Beware of the Wolves

In the aftermath of the Kevin Love trade, the Minnesota Timberwolves were expected to occupy the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Their insistence that Thad Young be included in the booty for Love was just seen as a concession to a team denying their place in the league’s hierarchy. Through three games, the Wolves are living up (down?) to expectations at just 1-2 with their lone win being against the lowly Pistons.

But a deeper look at Minnesota in the early going would uncover a team that lost by just five total points to two teams -- Chicago and Memphis -- that are a combined 5-1 and expected to headline their respective conferences. Those results seem to be an indicator that this Wolves team is going to be a lot friskier than you’d expect. The driving force seems to be Young, whose presence as at the 4 and improvement as a 3-point shooter (50 percent so far) has rounded out a deep Minnesota rotation.

The Wolves' preferred starting lineup of Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin, Andrew Wiggins, Young and Nikola Pekovic has the balance in terms of skills sets and talent to hang with most in the league. Then a bench unit of Mo Williams, Corey Brewer, Shabazz Muhammad, an improved Anthony Bennett and last year’s rookie sensation Gorgui Dieng fill out a legit 10-man rotation that would be the envy of a lot of coaches around the league. The Wolves possess the versatility to play a lot of different ways -- from small with Williams, Rubio, Young and Dieng to big and long with Brewer, Wiggins, Dieng and Pekovic -- and ride the hot hand of any number of players with the potential to carry Minnesota offensively for stretches.

This roster is one of the few in the league that can be adjusted on a game-to-game basis to counter whatever the opposition throws at them. The key question will be if Flip Saunders can manage this difficult talent effectively and supplement it with proper play calling. The danger to playing without a concrete sense of self, however, is that constant shape-shifting on the Wolves part could create a disconnect with what the Wolves do best. It’s a fine line their head coach must walk. No matter what, Saunders must avoid getting too stuck on concepts -- like repeatedly posting up Wiggins seemingly on the basis that he’s the No. 1 overall pick -- that aren’t in the team’s best interests. But make no mistake, this Wolves team seems like it’s going to give opponents all they can handle on a nightly basis.

To Foul or Not To Foul

With just over seven seconds on the clock, the Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton lined up his second free throw as his team clung to a two point lead in their opener against Charlotte last Wednesday. The Hornets were out of timeouts so if Middelton -- a career 84.7 percent free throw shooter -- increased the lead to three, Charlotte would have to advance the ball the length of the court in their attempt to tie the game. That left Milwaukee’s head coach Jason Kidd was faced with one of the toughest in-game decisions a coach has to make: foul and take precious seconds off the clock with a round of free throws for both teams or defend an hope to seal the victory. Kidd chose the latter and this was the result.

After the game, Kidd was asked about the decision (courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel):

"It was a thought," Kidd said of fouling and sending someone to the line for two free throws. "But we thought we would play it out. We were switching everything. Again, you tip your hat. Kemba made a tough shot."

When it comes to fouling when up three points late in games, there’s still no overwhelming consensus so it’s not as if there was a clear-cut choice that Kidd steered away from. Each instance of a team up three has a unique set of factors that play into it. Sorting through them in each situation is what can make or break a game. When considering the facts in this case, however, it seems as though fouling might have better option, primarily because of the combination of time left on the clock and the way Charlotte had to create a game-tying shot.

If Charlotte had timeouts left and were able to advance the ball past halfcourt, fouling becomes a lot more difficult to execute. Because the ball can immediately be thrown into an operating area, it’s easy for a savvy player to catch and immediately look to go into a shooting motion knowing a team is going to foul and earn three free throws. There’s also a chance of a flukey “And 1” scenario where a botched foul attempt on a player driving to the basket inadvertently turns into a three point play.

In an open court situation, there’s a far greater chance of a crucial defensive mistake occurring due to the frenetic nature of the play than a defender not finding a good opportunity to foul the ballhandler. Charlotte didn’t do anything that complicated -- they just ran a simple drag screen with Al Jefferson and Walker -- but Kidd was still asking his young team to pick up full court and switch everything out on the fly. With a smart veteran team like he had in Brooklyn last year, this might have been a fine decision. But the Bucks are a combination of NBA neophytes and young veterans like Sanders who are not known for possessing outstanding basketball intelligence. In other words, Kidd would have been better served controlling the situation with free throws and letting the time drop to a point where Charlotte was left with just a desperation heave from beyond halfcourt. Again, the fact the Hornets had no timeouts to advance the ball and set up a play is a big reason why fouling might have been the better option.

For the Bucks, losing a game like this isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. They’re young (and bad) so another year in the lottery is in their best interest. But for Kidd, this is a situation he must reflect back on and grow from as a coach. He has been entrusted by Milwaukee’s new ownership group to lead this young group to contention over the next few seasons and is still has a lot to prove as a coach. One day, a situation like this will crop up in a game that matters, the hope is that by then Kidd has used this experience to put his team in a better position to win.