We back! Wolves vs Pelicans GDT

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Who gets the game ball tonight? Is it Ricky Rubio? Was he the straw that stirred tonight's drink?

[kekgeek]

Who gets the game ball tonight? Is it Ricky Rubio? Was he the straw that stirred tonight's drink?

I know you haven't watched yet but Rubio was pretty darn good. A new offense tonight and the Wolves dominated.

My favorite part of the whole game was to to end the 1st and 3rd Q on the final possession we ran PG Kat. He scored on one, he had a great dish to Naz on the other but Kat was going to fast and he got charge. Then to end the 1st half the wolves ran Ant and Kat PnP and Kat drilled a 3.

Really fun game, multiple game balls to go around

[Lipoli390]

Nice win. I thought Kevin Lynch hit the the nail on the head in his post-game comments. He noted how the Wolves benefitted from playing big. He mentioned McDaniels playing the SF position and correctly observed that SF is his natural and best position. He also mentioned how nuts it was to have Okogie guarding PFs.

Perhaps we now have a head coach who knows what he's doing. Watching Finch's post-game presser, it was refreshing to listen to a Wolves head coach who is comfortable in his own skin and actually sounds like a leader rather than a nervous college student.

Edwards did what Finch wanted him to do - i.e., attack the basket rather than settle for lots of perimeter shots. McDaniels gave us another glimpse, among many this season, of his tremendous talent. Then there was Nowell. As everyone knows, I was thrilled when Rosas took him in the second round in 2019 and I've never doubted his talent as he put up stellar numbers in the G-League and then stumbled a bit at the NBA level. He's a complete ball player and has always been a terrific shooter - both long range and mid-range - at every level he's played. As we saw earlier this season, he's an excellent ball-handler, solid defender and high-IQ player. Tonight was a breakout game for him, but it wasn't a surprise to me. I've always thought it was just a matter of time for him after finally getting some significant, consistent minutes. We sometimes forget that there's quite an adjustment it the NBA coming out of college, especially for underclassman like Nowell. Michael Jordan didn't enter the NBA until after his junior season. Now, please don't think I'm comparing Nowell to MJ. No doubt that Nowell will have his ups and downs, but there's no doubt in my mind he's going to end up a very good NBA player.

Note that tonight's 30-point win came without DLO or Beasley. I don't want to read too much into that. But our defense was certainly better tonight than it's been in a long time. And the ball moved really well. It's only one game of course, but perhaps I should re-think my unwillingness to swap Beasley for John Collins. And I don't need any re-thinking to like the idea of swapping DLO for Collins.

If we trade Beasley for Collins, how about a starting lineup of DLO, Edwards, McDaniels, Collins and KAT with Nowell first off the bench as our 6th man? If we trade DLO, then how about a starting lineup of Ricky, Edwards, McDaniels, Collins and KAT with Beasley and Nowell as our backup guard tandem? Just a thought.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Nice win. I thought Kevin Lynch hit the the nail on the head in his post-game comments. He noted how the Wolves benefitted from playing big.

Lynch is actually taller than Okogie. I'm sure that went through his head more than once watching the Okogie as PF experiment...

[60WinTim]

This may have been due to Beasley and McLaughlin being unavailable, but Finch ran a 9-man rotation last night. He did say they were going to "tighten things up" after the Charlotte game...

[FNG]

Tonight is the first time any NBA team has won a game by over 30 points after trailing by over 15 points in 23 years

Yeah, I remember that game back in 1998 a little, Bloop...can't exactly remember who we lost to though ;-) .

Wow, what a game coming out of the break...just what we needed! Somebody mentioned Rubio should get the game ball, and when your starting PG directs an offense that explodes for 135 points by dishing out 8 assists with only 1 TO, while playing great defense on Ball all night, he certainly has to be in the conversation...and not just because Ant after the game called him the "best leader he has been around his whole life". But I would instead credit the best swarming team defense I have seen out of this roster all season, and some unbelievably hot outside shooting. I fact, if I had to find any fault in this long-awaited blowout, I would point to Ricky's 1-6 shooting, KAT's 2-10 3-point shooting, and Vando's continuing troubles in catching the ball (I see he wasn't charged with any TOs, but there were 2 or three times I thought he could have had an easy bucket if he had just handled the pass cleanly). But everything else tonight was terrific. Here's what I loved:

1) Outstanding ball movement and extra passes that resulted in wide open threes all night. Our ball movement and the Pel's horrible perimeter defense led to 19 3's on 48% shooting beyond the arc.

2)In contrast to the Pels, the Wolves rotated and contested three's like a championship team...I don't know wtf got into them tonight, but keep it up.

3) Jaylen Nowell. I'm guessing a few of us grimaced when he turned the ball over the first time down the court directing the offense, but it was about the only mistake he made all night. I may have said "no, no, no...Ok, nice shot!) a few times when he appeared to force a three, but after that they were allowable heat checks, and he never got un-hot! He's now up over 39% on threes for the season, as most of us thought he would be based on college and G League. In addition he handled the ball like a true PG, and played his usual very good defense. Definitely a coming out party.

4) Jaden McDaniels. I know Cool backed off his squinting Pippin reference because McDaniels isn't Pippin. But you know who else wasn't Pippin? Pippin at 19 wasn't Pippin! I think he only averaged 1 APG as a sophomore in college...it was only later that he became the facilitator that we remember. But I'm not afraid to point out something that actually is very Pippin-like in 19-year-old Jaden...his defensive footwork. I used to marvel at Scottie's lateral movement and fluid footwork on defense, and Jaden is the only player on our roster who even remotely reminds me of him on D...and he's only a skinny teenager. He made Ingram look awful, and that's saying a lot. He looked great at both ends of the court as a SF, but I like him as a PF also. In fact if we don't trade for Collins, Jaden would be my starting PF.

5) Okogie. OK, he should never shoot unless it's a layup, but his team-leading +25 tonight was not an aberration...at least for one night. I have questioned Josh's defense this season at times, but tonight he was the real deal. I thought he was our best defender other then Jaden, and he also facilitated and handled the ball very well. It's odd to say a guy who was 0-3 from the field had a good game, but I would say JO had a great game.

5) Other. So much else to mention like Reid's post moves and ability to put the ball on the floor (no TOs for a big man who likes to put the ball on the floor as much as Naz does...really?), Ant's slight improvement on shot selection and active (if not always effective) defense, and our role players not named Josh knocking down wide open threes.

The fun is back...at least for one night. Tomorrow we get a banged-up Portland team. 2 in a row?

[Tactical unit]

Would MN have won by 30pts under Ryan Saunders?

They had some time off to implement some things, hope they continue to build something rest of year.

[Coolbreeze44]

FNG, it's his ability to move laterally and stay in front of his man that is most impressive to me. He also fights hard to get over screens, and then has great recovery ability to block shots when he appears to be beaten. He has more than enough time to develop offensively. I just hope he doesn't settle on that end for being a spot up shooter. Was hoping my previous post would be a little easier to decipher, but I wasn't really coming off my squinting reference. Just trying to placate someone who usually treats me like an asshole on this board.

[FNG]

Would MN have won by 30pts under Ryan Saunders?

They had some time off to implement some things, hope they continue to build something rest of year.

Of course we don't know how they would have done under Saunders last night, but it's safe to assume they wouldn't have won by 30. Both the offense and defense looked different (and better) last night, and even the bench and coaching staff were more engaged. It's just one game, but it's easy to find reasons to be excited about last night.

[AbeVigodaLive]

FNG, it's his ability to move laterally and stay in front of his man that is most impressive to me. He also fights hard to get over screens, and then has great recovery ability to block shots when he appears to be beaten. He has more than enough time to develop offensively. I just hope he doesn't settle on that end for being a spot up shooter. Was hoping my previous post would be a little easier to decipher, but I wasn't really coming off my squinting reference. Just trying to placate someone who usually treats me like an asshole on this board.