luther

A quick 6 and 5 for Jefferson.

luther

8 and 5.

JuX

McCants from downtown. 15-7, good guys.

JuX

Big Al's already in a double digit points.

luther

Wow, quick 10 points on 5-5 shooting for Al. Very good.

One thing I'm not liking, though, is if the initial play breaks down, the Wolves off the ball are doing a lot of standing around. A few plays ago you end up with Gomes on an iso on the wing, which is pretty much never a good option when he has a SF on him.

luther

Scoring on this team in the post is remarkably easy. It ought to get tougher with someone (Lee) willing to work at that end, but even so...we may as well go at them till they stop it. Jefferson and Smith are having a field day.

JuX

Most definitely.

What's up with the Knicks' shooting 3 pointers too much? Well, it should be my least concern.

luther

Well, when you assemble a team full of me-first talents with questionable basketball IQs, I guess you can't expect smart shots. I mean, Steph, Crawford, Robinson, Q...have at it, guys. Chuck 'em all you want. I'll take my chances that they alienate their post scorers, who will lose interest. And that leads to a blowout.

luther

That begs the question: how good would the knicks be if their PG was a smart, strong-personality leader? Imagine Steve Nash or Jason Kidd on that team setting a good example, finding guys when they're open, inspiring them to work to get open and make the extra pass, etc.

luther

Uh-oh, Walker is in. Speaking of chucking unnecessary 3s...

luther

I don't like this all-bench lineup of Jaric, Buckner, Brewer, Smith and Walker. No true, go-to scorer (with Smith the closest thing to one), no true PG, a guy in Brewer who can't even carry his own share of the offensive load yet...just doesn't feel right. I think we're at a point when we need either McCants or Jefferson on the floor pretty much at all times, at least till Foye returns.

JuX

Look at what they have done so far. Not so good idea. Knicks is now a point behind us. Brewer still is having some rookie jitters or whatnot.

luther

I think Brewer is just farther away than some people were thinking. He's not strong enough and his shot and ball-handling aren't where they'll need to be. His athleticism, defensive efforts, etc., will ensure he keeps getting time (that and that he's a high 1st rounder...), but he's not going to come on and set the world on fire yet.

luther

Despite that turnover (end-to-end, Theo?), I just love Theo Ratliff so far. Absolutely love the way he plays. Pity he almost certainly won't be here next year, at least unless he's willing to sign for WAY, WAY less.

JuX

I'm not too high on Brewer, either. I think he is being overlooked by those people because he was the most important player in the NCAA Final Four. That doesn't matter because the NBA is at a completely different level than college basketball.