khandor’s sports blog

… Corey Brewer was able to receive a relatively unfettered inbounds, take 2 dribbles, and then make a running half-court 3PT-shot to send last night’s Rockets/T-wolves game into its first overtime. 

Despite the Rocket’s diminuitive Point Guard dropping a career high 43 points, in this 3OT affair …

Minnesota Timberwolves 114
HOUSTON ROCKETS 120

What this corner would really like to know are the specific answers to the following two questions:

Q1. What were Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza thinking, when they chose not to hard-deny an easy inbounds pass to Corey Brewer?

Q2. What was Rick Adelman [i.e. Houston's future Hall Of Fame head coach] thinking, when he chose to sit Luis Scola [6-9] down on the bench and, instead, have Chuck Hayes [6-6] defend Kevin Love [6-9], as the inbounds passer from the T-wolves baseline, after a made free throw?

Thankfully for the Rockets they were able to persevere and, at least, on this occasion, pull-out a hard-fought victory over an increasingly stubborn band of Minnesotans.

On the whole, however, it’s still-sometimes-questionable decision-making like this - from the Rockets’ PG, OG and head coach - which will almost inevitably end-up costing Houston the 8th and final playoff position in the Western Conference this season with the Thunder, Jazz, Hornets and Grizzlies breathing hard down their collective neck.

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PS. In this specific end-of-game scenario there is no acceptable excuse possible for the Rockets not to have had their tallest available player defend against Kevin Love and not have their 2 guards [i.e. Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza] hard deny any inbounds pass to a player in the T-wolves’ back-court. 

What you see here …

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Kahn: Rubio not ready to jump to NBA 
“This morning I met with Ricky and his parents and told them that I understood Ricky’s decision,” Kahn said in a statement issued by the Wolves. “It was clear to me yesterday and in this morning’s meeting that the pressure surrounding Ricky and his family to remain in Spain for at least two more years had only intensified as the summer wore on and was weighing heavily on them.

“The NBA is the best basketball league in the world, by far. As an 18-year-old man, Ricky would have been challenged on a nightly basis to a degree he has never experienced. In order for Ricky to meet this challenge fully, I believe it is important that his family and other people important to him were comfortable with the move to the NBA and fully supportive.

“I also agreed with Ricky’s position that two more years of competition in Spain and the Euroleague will only aid his development and that he will be much more ready for the NBA when he joins us” at age 20.

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is the best possible outcome for the T-wolves, in a sticky situation.

At-present, Minnesota is entrenched at the bottom of the NBA.

Ricky Rubio … given his age [18], the state of his physique [skinny], and his present skill-set [can't really shoot it consistently] … simply isn’t ready to make a significant contribution to an NBA team, over the course of an 82 game season.

Minnesota:

- Just hired an entirely new coaching staff
- Has its star Big Man in the process of recovery from ACL surgery
- Has its best SF in the process of recovery from ACL surgery
- Has a current roster which looks like this … and,
- As of right now, has a fairly high probability of landing the No. 1 [overall] Selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, and at least one other high 1st Round Draftee from the 2011 NBA Lottery, given their prospects for success in the Western Conference these next 2 seasons.

If Rubio arrives in the NBA, from Europe, in time for the 2011-2012 season, the T-wolves franchise will be in a much better position to take full advantage of his unique package of skills, at the PG spot, when:

Kevin Love [PG] will be 22 years of age,
Jonny Flynn [PG] will be 22 years of age,
Wayne Ellington [OG] will be 23 years of age,
Corey Brewer [SF] will be 25 years of age,
Aleksiy Pecherov [C] will be 25 years of age,
Ryan Hollins [C] will be 26 years of age,
Al Jeferson [PF] will be 26 years of age,
Ryan Gomes [SF] will be 29 years of age, and,

Kurt Rambis [and Co.] will be in his 3rd season as their head coach.

If David Kahn is truly serious about building a championship basketball operation in Minnesota that’s the type of roster - with an eye towards the future - which can get the job done in the long run … provided the plan includes adding a high calibre 1st Round draft pick next summer, a 2nd high calibre 1st Round draft pick the summer after that, and a dominant, pass-first PG, with good size, and skill, and charisma, like Rubio, for the 2011-2012 season.

After rolling “craps” for quite some time, the T-Wolves may have finally been able to “make their point”.