The Timberwolves P.A. music selection speaks louder about their team than any statistical analysis. The Beatles, Jackson 5 ("I'll Be There"), Dr. Dre, Jay-Z ("Empire State of Mind"), Bruce ("Born In the USA")
Can't forget to give props for the 'Wolves color man who claimed that contenders take care of business against "teams like Minnesota" without knowing how statistically sound his views were.
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One does have cause to be concerned with Kobe's excessive early turnovers. One of the oft-repeated but oft-ignored linchpins of the Kobe v. Mike comparison is the fact that the great one turns it over much more than the a-little-bit-greater one. I do not, however, argue that this is intractable as some would (e.g. Shaw has suggested that since Kobe's having smaller hands than Jordan accounts for some fo the differences). If Kobe had a character-defining focus on limiting turnovers a la Chris MVPaul, then the numbers would definitively dip.
I had a dream where I was impassioned in claiming that Kobe's lack of efficiency stems from his having to take so many end of shot-clock and/or desperation long twos. Then, I switched to discussing his stellar plus-minus before I gave up out of shame. That is all that needs to be said.
Pound, pound, juke, turn right, fade, make. Kobe has that impeccable turn-around back again after he victimized the Pistons with it. Combined with the recent re-emergence of the double clutch we are seeing the somewhat-unique-to-Kobe-and-vital-to-his-identity moves in his era-spanning oeuvre.
After that Dr. J tribute halfway through the third, my faith in the remaining rags of athleticism possessed by the Kobe puppet is renewed.
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Pau has a much shorter leash than Kobe. If Kobe's as dry as the Longoria-Parker divorce proceedings, the team keeps feeding him out of fear and faith. Pau gets a smattering of low speed post moves stopped by Manna-from-heaven, he stops being served prime-rib (mid-post feeds) and has to get his fill on the perimeter with liver.
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Derek Caracter is like Shaq with the 3 second violations, general chubbiness, but averages about -30 PER from the big fella in his prime.
Still, a lot of promise. Could be our Big Baby stopper if such a thing were ever required.
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Matt Barnes' three point misses produce an imaginary clang on my auditory nerve, but his rebounding warms my eyes. His passing is severely underrated. This man's adjusted plus minus speaks as loudly as his innumerable tattoos about his potency as a weapon for the Lakers.
I thank the Warriors and the Magic for his rim-less arcs tonight.
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The bench shielded this win from the excesses of the starters.
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The Lakers need their 8-figure speed-fiend Mr. Bynum right now. I smile recalling how he small he made the Wolves feel in blowouts past.
Darko had a manna-from-heaven type game in the first half and it would not have happened if he had 270 odd pounds exerting enough force on him to trigger memories of his inadequacy.
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Reading Brewer's subtle-facial expressions and Kahn's ridiculous visage is a pleasure in and of itself.
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In which the super aware hive mind of Internet laughs at the ignorance of the local broadcasters:
Claiming that Darko did something "out of the triangle." Darko looking around cluelessly when he's camped on the mid-post is not the triangle. Oh Tex.
Luke Ridnour "has the free will" to pull up and pop whenever he wants. Clearly, hard determinism hasn't made it to Minny yet.
"I talked to David Kahn"
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The curse of 31-31 has caught up to Love. He can't use his appearance as camouflage to secretly dominate the game anymore. Beasley might have been able to seduce Odom with his cloud of green smoke but not Artest. That's really why Barnes and Co. won tonight.
The scoring margin could've been better though. #gottagetthathollinger
The scoring margin could've been better though. #gottagetthathollinger
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