Turnover bug proving hard to shake
It is the curse of coaching a young team. Just when you think you have a problem under control it comes roaring back.
Take the Timberwolves, please. After Saturday's 100-98 loss to the Knicks -- one in which the Wolves managed a season-low 11 fourth-quarter points -- Wolves coach Rick Adelman bemoaned the turnovers that are again killing his team.
"Again, it's turnovers," Adelman said. "It seems like we're right back where we were three weeks ago. We just can't keep giving the (opposing) team possessions like that."
He is right, of course. The Wolves have lost three straight games. Saturday the Wolves actually did a pretty good job slowing down Knicks phenom Jeremy Lin, who scored 20 points but made just 1-of-12 second-half shots.
But the Wolves again shot themselves in the foot. The Knicks turned 23 Wolves turnovers into 29 points. This on the heels of Friday night's loss to Dallas, when the Mavericks scored 30 points off 28 Wolves turnovers. In those two games Minnesota has been outscored 59-26 on points from turnovers. You're not going to win many games like that.
"Lots of turnovers again," said point guard Ricky Rubio, whose two late turnovers cost the Wolves dearly. He lost the ball to Tyson Chandler late with the game tied, and Lin wound up hitting one of two free throws at the other end to give the Knicks the lead for good with 4.9 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play -- which came after a timeout -- Rubio turned the ball over again.
Adelman seemed at wits end after the game. He has harped on turnovers all season. Indeed, earlier in the year, he cut back on the complexity of his offense with the goal of cutting down on mistakes. What can he do now?
"You just keep showing it to 'em," Adelman said. "You show them who is turning the ball over, where they're turning it over. I really believe, sometimes, it's just a casualness with the ball."
The Wolves will try to end their slide Monday at Orlando.
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