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Tag Archive - Minnesota Timberwolves

Opportunity, The Mistress

April 4, 2012 in by with 3 Comments

Photo by Bruce Davidson - Subway Series (1980)

Opportunity is a fine, charitable mistress—one that has served as the muse for several players in this bizarre truncated season. As the rigors of the seemingly endless schedule chip away at even the most well-conditioned NBA athlete, unlikely figures have stepped in to fill the void and rewrite their own storylines. Opportunity finds cracks in our cynicism and provides just enough breathing room for events to reshape our understanding of a player. It can rehabilitate and re-establish players like it has with Gerald Green’s nomadic career. Jeremy Lin’s two weeks of inescapable brilliance will continue to serve as the prime case study for what a single opportunity can lead to. Opportunity hides in the folds of improbability, revealed only when a specific combination of improbable factors peels away. It’s entirely a matter of fortune. It can be an excruciating wait, but there is an undeniable magic when it all comes together for the best.

Yesterday, Timberwolves rookie Malcolm Lee was searching for playing time anywhere and anyway he could find it. Now, unless JJ Barea returns Wednesday, he is the last man standing at point guard. “It’s going to be a big challenge, but I’m looking forward to it. This is why you’ve just always got to stay ready. This game is so up and down. You just never know.”

via Jerry Zgoda’s Sulia account

Opportunity is knocking at Malcolm Lee’s door with all three of the Wolves’ rotational point guards out with injury. It’s an interesting situation. Lee has played a total of 94 minutes on the season prior to Wednesday’s game, which means he hasn’t even played enough minutes to satisfy two full NBA regulation games.  While he’s is an NBA-caliber player with a good deal of talent, Lee is jumping into the fire without much preparation at all. But there is no pressure for a fourth-string point guard. Lee’s first taste of meaningful minutes will be a test of faith in his coach, his teammates, and himself. He’ll fail much more often than he’ll succeed. That’s fine. It’s nothing he hasn’t already endured.

My admiration for Malcolm Lee’s game has been documented. I’ve been a fan since his first year at UCLA, where he was a part of a massively underwhelming recruiting class. I admired his fortitude. Playing for Ben Howland for three years is no easy task. As intense as Howland expects his teams to play, the games are a joyless ride through basketball hell and back, forcing free spirits like Lee to assimilate instead of nurturing their greatest strengths. But after three years, that bulldog intensity is instilled in a player’s basketball identity. Raymond Felton spent years of toiling in Larry Brown’s system in Charlotte. When was unchained in New York, he played outstanding basketball for half a season; a marriage of natural basketball instinct and ingrained systemic wisdom. That’s where Lee is, albeit on a much smaller scale. [Cue laughter, applause.]

While he spent much of his college career learning how to play off the ball, Lee is comfortable playing the pick and roll. He’s an exceptionally smooth athlete—so much so that it’s sometimes hard to discern just how fast Lee is. He covers length of the court quickly with long, fluid strides that can easily pierce the first line of defense. A few minor knee surgeries has taken some of the extra gear out of his game for the time being, but it has forced him to play at different speeds and rely on his vision to make plays rather than blazing toward the basket.

And when it works, his plays are a thing of beauty. Here, Lee catches JaVale McGee on a switch, and baits McGee for just long enough. You can almost sense the precise moment when McGee falls into a past fantasy of becoming an all-star point guard. Once Lee finds McGee locked in and committed to his dream defending him, he makes an incredible no-look pass to a rolling Kevin Love who scores over two powerless point guards. If you saw when, where, and how the ball got to Love on the first view, you’re lying.

Of course, it’s not all rosy on offense. His shooting mechanics have dramatically improved since his early days at UCLA, but he still suffers relapses once in a while.  And despite having superb quickness off the dribble and good body control, Lee still isn’t comfortable finishing around the rim in traffic, preferring to loft up awkward, overextended layups from afar. Avoiding contact to prevent any further injuries is one thing, but his ability to break down defenses and finish around the rim will be absolutely necessary as soon as, say, tonight.

Lee’s offensive potential is still being unearthed, but where he already has significant value (and can really only get better) is on defense. He has incredibly quick feet, and his long legs help him cover a lot of ground moving backwards or laterally.

In the video above, Lee defends Jeremy Pargo perfectly without smothering him. There are few wasted motions. One hop to the left as Pargo motions left. A slide to the right as Pargo veers right. As Pargo’s powerful momentum drives Lee backwards, he uses that force to plant himself with two legs, and create enough space between them in traffic to accurately measure the block.  It may have only been Jeremy Pargo—not to discredit Jeremy; he’s as explosive as they come—but the ability to stay in front of penetrating guards is an extremely valuable commodity.

This isn’t to say I have Malcolm Lee pegged to be a future star, but I am definitely happy he’ll be able to showcase what he can do without worrying about his minutes. It’ll be an introduction of sorts. And if all goes well, Wolves fans will get a glimpse of the talent that can be harnessed in the future whether the team wins or loses.

As fate would have it, the Wolves will be playing the Golden State Warriors tonight. Lee will be matched up against Charles Jenkins, another rookie who has been foisted the responsibilities of leading a team. Like I said, Opportunity is a charitable mistress, and she clearly gets around. This season has been full of disappointing injuries and heartwarming stories, with a steady flow of chaos filling the gaps in between. It seems Opportunity embraces the chaos. Let’s try to enjoy it as well.

Can’t Knock The Husserl: The Phenomenology Of Courtside Seats

March 27, 2012 in by with 0 Comments

Photo by ZeroOne on Flickr

Thanks to the kindness of strangers (or rather, the kindness of someone I only knew through Twitter) I got to sit courtside for the Timberwolves’ 117-100 drubbing of the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. I feel a little like Ferris Bueller saying this, but seriously: it is so choice. But is it the end-all, be-all of NBA basketball? Not exactly.

One of the truly important things to understanding is perspective. And being that close to the game, having your feet actually resting on the hardwood puts you right up close to the physicality of the game and its humanness. And let me tell you: it doesn’t get much more human than being about five inches from Andre Miller’s rear end, which is what happened on one sideline out-of-bounds play. I could see the stitching on his jersey number. Luckily, Miller doesn’t get as sweaty as some playing basketball.

But take a look at this play from late in the third quarter: Wilson Chandler gets the ball on the wing with Anthony Tolliver guarding him.

Kevin Love is in the post guarding Al Harrington and Chandler fakes the pass into Harrington, who recognizes that having the slashing Chandler on the bigger, slower Tolliver is a mismatch, and heads out of the area to give Chandler an iso opportunity.


However, Love recognizes the mismatch as well and lets Harrington leave, essentially creating a mini zone defense on the strong side of the floor. What being so close afforded me was the chance to hear Love say, “Send him here, send him here!” to Tolliver. That nuance of player communication often gets partly lost on TV and almost completely lost when you’re farther away from the court.

Tolliver hears him and hops out to his right and forces Chandler into just the kind of mistake a zone defense encourages. Chandler crosses Tolliver over but drives directly towards Love.

 

He then makes the ill-advised pass over the top to Harrington and Wayne Ellington spots it and intercepts, forcing Harrington to foul him and send him to the line. Here’s the whole thing put together:

You also get a much better sense of the players’ interactions with each other and with the refs, plus you get a much more direct sense of the emotion on the court. When Kenneth Faried fell to the ground after getting the contact and making the basket (and kicking Kevin Love in the jimmies, it should be noted), it was amazing to hear just how loudly Javale McGee yelled at him as he came to pick him up. It was like a blast torn from somewhere deep in his soul, and it was just an and-one late in a blowout. McGee might not always have his head in the game, but when he does, it’s clear he plays with some serious intensity. If Karl can harness that in Denver watch out.

But there’s a cost to sitting so close as well. With the action moving so rapidly and you sitting down in a chair, you spend an awful lot of time trying to see around some seriously large men. It’s harder to grasp the overall flow of the game, easier to lose track when you have to crane your neck to check the score. It was actually pretty late in the first quarter before I realized the Wolves were up by so much and that Luke Ridnour hadn’t missed a shot yet.

You see, from my usual season ticket seats, I have an almost midcourt view of the action and I barely have to move my head to see the score and other stats on the scoreboard. It’s easier to see plays develop in transition and it’s also easier to get involved with the arena as a whole. I caught almost nothing of what B-Wright was saying (not that I’m complaining, exactly) when I was courtside, and it’s a little weird not to really have people directly in front of and behind you. You’re really more in front of the crowd than part of it.

Of course, being in the arena—even with a TV-like view—means you miss out on commentary and replays. Some things only make sense when you can see them a second time and yes, some commentators are better than others, but a great call can make a great play epic.

And then again, you can pull back even further. I’ve been watching a lot of games the next day on Synergy Sports, which breaks down the plays by their type, so you can watch, say, all of Kenneth Faried’s offensive rebounds, or every Kevin Love three-pointer. When you watch plays clustered by type, rather than in the flow of the game, you begin to see patterns in how they play out, begin to see wrinkles and how players react or change it up as the game progresses.

At the most abstract level, there’s the box score, and just looking at that can show you things your eyes might miss and reveal players who made more of a difference than you realized. Luke Ridnour, for example, is a guy who almost always has a quiet game, but then you look at the box score for a game like Sunday’s, you suddenly see what a difference he can make when he shoots 64% from the field, 67% from the arc, and ends with 25 points.

So what’s the best way to watch a basketball game? Some people think stats are the truest measure of a game—cold hard numbers lining up on the page to let you know what’s happening underneath all the blood and emotion. Others could care less about stats, believe only what they see with their own eyes, decry anyone talking about basketball who isn’t a player. But they’re all right and they’re all wrong. When you’re watching a game, you’re building your understanding, building it from scratch, and all the pieces matter. Perspective doesn’t come from having the single best view, but from having multiple vantage points, from learning to see the game as a plurality of experiences overlapping and obscuring or revealing each other. Every viewpoint shows you something unique.

And if it’s a courtside view, that something just might be Andre Miller’s ass.

More Like ‘Power Bore-wards’: The Model of Big Men Who Put You to Sleep

March 1, 2012 in by with 3 Comments

Photo by law_keven on Flickr

Recently, while doing research for another post, I stumbled across the following: of players getting starter’s minutes, Al Jefferson has the highest PER for a player not named to the All-Star team this season (Note: since that search, he’s been leapfrogged by Ryan Anderson and Greg Monroe, but just barely). His PER also beats out Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Roy Hibbert, Chris Bosh, Marc Gasol, and Andrew Bynum. Per 36 minutes, he’s scoring and rebounding more than Bynum and several others. Neither advanced stats nor All-Star appearances are the end-all-be-all of a player’s worth, but seeing Big Al so high up on that list got me thinking about how close Big Al’s time on the Timberwolves came to ending my Timberwolves fandom, about how much I’ve always respected but never liked Tim Duncan, about why Kevin Love feels so different, and what all of that says about how we might lie to ourselves about basketball.

Al Jefferson highlight mixes on YouTube are a little weird, often consisting of highlight reel passes to Big Al for strong, secure two-handed dunks. There will be a bunch of up-and-unders, some blocks on shots by shooting guards and small forwards, some excessively smooth and effective drop step spins to the hoop. He is, in essence, doing everything you could want from the power forward and center position according to those positions’ traditional roles. And I almost fell asleep watching those videos.

When the Wolves were casting about for a reason to get Big Al out of town, the argument that kept coming up was that he was a black hole on offense. Once the ball went into him in the post, it wasn’t coming back out until he scored or turned it over. You see, his propensity for stopping and scoring the ball was taking away chances from, well, Jonny Flynn, I guess. And other deadeye shooters on the 2009 Timberwolves like Corey Brewer, Ramon Sessions, and Sasha Pavlovic. Sure, Jefferson’s usage rate was highest on the team at 24.3%, but numbers two and three on that list were Flynn and this guy. (For what it’s worth, number four was Kevin Love—this was his rookie season.) Jefferson was also (supposedly) creating a logjam in the frontcourt alongside Love, a charge that seems kind of ridiculous when you look at a Wolves team that started this season with three to five natural power forwards and zero serviceable centers, although Pekovic has since emerged as a bruisingly effective five.

And when he was on the Wolves, I bought every justification for shipping Jefferson out with relish. He was such a letdown from the energy and furor of Kevin Garnett, and there was no way he would ever be the face of the franchise. His exemplary low-post footwork, his effective spins, his decent midrange shot, his competent rebounding and blocking: it was all just so solid that it drove me crazy. I didn’t watch basketball for the subtle beauty of the back-to-the-basket game. My first love was the Human Highlight Film, my second was The Answer. I wanted basketball players who defied gravity and physics. I wanted drama. I wanted players to overcome their maladjusted, Frankenstein games and achieve the impossible.

It’s why I never liked Tim Duncan. I never once picked him for an NBA 2K fantasy draft team, despite his reign as one of the (if not one of the two, alongside Garnett) best power forwards of his generation. By 2003, I’d developed a healthy distaste for the Lakers, and so by rights, when Duncan’s Spurs knocked them off in the conference semis I should have crowned him my new favorite player. Instead, I rooted for the Nets in the Finals. He’s clearly an all-time great, a lock for the Hall of Fame. But I find it impossible to drum up any enthusiasm for his hook shots, his low-post passing, his bank shots. His game has virtually no defect, and that, at least to me, is the defect with “The Big Fundamental.” (Well, his free throw shooting has been on-and-off problematic, but even that has improved to respectable—not impressive—levels.)

I’m sure there will be those who read this and have the reaction that I’m “hating” on Duncan and Jefferson, but hating would be an improvement. My feelings about these two players are more like The Nothing from The Neverending Story, and it’s not their fault. It’s mine, and I know it. As I gradually warmed to Kevin Love, I thought maybe I had learned to love a solid, unflashy player. Love’s consistent double-doubles, his lunchpail work on tip-ins and putbacks, his ability to get rebounds via positioning and timing, not size—all of it points to an unglamorous player. He barely jumps on dunks, and if he punctuates them, it’s more with a boldface period than an exclamation point.

But then again: his post game is fine, but hardly the subtle machine of Jefferson or Duncan. Instead of acting like a archetypal big man, his preference is to score from midrange, and (here’s the rub) the arc. He’s kind of a stretch four, but kind of not, and so, he exists in a liminal space. His propensity for threes (and especially for game-winning threes) is what unbalances him as a player, and ultimately what endears him to me. Realizing that has also helped me realize that I’m a fraud.

I like to think of myself as cultivating a refined sensibility in many areas of my life: I like a classic gin martini made with Plymouth, Noilly Pratt, and olives; I’m one of those people who gagged on Dan Gilbert’s Comic Sans letter, who appreciates the clean, utilitarian lines of Helvetica, the timeless beauty of Garamond; one of my top three movies of all time is Wong Kar Wai’s “In the Mood for Love,” a tremendously restrained, lushly shot meditation on love and loss. I love Steely Dan. And what are Al Jefferson and Tim Duncan if not the basketball embodiment of Steely Dan’s cooly professional and misunderstood contemporary jazz-rock?

My ho-hum feelings about Duncan and Jefferson (and other blandly solid players like Andre Miller) belie my idea of myself as a basketball aficionado. Because down at the root I still fell in love with basketball because of Dominique Wilkins, because of Iverson’s crossovers, because of fast breaks and dunk contests, because of style over substance. My other two top movies? “Aliens” and “Die Hard.” My head wants crisply efficient offense and staunch defense. It knows the bank shot is better than the circus shot. But I’m sorry, Timmy and Al, the heart wants what it wants, dammit.

A Tale of Two Endings

February 23, 2012 in by with 0 Comments

Photo by Anthony Mattox on Flickr

(Steve McPherson joins Hardwood Paroxysm today. You can find him on Twitter @steventurous. He likes long walks on the beach and the company of close metrics. Please annihilate his articles in the comments as you would mine. Enjoy. -Ed.)

Whatever your feeling about advanced stats—about player efficiency ratings and win shares per 48—basketball is undeniably a game of numbers. At the end of the day, somebody wins and somebody loses, and not because of how aesthetically pleasing their team’s play was. The ultimate stat is wins and losses because with out those two columns, none of the others need exist. It’s easy to joke about how analysts and commentators talk about the game: “The team that wins tonight if going to be the one that scores more points.” It’s so obviously true, but amazingly, who wins and loses can come down to the firing of a few neurons here or there. It’s pretty well demonstrated by the Timberwolves last two games: a loss to Denver in overtime on Monday and a win against the Jazz last night, both decided in the last few seconds.

But since we’re talking about numbers, let’s simplify the equation a bit. First of all, every team in the NBA looks like they’ve stumbled out of The Walking Dead right now. This compressed schedule is crushing teams physically and several games this week leading up to the All-Star break have had the feel of class on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Kevin Love, in particular, looked flat-out tapped last night. Secondly, the game against Denver was on the road, so Denver’s altitude certainly didn’t help, and the game was close through the fourth quarter and overtime, whereas the Wolves started the fourth quarter down 13 against the Jazz and rallied to win 100-98.

That second point is important, though, because while the Denver game felt like a war of attrition (neither team scored for the first 3:08 of OT), the game against the Jazz featured a much greater swing emotionally for both teams. Here’s a play from early in the fourth quarter:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoh3jff2vVw

With Utah up 12, Earl Watson’s shot misses badly. As the ball heads out of bounds, Nikola Pekovic just watches it go while Watson dives out of bounds and heaves it back to Derrick Favors, who dunks it for an easy 2. The play exemplifies how things were going for the Jazz at that point: they were outworking the Wolves and getting the bounces while the Timberwolves were flat-footed.

But with about seven minutes left, the dynamic of the game started to shift. On back-to-back trips, J.J. Barea and Luke Ridnour both drove the lane and got fouled, making their free throws. Between these possessions, the Jazz had a quick, empty trip on their own end. This sequence felt something like when a football team keeps its offense on the field. The Jazz had the equivalent of a three-and-out while the Wolves ground their way slowly up the field.

That sequence led to this one:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Xo522phiE

Having cut the lead to 7, the Wolves defend Josh Howard’s cut into the paint well and get the rebound off the tough shot. Love misses the wide open 3 at the other end but tiny J.J. Barea (who’s already playing out of his mind at this point) grabs the rebound. You can see him consider forcing the action into the paint, but instead he pulls it back to reset. His iso creates a lane for Derrick Williams, who dishes to an open Ridnour, who drives and kicks to a wide-open Barea for the 3. The basket cuts it to four. It’s a beautiful sequence of basketball, with every player making fundamentally good choices.

And now, as Monty Python would say, for something completely different:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOVafPBmHWU

There’s not much to say about this play by Martell Webster that hasn’t already been said here. Bottom line: a great defensive play turns into a woeful offensive play and the Timberwolves get 2 when they needed 3 and ultimately fall 103-101.

In the wake of each of these games, narratives emerged. The Denver game is evidence that the Timberwolves still make dumb mistakes, that they haven’t learned to play together, that Adelman still doesn’t understand how this team works best. The Utah game is evidence that the team is scrappy, that they can win without a great game from either Rubio or Love, that Adelman is a coach who knows how to ride the hot hand (Barea’s, in this case).

But maybe what each of these games points out best is just what a coach has control over. In the Denver game, no one on the Wolves was playing all that well. Nikola Pekovic had gone down early when he rolled his ankle. Ridnour and Michael Beasley were the only players who’d shot close to consistently (hitting 50% and 44% respectively), and they were both on the court to finish the game. In the Jazz game, the Wolves made their run with Rubio on the bench. Once it was close, Adelman put him back in, but only long enough for him to get to the foul line and miss 1 of 2, bringing him to 1-6 from the stripe. At that point, taking him out is a no-brainer. A close game is likely to come down to free throws, so don’t leave a player having an off night from the line in the game. The unit on the floor to end the game was the unit that got them there: Barea, Ridnour, Webster, Williams, and Love. The Jazz game shows Adelman going with what’s been working, whereas in the Denver game, nothing had really been working. It was a toss-up.

And so looking at the torpor and stagnation of the Denver game, Webster’s ill-timed dunk is just more evidence of a lackluster performance. Ridnour’s floater to win the game against the Jazz looks, likewise, like proof of the team’s scrappiness and Adelman’s coaching acumen. But if Ridnour misses that floater like he missed a late layup against the Nuggets, the game goes to overtime, where the Wolves might have fallen apart. Had Webster pulled up for the 3 and made it, they would have given themselves a chance to win.

But that’s the trick with narratives, with the stories we tell to make sense of what’s happened: they only work in reverse. In the moment, the game exists in the slimmest of margins, in the decision to pull up for the shot or drive, to go for the runner or dish it out. A neuron here or a neuron there is all that separates the two most important columns on the stat sheet: wins and losses.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtfgsd0haA

Paroxysm At Gametime: Wolves @ Raptors Notebook / More Casey

January 11, 2012 in by with 0 Comments

Photo by Brenderous on Flickr

 

On Monday afternoon following shootaround, I interviewed Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey at the Air Canada Centre. Most of it made it into the main story. I didn’t want to waste the others. I also jotted down a few thoughts/observations from the ACC, so here’s a notebook:

 

  • Arrived at the ACC to see Ricky Rubio working with Bill Bayno two and a half hours before tip. Yes, he was practicing jump shots. Yes, he was hitting them with ease. Watching him, I thought about all the hours he must have put in over the summer/lockout, working on that shot in order to prove everybody wrong. It’s not a beautiful release, but he gets enough arc on it that it works for him. I don’t think his FG% is about to plummet.
  • Next to Rubio, Derrick Williams and Anthony Randolph worked with Shawn Respert. It was cool to see them do a variety of different things. They worked on mid-range jumpers, then they posted up, then they went back out and shot threes. It was a 3-4 tweener warmup routine if I’ve ever seen one. I hope Michael Beasley joins them when he’s healthy.
  • Anthony Randolph’s “I’m about to cry” face is not strictly an in-game phenomenon. That’s just Anthony Randolph. Also, Randolph is excellent at corner threes when he takes them pre-game with nobody guarding him.
  • I like Darko Milicic more after seeing him warm-up and yell, “TWOOOO POIIIIINTS” as he releases shots. He did this at least once as Nikola Pekovic shot it, too.
  • I like Pekovic a lot more after seeing him dunk, hang and swing on the rim, then dismount and say “technical, technical!” whilst laughing to Milicic.
  • Wolves Assistant GM Rob Babcock was doing the rounds pre-game, mingling with the media and staff members who have been here since he was Toronto’s GM. Bryan Colangelo is so linked with the Raptors franchise that it’s easy to forget that Babcock is the guy who first signed Jose Calderon over six years ago.
  • I find it very awesome and also amusing that there’s this enormous rock sitting there in the Raptors locker room. I love the message it sends, but after walking in and out a couple of times it felt like a really weird decoration. I hope players still think about hard work and perseverance when they look at it. I kind of wonder if they even notice it anymore.
  • About watching Rubio play in person: If you live in or near an NBA city, do it. There was not much of a crowd at the ACC but you could feel everyone paying a bit closer attention every time he had the ball. That goes for the defense, too — he completely changes the game when he’s in there because all the defenders are constantly worried about him seeing/creating a passing angle for an easy basket. If I was gameplanning against him, I’d do what Hollinger brought up on the NBA Today Podcast last week — like teams have tried with Steve Nash, I wouldn’t bring help at all when he has the ball and I’d try to turn him into a scorer. It should take you about a minute of watching Rubio to see how much joy he gets from passing. Even though he’s better than we thought as a shooter, forcing him to create for himself takes him out of his comfort zone a bit.
  • Dwane Casey on DeMar DeRozan’s defensive improvement:

“I think DeMar is doing better in his one-on-one preparation and positioning and stance. I think that was his number one culprit. We’ve got him down into a stance, we’ve got to maintain that when frustration and fatigue set in. In his team concepts, he’s a smart player, he’s a smart guy, so he picked that up pretty quickly, but the number one thing for DeMar was his stance. Now he’s down in an athletic stance. He’s a great athlete, so there’s no reason he can’t be an above-average to good defender. And he has been that and we want him to grow and be one of our top stoppers defensively.”

  • On Alex McKechnie, who was with the Lakers for the past eight seasons:

“Alex McKechnie is a godsend because he’s been around championships. He knows the culture we’re trying to build to win a championship, not only from a medical therapist standpoint but just from a culture standpoint. He knew the type of practices you had to have to be a champion, what needs to be done and said, and how you approach things. He’s got five rings. I’ve got two – I got one in college and one in the pros – but he’s got five NBA championships, so that’s huge. And just his presence has been great and I’m glad we have him in the organization.”

  • On Ed Davis:

“There’s flashes of Eddy, the talent is there. For me it’s to push him, push him, push him where he’s giving us that consistent attacking the rim, attacking the basket each and every play he’s on the floor. It’s not about talent with Eddy – the talent is there. It’s just now him coming, taking another step of growth of doing it on a consistent basis. One possession, you can’t jog down the floor because now your guy gets a layup. Next possession, you can’t jog to the offensive end, now you’re losing an opportunity to get early post-up position or get deep post position. [It’s] about bringing the energy and the concentration and focus on a consistent basis and, again, that’s the mark of a young player, but for him he missed training camp last year – I’m giving him that benefit of the doubt. But I really like Eddy’s talent, now it’s just taking the next step and doing it on a consistent basis.”

  • On the relative importance of bigs and smalls defensively:

“I think being able to contain the ball is one of the most important assets defensively, especially for a perimeter player because now that you can’t touch anybody moving your feet, being down in stance is ultra-important. The luxury is having a big back there to protect the rim, block shots, but it all starts with a stance and containing the basketball because if a ball’s driving down your paint, that’s a 90 percent shot, a layup, versus maybe a 35 or 36 percent three-point shot out there, so containing the ball with a hand up on the shot is huge and I think protecting the paint… the luxury is having a big guy back there protecting the rim, but for us, hopefully, they’re not getting to the rim. That’s why I say perimeter defense is probably, in my mindset, more important than having a big shot-blocker in the back.”

HP 2011-12 Season Preview: The Minnesota Timberwolves In The Land Of Hope And Hyperbole

December 22, 2011 in by with 0 Comments

Photo from benheine via Flickr

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. The lockout has lifted, we have a season, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) And in the spirit of renewal, our shiny new cadre of writers is putting together previews for all 30 teams in true HP style. From where teams are going to what their disgrace is to explorations of pop culture, we are about to rock, salute us, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) So sit back, relax, and ponder the awesomeness of this fully operational Hardwood Paroxysm 3.0. -Ed. 

QUO VADIMUS (WHERE ARE WE GOING?)

By Danny Chau

Most of us watch games intently – though some more so than others. For the most part, fans can suss out basic schemes of the offense and defense. A strong eye can see possible scenarios unfolding, and decide for ourselves where the best plan of attack lies. Then we a brilliant pass comes seemingly out of nowhere. We verbalize our acknowledgement of the play, of the genius in grunts and half-enunciated “Nice pass!” We can see plays unfold, but great passes cut through our projections like a literal Occam’s razor. Great passes find the simplest solution to the opposition’s puzzle, leaving the observer with little else to do but applaud and holler.

Minnesota will find out that game gets easier with a point guard capable of threading the needle. Passing begets more passing. Hands are quicker, more receptive. Reads are sharper. The kinetic energy transferred from pass to pass is forged into something altogether mystical, and when shared among all the players, becomes a unifying agent. It’s what we’ve seen in Steve Nash has done practically his entire career, what Rajon Rondo has done with the Celtics since 2008, what Chris Paul is soon to do for the Clippers.

Rick Adelman was brought in to add a “winning culture” to this struggling franchise, and it was perhaps the best decision the team made in the offseason. It’s important for a young team to understand the poise and attention to detail it takes to win games in late situations. The Wolves will win more games than they did last year, but it won’t be because of a “winning culture” – at least not yet. That takes time, and a shortened season doesn’t help in that regard.

It sounds like a copout, but the team will win more just by having fun. It sounds like puppy dog optimism, and maybe it is, but when you have a magician like Ricky Rubio capable of creating something out of impossible situations, you get fewer Michael Beasley 20-foot isolation jumpers from the corner. From what it sounds like, for Rubio, the pressure to succeed in Minnesota is different than the pressure that existed back in Europe. He is free to be a kid here – or at least exhibit it in play. The team will need time to immerse themselves in the infectious play that inherently forms in the presence of a sharp passer. The team will grow and learn to trust one another fully.

Imagine every possession as a potential fast break. Kevin Love corrals a rebound and makes a quick outlet to Rubio who is already darting down the court eyeing a cutting Derrick Williams, or a Wes Johnson situating himself on the baseline, ready to spot up. If the play collapses, the ball can swing around to the trailing Kevin Love for a three. These are plays and options that existed before, but it takes a player capable of breaking down the play into logical progressions. That’s what Rubio can do, and he’ll make the entire team a smarter, more reactive group.

The Wolves are going to be a ton of fun this year – as long as they make a pact never to let Anthony Randolph touch the ball ever.

LET’S START A CULT ABOUT: RICKY RUBIO

By Connor Huchton

What can we say about Ricky Rubio? Everything and nothing, all at once. He’s the embodiment of hope, detraction, and a franchise’s unknown future. But we’ve had years to hear about Rubio’s game, his superb court vision, his quick-minded defense, his underwhelming jump shot, and everything else that makes his play both amazing and questionable. But what Ricky Rubio has become in 2011, above all else, is an idea.

“I’ve hardly seen him play, but I can’t wait to watch him play again.”

When a player comes to symbolize an idea in the mind of a basketball fan, the stakes of emotion slowly rise.  To the lovers of unselfish point guard play, Ricky Rubio becomes the next great pure passer. But to most NBA fans, he becomes the great unknown, something distant that may never come. But now Rubio comes, bringing alley-oops and behind-the-back passes in tow.

“He’s actually coming over?”

The fear of likely failure often brings down great ideas, ideas that seems to stretch so high they can never truly be reached by mere human arms. Rubiocould fail becomes Rubio will fail and begets Rubio did fail. But that remains only a fringe possibility to the fan who believes in the idea Rubio brings, the simple notion of creative exceptionalism and collective identity change. They renounce doubters, and hope fervently Rubio vindicates the idea beyond the tangible on the very tangible basketball court.

Doubt accompanies all lofty ideas. It’s the same reasonable doubt that constantly stands up to scrutiny. The doubt shapes the perception of the idea, feeds against expectation, eats away with its logic and questions. It threatens the transcendental with something that can’t be decried as something simply from the “haters”: the rebuke of quite possible mediocrity.

“He’s supposed to do that, but he can’t even do this?”

Timberwolves’ fans have waited on the Great Rubio Hope for seemingly all of their basketball lives. In moments of franchise low and the toil of disgrace, Rubio was still waiting, only a year or two away, to save the franchise and invigorate fans with the hope for something different, something beyond what was faced in the present. In many ways, Rubio became part of that present franchise existence, the ever-present future for an organization that repeated the word aloud and with action at a constant pace.

“Rebuilding” is a term oft uttered by many small-market franchises in the contemporary NBA. It’s meant to evoke a sense of returned structure and a path towards legitimate relevancy. It rarely works in practice exactly as constructed, but it at least provides a construct to be slowly dismantled and ruptured. For the Timberwolves, Rubio may not only become the final piece in their construct of young talented players. He could serve as the player who forces the leap from rebuilding to competing.

There’s something about the transcendental point guard that evokes strong emotion and nostalgia in the mind of many basketball fans, myself included. The simple idea of the brilliant pass or crossover represents, in its most basic form, true basketball genius. It’s not that point guard is necessarily the most important position on the court; by most measures, it isn’t. But the impact point guard is highly visible, followed naturally by the eye at all times. The point guard controls perception, and thus is regarded with enormous respect if able to control the ball itself. This possession of the ball as the offense flows and the crowd waits for action allows for a keen moment when the brilliant flourish of a perfect entry pass or created open jumper may be recognized by any observer.

Therein lies the magic of Rubio’s arrival. He possesses these skills to a great extent according to the majority of evaluators, but little is known publicly of his actual play. Most perception of Rubio is created by YouTube highlights or reports of his difficulty in Spanish leagues, not actual understanding. Game tape on Rubio is not currently visible to most, and it never was. So the Rubio idea was easily planted, an idea based on the unknown and the magic of a brilliant passer.

I can’t tell you what Ricky Rubio will be in the NBA. Only Ricky Rubio can tell you that with his play, as he will very soon. He’ll move on the court, eyes always frontwards, searching for the moment when, not he, but another, is primed to strike a dagger into the heart of the defense. Early signs are encouraging, but the prognosis on Rubio’s future remains cloudy. Those clouds will soon depart, revealing the validity of an idea long ago believed and only recently understood. The hope, the unknown, and everything that Ricky Rubio represents will be laid bare before a screaming crowd.

The idea burns strong. Someday, that idea may act as only a chiding flicker. But it also may spark a blaze rarely seen by human eyes.

A BRIEF VIDEO INTERLUDE COURTESY OF HOOK

 

WILL YOU REMEMBER ME, I WILL REMEMBER YOU

By Andrew Lynch

Comparisons are rarely fair, though that doesn’t stop us from making them. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is differences in system.

Minnesota fans are nodding knowingly right now. Shammgod bless Kurt Rambis, but his version of the Triangle offense was to the Bulls and Lakers of the past two decades as one of those knock-off video game consoles designed to trick grandma around Christmas time is to a PS3. For the Timberwolves, 2011-12 amounts to upgrading from a PX-3600 to basically any other actual legitimate video gaming system ever created. Rick Adelman could have arrived in Minneapolis with a Virtual Boy under one arm and a broken XBox 360 under the other and Wolves fans would have reacted like they just got the Technodrome and the Ghostbusters car under the same yuletide tree. The games will be better, if for no other reason than that the system will actually be designed for the pieces present.

And, of course, we will remember Ricky Rubio. He, too, will herald the importance of system. Some of Rubio’s more vocal detractors point to his awful stat line in recent European competition as proof that his abilities won’t translate to the NBA. That might end up being true, but that argument ignores the way in which Rubio was used by his Spanish team. Given the opportunity to handle the ball and initiate the offense with weapons around him in a system that fits his talents, Rubio will thrive. Three pointers will flow like sangria (from everyone but Rubio, naturally), opponents will faint under the onslaught of Love outlets, and every game will end with both teams in triple digits. Finally, a Timberwolves season will pass without David Kahn being the most vibrant memory.

Bonzi Wells Is A Bit Late

December 12, 2011 in by with 1 Comment

Photo from statelibraryofnsw via Flickr

Bonzi Wells is back in an NBA training camp from a nearly four-year absence. He’s attending the Minnesota Timberwolves’ training camp. In 2011. A lot has changed since he’s last been here. A new Lakers dynasty rose and fell (and may yet rise again), superteams have formed with more forthcoming. It must be strange terrain for a relic of a past decade, a past era of NBA basketball. Try searching for his highlights on YouTube, and you’ll run into five-year-old videos of him getting embarrassed by other players.  Players cause chaos in today’s NBA by announcing which big market they’re going to force their teams to trade them to. In Bonzi’s NBA, chaos was a simple matter of immaturity — of being irresponsible and unaccountable; of snapping back at a coach and turning an entire city against you with stupid comments.

Indeed, a lot has changed since Wells left the NBA in the 2007-2008 season. Apparently this includes Bonzi himself:

“This is a million-dollar job. Nobody’s going to pay a million dollars to a butthole. I didn’t embrace that whole theory. I was thinking, ‘I’ve got talent. I’m going to stay here forever.’ Then after I wasn’t playing anymore, it was like, ‘Wow, I’m not playing.’ It really hit me,” Wells told the Star Press over the weekend. ”I’m older now, and I can see things that I wish I would’ve done so differently back then. I hate that I got technical fouls. I hate that I did stuff like that.”

via Bonzi Wells Is Working At Reforming From Being A ‘Butthole’ While Attempting NBA Comeback | Ridiculous Upside (via  the Star Press)

It’s crazy to think that Bonzi’s only 35. While injuries played a part in his curtailed career in the NBA (largely due to extremely poor conditioning over the years), what forced him out was his attitude. Somehow in his Jail Blazer days, he was chosen to be co-captain of the team and served as a ringleader to a team with an endless list of DUIs, drug busts, and character issues. But he’s worked hard to come back, and his efforts aren’t going unnoticed. Before the lockout, Wells worked out for the Knicks after years overseas in China and Puerto Rico. During the lockout, he participated in the Impact Basketball League. He joins the Wolves as a familiar weapon for coach Rick Adelman. Wells was a reliable jack-of-all-trades in his one season with Adelman’s Kings in 2006, and if his conditioning is right, Adelman expects something similar in 2011:

“I know what he can,” Adelman said. “If he’s in shape, he can be a factor because he’s a very physical player and he’s played with our stuff before. He’s not a ball handler. He cuts. He’s really strong around the basket. He’s a handful on the boards and a handful when he posts up. He played very good for me. The case for Bonzi always is he shape and that’s what we’ll find out.”

via Camp, Day 2: Bonzi’s here, is Barea next? | Jerry Zgoda, Star Tribune (12/11/11)

For an extremely young team in the Wolves, Wells could be a key locker room presence — especially if his character really has evolved. Wells has tasted success, failure, and embarrassment. He’s been a part of some unruly teams. He’ll know the warning signs. For a player like Michael Beasley, an übertalent who constantly finds himself in unfortunate situations, Wells could help with Beasley’s development into the leader that he wants to become. Of course, Wells has to make the team first, and that’s no sure bet. A lot has changed since 2008, but the Wells — and the Wolves — are hoping that at least a few of Wells’ skills haven’t vanished.

Wells’ alleged transformation has come a bit late. Hopefully not too late.

You’re Scaring The Kids, Nellie

July 14, 2011 in by with 0 Comments

But a potential Wolves candidate with even more experience unexpectedly surfaced Tuesday when NBA coaching sources said that Don Nelson — the winningest coach in league history — is open to a return to the bench and intrigued by the talent on Minnesota’s roster.

Marc Stein – Sources: Wolves interest Don Nelson

Do you hear that?

That’s the sound of Anthony Randolph’s screams as he runs to anywhere. Anywhere that doesn’t occupy his former tormentor. After years of public praise and equally public neglect from Nelson, it’s fairly obvious that Randolph will have some reservations to a potential Nelson signing. After all, he’s the one who pressured Randolph into what he is now: a positionless freak (pejorative) with a diverse set of skills that add up to very little at the moment.

Nelson’s treatment of Randolph in his formative years in Oakland should already raise red flags for Nelson’s viability in Minnesota. One day you’re lauded in front of the media, the next you’re benched for the entire game. One moment you’re snagging double-doubles easily, then before you know it you’ve been replaced by a decrepit Mikki Moore. I don’t think that sends a good message to the kids.

The bizarre volatility, impatience, and stubbornness Nelson showcased in his last stint with the Warriors bordered on psychological torture. Now, I’ve used Randolph as the primary example in this case, and he definitely isn’t a vital part of Minnesota’s core. But rookies Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams are. Luckily, both are players who can thrive in Nellie’s frenetic system. Except that’s what we said about Randolph, a player who in theory should’ve been the Nelson archetype. But he was benched and shunned and shipped off to obscurity. At some point, it’s not good enough to be a player who fits a system — especially when the system is unstable.

So what happens when either the kids aren’t alright or when the onset of Nellie’s senility manifests itself into something far more troubling than what we witnessed in 09-10? Do Mikki Moore and Acie Law make their triumphant return? We might not be dealing with a mad scientist anymore; only the madness. There’s enough of that in the franchise without Nelson.

And seriously, just think of the children.  Poor Anthony Randolph is probably cradling himself in a forest somewhere.

“What Just Happened?”

June 25, 2011 in by with 2 Comments

Well, I’m glad everyone made it out alive, and I hope everyone realizes what they witnessed.

The 2011 NBA Draft became nothing more than a platform for the Minnesota Timberwolves and their endless volley of draft picks that flew in every direction possible. Confusing doesn’t begin to describe the situation as picks, rights, names, and faces were all shuffled, leaving most of us in a thick cloud of dust not knowing what the hell just happened. But something did happen. Something improbable. Minnesota got better. (Maybe.)

Of course, the bulk of their improvement is due to their uncontroversial selection of Derrick Williams. He was the safe pick, and very well could be the right one. I’ve never been too enamored with his game, and if there’s one thing that defines my perception of him, it’s doubt.

I doubt his position, kind of. I was weary of his ability to play at the small forward spot, but the problem is not nearly as glaring as the situation Marcus Morris put himself in. There are still questions to be answered though. He’s talked about being more comfortable in the perimeter, but does that take away from one of his best qualities (drawing fouls) as a player? Can he be an effective slasher without exceptional footspeed at the NBA level? As a prospect, Blake Griffin was a power forward who could spend time at center. Physically, compared to Griffin, they are remarkably similar. An inch in height and three pounds separate their combine measurements, and both players play with about the same maximum vertical height (taking into consideration height, max vertical, and standing reach).

Both are fantastic athletes, but what sets Griffin apart is the hyper-fluidity of his movements, the extent of which Williams can’t quite match. Williams’ dunks with a running start off two feet are positively Blake-esque, but not so exceptional elsewhere. Granted, his offensive repertoire is more well-rounded at this point in their respective careers, but Williams lacks Griffin’s creativity and prodigy. It’s an unfair comparison, but one to keep in mind. Griffin has maximized his gifts to become a true power forward. With distinct similarities, shouldn’t Williams be doing the same?

Defensively, Griffin hasn’t yet become a plus defender either. However, unlike Williams next season, he has very good weakside help. But he hasn’t spelled out his doom just yet. Williams doesn’t have a freakish wingspan, but it’s above average and when combined with his strength, it should be enough to guard most small forwards in the league. If he proves to be adequate, everything is rosy. His offensive prowess would surely lessen the blow of lackluster defense. But things tend to go wrong in Minnesota. And if Derrick Williams wakes up and sees Michael Beasley staring back at him in the mirror, the Wolves are back to where they started.

For the last few months, I haven’t been able to type his name without checking Google to make sure I didn’t get his last name wrong. It’s a name that just sounds too familiar — the first name shares likeness with one of the biggest superstars in the league today in Derrick Rose, and the last name with Deron Williams, which happens to sound nearly identical to Derrick Williams. What’s in a name? Nothing and everything. But it’s what people hear before they see the skills. It’s the carrier of adoring praise and overwhelming burdens. And I fear that if Derrick Williams isn’t a very good player, I’ll be looking at his name on a statsheet one day wishing he was someone else.

Of course, that was only in the first 20 minutes of the draft. Then over the course of three hours, the Wolves made sure to take as many steps as possible to acquire three future draft picks.  It started with trading formerly coveted guard Jonny Flynn, which came off as a startling admission from GM David Kahn that he is indeed aware of his errors, and not just a man far removed from reality. And that’s a start. It really is.

So Flynn and the No. 20 pick were traded to the Houston Rockets and became Brad Miller, No. 23 and No. 38. Then No. 23 became No. 28 and No. 43. Then No. 28 became No. 31.  No. 31 became cash, and remember No. 38? It changed its mind and limped its way back to Houston.

If that’s too convoluted — and it’s it is entirely too convoluted — the tangible additions to next season’s Wolves are Brad Miller and the No. 43. Brad Miller recently had microfracture surgery and he’s old. As for the No. 43? Well…

After three years of toil in Ben Howland’s system, the chains and shackles are off for Malcolm Lee. In three years at UCLA, Lee watched as the hype turned to scrutiny, which ultimately turned to ambivalence. He went from being a high-flying act in high school to a no-frills off-guard at UCLA. There was nothing spectacular about his college campaign, but what he developed should show immediately during training camp. At 6’5″ and a lean 200 pounds, Lee has enough size to guard both backcourt positions, a noteworthy skill he possessed back in high school that only got better by his junior year. He is an NBA-caliber defender right now with long arms and quick feet. Strength has always been an issue with Lee, but he’s taken a lot of time to tone and build muscle in his upper body, evidenced by his 17 reps in the bench pressing portion of the Pre-Draft Combine — only two less than fellow rookie teammate Derrick Williams, who recorded the highest number of reps in the combine, and easily outweighs Lee by at least 50 pounds.

Offensively at UCLA, Lee scored off the ball on dribble handoffs and diving into the paint. While he still needs to work on his strength to finish near the rim at the NBA level, Lee is extremely athletic and has great body control, which should help with the learning curve. In workout interviews, Lee specifically mentioned his desire to learn the ins and outs of the pick and roll, seeing himself as a point guard. With Ricky Rubio and Luke Ridnour perfectly capable at the 1, that might not be imperative, but Lee can create for himself and others, something that’s been missing on the roster for years. Most importantly, Lee finds himself transplanted from a slow and methodical UCLA team to one of the fastest teams in the league. But if UCLA teaches anything to its NBA prospects, it’s how to adapt. Though it’s not hard to adapt to an environment that was once your domain.

Is Lee a perfect fit? No, but how many players on the team are? Outside of Rubio and Kevin Love who are the pure in their positions, the Wolves are a band of players who would probably be better off playing a different position.

“I can assure you it won’t fit perfectly.”

- David Kahn saying obvious things during the post-draft press conference

Damn right it won’t. Kahn is heavily banking on the power of versatility, but at some point, some semblance of a hierarchy has to be established. But I guess that’s for another time. There’s no room for negativity killing this post-draft euphoria, and no room for projecting the likelihood of Kahn trading Lee for a veteran just for the sake of getting older. Because as it stands right now, the Minnesota Timberwolves got better after the draft. Of course, on draft night it felt like watching a million torpedoes launching in different directions threatening to destroy everything, but somehow they didn’t. Somehow, in the end, the Timberwolves were unscathed.

…An improvement as only David Kahn could produce.

(Just so it’s clear, I’ve taken the liberty of ignoring the whole ‘Ta(n/r)guy Ngombo is actually a really old dude’ situation. He was never going to step on the court, so I thought of it as an entertaining sideshow/non-event.)

The KAHHN Artist

July 16, 2010 in by with 4 Comments

Here’s the transcript–

David Kahn: “I have never– I haven’t seen a big man pass like [Darko].  He really does pass like Vlade, in that respect. Absolutely. He’s a Great Passing Big ManTM. And, you know, Vlade will be the first person to tell you that.”

Chris Webber: “HA! Wow. Wow. Like Vlade Divac… Woah.”

I mentioned earlier on Twitter that Kahn’s declaration was full of fail. Darko has a very pedestrian 7.2 percent career assist percentage while Webber (20.2 ast pct) and Divac (16.0 ast pct) should be insulted by the insinuation that they’re anywhere close to being in the same class.  But it’s one thing for Kahn to make such a claim on TV, but it’s another thing to say it directly to Chris Webber who played with Divac for six seasons in Sacramento, not to mention Webber is one of the most gifted passing big men of all time.

To see the enormous divide between Darko and Webber, consider that Darko’s single best season in assist percentage (10.7 pct)  was far lower than Webber’s worst (16.4 pct).

But I didn’t stop there. I decided to switch directions and head down a more subjective path of research.  I hit up YouTube to find some evidence that Darko deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Webber and Divac.  And this is what I found.

Divac to Chris Webber:

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_cJCbBcBks&feature=related]

Webber to Divac:

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBiwwb7FuNg]

Darko to… Kurt Rambis (seriously this is all I could find):

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17IjrYNjexA]

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