In the first quarter, it was Marko Jaric who gave the Wolves
an offensive jolt. Jaric was on-target
from the perimeter in the opening period, and helped our squad keep the first
quarter deficit to only four. In the second
quarter, it was Antoine Walker. Shimmy came
off the bench and knocked down a pair of threes, bringing the Wolves back into the game when it looked like Toronto
was on the verge of pulling away.
In the third quarter, though, no one stepped up for the
Wolves. Seriously, I almost fell asleep
several times during the third, as absolutely nothing was happening on the offensive end for
us. No one knocked down a big shot to
catalyze a run, no one could buy a bucket from the perimeter–it was one of
the more forgettable quarters I’ve seen the Wolves play in the past few months.
Looking back at the first half, though, the player that stands out most to me is
Sebastian Telfair. My most frequent complaint of the Wolves this season is that they’ve looked old and slow too often, even though
they’re one of the youngest teams in the league. Well, in the opening two quarters, Telfair ensured that I wouldn’t be able to make that complaint about him…he was everything a young
point guard should be. He pushed the
tempo, made plays with his quickness, and did a good job of distributing the
ball on the break.
I hardly noticed him in the second half, and his stat line
looks pretty ugly (2-10 from the field, six points…although he did have eight
assists), but nevertheless, he deserves some praise for his youthfulness (is
that a word?) in the first half.
I was also quite impressed with Big Al in the opening
half. Teams are pretty much doubling him
every time he touches the ball, and Al’s taking advantage–he’s definitely shown
great improvement in passing out of double teams.
One problem: The Wolves don’t have anyone who can knock down
a shot from the perimeter on a consistent basis, and that’s been their primary
downfall as of late (earlier in the year, the major problem with the team was a
lack of effort…they’ve been playing harder lately, but still, their desperate
need for a perimeter shooter has reared its ugly head more and more often over the past month or
so). Our guards have been getting open looks as a result of the constant double teams on Jefferson, but their shots just haven’t been falling.
Al was also impressive on the defensive end tonight. Guarding Chris Bosh is
obviously no easy task, considering Bosh’s sweet jumper and his solid power game around the hoop, but Al did a nice job of
guarding the big man. Had a few blocks
on Bosh, and limited him to 14 points.
But I’m being too positive…the Wolves did lose by 23, after
all. They lost it in the third quarter,
but honestly, I don’t know what I can say about that period that I haven’t already said in this recap. It was a void, 12 minutes of nothingness from
the Wolves. A black hole of a
quarter. The energy that helped them
remain competitive during the opening two quarters vanished. As I said, no one stepped up. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld famously
pitched Seinfeld as a "show about nothing"…well, the third
quarter of tonight’s game was a "quarter about nothing."
Despite that disappointing quarter, though, the night wasn’t a total waste…we had the chance to see a host of familiar faces. Obviously, we got a glimpse of Sam Mitchell,
one of my favorite Wolves of all time (I still have his bobblehead doll sitting
on a shelf along with my Terrell Brandon and Crunch bobbleheads…and yes, I
fully realize that I have a terrible bobblehead collection). Also saw Darrick Martin, who’s older than
Jesus.
And then, of course, there’s Rasho, who played five years
with the Wolves…one of McHale’s many
failed big men. I’ve seen people in nursing homes with more toughness than
Rasho. Finally, we saw Kris Humphries,
who played just under nine minutes in tonight’s game.
If you were watching the game with a young, impressionable basketball player, I hope you shielded his or her eyes during Humphries’ playing time tonight. Rarely have I seen a basketball player at any level who is as selfish as he is. I mean, if
Jerry Sloan couldn’t turn this kid into a more complete player, I
don’t know who possibly could.
In his four seasons in the NBA, Humphries has played 2,797
minutes. He has 111 assists. I did the math, and he averages roughly one
assist per 25 minutes…so, he could play a full game of 48 minutes and still struggle to reach the lofty mark of two assists.
Humphries was taken with the 14th overall pick of
the 2004 draft by the Jazz. Al Jefferson
was selected with the 15th overall pick. How’d that one work out, Utah?
Ah, but I shouldn’t kid…the Wolves received a shellacking in
the second half from Humphries’ squad, after all. I’m just glad I decided against using my
voucher for a free ticket tonight…because after the monotonous second half, I
would have somehow still felt ripped off, had I been in attendance.
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