The signs weren't good early on...were they?
The Sixers scooted out to an 18-7 lead which prompted Rick Adelman to throw out the anchor. Whatever was said in that huddle certainly made a big difference because Wes Johnson suddenly looked like he wanted to play basketball (this was, sadly, only short lived) and our "big three" started to score a little...everything was amped up...
K-Love, after going 0-5 to start scored on a short jump hook,
Philly missed,
Rubio kissed a floater off the glass,
Elton Brand has his shot swatted by Wes Johnson,
Teams trade misses,
Rubio hits a three,
Pek rejects an Allen shot,
Love converts a fast break with a finger roll,
Holiday clanks a turn around jumper off the front of the iron,
Pek corrals another offensive rebound and sticks it....................one point game 18-17....in a hurry.
It was a good recovery and from there on in it was going to be a tight game the rest of the way.
There's very little to talk about in the game other than The Kevin Love Show in the fourth so let's put that on ice for a moment and discuss the more obvious points that are being circulated on many Twolves related blogs today...
MICHAEL BEASLEY
Last night Mike recorded 11.26 minutes. Okay, I'm biased but once again I thought he did quite well...well enough to get a few more minutes at least. I'm not asking for him to get his starting berth back because I'm happy with him coming in and developing his game with the second unit but when he's doing "okay" and ticking most of the boxes just let him play. The flip side of this particular coin is that Rick Adelman has decided that there is no place in this particular set-up for Beasley. I'm not quite sure what RA wants from him at the moment...I mean...Michael has toned his game down and he is more often engaged on both ends of the floor....I see improvements in passing, rebounding and he's driving in a more controlled fashion ie not turning the ball over so often....last night he blocked two shots. He is trying, he's trying to be the kind of player Adelman wants him to be, whatever that is (?)....however 11.26 tells me he could be gone.
MARTELL WEBSTER
Let's get one thing straight, Martell Webster isn't in great shape. He is an upgrade over Wes Johnson...that is as much of an endorsement as I can afford him just now. He came crashing down on his back last night and I must admit I didn't think he'd get up...however, should Martell be able to help the Twolves get off to better starts in games it'll be endurable, in the short term. Start him now.
WES JOHNSON
We heard it again last night....3rd Q...Jim Petersen says.."Wes Johnson....still scoreless"....he added..."He has one more rebound than I do, sitting over here!!"
Also in this period Wes treated us to...A double clutch slam dunk attempt which hit the front rim and was cleared by the Sixers defense and a cross court pass which missed its intended target (Pek - he's a big target!!) by about four feet and was heading out of bounds....until a unicorn appeared, swept the ball up on the sideline, zipped a behind-the-back pass to Pek and saved the play. Rubio ofcourse then drove to the hoop and scored just for good measure. The rest of the time Wes was a ghost...a ghost...then again ghosts have the capacity to scare people...so maybe I'm being a bit hard on ghosts there. He did nothing.....AGAIN....22 mins of nothing....give that time to someone else...this isn't funny any more.
Okay let's set the scene for the fourth quarter.
The Sixers have a two point lead 74-72.
Kevin Love is stinking out the room..he is 2-14 shooting on the night...Elton Brand is beginning to think his mojo has returned...Doug Collins is starting to get the feeling that possibly, just possibly, his plan to defuse Minnesota's most potent weapon has somehow worked....
Philly are now ahead 78-74....Bang! Bang! Bang!....Love hits three times in a row...Twolves up 78-80.....Doug Collins mutters "Oh shit!" under his breath...time out Sixers. For the next three minutes Kevin Love doesn't take a shot...JJ Barea takes four...missing them all but one...I'm throwing things at my computer screen. Thankfully JJ gets with the plan on his final possession of the game and dishes to Love who flips in a baby hook. As we creep down to the final minute the Sixers have regained the lead on a Jrue Holiday jumper 89-88.....by the time we reach 3.6 secs the Twolves are trailing by one and inbounding the ball for a last shot to win the game...Love gets it, drives, is fouled, one second left....two shots...iced.
Star quality.....how many people thought Love wasn't going to produce last night?....show of hands?
The Sixers scooted out to an 18-7 lead which prompted Rick Adelman to throw out the anchor. Whatever was said in that huddle certainly made a big difference because Wes Johnson suddenly looked like he wanted to play basketball (this was, sadly, only short lived) and our "big three" started to score a little...everything was amped up...
K-Love, after going 0-5 to start scored on a short jump hook,
Philly missed,
Rubio kissed a floater off the glass,
Elton Brand has his shot swatted by Wes Johnson,
Teams trade misses,
Rubio hits a three,
Pek rejects an Allen shot,
Love converts a fast break with a finger roll,
Holiday clanks a turn around jumper off the front of the iron,
Pek corrals another offensive rebound and sticks it....................one point game 18-17....in a hurry.
It was a good recovery and from there on in it was going to be a tight game the rest of the way.
There's very little to talk about in the game other than The Kevin Love Show in the fourth so let's put that on ice for a moment and discuss the more obvious points that are being circulated on many Twolves related blogs today...
MICHAEL BEASLEY
Last night Mike recorded 11.26 minutes. Okay, I'm biased but once again I thought he did quite well...well enough to get a few more minutes at least. I'm not asking for him to get his starting berth back because I'm happy with him coming in and developing his game with the second unit but when he's doing "okay" and ticking most of the boxes just let him play. The flip side of this particular coin is that Rick Adelman has decided that there is no place in this particular set-up for Beasley. I'm not quite sure what RA wants from him at the moment...I mean...Michael has toned his game down and he is more often engaged on both ends of the floor....I see improvements in passing, rebounding and he's driving in a more controlled fashion ie not turning the ball over so often....last night he blocked two shots. He is trying, he's trying to be the kind of player Adelman wants him to be, whatever that is (?)....however 11.26 tells me he could be gone.
MARTELL WEBSTER
Let's get one thing straight, Martell Webster isn't in great shape. He is an upgrade over Wes Johnson...that is as much of an endorsement as I can afford him just now. He came crashing down on his back last night and I must admit I didn't think he'd get up...however, should Martell be able to help the Twolves get off to better starts in games it'll be endurable, in the short term. Start him now.
WES JOHNSON
 |
| Ricky saves the play! |
Also in this period Wes treated us to...A double clutch slam dunk attempt which hit the front rim and was cleared by the Sixers defense and a cross court pass which missed its intended target (Pek - he's a big target!!) by about four feet and was heading out of bounds....until a unicorn appeared, swept the ball up on the sideline, zipped a behind-the-back pass to Pek and saved the play. Rubio ofcourse then drove to the hoop and scored just for good measure. The rest of the time Wes was a ghost...a ghost...then again ghosts have the capacity to scare people...so maybe I'm being a bit hard on ghosts there. He did nothing.....AGAIN....22 mins of nothing....give that time to someone else...this isn't funny any more.
Okay let's set the scene for the fourth quarter.
The Sixers have a two point lead 74-72.
Kevin Love is stinking out the room..he is 2-14 shooting on the night...Elton Brand is beginning to think his mojo has returned...Doug Collins is starting to get the feeling that possibly, just possibly, his plan to defuse Minnesota's most potent weapon has somehow worked....
Star quality.....how many people thought Love wasn't going to produce last night?....show of hands?
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