Here comes 2-0- Pelicans game day thread

[TAFKASP]

Oh ye of little faith...why can't you be more optimistic like me? The wolves will win tonight and again on Monday night...and 32 more times before the season is over!

I'm old enough to remember all of Wolves history, that's why.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Does anyone change the starting lineup tonight? I don't, because the Pelicans aren't that big. Let Jaden harass Ingram all night and put Okogie on whomever we fear most offensively, and we should be just fine on defense. Nice to have PatBev on the bench if needed defensively.

I'd like to see Jarred Vanderbilt back in the starting lineup to help Karl-Anthony Towns on the glass. That will usually be my preferred choice. While New Orleans is not an imposing team size-wise with Zion Williamson out, I think getting out-rebounded and giving up second chance points is the only way Minnesota could lose this game. Vanderbilt gives the Wolves' starting five another guy to compete for rebounds against Jonas Valan?i?nas. Not to mention, his length and agility plays well against Brandon Ingram should Jaden McDaniels get switched off of him. The Pelicans perimeter players have started out well through two games, but they're not potent enough for me to give up size for in order to have Josh Okogie hounding them.

Nonetheless, I do expect Chris Finch to keep the starting five the same. Okogie's best asset is his perimeter defense and ability to muck up the game. I value what Vanderbilt brings on the glass as well as his ability to make similar energy plays. Either way, Minnesota should be 2-0 after tonight.

[Coolbreeze44]

Really like the momentum we have going into this one. If we share the basketball on offense we will win easily. But beware of old habits.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Good point about the offense Cool. In the second half of the last game, it didn't even look like we were running plays. Just one guy dribbling around until finally deciding to shoot it. Yuck. DLO getting hot arguably saved us from an epic collapse. We can't go back to that hero-ball bullshit from last year. Part of that's on Finch. He's gotta get those guys running real plays. Part of that's on the players too. They've got to pass, cut, set screens, move without the ball, keep the ball moving, etc. If they do that, I think they could arguably be a top 10-15 offense in the league.

That defense in the first half of the last game was so awesome to see. Josh and Jaden were setting the tone, and DLO, Ant, and KAT chipped in on the defensive end as well. Beasley came in and made some big defensive plays. We've got to keep that defensive intensity up. It leads to fast breaks, and I loved how the guys were seriously enthusiastic about defense that last game. This will be a test for KAT to see if he can handle Valanciunas defensively. Time to step up!

As for the starters, I loved the ball-pressure Josh gave us in that last game. It was a logical matchup for him, since they have a couple of dynamic guards. New Orleans doesn't so much, but I still think I'd leave him in to put pressure on Graham. They don't really have a PF, so that's good, because we don't either! Vando should still get a bunch of minutes. Jaden should be perfect to match up against Ingram, but I think Vando could help out there too if needed, or we could easily put one of them on Trey Murphy, who is kind of an interesting rookie.

[FNG]

I agree on the importance of starting Josh against a team like NO, Drew. Plus it leaves Vando as an option off the bench next to Naz. There will be plenty of times Vando makes more sense in the starting lineup, like when we play the Lakers (who we now are 2 games ahead of for that 10th playoff spot ;) )

[Monster]

Good point about the offense Cool. In the second half of the last game, it didn't even look like we were running plays. Just one guy dribbling around until finally deciding to shoot it. Yuck. DLO getting hot arguably saved us from an epic collapse. We can't go back to that hero-ball bullshit from last year. Part of that's on Finch. He's gotta get those guys running real plays. Part of that's on the players too. They've got to pass, cut, set screens, move without the ball, keep the ball moving, etc. If they do that, I think they could arguably be a top 10-15 offense in the league.

That defense in the first half of the last game was so awesome to see. Josh and Jaden were setting the tone, and DLO, Ant, and KAT chipped in on the defensive end as well. Beasley came in and made some big defensive plays. We've got to keep that defensive intensity up. It leads to fast breaks, and I loved how the guys were seriously enthusiastic about defense that last game. This will be a test for KAT to see if he can handle Valanciunas defensively. Time to step up!

As for the starters, I loved the ball-pressure Josh gave us in that last game. It was a logical matchup for him, since they have a couple of dynamic guards. New Orleans doesn't so much, but I still think I'd leave him in to put pressure on Graham. They don't really have a PF, so that's good, because we don't either! Vando should still get a bunch of minutes. Jaden should be perfect to match up against Ingram, but I think Vando could help out there too if needed, or we could easily put one of them on Trey Murphy, who is kind of an interesting rookie.

Finch is on record as a guy that's not going to run plays as much and looks to roll with a more free flowing offense. It's going to lead to some possessions like you described but if it works (Finch has a pretty good track record on offense as an assistant) then its probably gonna be pretty good. I personally think that a mix of plays and letting guys just play at times is good for NBA teams that have legit NBA players. Some younger teams or teams with a certain group of talent likely benefit from someone that runs plays most of the time. I think Finch seems like a guy that's going to do some of both. I certainly hope for some more creativity overall especially when it comes to the way Towns is utilized. Also...it's early in the season and supposedly they spent a bunch of time on defense.

[Wolvesfan21]

No chance the Wolves can win this one. Pels win by 35.








***Reverse psychology****

[thedoper]

Hope Arod doesnt throw his arm out giving those Tshirts away.

[kekgeek]

Great defensive energy so far

[thedoper]

McDaniels is boxing out like a real 4.