Monday, January 18, 2010

TMJF: Wolves 108, Sixers 103, Overtime

Stat Line: 43 minutes, 9-16 FG, 2-2 3FG, 9-10 FT, 29 pts, 4 rebs, 9 assts, 2 stls, 3 TOs.


It'd been a while since I got to watch a full Wolves game, and I picked a good one. Jonny Flynn had struggled in several games in January, but played one of his two best games as a professional here on MLK Day. After falling behind by as many as 20 points, Minnesota rallied with a huge third quarter and won for the home crowd in overtime.

What I liked most about Flynn's game was not the way he kept his team alive with 13 first-half points or the way he scored the first four points of the extra period, but the way he managed the game, in the second half in particular. Earlier in the year, I criticized him (forgive me, Jonny) for not settling his teammates down and getting the ball inside to Al Jefferson. Minnesota has some young players that need to be reined in when the team is struggling offensively, and that ultimately falls on Flynn, as the point guard and therefore the man with the ball in his hands.

Against Philly, however, the story was different. When Ryan Gomes got hot in the third quarter, Flynn fed him the ball. In the fourth, the Wolves rode Jefferson to victory. Everyone on the team deserves credit for that, but as the point guard and Minnesota's second-best offensive weapon (especially with Kevin Love out due to the flu), Flynn deserves special recognition in that regard.

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