Stephen Litel/Downtown Journal interviews Ryan Gomes:
So, to put you on the spot a bit then, how do you define your role on this new look Wolves team?
“What I was told by the coaches is I’m one of our best help defenders, so I’m out there, trying to clog things up…”
From John Canzano/The Oregonian: Hey, you haters, why no hometown love for Kevin?
I suspect that you’re mostly blaming the kid for his parents buying a home in an affluent suburb of Portland, and, also, for being exceptional with a basketball in his hands. Because there’s no other reason for repeatedly booing the guy who came home and scored two lousy points on Saturday.
Said Love: “They think I’m some snotty-nosed kid from Lake Oswego.”
Officially, it’s time to let all the hate for Love go today, Oregon. The next time Love comes to town, you ought to cheer the kid like he grew up in your neck. Because he did. And, because Love really does believe he’s one of you.
If it comes to pass that Wittman too gets scapegoated, I humbly request that the coaching duties fall to McHale. Not only is he the second best coach (behind Saunders) in Timberwolves history, but he’s the guy who has praised both Jefferson and Love to the high heavens, consistently lauded Smith for the mismatches the Rhino can generate, pooh-poohed position purists, and in general is on record as believing an inferior version of this squad could win 40 games this season. He’s not only the architect of the blueprint, but the head of its public relations campaign. And right now the blueprint is messed up.
The Wolves, though, have so far been hurt by the drawbacks of going small without seeing any of the benefits. As they did in the first game of the season, the Kings’ big men took advantage of the Wolves’ lack of frontcourt size, shooting a combined 14-21 on Friday. Portland’s long, athletic frontcourt, particularly LaMarcus Aldridge, hurt the Wolves as well. Aldridge scored 24 points on 8-15 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. Many of those boards came when Love or Jefferson had inside position; Aldridge simply used his strikingly long arms to grab the ball over his opponent’s head.
Wittman chose that critical moment to justify his job as head coach and, at the same time, expose his insecurities. Rather than encourage the exceptionally assertive and clever rookie to shake off an obvious mental mistake (committed in Game 4 of his pro career), rather than pat him on the rump and tell him to focus on the next play not the last, Wittman punished Love by taking him out but leaving in Jefferson and Foye (Sebastian Telfair had fouled out; Kevin Ollie was available), who regrouped and buried two long jumpers, one a trifecta.
It’s this sort of insensitivity and thoughtlessness that gets coaches fired long before their guaranteed contracts are up.
Why wouldn’t an ex-player like Wittman know better than to mess with the mind of a 20-year-old whose performance had the Target Center crowd and an NBA-TV audience in awe? Why would Wittman think he was in a stronger position with Ryan Gomes on the floor at crunch time (Spurs up four) than Love?
Foye called the game a “step forward” after Friday’s “step backward” because the Wolves displayed defensive intensity — star Al Jefferson blocked three shots, all in a first half when he hustled to keep up with Portland’s sprinting big men — from the start and offensive priorities at the end. Jefferson scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, when the Wolves’ offense flowed through him.
“They’ve proven they can do it,” Wittman said about playing defense. “Now we have to do it on a nightly basis.”
In defeat, they seemed to find some of their lost mojo Saturday at Portland, responding to coach Randy Wittman’s rant against their commitment to defense a night earlier at Sacramento with an inspired effort that came up just short.
If the Wolves can duplicate that performance Tuesday night and going forward, they have plenty of time to deliver on their promise of being an improved team this season.
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