Battle of the Bloggers No. 5 - Response

It's really getting interesting now. With just one topic remaining for our resident bloggers, it was a tight race as all tried to determine which Wolves would lead the team in scoring, assists and rebounds.

The 2007-08 Timberwolves aren't the Lakers or the Cavs. Really, how dumb would it to have a question to Los Angeles-area bloggers asking which Laker would lead the team in scoring? But at the same time, if you didn't say Al Jefferson was going to lead Minnesota in rebounding, you were going to finish last. If Jefferson doesn't top the team with well over 10 boards a night, then Bo Jackson isn't fast on Tecmo Bowl. Guessing who's going to lead the team in scoring and assists, however, is not quite as simple.

Yet and still, we came to a relative consensus that Randy Foye has the best chance to lead the team in dimes, and five of the bloggers agreed. As for scoring, there were four bloggers in Jefferson's camp, one in Foye's and one in Davis'. Now, If a date with Jessica Alba were on the line, we'd go with Jefferson in a photo finish with Buckets for the scoring lead. Among the Jefferson-Foye-Jefferson answers, Anthony Hall and Sonia Grover argued equally well, so after much debating, here are the scores upon which we settled.

6.5 points: Anthony Hall, (26.5 total): twolvesblog.com
6.5 points: Sonia Grover, (22.5 total): twolvesblog.com
5 points: Kate Doan, (21 total): mnsportsfans.com
4 points: Dave Kelsey, (20 total): twolvesblog.com
3 points: Stephen Litel, (25 total): hoopsworld.com
2 points: Alex Halsted, (11 total): Twolves Wordpresst
1 point: Derek Hanson, (14 total): twolvesblog.com

Hall's best point against Davis in the scoring aspect was the Gerald Green/Rashad McCants factor. Still, when Davis is on the floor, he has to score, which is why Foye has a better chance to lead the team in assists. Foye can either pass or score, as long as he's producing baskets. As for Grover, she mentioned that Foye will touch the ball on every possession and improved his ball distribution. She also noted Al's 51.3 FG% and that he'll be fed with regularity, a claim we can't make for certain about Davis on the perimeter.

Doan's point about teams that feed the low post often producing the team's highest scorer was good enough to give her the edge over Kelsey, who opted for Davis in terms of team scoring title winner. Of course, Kelsey could be right, at which case we'll retroactively tell him how smart he is. But Jefferson is a safer bet, and he's shooting it from 10-feet away most of the time.

Big Al's definitely leading this squad on the glass, and most of the bloggers think he'll be No. 1 in scoring as well.

The reason we dropped Litel was that the reason he chose Foye over Jefferson/Davis in scoring was "wanting to select Jefferson due to his being the team's new cornerstone, I decided against it until I see Big Al consistently lead this team in the category." Well, Foye hasn't done that at all, whereas Jefferson led Boston in scoring in Pierce's absence. And Davis is the top returning scorer on this team. Sure, Foye may play more minutes (and he's definitely a scorer) but he's more responsible for moving the ball than Davis or Jefferson will be. Lastly, Davis is simply going to have to "Get Buckets" sometimes for this team, so his assist numbers might suffer a bit.

Halsted, we liked your final decisions, but you got in trouble with the "Davis I crossed out because it isn't 100% he'll be here." You can say that for any player. We're operating under current roster settings, because everything else you've heard about player movement is simply speculation. And what's up with the "I just have a feeling?" Hook up some numbers!

Finally, what can we say about Hanson's presidential advertisement? Hey, it was fun to read, but in good faith to the other bloggers, there weren't going to be many points coming your way, Derek. Refreshing, nonetheless. Respect.

That's all for today ... Stay tuned for the final battle, and subsequent awards. As always, link to any of the blogs at the top of this page, where the bloggers can always rip me should they disagree with our opinions.

Cheers.