- Edwards would shoot 1 - 11 fg
- Towns would only play 27 minutes (foul trouble), score under his average and shoot 33% in the second half
- Memphis would grab 26 OFFENSIVE rebounds to the Wolves 30 DEFENSIVE rebounds (season league high)
... and the Wolves won?
That was a fun 4th quarter from Russell. Wow. Maybe it was the Morant injury? Or something else... but when he attacks the basket, he opens up a new element to his game. All those points in the paint and from the foul line were the difference. Wonderful performance and I enjoyed him taking different types of shots than the contested jumpers. Russell carried the team last night.
Now... about Edwards...
He's 4 - 29 over his last 3 games. Even his free throws look terrible. He's only 11 - 21 ft over that stretch, too. Is it a minor tweak to his form? A Ben Simmons mental block? A coincidental blip? Something else? Or nothing at all?
Dunno. But he's looked TERRIBLE on offense for three straight games.
But we absolutely crushed them in the two metrics that for well over a decade this team has struggled with: eFG% and Opponent eFG%. Bottom line - We made a lot more of our shots than they did. In fact, they missed 60 shots, which partially explains all those offensive rebounds!
We're fortunate to have three different guys (and sometimes a 4th if Beasley is feeling it) that can pile up points in a hurry. But yeah, Ant has struggled for the entire month of February with the exception of just a couple of games. In the long run, his continued growth and development is THE most important factor for this team's playoff hopes, so it's a bit disheartening to see this. At least he played some good defense to help close out the game and also kept the ball moving versus jacking up ill-advised shots.
Well... obviously the Wolves had to win some of the categories to win the game. Russell and Beasley sure helped with those in the second half.
The defensive rebounding was/is a huge problem. Memphis even got multiple offensive rebounds off missed free throws. Was it three times? I swear I heard Peterson say it was 5 times though... maybe I misheard him.
For the season, the Wolves are last in defensive rebounding percentage (74.2%). Last night it was 53.5%.
Memphis did take what 40 FTs? That is a lot of opportunities for an offensive rebound. Obviously I agree 3 or 5 is still too many.
FTs and rebounding was the reason why this was a close game. Another stat worth noting was the Wolves combined for 11 blocked shots.
Last night's game might have been easier if Minnesota had Moses Brown, for example, on their bench and ready to play up to 20 minutes. At a minimum, that guy takes up significant space and secures rebounds, specifically defensive rebounds. Consider that Brown's career defensive rebound percentage is 26.9% compared to Reid's 18.9%. That's a nice weapon to have when you're getting killed on the glass.
Terrific win against a very good team...one of the best of the year! I just read through the GDT, and I agree that DLo was absolutely brilliant tonight. With Ant in a funk on offense, DLo had to step up and he did.
But I don't think we are giving enough credit to Ant for what he did to Ja tonight...we don't win this game without Finchy making the brilliant and surprising move to put Ant on Ja defensively in the second half. I've never seen Ant so locked in on defense...he was Mr. 94 feet tonight, not PatBev. He had a lot to do with Ja going 7-25 with only 4 assists. Ant's attitude after the game was great. He took ownership for his poor offensive game, but also pointed out that he was a +5 tonight, and said he wants to be on Ja whenever we play Memphis. Ant needs to pick it up on offense, but kudos to him for recognizing that defense is as important as offense, and he can contribute in a huge way even if he's struggling on offense.
Game ball clearly to DLo, but shout outs to Finchy, Ant and Jaden too.
Camden wrote:Last night's game might have been easier if Minnesota had Moses Brown, for example, on their bench and ready to play up to 20 minutes. At a minimum, that guy takes up significant space and secures rebounds, specifically defensive rebounds. Consider that Brown's career defensive rebound percentage is 26.9% compared to Reid's 18.9%. That's a nice weapon to have when you're getting killed on the glass.
But then do we give up something in other areas? I'm generally in favor of finding an upgrade to Naz as our backup C, but Brown seems a bit raw still.
Camden wrote:Last night's game might have been easier if Minnesota had Moses Brown, for example, on their bench and ready to play up to 20 minutes. At a minimum, that guy takes up significant space and secures rebounds, specifically defensive rebounds. Consider that Brown's career defensive rebound percentage is 26.9% compared to Reid's 18.9%. That's a nice weapon to have when you're getting killed on the glass.
But then do we give up something in other areas? I'm generally in favor of finding an upgrade to Naz as our backup C, but Brown seems a bit raw still.
Moses Brown is definitely a raw talent -- even goofy at times -- but there are tangible positives within his game that could compliment the Wolves roster, especially as the 14th or 15th man. What Minnesota would give up in lineups with Brown is any semblance of a scoring/shooting threat at the five. He's a bigger, less-skilled version of Jarred Vanderbilt, offensively. That's the trade off. But at 7'2, 245-pounds with a 7'5 wingspan and a 9'5 standing reach he can physically do things that neither Vanderbilt nor Reid can do.
I think he would have been a nice option last night and in future games where the Wolves struggle to clean the glass. There were rebound opportunities last night where if Minnesota had someone over 6'10 on the floor they probably secure the board, especially on the free throw misses. In short, I think his size translates even if the player in question is raw and unpolished.
Additionally, it doesn't have to be Brown. Even Greg Monroe would have been useful last night. I was simply using Brown as an example because he's young and already a good presence on the defensive glass.
Update: The Wolves are 27-17 (.614) this year when both Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell suit up. They're 40-29 (.580) together since the trade that brought Russell to Minnesota.
Camden wrote:Update: The Wolves are 27-17 (.614) this year when both Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell suit up. They're 40-29 (.580) together since the trade that brought Russell to Minnesota.
Basically a 50-win team. Not bad, especially for this franchise.
That being said... as one of the earliest Russell fans, what do you think is a reasonable extension for Russell? While there are moments like yesterday where he is awesome, I think there's a limit for what his next contract should be.
Just curious where that is for you.
[Note: I haven't looked into it, or comps, to venture a great guess at this time.]
Camden wrote:Update: The Wolves are 27-17 (.614) this year when both Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell suit up. They're 40-29 (.580) together since the trade that brought Russell to Minnesota.
Basically a 50-win team. Not bad, especially for this franchise.
That being said... as one of the earliest Russell fans, what do you think is a reasonable extension for Russell? While there are moments like yesterday where he is awesome, I think there's a limit for what his next contract should be.
Just curious where that is for you.
[Note: I haven't looked into it, or comps, to venture a great guess at this time.]
I think a good deal is somewhere around four-years, $90-million. Somewhere in that ballpark. Maybe a little bit more than that depending on how the end of this season goes. I'm using Mike Conley Jr., Lonzo Ball, and Malcolm Brogdon as benchmarks.
Camden wrote:Last night's game might have been easier if Minnesota had Moses Brown, for example, on their bench and ready to play up to 20 minutes. At a minimum, that guy takes up significant space and secures rebounds, specifically defensive rebounds. Consider that Brown's career defensive rebound percentage is 26.9% compared to Reid's 18.9%. That's a nice weapon to have when you're getting killed on the glass.
But then do we give up something in other areas? I'm generally in favor of finding an upgrade to Naz as our backup C, but Brown seems a bit raw still.
Moses Brown is definitely a raw talent -- even goofy at times -- but there are tangible positives within his game that could compliment the Wolves roster, especially as the 14th or 15th man. What Minnesota would give up in lineups with Brown is any semblance of a scoring/shooting threat at the five. He's a bigger, less-skilled version of Jarred Vanderbilt, offensively. That's the trade off. But at 7'2, 245-pounds with a 7'5 wingspan and a 9'5 standing reach he can physically do things that neither Vanderbilt nor Reid can do.
I think he would have been a nice option last night and in future games where the Wolves struggle to clean the glass. There were rebound opportunities last night where if Minnesota had someone over 6'10 on the floor they probably secure the board, especially on the free throw misses. In short, I think his size translates even if the player in question is raw and unpolished.
Additionally, it doesn't have to be Brown. Even Greg Monroe would have been useful last night. I was simply using Brown as an example because he's young and already a good presence on the defensive glass.
I guess I'm looking for someone that is somewhere between Brown and starting level bigs like Nurkic and JoVal....Legit size and strength, but also with some refinement to their game....but not so much that it costs us more than $10M-12M per year! So not sure if that player exists!
It's almost like what Aaron Baynes was when he was playing for Detroit and Boston a few years ago. Big body, solid rebounder, great screen setter, and generally smart player. Wendell Carter Jr. is another name, although he would likely expect to start or play more than the 18 MPG we need. Tony Bradley is another name on the cheaper side, but seems more proven than Moses Brown.
Camden wrote:Last night's game might have been easier if Minnesota had Moses Brown, for example, on their bench and ready to play up to 20 minutes. At a minimum, that guy takes up significant space and secures rebounds, specifically defensive rebounds. Consider that Brown's career defensive rebound percentage is 26.9% compared to Reid's 18.9%. That's a nice weapon to have when you're getting killed on the glass.
But then do we give up something in other areas? I'm generally in favor of finding an upgrade to Naz as our backup C, but Brown seems a bit raw still.
Moses Brown is definitely a raw talent -- even goofy at times -- but there are tangible positives within his game that could compliment the Wolves roster, especially as the 14th or 15th man. What Minnesota would give up in lineups with Brown is any semblance of a scoring/shooting threat at the five. He's a bigger, less-skilled version of Jarred Vanderbilt, offensively. That's the trade off. But at 7'2, 245-pounds with a 7'5 wingspan and a 9'5 standing reach he can physically do things that neither Vanderbilt nor Reid can do.
I think he would have been a nice option last night and in future games where the Wolves struggle to clean the glass. There were rebound opportunities last night where if Minnesota had someone over 6'10 on the floor they probably secure the board, especially on the free throw misses. In short, I think his size translates even if the player in question is raw and unpolished.
Additionally, it doesn't have to be Brown. Even Greg Monroe would have been useful last night. I was simply using Brown as an example because he's young and already a good presence on the defensive glass.
I guess I'm looking for someone that is somewhere between Brown and starting level bigs like Nurkic and JoVal....Legit size and strength, but also with some refinement to their game....but not so much that it costs us more than $10M-12M per year! So not sure if that player exists!
It's almost like what Aaron Baynes was when he was playing for Detroit and Boston a few years ago. Big body, solid rebounder, great screen setter, and generally smart player. Wendell Carter Jr. is another name, although he would likely expect to start or play more than the 18 MPG we need. Tony Bradley is another name on the cheaper side, but seems more proven than Moses Brown.
I think you're asking for a player that's somewhat difficult to come by and won't be cheap to acquire on the trade market. Jakob Poeltl would almost be ideal, but are you prepared to give up the equivalent of two first-round picks to get him? Wendell Carter Jr. is right there as well as someone who would be nice to have. The realistic cost just doesn't make sense to me at this time considering Karl-Anthony Towns is going to play the bulk of his minutes at the five spot.
Maybe Minnesota could sneak in a sizable offer for Isaiah Hartenstein this summer after failing to do so last year. The Clippers already have $160-million on their payroll for next year so I could see them letting him go.
