Hi all. I'm tired tonight. The game against Cleveland was disappointing but familiar. The Wolves raced out to a big lead, but couldn't hold on. Here are the numbers.
| Player | MIN | PTS | TS% | REB/40 | ASS/40 | PTS/40 | POS | DIST | GEN |
| Kevin Garnett | 46 | 21 | 48.8 | 15.65 | 5.22 | 18.26 | 25.5 | 1.20 | 0.98 |
| Ricky Davis | 44 | 33 | 51.4 | 6.36 | 4.55 | 30.00 | 33.73 | 1.66 | 1.08 |
| Trenton Hassell | 43 | 13 | 51.9 | 2.79 | 1.86 | 12.09 | 15.18 | 0.77 | 0.94 |
| Marcus Banks | 29 | 15 | 62.5 | 4.14 | 5.52 | 20.69 | 15.32 | 1.15 | 1.15 |
| Mark Madsen | 27 | 5 | 42.5 | 8.89 | 0.00 | 7.41 | 5.88 | 0.47 | 0.85 |
| Anthony Carter | 19 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.11 | 12.63 | 0.00 | 6.98 | 0.80 | 0.58 |
| Mark Blount | 13 | 0 | 0.0 | 3.08 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.33 | 0.00 |
| Justin Reed | 8 | 4 | 100.0 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 | 2 | 0.54 | 2.00 |
| Eddie Griffin | 7 | 0 | 0.0 | 5.71 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.31 | 0.00 |
| Rashad McCants | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3 | 1.63 | 0.00 |
| Team | 240 | 91 | 47.4 | 110.59 | 0.96 |
KG had an off night offensively, and he missed 10 of his last 14 shots. Ricky Davis had a decent night and his numbers were negatively affected by desperation threes at the end. He was aggressive on the offensive end. One wishes that KG would be that aggressive with the rock in his hand. KG had a big rebounding night and has been picking up his offensive rebounding as of late (15 in the last four games).
One has to wonder what the future holds for Marko Jaric. With two consecutive DNP-CDs, he's clearly out of favor. The fact is this. Jaric is not a point guard. He can't handle the ball, he can't penetrate as effectively as AC or Marcus Banks. With Ricky Davis and Trenton Hassell in place, he's not likely to break into the starting line up (is Hassell really better than Jaric?). With McCants playing better and Justin Reed showing that, at the very least, he can play with energy it seems that the lackadaisical Jaric will have difficulty getting out of the dog house. Will he be moved? I sure hope so.
Eddie Griffin got in last night almost by default. Madsen got a ridiculous 27 minutes. With Blount doing nothing again last night, the Minnesota front line is as thin as Twiggy's shadow.
Let's look at the numbers since the trade.
| Player | MIN | PTS | TS% | POS | REB/40 | A/40 | PTS/40 | DIST | GEN |
| Ricky Davis | 304 | 154 | 51.2 | 180 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 20.3 | 1.33 | 0.93 |
| Kevin Garnett | 303 | 160 | 63.8 | 154.56 | 13.1 | 3.7 | 21.1 | 1.15 | 1.16 |
| Trenton Hassell | 287 | 88 | 51.2 | 111.83 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 12.3 | 0.88 | 0.95 |
| Mark Blount | 174 | 57 | 55.9 | 61.95 | 8.7 | 0.7 | 13.1 | 0.80 | 0.95 |
| Marcus Banks | 177 | 83 | 59.0 | 89.28 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 18.8 | 1.14 | 1.11 |
| Eddie Griffin | 132 | 26 | 32.9 | 46.52 | 10.6 | 0.0 | 7.9 | 0.79 | 0.56 |
| Rashad McCants | 125 | 66 | 59.3 | 62.63 | 2.9 | 1.0 | 21.1 | 1.13 | 1.09 |
| Marko Jaric | 115 | 25 | 46.7 | 36.39 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 8.7 | 0.71 | 0.89 |
| Justin Reed | 99 | 37 | 55.1 | 43.59 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 14.9 | 0.99 | 0.89 |
| Mark Madsen | 95 | 8 | 37.2 | 16.42 | 8.4 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 0.39 | 0.57 |
| Anthony Carter | 66 | 15 | 42.0 | 27.78 | 1.8 | 10.9 | 9.1 | 0.95 | 0.97 |
| Troy Hudson | 41 | 5 | 25.0 | 16.64 | 4.9 | 7.8 | 4.9 | 0.91 | 0.62 |
| Ronald Dupree | 7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.88 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.28 | 0.00 |
| Team |
1918 |
724 | 53.5 | 847.59 | 0.97 |
The Wolves have a slightly better TS% after the trade than before the trade. The Wolves are scoring 0.8 points fewer per game. Right now, it's hard to gauge the trade, but it's clear to anyone watching that the Wolves have gotten much more athletic and that Banks appears to be a real player. Those positives haven't translated into wins yet. Even with the new roster, last night's loss had a sickeningly familiar feel.
Moss thinks it's "sickeningly."
How much do you charge for proofreading?
Same as for lawing. Bill's in the mail.
Yours,
Moss
A Twiggy reference? Have you been reading too much Souhan lately?
jeff a
Big Ouch on that one.