Musings of a Wolves Fan (10/29/08)
Season Record: UN-DE-FEAT-ED… or, 1-0.
Well well well. The Wolves kick start the 2008-09 campaign with a spotless record. That’s right, we currently have zero losses. We can actually say we are undefeated. Next up on the docket is the Dallas Mavericks this upcoming Saturday night at Target Center, but we’ll worry about those trivialities later. It was a good game for the Wolves, but the final score indicates that it was a closer game than it truly was. Granted, I’m just an idiot fan biased, but it appeared like the Wolves were dominating the Kings most of the night. As we have all became painfully cognizant of in the past, the Wolves did their darndest to blow leads and nearly give the game away. In the end, the Wolves showed their take no prisoners killer instinct somehow managed to hold on to the victory, despite a few last second attempts by the Sactown Kings. All in all, it was a good game, and its a good feeling to come out on top of games that we probably should win if we ever fancy ourselves to be title contenders.
Click “Read More” for discombobulated analysis and in-depth thoughts on the game…
First off, I apologize to any regular forum members that may (or may not) have been “expecting more” from me tonight… especially considering this is our first game and all. BUT, I didn’t plan on doing a game recap tonight, and decided to just go for it after having posted a novel in the TWB forum game thread. So, I’ll expand on those thoughts a little bit, but this won’t be the usual length that most of you dread and actually despise reading are accustomed to. If you are someone that just reads the articles on TWolvesBlog and does not peruse the forums, well then ignore everything you have read so far, and please do continue on.
– First off, I’d just like to point out: How bad are the Kings? Seriously, I’m glad I don’t have to cheer for that team. No offense to any Kings fans that may have gotten lost and are for some reason reading this article, but you have a boring team and boring players. I like Kevin Martin and Meeeeeki Moore, but that’s about it. Oh, and Hawes floats my boat. But really, this is one of the rare times that I will go on record saying “Thank god I am a Wolves fan.” The Kings rank alongside the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks as my personal “Top opponents that I dread watching out of fear of death from boredom and/or cranial paralysis.”
– I don’t care what anyone says, Hawes was good tonight. I thought he was just a fat plodder coming out of Washington, but he seemed slim and nimble. In fact, I thought that he was going to be so worthless I actually praised McHale for drafting anyone except Hawes at the time. Hawes displayed some nimble post moves and ran the floor well. He also put up 12 points, 14 boards, and a surreal 6 blocks, against only 1 turnover. Studly. At least, for a tall white center it was studly.
– I’m rather disappointed in Kevin Martin. I have him on my Western Conference Only Auction Keeper Fantasy Basketball Team. He did not live up to my hype and lofty expectations. However, props does go to Brewer on the solid defense against him. Anyways, I digress. I promised everyone at work and all 4 of the friends I have on Facebook that KMart would be a top 5 average scorer in the NBA this year. I guess he still has 81 games to prove me right, but he didn’t get off to a great start. Only 17 points on 5 of 19 shooting against the lowly surprisingly stout Wolves defense? That’s not going to win any awards. He was throwing up so many bricks I kept getting him confused with McCants. Thank goodness his jersey was a different color.
– Beno Udrih: I can’t remember how much he got paid, but it looks like it was probably about 20 million too much. He does some nice things, I will admit. But if he’s worth the full MLE than I’m at least capable of being one of the 13th-15th positions on the Wolves roster.
– John Salmons did what KMart was supposed to do. An economical 24 points on over 50% shooting, with 8 assists to boot. At times he was a monster ballhog, which was rather surprising. Still, he helped lead them back towards the end so who’s to say what’s right and what isn’t.
– I can’t believe Mikki Moore starts for the Kings (or any team for that matter.) Whenever I mention him in conversation, I pronounce his name like this: “Meeeeeeeki Moore.” That’s about all I’ve got for him. I like his hair and his shoes were old school baller tonight.
– Trick question: Who is Jason Thompson? Good question because I don’t know either… but he put up 18 points and 10 boards in only 22 minutes of play. I tried to pick him up for my WCOAKFBT, but someone had already beaten me to it. Stupid drive home.
– Thank goodness Sheldon Williams got drafted before McHale even had a chance at him.
– Weird that Old Man Ollie got so many minutes in the 4th Q instead of Foye. Even though I’m not a huge Foye fan, I’m not sure Ollie is the answer? Was Wittman punishing Foye for something? Did he truly think Ollie’s “steady veteran hand” gave the Wolves the best chance to win the game? The world will never know, but tune in next time for more befuddling roster management.
– Mike Miller had a disappointing game and he missed some clutch free throws. His shot was obviously off and he’ll be better in the future. I promise. Still, it’s not like he’s worthless out there when his shot is off. He hustles, plays serviceable defense, passes the ball, etc.
– Big Al is a stud. All-Star this year. Too bad we inexplicably went away from him in the second half. He still finished with 21 points, 10 boards, and solid defense (2 blocks.) At least Gomes was giving him some entry passes. Gomes is an underrated passer. Technically, I guess you could say Gomes is really an underrated everything, but I truly feel his passing ability is greatly overlooked.
– More on Gomes studliness. I know I’m a slightly freaky, possibly deranged fanatic biased, but he did look pretty good tonight. 6-8 FG shooting for 12 points, played good defense, had zero turnovers, and really did nothing bad. I’ll take that.
– McCants = wtf? 18 shots off the bench? Blaaaaaaackhoooooooole. Cough cough contract year cough cough. Ok, my positive thought of the day is that at least he was taking it to the hoop. That’s a start. We need a slasher.
– Other than Corey Brewer’s airballed layup (whaaaaaaa?) I thought he played just “ok.” He had some nice rebounds (7 total), along with 4 assists, 3 steals, and good defense. He’s still learning, but at least he doesn’t look like he has a cross between ADHD and Down Syndrome anymore when he’s out running the fast break (or doing anything on offense really.)
– Rashad McFoye combined for 12 of 30 FG’s for 27 points, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, and 55 minutes of downright despicable defense (out of 57 minutes played.)
– Craig Smith did not look good. I don’t see him getting too many minutes this year. He took some really bad shots. Why did we resign him? He played 14 minutes and went 2 of 6 for 6 points and multiple horrendous shots. At least he looks really strong.
– I think Love dogged it in the pre-season to lower everyone’s expectations, and then he came out tonight and played like he is capable of. He had a pretty good game, but there were still some flaws (as is expected from a rookie.) I won’t downplay his 12 points and 9 boards in less than 20 minutes off the bench, but I do feel it is my civic duty to mention that everyone should please keep in mind who he was going up against (a.k.a. pretty much nobody.) Lastly, I enjoyed his first official outlet pass that led to a dunk. I felt warm and fuzzy inside.
– Ryan “Don’t call me big sexy” Gomes somehow notched a -19 plus/minus differential, and Kevin Love led the Wolves with a +20. I am pretty sure Gomes differential was a typo. At least, that is what I’m telling myself.
– My man Kevin Martin “led” the Kings with a -11 plus/minus differential, while Bobby Jackson had a more respectable +6. A much, much smaller disparity than the Wolves had. Again, when in doubt, claim ignorance or typo.
– Attendance was listed at 17,820. I think that might have been a little high, as there were a TON of empty seats all around us. (And we are like row 12 in the lower level!)
– I liked the new floor. Very nice. A huuuuge upgrade than the old one. And lastly, I have finally figured out what irked me about our new white jerseys. The green is too bright/neon. If it were a darker shade such as “forest green” or something like that, I think the jersey’s would be better off. I like them, but the green is just too much. So much so that it burned a hole in my retinas and I can now only see the colors black, blue, and chartreuse.
– My mom always told me “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Obviously, I have largely failed that for most of this recap, but Rodney Carney played 13 minutes tonight. The end.
CW