Wolves vs Pacers GDT

[Coolbreeze44]

Damn Jaden, finish that

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Ball game. We'll take it!

[Coolbreeze44]

Beverly is such an asshole

[Coolbreeze44]

Haliburton Just looking at PBev like, you fucking idiot

[Wolvesfan21]

That was close. Why didn't Ant burn 15 seconds though with one minute left? You can't take a quick shot there.

[Monster]

Didn't watch this one but read the thread looked at the box score and read the recap which I almost never do. It was worth it because there was this gem of a quote. :)

"The difference was Minnesota's size and depth."

Speaking of size I haven't seen him play yet this year but I had noticed after a pretty forgettable rookie year Jalen Smith had been putting up some solid stats in his second year playing some decent minutes for good team. Getting him for Torrey Craig (checks notes...wow the Suns declined his 3rd year option) even though he will be a FA after this season could be a nice move on its own. It will be interesting to see how they continue their sort of rebuild.

[Q-is-here]

Good win after losing a couple in a row. We needed that one and Ant made sure we got it. Well, Ant and Buddy Hield, as Buddy went 1-13 from 3 today. And we thought Beasley shot us out of some games! Thank you Buddy!

I thought Ant looked engaged on both ends tonight, as he came up with some big defensive plays to go along with his slashing and shooting. And that's what I like about Ant. When he's concentrating and locked in on D (which isn't all the time), he can be very good on that end. It's nice having a big play threat on both ends.

KAT with a miserable game I thought. That kick out foul he got after missing the 3 was one of the dumbest offensive fouls I've ever seen. It was literally after he landed and THEN he blatantly kicked out his leg. Just so stupid. Sigh. Don't know if he will ever settle down enough mentally to stop being such a dumb and immature player. Yet he's still our best player until Ant proves otherwise!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Anthony Edwards deserves all the attention he's getting for this win and more. He was exceptional from start to finish. In the first half he was attacking the rim repeatedly -- punishing Indiana for being without Myles Turner. That continued into the second half before he caught fire from behind the three-point line. When he's in rhythm like he was, he's arguably one of the toughest matchups in basketball even as a 20-year old. Additionally, he was engaged and pesky on the defensive end. His energy and focus was much better than it had been for weeks. He has the ability to impact both ends of the court, which is especially needed on this Wolves team. Lastly, his mobility and explosiveness the last several games looked like what we've come to expect for Edwards. I say this because I think he was overstating/milking his knee pain a bit with the media, almost as an excuse for his poor play in games prior. That's definitely subjective on my part and I'm attributing it to immaturity, but it's clear to me that Edwards is fine and no more banged up than the next guy.

Even with Minnesota's young star playing a hell of a game, the Wolves don't win this game without the play of D'Angelo Russell, Naz Reid, and Patrick Beverley. I thought those three were very good today, especially in the second half as they turned it up on the Pacers. Minnesota's bench allowed their opponent back into the game at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, but they were able to close and secure the much-needed victory.

I thought Karl-Anthony Towns had a rough game overall. I think the officials allowed him to get hacked and pushed around far beyond what is legal contact and as a result Towns got less interested in the game and more interested in complaining about fouls. The game as it pertains to Towns was not being called the same on both ends of the court. Minnesota can't afford for him to lose focus like he did and have that happen against better opponents. I'm not sure what needs to be done about it, though. Towns should absolutely be more composed, but he's also human and it's natural reaction to voice when you feel cheated. This is almost an issue every single game. Something has to give with the relationship between Towns and officials, but I don't know how things get better. Towns has gone through stretches this season where he doesn't complain or say anything to the officials, but it didn't seem to help the matter. He's obviously gone the route of bitching and whining like Luka Doncic and Chris Paul do, but that also didn't get Towns any more calls. How does the league office and the Wolves organization fix this? Can they fix this?

[Monster]

Anthony Edwards deserves all the attention he's getting for this win and more. He was exceptional from start to finish. In the first half he was attacking the rim repeatedly -- punishing Indiana for being without Myles Turner. That continued into the second half before he caught fire from behind the three-point line. When he's in rhythm like he was, he's arguably one of the toughest matchups in basketball even as a 20-year old. Additionally, he was engaged and pesky on the defensive end. His energy and focus was much better than it had been for weeks. He has the ability to impact both ends of the court, which is especially needed on this Wolves team. Lastly, his mobility and explosiveness the last several games looked like what we've come to expect for Edwards. I say this because I think he was overstating/milking his knee pain a bit with the media, almost as an excuse for his poor play in games prior. That's definitely subjective on my part and I'm attributing it to immaturity, but it's clear to me that Edwards is fine and no more banged up than the next guy.

Even with Minnesota's young star playing a hell of a game, the Wolves don't win this game without the play of D'Angelo Russell, Naz Reid, and Patrick Beverley. I thought those three were very good today, especially in the second half as they turned it up on the Pacers. Minnesota's bench allowed their opponent back into the game at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, but they were able to close and secure the much-needed victory.

I thought Karl-Anthony Towns had a rough game overall. I think the officials allowed him to get hacked and pushed around far beyond what is legal contact and as a result Towns got less interested in the game and more interested in complaining about fouls. The game as it pertains to Towns was not being called the same on both ends of the court. Minnesota can't afford for him to lose focus like he did and have that happen against better opponents. I'm not sure what needs to be done about it, though. Towns should absolutely be more composed, but he's also human and it's natural reaction to voice when you feel cheated. This is almost an issue every single game. Something has to give with the relationship between Towns and officials, but I don't know how things get better. Towns has gone through stretches this season where he doesn't complain or say anything to the officials, but it didn't seem to help the matter. He's obviously gone the route of bitching and whining like Luka Doncic and Chris Paul do, but that also didn't get Towns any more calls. How does the league office and the Wolves organization fix this? Can they fix this?

I likely haven't watched enough games this season to fully comment on this but I think Towns needs to change his game somewhat. Yes that will take away some of what he is good at in the post but he either needs to change his game to fit the situation or work on becoming tricky and drawing fouls. Ok he probably should do both but I think using his other skills to his advantage is probably the better route for him to go because trying harder to draw fouls will probably get him off track. I don't think he has ever been really good at that anyway. He more gets fouled because he is a really good basketball player.

Throughout his career Towns has sometimes stubbornly tried to prove himself physically to his detriment. Sometimes he tries to do things that don't play to his physical strengths. The games I have watched this season at least he has looked like he actually knows how to set a good screen to get guys open. That's a big development for him if it's happening much more often.

Towns playing a little differently isn't just on him the coaching staff has to recognize some different ways to use him and his teammates need to synergize with him (would be nice if they can play for a couple seasons together right?) even more. This makes it sound like Towns needs a lot of things to make him better...well let's be honest the guy is good already but we want him to take things to another level. I see it being there for him and he needs to quit trying to run through a brick wall and run around it or shot the ball over it. Does any of that make sense or do I need to watch more games? :)

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Monster, I'm not sure why you haven't watched more games this year. This has been one of the more enjoyable Timberwolves teams of this millennium both in terms of record and entertainment factor. I don't know your situation, but I sincerely implore you to get back into the groove while there's still regular season games left. I think you'd enjoy it and provide even more valuable insight to the board.

To your point, I believe Karl-Anthony Towns has actually changed his game. He's rolling to the rim more than I've seen him do since his rookie season and D'Angelo Russell has done a great job of finding him with pocket passes in stride. For years I wondered why he never got rewarded with easy buckets by simply rolling harder to the rim. He's been doing that more this year. Additionally, he leads the league by a significant margin for drives by a center. In fact, he has more drives per game this year than he has three-point attempts per game. He's constantly putting pressure on the defense and converting at a high level. You'd think that attacking more by rolling to the rim and driving to the hoop he'd see his free throw attempts inflate with a higher likelihood of contact initiated, but that just hasn't been the case. His free throw rate is down from the last two years and his turnover percentage is up -- almost certainly a result of his offensive foul issues.

So, the change in his play style should theoretically result in more trips to the charity stripe, but in reality the opposite is happening while he's turning the ball over more. Some of that is Towns' fault, absolutely, but it's my opinion that he's getting robbed by the officials more often than not. The contact that goes uncalled on him is egregious and I'm at the point where I empathize with the guy. I'd lose my cool too if I continued to get shoved and hacked on my way to the hoop with no whistle. I just don't know what can be done about it at this point.

While it's easy for us fans to want him to shut up and play ball, I think he has a right to be upset. He's essentially working harder to get his points than other players of similar or worse caliber.