The Wolves picked up their
first win of the season in their first game of the season. The
topped the Knicks 99-93. The first half was all about offense. KG
was incredible, hitting his last ten shots of the half for 20
points. For the game, he ended with 28 points and 20 rebounds!
An incredible start to what could be an incredible season.
But what I was so impressed
with was all of the other players. We pretty much know what we're
going to get from Sam Cassell (good mid-range shooting and strong
decision-making) and Latrell Sprewell (hard-nosed defense, slashing
to the basket and streaky shooting). Wally Szczerbiak started the
game on a tear, hitting shot after shot from around the court.
Michael Olowokandi played some defense and grabbed some rebounds.
Troy Hudson came off the bench and looked healthy again. He knocked
down a few shots and led the team when he was out there. I am so
excited to see T-Hud and Spree running the court together! Trenton
Hassell continues to play incredible defense. Unlike everyone who is
saying he does actually have a scoring game too, I disagree. He can
knock down a few open shots and he can offensive rebound well, but I
don't think taht his offense is what got him paid! Fred Hoiberg's
minutes will likely be down some this year, but he knocked down
three three pointers last night, providing a Steve Kerr like
presence to the team. Mark Madsen continues to play harder than
everyone and that makes him a strong asset to the team! Ervin
Johnson probably won't play a lot early in the season, like last
year, to keep him strong come playoff time. And the depth will be
even stronger when Eddie Griffin is finished serving his three game
suspension.
I see the Wolves depth as the
thing that will help them win now and especially in the playoffs.
Having that quality depth will allow the starters to rest more. I
thought that KG was drained by the Lakers series last year. Cassell
and Spree aren't young and keeping their minutes down could be a
very good thing. But it isn't depth just for depth. The Wolves
second team has a lot of talent and plays well together. I have to
believe that their second team can match or outplay any other team's
depth. That is important in the fourth quarter. It will be more
important in the playoffs.
Tonight, the Wolves are in
Denver for Game #2. I hope that Trenton Hassell shuts down Carmelo
Anthony!
The infamous baseball mind,
Will Carroll, is rather upset at the results of the election. There
is quite an
interesting debate over at Will's website that I have added
my two cents to as well. As I have stated on numerous occasions, I
am not a political guru. I will not claim to know any more than
anyone else. But I do find things curious and very interesting when
election time comes along.
Yesterday, after finding out the George Bush would likely
reclaim the office of the Presidency, I wrote a couple of my
thoughts on the process and some issues that I happen to find
interesting. Again, I am not claiming to know anything, but they are
just issues that I happen to see and was curious if others ever saw
the same thing.
The response was great. It was
nice to get some response from a few people who agreed with some of
my thoughts. It was also great to get some really good e-mails from
people who disagreed with me. I love hearing that. I am big on
knowing both sides of an argument or topic before determining which
side you agree with. So, for me, it is very interesting and fun and,
not to sound too dorky, very educational for me when people write me
and "educate" me on the other side of an issue.
Just to quickly respond to a
couple of topics that were mentioned by the readers. On the Metro
versus outstate, I got a better understanding of why this might be
the case. Someone, OK my sister, sent me a link showing me that 1.)
it was not the entire Metro area that voted for Kerry, it was just
two Metro area counties (the big counties), and 2.) every county
listed in Northeast Minnesota voted for Kerry as well (Duluth, but
also the communities and counties on the Iron Range). The reasons
are because these areas are strong union areas. Also there is a high
unemployment numbers in these areas, and they feel that the
Democrats programs will better help them.
Another question that I asked
was whether other people who voted Bush were mocked and put down by
those who didn't. It was my opinion simply based on things I've seen
and heard, that Democrats are very condescending and speak down to
people in rural areas, or people who dare vote for the Republican. I
got a bunch of response to this question. I acknowledge that this is
an issue that goes both ways. Let's be honest, Republicans get all
over people who are against the war, going as far sometimes as
calling the person unpatriotic when in actuality, it is their right
to disagree with the President.
I was almost getting to the
point where I was almost feeling bad about even asking this
question. But then late yesterday afternoon, I was listening to
Patrick Reusse on KFAN.
He definitely leans to the liberal side of things and admitted to
voting for John Kerry. The first twenty minutes of his radio program
discusses why the Democrats lost, and lost so bad. One of the key
topics he mentioned was that the Democrats need to quit speaking
down to and being condescending, to the point of questioning the
intelligence, or even the importance of the Midwest states and rural
communities. Many want to call them 'uneducated.' It is such a
degrading attitude that I can see why people get so fed up with it
that they vote Republican. People do not want to have their
intelligence questioned.
Is the Democratic party more
intelligent than the Republican Party? Well, I don't want to answer
that question because I don't think it is at all applicable. I will
just mention that the Republican won the Presidential election. The
Republicans have control of both the House of Representatives and
the Senate. There are more Republican governors than Democrats.
The Twins have apparently
offered Brad Radke a two year contract for somewhere between $14 and
$19 million. Radke says that it is closer to $14 million. Radke is
saying he just wants a two year deal. Hopefully the two sides can
come to a agreement before next week when other teams can start
talking to Radke. I don't believe that he wants to play anywhere
else, but if the money is so crazy, he'd be a fool not to consider
it! It is completely his right to do so.
Ryan Maus at Twins Chatter wrote about possible destinations for
Brad Radke, again stating that we all believe that he will
be back with the Twins.
Two days ago, the Seattle
Mariners declined their $6 million option for 2005 for Eddie
Guardado. I had a couple of people ask me if I thought that the
Twins should consider picking him up. My thought was Absolutely they
should consider it if he'll sign with them for cheap. However, I
knew that there was no way that the injured Eddie was going to turn
down his $4 million player option with Seattle. And a day after the
Mariners declined their option, Eddie accepted his option. So, it
really wasn't worth getting our hopes up.
When I talk about the Twins in
2005, specifically the pitching staff, many of you have noticed that
I don't talk about Joe Mays. I need to explain this. I think that
Terry Ryan and the Twins decision-makers need to plan for 2005 as if
Joe Mays will not be playing. Sure, he very well could come back and
be a good pitcher. I certainly hope that he comes back and is at his
best, like he was in his 17-win season. But pitchers who come back
from Tommy John surgery generally struggle in their first year back.
I don't expect Mays to be any more than a 4th or 5th starter, or a
bullpen guy who pitches some innings here and there, especially
early in the season. That is why I think they need to plan as
if he won't play, and consider anything he gives them in 2005
nothing but a bonus. I, and Twins fans around the country, hope that
we get a big bonus.
The
Twins Geek
crosses into some basketball with his thoughts on the Latrell
Sprewell situation.
Aaron Gleeman
continues
his look at the free agent market. Today, he discusses
the available 2B. He does a great job of analyzing these players.
Stick and Ball Guy analyzes Justin Morneau very well!
In a very sad story,
former Minnesota Wild center Sergei Zholtok died in teammate Darby
Hendrickson's arms during a game in Minsk. It was believed
to have been heart failure.
The Greet Machine provides a number a good links to election stories
and blogs.
The Baseball Savant
wrote
a great article on VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) and Age as
it relates to hitting in the AL. It is generally believed
that a player provides his greatest value in his seasons until the
age of 32, when there is a general decrease in production. Teams
like Seattle, with players like Bret Boone and Edgar Martinez,
defied the 32 number for a couple of years, but last year, their
production dropped dramatically. What I found most interesting was
that David looked at the percentage of hitting (VORP) that each AL
team had by players over the age of 32. The Orioles (53.7%), Blue
Jays (50.2%), Red Sox (48%) and Yankees (47.7%) were the teams in
which players over 32 gave them most of their production. That isn't
surprising as they spend money on top talent, and generally these
players are older. Also to no surprise, the Minnesota Twins were at
the bottom of this list with just 3.4% of their offensive production
coming from players 32 years of age or older. Henry Blanco and Jose
Offerman were it, by my count, and neither of them produced a whole
lot. It is especially exciting when you consider the youth of Justin
Morneau and Joe Mauer and their incredibly young age. It would have
been even more incredible had Jason Kubel been healthy next year. So
anyway, I found his analysis very interesting and would encourage
you to check it out.
The Orlando Magic may be a
team for me to follow. Steve Francis hit a fairly uncontested layup
at the buzzer last night to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 93-92.
Francis had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Top pick Dwight
Howard had a double-double in his first post-high school game (12
points, 10 boards). And, as exciting as anything, Grant Hill
started, played 33 minutes and scored 20 points. Man, I hope he can
stay healthy!
Lebron James scored 28 points
with 8 assists in the Cavs double-overtime loss to Indiana. He will
be great. But is it possible that Zydrunas Ilgauskus is the most
underrated, overlooked player in the NBA? Last night, he had 35
points and 18 rebounds for the Cavs.
Wolves fans, do you remember
Keith McLeod? He was the team's backup point guard early in last
season. Last night, he started for the Utah Jazz and had six points
and 8 assists in 29 minutes as the Jazz beat the Lakers by 26
points. Kris Humphreys played 2 minutes and was 0-3 from the floor.
Sam Mitchell won his first
game as the Raptors head coach. Very impressive since he had to
start Loren Woods at center (he had 9 points and 7 rebounds). You
have to like Rafer Alston (aka Skip to my Lou of And1 fame). He
finally is getting a starting gig in the NBA after six years as a
reserve who people said was too much flash and not enough substance.
Last night, he had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for the
Raptors.
Yuta Tabuse scored 7
points in 10 minutes for the Phoenix Suns last night. He becomes the
first Japanese player in NBA history. The media is following
him around much like Ichiro!
OK, my half-hour is up. Just
two more comments. As I was happy for Wally Backman getting a shot
with the Diamondbacks, I am even more happy that Willie Randolph was
named the new manager of the New York Mets. I fully believe that he
was going to be the next Yankees manager, but Joe Torre just keeps
signing extensions. Randolph should have had a managerial job a long
time ago, so it's really about time!
On the opposite side of the
spectrum, the Phillies have decided to go with another retread as
they have chosen Charlie Manuel as their new manager. You may say
that the Phillies are a veteran team that needs a more veteran
manager, but the Mets are a very veteran team too.
That's it for today. I hope
the half-hour format was ok. Please feel free to let me know what
you think. If you have any questions, comments or ideas
for future topics, please
e-mail me.
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