Two Positives:

Jonah: Ya know, you can criticize him all you want but Greg Stiemsma is still a solid baller when he actually shows up with a clear mind and focused on the game. Most times he seems two steps behind everyone and, in classic Midwestern form, just seems to get irritated after a while and throws his hands up into the air for mercy. But when things are clicking, such as going 6-7 form the field tonight, he resembles that of a more-than-capable backup center and one that warrants his contract from last season. I like that.

Tom: It was touch and go throughout the first half. Minnesota jumped out to a big lead that stretched to 20 at one point in the third quarter. Fortunately James Harden and the Rockets were able to stop Minnesota in their tracks and shut down the high-powered Wolves that were threatening to put even more distance between themselves and other bottom-feeders like the Bobcats and the Magic. A 69-43 second half was more than enough to take care of matters. Solid, solid work overall by Minnesota in terms of late-game lack of execution.

Two Negatives:

Jonah: Now, some might wonder why the title is named “Linsanity Pt. Duex” because of how big of a game James “The Beard” Harden had. Thing is, I expected Harden to go off. Who’s going to guard him? Luke Ridnour? Alexey Shved? I’m pretty positive that The Beard could bench press those two in one sitting. It was bound to be a huge night from him, so that’s why I’m disappointed that the Wolves couldn’t shut down Jeremy Lin, especially with Ricky Rubio parked on him for much of the night. Last time these two teams met, Lin scored just 12 points on a putrid 3-12 shooting. In this one, Lin exploded 24 on 8-15 shooting, including three treys.

Tom: If the Wolves want to keep losing games, they can’t afford mental mistakes like taking a big lead into the second half. Sure, the Rockets are the kind of team that can make a big run to make up the deficit, but what if Minnesota had been playing the Kings? Or the Hornets? Or even a low-scoring playoff team like the Bulls? It’s a matter of accountability, and we just hate to see a team like the Wolves failing to take accountability for nearly winning a game.

Two Observations:

Jonah: Under Kevin McHale’s tutelage, Donatas Motiejunas, or D-Mo, could become my favorite player to watch outside of the Wolves. That’s not an understatement neither. D-Mo is legit 7-feet and can shoot from deep or grind with you under the hoop. He’s got a lot of Dirk Nowitzki in him, and we all know all Dirk’s career has only gotten better playing into his 30′s (Until this season).

Tom: Two of the culprits of tonight’s near-miss: JJ Barea, who scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting, and Derek Williams, who dropped 19 as well on 7-14 shooting. This kind of efficiency can’t be tolerated.

Next up: Wolves come back home yet again for a one-game stand against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night, 6 pm.

Two Positives:

Jonah: Despite falling behind 10-0 in the opening minutes, the Wolves actually battled and kept things close through the entire game until the end of the third quarter. The competitiveness was due in large part to another great game from Ricky Rubio. Following up his first career — and certainly not last — triple double, Rubio dropped 21 points and dished out 10 assists. The ever-improving Spaniard even tallied two 3-pointers tonight, which is always a good sign, considering his well documented struggles from distance. Even more impressive was how aggressive he was that led to eight free throw attempts. These kinds of games can no longer come at a premium, though, if the Wolves want to continue to win; they need to become nearly constant.

Derek: Matchups. The Timberwolves did a lot of things in their favor tonight, and still got blown out. Turnovers and points off of them were even, made their free throws and there wasn’t too much disparity in fast break points either. If only it weren’t for…(see my negative below)

Two Negatives:

Jonah: The old Alexey Shved showed up tonight to the Timberwolves’ demise. Last night, against the Spurs, Shved poured in an efficient 16 points. Tonight, instead, he botched open attempts on his way to a 2-8 — 1-4 from deep — shooting night, finishing with just five points in 28 minutes of floor time. There’s no doubting he’s hit the dreaded “rookie wall” but it’s nice when he can overcome it for a night at the very least. Better luck on Friday, I hope.

Derek: Hey! Greg Stiemsma played 35 minutes without fouling out of a game. But he still had 5 fouls. That would’ve been okay since– oh, Chris Johnson also had five, and the Wolves were missing three frontcourt players already. It’s understandable that the Pacers were going to throw a tough frontcourt at the Timberwolves’ depleted front, but they got beat in points in the paint (52-24) and on the glass (49-36) as well.

Two Observations:

Jonah: It’s a shame that he picked up four fouls in just seven minutes of work but on the offensive end, Chris Johnson finished converting all three of his attempts from the field. But outmatched in pure strength down low by Roy Hibbert, Johnson had a tough time getting what he wanted out of Hibbert. It was kind of a lost hope.

Derek: A pretty nondescript night for Derrick Williams, which I couldn’t decide if it was a negative since he didn’t do enough to stand out, or a positive since he didn’t really do anything to hurt the team either. He was sorta just…there.

Next up: Wolves play the Rockets on friday night, 7 pm.

Two Positives:

Jonah: Well, this sure came out of left field. Ricky Rubio’s first career triple double isn’t what I’m talking about either. How about the day that I write about the Wolves on the brink of getting Chase Budinger back from injury and noting how bad they’ve been at 3-point shooting this year — it’s historically bad — the Wolves go 12-20 from deep. It’s their second most makes from 3-point land this season and comes on a good night against a truly formidable foe in the Spurs. Really impressive to see what this team can look like when shots actually fall. We swear we’re really not that bad!

Tom: The above being said, Ricky Rubio’s first career triple double counts as a pretty major positive as well. Scoring double-figures in points isn’t uncommon at all for someone who handles the ball as much as an NBA point guard, so for Rubio, who is a decent rebounder and an assist machine, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this is the first of many.

Negatives:

Jonah: Dante Cunningham was forced to chuck up mid-range jumpers again tonight and paid the price only hitting 4-11. It’s so chillingly painful to watch him heave jump shots anymore. Literally makes me sick to my stomach knowing that that’s one of the only plays the Wolves have to run with such a depleted talent pool. Still, I’d like to see Cunningham develop some type of pump fake so he can take one hard dribble out of that 18-footer and step into a 15-footer instead.

Tom: Correct me if I’m wrong, but in a rare Wolves win, the “Negatives” section is where I can safely be a party pooper without getting yelled at, right? Because, while the Spurs are a very, very good team and certainly a championship contender, that particular incarnation of the Spurs isn’t really either of those things. Without Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan, the Spurs are a very mediocre team, and when Manu Ginobili plays just 22 minutes (and has a rare 2-10 performance), it’s even stranger. The Wolves played well, but the final score might be a bit deceiving.

Two Observations

Jonah: Now it’s one thing to say you tallied a win over the Spurs with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard in the lineup and then another to beat them without those three. The Wolves certainly beat up on the Spurs tonight but who’s to say they’re any better than a D-1 college basketball team with that current roster?

Tom: OK CHRIS JOHNSON, WE SEE YOU.

Next up: Wolves pack up and go to Indiana for a game tomorrow night, 7 pm.

My apologies to our readers for not getting this out earlier. Also my apologies for not giving any real sign of positivity for this team moving forward.

Two Positives

Jonah: Alongside Gelabale, Greg Stiemsma has played well in Nikola Pekovic’s absence. He had eight points in Denver and chipped in 10 and eight boards against Dallas. He hasn’t been all that effective this season but at least he can contribute when the Wolves need it the most.

Tom: Mickael Gelabale shot the lights out against Denver, finishing 8-10 from the field and 2-2 from 3-point range for 18 points. He followed that up with a solid 6-10 shooting night against Dallas, although he missed both of his 3-point attempts. Solid scoring numbers for Gelabale. That’s about as positive as I can get.

Two Negatives

Jonah: The losses to Denver and Dallas weren’t surprising to anyone. What makes it worse is seeing guys like Corey Brewer, Ty Lawson and Vince Carter making it all possible. Both Brewer and Lawson have ties to Minnesota in the past — not as much Lawson but I digress. And Carter admitted that it’s hard for him to even dunk anymore, making it that much more painful to lose to such a dinosaur. The Wolves are supposed to be young, spry and energetic. None of those have shown up on the court other than being young and inexperienced.

Tom: I don’t mean to be urinating all over everybody’s parades, but Derrick Williams’ sudden “explosion” has been a very inefficient one. Against Denver and Dallas, Williams was 4-14 (for 13 points) and 7-17 (for 18 points) respectively. I’m NOT saying there’s no reason to celebrate: Williams has certainly shown signs of improvement, and he got to the free throw line 14 times in those two games. It’s also worth noting that the Wolves really don’t need to be worrying about efficiency when they are just trying to put points on the board in any way possible, and perhaps this is as good a way as any of making sure that Williams develops quickly. But let’s temper our enthusiasm just a little bit for the sake of realism. Williams has needed a LOT of shots to put up the scoring totals he has been posting recently.

Two observations

Jonah: The Wolves dropped two over this past weekend and they weren’t even close. That means that in the last five losses for the Wolves, they’ve lost by 15 or more points in each. Ouch.

Tom: The Wolves are a game and a half out of last place in the Western Conference, but they are nearly eight games ahead of far ahead of Eastern Conference competition for worst record in the NBA. Orlando has bottomed out to 18-46 while Charlotte is 13-50 on the season.

Next up: The Wolves take on the San Antonio Spurs at home tonight.

Three Positives:

Jonah: No one on the Timberwolves plays harder than Ricky Rubio. And Rubio may play just as hard and tough as anyone in the league. Given the makeup of the roster and the current locker room nature, his efforts night in and night out are something special to watch. He can shoot under 33-percent all he wants as long as he’s posting double-digit assists (11 tonight) and continues to be a menace on defense (six steals).

Tom: Ahhhh, fine I’ll bite and talk about Chris Johnson (yet again). Johnson only had six points, but he scored all of his baskets in ways that were very replicable for the Wolves. The first was a really nice set that freed Johnson up underneath the basket for an easy dunk (the kind of set Rick Adelman excels at drawing up). The second was a jumper at the end of the shot clock, but the third was a flashy transition dunk off a lob from Ricky Rubio. Nice offensive contributions from Johnson.

Derek: When this team is depleted by injuries as it is, it’s so important they get help from their bench like they did from Dante Cunningham. 11 points on 5-7 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals is exactly what they need off of the bench.

Three Negatives:

Jonah: Just as I praise Rubio for his determination, I sort of lied when I said I don’t care if he shoots under 33-percent on a nightly basis. That’s actually really awful and can’t be swept under the table. His form in itself is starting to look better, and he’s becoming more confident each and every game to let it fly. But there has been less signs of improvement, especially when he loads it up from deep.

Tom: The Wolves got lucky: Washington was almost as bad and even more trigger-happy than Minnesota from 3-point range. Derek will cover this more in the observations, but when Minnesota faces a team that DOESN’T shoot 6-19 from 3-point range, they will find it difficult to win shooting 4-14 themselves.

Derek: Since we’re speaking of players shooting 33%, I have to mention Derrick Williams here. I suppose it’s a good thing that he isn’t volume shooting as twelve shots in thirty-seven minutes isn’t a lot, but 4-12 to get 16 points is not good for a big man (or any player). However, Williams improving his ability to finish isn’t exactly a new revelation.

Three Observations:

Jonah: Martell Webster returned to the Target Center and put on a T-Wolves-like performance, going 4-11 from the field and not really finding his flow within the offense. I’ve always liked Webster and he’s having a good year finally but I still hope things can get even better for the former Timberwolf.

Tom: Seriously, how in the world did Minnesota win this thing? The Wolves averaged just 0.56 points per possession on spot-up attempts (which, for those of you who don’t peruse Synergy regularly, is .30 fewer PPP than the worst offensive team in the NBA averages overall), and spot-up attempts made up 31.1% OF ALL SHOT ATTEMPTS. Unbelievable.

Derek: This really feels like a game the Wizards should not have been in considering they shot 31% from three, were outscored in the paint 42-22 and committed 24 turnovers, but they still managed to lose by just five. The Wolves needed a win having lost six straight, but they dodged a bullet and will have to do better putting away teams when they play as sloppy as the Wizards did tonight. They needed a win after dropping six straight and got it, but this should not have been as close as it was, and I’m sure both teams realize that.

Next up: Wolves go to Denver to take on the Nuggets at 8 pm.

Three Positives:

Jonah: Some will absolutely disagree with me on this, but a team with as little offensive firepower as they do now, someone needs to push the envelope and make something happen. Derrick Williams has been doing that as of late and certainly tried tonight. His 9-22 shooting is by no means sexy nor efficient but it’s aggressive. Other than Williams and perhaps JJ Barea, no one is looking to make their own shot on this team right now and it’s resulted in some really poor offensive outings lately. But if Williams stay determined and aggressive to get his points, well, at least you can make things interesting as they did in this one at multiple points in the game.

Tom: Jonah will certainly get no argument from me that Derrick Williams has been doing much better of late, despite somewhat inefficient shooting lines. One of the most positive things we’ve seen from him has been his frequent forays into the paint. An aggressive Williams doesn’t necessarily score more on his off-nights (we’ve covered Williams’ struggles at the rim before in these recaps), but it WILL send him to the free throw line more as officials adjust to his newfound aggressiveness. Williams shot chart for the evening was still a little bit more spread out than we would like to see, but he is gradually moving his game in closer to the basket, and the more he does that, the less I will mind seeing him firing up mid-range jumpers.

Derek: We’ve seen it at times this season where Ricky Rubio’s shooting form looks much improved, but the shot just doesn’t fall. Well, tonight it did, and while it may not be wise to say that 6-11 is sustainable, we can hope that it’s indicative of progress in the least.

Three Negatives:

Jonah: Referees don’t win or lose games for you but they can certainly swing momentum, which then affects the final result. The flagrant two foul called on Barea for sumo-chesting Ray Allen to the floor was pretty ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was that the refs offered Rick Adelman little-to-no explanation for the switch in foul call and his subsequent ejection. It’s irritating to see how refs can drastically influence a game like that, and certainly in such a negative way. There’s no denying that the Wolves’ offense and poor shooting is why they officially lost but you just never hope to see officiating like that ever again.

Tom: The Timberwolves were 5-20 from 3-point range tonight. Ricky Rubio was hands down the best 3-point shooter on the floor. I leave you to draw your own conclusions about the way this game ended up.

Derek: The Heat did their best Timberwolves impression shooting 23.8% from three and still won by 16. Of course, they made their free throws at a better rate than the Wolves, so that helped.

Three Observations:

Jonah: Luke Ridnour was -23 on the court tonight. He couldn’t shoot and he certainly couldn’t defend. If the team ever wants contend, Adelman will need to be much more creative against bigger, stronger teams like the Heat. With nine players healthy, he doesn’t have much of a choice but for future reference, Ridnour should never be covering Dwyane Wade in crunch time.

Tom: LeBron, by his standards, had an off night, shooting 9-16 from the floor for 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. More importantly: He was 1-4 from 3-point range and dished out just four assists. MORE LIKE LEBUM JAMES, AMIRITE GUYS?!

Derek: I can only imagine how loud the “FREE CHRIS JOHNSON” chants were as he entered the game tonight. However, six minutes later those same fans were probably thinking “HERE’S CHRIS JOHNSON…FOR FREE!” after watching him commit two fouls, and go 1-3 from the floor in such a short amount of court time.

Next up: The Washington Wizards come to town on Wednesday night, 7 pm.

Two Positives:

Jonah: I tweeted the other day the amount of possessions Ricky Rubio has stolen away from the opposition in the matter of six games. He only managed one last night but his stat stuffing ways never declined. And despite another poor-to-mediocre shooting night, he still managed to fall just short of a 13/13/8 triple double. It would’ve been the first of his career. There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll get it soon but I guess it was the only mini victory worth cheering for in the wake of that travesty.

Tom: Of all of the streaky, undersized potential game-changers in the NBA, JJ Barea is perhaps the least predictable. There is absolutely no way to know whether good Barea (8-14 from the field, 20 points) or bad Barea (7-17 for 16 points against Phoenix) is going to show up on any given night. Sometimes when good Barea shows up, it’s enough of a spark to push Minnesota passed a better team. That wasn’t the case against the Lakers in part because Barea, along with the rest of Minnesota’s perimeter defenders, allowed the Lakers to drop in 16 3-pointers. But…he scored a bunch, I guess? So yay?

Two Negatives:

Jonah: Before and after Nikola Pekovic left the game, the Lakers attacked the paint. The Wolves have never been a great interior defending team due to sloth-like slow rotations. There was one play where Derrick Williams got beat off the dribble baseline by Kobe Bryant and Pekovic suffered the wrath of a poor, mistimed bailout with a tremendous dunk. It was a simple play that made Kobe look like God — as he did most of the game — that never should’ve happened if the Wolves’ interior help defense was just one step ahead like it usually should be. A great coach once told me, “Defense is not about reaction. It’s about anticipation.”

Tom: Watching the game with some friends, I pointed out as the game was coming to a merciful end that Minnesota couldn’t even put in their scrubs because all of their scrubs are starters at this point. The injury train has gone completely off the rails for the Wolves, as Nikola Pekovic left the game after nine minutes with an abdominal strain. There doesn’t seem to be an update just yet as to whether or not Pek will play in Portland on Saturday.

Two Observations:

Jonah: Due to Andrei Kirilenko’s injury, the starting lineup was all out of sorts the entire game. The Lakers made that message clear in the first half with 57 points, and the Wolves never really had a chance to get back in it with such wide margins. The matchup the I chuckled at was seeing Williams try to stick with Kobe all game. Again, it’s not his fault he was stuck with the improbable task of guarding one of the league’s best offensive weapons but it happened. Williams only managed to get hands in Kobe’s face when he was being “lazy” and settling for step-backs. But when Kobe would attack Williams, slow feet, lumbering body and all, it was no contest.

As the title suggests, this is the 21st straight loss to the hands of the dreaded Lakers. Let history be our judge, but do the Wolves really deserve this kind of streak? It’s bad enough that the team that started professional basketball in the Twin Cities, that saw great success, moved to L.A. in the first place, but now we suffer through painful defeats on the reg. The Lakers will always be the enemy, folks. Never forget that.

Tom: The Lakers scored 48 points from 3-point range and 42 points in the lane. That adds up to a total of 90 points. When you add LA’s 12 made free throws, you get 102. What does this mean? The Lakers didn’t need to take a single shot deemed “inefficient” to beat Minnesota.

Next up: The Wolves end their road trip with a game against Portland, Saturday night at 9 pm.

Three Positives:

Jonah: You can take this game two ways, 1) You’re lucky to miss out on what may have been the worst NBA game all season; and 2) You missed one of the most gut-wrenching yet wildly entertaining games the Wolves have played all season. Comcast did us all a favor and failed to telecast the game to the public in Minneapolis. And the Wolves did one hell of a job coming back in a game they had no business remaining in. How this is a positive, don’t ask me. I guess I just have nothing better to go with after witnessing my Gophers knock off #1 Indiana tonight as well. Talk about a roller coaster of basketball emotions.

Tom: Derrick Williams was solid once again, despite missing an absurd amount of free throws and a few layups that he really needed to be able to finish. Williams really seems to struggle when he tries to finish near the basket, which is unfortunate because he has surprisingly good handles and a ton of athleticism. Once he gets to the hoop, he often seems off-balance.

That may have sounded a little bit too negative for a “positive” post, but frankly, that game sucked.

Derek: This isn’t hyperbole when I say this, but coming away from this game with one positive is pretty tough to do. I can’t even say, “At least nobody got hurt!” because Andrei Kirilenko strained his calf ten minutes into this atrocity, and never returned. What am I supposed to say– at least they didn’t quit? Not saying that they should have packed it in when they were down by eighteen, but this Suns team is terrible, and attempting to play up the moral victory angle just feels like I would be commending an AAU team for playing hard and having fun. The Timberwolves are a better team top-to-bottom, but clearly they did not play like it tonight. As a team they’re mostly healthy aside from Kevin Love and Chase Budinger, both of whom they were without (in addition to Ricky Rubio) early in the season when they were able to scrap to a .500 record.

Believe me, I’ve understood the injury situation all season long and tempered my expectations accordingly, and have continued to do so. Regardless of the circumstances, we’ve seen better, so we should expect better.  That’s a fair way to view their situation since we’re basing that off of what we’ve already seen in nearly identical circumstances (Well, nearly except for Rubio is back, which almost makes last night more aggravating.) That is unless you mean to tell me that the absences of minimal impact players like Brandon Roy and Malcolm Lee have negated the return of a player of Rubio’s caliber. Remember how the Timberwolves came out against the Warriors — a much better team —  on Sunday three days ago? They scored 32 points en route to a fourteen point lead after the first before letting it slip away, so we know they can come out with energy, and while that’s not always easy to do on the road, not scoring over twenty points in a quarter until the 4th is unacceptable. Heck, they scored just one more point tonight in entire the first half (33) than they did in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

I guess it’s a positive that they only lost by one instead of eighteen. This may be just one game, but slightly concerning after how they gave Sunday’s game away, and hope they put this one behind them and move past this in time for, ugh, the Lakers on Thursday night.

Three Negatives:

Jonah: As per the post title:

Tom: This really shouldn’t be something that needs to be said: Minnesota absolutely cannot force Ricky Rubio to try to create his own shot at the end of the fourth quarter with the game tied. Even a JJ Barea iso would be preferable (at least Barea has irrational amounts of confidence). If you want the ball in Rubio’s hands to begin the play, that’s fine, but the Wolves need to run a set so that he isn’t utterly handcuffed and forced into a shot that every single person (including his defender) knows isn’t going in. To recap: Rubio dribbled the ball up the floor slowly, and his teammates spread the floor (WHY DEAR GOD WHY?!!) besides Pek, who came up to set a screen for a pick-and-roll. Rubio dribbled to his right and hoisted up a jumper. In his SLIGHT defense, he may have thought that Pek would be able to get a rebound/tip-in to win the game if the ball came off the rim right, which is plausible…except the ball missed the rim entirely. Just awful late-game playcalling.

Derek: With so many worthy candidates of mention here, I’m going to go with the turnover battle. The Timberwolves may have committed just 16 turnovers to the Suns’ 20, but Phoenix was able to negate the disparity by outscoring Minnesota 25-11 in points off of turnovers. Yeah, they shot poorly from the field, beyond the arc, and the foul line, but they could have still gotten away with all of that if they managed to not allow the Suns to maximize their extra possessions (turnovers). Trust me, I’m no math major but even I know that having less than a fourteen point difference in PoTO could have made a difference in a one point game.

Three Observations:

Jonah: This is my next visual simulation of how this game can be summed up; Shved’s attempt gets caught in the rim at the most inopportune moment:

Tom: The Suns shot 5-13 from the free throw line and still managed to beat the Wolves. I have nothing more to say on the matter.

Derek: Wes Johnson’s 14-9-3-2 in 36 minutes tonight against the team that drafted him was such a troll move, even on 6-16 shooting. This is even more Trolltastic than Mike Beasley having 4 points and 4 assists in 13 minutes.

Also: let us never speak of this game again.

Next up: The Timberwolves travel to Los Angeles to play the Lakers Thursday night on TNT.

Two Positives:

Jonah: Great players command great attention and also deliver when it means the most. Ricky Rubio did just that by utilizing his leadership to take this game over and create those magical runs that kept the Wolves in this one. The fourth quarter was essentially Rubio vs Jarret Jack, and Ricky certainly held his own. He doesn’t do it by outscoring you, rather out-hustling and forcing your hand on defense. There were moments he screwed up — he missed his only free throw in a close game late in the fourth and gambled by going for a steal instead of fighting through a screen to cover an open Stephen Curry, who hits a long two that took the lead. But there’s no denying his heart and passion to help this team win a game.

Derek: Who else would I talk about here but Derrick “The Mailman 2.0″ Williams? Ok, I think I may be jumping the biggest of sharks, but it was great to see him rebound from the OKC game with a 23-13 game. Don’t look at the 15 shots to zero assists ratio, though.

Two Negatives:

Jonah: The Timberwolves aren’t used to leading ballgames, especially late in the fourth quarter. So when a talented team like the Warriors make their push, the Wolves just don’t understand how to hold them off. Their halfcourt offense becomes jumbled and mindless — we saw this as the final minute ticked away when Nikola Pekovic panicked in the post, saw no shot and passed out to Andrei Kirilenko, who subsequently airballs a go-ahead three point attempt. Turnovers start piling up and the score starts to even out when they start playing like this, and it never bodes well in the final result.

Derek: You see a stat like points in the paint and see a team edged another by 26 in a category that’s indicative of being able to score easy points. That was the Timberwolves today. Yet, this was also the Timberwolves today: lost the rebounding advantage, had fewer points off of turnovers, took seven more free throws– do I need to go on? Between the points and the paint and the free throws, they should’ve been able to wear out the Warriors, but the Warriors wound up outpacing the Timberwolves.

Two Observations:

Jonah: After some nice positioning and defense from Luke Ridnour, Jarret Jack forced up a long, step-back two with a one point lead. It rattles out, Wolves secure the ball and pass it off to Ridnour. Now, stop. There’s two options here, A) Allow Ridnour to push the ball and force the transition defense to beat him, or; B) Take a timeout to set up a better look, even with just seven seconds left on the clock. Not to say either option is wrong because they’re not. But I sorta cringe at the thought of allowing Ridnour to be the one to zoom up the court in a desperate fleet to decide the game. I feel like a better option is to set up Rubio for a controlled drive that could at least draw a foul. There will be differing opinions on this but that’s the way I feel.

Derek:  This game was weird. The only kind of weird that can come from Sunday afternoon basketball. If we insist on playing on Sunday, can we have games start after 5pm?

Next up: Wolves head south to take on Phoenix on Tuesday at 8 pm.

Two Positives 

Jonah: Lacking offensive firepower, it’s good to see the Wolves net well over 100 points in a game. And against a fairly stout Oklahoma City defense (Eighth in the league in defensive efficiency). The bench was huge, scoring a combined 59 points on 24-39 shooting. Not too shabby. Any chance at a win runs through solid bench production because the Wolves can’t afford to let any one player shoulder the load, especially when it comes to scoring. So the strong bench play was a positive sign, no doubt.

Tom: Ricky Rubio’s nine assists were good to see. But perhaps more encouraging was his confidence. It’s been a gradual journey back to health for Ricky, and he clearly isn’t quite there yet, but we are starting to see him truly accelerate up the court and show some confidence on his surgically-repaired knee. Getting that confidence back is going to be Rubio’s first step in recapturing last year’s magic, and he seems to be moving in that direction.

Two Negatives

Jonah: I understand that Greg Stiemsma had one hell of a game (13 points on 4-5 shooting, 5-6 from the free throw line and four blocks) but I’m sick of seeing Chris Johnson parked on the bench, especially in blowout games like these that are just an excuse for tryouts.

Tom: After several solid games in a row, Derrick Williams showed a pretty serious regression to the mean. To his credit, after missing both of his early 3-point attempts, he stopped chucking, but he struggled to finish at the rim when he took the ball inside. His final shooting line, 3-14, was less than inspirational. He may have been taken out of the game a little bit by a couple of bad early no-calls by officials, including one on which he was very nearly undercut while in mid-air.

Two Observations

Jonah: There’s a certain drinking game called, “Thunderstruck”. Here’s just a quick preview:

The harshest part is when you get stuck on a “Thunder” in the middle of a verse or the bridge. You’re talking sometimes 20 seconds or more of chugging! The Wolves seemed to be that guy who gets stuck on the longer parts, and it totally sucks. That is my interpretation of last night’s game.

Tom: Kendrick Perkins is the kind of big body that can give Nikola Pekovic an off night. If Pek can’t bull his way to the basket, he struggles in the post. On the other hand, it seems like the best way to get Pekovic on track against a slow-footed opponent like Perkins would be to run some high pick-and-rolls and allow him to take advantage of Pek’s slowness. That didn’t happen much last night.

Next up: