Lost In The Crowd

All the games the Wolves have played have been close. Until the fourth quarter comes around. These kids are young, thats for sure, but if they want to get any recognition, they need to come up big in one of the next few games. Not only are we looking for a win, but the Wolves need a motivational game. One where not only is our offense clicking on all cylindars, but the other team is very off. It will happen at some point this season, but for Wolves fans looking to win soon, it needs to happen NOW.

When The wolves took on the Magic at home for the third game of the season, the media in the MSP area were hyping up the Jefferson-Howard matchup. Three quarters into the game, however, it seemed it was all one sided. After three quarters, Jefferson only had 13 points and 4 rebounds. Not only was Howard dominating the matchup, but he was getting into Jefferson's head. However, when the fourth came around, something clicked, and Jefferson picked it up a notch. Or five. Jefferson got 12 points and 6 rebounds in the fourth, and kept Minnesota within two with a few minutes left in the game. However, Lewis decided to start hitting shots, and hit some key threes to keep the Wolves down. The Magic pulled through, winning 111-103.

Lesson 3: Give Jefferson the ball. Its instrumental to the success of the team, and right now with Foye out and McCants with an injured ankel, we need Al to step it up offensively to stay in games.

On to Los Angeles. Going into the game, the coaches and players all knew we had to contain Kobe to be in this one. We played well all game, but forgot to do one thing. Contain Kobe. The wolves took their usual early lead, and then got taken over quickly, as the Lakers lead from the second quarter on. Our defenders let Kobe get 30 7 and 7, which took any momentum we may have had at any point away. However, McCants did not play at all, so I don't think anyone expected the Wolves to even be close. The only reason it wasn't a blowout was the stellar play of Telfair and of course, Jefferson. Telfair went for 15 3 and 3 in his first game off the bench (Marko started), and Jefferson had his usual 24 and 15 game. The Lakers pretty much showed us what they can do to a team with no offensive players, beating us 107-93

Lesson 4: In order for a team to win, they must be healthy

After being demolished by the Lakers we got to see how this team fared on a back-to-back game. The team flew up to Sacramento, where they met another team that has been struggling early on, in the Kings. This matchup seemed like a decent chance to get our first win, as they were coming off a game the day before as well. However, like most games, the Wolves lead early, and gave in in the end. Brewer was a big reason the Wolves were in the game, as he hit a few key shots and ended with 15 points. If he can average around there soon, we may have quite the young lineup, as he is known more for his outstanding D. Watching this team play you can't help but wonder what our record would look like if we had our number 1 or 2 guy Foye in the mix, but after Kevin Martin put us away for another disappointing loss, we stand near the bottom at 0-5. Looks like our young guys need more time.

Lesson 5: Get a go-to guy. Right now Jefferson can be that some games, but the Wolves need a reliable 4th quarter man to get points and win this team close games. Hopefully that man will be Foye.