MVN: Most Valuable Network

In Monday's blog, I questioned whether Big Al would be a leader on this team.  Perhaps Al is a reader of Wolves Watch, because he had one of his best fourth quarters of the season and prevented his team from surrendering another lead.  Jefferson was all over the paint, creating opportunities for both himself and his teammates.  When the Sixers threatened to spoil yet another game for us, #25 found #33 for a sweet three pointer with thirty seconds left that was essentially the nail in the coffin.

Finally, we are starting to see some returns from the Miller/Love trade.  Love has already made some contributions in his limited role on this roster, but Miller was brought in to be the go-to shooter in situations just like the ones the Wolves have found themselves in numerous times this season and were in again on Wednesday night. 

On Wednesday morning, when Fred Hoiberg was on KFAN's Paul Allen show, the former three-point specialist pontificated on the ensuing game and had a few keys for a Wolves victory:

1.  Get Miller going - Miller is the team's best shooter, possibly the best playmaker, and can spread the floor to give better looks to Al.  He can't be afraid to take more shots than he's been taking so far.

2.  Keep a quick pace going in the fourth quarter.  The offense has really bogged down, whether it be from a different look on defense or just a lack of focus.  The Wolves have worked on sprinting down the court and keeping the pressure on the defense.

3.  Play solid defense against the Sixers' bigs, Samuel Dalembert and Elton Brand.  Kevin Love will be tested once again against these veterans.

Well, put a half of a check mark next to number one, because Miller still only took 7 shots and didn't do much at all in the second half, but he did score those three crucial points with 30 seconds left in the game. 

The Wolves pace on offense was fine in the fourth quarter, it was their defenseive letdowns that almost killed them.  The tempo of the offense should be largely dictated by the point guard, but it helps when you have a group on the court who are all on the same page.  We saw the Wolves win this one with a cohesive unit on the court as opposed to a musical chairs sort of offensive rotation.  It was Foye, Miller, Gomes, and Jefferson with a pretty even rotation at the center position between Craig Smith, Kevin Love, and Jason Collins.  Smith, by the way, had his best game of the season and finally justified the minutes he got tonight.  I think having a regular group of starters out there will help the team keep the pace they want on offense.

They did a pretty good job on Brand considering he was the guy through which the Sixers offense ran, and Brand only went to the line 4 times while Dalembert didn't make a single trip to the line.  Although the Wolves shot just just over 73% from the free throw stripe, they went made more trips than the Sixers, who shot just 65%.

Next up for the Wolves?  KG and the Celtics in what will be The Ticket's first time playing in Target Center in something other than a Wolves jersey.  Storylines aside, the Celtics are a better team than the Timberwolves and shouldn't have too much of a problem dispatching the now 2-8 team.  Let's just celebrate a victory while we still can.