn't been in foul trouble so I can't figure it out.

[Devilzsidewalk]

his defense sucks balls

[Basti]

^ as does the D by the others...

[Devilzsidewalk]

^ except Mad Dog, he's amazing. I especially like when he does the hard show on the pick and roll, he's a dead ringer for wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man

[Basti]

^ I wish we would see some action by Mad Dog even though it means that our other big men aren't that good...

[hijacktheparade]

Wasn't Gomes saying that Al had improved his defense over the summer?

[Devilzsidewalk]

Wasn't Gomes saying that Al had improved his defense over the summer?

he might've improved his defense, but he didn't improve his stamina, and I think that's what's most important, having the energy to give max effort on defense. Lots of times he doesn't give full effort on the close outs and contests.

[Vega06]

^ except Mad Dog, he's amazing. I especially like when he does the hard show on the pick and roll, he's a dead ringer for wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man

[4ho5ive]

^ except Mad Dog, he's amazing. I especially like when he does the hard show on the pick and roll, he's a dead ringer for wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man

I go to Devilz for my Family Guy references. Seriously tho, if not Love, Madsen needs to start or we need to bring back Little Richard.

[C.lupus]

he might've improved his defense, but he didn't improve his stamina, and I think that's what's most important, having the energy to give max effort on defense. Lots of times he doesn't give full effort on the close outs and contests.

If the team could get into some kind of offensive flow with good ball rotation and Foye and Miller hitting their shots, then Al wouldn't have to work so hard fighting off double teams and his stamina would likely improve.

[kingly222]

Coaching? Big Al had just found his groove in the 3rd quarter and was ready to carry the team home until he sat out for soooo long.

Someone should remind Whit that this is a big mans game. The twolves are at a severe disadvantage before tip off. Combine that with a point guard who doesnt buy into being a point guard, then you have a recipe for disaster.

Im still encouraged that this team will figure it out this season, I just dont know if Whit will be around to see it.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I don't think anybody would argue with you there, most people are not digging Gomes at the PF, but I'm not letting Al off the hook. I don't want him to develop McGrady syndrome and always have excuses for why his teams suck, I want him to play like he's the best player on the floor at all times. Dominate dammit.

21/11, 51% shooting, less than 1 assist per game, 1.33 blocks, 1 steal, that's nice numbers, but it's not like he's locking down 1st team all NBA or anything. At least get me some more blocks. So far Al's turnovers have a 9 to 4 edge over Al's blocks. Usually he's closer to 1.3 - 1.5 / 1 ratio. 9 to 4 is well over 2 to 1

He can blame his offense on Foye or Gomes or McCants or Wittman or McHale if he wants, but he can still play great defense if he's up to it.

[revprodeji]

I agree on the offense mark.

Whit has an uncreative and very predictable offense. It is easy to key-in on the offense. Plus, Al is facing the double and the triple teams early because our wing guys have not shot well. Once those guys shoot better Al will have more space to do things. So Al can blame some of the offensive problems on Foye and others not shooting well.


But the defense is the same problem as last year. Al needs a big next to him against bigger teams. A small line-up works against other small line ups, but not against teams with a legit 4 and 5. Gomes is a good 4 in a small line up (same way Boston used Posey at the 4 last year in small line ups) but you need to be able to go big also. Love+Al is the best option. If we want to start Love slow and "earn" minutes then give Al a warm body above 6'10 please.

[TrentTuckerForever]

Someone should remind Whit that this is a big mans game. The twolves are at a severe disadvantage before tip off. Combine that with a point guard who doesnt buy into being a point guard, then you have a recipe for disaster.

Coaching, coaching, coaching!!! We need to start a sticky documenting all Whitman's mistakes. Kingly makes two great points here - 1) the Wolves are better with Jefferson on the floor than not.

2) Being a point guard means different things to different teams. Tony Parker plays the position far differently than Jason Kidd does, or Derek Fisher, or Andre Miller. In each case, a successful point meshes his strengths with what his team's offense demands. This is difficult - PG is the most difficult position to master in the league for that reason.

So, what are Foye's strengths? We as fans can see them, right? He's not a "natural," eyes in the back of your head point like Kidd or Magic Johnson. But he's a clutch shooter, a good penetrator, an instinctive player.

Now, what is the offense that Foye is trying to run? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? The Wolves have no offense, at least not as offenses are normally defined, with movement and counters etc. They throw the ball to Al on a regular basis, as they should. But watch them coming out of timeouts, or on inbounds plays. Any strategy that stands out?

Wittman drives me nuts. There is no logical reason he should be coaching this team