Having Some Fun

“That was fun. That was fun to be a part of.”

 - Magic coach Jacque Vaughn, after his team lost to the T-Wolves in O.T.

“This is such a fun team to play on. Nobody is trying to lead the league in scoring here. Everybody has the big picture of getting to the playoffs. That’s one thing I told young guys that have never been there. It’s about team ball and just playing for one another. That’s what makes teams fun to play on.”

 - T-Wolves two-guard Kevin Martin, after the Wolves beat the Knicks to go 3-0

Fun. A little goes a long way at work, in relationships, and definitely in NBA basketball.

With the Wolves’ first five games in the books to start off the 2013–14 season, fun is the best descriptor of the action thus far after an opening night overtime win over the Magic, two impressive victories over playoff-quality squads in the Thunder and the Knicks, a one-point loss to the Cavs that featured a furious, though ultimately futile, Wolves comeback, and a losing battle to the Warriors that nonetheless featured two of the up-and-coming-est teams in the NBA.

I’m on the fives right now, so let’s do…

The Five Most Fun Developments/Surprises of the Wolves’ First Five Games:

1-Big Engine Offense

When it’s hitting on all cylinders—as it was during the team’s 3–0 start—this team can score in a variety of ways. In those first three games, the Wolves dominated the early action by averaging 37.3 points in the first quarter. This was achieved by the starters clicking well together and Rubio setting the pace.

2-Serviceable Defense

More surprising than the high octane O has been the very decent D. Again, the first three games were much better efforts all-around, and especially on defense. Against the Thunder, Corey Brewer—who looks every bit as capable as the departed Andrei Kirilenko to be the Wolves’ wing stopper—hassled league-leading scorer Kevin Durant in a 13-point performance. And against the Knicks, the Wolves gave up just two points in the last four minutes to shut down NY’s late rally and win the ballgame.

3-K-Mart

The most refreshing breath of air has come via the skills of Kevin Martin, the old dog on the team at age 30. His 3-point marksmanship and breezy offensive game (no standing around, no pounding the ball, quick moves, quick shots) has been as infectious as Rubio’s passing can be. Hopefully this will really rub off on JJ Barea. It’s unlikely that Martin will keep up his fiery shooting from deep (56% over the first five games), but if he can keep averaging close to the 21 ppg per night pace he’s on and keep up that good ball movement, he’s going to be very valuable to the Woofs. He doesn’t seem as terrible on D as advertised, either.

4-K-Love

Seems that Kevin Love’s attitude has improved somewhat. And his game thus far has been very good. After winning the Western Conference Player of the Week, he said, “It’s cool… but I’d take a 3-0 start over any of that. Big thanks to my teammates and coaches.” Good answer, Kev, good answer. The 3ball he made opening night to send the game into OT was great—though I fear it did send his confidence soaring too high; the clanked three he settled for as a possible game-winner in Cleveland could have been taken a lot closer to the hoop.

One of the best quotes I’ve seen in ages—or possibly ever—from a player came from Kevin Durant during an article published in SI during the 2013 playoffs.

Said Durant:

Let’s say you’ve got 40 apples on your tree. I could eat about 30 of them, but I’ve begun limiting myself to 15 or 16. Let’s take the wide-open three and the post-up at the nail. Those are good apples. Let’s throw out the pull-up three in transition and the step-back fadeaway. Those are rotten apples. The three at the top of the circle—that’s an in-between apple. We only want the very best on the tree.

Our man Kevin Love could become WAY choosier about his apples.

5-Pluck

Love’s opening night 3. The whupping of the Thunder. The barging into the Garden and throttling of the Knicks. The comeback versus the Cavs. That’s a lot of chutzpah in the first week of the season.  

To keep things balanced, a slightly less verbose list of…

Five Areas for Wolves Improvement:

1-Ricky’s shot. 

C’mon Ricky! For a man with such pinpoint accuracy on his passes, not to mention the fact that he shoots above 80% from the foul line, Ricky’s field goal attempts have always seemed inordinately broke. You can see him trying too hard to take shots he thinks he needs to take rather than going by feel. Improved shot selection is the next step toward All-Star status. It’ll come.

2-K-Love’s infatuation with the 3ball. 

Get over your longball, Kev. No need to, as Sylvia Plath said, “masturbate a glitter.”

3-Not feeding Pek enough. 

Big man’s hungry. Throw him a few potatoes.

4-D-Will’s well-deserved dissatisfaction. 

After getting a DNP the first night despite there being legitimate public debate about whether Derrick Williams would START at the small forward slot, many were left wondering, including me. Feel like Adelman just dislikes D-Will.

5-Losing to the Cavs. 

That should’ve been a win. And in a tight West, the Wolves will need every win they can get.

Excited to see what happens next.

Best case over next three games:

-Back-on-track win over Dallas at home

-First win over the Lakers in eons

-Give the Clipjoint a good game