kekgeek1 wrote:ESPN Sources: Minnesota's Rudy Gobert escalated a verbal argument to a physical encounter after Kyle Anderson told him to "Shut the f--- up, bitch." The disagreement started with Anderson telling Gobert to block some shots, Gobert telling him to grab a rebound - and ended with a punch and Gobert getting sent home.
They're both right at least. Hahaha.
That's funny!
I hope it's not true that SloMo said those exact words, but it would explain the situation better and make it look more like SloMo has his own apology to offer too. Rudy was more in the wrong for the punch, but you also can't talk to someone like that. Highly disrespectful and exactly the sort of thing that creates distrust, resentment, and alienation right in the moment when this team needs to come together. Seriously, imagine saying that to a co-worker you have to work with a lot. That's going to poison the workplace. Maybe in that sense, the fact that this blew up so badly might actually give them the chance to clear the air and bury the hatchet (again, assuming the report is true about what SloMo said).
Sources: After bench incident, Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson had a heated verbal exchange in halftime locker room as well, with Anderson challenging the center at one point saying, "I'll knock your a-- out."
It's not rock bottom. How could any Wolves fan ever say that after going 42-40 and making the play-in tourney? That is practically parade-worthy for this sorry franchise. Look at how Dallas had to embarrass themselves to ensure missing the playoffs after the disastrous Kyrie Irving trade. Now that's hitting rock bottom. .
Disappointing and frustrating season? Yes. But not rock bottom.
Q-was-here wrote:It's not rock bottom. How could any Wolves fan ever say that after going 42-40 and making the play-in tourney? That is practically parade-worthy for this sorry franchise. Look at how Dallas had to embarrass themselves to ensure missing the playoffs after the disastrous Kyrie Irving trade. Now that's hitting rock bottom. .
Disappointing and frustrating season? Yes. But not rock bottom.
There's no David Kahn eating his own ear wax in public... and Kurt Rambis isn't roaming the sidelines benching Kevin Love for Ryan Hollins and Darko Milicic as the team goes 32 - 132...
Just got back from an an all-day drive from Easter weekend with family. I logged on to ESPN to check the box score and noticed we won. But I also noted that Jaden and Rudy didn't play many minutes. So looked a bit further and learned what happened. Not sure whether to laugh or cry.
I'll give both Jaden and Rudy credit for showing competitive fire. Maybe they both just need to do a better job of channeling that competitive energy. :). As for Rudy, his skin is obviously razor thin. Reminds me of when he whined about fans booing. But again, I have to give him credit for showing some fight.
kekgeek1 wrote:ESPN Sources: Minnesota's Rudy Gobert escalated a verbal argument to a physical encounter after Kyle Anderson told him to "Shut the f--- up, bitch." The disagreement started with Anderson telling Gobert to block some shots, Gobert telling him to grab a rebound - and ended with a punch and Gobert getting sent home.
They're both right at least. Hahaha.
That's funny!
I hope it's not true that SloMo said those exact words, but it would explain the situation better and make it look more like SloMo has his own apology to offer too. Rudy was more in the wrong for the punch, but you also can't talk to someone like that. Highly disrespectful and exactly the sort of thing that creates distrust, resentment, and alienation right in the moment when this team needs to come together. Seriously, imagine saying that to a co-worker you have to work with a lot. That's going to poison the workplace. Maybe in that sense, the fact that this blew up so badly might actually give them the chance to clear the air and bury the hatchet (again, assuming the report is true about what SloMo said).
Drew - I suspect there's more to it that just that one moment with Kyle. Sounds to me like something was building. When DLO was traded there were all those reports about how he was openly criticizing Gobert for not catching passes. But what some forgot at the time was that Jon K previously reported that a number of players were not happy with Rudy. I suspect there's some general frustration with Rudy among his teammates and it's been building all season. Kyle Anderson is as solid and smart as any veteran in the League. If he's going off on Rudy like that, then it makes me wonder. We don't know what Rudy said in the huddle before Kyle told him to block some F-ing shots. And regardless of what Rudy said, that sort of rhetoric in an NBA huddle isn't so bad. So no, I don't think Kyle owes Rudy an apology. And it's pretty annoying the way everyone babies poor Rudy. He whined about fans booing. Teammates need to deliver the ball to him in a certain way so he can catch it. On and on.
Rudy's a very good defender and rebounder. It looks like he competes hard. But he's thin skinned and sort of soft in my view. In any event, I don't think the incident between Rudy and Kyle will create any lasting problems on the team. What I wonder about is what's really going on between Rudy and his teammates. I think about DLO's apparent criticism and Jon K's article about more widespread issues. I think about Edwards saying "the smaller we play the better I play." I don't know. Maybe it's nothing. If there isn't anything deeper or more widespread than this one incident between Kyle and Rudy, then I'm not worried. If anything, it might galvanize the whole team. The bigger issue is Jaden's broken hand.
ESPN showed the sequence right before the incident on the bench.
Gobert didn't aggressively come back to the ball on the inbounds pass, which led to the And One. You could see Towns gesturing to Gobert after that one...
... and then Gobert put in minimal (zero) effort on the next play as the Pelicans scored on a layup prior to Finch calling TO.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:ESPN showed the sequence right before the incident on the bench.
Gobert didn't aggressively come back to the ball on the inbounds pass, which led to the And One. You could see Towns gesturing to Gobert after that one...
... and then Gobert put in minimal (zero) effort on the next play as the Pelicans scored on a layup prior to Finch calling TO.
Thanks for the background, Abe. Based on that sequence you described, I'd say Kyle Anderson was fully justified in what he said. This was a professional basketball game with high stakes as the Wolves were battling for 8th place. I would hope this team has a veteran leader who would call out a teammate for what you described Rudy doing.
