They’re back at it: Wolves at Knicks tonight
Posted on December 26th, 2008 – 1:52 PMBy Jerry Zgoda
Mike Miller didn’t make the trip to New York and will miss his second consecutive game after re-injuring that sprained ankle against Houston Saturday.
Sebastian Telfair will be there at Madison Square Garden, in his hometown.
His cousin, Stephon Marbury, the former Timberwolf, will not.
Marbury is the Knicks’ exiled and estranged point guard who has been paid his $20.8 million salary to stay away from the team since late November, when he refused to play in a game in Detroit after the Knicks had kept him sitting on the bench in streetclothes for the season’s opening month.
The New York Post theorized today that the Knicks could target Wolves guard Sebastian Telfair, in whom they had some interest before they signed Chris Duhon last summer, for an open roster spot, although what his trade value is or what the Knicks have to offer is always a question.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12262008/sports/knicks/stephon_wont_see_telfair_at_garden_145922.htm
The Post reports Marbury is still on a California vacation and won’t see his cousin tonight, but says Marbury plans to be in Minnesota for the Wolves’ Jan. 2 game against Golden State.
57 Responses to "They’re back at it: Wolves at Knicks tonight"
And with the 2nd overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft - the MN Timberwolves select Tyler Hansborough.
We can Get Hansborough with the #12 Pick….Go For Hasheem Thabeet…Hes the Size we need down low.
We all know that Hansborough will be available later. In fact you could make a case that we are already settled at the PF position. Based on past history, McHale will “overpay” and draft Hansborough.
(this is where I am guessing the wolves pick next year not where they are at now… remember the lottery)
3rd Thabeet - Center
17th Buddinger SF
20th Darren Collison PG
30th Dionte Christmas SG
With the 3 2nd round picks that they are supposed to have - DePalo PG (foreign), Tyrese Rice PG, Jarred Gee SG
What could we get from the Knicks for Telfair?
I would be open to trading any member of this team…
You have to be a superstar to be untradable, and this team doesn’t even have a single complete ball player on the roster!
I’m sorry folks. I know a lot of people are in love with Thabeet’s size but he only has height. He’s an absolute bean pole and will get pushed around by pretty much every center in the league. He’s a good three or four more years from being capable of anything.
What the Timberwolves actually need is a point guard who has vision and can actually run the offense. That my friends is Ricky Rubio. If the wolves have the opportunity to draft him we absolutely must take him. Not exceptions.
[…] On the Wolves – […]
If Rubio declares. Right now it appears he isn’t going to (although his recent play will help his stock dramatically, so he may change his mind). If he doesn’t though, we’d either have to gamble on Brandon Jennings (who I think is just a bigger Telfair) or take a mid-tier guy like Collison, Ty Lawson or Jonny Flynn.
I badly wish we had traded down for DJ Augustin right now.
Anyway, tonight is probably going to be the ultimate showcase of how slow and unathletic we are. We’re going to get run into the ground, with the fact that we have no leadership on offense, no way to defend shooting bigs, and no way to defend period all being on display.
On the bright side, maybe we’ll at least see a good 20 minutes of Carney.
Lets first look at what this team does not need in a draft. PF and SG. They have 3 PF right now, and SG are easy to come by. (I am guessing that will be filled by Foye for now)
They need a C, SF, and PG.
Hasheem Thabeet is 7-3, and would provide D in the post. That would be a game changer for this team. That type of opportunity comes along once in a generation, and you do not pass it up.
With the other 3 first round picks, lets hope they get at least on of their other needs filed.
But you take the big guy when you get a chance.
BC
The Wolvers only have 2 2nd round picks next year don’t they? Their own 2nd round pick is going to Detroit. I have told you this many times but for some reason you can’t comprehend it.
Minnesota has a basketball team??????
They have the 76’s first round pick as well don’t they?
We only have one second round pick this year (from Houston for the Gerald Green trade). Our own second round pick goes to Detroit for the Ronald Dupree trade.
The 76er pick is actually a first round pick, and is technically Utah’s. We’ll get it if Utah finishes as one of the top 8 teams this year.
Byran,
We get two picks for Chamers this year from Miami. We get the Houston pick in 2010.
Can we trade Telfair and the 1st round pick from the 76’s via Utah to the Knicks for David Lee? What else would it take?
Maybe Gomes and the pick for Lee?
Unless I’m mistaken, the second rounders we get from the Heat aren’t necessarily for this year. I don’t think the Heat will even have two second round picks this year.
As for David Lee, I’m not sure he’s the kind of player we want next to Al, but ultimately I doubt the Knicks will trade him anyway. He’s as close to untouchable as there is on that roster, and D’Antoni loves him. He’s a prefect fit for Mike’s system.
Looks like the players are trying to impress D’Antoni, too bad they don’t play this hard every night.
This is the kind of game that makes me wonder what the coaches have against Rodney Carney. Every time he’s been in the game….any game, all season….good things happen for us. And yet he plays like 10 minutes most games.
He’s athletic, a great defender, and a good shooter when he sets his feet. Three things we’ve been in dire need of all season.
And Telfair. He’s got 4 assists in 12 minutes, and has been great getting to the line and hitting his free throws. He should be starting…he should have been starting all season.
Bryan,
I agree. Foye should be starting at SG.
Too bad Mike is hurt. He’d have a field day out there.
Wouldn’t Miller look good with the Knicks. How about Richardson and Lee for Miller, I would love to lock up Lee to go with Jefferson for the next 4 years.
Eh, I’m not too high on a Jefferson/Lee duo. David’s a great rebounder and a good defender, but he’s undersized like Love and won’t keep guards out of the lanes. If we look for a center, it should be a Tyson Chandler type…tall, supremely athletic and a great shot blocker.
Gomes should not be starting. He seems to just sit at the 3 point line all game. I agree about Carney.
So Thabeet is not the answer either?
Just a Q. I don’t know much about him.
Gomes only starts because Brewer and Miller are both out. He’s being asked to go out there and shoot a ton, which would normally be Mike’s job, and defend the other team’s best wing player, which would normally be Brewer’s job. I think his is a case of just being asked to do too much and play outside his game.
I’m more concerned about Craig starting. He’s a great scorer and we can get away with it against the Knicks because they’re undersized up front too. But against most teams, Craig leaves us badly mismatched on defense and on the glass, and having him start takes some punch away from the bench.
I actually think Thabeet would be great on our team. He pretty much fits the description of tall, athletic shot blocker to a ‘T’. (7′3″, very quick and agile…doesn’t run or fall heavy like most guys his size). The concern with Thabeet is his aggressiveness. He has had a tendency to drift and/or get into foul trouble. If we do draft him, we’ll need to do it understanding there will probably be a year or two of steep learning curve for him as he adjusts to the pro game.
When Brewer and Miller were both healthy it was Foye, Miller, Gomes Jefferson, and Collins or Love. Again there has been alot of changes since.
Yes, I agree we need help on the front line to go with Jefferson. Tough to come by. Chandler obviously is not available. Any suggestions, either thru draft or trade?
I think I am a little too impatient to wait for a player to develop. Need something in the intrim.
Przybilla would be nice…good luck with that.
I don’t know who we’d trade for. I’ve kind of been hawing a deal with the Grizzlies for Conley, Warrick and Milicic, with the intent that we’d draft Thabeet and he’d be ready to start by the time Milicic’s contract expires in 2010. Milicic is probably the best help available at center right now, and he’s pretty average. I can’t think of any real high end centers available right now unless the Clippers change their stance on not trading Camby or Kaman.
Right now I would be happy with average. As long as he was physical, athletic and could rebound. The points could come from the other positions.
Trade McCants right now.
Jama,
You have told me this a half dozen times, but that’s the only place I have seen it. I looked on NBA.Draft.Net,
outstanding trades, and a few other sites, but never saw anything on the Pistons and Wolves… so forgive me…
And even if they traded that away… they still have up to 6 picks and I’m not seeing any reason they couldn’t draft 6 players from a WEAK ASS draft that wouldn’t be better than most of what they have now!
So show me the link to it, and I will only do projections for 6 picks.
Check draftexpress BC. Draftnet actually isn’t that reliable; their prospect analysis is pretty bad and they’re usually way off on most of their mocks.
Sebastian Telfair is having quite a night. He’s been great at drawing fouls the last two games. But once again, our offense is dying at the end here.
And since we mentioned Thabeet, he had a great performance tonight. 20-11 and 6 blocks.
Wow, Telfair just dropped a DIME.
Finally a win. I don’t think anyone is under the illusion that we’ll shoot this well every night, but when we do, we’ll take it.
Second consecutive game Telfair’s scored 10+ from the free throw line. 19 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, just 2 turnovers.
My apologies. 20 points from Telfair.
I got the feed from NY. Their annoucer keep saying Telfair palms the ball
Congratultions to Telfair, I am sure it felt great in his own back yard.
It does look like he palms it sometimes, but actually according to the rules, what he does is ok. You can can put your hand under the ball and flip it over as long as you keep it moving. It’s when you put your hand under it and stop that’s considered palming.
I’m kind of surprised a New York announcer would say that though. Nate Robinson and Starbury do the same thing all the time. Well…I guess Marbury hasn’t been playing. But still…
That is what they were talking about with his stop and go. (with the palming)
They did say a lot of nice things about Telfair and interviewed him after the game.
Well, I’m not seeing him stop his dribbling motion, and the refs apparently aren’t either. Oh well.
Bassy is a Brooklyn native and hugely popular because of his high school days. The Knicks tried to sign him over the summer but he didn’t want to go to New York.
I wonder if he could have fulfilled his potential there though. He’s a much better and more efficient passer than Duhon and Chris isn’t any better of a shooter.
They talked about on a penetration under the hoop and again later on. Just twice. but like you said oh well.
He had a great game good for him.
I didn’t know he turned down the Knicks.
Maybe it had something to do with being in Stephan’s shadow?
Telfair look good, at half the price of Duhon.
What is the opinion on Kevin Love lately ? He’s barely playing, usually gets 0 points a game and 3-5 rebounds. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be a colossal waste of a really high draft pick. You can’t throw away having the 3rd pick in the draft and end up with not much in return. You have to hit gold with picks like that to really build a winning team.
FYI, the Wolves appear to have 2 second round picks this year from the Chalmers trade :
http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/future_draft_pick_breakdown_080709.html
The Heat will forward the lesser two of the three 2009 second-round picks it holds (its own, Philadelphia’s and Indiana’s) to Minnesota in addition to $2 million. …
The trade was really about the money. We traded away the 34th pick (Chalmers) and would get in return the 42nd and 47th picks this coming year, if the season ended today. And, this is supposedly a weak year upcoming for depth in the draft.
Glen is getting so cheap that he asked the Chicago Bulls for them to pay for 5 airline tickets when we lost assistant coach Bob Ociepka to the Bulls, so that the Wolves could use the tickets to interview replacements for Ociepka. The article doesn’t say if the Bulls paid for the tickets or just decided to laugh at us. I wonder what the rest of the league thinks about us being the Carl Pohlad’s of basketball.
I think McHale is messing with Love’s head. He is not Jefferson. He doesn’t have the ability to have a bunch of offensive moves ala Jefferson/McHale.
He is an Offensive rebounder. He will get his points off rebounds and the free throw line. He has to pound the boards.
He is very young. Give him at least 3 years to evaluate. He is young with lots of growth, physically and developing his skills.
BC
Here’s the link to the Wolves draft positioning for next year. Not only 2nd round but 1st round also. Straight from the horse’s mouth. You’re welcome!
http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/future_draft_pick_breakdown_080709.html
Ah, they have Indiana’s pick. I missed that.
And I actually think there’s some solid talent in the second round this year. Robert Dozier, Shawn Taggart, AJ Price and Danny Green come to mind.
it’s been a month for us to post on a winning thread…nice job T Wolves…
It was fun to watch the win last night. I’m looking forward to Monday night when I’ll be in attendance to witness the Grizzlies from the lower level.
Shaddy!!!
Thank you Jama,
But if I were spouting things off, and you couldn’t find a place to confirm it… wouldn’t you have been harsher on me than just dismissing it as a 50/50 shot?
Be honest… if I say something that someone doesn’t agree with here, or in the baseball chat… I get nailed to a cross even if I’m right the very best I get is ignored.
So please don’t take it personal. I enjoy your opinions, and I appreciate the fact that there are other people here that love the wolves inspite of players, coaches, management, and owner for the most part.
All is cool?
Bryan…
I like Tyrese Rice in the 2nd round. This team needs a pass first PG, and Rice also can play some pretty solid D. I don’t look at him as a future star, but I see him as a solid NBA backup for 6-7 years…
I forgot about Dozier…
