Tuesday update: After practice observations; Miller needs to shoot more
Posted on November 18th, 2008 – 6:11 PMBy Brian Stensaas
Good day. And that’s not just a greeting. Those were the exact words Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman described today’s practice, a day before taking on the Sixers at home. Wittman said, despite a 1-8 record, the mentality of the team remains positive.
The Wolves went through the usual motions today, allowing the media in to see a little bit of scrimmaging and then some after-practice individual work.
- Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen did a good bit of running.
- Kevin Love worked on perimeter shooting.
- Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes and Randy Foye did some quick pass, quick shoot work.
- Rashad McCants lifted weights.
This a day after the team pretty much worked on its own. No official practice was held Monday.
Lots of talk today about Mike Miller’s 3-for-4 shooting night in Denver. Obviously, Miller needs to shoot more. The guy was brought here for his shooting. Four times in 34 minutes is not enough.
“We’ve have to get Mike more than four shots, there’s no question about that,” Wittman said. “And Mike’s got to work to get more than four shots. Sometimes you get into turning down shots to make the extra pass. Mike does all the right things. [But] at times, he has to be a little selfish, too.”
Talked to Cardinal about this for a story in tomorrow’s paper. Before you go questioning me on this, remember Cardinal and Miller were in college at the same time (Cardinal’s Boilermakers having defeated Miller’s Gators, the Purdue graduate gladly points out), were drafted in the same year (2000) and were teammates the past four years in Memphis. If there is one person who knows the lowdown on Miller’s true game, it’s Cardinal. Also, let’s not forget that Cardinal has been on the bench for all but 4:43 minutes this season. Between that and practices, he’s had plenty of time to observe.
Elton Brand and the Sixers here in town tomorrow night. Jerry will have the scoop from Target Center, where one would think yet another close game is on the horizon. Eleven of the past 17 games between these two teams have been decided by five points or less.
48 Responses to "Tuesday update: After practice observations; Miller needs to shoot more"
A close game doesn’t mean a god damned thing if they lose again!
In Japan if a boss was this bad at their job they would be expected to jump off the building, or get out the ritual knife.
Can we fly the front office to Japan?
Randy Wittman is a disgrace. 9 games in, how many different lineups? The only things that are consistant with the Wolves is that they are going to deny responsibility, they are not going to have a set rotation, or any form of consistancy at all, and in the end they will lose the game.
I hope the players read this because while I don’t hate them… I am disappointed in their lack of TEAM ball as well. They should all be ashamed of themselves… to hell with the excuses… put out the effort, and then if you can’t win the game at least we know what the team needs. Right now there is no team, no philosophy, nothing… just chaos, and some of the worst basketball I’ve ever seen in my life! This team is actually worse than they were last year!
[…] On the Wolves – […]
Miller needs to shoot more. Um. Duh.
I’m kind of sad seeing how many people think the guy is worthless and want him traded already. Mike is an extremely talented player who’s just being used wrong and can’t get any rhythm because our offense is so broken.
i was hoping to see miller getting alot of open threes just by jefferson finding him from the double teams he is always getting.is that jefferson’s fault for not finding him,or wittmans fault for not putting them in a position to be able to take advantage of that situation?
Both as far as I’m concerned. Plus, we rely on Foye a ton to set up the offense in the first place, and he doesn’t really know how.
Did you ask Cardinal if he picks up his paychecks with a mask and a gun?
If Al Jefferson wants to lead this team, then he better start being a better passer out of the post. If he refuses to find the open man on double and triple teams, he shouldn’t be giving any advice to Randy Foye.
I don’t think Foye is a true point guard but he is all we have right now.
I haven’t said he’s worthless (for that matter I don’t think anybody has said that). But Miller is a guy who is at the peak of his career now and it looks like he’ll be past prime by the time the rest of the team is ready to make a move.
If you get the right offer (and only if you get the right offer), it would be worth considering.
First, Miller is a shooter, not a scorer. He could be a 20ppg guy, if the offense flowed at all. A scorer (like AI, or Kobe) can create their own shots. That’s not Mike’s game, and any Wolves fan that expected him to be a scorer needs to let go of that misconception. A solid PG, and/or Al being able to quickly recognize the double/triple team and pass to an open perimeter player before the defense rotates would solve this problem.
Second, KG is the only player I’ve seen go straight from HS to the NBA and make the transition look remotely smooth. Al came straight out of high school, and I don’t think his transition is complete yet. Kind of a scary thought for the player this franchise is supposed to be built around.
I don’t know about Al, but it seems to me like many of the young players (from HS or College Frosh) come into the NBA having been a dominant player and winning most if not all of their games. When they get drafted to a team that is not immediately going to the playoffs (which is usually the case), many of them don’t mentally know how to handle the losing and not being the best player on the floor every game. Could this be part of the reason Al looks so frustrated on the court some nights? He’s definitely the most skilled player on the team, but I think Miller is the best player on the team, because he has the greatest combination of skills and team basketball understanding.
Same thing goes for Telfair. Another HS all star that’s yet to find his game at the NBA level. He could be that solid PG the team needs, but he’s not right now.
Most HS to NBA players (other than KG and LBJ) need to realize that what worked in HS is not necessarliy going to be as effective against NBA players. I don’t believe Al or Sebastian have fully figured that out yet, and adjusted their games to improve.
triebark
Al and Telfair have been in the league for 5 years. If they haven’t figured out that stuff by now they never will. That argument might work for 2-3 years but these guys have both been on multiple teams and know how the NBA works.
Also, you forgot about guys like Kobe and Amare that had success quickly out of HS.
I agree, jama. Jefferson and Telfair may have still have elements of their games that are still developing (as KG and Kobe did), but in terms of understanding how the league works and having the right mental approach, they should be there by now.
I don’t see Telfair as anything more than a backup point guard. He can’t shoot, doesn’t get to the free throw line, and his prowess in running an offense only looks good in comparison to Foye’s incompetence so far this year.
Jefferson’s game needs to grow if he’s to be considered the cornerstone for this team going forward. He’s got to do a better job passing and his defensive effort has to improve. Otherwise, he’s not a #1 guy — he’s just a statsheet-filler.
BC - The Wolves are 2nd in team assists and 3rd in least TOs….how is that not good team work ?
So what is the problem ?
I think its a bunch of scared players in the final 5 minutes of the 4th.
My fear is that Al Jefferson turns into the second coming of Shareef Abdul-Rahim. A guy that puts up good numbers for his career always on a bad team. I will say that Al seems to have a little more fire than Shareef showed when he played.
Swan
I still think the main problem is defense, the Wolves don’t play any. The funny thing is all we heard during Trainging Camp was that the Wolves were spending all their time working on their defense. If they hadn’t spent all that time on defense in camp how much worse would it be?
Jama - Of course it is…I agree. Our offense is fine…sometimes stagnant depending on personnel.
If anything we need to find the next Gary Payton. A lockdown PG who can harass the bejesus outta opposing PGs. I think we need that more than the big blocking center.
Swan
The Wolves just drafted that guy, his name is Mario Chalmers. Unfortunately the Wolves did what they always do and traded him away for nothing in return.
The offense is less of a problem than the defense. It’s not like our offense is setting the world on fire, though.
We’re 17th in points, 24th in FG pct, 29th in 3-pt pct, 27th in free-throw attempts and 26th in rebounding differential.
jama and Sean
I’m not saying they don’t understand how the league works, I’m saying they don’t understand team basketball. And it concerns me that after the amount of time they’ve both had, neither one seems to have developed considerably beyond the super star HS level in the aspect of being a team player.
Niether one has been on a winning team in their NBA carrers, and if they were the star of their HS team and were never really challenged individually or as a team, they’ve yet to adjust their game to NBA levels of team play.
I didn’t include Kobe or Amare because both of them went to teams that were much better at the time than MN or Cleveland when they drafted their HS stars.
I’d blame their lack of development as much on the coaches they’ve had as on their own mental approach. Expectations were very high for Telfair in Portland. When he didn’t provide what they wanted, they shipped him out. Now both he and Al come to Minnie because, why wouldn’t Boston want KG?
Lately, this team has looked like a bunch of talented, but very confused, HS players trying to keep up with real NBA TEAMS.
sorry, should have typed:
jama and Swan
“But Miller is a guy who is at the peak of his career now and it looks like he’ll be past prime by the time the rest of the team is ready to make a move.”
That might happen around the time Alien archeologists are discovering the Target Center in a glacier.
“Most HS to NBA players (other than KG and LBJ) need to realize that what worked in HS is not necessarliy going to be as effective against NBA players.”
Ever heard of Kobe or McGrady? On second thought, you’re right, those two suck. Dwight Howard is a bust too.
“I don’t believe Al or Sebastian have fully figured that out yet, and adjusted their games to improve.”
Maybe you’re right if you cant do better than 22ppg 11rpg and 52% from the field your while being double and triple teamed on a nightly basis, you should probably retire.
And by the way no more b:tching about Mayo, he’s just a stat stuffer. The real test is how nice you can be to each other. Thats where AL needs to improve. He’s too mean to Foye.
The Wolves could use Mayo’s stat stuffing right now.
I think the biggest problems outside of defense are lack of trust and selfishness. It seems to me that some of the players don’t seem to trust the others to get anything done (ex. Al trying to work through double or triple teams instead of passing to the open man/men, as the case may be). Also, Whit could try staying with a rotation once in a while see if familiarity breeds success… Just my thoughts…
“I think the biggest problems outside of defense are lack of trust and selfishness.”
You’re way off. Its the $8.00 for a beer. Its too espensive to get drunk enough to watch these games. If the booze was cheaper Id consider going back.
Pointless - plenty of bars near by !
Jama - The only thing we’d need is Mayo’s D. Otherwise he is a jacker who doesn’t get to the foul line.
Yeah but he’s a jacker that actually makes some shots. Have you seen the FG% of the Wolves backcourt? I agree his D would be nice also.
Mayo is only averaging 4 more shots per game than Foye but is scoring 10 more points. I think I’d take that “jacking” anyday.
He’d also be second on the Wolves in FT attempts per game.
Head meet wall……
You guys need to see this for what it is, a comedy. Try and maximize its value and laugh at it. Its all the Wolves are good for.
Looks like Roberto’s long lost brother has been found!
The coach needs to setup a solid rotation and play the same guys in the 4th quarter together as much as matchups and their effort dictates. They need to be comfortable playing together as a unit at the end of games. Unless McCants starts to understand team basketball, I would sit him. With Collins healthy, Smith needs to be limited to 5-8 minutes per game. The team is too small with Smith playing bigger minutes. Unfortunately, McCants seems to be the only guard capable of getting his own shot off and getting past guys in traffic. If Foye could do this and dribble drive or if the team had a PG like Derrick Rose, we’d win some games. Until then, we get to watch everyone stand around in the 4th quarter and hope that Jefferson can beat the double-teams. Even if he passes out of a double-team (rarely), Gomes or Foye or whoever will miss the clutch shot. I’d trust Big Al vs. two players more than a barely-guarded Foye or Gomes or McCants in the closing minutes. This team needs a PG and an unselfish version of McCants.
To comment on OJ Mayo:
He obviously looks good now, but a lot of that is the system he’s in. Marc Ivaroni is a Mike D’Antoni protege, and runs the same gameplan, which is basically fast break all the time, shoot when you catch. So Mayo basically has the freedom to shoot whenever he wants from wherever he is on the floor. He’s obviously a great shooter, he hits a lot of his shots.
Just keep in mind that he benefits greatly from a system that affords him a ton of opportunities that play to his strengths. If he were a Timberwolf, I’d bet he’d not not even half as good right now.
Hmm…just playing around with the stats…Kevin Love is currently 13th in the league in offensive rebounds despite only playing 25 minutes. Only one player (E. Dampier) ahead of him is doing as much in less minutes (21).
Dalembert and Brand tonight eh ? I hope they start Love / Big Al. Collins will get worked by Brand’s range. Unless Collins is guarding the non-threat Dalembert.
Bryan - Nice point on Mayo
Why would Collins guard Brand? Dalembert is their center who has no jump shot at all.
No mention of the return of Theo Ratliff?
“He obviously looks good now, but a lot of that is the system he’s in.”
Read: We picked the wrong player.
Whats the over under on the number of times Love stuffs himself on the rim tonight?
No, the point is Mayo wouldn’t be as good here as he is in Memphis. We run a slower system, he wouldn’t get as many touches or open looks.
Swan - Team Assists, and turnovers are great statistics… IF YOU ARE WINNING!
This team gets pushed, and they curl up like an abused dog and wet themselves.
In the end it comes down to two things with this team. Growth, and winning.
This team is not growing, and they sure as hell are not winning.
Randy Wittman should be ashamed of himself.
It appears that when the team gives the physicals they find men with no Testicular Fortitude.
So let’s get the little pebble nutted, raisin sack, and neutered wolves out there to get smoked again tonight and every night with bad coaching. Let’s watch the break downs on fundementals, and the inevitable choke that will occur.
The question will be do they choke before Wittman screws up, or will they choke because of a Wittman screw up?
Discussing the Wolves makes me feel like we are all doing the intro to Major League when they are discussing the Cleveland Indians.
Where is Lou Brown when you need him? God knows that he could coach this team better than The Wittless Wonder!
The wolves are off to another great start …21- 12…..anyone watch the Daivdson - Oka game last night…..Curreys an increbile shooter and Blake Griffen is a great player I’d luv to see either on the wolves team next year….
nice comeback…only down 27-24 after 1…..
up 54 - 50 at half….Craig Smith is playing nice and aggressive…
“No, the point is Mayo wouldn’t be as good here as he is in Memphis. We run a slower system, he wouldn’t get as many touches or open looks.”
Oh is that what you mean? Do you remember when people you used to say about Cris Carter ‘All he does is catch TDs’?
Maybe Mayo has a coach who knows how to use him properly? Maybe thats what good coaching is? Getting the most out of your players. Whats Memphis’ record? 4-7 right?
I thought Love was supposed to be able to shoot? What happened there? And Im still waiting for this amazing outlet pass, where the hell is that thing?
