CoolBreeze44 wrote:My game ball goes to Beasley. He did the most to help us win in my opinion
Not a bad choice- made the big shots and, to Lipoli's point, worked really hard on defense. What I liked about this (admittedly ugly) win is that I might consider 5 different guys to give the game ball to. And our exciting rookie isn't even one of them!
thedoper wrote:I dont get why people are down on DLo. He just gave us more next to KAT than anything we had since Jimmy. Great win.
Never hated a player on my own team more than DLO. That won't be a singular opinion as the year rolls on.
Is it because of the casual flair? Im just curious to the specifics.
He's a darn good offensive player. Problem is you have to spend 50% of the game playing in your own end. I also think he lacks maturity and eventually wears out his welcome on any team he's been on. I don't blame anyone else for liking the guy, just not my cup of tea.
lipoli390 wrote:KAT should definitely get the game ball. He picked up where he left off before he went down with injury. He showed his complete game - scoring efficiently and in multiple ways; rebounding; and passing. He also looked improved on the defensive end.
But we should have a couple more game balls for Beasley and Ricky. Beasley is the one guy on this roster with dog in him. He's ultra-competitive and his energy is non-stop. He shoots a lot and can be streaky, but eventually his shots fall. He's also a really good rebounder from his position and he keeps the ball moving on the offensive end. He actually played pretty well defensively. There's never any lack of effort from him in on the defensive end. And I thought he showed some nice technique and lateral quickness sliding his feet and staying in front of guys. Ricky made winning plays on the defensive end. He's both a spark and a steadying influence. Unfortunately, his shooting looks like I remember it - not good.
Beyond those three to performers, Culver, Okogie, DLO, Edwards and Naz played well. This game really exposed our two weakest links on the roster - Layman and Juancho. It also exposed our lack of front court size and rebounding to help KAT defensively and on the boards. Detroit's a bad team and this was definitely a game the Wolves should have won. Good for them that they won. It was fun to watch and, as Wild noted, an ugly victory is better than a moral victory.
Miss your game reports! I will say I'm not worried about Layman, he had a bad game in a terrible matchup. I'm worried about Hernangomez because I said it all last year his 3pt shooting with the wolves wasn't repeatable and he didn't do anything else good
thedoper wrote:I dont get why people are down on DLo. He just gave us more next to KAT than anything we had since Jimmy. Great win.
This will be a nightly thing whether D-Lo plays well or poorly.
Like whether he makes shots? Because he's a hell of a lot more than a shot maker. Hes got some real chemistry with KAT on and off the ball and hes got real poise. His "bad shots" are just no longer considered that in today's NBA. I loved his game tonight.
I'm in total agreement with you. D-Lo isn't a perfect player, but he does a lot of things well. But there are those here that just hate his game and will look to berate him nightly. The Wolves don't win tonight without him. Period.
Meanwhile, we have a round of applause for Ricky Rubio and I thought he was pretty terrible outside of a handful of plays.
crazysauce wrote:I think Naz came in and really played well. We need to just slide him to pf and never play Juancho again. Really liked Nazs defensive effort out there. Beasley is ferocious and I love it.
I agree that Naz was very good tonight, but his best role is backing up KAT- just not quick enough to guard some PF's. I might giver Okogie the game ball tonight for the work he did on Griffin- totally overmatched physically, but held him to a quiet 15-7. I just don't see Naz stopping Griffin like Josh did.
Kudos to Okogie, sure, but Griffin arguably stopped himself more than Okogie did. He only took 13 shots tonight -- five of them were from three and two were mid-range jumpers! That means he only took six shots in or around the paint tonight. Was that by design? Did Okogie have anything to do with that? I doubt it, honestly. I think Griffin and Detroit's offense let Minnesota off the hook there. I'll take it, but I just don't think it's sound strategy moving forward!
I agree it's a mystery, Camden. But for some reason Griffin didn't want to go inside. Hurt? Tired? Just disinterested for some reason? We don't know. But Josh is quite physical despite his lack of height, and it may not be fun to go inside against him.
Unfortunately, and this is a big problem for this team, Josh is our best defensive PF right now. Yikes, did I just say that? But it's true, unless Vando or our rookie can be trusted. Kudos to Saunders for recognizing his POBO hasn't provided him with a true 2-way PF, and giving offensively challenged Okogie a team-leading 33 minutes to compensate. I don't think we win tonight without him, and I'm not a big Okogie guy overall.
Edwards: "It's not that hard to be honest, coming out of being double-teamed in college. ... Even if it's a lot of defensive attention, it's still easier. You can't double all game. We got too many shooters."
Edwards: "It's not that hard to be honest, coming out of being double-teamed in college. ... Even if it's a lot of defensive attention, it's still easier. You can't double all game. We got too many shooters."
Love it...that's the beauty of this team on the offensive end! Will they figure it out on the defensive end? Time will tell.
I'm actually enjoying Ryan's press conference tonight. Very humble, and giving all the credit to the players. Ducked the question about going zone.
When they play bigger teams, utilize Naz more, maybe even side by side with Towns here and there. Naz can be a big example of how they're utilizing and developing young talent. If Naz can handle those minutes, that bodes well for someone like McDaniels next year and beyond.
