Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG

[RolePlayer]

This, this is lovely

[TheDominator273]

Ladies and Gentleman, we are watching the young Corey Brewer grow up before our eyes. Every game out the young rookie out of the University of Florida shows us something new. Tonight, it was the evolution of his offensive game as he was a perfect 8 for 8 from the floor including a beautiful eurostep that left Ron Artest swiping at air, as well as a strong And-1 finish on a fast break dunk. But the cherry on top, was a HUGE reverse slam of an alley oop pass from Randy Foye following a 1-3 pick and roll.

Speaking of Foye, his 15 point 2nd quarter sparked a huge Timberwolves run that the Kings couldn't recover from. Foye looked like the player the Wolves thought they were getting when he was drafted him out of Villanova just a year ago. However after a disappointing rookie season in which he didn't stand out, he was passed over for the starting spot to Sebastian Telfair who came over in the Kevin Garnett to the Celtics trade. After some strong play recently by Foye and some poor performances, a switch might be in short order.

There really isn't much else to say about this game, it was never close after Foye has his scoring burst in the 2nd quarter. Per usual Al Jefferson was his efficient self, putting up a quiet 31 points on 13-18 shooting. The Wolves as a whole were extremely efficient throughout and the win was essential to stop the bleeding of 4 straight losses.

[TheDominator273]

Friday nights game against the division rival Portland Trail Blazers was an extremely entertaining game to watch. What looked like an early blowout as the Timberwolves jumped out to an early lead, finishing the first quarter up 13 points, quickly turned into a competitive game as the Blazers came roaring back in the 2nd quarter, briefly tying the game up before the Wolves would close on a 6-0 run to finish the half up 6 points.

In the 2nd half the game remained competitive as the two teams each went on runs and lead changes were plenty. The Wolves defense ultimately prevailed and they again closed the quarter on a big run that would continue on into the 4th quarter as the Blazers let the game slip away from them.

For the Timberwolves ,they were lead in scoring again by Al Jefferson, albeit in a rather inefficient manner as he scored 21 points on 20 field goal attempts, however he had 5 assists and 8 rebounds to go along with playing great defense against Zach Randolph.

The catalyst for the Timberwolves victory was none other than Corey Brewer, who has been on a tear lately. Brewer continued to show a facet of his game we had yet to see as he created both for himself and others. Brewer finished with an efficient 15 points on 7-11 shooting, also notching a double double with 10 assists. And it wouldn't be a Corey Brewer performance if he didn't impress defensively and tonight was no different as Brewer had 3 steals while forcing Blazers star 2nd year guard Brandon Roy into an inefficient 11-22 shooting performance.

Noticeably missing from the game for the Trail Blazers was the #1 overall pick from this past draft, Greg Oden. Oden is out for another 4-6 weeks after he tore his left patellar tendon back on the 22nd of October. Oden, who has only played 3 games this season prior to his injury, is averaging 6.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.7 assists on the season.

[TheDominator273]

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Bobcats have reached an agreement that will send the 2006 #3 overall pick Adam Morrison to Minnesota in exchange for Michael Doleac and Miami's lottery protected 1st round pick.

Morrison, who has struggled to adjust to the NBA game, was a national sensation as he starred for Gonzaga. He captured the hearts of the country behind his long floppy hair and the ever famous mustache. In their official press release, the Timberwolves announced that Morrison's debut game on Sunday, November 18th will also include a free stick on mustache for the first 10,000 fans.

[TheDominator273]

It took two quarters for him to get going, but the newest Timberwolf Adam Morrison was able to show why he was a high draft pick just a year ago as his versatile scoring gave the Wolves a dimension they haven't had all season. Morrison quietly had 10 points in the first half, but in the 3rd quarter he made his presence known by dropping 12 points in the 3rd quarter. His scoring punch was key to the Wolves pulling away in the 3rd quarter as they jumped out to a large lead and were able to hold off anything the Grizzlies threw at them.

For the first time since he moved into the starting lineup we saw Corey Brewer struggle with a defensive matchup as Grizzlies swingman Rudy Gay toyed with the rookie all game en route to a 29 point 11 rebound performance. Despite being beat off the dribble by Gay throughout the night, Brewer still managed to make some big defensive plays, notching 2 steals and a block. He topped that off with an efficient 11 points on 5-7 shooting while also grabbing 7 boards and dishing out 6 assists. Seeing Brewer stay focused on his ever growing well rounded game despite struggling with a 1 on 1 matchup is a very encouraging sign.

[TheDominator273]

We have reached the 20 game mark of the season and the Minnesota Timberwolves sit at 7-13 which is good for 12th place in the Western Conference, 3 games behind the 8th seeded Los Angeles Lakers. The 2k Wolves have more than twice as many wins at the same point in the season that the actual 2007-08 team who was 3-17 at the 20 game mark. Let's take a closer look at how the individual players are playing compared to their real life counterpart at the same point.





The two obvious standouts are the games played in the 2k universe by Randy Foye and Adam Morrison, both of who had injuries that kept them out for large parts of the 2007-08 season. So lets ignore those two and look at the rest of the roster.

As you know if you've read any of the above articles, Al Jefferson has been the teams best and most consistent player, and interesting enough his 2k stats nearly mirror his real life stats at the same point in the season. The biggest difference between the two is real life Big Al played around 4 more minutes per game to put up the same stats.

The other player that has an intriguing comparison is Corey Brewer. In the 2k universe Brewer has moved into the starting lineup, which explains the minutes bump we see. However he has also been a much moore reliable offensive player in 2k than he was early in his Wolves career as he scores nearly 2x what he did in real life as well as dishing out nearly double the assists. It is interesting to note that the real life Corey Brewer was a much better rebounder, averaging 50% more than his 2k counterpart.

What player comparisons stand out to you? Are there any players who's performance is surprising thus far?

[saintrules]

This is sick man, sweet idea. I'm not too familiar with this roster but I remember hearing this trade and just being blown away by all the dudes on the move for KG, but then again, it was freaking KG!

The only thing's I have noticed so far are the amazing names among the PPG Leaders, my gosh 07-08 was a time to be alive, the Lakers are getting roasted even though they're entering their championship years, and the Grizzlies should be in panic mode.

I'll definitely try and follow.

[TheDominator273]

I think the Grizzlies are tanking for Derrick Rose who headlines the draft class. Although they do have a young Mike Conley starting and a talented but hasn't broken though yet Kyle Lowry on the bench so their best bet might actually be Kevin Love or OJ Majo who would both fill positions of need and are well regarded prospects in their own right. Also in their defense I made the Pau Gasol to the Lakers trade far earlier in the season than it actually happened. Marc Gasol is still young and hasn't developed into the player we know him to have become (part of what makes this so fun to me, it's going to be so interesting to see the different career arcs of players).

I need to create the box score for it still, but the next installment is KG's return to the Target Center...