Even if we all know Ratliff wasn’t part of the future here, isn’t that
kind of pivot man something this franchise should be manuevering
towards? Shouldn’t we get Jefferson and Gomes ingrained in those habits
now, in their formative stages? Do we really need Jefferson playing 69%
of the center minutes for this ballclub and just 5% of the power
forward’s minutes? (According to the 82games.com web data.) And do we
really need the Wolves’ 8 most popular 5-man lineups to feature
Jefferson as the center–especially when the most popular 5-man lineup
that doesn’t feature Jefferson as a cetner puts Mark Madsen in the
pivot instead?
kind of pivot man something this franchise should be manuevering
towards? Shouldn’t we get Jefferson and Gomes ingrained in those habits
now, in their formative stages? Do we really need Jefferson playing 69%
of the center minutes for this ballclub and just 5% of the power
forward’s minutes? (According to the 82games.com web data.) And do we
really need the Wolves’ 8 most popular 5-man lineups to feature
Jefferson as the center–especially when the most popular 5-man lineup
that doesn’t feature Jefferson as a cetner puts Mark Madsen in the
pivot instead?
Wittman said veteran guard Marko Jaric played just
six minutes Friday because of an injury. Jaric banged a knee during the
Toronto game and it hampered him against Cleveland. Jaric is
questionable for today’s game after participating in most of Saturday’s
practice. "He said he’s still pretty sore," Wittman said.
Previews of today’s game against the Sonics:
Click here for the forum’s game thread
Wolves boss Kevin McHale said he and owner Glen Taylor debated the
"pros and cons" of paying off Ratliff and ultimately decided to do so
to save money, help Ratliff and theoretically clear more playing time
for little-used rookie Chris Richard and role player Craig Smith.
Ratliff played 12 to 14 minutes a game in each of his first four games
back from a knee injury because McHale and Wittman wanted to see how a
true shot-blocker played with natural power forward Al Jefferson. It
was a plan scrapped by pragmatics.
"pros and cons" of paying off Ratliff and ultimately decided to do so
to save money, help Ratliff and theoretically clear more playing time
for little-used rookie Chris Richard and role player Craig Smith.
Ratliff played 12 to 14 minutes a game in each of his first four games
back from a knee injury because McHale and Wittman wanted to see how a
true shot-blocker played with natural power forward Al Jefferson. It
was a plan scrapped by pragmatics.
"He’s a good dude," Ford said. "He calls. We always just talk friendly.
We never talk about the incident, ever. … He’s a genuine, caring
person."
Look for Target Center to seek legislative approval to improve concession areas at a cost of more than $1 million.
From Sid Hartman:
The Wolves keeping on buying out players such as Theo Ratliff, who could have helped make Al Jefferson a more effective player.
Postgame quotes from the loss to Cleveland
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