Nets Three-Headed Monster in Minnesota

The New Jersey Nets three-headed monster of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson will bring their high-flying act to the Target Center Saturday night. In a horrendous Atlantic Division, the Nets are in second place with a 16-19 record.

Minnesota, coming off a win in Memphis, will be playing the second half of a back to back. Losing their last home game by one point, with Kevin Garnett missing the potential game-winning shot, should have the Wolves motivated both to start another winning streak as well as protecting home court.

Due to the length of Carter, Jefferson and even Kidd, this will be a game where Marko Jaric could be quite valuable to the Wolves. Leaving the Clipper game with a thumb injury and not playing against the Grizzlies, Jaric’s status against the Nets is in question. Hopefully, he will be able to suit up.

Another key will be transition defense. Jason Kidd is among the all-time best point guards at running the fast break to perfection and his job is easy on most nights, making lob passes to either Jefferson of Vinsanity, Vince Carter, for Sportscenter dunks. If the Wolves are using cross-matches on defense, they will need to be sure to communicate effectively in transition as to who is covering whom.

Ricky Davis will be needed to build off his great game against Memphis and to play great defense, whether matched up with Carter or Jefferson.

Minnesota should also be looking for a little dose of payback, losing to New Jersey earlier in the season. It can almost be guaranteed that Mikki Moore will not have the same impact on this game as he did on the last…Kevin Garnett will make sure of that.

Wolves Emotion Shows With Win In Memphis

Understandably, the Wolves offense runs with much more ease when Kevin Garnett is on the floor, so one of the tough tasks for Coach Casey is to figure out when to get him rest. Coach should implement the Michael Jordan substitution for Garnett as that would most likely be the most effective use of the Big Ticket throughout the game.

The Michael Jordan substitution was to sit with two or three minutes left in both the first and third quarters, utilizing those extra few minutes between quarters. Re-entering the game with roughly 8 ½ to 9 minutes left in the second and fourth quarters, Jordan was able to finish the games strong yet. He was also back in the game before an opponent’s run got out of hand.

It is also great to see Justin Reed getting minutes, although he is only on the court that much due to the injury to Marko Jaric. How about the rebound Reed grabbed while sitting on the floor? Great hustle.

Writers are always quick to criticize, but slow to praise when a player, coach or entire team do something well. Ricky Davis deserves an enormous amount of praise tonight. On offense he was taking good shots most of the evening, in rhythm, in the flow of Minnesota’s offense. Defensively, he was hustling to check his man, while also diving on the floor many times for loose balls. If Davis were able to play in this manner on a consistent basis, the Wolves would be a dangerous team.

Credit is also due to Mike James. Although his numbers are still not what was expected out of him when signing with the Wolves, he was making things happen during his time on the court. He was aggressive and looked to have his confidence back which made him very effective.

Another big lead was given up, but that is to be expected a majority of the time. NBA players are proud individuals and, no matter what the score, are always ready to fight back. The thing that would be a boost to the Wolves would be the ability to hang onto one of these big leads to the end. The Wolves are, however, showing that in a close game, they will not back down and will fight.

Can the Wolves build on this good effort and win in Memphis by returning home and defending home court against New Jersey tomorrow?

The Halftime Report-Wolves at Grizzlies

This was the start that the Wolves needed in Memphis. Scoring 36 points in the first quarter with both their offensive efficiency and their defensive hustle, Minnesota has shown that edge that is needed every game.

Due to the comfortable lead, Coach Casey will now be able to sit his starters for good chunks of time. This is beneficial because the Wolves are playing the first game of a back to back, returning to the Twin Cities tonight in order to host the New Jersey Nets tomorrow.

Although the flow has not been as great in the second quarter as it was to start the game, this is the time for players such as Mike James and Craig Smith to get themselves back on track. James, who has struggled nearly the entire season, has lost a majority of his playing time and his confidence, making this a great game to put in some hard work, learn where to get his shots in the offense, which shots are most productive from him in this offense and to be able to grow as an integral member of the Wolves.

Smith has been a victim of Mark Blount playing at a nearly All-Star level, seeing his playing time cut dramatically. Now that other NBA teams have seen enough of Smith to be able to scout him, this is where he needs to take his next step on the road to a consistent NBA player.

How great is it to see Bracey Wright getting minutes and staking his claim to them? Although the Wolves are overstocked with guards, (and the impending return of Rashad McCants), Wright’s play lately will only push other players to fight back for those minutes. Competition is good between teammates as long as they are supportive of each other at the same time and from everything that has been seen so far this season, they are doing just that.

Be sure to come back to
Wolves Hoops Blog after the
game for the full game report.

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.

From Rick Alonzo of Pioneer Press...

"Timberwolves forward Eddie Griffin was suspended five games without pay by the NBA on Friday for violating conditions of the NBA's anit-drug program. It was latest in a string of incidents that could put his tumultuous career with the team in jeopardy.

Griffin's suspension begins with tonight's Wolves game at Memphis. He did not make the trip from the Twin Cities with the team. Griffin had not appeared in the past 13 consecutive games as he had fallen out of the rotation.

A Wolves spokesman declined to comment immediately. The team will issue a statement later today."

This made me think back to an article I wrote when I still was with Hoopsworld.com. Check it out.

From HOOPSWORLD.com
Eddie Griffin Has Worn Out His Welcome In Minnesota
By Stephen Litel
Jun 30, 2006, 09:54

Eddie Griffin needs to no longer be a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves...period.

Minnesota was one of the few teams who were willing to give Griffin a second chance after some trouble with the law while in Houston. The Wolves even rewarded him by signing him to a contract extension after his first year in the Twin Cities. Glen Taylor’s team even stood behind Griffin after he spent time in jail last summer.

But, this is just too much.

In late March, Griffin was involved in a car accident. His car slammed into a car parked outside of a convenience store. Griffin told reporters that he had dropped his cell phone and was attempting to pick it up when the accident occurred, but as more of the truth is revealed, the easier it is to see that Griffin is not someone who should be a member of the Timberwolves.

Surveillance cameras from the convenience store show Griffin stumbling around, struggling for quite awhile to put on his own sweatshirt and they even catch Griffin admitting "I'm drunk...I can't go back to jail." It shows Griffin pleading with the owner of the car he hit by offering to buy him any car he wanted saying, "Whatever car you want, you’ll have it tomorrow...not a Bentley."

As if this wasn’t enough, one witness at the scene of the accident, which is just a few miles away from the Target Center, has told police and the press that Griffin admitted the following to him. "He was masturbating himself going down that street. That's how the accident happened because he was not paying attention," said Abed Hassuneh, who is the victim’s brother. "He's paying attention to that video and all of a sudden he's shoveled somebody's car on the top of the sidewalk."

To make matters even worse, the police officers who responded to the call are now under an internal investigation as to why they did not charge Griffin with DWI when he is so obviously drunk on the surveillance tape. They even gave Griffin a ride home to St. Paul, which by the way is leaving the city they are to be patrolling, after they charged him for not having a license and "inattentive driving."

Again, Eddie Griffin needs to not represent Minnesota any longer...period.

First of all, what happened on that night is stupid enough in itself to deserve being booted from the team. There is absolutely no excuse that Griffin could give to explain himself and have it be ok for him to step onto the Target Center floor as a member of the home team ever again.

Secondly, there were rumors circling around that Griffin would be involved in a trade this summer. What team would want to trade for him now? His play on the court was, to put it kindly, uninspired last season, averaging 4.6 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game and 2.11 blocks per game (which did rank him 10th in the NBA in blocks)…and now add this incident on top of his poor performance on the court.

Next, the Timberwolves, as well as Timberwolves fans, are especially sensitive to the act of driving while intoxicated due to the death of Malik Sealy. Malik was a class act and a fan favorite, as well as a Kevin Garnett favorite, and was killed by a drunk driver a few years back. Because of Griffin’s actions, the tears that were shed over Sealy’s tragic death have come back. This, plain and simple, is "conduct detrimental to the team" to say the very least.

One of the few things about the Minnesota Timberwolves that continues to have fans file into the Target Center and root for the team year in and year out is that they nearly always seem to be "good guys" who are easy to cheer on. This is just no longer the case with Griffin. He is a troubled young man who needs help. It is unfortunate that at this point in his career he has not lived up to the hype that made him a lottery pick in the draft in 2001, but Minnesota needs to do the right thing here and cut him loose.

Owner Glen Taylor has a tough decision ahead of him. Kevin Garnett cannot be happy about this at all. With the yearly speculation out there that Garnett may be traded, if Griffin remains a member of the Timberwolves it just might be the push that KG has been waiting for to walk into Taylor’s office and demand a trade.

Please Mr. Taylor...do the right thing and give Eddie Griffin his walking papers.
© Copyright 2006 by HOOPSWORLD.com, a Basketball News Services Exclusive

Wolves Face Grizzlies In Memphis Tonight

The Wolves are in Memphis tonight to attempt to start another winning streak. The Grizzlies, who are 9-27, are trying to get back on track now that Pau Gasol has returned. Although this Memphis team has a bad record, they are playing much better as of late and the Wolves should not overlook this team.

Minnesota is coming off a loss Wednesday against the Clippers and one of the keys to this season will be how they can bounce back from a loss like that, with Garnett missing the potential game-winning shot, Randy Foye and Mike James both playing badly and Coach Casey’s team not having much fire to end their home stand. They need to be careful because with a loss, Minnesota will drop back to the 0.500 mark.

Against a team such as Memphis, the Wolves need to come out with an edge to them and make a strong push immediately. If Minnesota can get a decent early lead, they can try to sneak out of Memphis with a relatively easy win before returning home tomorrow to play Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and the New Jersey Nets.

The Wolves have been playing better as of late, however it would be quite disappointing to come back home with a 0.500 record.

Be sure to check back with

Wolves Hoops Blog at halftime

for the halftime report