Wolves vs. Lakers 7pm

[TrentTuckerForever]

One thing I notice with Beasley a lot last night, and Ridnour does it a fair amount as well, is that he'll get the ball at the 3pt line and he's wide open, doesn't take the shot, drives a few feet until he's got a defender in his face, and chucks up a bad shot. I know there's a comfort factor, but just seems weird.

I've seen that too... just not comfortable with the triangle perhaps? Maybe it's easier to see on tape (from the camera's bird's eye view) than on the court where the open shots should come from. As a fan I've gotten used to the triangle - who's going to be open or who's INTENDED to be open. Again, from a fan's perspective the offense looks very deliberate.

But as a player I'm sure it's hard to make that instictive, especially for guys who are raised on the pick and roll, AAU-style of offenses. A read and react system is simpler in theory but harder in practice, I think.

[C.lupus]

He should, IMO. The Wolves weren't going to beat the Lakers - they're healthy and they just lost to the freakin' Cavs. I didn't give our squad much of a chance going in, honestly.

But that said, I thought there were a lot of encouraging signs. I don't normally put a lot of weight in "moral" victories, but there were some interesting comments from the national media (ESPN.com's game story):

"The Timberwolves, one of the worst defensive teams in the league, delivered one of their best performances on that end of the floor all season. The rookie Johnson harassed Bryant all night, making him work for every open shot, and the Wolves held the Lakers to 22 percent shooting in the first quarter."

"Bynum was big early with 10 points and four rebounds, using his bulk to push around the Timberwolves frontcourt. But he went to the bench with foul trouble early in the second quarter, and the Wolves played some of the best defense they have all season to lead 45-40 at the break."

When we see same old, same old (results), some neutral observers see progress, or at least an outlier performance. Add this game to the GS win and Brewer trade (opening a set role for Johnson) as positives in the last 10 days.

It's nice that the outside media is giving the Wolves props for their defense and they certainly have played better D the last couple games but the Lakers were just extremely flat in the first half, too.

[karch34]

One thing I notice with Beasley a lot last night, and Ridnour does it a fair amount as well, is that he'll get the ball at the 3pt line and he's wide open, doesn't take the shot, drives a few feet until he's got a defender in his face, and chucks up a bad shot. I know there's a comfort factor, but just seems weird.

I've seen that too... just not comfortable with the triangle perhaps? Maybe it's easier to see on tape (from the camera's bird's eye view) than on the court where the open shots should come from. As a fan I've gotten used to the triangle - who's going to be open or who's INTENDED to be open. Again, from a fan's perspective the offense looks very deliberate.

But as a player I'm sure it's hard to make that instictive, especially for guys who are raised on the pick and roll, AAU-style of offenses. A read and react system is simpler in theory but harder in practice, I think.

That's a good point. I guess what's tough is that I was seeing really good ball movement, but then it was like a couple shooters passed open shots or dribbled into a situation where % of success is likely lower. It's almost like we were making too many passes or passing up open shots on occasion and that's what's frustrating to watch even though they might be running the system correctly.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I just hope Wes can remain consistently productive; a few good games followed by a half dozen no-shows isn't building on anything. It'd be nice to have one thing to hang our hat after this season. If we can at least say Wes is a starter in the NBA w/ a great jumper and defense, that's a step in the right direction. Haven't really learned anything conclusive about Darko/Beasley/Flynn/Pekovic/Wes about what they can be on a consistent basis, but I'm most optimistic about Wes.

[TrentTuckerForever]

^I'm ready to say something definitive about Flynn and Darko. Definitive, not flattering -

Darko's a backup at best.

Flynn shouldn't even be playing ahead of Bassy Telfair. He may develop into a 6th man, sparkplug-type, but it won't be here in MN.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I thought about an addendum "nothing conclusively positive at any rate" or something like that, but I wanted to pretend like there's still time

there's still time

[YamiRain]

randolph

-12?
geeze

[Breakdown777]

Well, here is what I got from this game after viewing in person.

LA was just too big, long, and strong for us. The Rebounding differential shows that. They got Darko and Pek into foul trouble early, and even though they weren't gonna foul out....Rambis stuck pencil thin Anthony Randolph on Bynum and was pushed around and elbowed in the face all game.

Our defense was really good, but not that great. MANY of the shots LA missed were wide open looks, Beasley was sagging about 5 feet away from Artest, daring him to take jumpers, and Artest didn't make a single one.

In the 4th we had an atrocious lineup that was pulled after 2 minuters, and then we fell apart like we always do in the 4th. LA getting hot combined with us getting cold in the 2nd half didn't help matters, as we settled for numorous jumpers instead of getting to the line.

The Ally oop from Ridnour to Randolph was one of the sickest things I have seen live.
AR was obviously lost on O, but looked promising on D. I also like how good his handles are in the open court. It's obvious that AR likes to run and is always looking for the fast break when he gets a rebound.

Wes was the other bright spot, as he played really good D, went after the rebounds, and was hitting shots. In the 2nd half he fell in love with his jumps and wouldn't stop chucking....but I'm just glad he can get to a point where he isn't afraid to chuck .

Overall, a very good 3 quarters...with a terrible 4th.

[Klomp]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cJQxMJ5nVc[/youtube]

[eyeteeth]

Yup. This was a good game in the first half. In the second half, though, the Lakers came out and did things to just disrupt the flow of our offense. They're a veteran team, they know how to do that. Then they hit their shots, opened up a 10 pt lead and their defense closed on us like a vice. It was a textbook NBA victory.

The Wolves have a few things to feel good about:
- They definitely played good D. The reason the Lakers missed open shots is because those shots weren't in the flow of their offense. They weren't the shots the team wanted to take. The Wolves covered well in assist D, got back to their man and didn't give up easy points for most of the game (the end of the third beginning of the 4th being the critical exception to this).
- As has been noted by many, Wes is coming alive. He is gonna be a star, and you can begin to feel it.
- One thing I was really happy about was that in the second quarter Rambis put Flynn and Ellington in and the defense didn't totally fall apart. In general Rambis is getting surprisingly good play out of Ellington and Hayward, too.
- Anthony Randolph looks happy to be here. He's got some swagger and is feeling the flow of the system. I think he'll be a good fit.

All said, Beas and Love had awful nights shooting. If they're hitting shots this is a much closer game.

The only negative I saw was Darko. He is really looking like the player we were all told he was. I really hope to see more game out of him than he has been showing. He needs some attitude pills or something. Otherwise, yeah, trade him if we can.