Offense Sells Tickets...
...but defense wins championships.
You rarely see defensive highlights on ESPN (except the occasional block), but it was fun to watch the Wolves play D in the fourth quarter.
They took off out of the gate, gaining a huge lead in the first quarter. They looked like a championship contender, and Golden State looked like they didn't belong in the NBA. Sam started off strong (and continued to play well for the entire game). Then, Troy Murphy got hot, and all of a sudden the Warriors were winning.
They took a 3 point lead into the fourth quarter, and then the Wolves defense took over. Everybody was getting involved. Spree had a nice steal on a telegraphed pass, KG had a couple of monster boards (one which he then chunked down the court to Wally for a three point play) as well as a block at the end that pretty much sealed the deal. Of course, let's not forget Eddie Griffin.
He had a solid (but quieter) night than last game. Of course, I wouldn't expect him to play every night like he did last night. He made some noise at the end though, with a quality block (and another good block that won't show up in the stat sheet due to the fact that it came after a shooting foul had been called on someone else).
Somebody out there must have been reading my posts because the email question during tonight's broadcast was "Why doesn't Eddie Griffin start?" Wolves announcer Jim Peterson had a good response. He said that basically, because of his past and because he's so young, Flip doesn't want to put too much pressure on him. I think this is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. It's not like baseball where the starters play the entire game. He can come off the bench and still put in a lot of minutes. He put in 27 minutes tonight (3 shy of his season high).
Of course, if he keeps playing the way he has been, it won't be long until we do see him as a starter. Flip will gradually ease him into more minutes, then when he feels the time is right, will put him in as a starter. I couldn't tell you exactly how long it will be, but I'd be surprised if it didn't happen within the next month. It wouldn't even surprise me if I turned on the game on Friday and saw him in there!
Note: I apologize for the crapiness and lack of insight in this post. I'm working on something more insightful, but it's 4 AM and I've been busy all night but I wanted to put something up before I went to sleep.
You rarely see defensive highlights on ESPN (except the occasional block), but it was fun to watch the Wolves play D in the fourth quarter.
They took off out of the gate, gaining a huge lead in the first quarter. They looked like a championship contender, and Golden State looked like they didn't belong in the NBA. Sam started off strong (and continued to play well for the entire game). Then, Troy Murphy got hot, and all of a sudden the Warriors were winning.
They took a 3 point lead into the fourth quarter, and then the Wolves defense took over. Everybody was getting involved. Spree had a nice steal on a telegraphed pass, KG had a couple of monster boards (one which he then chunked down the court to Wally for a three point play) as well as a block at the end that pretty much sealed the deal. Of course, let's not forget Eddie Griffin.
He had a solid (but quieter) night than last game. Of course, I wouldn't expect him to play every night like he did last night. He made some noise at the end though, with a quality block (and another good block that won't show up in the stat sheet due to the fact that it came after a shooting foul had been called on someone else).
Somebody out there must have been reading my posts because the email question during tonight's broadcast was "Why doesn't Eddie Griffin start?" Wolves announcer Jim Peterson had a good response. He said that basically, because of his past and because he's so young, Flip doesn't want to put too much pressure on him. I think this is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. It's not like baseball where the starters play the entire game. He can come off the bench and still put in a lot of minutes. He put in 27 minutes tonight (3 shy of his season high).
Of course, if he keeps playing the way he has been, it won't be long until we do see him as a starter. Flip will gradually ease him into more minutes, then when he feels the time is right, will put him in as a starter. I couldn't tell you exactly how long it will be, but I'd be surprised if it didn't happen within the next month. It wouldn't even surprise me if I turned on the game on Friday and saw him in there!
Note: I apologize for the crapiness and lack of insight in this post. I'm working on something more insightful, but it's 4 AM and I've been busy all night but I wanted to put something up before I went to sleep.
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