Nuggets 129, Wolves 100. Next…
Posted on October 20th, 2009 – 11:59 PMBy Jerry Zgoda
What’d you expect?
With Al Jefferson and Kevin Love both out…well, you probably didn’t expect the Wolves to lead 9-2 after three minutes, 19-10 after 6 1/2 minutes and 22-13 with 4:45 left in the first quarter.
But that, Kurt Rambis said, probably was partly because the Nuggets were just getting themselves warmed up and into the game.
Once they did, they led by as many as 38 points in the second half.
The 129 points were the most allowed by a team this NBA preseason.
Without Al, the Wolves got beat 58-26 in points in the paint.
Without Love’s rebounding, they got outrebounded 51-40 and outrun 37-15 in fast-break points.
Corey Brewer stepped forth with the two big guys out. He seems to be getting more confident each game: He scored 23 on 7 for 17 shooting (including two threes), had seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, a block, three fouls. He got knocked on his butt making one of his free throws, but missed the free throw and the potential four-point play.
How did the Oleksiy Pecherov experiment as starting center work? Not so much: 1 for 9 shooting, six rebounds, five fouls, four points in 19 minutes.
Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions finally played together for a stretch for the first time. They played the first 5 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. Both played off the ball some. Flynn was matched up against Ty Lawson, whom the Wolves drafted and then traded to Denver last summer. It looked pretty much like a push to me.
32 Responses to "Nuggets 129, Wolves 100. Next…"
Who would have though Corey would be our best player this preseason?
Jerry, you said you felt Kahn would really need to see something from Corey to pick up his option. I’d say it’s a foregone conclusion that’s going to happen now, yes?
@bryan
Don’t get ahead of yourself.
I think he meant showing something during the regular season.
[…] On the Wolves » Blog Archive » Nuggets 129, Wolves 100. Next… blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/2009/10/20/nuggets-129-wolves-100-next – view page – cached With Al Jefferson and Kevin Love both out…well, you probably didn’t expect the Wolves to lead 9-2 after three minutes, 19-10 after 6 1/2 minutes and 22-13 with 4:45 left in the first quarter. — From the page […]
But he has to pick up his option soon, so Kahn meant he needs to see good things now to pick up his option and see more in the regular season to get an extension.
dilemina - can’t be the regular season. Kahn has to make the decision on Brewer by Oct 31 (11 days), by at which point Corey will have played in only 2 regular season games.
Sorry, I was thinking he meant an extention instead of the option. I figured the option was a no brainer.
…There I go thinking without my brain again.
he = you, bryan
Brewer rules ! 
Gotta pick up Brewer’s option ASAP. I was willing to pick it up based solely on his defense and FIT. But a game-high 10 trips to the FT line? Awesome. The next highest on The Wolves was 4 FT attempts. He’s got 46 attempts so far in six pre-season games.
I like looking at FT attempts - it’s a good measure of positive activity and ability to get to the hole.
I’ve said that with Brewer’s studly perimeter defense that he would be a long-time starter in Minnesota if he could just get to 10 ppg and hit 35-percent or so of his 3-point attempts. I think we’re seeing that he can at least become an offensive contributor, which is all a championship-level team would need when factoring in that his big impact is his defense.
Pick up the option, Kahn.
Foo
good point on the free throw attempts; its been frustrating that the team has not gotten to the line like it did in its only win.
One week away from the start of the season ! Uhhhhhh !
I know I have said this many, many times but I don’t think it’s a no brainer at all to pick up Brewer’s option. Ron Artest just signed for $6 million per and he is head and shoulders above Brewer. Brewer’s option is for $4 million. Let’s say they don’t pick it up and he becomes a restricted free agent. What’s the absolute most he would be offered by another team? I can’t imagine he would get any more than the mid level at the absolute most. It be much more likely that he’d get offered somewhere in the $4-$5 million per range. If that is the case why don’t thet Wolves just pass on picking up his option and see how he plays for a whole season? If he excels the Wolves match and are out maybe an extra million per year. If he falters they can either let him go or bring him back at less money than the $4 million.
Is there something I’m missing or does this not seem like the logical thing to do? Make him earn his money, and if he does then you pay him. If he doesn’t you save some cash and can still bring him back.
I know it will take some time and work w/ teams “big” coaches, but the new kid Jawai appears to have some athleticism on the video’s I’ve seen. It was against lesser competition, but he moves quite well around the basket. We can only hope he lends some relief more immediately too w/ our bigs out and limping.
the main thing he adds is size; we just don’t have it. I think the biggest player we have is Al, and he lost 31 pounds.
Artest is now an overrated defender on the perimeter.
Fine if you don’t like the Artest comparison how about Trevor Ariza? He signed for the mid level with Houston and he shoots better from behind the arc and is a more versatile defender.
There you go. Ariza is a better comparison.
the gamble then is you risk pissing Brewer off–however unlikely that sounds–and him not signing after his rookie year is up. Brewer should be picked up, he is stellar on defense and actually plays hard every game.
I’m not saying the Wolves should not bring Brewer back but is he really a $4 million per year player? I don’t think he has proved that yet. I think his preseason play has proved he has improved but it would be nearly impossible for him to not have improved from his rookie year, it was so bad.
Jama
thats true; although if last nite is any indication of what he can do on a regular basis, and Ariza, who lets say is better than Brewer (but not that much better, is he?) gets mid-level, is 4 mill THAT much of a stretch? the main issue of winging it is you risk letting go by far and away our best defender, and when Al (and arguable Love) isn’t on the floor, Brewer just might be the best player out there.
Ariza not that much better than Brewer? Where does that come from?
Brewer has looked very aggressive in the preseason games driving to the hoop–thus the increase in FT attempts–and he has looked good moving without the ball. His defense and hustle have always been there but it is on the offensive end that he now seems to be showing marked improvement.
One could decide, as Jama says, to make him prove himself over the course of the season before matching any offers he may get in the summer. But since we are talking about minor differences in money, and therefore little risk, why not pick up the option now and create good will and loyalty for a rebuilding team?
There is fairly high likelihood that Corey is going to be one of the pieces of this team as it goes forward and improves. Why not encourage the idea that he is part of the team’s profile? He brings the right kind of attitude and character, and so would be the kind of teammate that you want to have around.
In other news from the 2-point-guards-sharing-the-court world, it appears that Kahn is not the only person to share this crazy notion. It seems that Byron Scott is looking to employ a 2 PG look matching Chris Paul with either rookie Darren Collison, or your old favorite Bobby Brown:
(from the Times-Picayune)
“Scott plans to use a rotation that often involves two point guards at the same time. So far, Brown has gotten the majority of those minutes alongside Paul.
But whether it’s Collison or Brown on the court with Paul, starting small forward Julian Wright said, it’s going to create opportunities and make it tougher on opponents to guard them.
“It opens up a whole new world on how we can play,” Wright said. “Coach has been preaching about playing faster. In these last couple of practices, we’ve really been pushing the ball and making aggressive plays, and they (Brown and Collison) have been quick getting into the hole to make opportunities for themselves.”
Now I don’t believe that Kahn was doing anything other than spinning when he talked about the Flynn-Rubio combo. And Sessions might be more the smart move to cover Flynn not quite being ready for prime time than the establishment of the Wolves future backcourt duo. But, I don’t think it is crazy to play two point guards at the same time.
Jama, I think the risk you run if you dont pick up Brewers option is he could sign with someone else for less money…or the same money. He may just say he doesnt want to play here anymore. SO its not all about money.
I know its hard to believe that a player may not want to play here….
The question you have to ask in regards to Brewer is if you think you’re better off with Brewer & say $8 million in cap space or $12 million in cap space.
In regards to the two point guards, I think you’ll see it more if Jefferson is going to miss time, too. You’ve got to get your best players on the floor whenever possible.
5&10
nice quote about the 2 pg system, but Brown over Collison? Wow…
also, and this is just my opinion, Ariza hasn’t really shown me much outside of great defense. He has never averaged more than 9 points/game, and his career 3P FG % is under 30%.
if you compare side/side with brewer, you are getting a slightly bigger, slightly more athletic, better (by how much though?) defender who is arguably a worse 3P shooter (and maybe overall scorer). signed at less than 6 mill. so brewer at 4 mill, who offers the most energy and by far the best defense on this team isn’t a stretch.
Its safe to say at this point that Ariza is quite a bit better than Brewer. Hopefully that will change, and soon.
keep in mind if we don’t pick up brewers option he is an unrestricted FA and signs with whom he wants and if it isn’t us we get nothing. he is looking better and deserves the option to be picked up and show what he has once healty. imo brewer will be better than ariza and not quite on the level as t prince.
who wins more games, Wild or Twolves?
both get 25 wins…….
Matt,
Brown over Collison is realistic for the time being, I guess. Realistically, Collison is a lower 1st round pick, and will have a learning curve before getting significant minutes. Apparently Brown has played well for them in pre-season, shooting well from the field and from 3. There were a lot of good PGs taken in the draft, how many will start and how many will get big minutes this season?
Brewer would be a RESTRICTED FA if the Wolves don’t pick up his option. That is a huge difference. Which is why I say wait.
