Smith Dominates Opening Win

Boxscore

Second-year forward Craig Smith was beastly in a 85-83 OT victory over the Hornets in Vegas, scoring 25 points with seven boards and three blocks. Rookie Corey Brewer was also impressive, adding 16 points and 8 rebounds to the winning cause.

The goal of this column is to give you as much information on the young Wolves as possible, starting Monday night in Minnesota’s first summer league game at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. First up? A pregame chat with head coach Randy Wittman, where he had this to say about Smith:

“He had a great three days (of practice) here. He looked very good, and I’m looking forward to seeing him play against some other teams. He was pretty dominant in practice, and he’s worked hard this summer. He looks like a different player, and it’s a credit to him; when you do those things, it pays off.”

We start right there because it’s not often that a head coach heaps praise as such. But, after watching Smith practice this summer, it’s not much of a surprise. Last year’s second-round pick looks phenomenal, and we’re expecting him to unleash a nice package of quickness and strength on the Hornets tonight.

Wittman will actually be an observer as assistant Jerry Sichting handles the in-game duties for the five summer league games. But while Sichting was going over the game plan, I spoke to Wittman along with Rick Alonzo of the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune’s Kent Youngblood. Aside from his praise for Smith and Foye’s offseason workouts, Wittman predicted we’d see a lot of fouls after “three straight days of two-a-days, (where) it’s pretty competitive. You don’t have officials in there, and they’re doing a lot of grabbing and clutching that they aren’t going to be allowed to do out there.” We talked about some of the lesser-known players on the squad, how the three days of practice went, and what he wants to see the most. The answer to that question was simply that he wanted to see his guys play together.

Alas, here are the starting lineups for the 5:30 p.m. tipoff:

Wolves: Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, Corey Brewer, Craig Smith and Luke Schenscher
New Orleans: Milt Palcio, Chris Hill, Julian Wright, Marcus Vinicius and Yemi Nicholson

On paper, the clear edge goes to Minnesota. You have four first-round picks on the floor including the MVP of last year’s summer league (Foye), plus the aforementioned Smith, a player for whom N.O. doesn’t appear to have an answer. Not to mention three national championships (bench players Chris Richard and Mateen Cleaves add three more).

FIRST QUARTER:
Both Minnesota and New Orleans are taking their time in half-court sets to start the game, and the pace has been a bit slow as a result. Expect the game to open up after they get up and down the floor a few times. Brewer is blanketing Julian Wright defensively, but Vinicius hit two early jumpers to make it 5-0 before Smith tapped home a McCants’ miss from the perimeter. On the subsequent possession, Brewer scored his first five-on-five point for the Wolves with a pretty drive and left-handed finish.

The Final Four MVP then picked Wright’s pocket in the lane and quickly hit Foye with an outlet pass, but the former Villanova Wildcat missed his first shot of the night. Foye averaged over 25 points a game last July, but before the game I asked Wittman if he expected Foye to distribute more with options like Smith, McCants and Brewer. He said that “Randy is going to be Randy.” He explained that it’s Foye’s nature to be aggressive, but they don’t necessarily expect him to put up 25 a game.

Back to the action… With 6:00 left in the quarter, Smith hit two FTs after McCants beat Palacio off the dribble to create the space. Milt responded with a deuce at the other end, before Smith beasted his way to the rim past three defenders for another bucket. The explosiveness we were expecting is 100 percent there with Craig. You can be excited about this, Wolves fans. Trust me.

Speaking of second-round picks, Chris Richard has been in the game for but a minute and he already has two points on a putback, a steal and a board. His college teammate at UF, Brewer, just hung for a pretty leaner to culminate a 6-0 run that gives the Wolves a 12-11 lead; Minny looks much more comfortable already. I just pieced through the rosters for the 21 teams here, and I think Minnesota has the best. Bias aside, we’re stacked. I think Portland (LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden, Martell Webster), Memphis (Mike Conley Jr., Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry), New York (Renaldo Balkman, Nate Robinson, Mardy Collins and Golden State (Brandan Wright, Kelenna Azubuike, Marco Belinelli) will all contend. But wouldn’t you take Foye, Smith, McCants and Brewer over any of those groups? Mailbag me if you disagree, or make fun of me if we don’t do well. I digress.

Immediately out of the TO, Mateen Cleaves hit a wide-open jumper before Smith stole the ball from a driving Adam Haluska. Smith again got right to the rim, had his shot come out but Richards cleaned it up. Back on defense, Smith blocked his second shot of the night and is literally dominating the game. Smith’s first step in particular looks much different from his rookie year.

Player of the Quarter: Craig Smith, Timberwolves: Absolutely no question about this one. Aside from an impressive stat sheet (6 pts, 5 reb, 3 blocks, 4/4 FTs) Smith did whatever he wanted to New Orleans. Beast.

SECOND QUARTER:
Richard has been in for just three minutes so far, and he has four points, two boards and two steals. He just tipped in a Ryan Bowen miss near the hoop, but was called for basket interference. I disagree … should have counted. On the other end, Brewer just cleared his third rebound, and fed Richard for an open jumper. It came out, was heading out of bounds and both Brewer and just-into-the-game Ryan Bowen dove over some fans attempting to save the ball. Didn’t work, but some terrific effort from both players; 25-17 Wolves two minutes into the second after a Cleaves layup. Bowen and Cleaves are two of the savvier, more veteran players in the summer league, and have a calming presence when on the court.

Nice lil’ baseline J from Brewer here after an entry pass to Smith, who quickly returned the favor to set up 2007’s No. 7 pick. A few plays later, an authoritative box out from Richard and a quick outlet to Cleaves results in another Smith hoop. I can’t say this enough … the combination of quickness and strength he’s coming with is at a whole different level than the players trying to guard him. Seriously. With another offensive board on the next possession, Smith hit his fifth and sixth FTs to make it 32-22 Minnesota. Beast is the first to 10 points. Yup, there’s Smith again a possession later with another hoop. 12 points.

Smith’s now defending the smaller Julian Wright, who’s definitely an NBA three, and Foye just launched another long jumper. Swish. 39-32 Wolves and Smith sits down. Meanwhile for N.O., Palacio has done a good job penetrating and finding teammates, and just set up the third-straight Hornet layup for narrow Minnesota’s lead to four at 41-40. The Wolves have taken their collective foot off the proverbial pedal here and allowed N.O. to come back. So, back comes Smith, who immediately draws a charge before knocking Jackson Vroman out of the lane and dunking on his family.

Player of the 2nd Quarter: Milt Palacio, New Orleans: The seven-year vet out of Colorado State has five dimes in the quarter to just one turnover, leading his squad back into the game after trailing by nine after one.

HALFTIME SUMMARY:
Behind Smith, Brewer, Foye and Richard, the Wolves were clearly the better team in terms of talent and energy for a quarter and a half, but seemed to ease up after opening up an 11-point lead. Chris Hill (9 pts in the 2nd) and Palacio led the comeback. For Minnesota, Smith has registered a game-high 14 points and five rebounds to go with three blocks; Brewer had eight points and six boards, Foye five points and two dimes, and Richard six points, three boards and a block off the bench. McCants didn’t seem to have his legs under him, going 0-for-4.

Biggest problem of the half: The PA guy is announcing as if this were the And-1 Street tour, only the crowd isn’t into it and it’s awkward. Just thought you should know.

THIRD QUARTER:
Expect Minnesota to come out with some intensity here after Coach Sichting gets into them a bit for easing up (or, maybe he won’t … who knows). McCants knows he didn’t play well in the first half, and came out aggressively by going to the hoop immediately and converting two FTs. After a Hill travel, Smith proved that no halftime adjustment can help the Hornets guard him, drawing another foul and converting both FTs. Schenscher (by the way, who has two che’s in their name?) follows with a defensive board, then an offensive board and putback and the Wolves have the first six points of the second half. Add on a Brewer FT and it’s 50-42 with 6:30 left. Finally, with 5:40 left, the Wolves concede a bucket but it’s a great start to the half from Minny.

Cleaves, the former Final Four star for Michigan State, just dropped a three; the seven-year vet Bowen followed with two FTs to make it 55-44, equaling the biggest lead of the game. Subs from both teams traded buckets subsequently, and the quarter ended with Minnesota leading 61-53. McCants looked better in the third, scoring four points and grabbing three boards. His team, however, hit just 4-of-13 shots in the quarter.

Player of the Quarter: Mateen Cleaves, Timberwolves: Cleaves scored five points and dished four assists in the quarter as the main factor in the seven-point margin.



FOURTH QUARTER:
Foye checks back in for Minnesota here, and we all remember that he scored the majority of his points in the fourth last year. He’s focused on running the offense and getting teammates involved, so it’ll be interesting to see how aggressive he is in the period.

Smith checked into the game with 7:07 left, immediately drawing a foul and hitting both FTs. That’s 10-for-10, if you’re keeping score. As for Foye, more aggressive he has been, with a driving floater in the lane going down at the 5:30 mark to make it 69-62. However, after the officials decided not to call a 24-second violation on the Hornets, N.O. scored five straight to come within two with 4:29 remaining. Minnesota’s starters are now back on the floor. Out of the timeout, Minnesota is smart enough to feed the beast, as Smith moves Wright out of his way with force for an and-1. Wright -- who has looked solid offensively, particularly with his passing -- dunked on the other end, but Smith was doubled and fouled by Haluska. “They gotta foul you,” McCants told him.

However, the Wolves turned it over and N.O. capitalized with a transition bucket to draw within a point with 2:55 left. For the first time tonight there’s some tension in the building, but Smith first blocked a shot and second drew a charge to get possession back for the Wolves. Here’s a quick prediction … it’s going to Smith. Yup. Well, kind of. Foye had an open three, but missed, so Smith grabbed the board and stuck it back in. That’s 23 points and seven boards. He did, however, finally miss a FT, so it’s 74-71. N.O. answered with two FTs to draw within a point again, and the Wolves need a stop. They get one with a Hill miss as Brewer clears his team-high eighth board. And then… TRIPLE! Brewer knocked down a clutch three from a nice Foye dish to make it 77-73 for Minny. Palacio was quickly fouled at the other end, but he converted just 1-of-2. Then with 29.5 remaining, McCants committed an offensive foul to erase his leaner, and N.O. had a chance to tie or take the lead. Tie they did, with Vroman getting the deuce around Schenscher. 77-76 Wolves. The Hornets almost got a steal before Brewer emerged with the rock and was fouled with 6.4 remaining. Ice cold, Corey hit both, but a ridiculous bank three from Wright tied the score with 3.8 left! Come on. That sucks. Yet, with plenty of time to get a good shot off, it was McCants that had the chance from the right junction, but he couldn’t get it to go. He’s now 1-of-11 for the night.

OVERTIME:
Only two minutes of OT here in summer league, and it’s Mateen Cleaves with the running bank shot to beat the buzzer that gives the Wolves a two-point lead. After a N.O. turnover, Smith put a beautiful move on Wright and layed it in to go up four. Then defensively, it was McCants with a great play, drawing a charge on Haluska to get it back. N.O. got a J from Anthony Richardson (the MVP of the US Basketball league last year if you’re curious), but Brewer answered with a terrific drive and finger roll to extend to 85-81 with 16 seconds remaining.

But of course it couldn’t end easily, so Wright hit a leaner and McCants was tied up for a jump ball with 6.5 left on the inbounds pass. Thankfully, Rashad tipped to Smith, and on the subsequent inbounds pass was fouled with 3.0 left. His first FT inexplicably rimmed out after touching the net, and the second also rolled out. Wright cleared the board, but was tripped up by Smith (no foul) as time ran out. Pshew.

Wolves = 1-0.

Check back soon for more of our extensive coverage from here in Las Vegas, including interviews with several of the players.