Wolves record: 1-1
Stop-n-Pop/Canis Hoopus posts some game notes and observations.
The Wolves will go with the same starting five in tonight’s game against Dallas that they did in their opening win over Sacramento:
PG Randy Foye, SG Mike Miller, SF Corey Brewer, PF Ryan Gomes and C Al Jefferson.
From the Associated Press:
The Mavericks outscored Minnesota 13-0 early in the first quarter, forcing the younger, less-experienced Wolves to play catch-up for most of the game.
The Wolves steadily climbed their way back into the game by forcing the fast-tempo Mavericks into a half-court offense and outworking their opponents in the paint.
Starting late in the first quarter, Minnesota scored 36 straight points either from the paint or the free throw line.
Rookie Kevin Love, as he had done in Wednesday’s season-opening victory over Sacramento, provided the energy for the team’s second-quarter turnabout with a performance that caused Wittman to call upon him earlier in the second half and that led the Target Center sound system, for the first time this season, to blare the obvious after he made a basket: strains of the Beatles’ classic, “All You Need Is Love.”
Now, love is all well and good, but what is any relationship without trust?
“The problem with tonight’s game at both ends of the floor is we don’t have that trust factor,” Wittman said. “It’s not a matter of effort, not a matter of trying. We did a lot of good things tonight too. When we’re trusting each other at both ends of the floor, we’re pretty good and when we don’t, we look really bad.”
Conspicuously absent from the locker room were Jefferson, who finished with 14 points, and point guard Randy Foye, who hit just 3 of 14 shots and finished with eight points and six assists in 32 minutes.
Foye was pulled for veteran Kevin Ollie with 5:23 to play in the first quarter and sent to the bench again with 4:07 to go in the third after missing a layup and long jumper.
Wittman, asked about his team’s point guard play, said: “We’ve got to get better guard play; there’s no question about that. But that’s not what cost us the game.”
In the interest of equal time, Wittman said guard Mike Miller was guilty of passing up too many open shots and refused to blame Jefferson’s off night on great defense by the Mavs.
2 Timberwolves’ missed free throws (22-for-24) after they went 11-for-22 in the opener.
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