I'll Take That With Mayo...

Here’s a serious post that’s going to upset a lot of people.

I’m a big fan of having a plan. That’s been perhaps the biggest issue with the front office of this organization—they haven’t seemed to have a plan.
Even the Wolves’ so-called “blueprint” now, isn’t exactly specific on what type of team they’re trying to establish and why.

Here’s a plan they can follow.

What was the only real team with success for the Wolves organization? The 2003-2004 Timberwolves. I, like many others, am confident that had Cassell maintained his health, that team would have won the title.

I have and continue to virtually guarantee that we do not end up with a top 2 pick. If we do, taking Beasley or Rose is a no brainer, and all of this can go in the trash. But, what do we do if we end up in that #3 - #6 range?

My selection would be to select 6’5’’ PG/SG O.J. Mayo out of USC.

Why? Because, in my opinion, selecting Mayo fits in in creating an outline of a team similar in structure to our team that had success—the 03-04 team

Pickup DeSagna Diop, Hasheem Thabeet, JaVale McGee or Patrick O’Bryant, all possible options with creativity, and we have the following depth chart:

Foye/Mayo
Mayo/McCants
Brewer/Gomes
Jefferson/Smith
Diop-Thabeet-O’Bryant/Hardin-Dorsey/Richard

Let's, in principle, analyze that starting lineup of our 2003-2004 team in terms of strengths and intangibles.

2003-2004 Team:

Sam Cassel was vet PG. He was a winner. He scored 20ppg. He had balls of steal in the 4th quarter. He had a money jump shot. He was a complete defensive liability.

Latrell Sprewell was vet SG. He was a winner. He scored 17ppg. He was a solid, smart defender. A general heady player, but was a bit of an attitude liability.

Trenton Hassell was a SF. He was limited in his scoring ability thus making him a offensive liability. He was a fantastic perimeter defender and could be trusted to guard the other team's best 2 or 3. He was a strong hustle player and often made plays that did not show up in the box score.

KG was an MVP PF. He was dominant post scorer averaging 24 ppg on a variety of post moves. He also was a premier rebounder in the league averaging nearly 14 rpg. KG was a 1st-team defender.

Ervin Johnson was a vet C. He was a solid dirty work player. He played decent defensive and contributed very little on offense

2008-2009 Team:

Randy Foye is young PG. He has a history of winning. He is seemingly a dangerous scoring threat that specializes in 4th quarter scoring. He brings average defense to the table.

OJ Mayo is young SG/PG. He is a seemingly dangerous scoring threat. He has the ability to be a very solid, smart defender. Some worry about potential attitude issues.

Corey Brewer is a young SF. He has a history of winning. Thus far, he shows limited scoring ability. He shows promise to be a fantastic perimeter defender and could be trusted to guard the other team's best 2 or 3. He is a strong hustle player and often makes great plays that do not show up in the box score.

Al Jefferson is a premier young PF. He is a dominant post scorer averaging 21 ppg on a variety of post moves. He also was a premier rebounder in the league averaging nearly 12 rpg. Jefferson is somewhat of a defensive liability but is showing improvement. Should be average soon.

Patrick O'Bryant/Hasheem Thabeet/Dasagna Diop is a young C. He shows promise to be a nasty defensive shot-blocker and rebounder. He will likely be a mediocre threat on the offensive end.

Comparison on offense:

Foye and Jefferson could seemingly be the dangerous pick-and-roll combination that Sam and KG were. Sam and KG had a better veteran-based sync on the court, but Foye and Jefferson and better 1 on 1 scorers. Given a year of chemistry, the two young players could be as dangerous as the Wolves first nasty pick-ans-roll duo.

The scoring threat that is O.J. Mayo could certainly match or exceed the declining Spree we saw in 03-04. In fact, by the end of Mayo's 2nd season, he may be pretty much what Spree was--capable of dropping anywhere between 10-40 points on a variety of slashes to the basket and long-range shots. O.J. is also valuable for his ability to play the PG position.

Brewer and Trenton Hassell are somewhat similar threats on offense. We'd like to hope Brewer will develop into a more dangerous offensive player than Trenton by the end of next season.

O'Bryan and Erv are/were similarly relative non-factors on offense, getting most of their points of put-backs and open shots due to double teams.

Comparison on Defense:

Both teams have/had the luxury of having a premier perimeter defender in Hassell and Brewer, respectively. One can only hope that with each go-around of the NBA and each off-season to workout, Brewer further solidifies himself as shutdown-type guy.
O.J. Mayo and Sprewell are virtually the same size, equally smart/crafty and should be able to contribute about the same defensively. Obviously, Sprewell had the great advantage of major NBA experience in 03-04, but Mayo certainly has more athleticism than an aging Spree.

The key here for the 08-09 team would be to have Jefferson shore up his defense enough to be about as solid as Erv was and for a Patrick O'Bryant or a Hasheem Thabeet or a DeSagna Diop to provide a similar shot-blocking, in-the-paint defensive presence as Garnett.

Bench:

A bench of McCants, Gomes, Smith and hopefully Hardin/Dorsey is more threatening than Hudson, Wally, AC, Madsen and Kandi and works better in the flow of the team concept.

Coaching:

Flip >>> Witless. Shit.

Intangibles:

The beauty of the 03-04 team was that in close games, the Wolves always won. Cassell and Spree actually had ice in their veins and refused to lose.

Foye and Jefferson have shown good to great ability to close out games, and it seems that O.J. Mayo has a similar killer instinct.

Cassell also had the ability to run an offense as a PG and certainly did so better than Foye and/or Mayo are capable. One can only hope that this gap could be surmounted by Foye’s increasing play-making ability, Mayo’s excellent play-making ability and point-guard skills and a dominant pick-and-roll-based offense.
******************
So, is this team going to be the 03-04 Timberwolves. No. But, do we at least have the pieces together to bring out a team that follows a blueprint of tested success? Yes.

Sure, we lack experience, and guile, but we may be able to make up for it with athleticism and greater bench depth.

I’m not sure, but I’m willing to give it a try.