Archives For Terry Porter

11-on-11: Comparing Derrick Williams under Adelman and Porter

Steve McPherson —  February 1, 2013 — 7 Comments

Williams

The theories about exactly why Derrick Williams has underperformed in the NBA are legion, encompassing everything from unreasonable expectations for a player who shouldn’t have been picked so high to fundamental concerns about his tweener status to even more fundamental concerns about his work ethic and motor. (If you want a good read about his efforts to get better, check out Jon Krawczynski‘s post on Yahoo! Sports.) One particular thread of this discussion, though, is the idea that coach Rick Adelman simply doesn’t like playing young guys—that Williams is being punished unreasonably by being installed in Adelman’s doghouse and could blossom if simply given some more time on the court.

You can hardly blame Adelman for Williams’ inability to stay in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. After picking up 5 fouls in just over 12 minutes of action, Adelman had little choice, but given Williams’ history with Adelman, it seems reasonable to wonder if Adelman’s return will not be a positive for him. As it happens, Adelman’s recent absence from the sidelines has given us a perfect opportunity to look at how Williams fared under Terry Porter during the 11 games he coached versus the 11 previous games under Adelman. Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season , ,
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Adelman returns

Benjamin Polk —  January 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

Rick Adelman will be on the bench for the Wolves’ matchup with the Clippers on Wednesday–and not a moment too soon if you ask me. We don’t know much about Kay Adelman’s illness–which is as it should be–except that her health is evidently improving. We do know that the Wolves were 2-9 in Adelman’s absence. We also know that we are glad he is back.

Not being privy to the day-to-day interactions of coach and players, its hard to suss out precisely how the coach affects his team’s play. What’s more, Terry Porter’s brief run as Wolves’ head coach coincided neatly with this most recent plague of injuries–you know, that one that has observers unduly praising Mickael Gelabale. Its clearly unfair to judge Porter based on a record compiled with the sparse, overextended roster that he’s been saddled with. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted the task of, for instance, defending Deron Williams and Joe Johnson with the J.J. Bareas and Luke Ridnour’s of the world.

That said, the Wolves did seem to be less well prepared and to play less creatively with Porter at the helm. And Adelman while has always been reflective and insightful regarding his team’s play, Porter, with his “everybody pull together/keep working hard” bromides has seemed less so. (Not that we should be judging anybody based on how they interact with the media, but Porter’s “going with the hot hand” defense of J.J Barea was a low point.)  Again, its hard to fathom exactly how a coach’s presence influences a team’s play, particularly given a sample size as tiny and deformed by circumstance as this one. Nevertheless, like I said, we’re glad that Adelman is back.

In 2012-13 Season , ,
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Nets 91, Wolves 83: Looking for the forest with all these trees

Zach Harper —  January 24, 2013 — 18 Comments

RubioInTheTrees

I didn’t expect to be writing this post.

At the beginning of the game, the Wolves were undermanned and completely overmatched. This Nets team is healthy and a lot better than what the Wolves are able to run out there. That much was evident in the early minutes of the game. I was going to write about Starbursts — you know, the candy? I was formulating my thoughts about Starbursts while hoping to catch a glimpse of a great pass by Rubio to placate my necessity to see him light up the Target Center.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Analysis , , ,
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Bucks 98, Timberwolves 95: So… about the other night…

Zach Harper —  December 28, 2011 — 11 Comments

Monday night was a wonderland.

The ball was flowing like wine in the offense. There was help defense, scrappiness against the best team in the West, and a care for maximizing the possession inspired by our own Spanish sommelier. And you were there, and you were there, and J.J. Barea too.

Last night?

It was a flashback to last season, when we were screaming at the coach to get the bad lineup off the floor and wondering just how many turnovers had to be committed by the Wolves until we walked around Uptown punching every person you saw. What’s that? That was just me? Well then, surely you can empathize with the screaming at the coaching, yes?

I don’t want to absolve the team of any bad play because the effort from last night should be an overwhelming sense of embarrassment for them. It was the reason they’re currently on a 17-game losing streak dating back to last season. It was the reason that everybody used to laugh at the franchise, and feel bad or confused for why we’re all Wolves fans in the first place. However, the third quarter of this game was the exact feeling I felt when Kurt Rambis was on the bench.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Rick Adelman couldn’t be with the team and I wish his family the best in this time of grieving. Because of that, we had Terry Porter calling the shots from the bench. After a frustrating first half of basketball in which the Wolves hung in the game despite playing horrendous transition defense, horrendous halfcourt defense and turned the ball over like Rick’s petition to the league got the green light, they had a chance to erase all of those bad feelings of fluster from the first half and come out firing back at the Bucks. Instead, the Wolves came out flat. The lead was quickly pushed from 12 to 19 and we all began to feel the equivalent of being a basketball POW.

Continue Reading…

In 2011-12 Season, Game Analysis , , , , , , , ,
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Woodson and Porter in the hunt

Benjamin Polk —  July 19, 2011 — Leave a comment


The Timberwolves official coaching search has begun. According to Jerry Zgoda at the Strib, Terry Porter, that pigeon-toed former Blazer and T-Wolf interviewed with the Wolves on Monday. And today, the reports are the former Hawks’ coach Mike Woodson is in town to chat. Which is a little peculiar considering that neither of these  fellows are known for coaching up-tempo basketball. Porter, remember, famously slowed down the Suns to not very great results. And in Atlanta, Mike Woodson’s offense was built around shot-clock burning half-court isolations for Joe Johnson–not exactly the best formula for an open-court team with a creative point guard and dicey perimeter scoring. But who know, perhaps basketball DNA is more fluid and permeable than its biological cousin.

In Coach Interviews , , , , , , ,
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