Moved
For those of you who don't already know, I'm not writing over at Stick and Ball Guy's place.
You can see my archive here.
You can see my archive here.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Wolves Lose
At this point, I'm not disappointed. The Wolves currently have the 9th worst record in the league, 1.5 games behind Houston and Golden State. If they stay in the bottom 10, they'll get to keep their draft pick next year.
KG had his 1 millionth consecutive double-double, and the Boston guys seemed to play well (although I didn't get to see the game). As someone who's looking forward to next year, I'm glad to see those guys do well, as they'll be a very important part of our team next year.
Here's why I'm optimistic about next year:
KG, Ricky Davis, and Marcus Banks could turn into a very powerful trio. All three of them are strong on both ends of the court, and could make for a very strong nucleus.
Blount and EG platooning the center position. Blount has played up to expectations since getting here, but will never be a defensive monster. EG is getting his eye's fixed during the off season (not sure why he doesn't just do it now). I hope he can recover from this dreadful season and turn into a powerful 1-2 offensive-defensive punch with Blount.
An improving McCants and potential draft pick. McCants looked like he would be a bust for a while, but seems to be coming around now. If the Wolves get to keep their pick, they could potentially get another productive player for next year.
A reduced role for Jaric. He came to the Wolves with a lot of expectations, and couldn't live up to them. He seemed to get really depressed about it, and then really tanked. However, he's been playing a little bit better lately. He's never going to be as good as we had hoped, but still has potential to be a solid role player who can get a lot of steals.
Chemistry. This aspect cannot be overlooked. It's hard for a team to drastically change rosters the way the Wolves did during the middle of the season and then have success. They went a long time without really even getting to practice together. Having a full off-season to get used to each other will be a huge boost to this team next year.
KG had his 1 millionth consecutive double-double, and the Boston guys seemed to play well (although I didn't get to see the game). As someone who's looking forward to next year, I'm glad to see those guys do well, as they'll be a very important part of our team next year.
Here's why I'm optimistic about next year:
KG, Ricky Davis, and Marcus Banks could turn into a very powerful trio. All three of them are strong on both ends of the court, and could make for a very strong nucleus.
Blount and EG platooning the center position. Blount has played up to expectations since getting here, but will never be a defensive monster. EG is getting his eye's fixed during the off season (not sure why he doesn't just do it now). I hope he can recover from this dreadful season and turn into a powerful 1-2 offensive-defensive punch with Blount.
An improving McCants and potential draft pick. McCants looked like he would be a bust for a while, but seems to be coming around now. If the Wolves get to keep their pick, they could potentially get another productive player for next year.
A reduced role for Jaric. He came to the Wolves with a lot of expectations, and couldn't live up to them. He seemed to get really depressed about it, and then really tanked. However, he's been playing a little bit better lately. He's never going to be as good as we had hoped, but still has potential to be a solid role player who can get a lot of steals.
Chemistry. This aspect cannot be overlooked. It's hard for a team to drastically change rosters the way the Wolves did during the middle of the season and then have success. They went a long time without really even getting to practice together. Having a full off-season to get used to each other will be a huge boost to this team next year.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wolves Lose to the Kobes
The game was predictable. The Wolves get a nice little lead but can't hold on. Pretty much every game in the Wolves 6 game losing streak has been like this. It's pretty amazing that the Wolves seem to play well for 3 quarters only to blow it in the 4th. There were at least two games in the stretch where they started out the fourth quarter on huge 0-fer streaks.
For a while, I was wondering if they were actually doing this on purpose, trying to get a lottery pick that was protected from the Clippers. After watching the last two games however, it looked like they actually wanted to win but just couldn't do it. Looking at the logistics, it seems like a rather tall task anyway. As bad as the Wolves are right now, they have a long way to go to hit the bottom. Of course, if the lottery is rigged, maybe the league will decide to give KG a break and give him a top draft pick this summer. If there's anyone in the league that deserves it, it's him.
I hope that McHale gets canned at the end of the season. I think we need to do it for KG. If he's not canned, I wouldn't be surprised if KG asks for a trade out of here. And honestly, can anybody say that the Wolves don't owe it to him to do it?
For a while, I was wondering if they were actually doing this on purpose, trying to get a lottery pick that was protected from the Clippers. After watching the last two games however, it looked like they actually wanted to win but just couldn't do it. Looking at the logistics, it seems like a rather tall task anyway. As bad as the Wolves are right now, they have a long way to go to hit the bottom. Of course, if the lottery is rigged, maybe the league will decide to give KG a break and give him a top draft pick this summer. If there's anyone in the league that deserves it, it's him.
I hope that McHale gets canned at the end of the season. I think we need to do it for KG. If he's not canned, I wouldn't be surprised if KG asks for a trade out of here. And honestly, can anybody say that the Wolves don't owe it to him to do it?
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Running out of things to say...
So the Wolves lose again last night to Chicago. At the beginning of the season, I bet the Bulls to win over 43.5 games. Right now, it looks as though it will take a miracle for them to make it. But the Bulls and the Wolves are alike in the fact that both of them entered the season with good--but not great expectations and have disappointed heavily. But last night, they looked like a team that should win 50 games.
It's hard to figure out what to write about the Wolves at this point. It seems like every time the seem to do something well and I write about it, the next game they come out and do it poorly. As a result, with every post I look more and more like an idiot.
For example, I wrote about how I though the Wolves did a good job forcing the Raptors to take bad shots, and played well enough to win the game most of the time and dominating every other aspect of the game. Then last night, they come out and it seems like every shot the Bulls took was within 5 feet of the basket.
Well this post is going to be the exception to all of those other posts, because if there's one thing that has been consistent about the Wolves this season, it's their inconsistency (not to mention their ability to lose every close game). In order for the Wolves to prove me wrong, they have to start doing something well for the rest of the season. I don't care what it is, just pick something. Rebounding, shooting, getting to the foul line, defense, etc.
At this point in the season I've thrown in the towel. It's time to cut KG down to about 30 minutes a game, and time to start preparing for the future. This means giving time to the guys who we're going to count on next year--Banks, McCants, Blount, and even Jaric. It doesn't matter if we win or lose anymore. We need to start focusing on getting the Wolves to work together as a team and start developing our talent.
It's hard to figure out what to write about the Wolves at this point. It seems like every time the seem to do something well and I write about it, the next game they come out and do it poorly. As a result, with every post I look more and more like an idiot.
For example, I wrote about how I though the Wolves did a good job forcing the Raptors to take bad shots, and played well enough to win the game most of the time and dominating every other aspect of the game. Then last night, they come out and it seems like every shot the Bulls took was within 5 feet of the basket.
Well this post is going to be the exception to all of those other posts, because if there's one thing that has been consistent about the Wolves this season, it's their inconsistency (not to mention their ability to lose every close game). In order for the Wolves to prove me wrong, they have to start doing something well for the rest of the season. I don't care what it is, just pick something. Rebounding, shooting, getting to the foul line, defense, etc.
At this point in the season I've thrown in the towel. It's time to cut KG down to about 30 minutes a game, and time to start preparing for the future. This means giving time to the guys who we're going to count on next year--Banks, McCants, Blount, and even Jaric. It doesn't matter if we win or lose anymore. We need to start focusing on getting the Wolves to work together as a team and start developing our talent.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Evaluating McHale
SBG had a link to this article in this post the other day. I was going to leave a comment there, but decided that my comment would be so long that it deserved its own spot over here.
The gist of the article is that McHale has done a horrible, horrible job as GM. There was the Joe Smith fiasco and a host of other bad moves that he's made over the course of his tenure that have caused Garnett to be surrounded by mediocre talent.
Before I start my evaluation of McHale, I have to point something out. When you look back at things now it looks pretty bad. But when you're looking at decisions that were made, you have to look objectively at the trades based on the information known at the time of the trade. For instance, if the Wolves were to trade KG straight up for Steve Francis right now, and then KG got hurt and never recovered and Stevie Franchise started putting up 30 ppg for the next 5 years, it's easy to say in hind sight that the trade was a good one for us because it worked out well. Of course, this is a bad way to look at things because the Wolves would have no way to know that things would work out like that. KG has never been injury prone and Stevie has never put up 30ppg and shows no signs of improvement.
On a related note, the Packers made a trade like this when they acquired Brett Favre at the beginning of his career. Back then he was a young kid with no work ethic that showed up to practice drunk on a regular basis. The Packers offered up a first round draft pick for him and who were the Falcons to refuse such a deal? Of course, this isn't quite as bad as the hypothetical trade mentioned above, since it is likely that Packer scouts saw an enormous amount of potential in Favre, but the trade could have easily been a complete bust for them had Favre continued on the same path.
Now, with all this in mind, McHale is still a terrible GM.
The article goes a little bit overboard in this respect. The Sprewell and Cassell additions were very solid ones for us and I don't blame McHale for making those moves. We all knew that they were getting old and not going to last when we got them, but none of us cared at the time. Had Cassell not gotten injured and the Wolves had won the championship that year, nobody would have ever said anything bad about those acquisitions. Even though we knew it was temporary, we thought that they would give us more than one good year, and people are pissed about that--but that's no reason to blame McHale. The only reason to blame him for this is because you're looking for another reason to hate him.
The Jaric one was one that (while not great) I believed was solid one for the Wolves. I thought Jaric had a lot of potential especially in a system like the one we have. Cassell was old and hadn't been injury free for two years, and we had no reason to believe that he would stay healthy. I (incorrectly) lumped Cassell in with Sprewell because of the problems from last year, however, I now think that that was almost entirely Sprewell's fault and getting rid of Cassell didn't do anything to alleviate the problem. I also gave Jaric a bit too much credit for having potential. Of course, that's me as an outsider looking in. As a GM, McHale should have known that both of these things were incorrect since he's a lot closer to the players and the league than me.
Then there was the Joe Smith fiasco. There is simply no excuse for that. He was a fan favorite, but taking such a huge risk for such mediocre talent is simply stupid. Drafting Ndudi during the one year where we did get a draft pick was also pretty awful.
The verdict on the Celtics trade is still out. The Wolves did get a lot of talent, but the timing wasn't the best. Part of me wishes the Wolves had held back on acquiring another huge contract and wishes that the Wolves had just cut their losses for the season and tried to make some good signings this summer in what looks to be a very juicy free agent market. I would really hate to see McHale make another monster trade in a last ditch effort to save this season. The season is gone. Forget about it.
The thing that is clear about McHale is that he doesn't have good scouting and that many of his decisions are emotional rather than logical. It's time for him to go and to give someone else a chance. KG made his feelings about McHale clear earlier this season, and at the very least, the Wolves owe it to him to give somebody else a chance.
The gist of the article is that McHale has done a horrible, horrible job as GM. There was the Joe Smith fiasco and a host of other bad moves that he's made over the course of his tenure that have caused Garnett to be surrounded by mediocre talent.
Before I start my evaluation of McHale, I have to point something out. When you look back at things now it looks pretty bad. But when you're looking at decisions that were made, you have to look objectively at the trades based on the information known at the time of the trade. For instance, if the Wolves were to trade KG straight up for Steve Francis right now, and then KG got hurt and never recovered and Stevie Franchise started putting up 30 ppg for the next 5 years, it's easy to say in hind sight that the trade was a good one for us because it worked out well. Of course, this is a bad way to look at things because the Wolves would have no way to know that things would work out like that. KG has never been injury prone and Stevie has never put up 30ppg and shows no signs of improvement.
On a related note, the Packers made a trade like this when they acquired Brett Favre at the beginning of his career. Back then he was a young kid with no work ethic that showed up to practice drunk on a regular basis. The Packers offered up a first round draft pick for him and who were the Falcons to refuse such a deal? Of course, this isn't quite as bad as the hypothetical trade mentioned above, since it is likely that Packer scouts saw an enormous amount of potential in Favre, but the trade could have easily been a complete bust for them had Favre continued on the same path.
Now, with all this in mind, McHale is still a terrible GM.
The article goes a little bit overboard in this respect. The Sprewell and Cassell additions were very solid ones for us and I don't blame McHale for making those moves. We all knew that they were getting old and not going to last when we got them, but none of us cared at the time. Had Cassell not gotten injured and the Wolves had won the championship that year, nobody would have ever said anything bad about those acquisitions. Even though we knew it was temporary, we thought that they would give us more than one good year, and people are pissed about that--but that's no reason to blame McHale. The only reason to blame him for this is because you're looking for another reason to hate him.
The Jaric one was one that (while not great) I believed was solid one for the Wolves. I thought Jaric had a lot of potential especially in a system like the one we have. Cassell was old and hadn't been injury free for two years, and we had no reason to believe that he would stay healthy. I (incorrectly) lumped Cassell in with Sprewell because of the problems from last year, however, I now think that that was almost entirely Sprewell's fault and getting rid of Cassell didn't do anything to alleviate the problem. I also gave Jaric a bit too much credit for having potential. Of course, that's me as an outsider looking in. As a GM, McHale should have known that both of these things were incorrect since he's a lot closer to the players and the league than me.
Then there was the Joe Smith fiasco. There is simply no excuse for that. He was a fan favorite, but taking such a huge risk for such mediocre talent is simply stupid. Drafting Ndudi during the one year where we did get a draft pick was also pretty awful.
The verdict on the Celtics trade is still out. The Wolves did get a lot of talent, but the timing wasn't the best. Part of me wishes the Wolves had held back on acquiring another huge contract and wishes that the Wolves had just cut their losses for the season and tried to make some good signings this summer in what looks to be a very juicy free agent market. I would really hate to see McHale make another monster trade in a last ditch effort to save this season. The season is gone. Forget about it.
The thing that is clear about McHale is that he doesn't have good scouting and that many of his decisions are emotional rather than logical. It's time for him to go and to give someone else a chance. KG made his feelings about McHale clear earlier this season, and at the very least, the Wolves owe it to him to give somebody else a chance.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Back To The Grind
After a fun all-star weekend, it will be back to work for the Wolves on Tuesday. The 1st half of the season ended on a pretty strong note for them, with a convincing win over Robert Swift and the Seattle Sonics. Perhaps the best thing I can say for them about that game is that they actually knew like they knew what they were doing out there, which is something I haven't seen for a while. Rather than a collection of individual efforts, it looked like a collective team effort. I can only assume that this meant that they practiced.
I missed the rookie/sophomore game, but caught the rest of the festivities. The dunk contest was the best in years, although I was starting to get a little frustrated with Robinson at the end. His dunk over Spud Webb was inspiring, but I got really frustrated with his 20+ attempts that it took him to make his last 2 dunks. Iguodala's first round dunk was perhaps the most amazing I've ever seen in a dunk contest.
The all-star game must have felt like deja vu for KG. His team plays well, builds a nice early lead, then totally collapses in the second half and loses. It was still a fun and exciting game. It was worth it alone to watch Shaq's alley oop to himself off of the backboard on a FT attempt. I don't think I've ever seen so FT violations by one person on one free throw before, and I just cracked up when he did it.
I missed the rookie/sophomore game, but caught the rest of the festivities. The dunk contest was the best in years, although I was starting to get a little frustrated with Robinson at the end. His dunk over Spud Webb was inspiring, but I got really frustrated with his 20+ attempts that it took him to make his last 2 dunks. Iguodala's first round dunk was perhaps the most amazing I've ever seen in a dunk contest.
The all-star game must have felt like deja vu for KG. His team plays well, builds a nice early lead, then totally collapses in the second half and loses. It was still a fun and exciting game. It was worth it alone to watch Shaq's alley oop to himself off of the backboard on a FT attempt. I don't think I've ever seen so FT violations by one person on one free throw before, and I just cracked up when he did it.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Wolves Lose
I don't have much to say about the game tonight. Toronto came out and shot the shit out of the ball from downtown. The Wolves dominated pretty much every other aspect of the game. They absolutely killed Toronto in the paint. There's not a lot you can do when your opponent shoots 65% from 3-point range.
The Wolves had a higher shooting percentage (they were getting much better shots), they out-offensive-rebounded them, out-defensive-rebounded them, out-assisted them, out-blocked them and scored more points off of turnovers despite having 2 more total turnovers.
Good job Toronto.
The Wolves had a higher shooting percentage (they were getting much better shots), they out-offensive-rebounded them, out-defensive-rebounded them, out-assisted them, out-blocked them and scored more points off of turnovers despite having 2 more total turnovers.
Good job Toronto.
