The Wolves showed a lot of heart in pushing the Celtics to a crappy last-second call, and the optimists among us thought they could ride that moral victory into some actual W's against weaker teams. So last night's game against the Bucks tested that theory, and proved that there's no such thing as a "moral victory" for the Wolves or any other team, only defeats.
The Bucks outshot the T-Cubs, but not by much. All of the news outlets made Andrew Bogut (pretty good) vs Al Jefferson (pretty darn bad) the story, but the Aussie's numerous dunks and blocks don't reflect the real reason the Wolves lost: rebounds.
It stands out among the other stats like a giant pimple, ready to pop and infect the surrounding area. Milwaukee out-rebounded the cubs 51-38. That's thirteen more possessions, which meant eight more shots for the clusterbucks. The offensive rebounds shot the Wolves right between the eyes. Seventeen off the offensive glass has another name: inside domination. It wasn't just Bogut either. Every Milwaukee starter grabbed an offensive board, and only Brandon Jennings snagged less than two. That's where the Wolves have really missed Kevin Love, who is one of the best rebounders in the league. He's gone for at least three more weeks. Until then, the cubs gotta grow up and grab the ball.
The good news is that Jennings' hot start cooled when he faced Jonny Flynn, who not only shut down his draft classmate's shot but also took him to town for twenty points. So no, David Kahn did not screw up by taking Flynn over the other point guard from Europe. Flynn's already the Wolves' best guard, and he's only going to get better. He'll learn more of the offense, and his teammates may learn to hit shots eventually.
It's not pretty now, and thankfully the powers that be chose not to broadcast the game. Sometimes the box score is more fun to watch. It won't be for long.
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