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.

With the impending NBA trade deadline and three young players (Telfair, Gomes and Smith) up for restricted free agency, the Timberwolves have some tough decisions to make sooner or later. But what's the ballpark for these guys? What might it take to lock them up? Contingent upon the Timberwolves wanting to, of course.

The real trick will be timing these deals. Whoever gets the first deal will be used as a measuring stick by the other two. In my mind, that's all the more reason to deal one and avoid internal contract jealousy.

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.

As I have mentioned before, we’re at the point in the season where the losses all start looking like one another and it’s time to begin finding diversions to keep oneself from getting into a rut. All work and no play make Homer something or other…

What do the following five-player combinations have in common?

1. Sebastian Telfair, Rashad McCants, Craig Smith, Corey Brewer, Chris Richard
2. Theo Ratliff, Telfair, Al Jefferson, McCants, Ryan Gomes
3. Antoine Walker, Telfair, McCants, Gomes, Richard
4. Telfair, Jefferson, McCants, Gomes, Richard

Those are the top five-player combinations from NBA’s Lenovo +/- stat machine.

+15, +14, +11, +10…all with legit 5’s on the court.

Last night, Michael Doleac started at the 5 and the Wolves played the Heat even for the first 6 minutes of the game. When Craig Smith subbed for Doleac, the Heat went +6 until Chris Richard entered the game with 2 minutes left in the quarter. During his first stint on the floor, Mr. Richard was +7 while keeping Shaq in check. As it has been said here (repeatedly) and in other places, the Wolves need to keep a damn center on the floor so that 2 of the other 4 guys don't have to play out of position.

Another thing that hurts is that the Wolves' two best players are 4’s who don’t pass the damn ball. Take a look at Lenovo’s two-man combination stats for the Wolves. What do you notice about the first page of stats? 3 A. Jeffersons and 0 C. Smiths. Granted, 2 man combo stats aren’t all that interesting but they do give a nice little window into how well our black hole power forwards play with their teammates. What is even more important is that you will never, ever find A. Jefferson and C. Smith together on this list.

Who is the proud owner of this 5 game line?

FG%: .365
3FG%: .100
FT%: .833
APG: 8.2
SPG: 1.2
PPG: 8.8

That would be Mr. Telfair.

Bassy’s 40-minute numbers are as follows:

PPG: 12.0
EFG: 44.1
FT/FG: 13
PER: 11.69

Sebastian’s passing, turnover, and defensive stats are all in the range of a solid, if not excellent, NBA starting 1. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the man simply cannot shoot the damn ball. If he could improve his shooting percentage by just a hair…well, tell me who is the owner of this proud set of stats:

PPG: 16.5
EFG: 52.8
FT/FG: 13
PER: 16.26

That would be Mo Williams. Not only does Telfair have better assist and turnover numbers than does Mr. Williams, but he is a better defender. The only thing that allows Milwaukee to have a better point than the Puppies is the fact that Williams is a markedly better shooter than Bassy. If Bassy could raise his shooting percentage by 3-5 points (remember, he’s still a 22 year-old hard working point) he will increase his PER into the 16-18 range where he will find himself among the Jason Kidds and Andre Millers of the world.

Keep this in mind: Sebastian Telfair, who was once considered by many as a meaningless part of the KG trade, has made the most of the opportunity afforded to him by Foye’s injury and straight beat out Marko Jaric for the starting point job. Telfair, a 22 year-old young man with 0 college experience, is essentially a college senior running the point on a young rebuilding team in the NBA. He needs to improve his shot, but his passing, defense and court awareness are equal to or better than any point guard taken in last year’s draft. Mike Conley? Acie Law? If Bassy can end the year with a FG% above 40%, a 3FG% above 30%, and an eFG% in the 46-48% range…ladies and gentlemen, the Wolves seriously need to consider keeping this hard-working and fast-improving point on the roster as part of the long-term rebuilding plan.

I’d like to take a moment to repost something I put up on December 11th:

The Wolves need to show up big at Philly and at home vs. Seattle. After those two duds, they're on the road for 7 out of the last 9 games of the month. Winnable road games against Seattle and New Orleans (hey, it happened once) come on the back end of back-to-backs. With home games against Indiana and Golden State, the Wolves need to win at least one of the Philly/Seattle combo if they want to enter the new year with 4 (hopefully 5) wins. After that, things get dicey until March. I'm not kidding when I say that the Wolves may not win a game in February. They'll have home games against the Clips and Philly, but after that....may the force be with you Timberwolves.

Folks, it’s going to get uglier and uglier. Somewhere in January, the fire Randy Wittman chants will begin. If the current nonsensical 5-man rotations continue until that point, I don’t think Mr. Wittman will have too many defenders. Whatever happens, I think an All Bobby Knight Proteges Suck post is in order. Seriously, from Mike Krzyzewski to Witt, it has never been about the x’s and o’s; instead, it’s all about getting massive amounts of talent to commit to the program/team. Player development and outsmarting one’s opponent are for ninnies. Yell all you want, but the minute those blue chippers stopped staying for 4, Coach K and Bobby started to cash in on legacy and little else. As you can imagine, this approach works even worse in the NBA. Meanwhile, I’ll keep waiting for all those highly coached up prospects from Duke, Texas Tech, and New Mexico to make it in the Association.

As a parting shot, how nice would it be to see the Wolves be the first NBA team to hire a foreign coach? Make an offer to Zeljko Obradovic and see what happens.

That’s it for now. Until later…

PS: How boring is the NFL? I turned on the Vikes last night after the T-Wolves ended and...sweet baby Jesus, it was bad.

I don’t care if the Suns were tired, that they shot a Corey Breweresque sub 30% from the floor in the 2nd half, or that both teams combined for 26 points in the final quarter (after going for 60 in the 1st), the victory against Phoenix was a hard fought win, an entertaining match-up, and the best product the Wolves have put on the floor all year.

As always, let’s dispense with the bad before the good:

I no longer know what to say about Rashad McCants. When he first came off the bench I wrote the following in my notes: McCants, if he recognizes the opportunity, has a wonderful career ahead of him as a high-energy reserve. Check the career path of Vinnie Johnson.