Game Report - Wolves v. Mavs
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:02 pm
It's been a while since my last game report. But unfortunately, I was at the game last night and feel compelled to post a report on train wreck I saw. Last night's game was the sort of game this team has to win to be a legitimate contender for a playoff seed in the West. Losing last night's game was a huge step back and has to leave even the most stidently optimisic Wolves fans wondering about the future.
I noticed a lot of dialogue in the other game thread on the cause or causes of last night's debacle. Lots of good discussion and insights. But I think that, other than the officiating, last night's loss resulted almost entirely from the following three things, listed in order of importance:
1. Bench play. This was clearly and unmistakeably the biggest factor in last night's loss. Nothing new there, right? The Wolves have the worst bench in the League (or close to it) and it showed again last night. Let's just look at the numbers. The Wolves bench collectively scored 5 points (all JJ Barea). Yes, 5 points total. But it gets worse. The Wolves bench collectively accumulated 9 turnovers and zero steals!!! You want more? How about only 2 assists and zero free throw attempts. Yes, our bench couldn't even draw one lousy foul. In contrast, the Dallas bench scored 26 points to go with 7 steals, 16 rebounds and only 4 turnovers. I could stop here and not bother with the other two factors, but I'll continue.
2. The team's brain-dead first half. There was absolutely no excuse for falling behind by 19 points in the first half. That's not just on the bench; it's on the entire team -- players and coaches. The players looked like they had just gotten out of bed. No one was moving without the ball -- not at all. Kevin Martin seemed so tired he couldn't hold onto the ball when it touched his hands. (Althought there's a bigger issue with Kevin Martin's ability to handle and protect the ball that trancends last night's game). In any event, the overall effort of the team in the first half was pathetic and unworthy of any team that considers itself a contender for a place in the Western Conference playoffs. It would be one thing if it were only last night, but we have seen this failure to show up ready to play repeatedly in games this season. And to not come out ready at home against the team immediately in front of us in the standings is wildly inexplicable.
3. Adelman's delay getting Ricky back in the game in the second half. This was a big factor and that's not just hindsight. My buddy and I were beside ourselves as we watched Adelman leave JJ in the game with a well-rested Ricky sitting on the bench. I know that Cool took some heat in the other thread on this point, but having watched the game up close last night, I have to say that Cool was abolutely right that Adelman really screwed up in failing to get Ricky back in the game sooner. And as most on this board know, I've generally been a strong defender of Adelman. Not only was JJ horrible last night, but Ricky played really well. The Wolves were MUCH better on both ends when Ricky was in the game last night. A bunch of fans in my section were all saying that last night. Ricky's 13 assists, 9 rebounds and 3 steals should be enough evidence, but it's beyond that. The team just flowed much, much better with Ricky in there. And defensively? It was far more than the 3 steals. Calderon had only 8 points on 3-7 shooting in 37 minutes. Ricky dominated him defensively. Ricky was draped all over him the entire game, preveing him from getting any good looks.
If we're looking for a 4th factor, it would be the officiating. Last night's game was the most horribly one-sided officiating I've ever seen live at Target Center. It wasn't just the unacceptable no-call on Love's last shot. The Mavs were getting away all game with repeated obvious, hard, game-impacting fouls while the Wolves were getting called multiple times for the ticky-tack variety. My buddy and I noted at least three hard fouls that weren't called on Pekovic lay-up attempts. The fouls were the obvious type that caused Pek's layups to bound hard off the backboard, caused by his arm being pounded from behind. Pekovic was shoved hard in the back twice, preventing him from getting what would have been sure rebounds. So I give Pek a pass on shooting slightly uner 50% last night. He had six foul shots and hit all of them. He should have had at least 6 more free throw attempts. That alone would have resulted in a Wolves win even without the call that should have been made at the end. I'll note also that Ricky was getting hand-checked repeatedly and the Mavs were reaching in constantly on Love, Ricky, and Martin.
Other observations:
1. The crowd was really good last night. They really got into it in the second half and were vocal in expressing their displeasure at the horrific quality of the officiating. The loud chorus of boos for the officials at the end was somewhat gratifying.
2. Kevin Love was tremendous as usual last night. His offensive production was obvious, so I won't go into any detail there. But I wanted to praise his defense. He really defended Dirk well, holding him to 16 points on 7-17 shooting and only 3 trips to the line. Love really hustled on both ends all game. I loved the charge he drew in the second half.
3. As discussed above, Ricky was tremendous.
4. Corey Brewer's defense was terrible last night. He repeatedly got lost in the defensive rotation and allowed Marion to get open for wide-open corner threes. Not surprisingly, Marion had 32 points on 14-19 shooting. And of course, Corey should NEVER put the ball on the floor. On the other hand, Corey really stepped up on the offensive end with big threes in the 3rd quarter that were key in getting us back in the game. I love Corey's heart and his hustle. Unfortunately, he's expected to do too much on this team and that's not his fault.
5. Kevin Martin did not play well. Yes, he had 19 points. But 40% from the field and 1-3 from behind the arc doesn't cut it when you're talking about you're main shooter outside of Love -- especially when that main shooter is a truly one-dimensional player like Martin who had only 3 boards, 1 assist, zero steals and 3 turnovers last night. His inability to handle the ball on par with the better SGs in the League further diminishes his value and puts even more pressure on Ricky as our ONLY bona fide ball-hander in the starting lineup.
But again, the big problem? THE BENCH!!!!! I don't have an answer, but the Wolves "brain" trust had better come up with one. I'm sorry, the answer has to be more than Chase Budinger.
I noticed a lot of dialogue in the other game thread on the cause or causes of last night's debacle. Lots of good discussion and insights. But I think that, other than the officiating, last night's loss resulted almost entirely from the following three things, listed in order of importance:
1. Bench play. This was clearly and unmistakeably the biggest factor in last night's loss. Nothing new there, right? The Wolves have the worst bench in the League (or close to it) and it showed again last night. Let's just look at the numbers. The Wolves bench collectively scored 5 points (all JJ Barea). Yes, 5 points total. But it gets worse. The Wolves bench collectively accumulated 9 turnovers and zero steals!!! You want more? How about only 2 assists and zero free throw attempts. Yes, our bench couldn't even draw one lousy foul. In contrast, the Dallas bench scored 26 points to go with 7 steals, 16 rebounds and only 4 turnovers. I could stop here and not bother with the other two factors, but I'll continue.
2. The team's brain-dead first half. There was absolutely no excuse for falling behind by 19 points in the first half. That's not just on the bench; it's on the entire team -- players and coaches. The players looked like they had just gotten out of bed. No one was moving without the ball -- not at all. Kevin Martin seemed so tired he couldn't hold onto the ball when it touched his hands. (Althought there's a bigger issue with Kevin Martin's ability to handle and protect the ball that trancends last night's game). In any event, the overall effort of the team in the first half was pathetic and unworthy of any team that considers itself a contender for a place in the Western Conference playoffs. It would be one thing if it were only last night, but we have seen this failure to show up ready to play repeatedly in games this season. And to not come out ready at home against the team immediately in front of us in the standings is wildly inexplicable.
3. Adelman's delay getting Ricky back in the game in the second half. This was a big factor and that's not just hindsight. My buddy and I were beside ourselves as we watched Adelman leave JJ in the game with a well-rested Ricky sitting on the bench. I know that Cool took some heat in the other thread on this point, but having watched the game up close last night, I have to say that Cool was abolutely right that Adelman really screwed up in failing to get Ricky back in the game sooner. And as most on this board know, I've generally been a strong defender of Adelman. Not only was JJ horrible last night, but Ricky played really well. The Wolves were MUCH better on both ends when Ricky was in the game last night. A bunch of fans in my section were all saying that last night. Ricky's 13 assists, 9 rebounds and 3 steals should be enough evidence, but it's beyond that. The team just flowed much, much better with Ricky in there. And defensively? It was far more than the 3 steals. Calderon had only 8 points on 3-7 shooting in 37 minutes. Ricky dominated him defensively. Ricky was draped all over him the entire game, preveing him from getting any good looks.
If we're looking for a 4th factor, it would be the officiating. Last night's game was the most horribly one-sided officiating I've ever seen live at Target Center. It wasn't just the unacceptable no-call on Love's last shot. The Mavs were getting away all game with repeated obvious, hard, game-impacting fouls while the Wolves were getting called multiple times for the ticky-tack variety. My buddy and I noted at least three hard fouls that weren't called on Pekovic lay-up attempts. The fouls were the obvious type that caused Pek's layups to bound hard off the backboard, caused by his arm being pounded from behind. Pekovic was shoved hard in the back twice, preventing him from getting what would have been sure rebounds. So I give Pek a pass on shooting slightly uner 50% last night. He had six foul shots and hit all of them. He should have had at least 6 more free throw attempts. That alone would have resulted in a Wolves win even without the call that should have been made at the end. I'll note also that Ricky was getting hand-checked repeatedly and the Mavs were reaching in constantly on Love, Ricky, and Martin.
Other observations:
1. The crowd was really good last night. They really got into it in the second half and were vocal in expressing their displeasure at the horrific quality of the officiating. The loud chorus of boos for the officials at the end was somewhat gratifying.
2. Kevin Love was tremendous as usual last night. His offensive production was obvious, so I won't go into any detail there. But I wanted to praise his defense. He really defended Dirk well, holding him to 16 points on 7-17 shooting and only 3 trips to the line. Love really hustled on both ends all game. I loved the charge he drew in the second half.
3. As discussed above, Ricky was tremendous.
4. Corey Brewer's defense was terrible last night. He repeatedly got lost in the defensive rotation and allowed Marion to get open for wide-open corner threes. Not surprisingly, Marion had 32 points on 14-19 shooting. And of course, Corey should NEVER put the ball on the floor. On the other hand, Corey really stepped up on the offensive end with big threes in the 3rd quarter that were key in getting us back in the game. I love Corey's heart and his hustle. Unfortunately, he's expected to do too much on this team and that's not his fault.
5. Kevin Martin did not play well. Yes, he had 19 points. But 40% from the field and 1-3 from behind the arc doesn't cut it when you're talking about you're main shooter outside of Love -- especially when that main shooter is a truly one-dimensional player like Martin who had only 3 boards, 1 assist, zero steals and 3 turnovers last night. His inability to handle the ball on par with the better SGs in the League further diminishes his value and puts even more pressure on Ricky as our ONLY bona fide ball-hander in the starting lineup.
But again, the big problem? THE BENCH!!!!! I don't have an answer, but the Wolves "brain" trust had better come up with one. I'm sorry, the answer has to be more than Chase Budinger.