It was exactly one game, and it was the 5th game in a five game road trip for the Phoenix Suns, but the Timberpuppies showed tonight what they could be.
The Wolves beat the Suns, without the services of Antoine Walker or Randy Foye.
And now, based on this one win, it may be time to say that the braintrust of the Wolves finally have a plan. I think it likely that this team will continue to win about 1 out of 6 games, but the pieces we're seeing are exciting.
Al Jefferson is everything advertised and more. In 3 years, we will look at what Al Jefferson has done, and compare it to what Kevin Garnett would have done, and statistically, it will probably favor Al.
Corey Brewer, who I was high on from the start, has struggled a bit offensively, but has been everywhere everywhere else. His defense, his boarding, his assists--he's been exactly the rookie I had hoped he would be. He'll only get better on the offensive end, and when he does, look the fuck out.
Rashad McCants is exactly like the young team in microcosm. He forced shots early, but kept shooting, and hit two Huge back-to-back three pointers. He never looked great on the court, but he kept fighting. If the team as a whole can do that, and not make too many stupid mistakes, they'll be fun to watch.
Craig Smith and Chris Richard combined will be the bangers in the front court that Garnett never got. Jefferson will learn to love these guys. Both are somewhat undersized in terms of height, but bring a ton of mass to the court. Smith has suprisingly subtle post moves. Richard isn't subtle or surprising anywhere. He just fucking bangs. And that's something the Wolves have been missing since forever.
Ryan Gomes is clearly streaky, and a bit of a wildcard, but when he gets hot, he is extremely dangerous. a forward who prefers to step out and hit the deep shot, if he can do it with regularity, is a dangerous offensive player. We'll see if his defense merits him staying on the floor more. Same with fellow Celtic transfer Gerald Green.
Point guard is where the Wolves are really weak, on paper. But Randy Foye has been injured, and Sebastion Telfair and Marko Jaric have been quite well. Jaric, of course, is playing to be the man who finally gets into the velvet curtains of Adriana Lima. We wish him well. But Telfair looks like the better all around guard.
We will see what this team can do, but if this game is a sneak peek at the 2009 Wolves, than fans should be signing up for season tickets right now.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
No mention of Gerald Green's sweet fade? Last night toward the end of the game he looked like that little kid with the birthday party where the Gates of Shinto showed up in one of last year's Twins commercials.
Also, I totally have a crush on Craig Smith.
I told you Al would be a sweet addition to the Woofies. As psyched as I was to add KG to the C's (and I wouldn't have it any other way), I had reservations about losing Big Al.
Post a Comment