What a day for the home team.

First off, the Wolves pulled a Darryl Dawkins and sent Gerald Green's shoes a'packin' to Houston for the slightly larger expiring contract of Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round pick in 2010. Ho-um. Secondly, The Wolves held on to the expiring contract of Theo Ratliff, apparently in an attempt to see how Al Jefferson would play with a shot-blocker:

"If you say it fits beautifully, then it becomes a major, major priority," said Kevin McHale, Wolves vice president of basketball operations. "If you decide it's not a monumental change, then you say, 'OK, there are a lot of teams who are very successful who don't have that shot-blocker in the middle.' It's going to be a chance for us to see what impact that particular type of player has on our team."

Ah yes, because when it comes down to it, most teams don't really know if it's a major priority to have a big guy who can play defense opposite of a defensively-challenged power forward. Your Minnesota Timberwolves front office, ladies and gentlemen: where nonsense happens.

Compounding the day's lack of $11 million expiring contracts being moved, the Bulls made one of the most curious trades in recent memory: sending Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to the Cavs for Larry Hugues and Drew Gooden (and filler). Really? That was the price for Big Ben? The worst contract in the league for the second worst one and Drew frickin' Gooden? Wow. Did the Bulls get as much back from the Cavs as they could have received from the Wolves for Theo Ratliff, Rashad McCants, Craig Smith, and a 2009 1st rounder for Big Ben and Joakim Noah? Did the Wolves even attempt to make a call to work out a deal that could have included anyone from Andres Nocioni to Chris Duhon? Who knows? What I do know is that Chicago handed away Wallace for absolute garbage. They hated the guy and wanted him gone. The Wolves could have offered a better package in an attempt to get exactly the type of player they need on the squad: a hustling, rebounding, interior passing big man who doesn't need to have plays run for him to be effective. You know, Joakim Noah.

Back to the action.

The Wolves have played 2 solid, entertaining, and worthwhile games in a row by passing (51 assists), rebounding (79), not turning the ball over a ton (27), and shooting 50% (81-162) from the floor. What did our Beloved Puppies in with San Antonio? (22-26) vs. (12-17) from the line. That's it. The Wolves outshot the Spurs, tied them in turnovers, were slightly out-rebounded, and absolutely destroyed at the line. Outside of Big Al and Shaddy, this team has nobody who can get to the line on a regular basis. Earlier in the year I wrote about the possibility of Randy Foye getting 3-4 additional FTA/game but he hasn't yet shown the ability to get to the stripe like he did in his rookie season. Free throws, free throws, free throws. It's killed them all year long.

Speaking of Foye, it's officially time to retire the Fourth Quarter Foye nonsense. When it comes to getting r' done in the last period, Randy is not the droid you are looking for. I realize that this little moniker came about in the era of KG's 4th quarter struggles, but it's time to hand over the big-time shots and expectations to Big Al. Foye spent the 4th quarter against the Spurs getting torched by a real 4th quarter threat: Manu Ginobili. Take a look at Manu's clutch stats at 82Games. Now take a look at Foye's 2006-07 clutch numbers. No. Comparison.

On last 2 Wolves possessions, instead of having Sebastian Telfair bring the ball up the court and enter it into Big Al (which had been a solid combo all night long), 4th Quarter Foye dribbled into impossible shots and either missed a wide-open pass on the pick-and-roll or was forced to kick it out to the poor-shooting Bassy. Had the right player had the ball in his hands, I feel quite confident in saying that Bassy would have either converted the pick-and-roll or...get this...kicked it back out to Foye for the potential game winning three pointer. Instead, Randy Wittman allowed the team's final 2 offensive possession to be dictated more by the marketing department than by actual conditions on the court.

Oh well, at least he didn't run out a Brewer, Gomes, Bassy, Jaric, Big Al lineup when a 3 pointer was needed.

All-in-all, it was a frustrating day for being a Wolves fan. They had San Antonio beat and they lost because they stopped doing what kept them in the game in the first place: good ball movement combined with Big Al's offense. They got rid of Gerald Green but failed to move their biggest asset while teams like Chicago clearly showed that Theo's contract had some return value. All I can hope for is that the team starts to learn from their mistakes. Bassy should be the point from start to finish and Foye should be the one waiting out on the 3 point line for the kickout. The front office should...well, I'll start taking Finewein's advice: I'm not going to get worked up about that anymore as it's never, ever going to make any sense.

Apparently the Wolves were able to grant Gerald Green's request to be traded. MyFox Houston is reporting that Green has told them he is being traded to his hometown Rockets. In return, the Wolves get guard Kirk Snyder and a future 2nd round pick.

My gut reaction is "good for the Wolves." Snyder's nothing special, but is a cheap youngster that will be a restricted free agent this summer; the pick will be late in whatever draft it's in, but gives the Wolves another asset; Gerald has not shown any reason to keep him around. I still think they should have exercised Green's team option, but that's water under the bridge now. This is better than just letting Green walk. More details as they surface.

Well, tonight the Wolves looked more like we expected them to this season. The "hot streak" was nice while it lasted, but it was bound to end. A couple notes of import:

• Obviously, Randy Foye's return to the court is a huge deal. While Randy was able to knock down shots and didn't look too out of the offense, he's clearly not 100%. The explosiveness that gives him a serious advantage taking defenders off the dribble isn't there yet. (That also happens to be the same explosiveness that led to some serious blocks last year.) As long as he doesn't rush back (Witt seems to acknowledge the need to avoid this) an 80-90% Foye is great to see.
• Losing to a Gordon-, Smith-, Deng-, Duhon-less Bulls team doesn't feel good.
• It looks like we're shopping Gerald Green. With his
  

Hello again. I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and that they were able to enjoy good food while avoiding bad football.

I’m not sure if it says more (i.e. less) about the league, the Nuggets, or the Wolves, but our beloved Puppies played Denver even until 2 minutes left in the game. You read that correctly: a team with AI, Melo, K-Mart, and Marcus Camby almost took one on the chin from a team with no legit starting 1, no 5, and a 2 that went 1-15 (following a 5-16 performance 2 nights before)...at home.

For the second straight game the Wolves let their 1st round pick sit on the bench. It has been reported that this is discipline for being late to a shoot-around. As has been opined about elsewhere, it could also have been because of Melo and JR Smith.

Last night’s game followed similar themes from previous nights:

1. Big Al shoots 50% from the floor, gathers a bucket load of rebounds, doesn’t turn it over much, and is helped out by a rotating combo of whoever-else-has-a-temporarily-hot-hand-for-the-night. Sometimes this is a single player; other times 2. However many, it is never enough...unless the 1-15 gets turned into 33 points.
2. Speaking of 1-15, McCants continues to display himself as being incapable of picking up an offense, playing nicely with others, and being useful when his shot is not falling. Let me be the first to start the "do not give him an extension" chant. I suspect he will play even worse and show himself to be of even less use once Foye returns.
3. Marko attempts to play the point.
4. Randy Wittman juggles and juggles and juggles.
5. The Wolves are unable to score/stop anyone in the 4th.

McCants, along with Jefferson and a 1 that can get in the lane, are the primary culprits behind the Wolves getting taken apart at the charity stripe: last night Shad shot the ball 15 times and went to the line 3 times. Big Al shot the ball 14 times and went to the line twice. Granted, this is because he relies on a quick step to a jump-hook, but when your 4 gets to the line this infrequently, your 2 is crazy, and these two gentlemen are your primary offensive options: you are in for a long season at the line. Denver went 36-41 at the stripe. The Wolves were 15-24. Game. Set. Match.

Note to all Wolves fans: do not get on the Gerald Green bandwagon. I have a Nintendo Wii and one of my favorite games is Mario Strikers Charged. It’s a “soccer” game where Nintendo characters kick around a metal ball on a pitch that explodes, rumbles, moves, etc. The characters themselves are able to perform super moves and mega strikes if they are given enough time and space by the defenders to allow you to hold down the trigger long enough to squeeze off a really cool shot. And so goes Gerald Green. Just like my Yoshi striker would appear out of place on the FIFA 08 pitch, Gerald Green is out of place on an NBA court. He has a very pretty jump shot and he can jump out of the gym, but he’s a Yoshi: a cartoon character that can only look good with massive amounts of defensive indifference or in a dunk contest. Crunch and his trampoline provide a similar service to Target Center crowds…for a lot less cost.

Aside from a general lack of NBA talent, the Wolves’ biggest weakness is beginning to really reveal itself: Without Ratliff, they have no 5. This disturbing fact received its first mention in the Strib:

Let's see. With Randy Foye out with a knee injury, the Wolves have run a point guard by committee. They also have a platoon approach at times for off guard and small forward.

Ratliff will have the knee re-examined in a week. Until then? Another position-by-committee approach.

This “we need a center” talk should reach a fevered pitch in March when we’re sitting at about 8-10 wins looking at Ratliff’s expiring contract and a draft with (likely) 3 promising big men (Koufos, Hibbert, Jordan). The problem is that we also need a 1, 2, and a 3 to go along with our need for a 5.

That’s it for now. There’s leftover turkey to eat and geese to hunt.

PS: One final thing, the Wolves play Atlanta tonight and you will all get a close up of who I believe will show himself to be the top player in this year's free agent class: Josh Smith. He's a restricted free agent on a team with 5 first round forwards and more contract value on the bench than in the starting lineup. I think the Wolves should do whatever they can to remove salary and overbid on Smith in an attempt to pry him away from Atlanta. This is a long shot but it could be done. Maybe we could throw in Shad just for kicks.

PPS: I lied about the one final thing. Take a look at this strip of Shaddy madness during last night’s game:

• McCants Jump Shot: Missed 8:53
• McCants Foul:Offensive (1 PF) 8:36
• McCants Turnover:Foul (1 TO) 8:36
• McCants Jump Shot: Missed 8:05
• McCants Reverse Layup Shot: Missed Block: Martin (1 BLK) 7:10
• Jefferson Jump Shot: Made (4 PTS)
  Assist: McCants (2 AST) 7:05 [MIN 8-10]
• McCants 3pt Shot: Missed 6:34
• McCants Dunk Shot: Made (2 PTS)
  Assist: Jaric (1 AST) 6:15
• McCants 3pt Shot: Missed 5:32
• McCants Substitution replaced by Buckner 4:57

In just under 4 minutes of ball, McCants exposed nearly every weakness of the Wolves. The only time he was effective was when he passed the ball to Big Al and when he dunked it…which, it should be noted, was his only make of the night. Hell, Gerald Green can do that. With Corey Brewer on the bench because he was late for a shoot-around, one has to wonder what the punishment is for this type of play that you can watch for free at your local Y.

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune is reporting that the Timberwolves have exercised contract options for Randy Foye and Rashad McCants. These two moves come as no surprise. Their announcement, however, means that a contract extension for Al Jefferson is not likely. Obviously, I don't know what Al and his agent were asking for, but waiting for free agency next summer is risky business for both parties. If Al blows up this year, foregoing an extension will cost Glen Taylor some bucks. If Al flops or gets hurt this year, it will cost him some serious bucks.

What didn't happen today was an exercise of Gerald Green's contract. According to Larry Coon's FAQ that means Gerald will be an unrestricted free agent next year. This seems like an absolutely bone-headed move.

The logic for the Wolves is to save money by avoiding a payment to Green, who, apparently disappointed management during preseason quite a bit. The reason this is a stupid move is twofold:

1. This was the wrong way to save money at the wrong time. Green's option was for $2,216,196. That's not a whole lot of money in the NBA today. Not only that, but the Wolves target free agency year is 2009, NOT 2008. They could've easily neglected to tender Green a qualifying offer after next season and make him an unrestricted free agent in 2009. Paying him $2.2 million next year is not a big deal, which brings me to reason #2:
2. $2.2 million for a player with Green's potential/performance ratio is a steal. This kid won the slam-dunk competition, this kid scored 20+ points fourteen times last year and topped out at 33. Sure, his shot selection has been poor, but $2.2 million AND restricted free agency rights for a highly talented 20-year-old player is a good deal.

Bad move McHale.