Now 1-13 after 91-87 loss to Clippers in L.A.
Posted on November 24th, 2009 – 5:46 AMBy Jerry Zgoda
It was kind of fitting that Sean Rooks sat next to me on the baseline at Staples Center tonight.
The last time before tonight a Wolves team started a season 1-13, Rooks played on the 1994-95 team whose future was built around, ahem, J.R. Rider and Christian Laettner.
At least until a kid named Garnett arrived in the draft the following summer.
Tonight, the Wolves fell to 1-13 — with a 13-game losing streak — with a dud of a fourth quarter after they had led after each of the first three quarters.
They went without scoring for about five minutes midway through the fourth quarter and watched an eight-point, third-quarter led morph into an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit before they got within two in the final minute.
But Al Jefferson was called for a traveling violation for the third time in the fourth quarter with 29 seconds left and then Baron Davis preserved the victory with a driving layup with 8.5 seconds left that was his only points of the game after he missed his first nine shots.
While he struggled, the Clips called upon Sebastian Telfair.
Yep, Bassy, the fellow the Wolves traded to L.A. last summer with Craig Smith and Mark Madsen for Quentin Richardson’s contract after David Kahn had drafted point guards Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn consecutively in the June draft.
He scored 17 off the bench, including the Clippers’ first four points in the decisive fourth quarter.
“It means a lot,” Telfair said of Monday’s victory. “I was traded for them to go get some new guards. I want to show I could play. I don’t want to say anybody made a mistake. Those guys are great players. I’m confident enough to know I’m just as good as those guys.”
The Wolves now are three losses away from tying the franchise record for longest losing streak, set twice (1992 and 1994).
A few other things about tonight:
Wayne Ellington was a DNP-CD for the second time in three games (and played less than four minutes in that third game at Portland Saturday).
Flynn’s looking more comfortable out there. He led all Wolves with 17 points, had five assists, two turnovers and more than anything, he can really, really push the basketball. Even Rooks commented on how fast he gets the ball down the court.
SIX of Al Jefferson’s eight turnovers (the Wolves had 21 total) came on traveling violations, three of those in the fourth quarter alone.
This is more the kind of line they need to get from Corey Brewer — 5 for 12, 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals, an assist, two turnovers — rather than those 19-, 20-shot games he was producing in the season’s opening weeks. He’s going to be a pretty versatile, valuable reserve on a playoff team, but he’s no starting 2 guard.
That’s all from L.A. Wolves fly home in the morning, probably won’t practice and play Denver at home Wednesday. Phil Miller’s got Wednesday night game.
Those next three games, btw, are a pair against the Nuggets and Friday’s 8:30 pm home game vs. Phoenix.
164 Responses to "Now 1-13 after 91-87 loss to Clippers in L.A."
[…] On the Wolves » Blog Archive » Now 1-13 after 91-87 loss to Clippers in L.A. blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/2009/11/24/now-1-13-after-91-87-loss-to-clippers-in-la – view page – cached It was kind of fitting that Sean Rooks sat next to me on the baseline at Staples Center tonight. […]
Wow! I beat Bryan! My life is complete… Oh, and the Wolves are on their way to that 4th pick next year! (With their lottery luck, there’s no way they get the first.)
Al needs help…6 traveling violations in one game? its rare to see more than 2…
And I got laughed at for saying that trading Bassie was a mistake. Bassie=Sessions but for half the price. All of you guys worried about precious cap space, gnaw on that.
Where’s Foo and Sean? Defend your VP, guys! Maybe the Kool Aid Stand has been closed because no one’s buying it anymore.
Hey Foo, it’s going to be hard for Ellington to get Second Team All Rookie from the bench. You’d better have a talk with Rambis and let him know that your boy needs more minutes.
If my memory serves me right, Foo was the leader of the pack on that one, right?
I’ll take Sessions over Bassy any day of the week. Over the course of the season so far, the Clippers are nearly 9 points per 48 minutes worse with Telfair on the floor. The Wolves are essentially even with Sessions on the floor versus not on the floor.
Earth to Sean: The Wolves are 1-13. You think they’d be 0-14 with Bassie? Aren’t you the guy that loves cap room?
seenenough is a moron, plain and simple. And Bryan? He was dishing out burritos at taco bell all night
Would they be 0-14 with Bassy ? Quite possibly.
Different refs call different plays different ways. I don’t think its as much Jefferson on that as it was the way the ref was calling them. He has some of the best footwork in the league (second only to TD IMO)
The ceiling on Sessions is still yet to be determined and if you think his ceiling is Bassy Telfair then you are mistaken. You think Bassy is going to get much better than he is now ?! Not likely. Sessions ceiling is still higher.
Its a catch 22 with you Seenenough…you’re whining that we’re losing and you’d whine if we were winning because it would affect our lottery odds.
Whine whine whine whine.
We’re most definitely setting a new “worst start to the season” record tomorrow.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many traveling calls in one game. The refs were calling the Clippers on it all the time too. I didn’t really understand the calls on Jefferson…I didn’t notice anything different in his post moves, and only one looked like an actual travel to me.
Well, at least Corey isn’t taking 20 shots anymore. That’s something.
I’d be nice if Corey could be more consistent though. He started off 4-5, then went 1-7 the rest of the game. He’s had a habit of starting games really well on offense, then clanking everything after halftime.
And while I don’t see Love helping out a whole lot overall, we definitely would have won this one with him. The Clippers killed us on the offensive glass.
my only complaint is ellington not playing. what is with this ‘player development’ when you’re not playing your best pure shooter? yes he maeks stupid mistakes but he’s a rookie and we aren’t going anywhere. i dont’ care about pav or wilkens. play ellington pleae.
Practice is player development. It doesn’t always equate playing time.
It is odd he’s not playing at all though. He can’t possibly do worse than Palvovic…last night would have been a good game to field Ellington, since Gomes was really struggling to hit shots.
Ellington is small and not very athletic for a 2 man. If he’s not hitting his shot he is in trouble. He’s working on his ball handling and hopefully playmaking at practice, I assume, because those were his biggest weaknesses coming into NBA. I agree with Seen Enough about cap space and Sessions and Hollins. Hollins started and played over half the game and ripped down 1 rebound. As a former coach once told me that’s 1 more than a dead man would’ve gotten…. congratulations. Bassy is 24 Sessions is 23 where is this ceiling on Bassy and not on Sessions? At 4.8 for the next 2 years I’d take Bassy over Sessions at 13M for next 3 years in a heartbeat. Baron Davis was point shaving for Wolf pups and they still lost, bad sign.
Uhh, Ellington is a legit 6′4″ and tested out with a higher vertical than Dwyane Wade. So unless you think Wade is small and unathletic, you should probably stop now.
I haven’t really paid much attention to the Wolves since KG was traded, but I am so glad that McHale traded Mayo for Love. I would have hated to see Mayo contributing scoring right away for this hapless team.
I think Jerry’s comment on Brewer is very telling. When you praise a player for:
1. Shooting 12 times and not more
2. Making 42% of his shots.
At what point can we say picking up Brewer’s extension was a mistake? At the time I thought it was a very hard decision and I was leaning toward not extending him. If he is still playing like this in January can we call it a mistake?
seen — No. I don’t think they’d be 0-14 with Bassy. I think they’d still be 1-13. My point is that you can’t pass judgment on Sessions vs. Telfair based on one game. Sessions has been a better player the last two seasons, and shown more of an upward curve in his career track than Telfair has. Sessions ahs been a better shooter, better defender, and he gets to the line more often than Telfair. Sessions — to me — is clearly the better player. Your mileage may vary.
Bryan, go to a game,get on the floor and watch him, warmups is a good time, then tell me he’s a legit 6-4. No way he’s 6-4. Jim Pete a few games back when Wayne was playing said he’s just too small for the 2 spot. If Wayne is a legit 6-4 and jumps higher than Wade why would Jim Pete who works for and travels with team say that? He’s a step slow on defense and can’t play make. The same things I said last draft. So he jumps higher than D-Wade… wow…. Do you use your own eyes or just believe all the bologna people throw at you.
Thanks LT. Glad we’re not ALL idiots on this board. I saw Bassie make great strides in his first few years- why can’t he continue to grow. Does Sessions have the market on getting better?
When Love comes back, IGOWrules will be glad we have him. We wouldn’t need Mayo if Kahn had done his job and gotten us a shooter with all his draft picks or even ONE of his trades. Blount? That was a bust.
Kahn’s “Cash for Clangers” program is wildly successful. Witness Pavlovic, Gomes, and Brewer going from a stellar first half to clang city in the second.
Congrats, Kahn! The program is working.
LOL Marty. Expensive program.
lt
Wayne Ellington was measured at the NBA combine at 6′4, whether you want to believe it or not. He may play smaller than that, that is a real possiblity that I would probably agree with, but he is 6′4 there is no debating that.
illogical braindead
6′ 4.25″
Go eat crow kid.
There’s no point in debating someone who is willing to have an extended argument with a tape measure.
Just thought we might as well make it definitive.
Jerry, check to see why Wayne isn’t getting any burn. Like we’ve said, he can’t do any worse than Pavlovic.
Bassy hasn’t made big strides since coming into the league in 04-05. Sessions came into the league in 07-08 and last year had a mega breakthrough season. Go look at his game logs from last year. Flashes of brilliance whereas Bassy doesn’t have quite the resume in the 5 seasons he has played.
“seenenough says:
November 24th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Thanks LT. Glad we’re not ALL idiots on this board. I saw Bassie make great strides in his first few years- why can’t he continue to grow. Does Sessions have the market on getting better?”
Nope, just you.
Mad Dan, glad to see you didn’t pull a Foo was worried that you left. I’ve told you all along that Ellington is not 6-4. Make up your own mind. Would like to argue his ball handling, playmaking and D as you did all last summer? How,s your 1 board wonder Hollins doing? Mad Dan do you also think that Wayne out jumps D-Wade? Let’s not 2nd guess anything Kahn has done though…. Nobody 2nd guesses on this board.
I try to take breaks because there’s absolutely nothing new to discuss. You still seem to believe there’s some sort of measurement conspiracy at the draft combine; you’re still impatient; and you still attribute things to me that I never said. It’s the same crap again and again. You have your talking points and you stick to them, no matter what I say or what happens, so what’s the point?
So here’s my big picture: it’s way too early to make the sweeping judgments about players that you want to make. I agree that it’s reasonable to have doubts about Rambis’s coaching, but we still need to give the guy some time and see how things go when Love comes back. So if I drop off for a while, just go back and read this post, because it’s STILL what I’m thinking.
LT, c’mon, I take most combine numbers with a grain of salt, as they don’t always translate into playing skills, but height? I trust them with the tape measure. And I’d like to see you or seenenough (choose either login name, or chime in twice, whatever suits you) refute any one point on the Holllinger scouting report on Bassy:
“After Al Jefferson’s injury moved everyone up a position and pressed Telfair into service as the starting point guard, he went about proving beyond any reasonable doubt that he’s not a starting point guard. Once again, Telfair’s inability to shoot proved overwhelming, especially since he shot the ball with shocking frequency.
Telfair made only 38.6 percent from the floor and ranked 57th out of the league’s 69 point guards in TS%. But his fatal weakness is not his jumper, but rather his inability to finish at the rim. He’s quick enough to get to the basket, but his lack of size and explosiveness at the rim resulted in 41.6 percent shooting in the immediate basket area, the fourth-worst mark of any player with at least 100 attempts (see Derek Fisher comment).
As such, it remains shocking that he shoots as much as he did; slightly more than the average point guard, in fact. His pure point rating was middling, he was a defensive liability and only teammate Bobby Brown prevented him from having the worst rebound rate in basketball (see chart). All told, it did little to justify the three-year, $8 million deal Minnesota gave Telfair before last season, yet another baffling contract decision by the Wolves.
Scouting report: Telfair has outstanding quickness and a good handle, so he can get by his man off the dribble. However, he has never honed his skills as a passer and still looks to force shots over bigger players rather than distribute the ball to set up a teammate.
Opponents also go under screens and dare him to shoot from the outside, and he’s proven far too willing to take the bait. Telfair has improved his shooting from “awful” to “mediocre,” but these shots still should be a last resort rather than something he launches early in the shot clock. Oddly, for a small, fast guard, he’s not very effective in transition, either.
Defensively, Telfair’s size makes him a liability. He’s quick and can stay in front of players on the perimeter, but opponents can shoot right over him, and he doesn’t overwhelm with his effort level on the help side.”
That describes exactly the player I saw on the floor last year. I didn’t see a guy who “got it” at the end of the year. I saw a guy who looked like, then in his 5th year in the league, who would never get it.
Yet another fine strib blog debate that can be solved by using my Sports Almanac I brought back from the year 2025. Sorry the post is so long, but I don’t write the future, I am just reporting it.
Bassy vs. Sessions
Sebastian Telfair PG-
The basketball prodigy that was a NYC blacktop phenom, never lived up to the hype in the NBA. Several run ins with the law before the rip old age of 20 put his early career in a tail spin. It seemed like the Marbury blood he shared with his cousin was bound to doom him and relegate him to reality tv novelty. But he finally began to grow up when he was traded to the hapless MN Timberwolves in the famous “Kevin Garnett Goes Green” trade (voted the best trade in the last 30 years…unless you are a Wolves fan, then the worst trade, which goes along with Kevin McHale getting the lifetime mis-achievement awards as the worst GM in the history of professional sports). Bassy became a decent back-up PG, in fact, after being traded to the Clippers actually had 1 game where “some people” believed he was better than the great Ramon Sessions, history has proved that to be but a moment of foolish slander. Bassy stayed in the league until 2016. Unfortunately his cousin Stephon Marbury broke into his house one May evening in 2017 in a drunken/stoned stupor, he was muttering something about “being re-attached to his umbilical cord”. He attempted to steal some jewelery from his cousin, however, Marbury showed the same ineptitude for stealing as he did on the court, not to be outdone Bassy also showed his complete lack of defensive skills while defending his home, failing to stay in front of his cousin as he ran off with the goods. Marbury had over $100,000 worth of jewelery, but couldn’t hold onto it while making his out of control drive for the door (afterward he admitted he should have hired Dean Garret to stand near the door so he could have “dished off the goods”). Telfair took a shot at Marbury from outside, but it was way off and hit nothing but brick. He was later charged with possessing an illegal fire arm and got 2 years of jail time. He never returned to the NBA again.
Career stats- 8.7 ppg 4.1 apg 39.7% fg
Ramon Sessions PG-
The story of Ramon Sessions (soon to be a feature length motion picture) is quite possibly the greatest feel good story in NBA history and one every youngster is taught at every level of amateur basketball. Sessions began his career in the NBADL. Nobody believed he had the skills to make in the big show. He worked hard and was later signed by the Bucks. He showcased some of his talents in his stint with the Bucks and the Timberwolves rewarded him with what has now become known as one of the top 5 FA signings of all-time. Sadly for Minnesota fans, GM David Kahn and head coach Kurt Rambis decided to trade Sessions to Toronto in a “salary-cap move” aimed at “rebuilding and gathering future assets” (phrase used by permission. copyright David Kahn Industries 2025). Sessions went on to be a key part of the Toronto Raptors dynasty (known as “Revenge of the Raps”). He and Chris Bosh are the undisputed all-time greatest PG-Big Man combo. After he signed his massive new contract in 2012 he promptly donated half of his salary to help end world hunger and has been a unifying force behind racial, religious and political tensions. He will be Chris Bosh’running mate in the 2026 One World Government Presidential election.
Career stats- 26.7 ppg 10.6 apg 6 championships 2.7 million lives saved.
Nice work, Doc!
lt
Have you written anything positive about the Wolves? How about anything other than, “Where are the Kool-aid drinkers now”? You have added nothing of actual intelligence since the first time you wrote a post about how bad you think Kahn is and how worthless the organization is.
Obviously you can comment as much as you want and I have no control over that unfortunately but could you atleast try to bring something new please? The same thing over and over is getting very old and tired.
Thank you.
Thanks Mad Dan. My only goal is to use this future knowledge for the good of all strib posters.
Wow. A debate about how tall Wayne Ellington really is and how high he jumps. WTF does it matter if he can’t crack this rotation?
The Bassy discussion is inane. He’s a midget PG who’ll never be good enough to start for a decent team. Decent 25 minute backup, but let’s be real: Crying about losing him is just crying for the sake of crying. So many tears, tears of heartache for our beloved, departed Bassy, who accomplished so much here. How could we have mortgaged our Craig Smith/Bassy/Mike Miller/Randy Foye future that was so promising?
And to see all four of them, ALL FOUR OF THEM, make the All-Star game this year, well, it’s tough to take. Nice job, Kahn, dealing four All-Stars for literally nothing.
Yeah, Pipeline, it’s going to hurt watching Mike Miller win the Three Point Non-Shooting Contest on All Star Weekend. Nobody passes up a shot like Mike Miller did…
Good post pipeline and GREAT story, Doc!!
14 games into the season… Being patient sucks, but if you want to cheer for this team… try it. Many of the people moaning were moaning this summer, so it’s really just carry over and now they feel justified because of the terrible start. I can’t assure everyone that the Wolves will contend with Kahn… or Flynn… or Rubio (if he comes)… But we weren’t going to compete with the team we had. I’d rather see a GM who takes reasonable and financially sound risks as opposed to some of the garbage we’ve had before. (T.Hud, J. Smith, M. Jaric, etc., etc.)
Go Wolves!
Example of basing judgments of small samples:
Actual post by seenenoughoflogicalthinker from 11/3: “Mad Dan don’t look now but that terrible player Foye is doing really well in Washington.”
Wizards record at the time: 2-1
Wizards record since that post: 1-8
Foye’s stats during that run: .387 fg%, 0.9 assists per game, 1.1 turnovers per game.
# of posts admitting possible error: 0
Hey Foo I mean Doc Brown good to have you back. What was the fantasy report on Sessions about? He’s over paid enough said. The Wolves are not even competitive this year forget winning. You’re right when you say I don’t think Kahn has a clue and it cracks me up when everyone of you guys defend bad moves. How about giving up our 2nd round pick to move Thomas to Okl City and you guys were cheering it. Just a little independent thinking would help. Foo/Doc Brown please tell me again about Ellington being a 2nd team All-rookie. When I see something positive outta this team I’ll post about it, as of now not a thing to report.
So, no defense of Telfair? And the comparative Hollinger report on Sessions (which is not a fantasy report, which deals with only statistical value) is as follows:
“2008-09 season: Sessions established himself as one of the league’s best young point guards, building on his strong finish to his rookie campaign by ranking eighth in pure point rating with solid supporting numbers. At times it seemed the Bucks were the last ones to notice this, as he played behind the obviously inferior Luke Ridnour for much of the year and averaged fewer minutes on the season.
Sessions excelled at getting himself to the line, ranking sixth among point guards in free throw attempts per field goal attempt at 0.46. That strength offset his one major weakness — the lack of a consistent jumper. He made only six 3-pointers on the season and shot 34.5 percent on long 2s.
Sessions’ other strength is rebounding, as he ranked ninth among point guards in rebound rate. He grabbed 10 in a loss to the Lakers on April 1, in which he became the first D-League player to register an NBA triple-double.
Sum up all these strengths and weaknesses, along with his 6-3 size and less-than-devastating athleticism, and an obvious comparison emerges: He’s the second coming of Andre Miller. One can see some differences — he’s more of a half-court player than Miller, for instance — but Sessions seems destined for the same type of extremely effective yet curiously overlooked career.
Scouting report: Sessions excels at attacking the basket on screen-and-rolls, especially going to his right. He has a very good teardrop shot in the basket area and ably finds the open man when defenses collapse on him. He also is a good cutter off the ball, which helps him when he moves up to the 2 — a position he may play more often this season.
The jumper is his kryptonite, as defenders slip under the screen against him and dare him to beat them from outside. However, he’s so effective on the drive that he often scores anyway.
Defensively, Sessions experienced some trouble fighting through screens but otherwise excelled. He applies good ball pressure and has excellent size, plus he helps out on the glass.”
Hey illogical drinker, tell us again about how Ellington being 6′2″.
And importantly, the final point from Hollinger’s profile on Sessions for ESPN:
“2009-10 outlook: Sessions signed a four-year, $16 million offer sheet with Minnesota that the Bucks inexplicably elected not to match. This was the steal of the summer, people. Sessions is a rising star at the point who should provide the T’wolves with a major upgrade while bridging the gap until Jonny Flynn and/or Ricky Rubio are ready.”
hm, Hollinger or illogical thinker…wonder whose more reliable.
Hollinger said Wolves would win 34 games this year. Must be related to Kahn. LT said Wolves would win 12 or less. Just the fact that Hollinger said Wolves would win 34 should tell you all you need to know about him. So ole Hollinger feels that a back up pt guard averaging 7 pts 3 ast is a steal. Good for him. Again, I just go by what I see. By the way who is this Hollinger guy anyway besides Snake Oil’s nephew?
hey LT - there are still 68 games left…yes they probably won’t win 34. but he was probably going on the fact that Flynn wouldn’t get so many more minutes than Sessions, that Rambis would be so stubborn with the new offense, or that Love would be hurt (you didn’t predict that did you?). In addition, while we all thought Al would be a bit slow, many didn’t see him as such a low percentage of what he was.
anyway, your complete moronic posts are just there to piss all of us off; many of the things you say are completely bogus or glass-half-empty simply to annoy and irritate the rest of us. you do make valid points once in awhile about the triangle and other things, but overall you focus too little on certain things of what hte wolves have and then glorify what was given up whe you don’t even look at the facts (ie Foye’s terrible stats this year, the fact that Telfair is still himself, etc).
Bassy over Sessions? you’ve got to be kidding me. Sessions is clearly the better player in every category.
I agree, Hollins has to get better at rebounding.
I don’t think its so much Wayne is undersized as it is he is just not quick enough, or at least is having a rough time adjusting to the increased speed of the NBA. He’s fast but he’s not quick.
What ’shooter’ did you want Kahn to draft or trade for Seenenough? Furthermore, lets say we got JRich or Joe Johnson–would we make the PO’s w/that lone addition? maybe. say hello to a mid-draft pick and buh-bye to our cap space. I think no matter who we may have brought in this offseason we were going to have a rough season, esp when Love went down. New schemes, players, FO, etc. So what would be the point? Stay young, take your lumps, stack talent through the draft, then get the FA when you need the push over the edge.
For the price, yes, Bassie over Sessions. That’s my take. I have no idea how tall Ellington is, but I’d put my $$$ on LT’s assessment over Sean’s. At least LT can see the forest through the trees with this current roster- unlike most of you guys who act like we are one or two players away from the 2nd seed. BS. I’m still amazed how many of you want to watch this team suck, hoping that we get the #1 draft pick, which you profess will suddenly bring us to the promised land. Have you ever watched the Clippers? They’ve gotten the 1st pick year after year and they’re still terrible.
Kahn and Rambis are not the combo to change the fortunes of the Wolves.
Again, Smith and Telfair for Blount? Explain that one.
1. the Sessions v. Bassy argument is retarded (move on people)
2. Hollins is a 3-year project with intense training. Start with timing his jump for a rebound and positioning. There’s a reason the less-than-athletic K-Love gets double-digit rebounds per game
3. Ellington has rookie problems. This includes trying to catch up to NBA level physicality and speed. Presently he is unreliable (even for the Wolves) coming off the bench. He is also lacking self confidence as evidenced by his poor shooting. Look for him to get back more-and-more after the All Star break.
I am sorry to admit it, but I am not the beloved missing Foo you speak of.
I have no intention of getting into debates with any fellow posters. But I am quite tempted to hop in the old Dolorean and see what the future (or the past) holds for a few of our more aggressive and argumentative posters.
I’ll save the plutonium for now, but it may prove quite insightful for the rest of us to know what contributed to the overly negative (or overly positive) attitudes of several posters here. Life molds us all from our own experiences.
can any money be made in Vegas on a Wolves upset? Any bets on who and when that might be. I am going to wager whoever we play after going 1-25.
just checked. That would be Sacramento… December 18th at Home.
I will also predict we win 3 in a row in January at home. Against Philly, OKC, and NO…
Outside of that, I have no idea if we can win more than 1 in a row
seenenough(LT) - yes, your tape measure is much better than the one at the combine, considering you yourself have also measured Ellington…oh wait you haven’t.
Even though I agree with Seen, sorry not me. I don’t just things to upset the Kool-aid gang even though that is quite enjoyable, I just say what I see. A Team President in Rob Moor that doesn’t know a thing about Basketball hired a former newspaper guy/lawyer who doesn’t know a thing about basketball. Sorry I think Hollins can’t play, Sessions vastly overpaid, Rubio won’t come here (ripped for that one after draft), triangle stinks for this team and Wolves team scheme on D is worse in league. Can’t stand Kahn’s demeaning spin on everything, like we’re idiots, and can’t think for ourselves. That about sums it up. The problem is I love basketball and played it for 20 years and can’t stand what I see and hear outta Wolves front office so I post here for relief. Thanks Kool-aid gang.
seenenough
The Clippers have only had 3 #1 overall picks in the last 39 years and they were all at least 10 years apart from each other: 1988, 1998, 2009. Plus Blake Griffin hasn’t even played yet, so I’m not sure you can count that one yet. Your “facts” are right in line with LT’s.
logical thinker
Now that you got that off your chest does that mean you won’t share any more of those thoughts for at least a month? You basically have been writing the same 3 or 4 posts for the last month and we all understand what you think of the team and it’s players/coach/management. New thoughts would be appreciated if that is possible. Thanks again.
Does anybody else have a suspicion that Kahn and Rambis are co-conspirators to do everything they can to get the #1 pick….at any cost.
Kahn (whom I actually kind of like) seems to have had a less than great reputation and being dishonest isn’t probably very difficult for him (he is a lawyer after all). I mean the roster he put together is pretty devoid of NBA ready talent (not to say there is no potential….just nowhere near ready).
Rambis implementing the triangle with absolutely no personnel to maximize its effectiveness and seems unwilling to budge. Nearly all accounts (even Rambis’ own) say that Flynn is a top notch pick n roll guard. Look at what Chris Paul and B. Jennings did/are doing. They immediately helped their team win more games. No pick n roll for Johnny.
I know this is a rebuilding year, looking towards the future, but I am really wondering if there is a secret “John Wall” tank job going on….already. Rambis almost seems like he is too ok with all the losing.
You’re the one with the time machine, Doc. Do they pull it off?
On a more positive note, I didn’t see the game last night, but Flynn and Sessions both had pretty good stats. About 50% shooting and 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratios. Jerry quoted Sessions as saying that the offense was making more sense to him — so maybe they’re turning a corner. Or we just played a really bad team.
Sometimes the uncertainties of life is what makes living such a great blessing. I’m gonna hold off on researching the results of next years draft for now.
I am real high on both Flynn and Sessions and hope that they both figure out how to thrive in the triangle….either that or Rambis finally gives up trying to be the puppet of the zen master. I hope last night can be a bit of a turning point too.
I live out in Denver and don’t get a chance to see the wolves much (I’m probably pretty fortunate for that). Do they ever try to run a pick n roll or is it always pass, run around until shot clock winds down and either Brewer or Pech has to jack it up?
seen — I haven’t been the one pushing Ellington as some great player, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
The more I think about the draft the more frustrated I am that Sacramento didn’t pick Rubio. We would have been able to grab Tyrele Evans (who I know a lot of posters, including me liked) and Flynn. Probably could have held onto to Ty Lawson as well (did anybody ever really think Evans was a PG?), and maybe went with either Ellington or Buddinger at 28. This means we probably wouldn’t have signed Sessions.
PG- Flynn, Lawson, Hart
SG- T. Evans, Ellignton/Buddinger
SF- Brewer, Gomes Buddinger
PF- Love, Gomes, Pech
C- Al, Hollins, Jawai
That would have been a great line-up and it probably would have happened (unlike any B. jenning scenarios) if the darn Kings would have bought into the Rubio hype. They must not watch youtube.
Doc that Telfair piece was a riot. I love the Marbury humor! Can’t wait to see what you tell us about the future next….keep it comin!
Sorry, Sean. Must have confused you with Bryan or with the ghost of Foo.
it was Foo. still wondering where he went. guy was always on here.
As hard as it is to believe, Foye is even worse this year than he was last year…
Good stuff up their Doc, I posted something similar about a week ago, how I hate Sacramento for not taking Rubio too. I even posted that if I thought the Kings were going to go for Evans, I would have traded 6th and 18th picks for the 3rd pick and take Evans ahead of Sacramento. They could have still had Sessions and the lineup you posted.
I think Ellington should be getting some burn, someone posted up there (Seen, Mcfly or LT, they are all the same) that Ellington isn’t big or athletic enough to play the 2, but Pavlovic and Wilkins are only 2 inches taller and Ellington is certainly more athletic than Pavlovic.
Draft watch
Wall: 15 pts 3-5 from the field and 9-10 from the line, 6 asts and 4 rebs.
Turner: 8-14 , 16 pts, 10 rebs, and 11 asts 2 stls and 2 Blk, its crazy to because it said Turner missed his first 5 shots, and then went 8-9 after that.
Both looked good according to game recaps.
Hi Jerry,
Just saw your latest on Kahn. At the end there is a paragraph about the team possibly sending Ellington to the D-League ??!!
You have got to be kidding me. The Wolves, who have the worst wing rotation in the NBA, are sending their first round pick SG to the NBDL?!
Because … um … he can’t earn minutes? He doesn’t work hard at all in practice? Team is tanking? I’m really struggling to find a rational explanation.
Can you find out more?
Saw a good background article on Turner at the ESPN website. Sounds like a good young man off the court too.
I’d love to see his name called next summer (assuming we don’t get the #1 pick).
Medschool,
I haven’t been on here much, but whenever I have, Foo was always a mainstay. He was also Kahn’s biggest cheerleader. I remember quotes from him like, “I’ll be the first one in line criticizing Kahn if……” That was obviously before the season started. He’s disappeared since the losing began. You don’t think he’s too cowardly to admit that his boy doesn’t walk on water, do you?
Wile E- remember that Kahn comes from the D-League. Maybe he has fond memories of the place.
Foo hasn’t been on here since the season started, he wasn’t even on here after the win in the opener, so it started before the season I think.
Kahn is the Alfred E. Newman “What, me worry?” of the NBA.
Ellington to the NBDL. great, they are rolling with Pav who can’t hit the broad side of a barn with his shot or defend and is gone after this year anyway, but don’t want to play a first round pick in an otherwise lost season?
I generally agree with the path Kahn and Rambis are following in regard to the future of the Wolves, but it would be incredibly disappointing to see Ellington being send to the D-League… how about the “player development culture”? If you don’t start it with a 1st round draft pick who happens to play in the position where we are most needed, I honestly don’t know how you are going to pull it off…
Wayne Ellington was the 28th pick in a weak draft. It’s not like he was automatically destined for NBA greatness. If he’s struggling at the NBA level, maybe it would be good for him to go D-League for awhile, get some consistent minutes, build some confidence and come back up to the Wolves.
Don’t know why I thought of this but if the Nets keep up their losing which they probably will they will almost be a lock for a top 3 or 4 pick. They are basically at the same stage of rebuilding as the Wolves but with their talent more spread out amongst positions. The Nets could be a really good young team at this time next year, take a look at their roster. They have more cap space open than the Wolves plus they have Lopez, Harris, and Courtney Lee as their building blocks with CDR as another nice piece. If you add an athletic PF in the draft, which there are plenty of this upcoming year, and they sign Rudy Gay this would be their potential starting lineup next year.
Harris
Lee
Gay
Favors or another athletic PF they draft
Lopez
How nice would it be if the Wolves had that bright of an outlook?
well it all depends on who they and the Wolves draft and what kind of trades get pulld off. Doc Brown made a good point about TMac the other day. imagine the wolves sending Al over to Houston for TMac and a young PF like Landry. that clears up a TON more space. they cuold even try to get a 1st out of the deal too if they add Blount in the deal so Houston still gets cap room.
Adding Blount to that deal isn’t going to get them a first round pick. You send Al to Houston and he would thrive… TMac is as talented as they come, but seems to have an on/off switch when it comes to playing at times.
Kahn will have to trade or draft to enhance the team. Nobody is coming here willingly. In this day and age, where players watch themselves on ESPN and rate their success depending on what the pundits say about them, there are few players who would swallow their pride and come to a loser.
I, too, agree with the idea of playing young guys and worrying more about learning than caring about how many wins we get. That being said, I’m concerned that the team being SO bad will hurt the confidence of the young guys and hurt them in the long term.
I would like to see the team start doing some pick and rolls, though, just to start giving the PG’s a chance to be successful. I’m not saying they should do it all the time. But, do it on occasion to help these guys get into a flow.
On the FA matter, I guess it comes down to how much money they are going to get… I’m sure we can get a top FA next year, but the possibility of the Wolves overpaying him is high…
Why would the Rockets want Al? Can you imagine trying to play him with Yao? Not going to happen. The Rockets Front Office is one of the smartest in the league. You aren’t going to pull the wool over their eyes.
Plus Al should have more value than to trade him for an expiring contract. I wouldn’t trade him unless the Wolves can get back soem useable pieces, which McGrady is not.
I think I like Landry’s upside more than you do jama. he has shown an ability to score in limitd minutes for Houston with the lane clogged up by Hayes and Scola. imagine giving him more freedom with our offense. in addition, TMac gives us a TON of money off the books next year. he’s not just an expiring contract, he’s a MEGA expiring contract. I also threw in that we’d get a 1st rounder, which in next year’s draft could easily get us usable piece.
^not to mention Yao isn’t coming back this year at all. and who knows what he’ll be like in 2010-2011 on the last year of his deal.
sure is great seeing how awesome Miller and Foye have been for the Wizards…oh wait - Miller has hardly played, has had 2 good games all year and he is injured and out again. Foye has been even worse than last year.
I am looking at the minute distribution and its rather disturbing. pecherov is getting an obscene amount of minutes and Jawais getting none. in addition, Rambis complains about how Al needs soem resting time to have better second halves yet he is still playing 35+ minutes per game while guysl ike Cardinal and Jawai get none.
On the T-Mac front, can any of you salary cap guys tell us where we would stand if we traded Big Al, Gomes and Blount (Cardinal too if we had to, heck throw in Ellington at this point) for T-Mac and a 1st rounder?
There has been a lot of talk about how 2 of the big 3 FA’s (Lebron, Bosh, Wade) want to sign together somewhere. With that trade would we have enough money to sign 2 max FA’s?
Very, very, very unlikely that would happen, especially here, but would be interesting to know if it is even financially possible. Basically we would be very similar to Boston the year of the KG/Ray Allen trades.
Jerry traded Foo for cap space. He’ll be bringing in a replacement poster for either the 2010-11 or 2011-12 seasons.
Pecherov is a better player than Jawai. Pecherov has an outside shot and has been the team’s best defensive rebounder so far this year.
^sad considering he’s another pending free agent…
MedSchool, I agree with you about the rotation minutes. We are pretty terrible, it just seems that we should be burning up minutes for our “developing” players. Hollins, Jawai, Johnny, Sessions, Ellington, Brewer (and Love when he gets back) should all be getting at least 18-24 minutes a game in my mind. And we have to find a way to get Sessions on the floor more (without taking any of Johnny’s).
I also do wish we would run a more traditional offense a little more often. It just seems like this low scoring clanker inducing scheme can’t be doing much for confidence or morale. Don’t just toss out the triangle, but lets mix it up to build our boys confidence again.
Doc — If you trade for McGrady, you’re only gaining the cap room for players who have contracts for next season. In your trade, you’d save Jefferson’s $13 million, so the Wolves would then be in the $30 million range.
I don’t see the similarity to Boston, though. The Celtics didn’t have cap room — they had high-paid garbage like Wally Szczerbiak and Theo Ratliff that they were able to trade to get KG/Allen.
It’s almost impossible to sign 2 Max deals in the same off season, when the salary cap is only around $53 million. You’d have to have a bunch of minimum salaried players or 2nd round picks signed. To get under the cap enough to sign to Max FA next off season the Wolves would basically have to get rid of Jefferson, Brewer, Love, and Sessions.
Thanks Sean, the Boston comparison was that Boston was terrible, made 2 big off season moves to bring in star players and became a dominant force instantly.
If we threw in Gomes and Ellington to that trade that would also save us a few more million right? But I’m guessing it still wouldn’t be enough for 2 big FA’s.
Good point Jama. Well it was worth tossing out there. What would the first year of a max contract run…20 mil, 25 mil? I guess Miami or Cleveland would be the best bets for teaming up 2 of the big FA’s. If you were Cleveland couldn’t you sign D-Wade or Bosh first, then you could go over the cap all you wanted to resign Lebron, since he is your own player?
Obviously, in the above posting Cleveland or Miami would still need the ca space to sign the first max FA.
Doc
What you are suggesting Cleveland do is not possible, it is not legal under the current CBA. If they want to keep James they can’t use up the rest of their cap space on Bosh and then sign him. They could sign James and then do a sign and trade but that isn’t likely with the rest of the crap on their roster.
The Heat do have enough cap space to sign 2 max FA’s because the only three players they have under contract for next year are Beasley, Chalmers, and Cook. The problem is they would really struggle to field the rest of their team. It would be basically be Wade, Max FA, Beasley, Chalmers, Cook and a bunch of scrubs. That’d be a good threesome though.
Doc — Trading Gomes and Ellington would each add about $1 million in cap savings. (I was already assuming that Gomes would be waived to maximize cap room)
Realistically, the only way teaming up two of the big free agents in one spot is going to work is if one or both agree to take less (probably several million less) than the max. When push comes to shove, are they really going to do that? I have my doubts. You don’t see guys in the prime of their careers and earning time taking such pay cuts.
Thanks for the explanation Jama.
I see your point about the thin roster that would leave. Given the trend of good older players that have already been handsomely paid in their careers, taking a low salary to go for a ring, maybe Miami could still put together a decent/good roster.
Toss in a Marcus Camby or T-Mac/AI at the minimum and they could look pretty good.
Sean, I agree that it doesn’t seem likely that any of the big FA’s would be willing to take a few mil less than the max, especially since to come here they would already be leaving millions on the table for leaving their former team.
I guess Lebron and D-Wade do have families that they need to feed 
There was an interesting take in, I believe, the latest ESPN the Magazine on how LeBron could possibly make more money in the long run by taking far less money in NBA salary over the next couple of years and signing with say the Lakers where he would all but be assured of winning an NBA title. The premise was that LeBron would make more in the long run by increasing the LeBron brand and winning titles. Again this is not likely to happen for many reasons but it was something I hadn’t thought about before.
What’s $50 million if it makes you $200 million more down the road?
Speaking of Boston, during the offseason, I was wondering how good a roster we could put together if our goal was to maximize the wins for this year. So we trade picks, youth, whatever it takes to get guys who can play today. I think I reached the conclusion that we wouldn’t do very well. Anyone want to fire up the Trade Machine play the game for me?
Mad Dan - I’ll play, but i am keeping in mind we can kiss that pick to the clippers goodbye.
by the way, I worked out the trade on Trade Machine with Houston - Cardinal, Blount and Al for TMac and Landry (and their 1st but it wouldn’t let me).
PS - Landry just made the all-NBA underrated team from Hollinger in case anyone noticed.
Pffft, that Clipper’s pick is tomorrow’s problem. I want to win NOW!!!!
Mad Dan
ok so we win now. how though? the team needs are huge, but mainly we need:
1) a 2/3 that can score (shoot!).
2) a BIG 4/5 that can rebound/defend
if they add that, while retaining Al and Love (hard to believe but we’ll see), maybe they can start putting it together. but whose oout there?
We probably can’t win now, but the best we can do is to trade good future assets for bad contracts. Think Jason Richardson. He’d be an upgrade today, but if we’re being rational, we don’t want him. This game is to find the all-irrational team.
Don’t forget Iverson!
oh ok. hmmmmm I like Richardson. I also think you make a play for someone like Mohammad in Charlotte. I know he’s the more primary backup now, but they are paying an absurd contract to Diop now and would like to play him I’m sure…let me see.
Mohammad — his age (32) makes him a very good candidate for this game. Can we get him for a 2012 first rounder + salary matching refuse? (It occurs to me that to play this game well, you have to combine the worst attributes of McHale and Chris Wallace of Memphis.)
no way on Iverson. he doesn’t make anyone better. I worked out some things here:
Blount/Gomes to Suns for Richardson
Cardinal to Bobcats for Mohammad (whose actually playing pretty well).
with these changes you get:
Flynn/Sessions
Brewer
Richardson
Al/Love
Mohammad
Hmmm, still not exactly in the Finals, are we? Jason Terry? Or revive the much-maligned Battier for Rubio deal?
well it WAS aaron brooks and battier for rubio..that could work.
Yup. Let’s just assume that Houston doesn’t care that Rubio won’t play for them for two or three more years (fat chance) and do the deal. Now we can move Sessions or Flynn for the best win-now offer.
LT:
What does Moor actually do? Thought Taylor was doing the interviews for GM? FYI to be a Team Pres you don’t need to know hoops, just how to read people, just have to be able to recognize a good thing when you see it. Sorry but working under Walsh in Indiana for a few years…ah yeah, you learn a few things about hoops. Once the triangle us improved, Hollins will be an asset–big who can shoot and run. The triangle demands that big who can hit the 10ft.
Sessions–well we’ll see; if he gets close to last years stats—then no. Have to see how things come along next year after a summer of learning the triangle, year of playing together, and what moves are made.
Who cares if Rubio won’t come here..he’s still an asset and someone will want him. Further, if he ever wants to make the big money, play against the big boys and see what he’s got, he’ll come to the NBA at some point. We can hold out for a right deal or get 3-4yrs of his services.
Defense is hard in the facet that every single player has to do the right thing or its the effort of the other 4 is for not; offense is much easier in the aspect, that i can be a 1 man thing.
Mad Dan –
Blount/Gomes/Wilkins to Utah for Andrei Kirilenko
Flynn/Cardinal/Pecherov/Charlotte #1 to Dallas for Josh Howard and Rodrigue Beaubois
Ellington/Utah #1 to New York for Wilson Chandler
Pavlovic/Hart to Detroit for Chris Wilcox
C: Jefferson/Hollins
PF: Love/Wilcox
SF: Kirilenko/Chandler
SG: Howard/Brewer
PG: Sessions/Beaubois
Nice work, Sean. I’m not sure whether all of those deals would get done, but maybe. It’d also be nice to add more help up front, but that’s hard to come by. Camby?
Here’s a general question: would Dallas trade Beaubois for Flynn straight up? It’s kind of sad that I even have to ask.
I feel kinda bad to give up Flynn, but Kirilenko was a nice find. just think he’s a bit too fragile.
Arenal, defense is so much easier than offense. Have you ever heard of a player say ” I spent 4 hours a day working on my defensive slide”. Defense is mostly effort and want to. The great defenders study tape and play tendencies, that puts them at another level. I’m not asking that outta Wolves just the effort of moving your feet and a help/recover on penetration would be a start. To be an accomplished offensive play takes thousands of hours of shooting, ball handling and 1 on 1. That is why Rodman didn’t have to practice to play his game no skill involved in hard work and studying tape. If you don’t know that you never played the game. Snake Oil had a job in Indy with Donnie that was to get Canseco field house built. He didn’t do basketball according to a friend of mine that scouted there for Pacers at the time. I was told by a higher up in Wolves office that Moor did all the background and basically was going to make the hire. Foo, would you drop this Doc Brown back to the future crap and just come on as your old idiotic, Kool-aid drinking, backing up all things Snake Oil does, acting like you’re the GM self. Way more fun.
Snake Oil is at it again. Kahn said he made moves to increase cap space and add picks. For the 10th time Snake Oil, all the players you traded where on the last year of deals, except Bassy who had 1 year left. The Utah pick was already in hand from Philly deal, you traded 18th pick (Lawson) for a future 1st round pick….. What did he add? He added Hollins and Sessions to cap at 6M plus is what he added. That is why I don’t trust ole Snake Oil he thinks we’re stupid here in Hicksville.
Talking points, talking points, blah, blah, blah.
you forgot Songaila too. also, he lowered this year’s salary to help offset the team’s loss in revenue this year as well as lighten the burden of a potential splurge of money next year.
To whoever said that they didn’t think the Wolves were a player or two away from the #2 cede. The ARE two players away; the players just happen to be Lebron and Kobe.
Sean what kind of Kool-aid are you drinking Pech is our best rebounder? Al on one leg is better than Pech. And those trades no GM would take our garbage and give anything in return. We have 3-4 assets Al, Love, Rubios rights and Draft picks that people would want to give something for (a real player). So unless your trading castoff for castoff or an expiring contract I don’t see the Wolves improving themselves outside the Draft or a Blockbuster trade.
There is an offense that every other team uses, because it works (Yes, even Phil Jackson uses it). It’s call the pick and roll, Mr Rambis please try it once or twice a quarter and see if your team might just be a little more competitive.
I don’t want Josh Howard or AK47, we can get better. We need to draft Turner or Wall and sign a SG/SF and go with
Al/Hollins
Love
FA signing (Johnson/Gay)
Turner/Wall
Flynn/Sessions
I would like to trade Al and Gomes for Bosh but no one seems to like that, and I know Swan would have a stroke if that happens, lol
LT: no defense is not easier; defense requires all 5 people doing the right thing; offense CAN require one person–much less complex. Further, thank you for supporting such a claim, players in the offseason don’t/can’t practice defense unless they are scrimmaging w/their teammates, meaning you only get to really work on it in camp and in the practices during the season.
Defense is also smarts, instincts, reaction, anticipation–most of which can’t really be taught ie. you either have good defensive instincts or you don’t. True effort and heart CAN make up for being defecient in some of the aforementioned qualities. Exactly, offense is merely repition, and doesn’t require all 5 players doing the right thing. Please, Rodman had plenty of skills, its not easy guarding Malone moron and getting 13 rebounds.
Kahn also handled the cap space in Indy. Yes, that infamous ‘friend’ everyone seems to have on the inside. Oh, so Moor handled background checks..thats all you’ve got?
Oh and yes i’ve heard players working on their defense for 4hrs a game, its called getting in shape and scrimmaging. problem is to gel as a team defense, you have to scrimmage w/your teammates-that doesn’t happen in the offseason.
For further proof..how many good/studly scorers are there in the league? now how many shut down defenders are there? hmmm..yeah defense is harder. defense requires smarts, insticts and a team. Offense requires repitition.
As for your whining about Smith/Telfair trade…we took on more money than those 2 have their contracts–Blounts contract is for more than those 2’s combined. Furthermore, we had just drafted Flynn and Rubio–you want to pay 2.5M/yr to your 3rd stringer? nevermind a third stringer who can’t shoot, can’t play D, can’t finish at the rim…i mean he’s basically Brewer w/o any defensive abilities.
If you’d rather have Smith and Telfair than 10M next year you are insane. Smith–good offense, no defense–god i love irony. Telfair–no offense, no defense–after being in the league for what–4,5yrs now? thats pathetic.
Yes we traded a mid 1st round pick in a weak draft for a likely higher pick in a likely more stacked draft. so now you wanted them to keep telfair and lawson? suppose you also bitch about the current roster being unbalanced right? bravo genius.
Added Pecherov, Wilkins, Pavlovic, Sessions, Hollins. Oh, he also added a first round pick from charlotte–who is not going to be getting better anytime soon.
Why do you think Kahn thinks you are stupid? bit of an inferiority complex me thinks. He’s explained his logic in the moves he made, he’s stated from the beginning this year is moot, that its going to be a 2-4yr procss, etc. You just seem to forget that. No rational person thought we were going to be any good this year. Now you are complaining that we aren’t any good? well congrats capt’n obvious.
ed — Pecherov is pulling in rebounds at a higher percentage than Al this year, and has Pecherov has been particularly strong on the defensive boards. As Al gets back into shape, I expect that to change. But in terms of evluating Pecherov versus Hollins or Jawai or Cardinal, that is a significant difference right now.
Note to the rest of the board: I’m not suggesting that any of the trades posted would happen or that I would do them. Madison Dan proposed a thought experiment and I went with it. Please try to follow along, people!
C-Note: Wall and Turner are in college. Sean was indulging my stupid game to trade for the best team we could put on the floor this year, future be damned. The answer: it’s still not very good.
If we had had Richardson, some of those earlier losses could have been wins. Add in a real center (albeit not a great one in Mohammad) and we may get a few more wins simply for the rebounds and defense inside…
Arenal….best to remain silent and thought the fool than start typing and remove all doubt.
Happy Thanksgiving
My bad- the only trade this year that would make sense to me would be dumping Gomes to a contender for thier 1st rounder that would be like the 28th again. Then Gomes would be off the books and we could get a 1st rounder to maybe add with the Charlotte pick and move up to have to top 10 picks again plus Rubio’s rights. That would be cool.
so, besides Turner or Wall, who would help this team in the draft next year?
Evan Turner had another triple double last night.
Also Stephen A Smith just tweeted that Iverson has called it quits.
Matt: I’m going to try to watch some more Kansas games to see Xavier Henry (SG) and Aldrich. I saw some of the Memphis game, and Aldrich looked better than I remembered, but Henry didn’t blow me away.
There are a lot of others, I’m sure.
I posted a draft watch last night with Turner’s and Wall’s stats. Those are the only two guys that I am looking at for our first pick right now. Maybe Wesley Johnson for Syracuse or Solomon Alabi from Florida or Florida State, I forget but Johnson is a SF and Solomon Alabi is a 7′1 Sophmore Center who can really block some shots and rebound, two things we need. If we could get Turner/Wall and Solomon Alabi that would be a great draft for us.
Interesting on ESPN
Wade said he would rather play with Howard over Lebron because he wants to play with a great big.
Orlando could sign and trade away Vince Carter and 2 other medium contracts and try and get Wade:
Howard
Lewis
Pietrus/Matt Barnes/Brandon Bass
Wade
Nelson
This would be a very, very good starting 5.
I still don’t understand why so many people love Aldrich. I saw him play a lot last year and he never struck me as being more than another Brad Miller.
I’ve been against using a high pick on Aldrich, too. But I have to admit that he looked good against Memphis. He had more offense than I recalled.
I see a Spencer Hawes clone in Aldrich, nothing against that, but we don’t need that right now, if Al gets moved it would be Love and Aldrich up front, not much defense or athleticism.
medschool matt: so we get JRich and Mohammed, ruin all our cap space, get a lower pick, for a few more wins? whats the point? i’d rather take a bad year or two, acquire talent, and then make the leap to getting alot more wins come year 3/4 and actually have a legit shot come PO time. We’ve done that, just barely good enough thing already, didn’t care much for it.
Prime Brad Miller would be a perfect fit for the triangle–can pass, shoot, and is big. I’d see if the Nets would trade Lopez for our Charlotte pick and Gomes. Aldrich is intriguing–size, girth, and a nice touch. Problem is asssuming we get a top 3, is he worth going that high? Isn’t Wall a PG?
Who we draft depends on who we deem we can get via FA; if we think we can get a 2/3 then you draft a 5; if Jawai/Hollins improve esp Jawai b/c of his girth then you draft a 2/3.
C-Note
I agree with you that Aldrich isn’t as good as his college numbers seem to make him. I am however not against moving Al Jefferson if we can get something good for him.
Bryan… I wouldn’t be against getting a Brad Miller kind of guy provided it’s with our 2nd 1st round pick next summer.
Wall is a 6′4 guard who plays point, they say he is like an Evans or Wade, plays pg but can play off guard and can really score the ball. Turner might be the better fit and is more polished and “NBA Ready” but Wall could be really special like a Wade. But still a long ways to go to see them play more before we have to decide or get lucky enought to decide.
Aldrich’s stats aren’t even that great…Derrick Favors, Greg Monroe, Solomon Alibi, Jerome Jordan, Ed Davis and Craig Brackins all average similar or better numbers.
Arenal - it was just the game that Mad Dan asked to see if we could ‘win now’. those were 2 realistic trades we could do now that could help us. arguably a real scoring 2 and a decent 5 and we are at .500 right now.
totally agree with what you said though.
I don’t remember Rick Adelman being that great of a defensive coach at Sacramento, so why is Houston playing among the best defense in the league right now? And what would it take to get the Wolves to even approach that level?
If it’s talent alone we’re hosed, our team is based on offensive prowess with a bit of D thrown in, whereas Houston seems to be based on solid team D with a bit of O thrown in.
Maybe great D alone won’t win championships, but it sure seemed to keep San Antonio in the hunt every year. So if it’s coaching and overall emphasis in practice, who on the Wolves staff is that kind of coach? Certainly not Theus, probably not Rambis, and Laimbeer might be an enforcer down low, but I don’t see him teaching team defense to guards and SFs.
I think the Timberpups won’t really make progress until they can get stops when they need them, and I think they need to pick up an assistant coach who will work on team defense exclusively.
I’m so sick of this team, I never said this any of the other years, I think its because there is only one player playing right now that I like and that is Flynn and maybe Hollins/Brewer. Its the same thing all the time, dump it to Al, clear out, he holds it dribbles, dribbles, misses terribly from anywhere outside of 10 feet. Then he makes it to the block and flings up a shot, and If he passes its out to the wings that miss worse. I’m not giving up, and I know Denver is a very good team but it doesn’t matter how good the other team is when they are clanking wide open shots.
Then Pavlovic throws a behind the back pass on a break and gets knocked away and Pecherov winds up air balling the next shot. Ok, I’m done ranting, lol
Wolves hold Nuggets under 30 in 1st qtr. Alright gang good start. How does Hollins even play????? He had a monster dunk and then got knocked to ground or thrown outta the way next 8 possessions.
whats this? flynn and sessinos at the same time?
They are right there on the doorstep. Barely gave up 60 at half. Playing possum on the Nuggets giving them a false sense of security until they are ready to pounce. Sean, you are right the Wolves play way harder this year under Rambis than last year. How did I not see it?
It’s official Hollins has more fouls than rebounds 14 and 1/2 games into season. He’s a steal alright just ask Snake Oil.
The one good thing was seeing the huge dunk by Brewer, that was pretty sweet.
Wolves D is starting to show some cracks. Nuggets over the century mark after 3rd qtr. It’s Pechy time now…. Hold on. Great effort again tonight by Wolves. Now that I’ve drank of the special Kool-aid all is good with me. Arenal, you’re right…. way harder to be a defender than a scorer like Melo, Wade, Kobe. Just look at the Bird Man. Sessions locked up Billups at the end of 3rd. That’s why we got him… he’s a stopper.
Logical’s posting philosophy:
Post once
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat……..
Thank God for the Nets!
Just jumping on board the Kool-aid express where all is just rosey in Wolf land. Love that 4th qtr effort by squad. All we needed to do is foul out the starters and the scrubs can’t handle us. I think LBJ and Wade will both come next summer. Can’t wait.
Why are we even bothering to go through the motions this year? Why not save everyone the trouble and just call in the games? According to this board- especially Arenal and Sean, we are supposed to just accept this lousy play as “wait until next year” mentality. We’ve been waiting a long time, guys, and by what i see, one more year of waiting is not going to be enough.
Taylor cannot be happy with this effort. Fans cannot be happy with this effort. I turned on the game, we’re down 24 in the 3rd, and Rambis is smiling on the bench. Really? What’s so funny?
This is the big leagues, not the D-league or your local high school squad. Something is wrong- either the coach’s triangle, the team chemistry, the team’s skill level, or all of the above. I believe that a Knute Rockne speech IS necessary at this point.
And Kahn better keep his mouth shut. Everytime he gets in front of the press with one of his letters or “I’m not worried” speeches, it just p*sses me off.
About a month after Love comes back and things are the same it will be time for a big trade again. Shake things up more than Foye/Miller, I’m talking Jefferson/Gomes/Pavlovic for some good young players and picks. Lets get Kentucky and Ohio States teams for the Wolves straight up. They have more talent on those two teams then the Wolves have, and that is said.
sad*
No mention of Brew’s career game ? Even in a blow out loss that was a great game for him. Didn’t force much, was all over the place. Surprised Rambis went with Gomes on Melo most of the time. Not that Brew would have done much better on the best offensive player in the league. But hey, who knows, I would have liked to see it.
By the way, if it hasn’t been done already lets start a “Sessions to start” theme going here peeps. He needs some more minutes. Maybe both he and Flynn would excel with the other units…
