02/25/2010 - 15:48
Far From Satisfied
by
Matt Martino
The last time the Minnesota Timberwolves met the Atlanta Hawks, the result was a 25-point blowout loss on the Wolves home court.
Thanks to timely first half scoring and stingy second half defense from Al Jefferson, the Wolves would not be blown out again. But Minnesota couldn't finish its second half comeback in a 98-92 defeat.
Al has all but regained his All-Star form, but that's not enough for him (Getty Images). |
Hawks coach Mike Woodson was impressed with Minnesota’s improvement and praised the young Wolves for their fight:
"They're playing much harder than when we were playing them in December."
Big Al finished with 10 points, four rebounds, and a block, but wasn’t ready to call the effort a moral victory:
"We did a good job getting back in the game. That's all good. We could be happy with that, but we had a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, we fell short. Turnovers killed us."
AJ was more concerned about losing despite a valiant effort from he and his team:
"We still lost the game. I can't be too excited that we lost to them by 20 then and now we lost to them by six. We still lost."
No. 25 scored six points in the game’s opening moments but played only 10 first half minutes due to foul trouble. In the second-half the Wolves came back from a 16-point deficit thanks to Al, who atoned not with offense but rather with his effort on the other end of the court.
"I thought Al did a terrific job playing defense," coach Kurt Rambis told the Star-Tribune. "That's something we're really working with him on, to be a presence at that end of the floor: moving his feet, defending his people out on the floor, defending smaller, quicker guys. I thought he did a really good job."
Al wasn't so sure that he played terrific, but chalked his defensive resurgence up to simply doing what is asked of him:
"I mean, I don't know," he replied to the Star-Tribune. "I'm just trying to do my job on defense. If he said I was that good, I guess I was."
UNSELFISH AL
Though Al was limited to 10 points on the night, Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune believes there is justification for the drop in scoring:
"Part of it can be explained by circumstances: integrating Milicic into the lineup the past three games, Wednesday's early foul trouble.
Part of it can be explained on Wednesday by the Hawks' aggressive double teams on Jefferson.
"He didn't get a lot of scoring opportunities because they work hard getting the ball out of his hands," Rambis said."
Al told the Star-Tribune that he's more than willing to sacrifice whatever he has to if it means the team is working effectively, as it did in flashes on Wednesday, but moreso on Tuesday in a win over the Miami Heat:
"It was real good because we won. When you got a group out there playing well, it'd be selfish of me to be mad because I'm on the bench. We won the game. I was happy. I was into the game. I was excited the way the guys were playing, and we came out with the victory."
NEXT UP
The Wolves flew to Oklahoma City after Wednesday’s game where Rambis will let the team have Thursday off after back-to-back games.
The Wolves (14-45) will be back in action on Friday to play the Thunder (32-23) for the second time in less than a week. The teams last met on Sunday when Oklahoma City pulled out a 109-107 nail biter. Al finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Minnesota then returns home on Saturday to host the Portland Trailblazers (34-26).
RELATED STORIES
Jefferson back for key minutes of close loss (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, February 25, 2010)
http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/85281442.html
Too far down, Wolves lose 98-92 at Atlanta (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, February 25, 2010)
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/On_the_Wolves.html
Smith scores 27, Johnson adds 21 as Hawks win 9th of last 11 at home (AP, February 24, 2010)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300224001
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