There were two items that I intentionally glossed over in my Rashad McCants/Randy Foye Death Match post: a comparison of rookie-to-injury seasons and age. With no further delay, let's dive into the former.

In his injury season (06-07), Shaddy played in all of 37 games for the Wolves. In yet another one of their too-close-to-believe-that-the-front-office-really-drafted-them-in-consecutive-years moments, Mr. Fourth Quarter Foye is on tap to play in 39 games during his injury campaign. In other words, we have a good and consistent sample size with this comparison and it is a pretty damn decent tool to use when discussing each players' relative merits.

Good Lord. I go from 6-8 inches of rain in Little Rock to 6-8 inches of snow upon returning to Minnesota. While I'm getting tired of winter, I'm glad to be back in Minnesota. As much as I love the mid-south (Ms. Stop-n-Pop is an Okie and yours truly has lived in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas), it was nice to get out of a hotel and back into my own bed. That being said, I already miss the BBQ and the sweet tea. Come on Minnesota, rise up to the culinary challenge and produce a regional cuisine greater than the Juicy Lucy!!!

Anywho, thanks to League Pass on line I was able to catch most of the Wolves games during my time down south. I also had the chance to catch the Celts in Memphis. Rather than sit here and give you a lame overview of the last 5-6 games, I'd like to write a bit about the impending Rashad McCants/Randy Foye death match.

In case you didn't already know, you can scalp GREAT tickets to Timberwolves games these days. Skyner and I got $100 face tickets for $25 a pop; and that's including my negotiation-screwup fee.

The best summary I can give this game is that we looked solid overall, shaky at times, and then blew it in the 4th quarter. And it bear's mentioning that it was against a Northwest Division rival that we should expect to see quite often in the next 5 years.

Two bright spots (especially when scoping the box score were Rashad McCants and Craig Smith off the bench. Both played very productive games. Shaddy had a couple bonehead plays, but 85% of the time he was not the chucking, lax defender I had expected tonight. So, for that, I owe Dying To Be Loved a good deal of credit.

This one hurts. In order to dull the sting, let's bullet point this bad boy:

• Randy Foye is playing some terrible basketball. While there was much rejoicing when he finally made it back to the hardwood, the payoff has been bad point play and stunted team ball. Last night's 4th quarter was about all you need to see to draw some mighty negative conclusions about Foye's ability to be the 1-guard in the NBA. First, there was the garbage dribbling at the top of the key. Outside of providing him no real advantage or lanes to the basket, he actually had the ball stripped from him with the shot clock running down to zero, forcing him to jack up a no-prayer shot. I wonder what it must be like to defend such a thing; between the legs over and over while the belt buckle remains in the same spot. Whatever works, I suppose.

  A second 4th quarter offense came when Foye had laser eyes for Al Jefferson on the post, passing up a wide-open Marko Jaric, waving his hands just beyond the 3 point line. This was hardly the first missed look; one of the highlights of the night was when Corey Brewer (who seemed to be everywhere on the court) hustled for a nice blocked shot, passed the ball to the point, sprinted ahead of the defense and was promptly rewarded for his efforts by Foye making the alley-oop that sent the packed house into a state of insanity...oh wait, that last part never happened.

  Missed passes, laser-eyes on the post, an inability to drive his man in the lane, basic entries to the post, garbage dribbling, passing around the perimeter...the list goes on and on. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Foye's performance at the point was that this was the 2nd game that he has taken minutes exclusively from Sebastian Telfair. This worked out alright in the first 3 quarters but when the kitchen got hot, 4th Quarter Foye laid an egg that was absolutely cooked by the Celts. It baffles the mind why he was given as long a leash as he was during the period.

• For the life of me, I will never understand why Randy Wittman called a timeout for the last offensive possession and then ran out a lineup consisting of Big Al, Brewer, Jaric, Telfair, and Craig Smith. Can you tell me where the outside shot is coming with that particular group of players? Why call the timeout? Why not use the speed on the floor to take advantage of a slower Celtic squad in transition? Why not forego a tricky inbounds pass in the half court setting (remember last time)? None of it made any sense, but not making sense makes plenty of sense with Witt's coaching...if you know what I mean. To give Witt the benefit of the doubt, Foye was not on the floor because he a) can't shoot and b) can't run a big-league offense. His other perimeter threat...well, that's another story.
• Defensive rotation is a beautiful thing. It's a sign of b-ball knowledge, maturity, and teamwork. Somewhere along the line (I didn't write down the time in the game...sorry, I was holding a pretzel), Shaddy failed to rotate and the Celts got a highlight reel pass and dunk. Witt immediately called a timeout and came out on the court yelling at McCants for his poor d. Shaddy walked right past him to the bench, ignoring his coach and then annoying his teammates while pleading his case from the pine during the next few possessions. This is the 2nd time in the past few games where Shaddy has clearly FUBAR'd something on the court, been called out for it, and then pitched a hissy fit. You can read about the last snit here. It would have been nice to have McCants in on that last play. He's the club's only legit perimeter threat. He's also the club's only legit head case and the team should pull a lesson from the Utah Jazz and send this clown packing a'la Gordon Giricek. He let the club down again because of his poor play and attitude and there's simply no reason to keep a redundant player (see Foye, Randy) like that around. Maybe Charlotte will take him. I hear they want to reunite the last UNC championship team.
• Corey Brewer and Bassy went a combined 4-18 from the floor with 13 points. Outside of the poor shooting they combined for 2 blocks, 7 assists, 3 steals, 10 boards, and only 3 turnovers. They were the best defensive players on the Wolves side of the ball and they were able to facilitate proficient team play more than their subs: Foye and McCants. In a year where fans were told that youth and player development were the most important products on the court, Bassy and Brewer have shown more development and youth than the squad's hopeful starters. Both Brewer and Bassy are 2 years younger than their counterparts. They have shown development on the court as well as maturity off it. They play team ball and they do not appear to have any ego; precisely the thing you want in your glue guys. Along with Marko, I think it is becoming abundantly clear who the best guards on this team are and who just doesn't get it.

Finally, I have been pimping a Wolves/Bulls trade for quite some time now. You can read the latest breakdown here. One of the things that the Wolves need the most from any big man that would join Big Al in the frontcourt is an ability to make the interior pass. Well, I just found this little ditty on ESPN's rookie tracker:

One of Joakim Noah's best talents is his interior passing ability, but that strength is mostly wasted on this Bulls team. He has consistently made sharp passes to Ben Wallace -- ones that would lead to dunks, and 1's or other easy finishes for most NBA centers -- but they only amount to an occasional Big Ben dunk or, typically, a missed shot.

Exactly. What. The. Club. Needs. At this point the Bulls are tied with the New Jersey Nets for the final playoff spot in the East. That being said, both of those teams suck and they have some massive long-term problems. Let's sweeten up the deal a bit:

To the Bulls
-Ratliff
-Shaddy
-Smith
-Celtic and Heat 1st round picks

To the Wolves
-Ben Wallace
-Joakim Noah

Here's next year's rotation:

1- Telfair/Jaric/Foye
2- Foye/Brewer/Jaric
3- Gomes/(Beasley/Green/Budinger/Gallinari)/Brewer
4- Big Al/Big Ben
5- Noah/Big Ben

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Alright, that about does it. Until next time.

PS: Check out the new version of ESPN's Trade Machine.

For all that has been said about Al Jefferson’s inability to handle legit 5’s, make no mistake about it: against Houston, Big Al stuck it to the Western Conference’s starting All Star center. From drawing him away from the hoop for 12-16 foot push shots to destroying him down low with a bunch of Dream Shakes, Al was the best center on the court and it wasn’t really close.

Keeping with Big Al, one of the most heartening things to see during the broadcast was an interview with Jim Peterson during the 3rd where he talked about not falling in love with the mid-range game and working on finishing with his left hand. The guy knows what he needs to do to improve and he’s working hard at it. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

OK, on to the main event. The Wolves downright sucked with Rashad McCants and Randy Foye on the court together. It’s not just that the offense came to a grinding halt when these two shoot-first guards manned the perimeter, but that they turned Target Center into Matador Central, holding up the red sheets while their marks blazed right to the rim. The worst offense of the night came at about 7:30 to go in the 4th when Shaddy not only stepped aside to further open up a clear lane to the bucket, but he made a half-assed attempt to foul the man on the drive resulting in a 3 point play and a 10 point Rocket lead. While he did manage to get a hand in T-Mac’s face on his go-ahead jumper, Shaddy was lulled to sleep at the top of the key before failing to fight his way over a screen on McGrady’s back-breaking 3-ball.

One of my favorite drills with my 10-year old girls basketball team is to have our 2 forwards line up on the blocks, have the point drive the lane, kick it out to the corner while being replaced at the top of the key with a rotating wing player (one of the block players replaces the wing player), and then rotate the ball all the way around via the 3 point line to the other corner for the open shot. It’s a simple drill that fosters spacing, movement, and passing on the offensive end. While I’m sure that conditioning has just a little bit to do with his inability to showcase his quickness, I’m not really sure that Randy Foye’s grasp of the point position is any more advanced than drive-and-kick or passing the ball around the perimeter. I obviously don’t break down film or work with world class ballers, but can someone please tell me what would lead the Wolves front office or coaching staff to believe that this guy can run a major league team? Look, basketball isn’t rocket science. It’s not football; a sport where offensive linemen are graded in Monday film sessions and there’s often too much going on for the average fan to comprehend on the TV. Basketball is 5-on-5 action where there is no room to hide the clichéd “little things” from fans who pay attention. I’ll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and I think he has a chance to work out at the 2, but I see absolutely zero evidence that Foye will be able to run the point with as much proficiency as a fellow perimeter Wolves player 2 years his junior. Speaking of whom…

The Wolves were fully functional with Sebastian Telfair doing his best Steve Nash impression: driving the lane, dishing and hitting the mid-range jumpers that were given to him. Folks, this is another game that shows just what Bassy can do when he foregoes the 3 and uses his speed and quickness to break down the opposing perimeter defense. (That being said, he missed a key mid-range jumper in the last minute.) Anyway, Bassy ended up with 12 assists to 0 turnovers and only 1 3-point attempt. Against the Bulls, he went for 10 assists and 2 turnovers with only 1 3-point attempt.

Keeping with the positives, the Wolves squad that took the floor last night at Target Center was a completely different team than the one who lost by 30 to the Tracy McGrady-less Rockets just 2 weeks ago. The defense is stinger, the players more confident, and no one is getting pushed around. Revisiting the McHale Ratio, I think it is safe to say that the KG trade has netted the Wolves 3 legit NBA players: Big Al, Gomes, and Bassy. If you throw in 1 or 2 solid draft picks and the FO does something constructive with Ratliff’s deal, you can start talking about this being a lopsided deal for the home team.

That’s about enough for now.

Until later.