The Mavs had 32 points off 26 Minnesota turnovers. You're not going to beat anyone taking care of the ball like that, certainly not the league's hottest team. (125-112, BOXSCORE)

Jonny had 8 of those giveaways himself, and looked more like a rookie than he has since the second week of the season. I think Rambo actually gave him a longer leash than was necessary in this one, normally I advocate for letting the rooks play through those patches, but Ramon was much more in control and better suited to face the savvy core of guards Dallas employs (including their own rookie, Beaubois, who appears to have a future).

I've tried to blame the refs for less as I've gotten older and taller (Bones and I discussed the thankless profession at length during the 2nd quarter), but this one was poorly officiated and I remain astounded by how few 'home' calls we get. There were a number of blown touch-foul calls, TWO (offensive) 3-second calls on Kevin, and of course, the impossibly bad Flagrant-2 designation given to Hollins' incidental blow to Digler's dome. The turnovers are on us, but horrible calls shift the momentum even further and that's one more obstacle this team doesn't need.

The bright spot was obviously Al, who went off for 36 and 13 - NOW, let's keep it in perspective by adding that both Haywood and Dampier were out and the Mavs are a terrible rebounding team - but still, clearly Jefferson was fired up and mentioned after the game that he knew he'd let everyone down last week, and wanted to prove what he's capable of. Which, tonight, meant being the league's best back-to-the-basket scorer. His few mistakes came in the usual variety, foolishly attacking triple teams and waiting too long to kick out, but he DID actually have a few nice looks to cutters on the baseline and it was hard to blame him for not finding shooters when we were 4-22 from beyond the arc. Until we can supplement his game with TRUE shooters, the double and triple teams are only going to get more aggressive.

I will say the Mavs are legit, Butler is the perfect complement to Dirk and Kidd, and when they get healthy, I can't think of an offensive unit I'd rather have.Will they win a 7 game series w/the LakeShow? No, but at least it'll make April and May more interesting. My buddy Josh (huge Mavs fan) drove up from IA for the game and I found myself jealous of his enthusiasm about the club. Must be nice to be backing a contender....

Rambo had his familiar tone of resignation in the post game presser, starting and ending statements with pauses and sighs. I actually agree with the majority of what he says, his understanding of the game and his players are obvious. But there has to be changes to the schemes on both ends, this team is better than 14-50.

Let's assume that Al will plead no contest during his scheduled appearance before a judge on April 23rd, because much like his on-court persona, in-court Al has no defense.

One of the few things that Kahn and co had to hang their hats on in yet another season of soured expectations, was that they employed a solid group of citizens. Pleasant, articulate young men that always say the right thing when the cameras are rolling (which isn't that often, actually) and manage to behave themselves when away from the team. No attitudes or egos to sort through, the lockers of Ike Rider and Shaddy long since Febreezed.

Then Al, unwilling Leader of this franchise, decided that he'd spend the early hrs of Sunday morning robbing the organization of that as well.

I'm always mildly surprised when athletes and celebrities end up with DWIs. These people have millions of dollars and entourages that could fill middle schools. You can't find a ride home? How bout calling a stretch Escalade to drive the nine miles? Bet that costs less than you spent at the bar. You don't think O-Pech would show up in his Astro van if you called? Cripes, I'm 5-time Sober Driver of the Year for the city of Minneapolis, text MY ass and I'll come pick you up.

"I made a very poor decision and I am truly sorry… I know that more is expected of me," said Jefferson in a statement issued on Monday.

As Costanza would say, you can stuff your sorrys in a sack, mister. The silver lining is that the two game suspension could mean some run for Natty J.

In OTHER news, Check out what DK had to say to Hank today regarding our young friend, Ricky.

For the second time in a week, OKC beat up on the Wolves, Westbrook had his way with both of our point guards, and fans got a look at two young franchises, one of which appears to have a promising future...

(109-92, BOXSCORE)

Really the only thing to be positive on this road trip (other than the sloppy win against a Wade-less Miami) has been Love's return to dominance inside. He's really been the only Wolf making noise for the past three games and he continues to come off the bench.

None of the starters had more than 12 (Al hasn't even sniffed 20 this week), and Darko actually led the team in boards with 9 (also off the bench).

Two months ago they were battling. They were losing at pretty much the same rate, but they had a chip on their shoulder, and played with a lot of intensity. Watching them these days you rarely see a trace of that competitive spirit. Heads hanging, shoulders slumped, arguing with each other after turnovers - they have the look of a group that expects to lose.

This is typically where the head coach does something heroic, calls someone out in the locker room, rattles some cages. But Rambo has said time and again that he's not one for dramatic speeches, and he knows as well as we do that some serious personnel changes are in order before this ship is righted.

If you're in the building tomorrow night, shout something motivational.

I'm not ready to call Al the worst interior defender in all of basketball, but if he manages a third consecutive heartless effort I'm not going to have much choice.

The Thunder had won eight straight heading into this one, and 'stormed' out to a 13-2 lead behind effective ball movement and their mid-range militia of Durant, Green and Harden. Were it not for the play of our bench, we might have lost this game by 30.

The starters were going through the motions and being careless with the ball. Gomes played his worst game as a Wolf, going 0 for 9 and essentially asking to be taken out of the game in the second half. Damien, whom I've openly criticized this season, was 7-12 and handled Durant better than anyone else. He was one of two players in uniform that seemed to genuinely care about victory, the other was (you guessed it) Darko - who debuted with 8 and 8 in 19 minutes. The crowd was thrilled to see him hustling and went crazy after every play he made. He's clearly out of shape, but still exhibited three times the desire of Big Al tonight.

I don't want to overreact to this losing streak the same way I did to the winning streak, but if we drop all three on the road this week there will be some serious questions about Jefferson's future in Minnesota. My buddy Bones was quick to text the most telling stat of the evening, concerning the suddenly trendy +/-.........Big Al, -37....Darko? +35.

Wow.


As much fun as it was to enjoy the Wolves fifth consecutive loss at Target Center with my buddy Leo, in town for his annual pilgrimage from the Chi, the same problems that have plagued us all season made the second half painful to swallow. If we've made the conscious decision to stop playing interior defense, you know, because we generally dislike working hard and really just want the ball back anyway, then we should at least take care of business on the other end by doing little things, like making free throws.

OR we could shoot 11-20 at the stripe (including 2-8 in the over a stretch in the fourth) and give up SIXTEEN offensive rebounds in a 6pt loss. (100-94, BOXSCORE)

Al was disinterested and even more sluggish than usual, Kevin decided to let a couple non-calls ruin his night, and Jonny followed up a solid first half with a wide array of rookie mistakes. The recent steps back are especially disheartening after two weeks of efficient basketball that almost had me ready to stop hating the triangle. But rather than subject you to the same rant you've read a dozen times, I'm gonna freshen things up by allowing Leo (AKA Lenny da Bull) to offer his insight on last night's game as well as his take on the trade deadline salary-dump that positioned his Bulls for some play in this summer's free-agent frenzy.


KKT.com readers...Taking in the game last night at the TC gave me a chance to watch my new faced, new look, salary cap room Bulls squad. Its always just a tad bit different watching your team on the road, especially when they handle business. But when I make my annual 70min plane ride to this land of frozen lakes, it gives me a chance to purchase clothes with no sales-tax AND catch up on the Pups.

I'll be honest...I'm not really sure what is going on.  Amidst the wolf-howling, I tried to understand the young squad that plays on that 2-toned colored floor. I really now appreciate players like Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah who arent flashy or huge scoring threats but know their roles. The Pups don't rebound, and I wonder what Big Al thinks about during those 24 seconds he is supposed to play D. Flynn is probably the best bet for the next few years and maybe Rambis will decide to coach during timeouts instead of creating dry-erase art. K-Love looks like he's trying...really hard..but its not quite coming together for him.

As Stevie mentioned the game was lost at the line, and the Bulls never had to play with any sort of urgency, because the Wolves didn't create any REAL pressure. Flip Murray and Hakim Warrick laced up for the first time and were clearly lost running simple pick and rolls, but somehow managed. Rose did what he had to while hitting his mid-range, and Kirk's jumper got wet. Total team effort for the Bullies who are working on a 4 game win streak as they face Philly tonight. And not that it matters, but Vinny looked awfully nice in his suit. 

What Bulls fan are really excited about is that chunk of money we plan to spend in July. First there were rumors of Wade, now the favorite is Bosh based on the few plays he made during the All-Star game. I actually kind of do hope it is Bosh, if all goes well. I know Wolves watchers may not care, but I feel your pain. Our Jalen Rose, Eddie Robinson, Eddy Curry glory days remind me of what Minne is going through right now, but this core of youngins might be worth sticking around for....and if not, there's always Ruuuuuuubio.....right?