364 days ago I left for work in the morning with an extra hop in my step. The Minnesota Timberwolves were scheduled to play the Los Angles Clippers that night. Two of the best power forwards in the league would be facing off, in Kevin Love and Blake Griffin. Blake was really hitting his stride about this time last season, quickly becoming must watch tv for anyone with League Pass. I even thought about taking a brief nap after work just to make sure that I would be able to stay up all night at watch the game.
I didn't get to watch the game that night. Instead I was in a hospital room, watching a PBS documentary on Jeff Bridges and checking for score updates on my telephone as Mrs Buffalo yelled at me and told me to put that thing away-- I did. A couple of hours later I was feeding her ice chips, shortly after that a new member of our herd joined us.
I've gotta say, I really don't remember who won that game but I am pretty sure it wasn't the Wolves. Maybe it worked out for the best that way. Maybe this way the Calf and I will be able to watch the Wolves take their revenge. Then again, it will probably be past his bedtime.
Oh gees, 366 days.
Get ready for a late start. No way espn cuts this lakers/magic game before it is over for the wolves.
I just watched some of the nba.com vids with Barkley and Shaq disagreeing on who is the best power forward in the NBA. I find it strange when Barkley is the reasonable and informed individual in an argument.
Is there an argument for someone other than Love? I ask this seriously.
Evidently Blake Griffin impacts the game more than Love does, according to Shaq. If Love's so good, why have the Wolves been so bad, is the Big Diesel's reasoning. Blech.
Is that the same one where Barkley said Griffin is a little overrated and everyone got on him for saying that?
Tonight will be the first Clippers game I've paid a lot of attention to, but from the parts I've seen I would say that it is fair to call a guy without a jump shot, post moves, or much of an interest in defense is a little overrated.
That said, Griffin's the kind of player (strong, great athlete) that seems to give Love fits.
Listening to Basketball Jones podcast tonight, the book on Griffin is exactly that.
He's also a poor free throw shooter.
How is that podcast, consistently good? I need to get back in the habit of listening to a rotation of different podcasts.
First listen. I'm trying to find podcasts for my long rides.
Hopefully you'll get a chance to regularly listen to the WGOM.
I'm excited about that. I do want to contribute.
Griffin also seems like an incredible d-bag. And jumping "over" the Kia earned him a spot on my list of athletes who I severely dislike.
Griffin is good and fun to watch, but there's no comparison between him and Love.
my feed of the nba.tv has the announcers warming up off air. i love it when that happens.
I see a hundred Sam Adams beer commercials on tv everyday, but I dont think I have ever seen anyone drink it #waitingforwestcoastgamethought
I have seen many, many people drink it. I wouldn't turn it down if it was offered, either.
I've seen me drink it.
Hubie Brown. OMG, I am so psyched.
I thought the same thing. Not only are the Wolves on ESPN, they get a solid announcing crew!
Billups, Foye, and Gomes. Heh.
Is it just me or do the Clippers have 3 former in the starting lineup?
They do.
Might as well call Darko E.D. since he gets soft when he's close to the hole. I hate that weak hook shot.
Ha! Dude, as long as he hits it, I love it.
Man, Darko's little hook looks so pretty sometimes.
Manna!
Johnson going to the line again.
Free throws for Wes.
FREE THROWS FOR WES!!!
Sure, he passed up a wide-open three. But still, free throws!
What are you drinking? I blew in from ND tonight and I'm celebrating with Jim Beam.
Old Overholt Manhattan
A&W root beer
Barleywine.
The Dalmore Grand Reserva. It helps to drown out the Wes suck.
Red Chair.
only the best for mama joe's baby boy.
Darko seems motivated for this game
I'm drinking surly.
Wes is going to the paint every time he touches the ball tonight. It is too bad the results have been so Wes-like.
I'll take it, he's active. Too often he just goes to the corner and stands there the entire possession.
Furthermore he is putting himself to get offense rebounds just by being in the paint, as seen on the last possession. I know it has only been two games but I like this Wes a lot more than the one we saw the first 13 games of the season.
Has to be Adelman working with him and (gasp) actually coaching him, right? So nice to be relieved of the Zen Apprentice.
Worse than Rodgers. That's saying something.
Rick. Adelman.
I thought he was fouled on that last one. Maybe he's getting the anti-Wade treatment from the refs.
This first quarter has been--what's another word for "not good"?
Rambisesque?
Sucktastic.
I'm going to go with Darkorific.
Holy Moly! Darko dunked! With both hands!
I hope he didn't get another boo-boo from it.
Milicic made Griffin his bitch.
Made me laugh. Awesome.
That's the poster I want for my bedroom.
Man! What a block from Darko! He is making me use so many exclamation points!
The Clippers are good at offensive fouls-- and technicals.
5 fouls and 2 techs the guards of both teams so far.
Oh, for dumb.
Bad end to the quarter. Clips just shot the lights out.
DARKO
OH MY Darko!
Darko?! What was that???
How is it that the Wolves have managed to get a case of the Mondays on a Friday?
Griffin depantsing at the free throw line.
Foye and Williams on fire from 3. Griffin hitting free throws. Awesome.
That seems unsustainable, though.
Yes, it does *seem* unsustainable. But Moe Williams is in a zone right now.
Anthony Tolliver is The Rene Tosoni of the Timberwolves.
and whomever made the ridnour/punto comparison was pretty spot on in my opinion.
Jonny Flynn is BJ Garbe.
Jonny Flynn is Bombo Rivera.
He's Canadian?
I picked up three packs of baseball cards at from the impulse lane today. First cards I've bought in a decade, probably. Tosoni was the only Twin.
Well, Jason Marquis was in there too, but it was a Diamondbacks card.
Did the Clippers just miss a jumper?
Pek! with the obligatory stupid foul
Axel an reminds me of Hackman in Hoosiers.
I can't type on an iPad!
Killdozer with the seal.
I'm disliking Fortson intensely after he got the foul call on the baseline drive against Pek and then stops in front of Rubio. Refs are pissing me off, too.
Why yes, this is where I meant to put this comment. Why do you ask?
Heh. At least I got a response. Last night the Canis folk were trying out nicks for Pek. Balkan Bulldozer led to a conversation about the "death punch". I thought
Killdozer. (Named after a brutish, noise combo from Madison on the Touch and Go label nearly 3 decades ago. (freealonzo prolly members 'em.)
Is Courtney Fortson the first woman to play in the NBA? Why have I never heard of her before?!
When I saw the last name, I thought "really, Danny Fortson is still around?!?"
LOL. I thought the same thing. Then I thought, wasn't Fortson a bit bulkier than that?
I don't like that chick.
No big deal. The Wolves are a second half team.
PEK!
I like Pekovic.
darko and the pek leading the pack!
Blake Griffin has acne scar mutton chops.
Uh oh, I think I made him mad.
Blake Griffin is one ugly mofo.
I like how Blake can shift pivots foots all under the basket to draw a foul.
He does seem to be allowed a lot more pivot feet than most players.
If Milicic could play like this every game, he'd be one of my favorite players on the team.
If wishes were horses...
There'd be horse apples everywhere, I know.
Mmmmm. Horse apples.
where the hell did love come from there?
That's what she said?
heh.
Rancho Cucamonga
Fun fact. I had a pen pal as a kid from Rancho Cucamonga. His name was Cody McAllister. He loved the NES game Knight Rider. That's all I remember about him.
Somebody needs to have their courtside privileges revoked for that.
21 for Mo Williams. Oy vey.
Eh...I've gotta say, this feels like a game we should be losing by about 30 points. If Williams regresses, maybe we can get back in this thing...
That was as positive a take as I could come up with as well. Love and Rubio haven't played well, Mo f'ing Williams can't miss, but the Wolves aren't completely out of it.
apparently, he's just playing basketball. if we can stop him from doing that, we should be good.
LOL.
Man, Wes really sucks.
Steal by Rubio, outlet to Love, pass to Wes on the fast break. So nice.
And Wes makes it and the free throw!
TWO Darko dunks in a game? That's gotta be a first!
Woooo, that was a pretty pass from Love to Darko.
Free
kittensDarko!Discount Double Check lives!
I'd sure like those commercials to stop. At least until next football season. Sigh.
I thought the myriad Mauer ads burned longer. And more cruelly.
This is true. Those were brutal. I'm guessing there will be less Mauer ads this year. That's fine with me; I'd much rather see him playing baseball.
BTW, nice intro, Buffalo.
Kevin love got mauled, and no call. yuck
Nothing like some atrocious officiating to put the damper on a nice Wolves run.
Holy effing balls! Darko was shoved on that play. What game are the refs watching?
Is Wes scared to shoot the ball? He looks like he's going to crap in his pants anytime he's about to shoot.
yeah, thats about the 5th time where he has gotten the ball open in the corner and decides to take it inside. weird
If I shot the ball like Wes, I'd be afraid to shoot in a Y league. He is awful/worthless. Bring on Martell!
Yeah, he's flinching every time.
There you go, Wes!
I think Adelman gives him thirty lashes for every missed three.
Rubibrick :/
Rubio is going to need a larger hoop.
Rubio's shot has completely disappeared. Evidently Mo Williams took it.
WES HIT A THREE!
The calf is determined to watching this game tonight, even if he is going to cry through the whole thing.
I'm going to join him by the end.
Seriously, how good is Hubie?
He cheers for all the players to do well, which is refreshing, plus he's not being shy about calling players out for stupid moves.
The refs apparently didn't buy that Ridnour knocked Evans to the ground there.
Clippers look tired already. I hope the Wolves run them off the court in the fourth.
Griffin is just begging for calls, eh?
Yeah, I'm not going to be complaining about Love begging for calls after watching Griffin show how it's really done.
Nice pass, Chaunce.
Rubio would have made that pass.
Derek Williams dunks the ball hard.
if he was a pitcher, he would pop the catchers mitt
That's what she said!
Announcers complaining about Williams' lack of consistency. Isn't his career a little young for that?
He has been as consistent as his minutes allow.
it went from a Clipper 4 point lead to 12 in about 45 seconds
Fighting...urge...to bail
Hope you fought the urge successfully, spoons.
I did. Good call this time.
how are they still kind of in this game?
Well, at least Gomes isn't killing us...
Rubio isn't hitting tonight. It might be time to, and I can't believe I am saying this, put the ball in Luke's hands.
DThrill bringing it in the 4th.
These refs are clueless tonight.
Does he ever dunk with just one hand?
It takes two hands to bring the THUNDER like he does
re: refs. Ken Mauer has to prove he isn't a Minnesota homer every time he is in on a Wolves game.
All kidding aside, look at Mauer's stats in the last 10 games he has officiated a Wolves game. Then again, the Wolves being 2-8 over a 10 game stretch seems about right.
Probably shouldn't have ejected Mo, then. Still, he deserved it.
SEE YA MO!
it is so weird seeing a Timberwolf team playing hard on defense
Why hasn't there been more talk about Pec for MVP?
Rubio with the extra point!
At least one free throw was made...
That's two points the Wolves are going to wish they had, later.
Like now.
Yup.
Or now.
That was...ummm...awesome?
You know what I love about this Wolves team? With the bench being so deep and so young this team has legs. This team can run you ten deep and it keeps Minnesota in games in the 4th quarter. At the very least, it is keeping games fun.
I think I dislike Blake Griffin a lot. Nice flop, jackass.
He needs to start dating a celebrity. I'm gonna go with Lindsay Lohan.
Kim Kardashian is available
He and Bill Simmons aren't dating?
Oh, I think I have to side with wattsy on this one.
Kathy Griffin?
Isn't that his mother?
Damn, Jordan can jump.
Ten million dollars a year can get you pretty high.
Remember last year, when the players got Tee'd up if they whined to the refs about calls at all? Yeah, I miss that.
oh my
Again, DARKO!
What the hell was that Darko? LOL
Did Darko call glass on that?
Ricky Rubio is good at basketball.
Not the jump shooting part so much, at least right now, but yeah, he kicks ass at the rest of it.
Except for, you know, three-pointers to tie with 20 seconds left. He nails those.
UGH killer misses that possession
No points after all that? Effin' eff.
Full credit to Darko tonight, the Clippers crowd cheered because he fouled out. How often has something like that happened during Darko's career?
Any time he fouled out at home?
OK, OK, you got me on that one.
At least Rubio is making the free throws. And then he misses one. Sigh.
SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK
THREEBIO!!!!!
RUBITHREE!
RICKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!
Those two points would be really useful now.
RU-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
This team is f'ing entertaining! RUBIO!
again, how are they still in this?!
One time!
Just enough time to win.
you were saying?
NO WAY!
LOVE!!!!!!!!
Kevin. Fucking. Love.
ICE COLD.
THAT. WAS. AWESOME.
Holy shit! I hope I didn't wake anybody up.
heh, totally. jane just put Pete down again. i limited myself to loud clapping, but i was still worried for a second.
AW, HELL YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
NO F'N WAY!
That was awesome.
And Staples Center is dead. Silent. Awesome.
Oh, hell yeah!
Kevin 'dagger' Love
WIKIPEDIA SHOULD SHUT DOWN UNTIL THE TIMBERWOLVES GIVE KEVIN LOVE A MAX CONTRACT!
Agreed.
They ran a f*cking two-player screen for the PF/C to win the game. That is fantastic.
Yeah, Blake Griffin is the best PF in the league, right?
Just keep replaying that ESPN.
I haven't enjoyed watching ESPN this much in years.
Heh. They just said that Love and Griffin have pretty similar stats.
25/14 and 21/11 are the same.
i'm ready for a love/rubio buddy cop movie. get on that, spoons.
I'd be stupid not to do this. Basketball players are usually excellent actors too, right? Meh, Rubio's a looker. I'll capture the female demo regardless.
Basketball players are usually excellent actors too, right?
Mos def.
Oh, wow. I must see it.
That has to be the greatest film of all time. I can't believe I've never heard of it.
I have seen it. It's all that and more.
But not as entertaining as this.
That was so awesome.
I have not watched basketball with any regularity since Malone and Stockton retired. Perhaps WGOM would have got me excited about the Garnett years. All I know is I'm actually enjoying this game again.
I've never watched it, really. I think after this game, I'm hooked.
the night where the Timberwolves broke Twitter...right now trending
That last tag seems different than the rest.
I think we should all agree to start tweeting Rubio until he makes the list.
Rubio was on it most of the night. Darko was for most of the 4th quarter of the game
Kevin Love vs. Sumo! This is awesome.
SBG, this one's for you:
That is beautiful.
I like this, too:
What changed? Heh. Thank you, James Dolan, for blowing up your team to bring in that poseur 'Melo.
not sure how long this will last, but here it is:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmBhy5VtXzw
also, this one is still available too:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho8W9jFuj6c
0 for 10 until this shot...