Sunday, March 21, 2010

Nonphysical Mind

The Timberwolves have an outstanding frontcourt, a few potentially elite guards, a swingman poised for a breakout season, and something called a Darko Milicic that's capable of 16 and 12 with a block in less than 30 minutes of playing time.

It does not gel, though. Is it the triangle offense? Is it the feeling of despair that 2/3rds of their decent guards are either in Spain or suffering a legendary sophomore slump?

I dunno. They've got some talent, but I don't know how they could really pull anything together. They need a shooting guard and a small forward and for Al Jefferson and Kevin Love to get along. It's all moot, though. They'd have to draft or trade for what they need, because Minnesota, for whatever reason, is not an attractive destination to free agents.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure no one is jumping up to be the next Kevin Garnett. At least, not in the drag-your-team-kicking-and-screaming-to-near-victory way.

And why should they? Carrying your team is a shitton of work. Do you think Lebron would have been able to keep going at his current rate if he had three more seasons like 2007, where his number 2 and 3 options were Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas? I love Big Z, but he shouldn't be the third option on the offense. Also, Eric Snow: really nice guy, doesn't turn the ball over, scrappy defender, shiny head. All major pluses. Is he a starting caliber point guard on a team that's going to win a title? 76ers and Cavs say no.

Also worth mentioning is that he was Gary Payton's backup for two and a half years, where his chief job was keeping things from going to shit while the Glove took a break and not setting himself on fire.

Tangent.

Coming back now.

Basketball is a five-on-five game. Everything must gel. Your superstar cannot do it alone. You can have a star backing them up (Jordan-Pippen, Stockton-Malone), two great players (Duncan-Ginobili-Parker, Garnett-Allen-Pierce, Bird-Parish-McHale, Oscar-Kareem-Kareem wearing Dick Cunningham's uniform), or a legion of decent-to-good role players (Dwyane Wade [when they're actually winning], Chris Webber). Part of that is being able to trust your teammates with the ball. There have only been four people to ever lead their team in all four statistical categories: Lebron James, Scottie Pippen, Kevin Garnett, and Dave Cowens. None of them won a championship doing it.

How does this affect Minnesota?

It doesn't. They don't have anyone good enough to carry their team. Maybe that's the problem. Triangle offenses tend to work better with superstars in them.

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