Game Report - Wolves v. Jazz

[Lipoli390]

It's a day late, but here it is. I got home too late last night to prepare what will be my final report this season. Just as well since the delay has stripped some of the emotion from my reaction and given me time to put last night's game into better perspective.

So with time to cool down and some added perspective, my bottom line take on last night's game is this: It was a fitting end to an extremely disappointing season -- fitting because it highlighted nearly all of this team's fundamental flaws: So here's the good, bad and ugly from last night's game. I'm starting with the ugly aspects that also reflect season-long patterns that make our roster seriously flawed:

THE BAD AND UGLY ROSTER FLAWS:

1. Losing close games at home against teams with worse recocrds.

2. Starting games flat with little effort or energy..

3. Failure to defend at anything approaching a consistently effective level

4. Lack of player other than Ricky who can create his own shot effectively going to the hole and Ricky ability in this regard is not elite.

5. Our best player and one star, Kevin Love, can't be counted on to give a consistently high level of effort defensively and can't be expected to come through in the clutch on the offensive end either. His play last night was embarrassing. Love has shown little interest in defending on many occasions this season, but last night he showed NO interest - none! You would never see an effort like that from any other players worthy of being considered stars -- not Kobe, not MJ, not Magic, not Larry, not LeBron, not Dwayne Wade, not Tim Duncan, not Karl Malone, not Dirk, -- the list goes on. On the offensive end, I can understand his horrific perimeter shooting. That happens. But last night was yet another example of why it is problematic to rely on an immobile PF who can't create off the dribble like Love as your go-to scorer in crunch time. Don't get me wrong. Love is a great player, but he needs to be surrounded by defenders, athletes and guys who can create off the dribble. Even then, his coach has to demand that he at least put in some effort on the defensive end. At one point when Love simply declined to get back on defense, the guy behind me shouted "at least try to get back, Kevin!" Surprisingly, Love looked up in our direction and gave a disgusted look and what looked like a sarcastic thumps up sign. it was odd.

5. Our starting PG continues to struggle shooting from the perimeter. The good news is that he continues to finish much better at the rim since the all-star break. And I continue to see him developing a relatively consistent 3-point set shot. He really needs to develop that set shot while continuing to finish well at the rim.

6. I love Corey Brewer's effort and production at crucial times, but last night reminded us that even though defense is his forte, he's not a lock down defender and he remains a terrible perimeter shooter.

7. Kevin Martin shot the ball really well last night, but he just can't defend. He just really bad on the defensive end, but that's not exactly a groundbreaking revelation.

8. Dieng has played really well lately and I continue to love his potential. But last night's game was a reminder that he's a long way from being able to effectively guard the strong centers in the League. Nor was he effective last night against a comparably long opposing center -- Gobert.

9. We have no credible NBA quality bench. JJ can't be counted on to anchor a second unit as its PG. Shved should be heading back to Russia sometime soon. Dante's shooting is erratic and he doesn't appear to offer much else in any other category of play. Luc is one of the worst offensive players I've ever seen.

10. We have too many players who don't care. It was the Wes Johnson era all over again last night with guys laughing a joking on the bench throughout the 1st quarter until Adelman apparently got pissed and
called all the laughing joyful players into a huddle on a timeout he called after we had fallen behind by over. But many of them eventually reverted to their Wes Johnson ways later in the game. I'll call out the
players I'm talking about -- players who have been displaying this kind of behavior throughout the whole season or at least the second half: Budinger, Barea, Pekovic, Luc, Shved and Turiaf. Those five players repeatedly, while on the bench, show an amazing degree of joyful indifference to the team's performance and fate of their own teammates. It's not unusual to see Love, Brewer and Martin join in these joyful antics on the bench. It's disgusting and shows a stunning lack of competitive desire on this roster. The roster players who never engage in this sort of conduct are Rubio and Dieng. Those are the guys I want to build around along with Love (because of his talent/production) and Brewer because of his on-court effort.

THE GOOD

1. Martin's shooting -- it comes and goes, but last night it was here. Too bad he can't play defense.

2. Robbie Hummel -- Seems to finally be finding his shot. And his rebounding last night was terrific

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks for the last report of the year, lip...hopefully next year's reports will include more wins.

I wasn't able to watch the game last night because League Pass left it off their schedule, but it looks like I didn't miss much. Very disappointing that Love decided not to play defense. I'm so conflicted about him. His offensive and rebounding skills are unquestionably elite and his numbers are off the chart. But his character concerns me. You're right...real NBA stars, at least the ones that win, don't choose to ignore the defensive side of the game. Love is still young so I am hopeful that he will change, but he seems to lack the maturity that real stars have.

One area where you and I disagree is Alexey Shved. All season I wanted him to get the backup minutes at PG to see if he could show the flair he showed in the Olympics. But Adelman preferred to play the short SG (Barea) there instead. I wasn't happy to see the game wasn't televised in my market, because I knew Adelman would have to play Alexey with JJ out. And at least according to the boxscore, he responded. 11 points, 3 assists and only 1 turnover in 18 minutes are exactly the kind of stats I was looking for all year from Ricky's backup. Did he look as good as his stats last night?

[whatdtcom [enjin:6685945]]

Hey Lip. You nailed pretty much everything that you can observe.

I've been quoted in the StarTrib as saying Love was NOT a franchise player. And last night was a good illustration. Franchise player, and let's not get "good" players with good numbers as "franchise" guy; simply don't take days off! Franchise guys literally turn the organization around and carry them. And IMHO, there's only a handful of them in this league---Lebron, Durant, Kobe, Chris Paul and perhaps a few more, but they are players that can carry a team when all else fails. Even with a relatively injury free year, Love couldn't get us pass the hump (into the playoffs). Garnett had ZERO people around him for pretty much most of his time here and yet----we were un-satisfied with---what was it 7 consecutive first rounds exits? I recall Garnett guarding the PG in some of those heated games----slapping his hands on the floor. Can we really envision Love doing this?

But what was more telling then the thumbs up that Love gave after that "effort" was how stoic he was during the jumbo tron montage with him and Pek at the beginning of the 2nd qt. For the people that didn't get a chance to go to the game---it basically a video of how Love and Pek are good friends and every Feb they get seperated because of the All Star game (Love goes, Pek stays). The video basically insinuated that Love should re-sign beyond the 2014 season so that they can be together. All Love had to do was pump his fist or give some sort of positive gesture---perhaps at re-signing---instead, he just stared right down at the ground.

I wish Sterns was still in office, cause the Lakers would probably would win one of the first three spots. Without a doubt, I take that pick and do a S/T for Gasol.

[60WinTim]

I agree 100% that Love's defensive effort is generally lacking. However, I swear he contested a number of shots last night where he normally doesn't even get a hand up. But his effort getting back on defense when something doesn't go his way, or his effort contesting shots in the paint were still lacking.

A defensive-minded coach would do more for this team than anything else. But as you pointed out, Lip, running a close second would be a guard who can create shots for himself and others.

[bleedspeed]

I just got done watching 30 for 30 last night on the bad boys. I would like to see this team built more like that team. So how does Shabazz act? He doesn't seem like the happy to be there type? I got the same feeling with OJ Mayo. If we hire Hollins I would love his opinion on Mayo.

[Nollr37 [enjin:8570524]]

Lip,

Yes I went with a buddy to the last game, kind of a tradition we're making and it was evident from even the start that they just wanted to end the season which as you said was a fitting end to a disappointing season. The lineups didn't make sense or nothing all night long and falling behind in the first quarter by so much was the immediate dagger to the rest of the night. Even putting the game into double OT was excrutiating for the fans to make them think they were going to come away with the win. On to next year.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Sorry it was such a down season for you Lip and sorry you had to watch them crash and burn one last time against an inferior team.

This was a maddening year, because it felt like we had the talent to do better. As the season wore on, we actually did start winning our fair share of close games. I think what ended up killing us were those home losses you referred to Lip. The losses to Denver, Sacramento, Toronto, New York, Dallas, and Phoenix at home were the absolute killers to me. I can accept some flat road performances, especially on the second night of a back-to-back. But the Wolves came out flat in a number of very winnable home games.

As for Love's defense, I've said this a thousand times before: If Zach Randolph and Carlos Boozer can be starters on elite defensive teams, so can Kevin Love. He is an excellent defensive rebounder and good positional defender, but he will never be an elite two-way player like LeBron James. It's up to the front office to address this, but make no mistake about it, we are by far an inferior team when he's not on the floor.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I just got done watching 30 for 30 last night on the bad boys. I would like to see this team built more like that team. So how does Shabazz act? He doesn't seem like the happy to be there type? I got the same feeling with OJ Mayo. If we hire Hollins I would love his opinion on Mayo.

Where are the Bad Boys now?

Dumars and Isaiah - bad GM's
Laimbeer-still coaching women?
Mahorn and Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson- unknown
Rodman- North Korea

Did the special cover this?

[Lipoli390]

Sorry it was such a down season for you Lip and sorry you had to watch them crash and burn one last time against an inferior team.

This was a maddening year, because it felt like we had the talent to do better. As the season wore on, we actually did start winning our fair share of close games. I think what ended up killing us were those home losses you referred to Lip. The losses to Denver, Sacramento, Toronto, New York, Dallas, and Phoenix at home were the absolute killers to me. I can accept some flat road performances, especially on the second night of a back-to-back. But the Wolves came out flat in a number of very winnable home games.

As for Love's defense, I've said this a thousand times before: If Zach Randolph and Carlos Boozer can be starters on elite defensive teams, so can Kevin Love. He is an excellent defensive rebounder and good positional defender, but he will never be an elite two-way player like LeBron James. It's up to the front office to address this, but make no mistake about it, we are by far an inferior team when he's not on the floor.

Q -- I agree with you completely that Love can be a starter on a very good defensive team. But as you suggested, he needs to be surrounded by the right mix of players -- guards/wings who can stay in front of their man and a center who can defend the rim. Love will also never be a go-to scorer in crunch time because of his ballhandling and mobility inadequacies. But again, it's a matter of getting the right guys around him. Having both a SF and SG who can't create thei own shot consistently off the dribble just won't work with Love.

One additional concern about Love's defense is his all too frequent lack of effort. It's not just his failure to get back defensively. It's his frequent failure to contest shots - failing to even bother to put his arms up. That has to change and the question is whether it will under a different head coach.

[worldK]

Thanks lip for your game reports. A pleasure to read your live game observations as usual.

Hope we could read them more often next season.