The WGOM

T-Wolves Half Pole

February 19th, 2008 by SBG

Better late than never, right? GreekHouse and I had a conversation about the Wolves via e-mail regarding the Wolves first half of the season. Then, we scrapped it when they started to play better and started over. By the time we got this done, they stopped playing better. Heh. Anyway, here’s a little take on the local five.

SBG: Greek House and I had put together a summary of the second quarter and first half of the season and we decided to scrap it. We actually started the thing a few games before the halfway point of the season – and the Wolves looked like they were going to be limping to the halfway point of the season on a long losing streak. Then, the Wolves started playing a whole lot better. As of today, January 31, the Wolves have a modest 9-36 record, still the worst in the league, but they've won four of six and it could have very easily have been six of seven. So, let's scrap the gloom and doom that was T-Wolves basketball before the last seven games and start talking about the Wolves with a little more hope.

GH, the All-Star reserves were announced today and BigAlJefferson (BAJ) did not make the squad. I am not too surprised by that -- the Wolves do have the worst record in the league, but he's been every bit as good as we could have hoped for. True, he doesn't play great defense, but this kid is a fantastic low post scorer and a very good rebounder. In fact, I'll go so far as to say if no one else in the KG trade amounts to a hill of beans, he makes the trade worth it for the T-Wolves, because although he’s no KG, he’s a definite piece to build around. Where are you on BAJ these days?

GH: It's not surprising the BAJ didn't make the team. When you play on a team that's as bad as the Wolves, people tend not to notice you. You could make a decent argument that he deserves to be in the all-star game as much as any of the forwards that actually made the team. There's still a chance that he could be added as a replacement if Melo doesn't go, but my guess is that spot would go to Marion instead. [SBG Note: Yep. We’ve been sitting on this a while.]

Still, Jefferson has been absolutely tremendous, especially as of late. There's been a lot of negativity about his defense lately, but as I said
in the Clippers game log, his defensive liabilities are being magnified by playing him at the wrong position. He will probably never be a great passer either, but I think both his passing and his defense will improve with time. All in all, he seems like a great guy to build a franchise around. What do you think of the others we got in the deal?

SBG: I'm pretty pleased with BAJ and I think that he makes the trade for KG. That being said, he's the franchise now, and he's going to get judged accordingly. So, with the caveat that I think he's solidly the second best player in franchise history and that I'm delighted with how well he's played, he's going to get scrutinized more heavily than every other player on the team. His defense and passing must get better. I do get giddy watching him on the low block though.

There were four other guys returned in this deal, of course. Ratliff is a contract. I hope they can figure out a way to do something with that contract instead of just letting it expire. If it expires, well, that's kind of a wasted resource. I've heard some rumblings about him being bought out (not from anyone here in town) and heading back to the Cs. Come on, this cannot happen.

Green's not getting any burn and probably won't be back. The team seems to have given up on him and did so early on.

Bassy is not without redeeming qualities, but he's in no way a solid starter on a good team. He can get to the hole, but he can't finish. He can't shoot and he doesn't play great defense. He does distribute the ball and certainly has a role in this league. But, not as a starter.

Gomes appears to be someone that they might want to keep. He's able to score and rebound. But, he's a restricted free agent and someone will probably be willing to overpay him. If the Wolves have to match a big number to keep, they should let him go. He's not worth a T-Hud sized contract and we just bought out a few deals to try to repair the salary cap Hell we're in.

I can see a scenario where none of the four Cs sent over with BAJ are on the team next year.

Where are you with Randy Wittman? A couple of weeks ago, the team appeared to be sliding backwards, which seemed to indicate that Wittman was as big of a problem as anything. Have the last couple of weeksmoved you on him at all?

GH: I'm still not sold on Wittman, although he finally seems to have gotten them to get their act together. I'm not sure why it took so long though. He's at least earned enough respect from me that he doesn't deserve to be fired before the season ends. I still think the team needs to take a good look at him this off season and decide if he's really the guy they want for the job. He still does screwy things like starting Bassy and Jaric together and then subbing them out for McCants and Foye. Why is he playing two ones together and then replacing them with two twos? Seems like mixing it up might be better.

I can't really see a scenario where none of these guys come back. Knowing this front office, they will keep at least 2 of them--even if it means they have to overpay. I like Gomes a lot and everything he does, he seems to do quietly. This might help quite a bit in terms of him not getting huge offers from other teams. Having him, Brewer, and potentially Beasley could create a jam at the small forward position. This would probably mean that Gomes would get moved to power forward and Jefferson would have to remain at center, which is suboptimal for him. So I think a lot of who this team signs and who they let go will depend on which way the ping pong balls fall and who it looks like we're likely to get in the draft.

So with the all-star game coming up, it looks like we're getting to the point in the season where teams at the bottom will start tanking to get draft position. On one hand, I'd like to see the Wolves get a good draft pick, but on the other, tanking for an extended period of time could really stunt this team's growth. Do you think the team should start tanking and if so, when should they start?

SBG: I don't think that they need to start tanking for awhile yet. The last week has kind of squelched the enthusiasm a little and they are sitting three wins behind Seattle. Only Miami, on the "strength" of their 1-22 skein, has a worse record. If the Wolves end up second worst, that's probably okay. Who knows, maybe the acquisition of Shawn Marion will inject some life into the Heat. I've heard though that by about this time next month D-Wade may be shut down. It's going to be hard to out-tank Miami.

Yeah, I think Gomes and Bassy will probably be coming back. Gomes has run hot and cold lately, so his price might come down some. That would be all right, for sure.

Let's talk about the point guard situation. Bassy and Foye are the two real point guards on this team (I'm discounting Marko, surprise). And, even then, the phrase "real point guard" is a stretch when describing Foye. He's a shoot first kind of a guy -- and his return from the "fake injury" has been a little rocky. The question is, what do you do if you are coaching this team the rest of the season. Do you give Bassy a lot of burn at point guard to see if he can develop? He's been doing a good job of distributing the ball, but he's otherwise pretty limited offensively. Or, do you let Foye try to play his way into shape and develop his game with BAJ? Or do you make Foye play like a true point guard?

I'll be honest. I'm not nearly as sold on Foye as a lot of people. He's a whole lot better than Shaddy, but that's not saying a whole lot. He's not a future All-Star in my book. Look, I know he's going to be a big cog next year on this team and for the foreseeable future (unless it's apparent that he sucks). The Wolves need to decide on Bassy. I hate the idea of Foye playing the two with Bassy at the one... the Wolves would be tremendously undersized in the back court. I think it's Bassy or Foye going forward, meaning that Bassy will not be starting for this team as long as Foye and his status as the guy we traded Brandon Roy for is around.

Personally, though, I'd let Bassy get the minutes. He's still pretty young. He can work on his shot and shot selection (and maybe grow some muscles that allow him to finish better). He's got great quickness and he's a good passer. I think he should play. What do you think?

GH: I don't like the idea of playing Foye at point. I especially don't like the idea of him playing point while he's trying to get back to form. Just watching Foye out there right now, you can tell he's quite tentative. I don't know if it's because he's still injured or because he feels like he needs to distribute the ball rather than driving to the basket. It would be better if he was allowed to play the position where he's comfortable. As a long term solution to the Wolves PG problem, I'm not sure he's the best man for the job. Maybe he can do it, but let's wait until later to start trying it.

Bassy seems like he can be a reasonable PG in this league with just some minor improvements. Most notably, he needs to improve his shot selection. He seems decent from midrange, but his range ends inside of the arc. Simply avoiding these long jumpers would help improve his shooting percentage and keeps him from wasting possessions. I'm willing to stick with him now since it seems a better option than signing or drafting a new one.

This entry was posted by SBG on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Minnesota Timberwolves. It is one of 2465 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.