The Next Lamb: The Minnesota Timberwolves

Game 33: Minnesota (9-25) at Boston (25-7)
Monday, January 3
7:30 p.m. Eastern
NBA League Pass

You may remember that last year, I wrote a lot about the T-Wolves, and in particular their rookie point guard Jonny Flynn, one of my favorite college players ever and a guy I was convinced could be a terrific NBA player (I still am convinced, by the way). You may also have noticed that I've not written a single thing about Minnesota this season.

Part of it is that Flynn was hurt for the first month-plus, having aggravated over the summer a hip injury that cost him the final game of his rooke campaign. I have very little interest in the Wolves aside from Flynn, particularly with their front office having its collective head up its collective you-know-what and Kurt Rambis, the worst head coach in the NBA, at the helm. I appreciate super-rebounder Kevin Love, I'm interested in seeing what rookie Wesley Johnson has to offer, and Michael Beasley is on my fantasy team, but these are just secondary interests; my real focus is on Flynn.

But TMJF (The Marvelous Jonny Flynn, for those who don't remember) hasn't gotten much burn since he's been back in uniform, relegated to a backup role in favor of offseason acquisition Luke Ridnour. And without Flynn on the court, I just can't get myself to spend two-and-a-half hours three or so times per week watching the Wolves. There's too much good basketball to waste time watching bad basketball. (Though I'd still rather watch bad basketball than football or hockey.)

And yes, the Wolves are bad. Their record speaks for itself, but that 9-25 mark includes wins in three of their last four games. Whether this marks a real improvement in the team or is merely a momentary blip remains to be seen, though my hunch is that it's the latter.

I had planned to write, at some point this season, a post defending Flynn, talking about how he would have averaged a couple more assists per game last season if he had decent teammates on the wing; how Rambis' offense didn't take advantage of Flynn's abilities (or the abilities of any of their best players, for that matter); and how can make a pretty good case that Flynn was just as effective as Brandon Jennings, everyone's favorite rooking point guard, last season. I may still do that; I may not. But the writing seems to be on the wall for Flynn as far as Minnesota goes. Ridnour is ensconced as the starter (though I'd point out that the team is still 9-25) and the Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio is supposedly coming over after the lockout. Flynn's name often pops up in trade rumors, and I expect he'll be moved sooner or later -- though not if Minnesota doesn't give him some run to showcase him and increase his value (again, you're 9-25; what exactly do you have to lose?) When -- and if -- that happens, I'll start writing about Minnesota again regularly.

Anyway, on to the Wolves (who may be without Flynn on Monday, anyway; he missed Saturday's win over the Nets with a sprained ankle). Love is leading the league in rebounding at like 15 per game, including a ridiculous 31/31 game back in November. He's also averaging around 21 points per night, though on offense he's not what you expect from that kind of rebounder. He does his share of scoring inside, but he also hits three-pointers at around 44 percent. He's going to be a very tough cover for Glen Davis, and as will be the case with Boston's next opponent (San Antonio), the Celtics will miss Kevin Garnett quite a bit on Monday night.

Beasley was the biggest offseason addition. He went on a scoring binge earlier in the season and is probably the most dangerous Wolf (that looks and sounds funny, doesn't it?) with the ball in his hands. He still settles for too many long jumpers, and I suspect Boston will be perfectly happy to see him launch to his heart's content.

The infamous Darko Milicic has actually resurrected his career somewhat in Minnesota, though the thing he's really lacked is consistency. His shooting percentage is terrible for a big guy, but he's put up some big games. He's played poorly of late, and it seems like foul trouble has been a big problem. One area he has been fairly consistent in is shot-blocking; he's erased 2.4 shots per game this season, so Boston will want to be aware of that when going to the hole when he's in the game.

As for Ridnour, he's a good shooter and playmaker, a veteran who knows how to run an offense. On the defensive end, to my knowledge, he hasn't improved much since the day he was drafted in 2003, when Jay Bilas said that Ridnour couldn't guard the chair he (Bilas) was sitting on. Hopefully, Rajon Rondo shook off some rust Sunday in his first game back and can be an offensive weapon for the Cs on Monday night.

Links of the Day (October 28, 2010)

• I'm slowing down on my Timberwolves blogging until TMJF returns from hip surgery, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to blast Kurt Rambis. Last night in Minnesota's opener against Sacramento, Rambis sat Kevin Love for the final eight and a half minutes of a one-point loss to the Tyreke Evans-less Kings. Rambis pulled similar stunts last year, claiming that Love and Al Jefferson couldn't play together. Jefferson was shipped out of town at a relative bargain, and now, in the opener, Love gets 24 minutes, the same number as Darko Milicic and four fewer than Anthony Tolliver. Rambis claims that the reason Love sat was because Tolliver was playing well defensively, but as Tom Ziller points out in that link, a bunch of Sacto's late points came from guys Tolliver was supposed to be guarding. I really have no respect for Rambis as a coach, and it bothers me when he does stuff like this and then reacts like it isn't a big deal, like because he assisted Phil Jackson with the Lakers he's some sort of Zen master by association. No, he's just a bad coach. Not playing the best player on a bad team because Anthony Tolliver -- Anthony Tolliver! -- is allegedly playing great defense (Sacramento did score 117 points without its best player, so I'm not sure how good the defense actually was) is just embarrassing.
• If any Wolves fans read this blog, perhaps this will make you feel better. I know McHale's involved and he's public enemy number one up there in T-Wolf land, but maybe just focus on Rambis falling on his ass. I love McHale, of course, so it definitely makes me feel better.
• Zach Lowe breaks down Boston's turnover problems. Lowe puts a lot of the blame on Rondo's shoulders, particularly in transition. I've noticed that Rondo's "feel" for the game, which is usually outstanding, disappears in transition. I'm not sure what it is; sometimes, it feels like he's too busy processing his options to make a decision.
• Everyone's talking about Blake Griffin's debut last night, with video of two spectacular one-handed jams in a loss to Portland. I link to Hardwood Paroxysm above all others because I like them best, and because Rob Mahoney's caption is clever. Oh, and because they want page views.
• Tracy McGrady was allegedly on a 15-minute cap in Detroit's opener last night, and will be for the immediate future. First of all, what investment are we trying to protect by limiting his minutes? And secondly, why would Tracy McGrady play more than 15 minutes in a professional basketball game?
• The Heat-Celtics opener was the most-watched NBA regular season game of all-time.
• I didn't notice this until this morning, but Zydrunas Ilgauskas was a game-high +17 in 10:39 of playing time against Boston on Tuesday night. Big Z's stat line: No shots from the field, 1-2 from the line, three boards (two offensive), three steals, a block, two turnovers, and four personal fouls. Not a bad contribution, but +17? That's what being on the court when LeBron James decides to take over earns you. I know +/- hardly counts as an advanced metric these days, but it's things like this that have made me slow to embrace the statistical revolution.
• DNP-CD for RwH fave Greg Monroe in Detroit's opener last night. Let's hope this doesn't become a pattern.
• Someone better bring me the head of the person responsible for this.