Knicks game report

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I decided to brave the cold and see what this depleted roster could do. Boy, and am I glad I went! The Wolves played hard from start to finish, and won easily. Too bad there weren't more people there to see this effort. The stands were 3/4 filled at best, and many tickets were given away to the military. And at times it was so quiet I could hear the players yelling on the court, just like a preseason game. The good news is we were able to buy $15 tickets on the street and upgrade to center court 15 rows up about 10 minutes after tipoff. I think it might be like this until Rubio comes back.

Sure, it was only the Knicks, but the Knicks can shoot the ball (as anyone who watched then beat the Cavs on opening night knows), so it was impressive to beat them so easily with 3 starters on the bench. Tonight was all about two things...defensive intensity and Kevin Martin.

First, Martin. For a guy who was rumored to be on an IV this afternoon, he sure put in an exceptional effort. Right from the start he was working hard on offense and defense. Not only was he sliding off screens to receive passes from Williams, but he also had a terrific night creating his own shot...Shumpert had no clue how to defend him. Kevin is such an enigma. On the nights where he doesn't seem to care, the Wolves don't have much of a chance. But on nights like this, he is an unstoppable offensive force.

Tonight we played defense like we didn't on the road trip. While I really appreciated the team effort, I think the Knicks terrible point guards made our defense look better than it really is. The Wolves struggle defensively when our PG's get beat off the dribble, leaving shooters wide open as our help defenders scramble to stop the penetration. Tonight I could count on one hand the number of times Mo or Zach got beat. Credit to our PGs, but also a big assist from the Knicks. They are really struggling with their offense right now.

Brewer has had a great start to the season, but he probably had his best defensive game yet...6 steals and very few bonehead plays. He is a treat to watch, and like Martin, he was on an IV this afternoon. I wonder if the league is going to check what was in those IVs!

It was fun to see Wiggins up close and personal. Yes, he does disappear on offense occasionally, but he maintains his intensity on defense at all times. He just doesn't take plays off on defense, ever. Carmelo got a few baskets off Drew, but he really had to work to get them. Wiggins was terrific at denying Melo the ball tonight, and I think he eventually wore him out, as Melo sat most of the second half (could have been his knee too).

I have to talk about Robbie Hummel a little. I think you have to be at a game to truly appreciate what he brings...you can see why Flip likes him. Always in the right place on defense (he should have been credited with a couple charges tonight), always making the right pass. I think he may be our best non-PG ball handler...he is that fluid with the basketball. If only he could shoot the three ball like he does at halftime, Flip cuold give him a few more minutes.

Speaking of halftime shooting...I don't know if he was just having a bad night, but Zach LaVine hit about 10% of his shots at halftime (whereas the rest of the team made about 80%). His jumper looked awkward and erratic, and looked every bit as bad when he got in the game. Maybe he needs to spend a little time with Rubio's shooting coach, because he's down to 35% on the year.

Our injured trio were there, and Ronny and Ricky were especially vocal cheering on the team. It was good to see Ricky only in a boot without crutches most of the night. Pek's wrist was in a soft cast, and he looked unhappy much of the time. I have to admit I didn't miss him on the court tonight.

All in all, a very satisfying win, and fun to watch.

[thedoper]

I am surprised there is no love for Bazz in there LST. I think that him and Wiggins on the court together is going to be havoc for other teams for a long time. Great write up. Glad you were there and now you are going to have to keep the streak going.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I am surprised there is no love for Bazz in there LST. I think that him and Wiggins on the court together is going to be havoc for other teams for a long time. Great write up. Glad you were there and now you are going to have to keep the streak going.

You know I'm a big Shabazz guy, doper. We were high up in the second deck for his first big dunk, and I actually thought he missed it...that's when we decided to move down to seats where we could see better.

He didn't have one of his more efficient offensive games...only 6-15 from the field, although he did have some spectacular moments. But it was his defense tonight that really pleased me. Granted he didn't have the toughest assignment, lined up against Acy most of the night. But you can't deny the effort he brings on the defensive side. He works hard, communicates very well on the court with his teammates ( I told you it was quiet in the arena most of the night), and did an excellent job on help defense. I have seen a big difference in Shabazz on defense this year, and I wonder if Sam Mitchell has something to do with it. I still think his best role is coming off the bench (although I would like to see closer to 20 minutes a night), but his defense has improved so much I have no problem with Flip starting him when we get hit with injuries like tonight. You gotta hand it to Flip...he's not afraid to experiment with his rotations.

[Lipoli390]

Thanks, Long. No need for my own game report. I agree with most everything above but I'll add a few of my own thoughts or observations. I'll start with some word association to describe what I saw from some of our guys tonight:

1. Wiggins' offensive game: "Disappearing act." This is a carry over from his reputation in college. He gets very passive on the offensive end and becomes pretty much a non-entity on the court. A lot of it has to do with his lack of skills. His ballhandling is really bad - even worse than I anticipated coming out of college. He's not much of a passer or rebounder either. But he could at least get after it the way Shabazz does. I'm really disappointed in what I've seen from him so far on the offensive end. However, while concerned, I'm not alarmed yet. He's a 19 year old rookie with less than a month of NBA play under his belt. I'll be watching his development closely over the course of the season.

2. Shabazz: "Tough competitor". Tonight we saw why Flip has been so high on Shabazz. The guy displayed a Corey Brewer like effort tonight. He also showed a quickness and explosiveness I wasn't sure he had in him. His summer conditioning has certainly paid dividends. I also liked how mature and aware he was on the court tonight. All of this translated into an impressive stat line that included 17 points, 8 rebounds and a block in 32 minutes. I also like that he got to the line 6 times and hit on 5 of them.

3. Corey Brewer: "Inspiring." Another night of off-the-charts effort and competitiveness from Corey. And tonight he had the production to go with it, accumulating 14 points on 60% shooting and 6 steals. What I really like is that his steals came within the framework of the team defense. Corey's energy, effort and competitive fire were infectious.. I didn't post in the Brewer trade thread. But I'll weigh in now by saying that tonight's game was a prime example of why the Wolves should stick with Corey. He's just the kind of teammate we want around these young guys as they develop over the next couple years. He is key to developing the right culture on this team. And his play can sometimes result in wins we wouldn't get without him.

4. Kevin Martin: "Unstoppable". Honestly, Kevin couldn't be stopped tonight. 37 points on 14-20 FG shooting. What more can you say. I'll just add that I was really impressed with his energy level and aggressiveness. He was very engaged tonight -- even on the defensive end. And he showed some surprising verbal leadership -- several times barking orders at Zach LaVine. Great game from Martin tonight.

5. LaVine: "Deer in headlights". This guy has a long long way to go. Part of the problem for him is the situation he's in having to play the point. His excellent preseason shooting form and swagger have deserted him. Hopefully he'll eventually find his game, but I think he needs Ricky more than anyone else on the team. I suspect that Zach's game won't start to gel until he's playing SG along side Ricky.

Mo finally had a good game. Dieng played well with 8 points 7 boards and 5 steals. But I was especially impressed with his 4 assists. He sees the floor well and is a really nice passer. I loved his Duncan-like jumper offthe backboard in the 4th quarter. I also want to make sure Bennett's game isn't overlooked. 6 points, 3 boards and a steal in only 14 minutes is impressive. He showed nice poise and displayed some of the explosiveness he gained through his off-season conditioning program. I loved his put-back dunk in the 4th. Honestly, this guy could turn out to be very good.

I know it was the Knicks. And I know this team will struggle to win more than 20 games if Ricky is out for a long stretch or fails to come back fully healthy. But there are some definite positives worth watching on this team. Shabazz, Bennett, and Wiggîns (defensive end) show real promise. Meanwhile Brewer and Martin seem to be flourishing in Flip's system and can give some much needed support to the young core. Dieng is starting to pick up where he left off late last season in his development.

[bleedspeed]

Pulling for Shabazz. So can Shabazz and Wiggins play together as SG/SF?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Lip. thanks for the first hand addendum to my report. Two comments you made really stood out for me:

Shabazz: You mentioned the words mature and aware, and I couldn't agree more. And I will also point out that these are adjectives not often associated with Bazz. His work ethic, vertical explosiveness and quick release on his patented move are givens, but up until last night he also brought a level of frustration to Wolves' fans...a thought that he could be so much better if he could just learn some basics of basketball. I'm not naïve enough to think a switch went on last night with Bazz, and now he gets it. But he certainly looked like a different player last night, and especially on defense. Not once did I wince when I saw Muhammad completely out of position, and not once did I see him madly charging out at his man only to have him drive by him. Instead, he was generally right where he should be, and he was also very vocal on defense...yelling instructions at teammates (you can tell Shabazz is one of our loudest players on a quiet night like last night :) ) and even pointing when he thought someone was out of position. Really promising to see. And on offense, even though he wasn't efficient as usual and still doesn't make the productive pass very often, he did seem to play more within the offensive flow rather than constantly being a ball stopper. And what more can you say about how quickly he gets up in the air? There is a still photo out there of one of his dunks, and his extended left arm is two feet above anyone else, and some of the defenders are just starting their jump...extraordinary lift, and he was able to exhibit it on 3-4 occasions last night.

Brewer: As I mentioned before, I thought Corey had his best game of the year, in an early season filled with good games. I like your comment that his 6 steals came within the framework of the defense...so true. His steal attempts (and there were 4 or 5 more that he was close to stealing) were much more controlled than usual. It's easier to see this on the almost steals rather than the actual steals, because those are the ones that so often leave Corey out of position and the defense vulnerable. Last night, he chose his moments wisely, and his steal attempts only cost us one time that I can remember.

There were several factors that might have contributed to our excellent defensive effort last night. Sure, Amare was able to back down whomever was guarding him at will, but keep in mind that our two tallest players last night not born in Senegal were Corey and Robbie, so that was to be expected...other than that our defensive effort was extraordinary. the first factor is that the Knicks PGs are terrible and were unable all night to beat either Mo or Zach. That's what we miss most with Ricky out, solid PG defense, and we haven't demonstrated any competency in stopping an offense once the PG breaks us down. But I also want to believe that perhaps Flip and Sam were able to convey something to the young Wolves during the three practice days that convinced them to play better team defense. I guess we will find out Friday night, because Tony Parker will be able to beat our PGs off the dribble...it will be interesting to see how we respond as a team when that inevitably happens.

[Jester1534]

I was at the game LST the gal surprise me with tickets right behind the wolves bench. My take away was that Deing post defense on Amare was fabulous in the second half.

2. Bennett needs to play above the rim he's so much more atheltic in person, I was very angry when he post up a are in the second half and Immideatly went into a fall away jumper.

3. When wiggins slows down the mental game he's deadly but sometimes the wheels are just turning way to much and he gets out of control. He also went toe to toe scoring with melo for about 5 mins in the second quarter and was even talking trash to melo after he hit his step back 2 on him.

4. I know Shabazz was 6-15 but I'm pretty sure he missed his last 3-4 shots in garbage time and thought he played his best all around game I'm ever seen him play.

5. It was nice to see bud come off the bench and drain a 3 right away

6. Kevin Martin had the quietest 37 point game you could ever have and I was disappointed that flip didn't leave him out there for one more three to get to 40

7. The girls halftime shot where she baseball threw in from the 3pt line and banked it in was hilarious and then I though that poor army guy who didn't even make a three is gonna get so much crap from his buddies.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Good comments, jester, and thanks for adding the bit about Wiggins' trash taking Melo. I gotta admit I liked it...would like to see more of that from Drew. I'm not sure, but it also looked like he got the veteran eye roll back from Melo! And I agree that Dieng had more success on Amare than our other defenders. I don't recall if Fish ever had Dalembert, Amare and Melo on the court at the same time, but that would have been a very difficult lineup for our short roster to defend last night.

I just watched Zgoda's wrap up video, and he added something that made Corey's performance last night even more amazing. I didn't notice this, but apparently Corey had to go to the locker room a couple times during the game to take care of some "issues" relating to his food poisoning! Just amazing that he and Martin were able to play like that did after what they went through the previous 24 hours.

[Carlos Danger]

It all started with better PG play. Mo was pretty good last night. LaVine has been awful. You can tell by some of the quotes from guys like Martin. I don't think they should be starting LaVine at PG. I'm fine with him getting some minutes there against the reserves. If Rubio is going to be out for more than a month, IMO they have to go get another PG. Losing and playing poorly doesn't help anyone's development. There's talent on this team. They just need a few guys who can be the glue to hold things together until the young guys get comfortable. Then look out!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

It all started with better PG play. Mo was pretty good last night. LaVine has been awful. You can tell by some of the quotes from guys like Martin. I don't think they should be starting LaVine at PG. I'm fine with him getting some minutes there against the reserves. If Rubio is going to be out for more than a month, IMO they have to go get another PG. Losing and playing poorly doesn't help anyone's development. There's talent on this team. They just need a few guys who can be the glue to hold things together until the young guys get comfortable. Then look out!

Yeah, I agree with you that Mo should start. I was on the "Start Zach" bandwagon after Ricky went down, because I didn't think we were going to win many games either way...but Zach is not really ready for NBA minutes. Mo will have his share of bad games, but he will also have games like this occasionally, and he gives us at least a chance to win (unlike Zach). Flip is creative in his lineups and rotations though, and he really wants to keep Mo at a ceiling if 25 minutes, so I think we will still see Zach spot starting now and then...it's the only way to limit Mo's time on the court and keep him fresh.

I guess I'm still not on board with the need to go out and get another PG now, especially if it means giving up Corey. Playing Zach likely costs us 5 wins in Ricky's absence, but we aren't going anywhere this year anyway, and five more wins is not a good enough reason to give up Corey, or even Robinson.

BTW, Zgoda says Ricky will talk about his injury today after practice. I don't expect to hear much, because apparently the swelling still hasn't come down enough to allow an MRI. Unfortunately, he seems to be at least a week behind what we thought the timetable was at the time of the injury, and I think we still have several weeks to go. I've been saying early January for awhile now, and I haven't seen or heard anything to change my mind. But if we want to hope for good news, here is what we would love to hear him say today: He had an MRI this morning, and it showed no high ankle sprain and only minor ligament damage. He'll be in a boot for another 10 days, and then begin working out, with a targeted return date of Dec 10-15. Dreaming though, I'm afraid.