Camden wrote:I don't think trading Karl-Anthony Towns is a good idea for this franchise any time soon nor do I think it'll happen, but there are a handful of teams that could offer a good/great deal tomorrow that would make me mull it over. Those teams are the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and Atlanta Hawks -- in that order.
I wouldn't sign off on any Towns trade with this front office in place, though. I don't trust them to get back the absolute best value that they could.
What about OKC?
I'm less interested in future draft picks and more interested in semi-established young talent. Unless the Thunder makes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander available or somehow get the top overall pick this year (Cade Cunningham) then I'm not sure those negotiations last very long if I was in charge.
Karl-Anthony Towns made it clear tonight. He wants to stay in Minnesota.
"If you want to build a legacy, we gotta win. I want to build my legacy here. I want to win with the Wolves and I'm gonna do everything I possibly can to step-by-step, brick-by-brick build something."
Now, we've heard players say this over and over again and still request a trade, but this is good news for now.
Another entertaining game, and yet another heartbreaking loss. I went to bed late last night after watching the replay wondering if Ryan was going to survive, and sure enough, woke up with the news. So disappointing to see us make an incredible run and have all the momentum going for us at the end of a second consecutive game, only to see another gut punch loss. A few comments:
1) I'm tired of the narrative that Thibs is overperforming with a bad roster. Come on, guys! He played 10 players last night...7 were lottery picks, and the other three were also first rounders. The Wolves in contrast played 3 second rounders and two guys who weren't drafted at all last night! Further, Thibs only had one guy younger than 26 in his starting lineup (an age when I would argue NBA players begin to reach their peaks), while Ryan only had Rubio over 26 starting and nobody but non-playing Davis over 26 on his bench. Thibs is a veteran coach who had options after his firing from the Wolves, and he wasn't going to go to a team he didn't think he could win with. He maybe didn't inherit "the best young roster in the NBA", but he did inherit a veteran team filled with lottery picks. Playing these guys even last night is another "moral victory". Yeah, I said it.
2) It's clear to me in the past two games that defenses are focusing more on stopping Beasley, and he is not handling it well mentally. Beas will make the open 3-point shot...he's proven that this season...and he just hasn't gotten many open looks the past two games. He is a sieve on defense, and if he's not scoring 20, he should not be starting. I'm hoping Finch recognizes this and moves Beas to the bench when DLO returns.
3) For the first time since DLO went down, I was disappointed with the ball movement last night. Rubio and J-Mac looked great on paper (I guess any team would take 26/12/4 with only 2 TOs from its PGs every night), but I didn't like how they got those numbers. I thought both of our PGs dribbled too much and looked for their own shot more than looking to facilitate. A lot of this was due to the defense...opponents have begged Ricky to shoot the past three games, and fortunately he has been making his shots. But last night almost felt like a DLO game (except we didn't lose by 20 ;) . I need to see much more ball movement Wednesday night.
4) Towns was magnificent, and like others, I appreciated the Wolves getting him more involved in the offense. Ryan got KAT 18 shots while Thibs only got 16 for Randle, so Ryan is clearly the superior coach ;-) . I also thought KAT was very good on defense, although Noel/Gibson is not a difficult assignm3emt. He continues to show signs of being the rim protector he was at kentucky with another 3 blocks.
5) Vando's hands...WTF?
6) Ant is not helping us right now at either end of the court. We don't know, but we can suspect that Rosas was telling Ryan to start him and play him, and with a short contract, Ryan had to listen. Finch doesn't. I expect to see the defensively-solid Culver starting at SF as soon as he is ready and Ant given time to develop coming off the bench.
7) Nowell looks so good out there...until he puts a shot up. I had forgotten how athletic he was in college, and he certainly plays hard and understands the game. But his shot has been absurdly off the past week...some of the worst misses I have seen in a long time. I don't know what to suggest here. We know he would light up the G League again if we sent him down, but what would that prove? I'm hoping we learn the Nowell was a Saunders failure and that Finch can get more out of him. My fear though is that Nowell's shooting problems are between his ears, and that's tougher to overcome.
8) I'm not high on Juancho and Layman obviously, but they sure provided a spark when Ryan inserted them. It's comforting to have them as spot bench strength. I'm curious to see if Finch thinks they are actually rotation players.
9) The Saunders firing had to happen after all the close losses. But I think we are going to find the inability to close out games is more roster-related than coaching-related. Look at who Ryan started in the Indy game...two guys who won't be allowed to buy a drink in a bar for two years, a third who had his first legal drink less than a year ago, a PG that the majority of you think shouldn't be in the rotation, and a center who says he is not even close to being healthy. And the 6th man is a guy who has proven to be far better at defending his home with a rifle against dangerous children than defending an opponent. Not to mention two guys prominent in the rotation who not one NBA team found worthy of being drafted just two years ago. Am I ok with the Saunders firing? Yes. Was he given a roster anywhere near as ready to win as the one Thibs was given in NY?. Um, no.
Might be the first game I missed all season? And the coach gets fired for it. Sorry Ryan. We'll see you sitting in the 3rd or 4th chair for some team next season.
The Knicks are .5 game behind the Boston Celtics... and a full 8 games better than our Wolves. Yikes.
As noted above... I'm a box score watcher in this one. And that adds a different kind of perspective. I read this thread BEFORE seeing the box score. Let's review the stats from real-time analysis:
- 9 negative posts about Ricky Rubio
- 2 negative posts about Beasley + Ant combined
This is not a post to defend Ricky Rubio. We all have our talking points... me included. It's just something that was amusing to me while reading the thread.
[Note: As acknowledged, because I didn't see the game, I really don't know how hollow/irrelevant all those statistics are.]
First, you missed a very entertaining game, Abe...albeit another hair-tearing-out frustrating loss. Ricky shot the ball well and largely was effective on defense, but he just didn't pass my eye test last night. He was oddly a DLO-like ball-stopping dribbler much of the game, and only had one assist until he came alive late in the game by getting the ball to KAT. Payton gave him more room than I have ever seen a defending PG give, and to Ricky's credit, he made his open threes...ugly form and all. He also finished well at the rim uncharacteristically. So one might argue that he took what the defense game him. Personally though, I'd rather see Ricky put up 8/10 than 18/6...that's just me. Much more watchable. J-Mac wasn't great last night either, but I thought he was the better PG in this game.
But yeah, your main point is well taken. There are some smart guys on this board, and to give Ant and Beas a pass last night in the GDT (and especially Ant BTW, because I thought NY's defense on Beas was stifling) and instead rip Ricky doesn't make us look as smart as I know we are. Come on guys...we're better than that.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:As noted above... I'm a box score watcher in this one. And that adds a different kind of perspective. I read this thread BEFORE seeing the box score. Let's review the stats from real-time analysis:
- 9 negative posts about Ricky Rubio
- 2 negative posts about Beasley + Ant combined
This is not a post to defend Ricky Rubio. We all have our talking points... me included. It's just something that was amusing to me while reading the thread.
[Note: As acknowledged, because I didn't see the game, I really don't know how hollow/irrelevant all those statistics are.]
I had to listen on the radio. But I would bet half of those posts came in the last 5 mins of the game. As in first quarter Ricky had quick 8-10 points.
Side Note: Ant was atrocious last night and if Beasley is not making shots he usually sucks as well.
