Jan 30, 2011

3-pointer from Section 131 - Any Win is a Good Win

Joann and I have tickets to 18 Wolves’ games this year. You might ask, “Why?” There is no answer to that. But we have them, and I’m going to post my impression of the team and each game right here on Bachblog. Lucky you.

Saturday, January 29: Timberwolves 103, Raptors 87

vs Raptors For the Timberwolves, any win is a good win. So what if the Raptors are right with the Wolves as one of the worst teams in the league? It’s fun to see a win for a change.

The Wolves played good defense, though I suspect that what looks like a good defensive effort in the box score can be largely attributed to Toronto’s poor shooting. The Raptors missed a lot of open shots.

Basketball point one Jonny Flynn had easily his best game of the season. He hit a couple of threes early in the game, and finished with 10 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. He was only charged with two turnovers, but I think that may have been generous.

Basketball point two Darko Milicic’s defense on Andrea Bargnani was probably the big difference in the game. Like Milicic, Bargnani has been seen as a something of a failure as a high draft pick¹. He was a first overall pick in 2006 (Darko was the second overall pick in a stronger 2003 draft). But Bargnani has actually put up much, much better numbers over his career than has Darko. At least as a scorer there is no comparison, and this year Bargnani is averaging 21 points a game. On this night, though, Darko owned him. Milicic is big enough, and was just mobile enough to make Bargnani take a lot of tough fall-away jumpers, and he finished with 15 points on 5-24 shooting.

Basketball point three Michael Beasley had an off night—just 7 points on 2-12 shooting—but Wes Johnson and Martell Webster picked up the slack off the bench. Johnson scored 14 points, and Webster scored 15; they combined to hit 5 three-pointers.