Spurs 98, Wolves 86
Posted on December 12th, 2008 – 11:52 PMBy Brian Stensaas
It should surprise no one that Tony Parker was the go-to guy tonight. Heck, the guy scored 55 last time he was on this court.
Perhaps what is surprising, though, is that Parker had one point (ONE POINT!!!!) through three quarters. He then threw down 16 in the final 12 minutes - including eight straight for the Spurs to open the quarter - and led them to victory.
Shocker.
Speaking of eight straight, Minnesota is now in an eight-game losing streak for the second time this season.
As I wrote in the game story, the theme of the night was not only Parker’s monster fourth quarter but Minnesota’s inability to make easy shots. Layups, little finger rolls, at-the-rim put backs … nothing fell.
Kevin McHale was pretty ticked about his team’s emotions during the slumps. He understands missing shots. But hang your head after missing a few, and you’re in the dog house. He called it “unacceptable.”
Not much more to say about this one. Randy Foye was a bit upbeat, actually. Remember, it WAS a close game for a while there. ”Once we win a game and we get a taste in our mouths of winning, we’re going to turn this around,” Foye said.
But the rest of the locker room tonight was, again, pretty quiet. It’s becoming common around here.
Goodnight from Target Center. I’ll post an update from tomorrow’s practice - which I assure you will be a good one for this team.
8 Responses to "Spurs 98, Wolves 86"
[…] On the Wolves – […]
Nothing new in this game. Competitive first half, very uncompetitive second half. My only note is that is bad misses and bad body language are going to get guys benched, then maybe there’s hope that McCants is riding pine after all.
More pressing to me is that in two days (Dec 15) the trade restrictions for newly signed players is lifted, opening up the door for bigger moves to be made. I’m sure the team and I probably disagree on this…they probably want to stand still and try to get the current roster to work; I’ve pretty much decided it’s a lost cause and want the roster blown up. My concern is that the team is going to be so hellbent on proving this roster can work that they’ll miss out on some good deals, even small ones.
I still think a deal with Memphis for Conley is the place to start, since we know he’s being shopped and he’d solve a big problems of our immediately. And if we can get Warrick and/or Milicic thrown in as well, then even better.
Contrary to some reports, Gerald Wallace is very much on the trading block still, even after the Richardson deal. That’d be another great deal to look into, especially after the moratorium expires. Ryan Gomes is exactly the kind of player Larry Brown would want on his team.
If we think big and expensive, we could try to get in on a deal for Michael Redd or Corey Maggette. I don’t see how either would significantly help us though.
But the point is there’s a lot of possibilities out there for players who WOULD help us, as long as we’re open to the idea of changing the roster up.
Conley would be solid - what would it take to get him Bryan?
do NOT want Redd or Maggette - headcases
Warrick and Milicic would be nice pieces (we’ve had this convo before :))
who else is out there?
I’ve read that Maggette is a very selfish player, only worried about getting his shots and points. Until that big Russian center signs, which could be years away, would it be worth it to take a look at Kaman or Dalembaert or some type of center ? Ramon Sessions at PG would be great, but I doubt we could get him.
With this team focused on opening up cap room, you have to wonder about the big free agent signings this last summer. Signing Baron Davis at LAC or Brand at Philly or Maggette at GS haven’t seemed to help those teams any. Unfortunately, we have no shot at signing Wade or LeBron or Bosh in 2010, so it makes you wonder who we would end up with and would they be overpaid ? This team needs to become A LOT smarter in the draft in order to build talent like the Twins do in baseball (where their free agent signings have been pathetic due to Carl wanting to take his money with him to the grave).
My wife was watching the Supernanny show last night while I was watching the Wolves lose for the 8th straight game. She was telling me how Mike James, former Wolves big free agent acquisition (nice job Wolves Front Office again), was the focus of the Supernanny show. Apparently, he lives in some big mansion with a swimming pool and a full-court facility at his home for practicing. He came off as an arrogant jerk who argued a lot and wouldn’t listen to anyone while he was preparing to leave his wife alone with their 4 little daughters for 7 months of the NBA season. I told my wife that it is pretty funny that Mike James, who is playing about 10 minutes per game and shooting about 32% FG, has anything to be arrogant about at all. Then, it made me think about McCants, who seems to be oblivious to how horrible he has been playing. These guys are bred to have people admire them, give them millions of dollars in contracts and marketing promotions, ask for autographs and heap praise on them. They don’t usually listen to anything negative, as they need to feel confident on the court. I’d feel better about McCants if I heard anything about him trying to improve his game instead of him blindly believing that he is already a superstar in the making. At least, it sounds like Kevin Love doesn’t have a bloated ego the size of the Target Center itself.
Well, Davis is a unique case since the plan was to put him next to Elton Brand, which would have made the Clippers a very very competitive team. But obviously Brand went to Philadelphia, and now he’s paying the price. They just fire Cheeks today because the team is starting so slow. Too bad really….like ourselves, the coach isn’t the problem with that team. They won’t be any better with a new coach than they are now.
Their main problem is they have no shooters. Literally. None. The only guy who even comes close to a deep shooter is Kareem Rush.
It wouldn’t matter is they had Dwight freakin Howard in the middle. If you don’t have jump shooters and deep shooters to balance the offense out, you’re going to lose. Your big man will just get doubled and tripled every possession and have nowhere to go with the ball. We saw that last year here with Al.
There’s a reason Orlando overpaid to have Rashard on the team. There’s a reason the Spurs always surround Duncan with guys like Finley and Ginobili and Roger Mason. GMs these days, they just go and get the most talented guy they can find without thinking about how all the pieces fit together, then they wonder why they lose. Sound like anyone we know…MCHALE???
As for trades…I know Conley is on the block in Memphis. Channing Frye and Travis Outlaw in Portland. Maggette in Golden State. Redd and Sessions in Milwaukee. Gerald Wallace in Charlotte (and probably Felton too). Marion in Miami. I’d bet that for the right deal, the Jazz would trade Boozer and the Clippers would trade Baron Davis as well, although both players are well out of our price range and wouldn’t help us much anyway.
I have no idea what it would take to get any of them really. The Grizzlies nearly moved Conley to Portland, but then backed out when the Blazers refused to send them Steve Blake. It’s hard to tell what any of those teams would want because they all have unique circumstances around them. Larry Brown is obviously not worried about fair value since he essentially traded Jason Richardson for Raja Bell. The Grizzlies are looking for something specific for Conley, but they won’t say what. Portland…well, Pritchard is too savvy for ud to deal with really. He’s already fleeced McHale before. And who knows what the Bucks are ever trying to do?
My concern is more that we won’t even look into any trades, not necessarily that we won’t make one.
I told you last week that Javaris Crittenton could probably be had from Memphis for a song, but the Wizards beat you to it. Laker observers thought Crittenton had a greater upside than Farmar. Conley’s been a bust in Memphis. Why do you think he’s a solution?
…Adding, have you figured out yet that Kevin Love couldn’t take a Vikings tackling dummy off the dribble in clear, open space to the hole?
I think Conley is really just in need of a new team. I wouldn’t say he’s a bust since he didn’t come into the league with overwhelming expectations.
Ivaroni just doesn’t know what he’s doing with the point guard spot. He started with Conley, but didn’t think he was getting enough defense, so he went to Lowry. But Lowry doesn’t shoot or pass as well, so when Kyle went cold, he went back to Conley. Then he decided defense was suffering again, so now he’s back to Lowry.
The system they run in Memphis really minimizes point guard skills. It’s all about Mayo. Ivaroni tried to make Conley into a Steve Nash, which won’t work, and when he figured that out, he then tried to turn him into a Derek Fisher, where he was just a shooter really and Mayo did all the playmaking. It’s really backwards….neither Conley nor Lowry’s numbers reflect their abilities or potential.
Conley’s shown flashes of real brilliance which is a level I think he can consistently play at in time.
Speaking of UCLA, I’m liking what I’m seeing from Jrue Holiday. He’s like OJ Mayo with Westbrook’s vertical.
