Rubio, Ridnour, Johnson, Love, "Petrovik" ( as Clyde Frazier, who obviously does his homework, was heard to say more than once ).
Another inauspicious start with a shot clock violation on the first play.....hmmmmm.....the omens weren't good.
However the Twolves got themselves going and were in fact shooting between 57 and 58% from the field...(probably one of the main reasons for this is that Wes Johnson only touched the ball about three times, in total, in the first half)......Later on the ever insightful Knick announcers were heard to say....."Wes Johnson, he's quiet tonight...scoreless in fact!" that was in the third quarter before he was replaced by Wayne Ellington who spent most of his court time dusting off moss and cobwebs.
Really, y'know, what is the point. Adelman feels that he doesn't have an alternative...well, okay, we all know that he doesn't (really) have an decent alternative but some of the line ups that are taking to the court at the moment are woeful and from looking like a team that were going somewhere we look like a team who have stalled at 30,000ft....if someone doesn't do something soon there can only be one outcome....especially given the losing mentality that surrounds this franchise.....freefall......this was ultimately another poor performance.
Last night there was another barrell-load of turnovers (23) mainly due to 2 things...
1) Not protecting the ball
2) Dreadful passing
Maybe it's just me (please tell me if you agree) but every time the Twolves grab a defensive rebound I half expect someone on the opposing team to strip it or steal it. They do not protect the ball. Similarly, and this happened on countless occasions last night, they get stripped on drives to the hoop. It's infuriating. I don't see it happening as much to other teams. JJ Barea was stripped at least 3 times last night, Pek twice, Beasley, Love, Webster.....I mean Shumpert does have some freaky length going on but this is ridiculous.
The passing into the post has returned to last season's standard. The scouting report on us must have that underlined....get a hand on the pass....the receivers on our team seem to be under pressure constantly whereas I don't see this type of intensity at the other end....yeah, maybe it's just me....I dunno.
You can talk all you want about last night's game and about who came out on top in the Rubio v Lin match-up or Love's 32/21...The Twolves were, once more, the architects of their own demise. The game was a bit of a mess with lots of broken play and only flashes of quality...not really what we were looking forward to.
Novak hit two massive threes for them, one at 88-94 ( from about 30ft) and the other to tie the game at 98-98...when the Twolves had a foul to give....it boils down to stuff like that usually.
This one has left me really flat.
What now? Monday night against Orlando in Mouseville ( not Charlotte, as I'd posted previously...maybe wishful thinking on my part!!? )...that will be another hard game and they'll be shooting threes, make no mistake. I'd like to see Darko on the floor for that one instead of sitting back there chewing his nails off.
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