Howlin' T-Wolf

Is a couple games off to reflect all it took for Big Al to give us a throwback game?

Of course a Big Al throwback game comes with pluses and minuses. On the plus side Al did pretty much what he wanted to on the block and finished 15-21 from the field and was the first Wolf to break 30 points this season.

The minus of course was that no one else really had a good game on offense. (Other than Sessions but we’ll get to that.)

The difference in this one was the Mavs zone defense. It frustrated the Wolves who couldn’t shoot over it and also helped force them into 25 turnovers, including 8 from Jonny Flynn. The Wolves actually did well to keep it somewhat close in spite of the 17  turnover difference.

On to the Wolves related notes:

• Miracle of miracles, I saw not one but 2 great passes from Big Al out of the post. Even better was the fact that they were all to Wolves players cutting behind the zone to the hoop. One was to Sessions and the other to Gomes. It was beautiful basketball, I just wish I wouldn’t be so shocked to see it.
• Oh Jonny. What are we going to do with you? Your defense is far from David Kahn’s prediction of first team NBA. Sure you had 4 steals. But I counted at least 4 other “gambles” that left the Wolves with 4 players guarding 5. On offense, how many 3’s do you need to shoot with 18+ seconds left on the shot clock? How many times can you avoid getting the ball right away to Big Al when he’s not being stopped? I really want to be on board with you as the Wolves point guard. I do. But it’s getting harder and harder to stay on board.
• Ramon Sessions was 5-5 from the floor with 2 assists (and 2 turnovers). He only played 18 minutes to Jonny’s 30. His +/- was -7. Jonny’s was 1 better at -6. This is an example of when advanced stats make my head hurt.
• Hey coach can you please play Sasha Pavlovic some more? He’s only, you know, awful. His adjusted +/- on the season is only -12. Last night you played him 21 minutes and the Mavs outscored us by 20 during that time.
• Corey Brewer’s shooting is regressing. Sure he’s hit a 3 in 28 straight games which is remarkable. But he’s not the shooter we saw in January. He’s broken 50% shooting just twice in the last 15 games going back to the start of February.
• I know he couldn’t put the ball in the hoop down low, going 1-7, but only 12 minutes for Senor Amor?
• Ryan Gomes did quietly have a nice game with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists and a 0 +/-.
• Shawn Marion showed once again why the Wolves need an athletic guy like say Rudy Gay or Wesley Johnson to swing from the 3 to the 4. Marion finished with 29 points, 14 boards, 3 steals.

Next up the Wolves host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. Let’s hope they bring the same energy they brought when they snapped that 15 game losing streak way back at the end of November.