0.500 is finally here....after a five year wait.
Now I'm not going to pretend that I've been waiting that long, I'm relatively new to the Twolves experience but today there are a great many staunch Minnesota Timberwolves fans feeling that rush of relief. This is the moment where the eyes are tentatively popped above the defenses and you see that all of those who have been beating you down (for years) have been repelled, at least for the time being. At last, they realise that you aren't just going to roll over and capitulate.
It is the start...this is parity....even for a newby like me, it feels pretty good.
As regards last night's game it's hard to avoid the most obvious incident which may have serious recriminations for our star forward Kevin Love. No matter which way you dress this up it's going to look "cheap and nasty". I've read the comments made by Scola and Love after the game and to Scola's credit he seems to be trying to play things down...he's pissed...but he's making the right sounds. I mean, Love did step on him as he lay on the floor.
The tell tale thing in the whole incident, for me, was that Love took a look down to see where Scola was...this wasn't so he could step over him...it was so he could deliberately step on him.....he steps on him with his trailing leg, he could easily have avoided it. I was dumbfounded when I saw it.
Love is maintaining a "heat of the moment" stance and yeah, quite probably that's what it was. There had been lots of hacking and physicality in the paint up to that point but it just looked so, so bad.
I want to defend K-Love but really I can't...he's going to get banned...no doubt about it. Hopefully this won't escalate into something bigger than it is. It was stupid. Scola has done Love a real favour by being a grown up about it.
This incident, sadly has overshadowed a good performance. When I say good performance I mean there were specific individuals who played well and did their jobs, others who didn't and then Brad Miller.
In the first category I would place - Ridnour, Rubio, Pekovic, Love, Barea
In the second - Beasley, Johnson, Williams
Brad Miller who played fine in his short stint as cover for Pek. I think in Adelman's offenses Brad Miller could be quite handy in that second unit..time will tell.
Luke Ridnour played like Vinnie Johnson last night...he was instantly hot whenever he came in....he also battled manfully against larger opponents all night and ended up 8-14 from the field (4-6 on threes). You have to love Luke Ridnour he is a great team man and will just go out there and give it all he has every night....some nights will be better than others but more often than not he contributes something. JJ Barea is looking more perky with every game and has started bouncing around all over the place. Pek was an offensive force and again unstoppable in the paint. Rubio and Love had their customary double doubles and anchored the whole thing.
Michael Beasley was shooting long twos and missing them.....oh sorry, he did hit one which nearly shattered the glass before rebounding back into the bucket off the front rim. He seems distracted again....god knows why? I'm tired of speaking about it now and I'm sure that the Coach is running out of patience. Derrick Williams has been drained of confidence...nothing much is dropping for him.
Wes..........again nearly 20 minutes of n..o..t..h..i..n..g. Kevin Martin was playing so badly last night I could have covered him.
I'm not going to end this post on a negative tone. The Timberwolves are 0.500 and there is a big chance to transform that into a winning record on Tuesday against the Kings...Memphis will be tough on Wednesday and Dallas come back to town on Friday. I'd take 2-1 out of that little lot.
Now I'm not going to pretend that I've been waiting that long, I'm relatively new to the Twolves experience but today there are a great many staunch Minnesota Timberwolves fans feeling that rush of relief. This is the moment where the eyes are tentatively popped above the defenses and you see that all of those who have been beating you down (for years) have been repelled, at least for the time being. At last, they realise that you aren't just going to roll over and capitulate.
It is the start...this is parity....even for a newby like me, it feels pretty good.
As regards last night's game it's hard to avoid the most obvious incident which may have serious recriminations for our star forward Kevin Love. No matter which way you dress this up it's going to look "cheap and nasty". I've read the comments made by Scola and Love after the game and to Scola's credit he seems to be trying to play things down...he's pissed...but he's making the right sounds. I mean, Love did step on him as he lay on the floor.
The tell tale thing in the whole incident, for me, was that Love took a look down to see where Scola was...this wasn't so he could step over him...it was so he could deliberately step on him.....he steps on him with his trailing leg, he could easily have avoided it. I was dumbfounded when I saw it.Love is maintaining a "heat of the moment" stance and yeah, quite probably that's what it was. There had been lots of hacking and physicality in the paint up to that point but it just looked so, so bad.
I want to defend K-Love but really I can't...he's going to get banned...no doubt about it. Hopefully this won't escalate into something bigger than it is. It was stupid. Scola has done Love a real favour by being a grown up about it.
This incident, sadly has overshadowed a good performance. When I say good performance I mean there were specific individuals who played well and did their jobs, others who didn't and then Brad Miller.
In the first category I would place - Ridnour, Rubio, Pekovic, Love, Barea
In the second - Beasley, Johnson, Williams
Brad Miller who played fine in his short stint as cover for Pek. I think in Adelman's offenses Brad Miller could be quite handy in that second unit..time will tell.
Luke Ridnour played like Vinnie Johnson last night...he was instantly hot whenever he came in....he also battled manfully against larger opponents all night and ended up 8-14 from the field (4-6 on threes). You have to love Luke Ridnour he is a great team man and will just go out there and give it all he has every night....some nights will be better than others but more often than not he contributes something. JJ Barea is looking more perky with every game and has started bouncing around all over the place. Pek was an offensive force and again unstoppable in the paint. Rubio and Love had their customary double doubles and anchored the whole thing.
Michael Beasley was shooting long twos and missing them.....oh sorry, he did hit one which nearly shattered the glass before rebounding back into the bucket off the front rim. He seems distracted again....god knows why? I'm tired of speaking about it now and I'm sure that the Coach is running out of patience. Derrick Williams has been drained of confidence...nothing much is dropping for him.
Wes..........again nearly 20 minutes of n..o..t..h..i..n..g. Kevin Martin was playing so badly last night I could have covered him.
I'm not going to end this post on a negative tone. The Timberwolves are 0.500 and there is a big chance to transform that into a winning record on Tuesday against the Kings...Memphis will be tough on Wednesday and Dallas come back to town on Friday. I'd take 2-1 out of that little lot.
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