Who were those guys? Wolves win at Detroit 122-114
Posted on October 23rd, 2009 – 1:56 AMBy Jerry Zgoda
There’s a new double-double guy in town.
I’m talking about Oleksiy Pecherov, of course.
To steal the old Christian Laettner line…the guy who’s not a center but played one on TV last night (good one to have on FSN) delivered a 20-10 game that led six Wolves in double figures on a night when the Wolves trailed 12-2 before you knew it and then led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Afterward, I asked Corey Brewer (who led all Wolves with 21) to explain — other than the opponent, obviously — about such disparate efforts and outcomes from Tuesday in Denver to Thursday in Detroit, where the Wolves finally showed some signs of playing together like Kurt Rambis envisions they will.
He attributed it basically to getting over the shock factor of playing without both Al Jefferson and Kevin Love Tuesday (it doesn’t hurt than these new Pistons certainly aren’t the Nuggets).
A few things about the game:
* The Wolves got active offensive play out of both Pecherov, who looks like he’s finding a bit of a groove now that he’s been back he has been back for five games from that broken wrist, and Ryan Hollins. Pecherov looks like he could be an interesting outside-inside mix with Big Al, but about three inches taller than KLove. It’ll be interesting to see how hard David Kahn thinks about picking up that $2.4 million contract option for 2010-11 he has to make on Pecherov by Halloween night.
* Rambis let Jonny Flynn stretch out to regular-season starting minutes for a point guard with 34 and Flynn responded with 18 points, six assists, a couple of steals and delivered a long, lovely bounce pass to Damien Wilkins in the third quarter that demonstrated his court vision.
* On the other hand, Ramon Sessions played just 14 minutes. Flynn and Sessions again did not play together. There’s just not enough minutes in a 48-minute game to keep both players happy big picture if you won’t, or can’t, play them together.
* Sasha Pavlovic played nine minutes (all in the first half) because he felt ill as the game went on, Rambis said.
*Wayne Ellington played nearly 16 minutes, went 3-for-4 on threes and is now shooting 53.3 (8-15) on threes. Nobody else is shooting better from that range than Brewer’s 38.9 percent.
* Brewer has led the Wolves in both games they’ve played without Jefferson and Love and he’s leading them in scoring in the seven preseason games with a 15.3 ppg average, ahead of Flynn’s 14.4 average.
Afterward, assistant coach Bill Laimbeer stopped in the press room on his way out of the arena where he played for the Pistons and coached the WNBA Shock all those seasons and said, “That was fun to watch.”
The Wolves finish their preseason schedule tonight in Sioux Falls, S.D., against a Toronto team that ran away from them in the first quarter at Target Center two weeks ago.
The season opener is just five days away.
30 Responses to "Who were those guys? Wolves win at Detroit 122-114"
[…] On the Wolves » Blog Archive » Who were those guys? Wolves win at Detroit 122-114 blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/2009/10/23/who-were-those-guys-wolves-win-122-114 – view page – cached To steal the old Christian Laettner line…the guy who’s not a center but played one on TV last night (good one to have on FSN) delivered a 20-10 game that led six Wolves in double figures on a… (Read more)To steal the old Christian Laettner line…the guy who’s not a center but played one on TV last night (good one to have on FSN) delivered a 20-10 game that led six Wolves in double figures on a night when the Wolves trailed 12-2 before you knew it and then led by as many as 15 points in the fourth (Read less) — From the page […]
Only caught from the end of the third quarter on, but very entertaining! The Timberpups shot a high percentage, especially from the three point arc.
Detroit looked really disjointed on defense, witness Rip Hamilton getting 5 fouls trying to guard Damian Wilkens! There was some crisp passing and good movement without the ball from the Wolves, if that continues, there might be more than 15 wins this season.
Not having the bigs to eat up maneuvering room in the lane seemed to be an advantage tonite, Flynn and Brewer were able to penetrate regularly.
Mostly a case of poor defense from the Pistons, but a nice win for the youngsters anyway!
Don’t pick up Pecherov’s option. Give him the Rodney Carney/Sebastian Telfair treatment and roll the dice on them when their contracts come up.
I’d like to see Sessions get more minutes. But most of all, I’d like to see him player better in the minutes he gets.
What we’re seeing here is an open competition for PG minutes… and Flynn is winning the battle.
This doesn’t change my opinion on Sessions - I’m a big fan. He’s just losing out to Flynn for the starting PG spot.
Credit where it’s due. The Wolves played well last night. The Pistons are in trouble this season. Poor defense.
Its nice to see a some other players set up with Al and Love out. I think had those two been in this game, a lot of players would be relying on them to score and win us the game. Instead this gave other players the opportunity to step up and they did. Hopefully it gives each of them more confidence when Al is back in and when Love returns. Fun game!
Proof of alien life? Indeed there is. And if anyone is deliberating over what outfit to wear for Halloween, look no further than something mimicking Oleksiy Pecherov.
You will need bug-eyes, sweaty down-combed hair, and the look of starvation. Throw in a cast on the forearm and you’re set.
Better yet, do a Hollins-Pecherov combo look in two-face fashion. Where one side gets rebounds and the other side wouldn’t know one if it hit him on the head.
I don’t see Brewer being successful in this system long term. His basketball IQ is on par with Isiah Rider. Not good.
Corey Brewer has no future with a running team? yea….aight (sheesh)
Seeing as how we got cash from the Mavs along w/Jawai for basically nothing, i’d take teh gamble on seeing what he’s got and how hard he works. especially this year..this is the time to do such moves. if we don’t like him, we don’t bring him back and basically had him free for a trial run. whats the drawback there?
Wolves will definitely NOT pick up Pech’s option for next season.
Brewer will most certainly be successful in this new scheme. He is a lot smarter than Rider could ever dream of being.
Sounds like coach is forcing Brew to take on more responsibility on offense. Brew lacks confidence and this is the best way for him to get back to the type of player he was at Florida. If he can be just average on offense he will become a solid starter this year, finally!
digga - here, here. If’s he’s AVERAGE on offense, I’d be all for signing Brewer to a long-term deal once his rookie contract is up.
But for now, I can’t see how The Wolves don’t give him his 1-year, $3.7M option for 2010-2011.
Brewer rules ! 
I do have a 6,000,000 to 1 bet that Brewer is the MVP of the league this year. I might be gettin paaaaaaid !!!
Sessions has been alright but Flynn has been slightly better and is going to play a huge role in the future of the franchise. I am worried though that he may not be content coming off the bench all year? Maybe a mid-season trade?
Flynn isn’t going to be a dynamo all year…when he isn’t Sessions will get some extra burn.
Any interest in Barry, Dickau, or White who’ve been waived recently for the G position? Surely the Wolves will grab somebody; maybe not these players, but someone that another talented team can’t keep on their squad.
No interest in any of those
not really any need for a Guard; they are pretty well stocked (for better or worse) at the 2/3 with Wilkens, Brewer, gomes, Ellington, Sasha and hopefully Sessions when he can get some minutes hopefully with Flynn
anyone listen to Sid on the vid on the sports page today? he says the ‘achilles’ (pronounced a ‘ch’illies) tendon ‘injury’ could be a season ender for Al…rigghhhtt
Sign Bobby Jackson! He is a competitor and plays tough D. Would be a good influence on the young PGs.
Don’t need Bobby.
We need Bobby. What other cast-off would be better for 3rd PG?
I’m sure that there are plenty of others.
B-Jack is not the guy we need…he can’t penetrate anymore, is ball dominant, and hoists fade away 3 points too often.
Jerry hey im the one who asked about pecherovs option last month because ive seen potential in him and now im hoping Kahn sees it to. If he keeps up do you think they will take the option? especially because love and jefferson are being nagged by injuries
Bobby Jackson is set to retire and take a job with the Kings organization. He is going to announce it today or tomorrow.
Phew. If we signed Bobby I’d have been irrate.
Timberwolves season preview at:
I think the team resigns Brewer, and does not resign Pecherov for all the reasons stated above. Plus we will still have the money to sign him if he turns out to be a big time contributor.
I cannot see Kahn mortgaging the future on Pecherov having a really great preseason game, or even a solid first month of the season.
But it was a beautiful thing to watch!!!
It’s more about sharing his experience than Jackson’s diminished skills. If we need quality minutes from our 3rd PG, then our re-build is way off track. Wouldn’t he rather play than take some job in the “organization?”
