CoolBreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Tonight Plus 1

[Coolbreeze44]

Well I was going to start this off by complaining about how boring this game was for a season opener. But the ending took care of that. It might not have been pretty, but the W will look the same in the standings as any other win this year. And with that intro, here is this year's inaugural edition of the 2 + 1:

1) It didn't end up costing us tonight, but when you are playing a team on the 2nd night of back to backs and you get a big early lead, you have to step on their throat and take care of business. It's a crime the Wolves had to work overtime tonight to get this win. You can use the excuse that this was the first game of the year and a lot of things take time to mesh, but we won't always be so lucky to pull out the game. Hopefully a lesson is learned.

2) Ricky has to be more consistent. His shot was way off in the 2nd half, and he kept getting caught in the air on his penetrations. He did a lot of great things but if he truly wants to be an all star point guard in the West, he needs to clean these things up and be more consistent and reliable. Wouldn't have won without him though as he hounded the ball well all night.

Plus 1 - There were a couple of subtle things that I really liked tonight. First was the fact that St. Rick designed his play at the end of regulation for Love and not K-Mart. I was happy to see that pecking order established in game 1. Don't get me wrong it's nice to have a nice long wing like Martin who can score, but our best clutch player will be Love and he came through tonight. Secondly, Corey Brewer is a winning player. He makes big plays and his compete level is outstanding. Loved his effort at the end of regulation to deny Aflalo, and his breakout dunk in OT. Great to have him on our side once again.

And that's CoolBreez'es 2 things I didn't like tonight Plus 1

[TAFKASP]

Your point about Brewer is spot on! Corey is a much better player than the last time he wore a T-Wolves jersey and it's not even close!!

Sexy Lexy wasn't.
DWill is the Wolves Christian Ponder.
Ronnie is a bull in a china shop, but you can see how he is going to help this team.
JJ is JJ which is better than being Luke.
Pek has to get his chit together we need his good bull in a china shop to balance Ronnie!!

Bottom line, they're going to need more, much more in the upcoming three game.

[thedoper]

I didn't like the midget lineup that brought the Magic back in the game. Rubio, Barea and Martin is not an acceptable 1,2,3 to me. It almost cost us the game. Adelman seems to hate playing a big lineup even if it would be to our advantage. I agree with all your points though.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Man, crazy start to the season - and not just for the Wolves.

I agree with your points Cool, although I'm less confident in Brewer than you are overall. Tonight, he definitely played winning basketball by making timely cuts, leak-outs, and putting up a good challenge to that Aflalo shot, as you mentioned.

A few other thoughts:

- On Love, is there any question that this guy is a top 10 player when healthy? And for all of his touches tonight - which included 4 assists by the way - he had only one turnover. In fact, he and Martin produced 54 points on 38 shots and 2 turnovers. That is REALLY efficient use of their possessions.

- Rubio had a great all-around game, but he really let us down late in regulation with that wide open mid-range jumper he failed to convert. He has GOT to hit those shots under pressure. He made one earlier in the game and overall had a really nice first half shooting-wise. It's the only thing holding him back from being a top 3 or 4 PG in this league.

- I was impressed by Orlando. They played hard the entire game and they will not be an easy out for most teams. I don't think they will win a lot of games because they don't really have a go-to guy, but they have some nice young pieces. Oladipo will be an absolute beast in a year or two. He just needs to get through some rookie growing pains.

- Shved was a trainwreck. Budinger can't get back soon enough.

[thedoper]

Rubio was shooting 50% till the 4th tonight. Everyone got real sloppy at the end of the game. At least he stepped up and tried to hit those shots. His shot doesn't look any better to me though.

[Coolbreeze44]

Q, good point on getting Budinger back. I think you saw tonight where he is going to fit and how badly we need him healthy.

Also don't forget Orlando was missing Big Baby tonight. He's hurt the Wolves in the past and will make this Orlando team even tougher.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

One more thought on Brewer......Tonight was Exhibit A as to why he makes sense in the starting lineup. He is much better playing off of more talented players vs. being the "energy guy" that pumps up a bunch of shots off the bench. I like him in the starting lineup with hard basket cuts and leak-outs that get rewarded by great players like Love and Rubio. Guys like Barea and Cunningham aren't going to be able to get those kinds of easy buckets for Brewer and instead we'll see lots of clanked jumpers and drunken drives since he'll feel the need to create his own offense.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

One more thought on Brewer......Tonight was Exhibit A as to why he makes sense in the starting lineup. He is much better playing off of more talented players vs. being the "energy guy" that pumps up a bunch of shots off the bench. I like him in the starting lineup with hard basket cuts and leak-outs that get rewarded by great players like Love and Rubio. Guys like Barea and Cunningham aren't going to be able to get those kinds of easy buckets for Brewer and instead we'll see lots of clanked jumpers and drunken drives since he'll feel the need to create his own offense.

Have to agree with you. Brewer solidified himself as our SF in my eyes and likely Adelman's as well.

[KiwiMatt]

Brewer played extremely well tonight. He proved why he should start. Good to see him and Rubio clicking in transition, and it seems Brewer and Martin have good chemistry together after all the offseason training stints in Florida. I know it's only one game in but I'm happy with the balance in our starting lineup. Sure we lack a defensive presence, but offensively we have one of best starting 5's in the league.

Shved again proved tonight he can't shoot. As per last season, it seems that our second unit comes in and really struggles to scores. This is why Adelman needs to play Williams. We need to keep the foot on the throat with these early leads and playing guys like Barea, Shved, Cunningham and Turiaf together won't scare even the worst defenses. Budinger will help here, but in the interim we need William's offense and athleticism.

One issue that needs to be addressed asap is feeding Pek early. He's the type of player that needs early buckets to have a good night. This will also free up Love and our wing players, if Pek is making shots down low. Martin didn't have a good shooting night, but made shots when they counted, and it's encouraging to know we can win games when his shots aren't falling.

[60WinTim]

Adelman made a post game comment about the Magic solving his rotation decision by playing 3 guards. Could that be a reference as to why Shved played and D-Will did not? Maybe in the next game we could see D-Will play some minutes...