Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( B ) -- was our star in the first quarter -- took advantage of no Trenton Hassel, and even after Hassel entered the game was still finding ways to score and efficiently. Was not settling for the three (somehthing he's done a little too much of in the early seasson so far), and I think he was 6 of his first 7 on a variety of shots. But quieted down therafter, and all of the Wolves seemed to keep much better contact with him. Non-factor in the 4th, and hard to tell whether that was his fault, the team's, or the Wolves "D". Got his shot blocked on a simply beautiful interior pass by Webb at the two minute mark. More troublingly, not only continued his non-rebounding, but had a couple of simply embarrassing loose ball situations where he refused to hit the floor to get the ball and the Wolves ended up with it. The word soft is practically a slur but Peja has simply got to give us more hustle. Despite the good shooting early, could almost get a "-" for the other aspects.
Webber ( B ) -- it was a struggle all game long for Webb, but he kept attacking and attacking and got stronger as the game went along. Had an anemic 5pts and 2rebs at half, but by the end of the game he had worked his way into a pretty good game. Not only was providing a lot of our 2nd half offense, but was getting his hands on a lot of balls, creating turnovers, being a pest on defense. Also made a couple of simply beautiful passes, once on an impossible thread-the-needle on the fast break, and once late in the game to Peja for what should have been a layup (got blocked).
Miller ( C+ ) -- apparently channeling his old friend Ron Artest tonight -- was playing right on the edge all night long. Was frustrated by the Wolves frontline length -- just got his shot annihilated inside every time he took his groundbound game to the hoop -- missed or got blocked on layup after layup. Got chippy, made some dumb plays, kept on passing up open jumpers and fouling up the offense. But also seemed to feed off of it at times. Grabbed some tough boards, set a couple of monster picks. Picked up two "T"s, and should have gotten a third for throwing Sprewell out of bounds (wasn't ejected because the second one was for putting a flourish on a dunk -- kind of ironic). Overall numbers ended up looking decent -- was working on the glass and providing some decent help defense. But still, not a very good game, nor a smart one.
Christie ( C- ) -- remarkable only for being so unremarkable. In the first quarter Doug, Bibby and Peja were steadying us while our frontline guys struggled. But after that I barely noticed him out there except for one unfortunate play where he passed up a shot he should have taken, instead threw a bad pass behind Peja who was crashing the boards off the anticipated shot, and the result was an easy fastbreak for the Wolves. Was having a hard time figuring out who he was covering half of the time. He seemed to be guarding everybody and npbody all at once.
Bibby ( B ) -- simply carried us in the second quarter, especially during one stretch where our bench was giving us nothing at all. But was pretty quiet in the second half, and Cassel began to come on and got the better of the 2nd half matchup.
Bjax ( B+ ) -- started slow, but got stronger as the game went along -- in the second half it was he and webb who were providing most of the offense. Made a huge layup and continuation at the three minute mark that unfortunately went for naught as the Wolves pulled away. Got burned a couple of times off the dribble again -- getting concerend that Bobby may have lost a step on defense. Looks god offensively, but just doesn't seem to be able to react to dribble penetration that way he once did.
Songaila ( B+ ) -- solid all around effort tonight. Finally gave us a solid game on the boards, and gave us hustle as always. Also provided some pretty good defense on Garnett for a short stretch. Did struggle to contain Eddie Griffin though, who at times looked like the best player on the floor.
Ostertag ( D ) -- got early minutes because of Brad's early foul trouble and gave us a whole lot of nothing. No boards. No points. Missed his FTs.
Barnes ( C ) -- hustling as always, but no real impact this time out.
Adelman ( B- ) -- the story of this game in a lot of ways was lack of hustle. Is that the coaches fault? Not sure. Fact is we didn't get the loose balls, we didn't get on the boards, we didn't do the hard work you need to to beat an elite team. Offensively was an interesting game -- found ways to get Peja involved early, then Bibby took over in the 2nd quarter, then it was Webb and Bobby in the second half. But never got all of the guys working at once, and were again ata a serious athletic disadvantage -- 12 T-Wolves blocks. Also never got Eddie Griffin under control off the bench, and down the stretch the Wolves badly out-executed us int he alst three minutes. T-Wolves are a very good team, but we need to figure out something a little different if there's a chance we're going to see them in the playoffs again.
Webber ( B ) -- it was a struggle all game long for Webb, but he kept attacking and attacking and got stronger as the game went along. Had an anemic 5pts and 2rebs at half, but by the end of the game he had worked his way into a pretty good game. Not only was providing a lot of our 2nd half offense, but was getting his hands on a lot of balls, creating turnovers, being a pest on defense. Also made a couple of simply beautiful passes, once on an impossible thread-the-needle on the fast break, and once late in the game to Peja for what should have been a layup (got blocked).
Miller ( C+ ) -- apparently channeling his old friend Ron Artest tonight -- was playing right on the edge all night long. Was frustrated by the Wolves frontline length -- just got his shot annihilated inside every time he took his groundbound game to the hoop -- missed or got blocked on layup after layup. Got chippy, made some dumb plays, kept on passing up open jumpers and fouling up the offense. But also seemed to feed off of it at times. Grabbed some tough boards, set a couple of monster picks. Picked up two "T"s, and should have gotten a third for throwing Sprewell out of bounds (wasn't ejected because the second one was for putting a flourish on a dunk -- kind of ironic). Overall numbers ended up looking decent -- was working on the glass and providing some decent help defense. But still, not a very good game, nor a smart one.
Christie ( C- ) -- remarkable only for being so unremarkable. In the first quarter Doug, Bibby and Peja were steadying us while our frontline guys struggled. But after that I barely noticed him out there except for one unfortunate play where he passed up a shot he should have taken, instead threw a bad pass behind Peja who was crashing the boards off the anticipated shot, and the result was an easy fastbreak for the Wolves. Was having a hard time figuring out who he was covering half of the time. He seemed to be guarding everybody and npbody all at once.
Bibby ( B ) -- simply carried us in the second quarter, especially during one stretch where our bench was giving us nothing at all. But was pretty quiet in the second half, and Cassel began to come on and got the better of the 2nd half matchup.
Bjax ( B+ ) -- started slow, but got stronger as the game went along -- in the second half it was he and webb who were providing most of the offense. Made a huge layup and continuation at the three minute mark that unfortunately went for naught as the Wolves pulled away. Got burned a couple of times off the dribble again -- getting concerend that Bobby may have lost a step on defense. Looks god offensively, but just doesn't seem to be able to react to dribble penetration that way he once did.
Songaila ( B+ ) -- solid all around effort tonight. Finally gave us a solid game on the boards, and gave us hustle as always. Also provided some pretty good defense on Garnett for a short stretch. Did struggle to contain Eddie Griffin though, who at times looked like the best player on the floor.
Ostertag ( D ) -- got early minutes because of Brad's early foul trouble and gave us a whole lot of nothing. No boards. No points. Missed his FTs.
Barnes ( C ) -- hustling as always, but no real impact this time out.
Adelman ( B- ) -- the story of this game in a lot of ways was lack of hustle. Is that the coaches fault? Not sure. Fact is we didn't get the loose balls, we didn't get on the boards, we didn't do the hard work you need to to beat an elite team. Offensively was an interesting game -- found ways to get Peja involved early, then Bibby took over in the 2nd quarter, then it was Webb and Bobby in the second half. But never got all of the guys working at once, and were again ata a serious athletic disadvantage -- 12 T-Wolves blocks. Also never got Eddie Griffin under control off the bench, and down the stretch the Wolves badly out-executed us int he alst three minutes. T-Wolves are a very good team, but we need to figure out something a little different if there's a chance we're going to see them in the playoffs again.
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