Minnesota Timberwolves at Charlotte Bobcats 4/8

[TheBeagle]

I'm following the game through the nba.com live updater. Now that's entertainment folks.

Was there any defense at all tonight? Freaking ubelievable score for Minn. vs. Charlotte.

No. No defense. I was in Keetch-seats so I got a good view of everything happening down on the Bobcats bench end, and there was no defense. There was some hustle, I'll give them that, but no defense, aside from a Ryan Hollins block in the 2nd quarter, coming over from the weak side. Yes, a win is a win, but the T'Wolves were begging to be blown out during the 1st half, but due to lack of focus, good rotations, it didn't happen, and that seemed to fire them up after the half somewhat. Looks like even Whitman is better at halftime adjustments than "coach." Best moment of the game from my vantage point was Ford and Mokeski storming off to the tunnel after Jefferson's wide open miss at the end; I swear from the look of disgust, the shaking of their heads, and the speed at which they marched to the tunnel, all because the D screwed up so badly to give Al such an open look, you'd've thought he made the shot....that was classic!

Another funny moment was Gerald and DA giving Matt hell for bobbling JRich's crosscourt pass for a potential open three before losing it out of bounds.

Another interesting tidbit, Ford, on at least two occassions, had to remind "coach" to make subs at different situation. "Coach" stands at half court and Ford yells out "hey" and points to Emeka, and "coach" looks like 'oh, yeah', and motions for Mek to check on for an offense/defense sub late in the game. Hell, that makes me wonder what our record would be without Phil on the sidelines.

Also, I got to catch "coach" kissing ass. After the end of the 1st quarter, after the TWC rep, and the FSN South rep addressed the crowd(who were very loud in giving them applause, which I was impressed with) at center court, they and Whitfield went towards the Bobcats tunnel, and "coach" with clipboard still in hand, goes over to all three of them and shakes their hands, and said a quick word to them. That was both funny and pitiful....I mean, he knows his job is in jeopardy, so he's doing whatever he can to get in the good graces is what it appeared to me.

Overall, the guys seem to have really really good camraderie, joking with each other, especially GW and DA. Even Mek made it a point to go over to all guys coming over to the bench for a timeout, when he was not in the lineup and giving them fives and pats on the head. Maybe Mek has made a decision already about his future, and he's finally found some peace on the court.....i dunno, but the body language is much improved from say, 2 weeks ago or so.

All in all, surprisingly good turn out, maybe even shockingly so for a random Tuesday night game against a team that has no real appeal to the average fan (watching Big Al go off for 40 was a treat though....thankfullly not 42), and with the Bobcats eliminated from the playoffs. I don't know what the paid attendance was, but it looked like a good 13K or so showed up. I was really expecting the lowest attendance of the season, but they showed up and were loud, enthusiastic, and saw the first win in TWC Arena.

[timang]

this is a case of "they lost the game" and not a we "won the game". am i right or am i mistaken?



still a win though

[Muttley]

Even Mek made it a point to go over to all guys coming over to the bench for a timeout, when he was not in the lineup and giving them fives and pats on the head. Maybe Mek has made a decision already about his future, and he's finally found some peace on the court.....i dunno, but the body language is much improved from say, 2 weeks ago or so.

Having noticed Mek's occasional stadoffishness (yeah, that's a word), I wonder if he had previously confused some players' compliance (ie- Raymond) with "Coach" as agreement that that's the way things should be run. I'd think that Mek's smarter than that, and maybe it just took him a while to turn around. Then again, maybe he just had his mind wrapped up in some other personal stuff. One thing's for sure, though, that slam and move Mek made at the end of the first half shows that something's changed. He wasn't doing anything that aggressively a few weeks ago. I hope new-Mek stays around for a while.

[Muttley]

From ESPN's recap of the game (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...nba&id=3337004):

After Foye's turnover, Matt Carroll, who scored 22 points, hit his first free throw, but Vincent told him to intentionally miss the second with 1 second left.

The Timberwolves quickly got the rebound and a timeout with 0.7 seconds left.

"I was a little nervous doing it, but it worked," Carroll said. "I was surprised only three-tenths of a second went off."

We could have been up by 3 instead of 2 and he tells him to intentionally miss it? Someone explain how you don't just play it safe with the free throw, then just deny the 3 pointer.

No wonder that shot went so far right. (I think Matt should have hit the FT and then acted like he meant to miss it, but failed.)

[TheBeagle]

From ESPN's recap of the game (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...nba&id=3337004):

After Foye's turnover, Matt Carroll, who scored 22 points, hit his first free throw, but Vincent told him to intentionally miss the second with 1 second left.

The Timberwolves quickly got the rebound and a timeout with 0.7 seconds left.

"I was a little nervous doing it, but it worked," Carroll said. "I was surprised only three-tenths of a second went off."

We could have been up by 3 instead of 2 and he tells him to intentionally miss it? Someone explain how you don't just play it safe with the free throw, then just deny the 3 pointer.

No wonder that shot went so far right. (I think Matt should have hit the FT and then acted like he meant to miss it, but failed.)

Yeah, Muttley; I left that out; that was definitely a set play. "Coach" called Raymond over, and Raymond went to Matt at the line and told him, and Matt had this quizical look on his face and I could read his lips saying, "I'll try it. I'll try it." I can see the thinking behind, and I agree more than 3/10s should've gone off, but I'm like you, why take the chance when you can get a 3 point lead and deny the 3 point line with 1 second left?

[Dunk]

From where I was sitting, it looked like J-Rich and Felton said something to Carroll and couple of times before and after he dropped that pass. Was he not running the right play or something? It looked to be a bit animated and Matt didn't seem pleased. I couldn't tell what was up.