Wolves woes continue in Memphis

What happened Tuesday in Memphis is what has usually happened lately when the Wolves enter this arena::

--They play hard, they work hard. They are in it late. They lose.

Greetings. Kent Youngblood here for a final time tonight. I'll be covering tomorrow's game in Charlotte as well.

The Wolves lost their sixth straight here tonight. Afterward there was some general griping about the officiating. I will admit, after watching this game I have less of an idea what a foul is than when the evening began. The Wolves were more than doubled up on the free throw line. Yes, Memphis got 13 of its 25 fourth-quarter points on free throws, with the Wolves not even getting to the line.

But, to be fair, the more aggressive team usually gets the calls, and that's what happened tonight.

Which brings us to tomorrow's game in Charlotte. The Bobcats are struggling, but have won three home games this month. And they gave the Wolves nearly three quarters of a tough game back in Minneapolis. It won't be an easy game. But the Wolves have to get out of there with a victory for any talk of playoffs to have any legs going forward.

The team knows it. After the game everyone from Adelman on down talked about the need to respond tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

--It might be just me, but I think Malcolm Lee is, eventually, going to be OK. He played some nice defense tonight, including stealing the ball from Mike Conley at one point. He also had a block on Jeremy Pargo. He didn't score, and he had two turnovers in 12:39 of play. But he didn't seem overwhelmed against one of the better pressure defenses around.

--Wayne Ellington had another decent night, hitting on six of 10 shots for 15 points. He also played some good defense.

--But the Wolves needed more out of Wes Johnson, Anthony Tolliver tonight. Derrick Williams, too. Williams had 14 points, but he needed 15 shots to get them.

--You can tell Luke Ridnour is hurting. He looked absolutely drained in the locker room after the game. he had nine points, five assists and two turnovers playing against Mike Conley. But his shot was off (4-for-13). Indeed, starters other than Kevin Love were a combined 15-for-45 tonight.