Archives For Nikola Pekovic

Game Eight Preview: Bobcats at Wolves in the Target Center

Zach Harper —  November 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

The rosters don’t look similar and it’s only a couple weeks into the season so take this in the spirit that it’s intended, but this Bobcats team reminds me a lot of the way the Timberwolves played last year.

After so much mediocrity, the Wolves became a scrappy bunch that played an exciting brand of basketball. The Wolves were fueled by Kevin Love’s emergence as one of the top players in the NBA, Ricky Rubio’s creativity and electricity, and the discovery that Nikola Pekovic was a wrecking ball out of nowhere. This Bobcats team doesn’t really have any of that. They have a coach who decided losing wasn’t going to be acceptable anymore. They have a guard trio that has fueled their offense most nights, and their offense most nights is really good this season. They have a rookie swingman who is probably going to be the next great defender in the NBA.

The Bobcats don’t have much in terms of interior scoring or presence. Byron Mullens and Bismack Biyombo are the two key big men for them. Brendan Haywood is playing a lot of competent minutes. And this team is doing a fantastic job of hitting the offensive boards, taking care of the basketball, and finding a way to get shots at the rim. The Bobcats scrappiness and frenetic style are what reminds me of the Wolves of yesteryear.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Preview , , ,
permalink

Wolves 90, Mavericks 82: “I don’t use crutches”

Zach Harper —  November 13, 2012 — 10 Comments

Adelman

Rick Adelman became a broken record last year. Someone for the Wolves would go down with an injury and he’d start talking about how guys couldn’t feel sorry for themselves and had to step up. They had to make the most of their opportunity to help the team. Ricky Rubio went down with his ACL injury. Kevin Love got a concussion. Nikola Pekovic had bone spurs in his ankle the size of Gibraltar. Pick any of JJ Barea’s 27 injuries from last year.

Guys went down and the Wolves went down with them. Nobody stepped up. Nobody cared. Everybody had the calendar circled for their vacation and not for the playoffs. Once Rubio was gone, the season was lost. Once Love was gone, the season was a joke. Once Pek was gone, it was the same old Wolves again. Adelman begged a set of players without anything close to a guarantee of a future with this organization to show some pride and we only saw it one game, when they finally broke their April losing streak.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Analysis, Injuries , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Bulls 87, Wolves 80: The block is hot

Zach Harper —  November 11, 2012 — 6 Comments

This was the first real test of the Wolves’ banged up season.

Yes, the Brooklyn game was fun and the Pacers were a really good measuring stick for whether or not this team could execute against one of the better defenses in the league. Not nobody know defense like the Bulls know defense. There are defensive systems and units in the NBA that can bully you and take away key components of the game for your offense. And then there’s the Chicago Bulls defense.

You have a slight chance against the Bulls, offensively. They’re going to give you jumpers, and some of those will be open. But like a pack of wild dogs in a Snausage factory, they’re going to be swarming you. They contest nearly everything and any time you get an open look against them, you have to make them pay. If you don’t, you’re wasting a modicum of good scoring opportunities. The way they pressure you is impressive.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Analysis , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Wolves/Pacers: defending your life

Benjamin Polk —  November 10, 2012 — 9 Comments

 

Andrei Kirilenko patrols the paint

As I alluded to last night, one of the most encouraging elements of the Wolves nice start has been their basic competence on defense. That doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re a Wolves’ fan of long standing you know the thrill in the blood induced by those simple words. Great defense isn’t truly satisfying until you’ve been made to watch (and cheer for) hours and days of awful defense; and lord knows we have. Its true that the team hasn’t played many offensive juggernauts so far–of the Wolves’ five opponents, only the Nets have managed to crack the top-25 in offensive efficiency. Still: the Wolves are allowing just .93 points per possession, good for seventh in the league. That is happy news no matter who you’re playing.

Continue Reading…

In Game Analysis , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Wolves 107, Nets 96: Reactions and grades

Zach Harper —  November 6, 2012 — 12 Comments

I really can’t believe the comeback that happened tonight for the Wolves in Brooklyn. Without their two best players, Minnesota went on the road, got down by 22 on unbelievable shooting from the Nets, and still managed to pull out a victory.

Alexey Shved and his new haircut became a real pro player tonight, Dante CunningHAM continued to woo us with his incredible energy and valuable movement off the bench, and the 3-point field goals finally began to fall. This is such a cliché but this was a total team effort on all counts. They were getting blown out as a team and came back as a team. Their mistakes were corrected during the course of the game and the regression eventually smacked the mean in the face and challenged it to a duel at ten paces.

Rick Adelman can’t receive enough credit for the coaching job he did. He trusted guys who were getting the job done, and gave them the tools and scheme to get it done. Check out the night’s grades after the jump.

(Note: if you’re not seeing grades show up, try looking in Firefox. There have been issues with Chrome and the recap generator.)

Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Grades , , , , , ,
permalink

Raptors 105, Wolves 86: All of the turnovers in the world

Zach Harper —  November 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

Thought you might want to see some pleasant turnovers for once.

Remember how the Wolves took such great care of the ball against the Kings, which was a huge contrast to the careless nature with the ball last season? Apparently, there is a big difference between playing a Keith Smart coached team and playing a Dwane Casey coached team.

The Wolves were disgustingly careless with the basketball. They didn’t seem to value their own defensive boards enough, giving up 16 offensive rebounds to the Raptors. Those offensive rebounds led to 21 second chance points. And then there are the turnovers — my god the turnovers! There were 24 turnovers by the Wolves in this game that resulted in 32 points for Toronto. That’s 53 points off of carelessness by the Wolves. Half of the Raptors’ points came off of carelessness. That’s disheartening.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Analysis, J.J. Barea, Kevin Love, Rick Adelman , , , ,
permalink

Game Two Preview: Wolves at Raptors in the Air Canada Centre

Zach Harper —  November 4, 2012 — 1 Comment

So the Timberwolves won a game in which Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love were in suits, Nikola Pekovic had nine points and five rebounds, the team shot 36.8% from the field and just 2-of-17 from the 3-point line?

What the what?

Now there are two possible reasons for this:  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Preview , , , ,
permalink

Timberwolves 92, Kings 80: the bloom on the rose

Benjamin Polk —  November 3, 2012 — 4 Comments

Brick city.

Its a bit embarrassing to look back on what I’ve written on home openers of years past and find an optimism that ended up being thoroughly unwarranted. In those back pages, you’ll find glowing talk of the newfound wing athleticism brought by Wes Johnson and Michael Beasley. You’ll hear about the possibility inherent in the triangle offense and the inevitability of an endless river of Mike Miller threes. So yeah, a little embarrassing. This is partly because new beginnings and the feelings of renewal they bring on and, oh yes, partly because the Wolves open at home against the Sacramento Kings nearly every year. Its enough to stir the optimist in anybody.

Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Analysis , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Game One Preview: Kings at Wolves in the Target Center

Zach Harper —  November 2, 2012 — 1 Comment

Here we go!

We’ve been waiting months to see how this whole thing would work in a real game that counted. The dead weight from last year has been excavated from the site and now the Wolves will have a bevy of competent and actually good players to run through Rick Adelman’s system, which they’ve been able to learn for over a month now.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Preview , , ,
permalink

We’ve got a new Pek’ing order for now

Zach Harper —  October 30, 2012 — 6 Comments

A funny thing happened on the way to Nikola Pekovic’s contract year: Kevin Love broke his hand and gave Pek the chance to show just how much he’s worth.

The timing of this injury — in line with Pek’s last season before restricted free agency — couldn’t have been more perfect for the third-year center. In fact, it’s a complete win-win for him. If he plays well and helps carry the team for the first month or more, he probably guarantees himself a max offer in restricted free agency, just to put pressure on the organization to match (I see you, Paul Allen). If he doesn’t play well and help carry the team, nobody would fault him at all for not being up for the task.

Pekovic came into this season with the preseason buzz phrase “best shape of his life.” He looked like a lean pitbull, ready to patrol the dog run without a glimmer of fear. With eight-ish pounds shed off his immense frame, Pek has not only taken the pressure off his surgically repaired ankle, but he’s allowed himself to move a lot freer than before. And somehow he even got stronger.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Player Analysis , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink