BloopOracle wrote:Social media is on fire right now, so many clips and gifs of Timberwolves talking trash lol
The Russ air ball video is everywhere. KAT looking for the open window. PatBev throwing the ball up and ducking it. Malik and the bench clowning him from the sideline. Russ standing there holding the gooseneck.
There's clips of PatBev yelling "trash" at the Lakers bench and then holding his nose at them, as if to say they stink. There's clips of PatBev flexing and taunting LeBron before slapping him on the rear.
There's video of KAT grabbing an offensive rebound and then bodying LeBron under the rim to draw the foul and mouthing "bitch-ass n***a" while flexing.
It's safe to say our Wolves aren't scared of the Lakers whatsoever and feel they can beat them anytime, anywhere, in any scenario. And when they do they're going to let them hear about it. Playing with an edge, with an attitude. While it might seem a bit much at first this is definitely being baked into their identity. I think it's a good thing.
I'm still not sure. I get playing with swagger and confidence, but last night was a bit much. I mean, we are really setting ourselves up for a smackdown if we match up against a healthy Laker team in a one-game play-in scenario. All those antics may have been a mistake.
I have the same fear, Q. Westbrook can be a world class a-hole, but it was disappointing for me to see our guys sink to his level last night. KAT and PatBev's antics were embarrassing. Winning athletes learn a very important lesson early in their careers...never give your opponent bulletin board material. And that is just what we did last night to a team we have some likelihood of seeing in the second play-in game. The Lakers are so old and tired, I still think we are better than them even with a healthy Davis. But are we better than them with an angry revenge-minded LeBron and Davis?
I'm not even sure the Lakers will make the play-in tournament let alone have a real chance of beating the Wolves. The latter has looked like the far superior team even when Anthony Davis was healthy. I think Minnesota heard enough trash talk over the years, especially from Russell Westbrook and his rock the baby taunts, that they can dish it out to them now. They earned it with the beat downs they unleashed this season.
I'd also say it's better to play with an edge than without one. Keeps the motivation high and the juices flowing. Patrick Beverley has always been able to ramp it up and stay engaged in the game. Maybe he's rubbing off on the rest of the team in that regard.
Camden wrote:I'm not even sure the Lakers will make the play-in tournament let alone have a real chance of beating the Wolves. The latter has looked like the far superior team even when Anthony Davis was healthy. I think Minnesota heard enough trash talk over the years, especially from Russell Westbrook and his rock the baby taunts, that they can dish it out to them now. They earned it with the beat downs they unleashed this season.
I'd also say it's better to play with an edge than without one. Keeps the motivation high and the juices flowing. Patrick Beverley has always been able to ramp it up and stay engaged in the game. Maybe he's rubbing off on the rest of the team in that regard.
I get it and I'm not expecting these guys to go all Kawhi on us and become stoics.
It just felt a little much - almost a bit amateurish IMO. KAT also seems like a guy that is just a little too giddy with himself with some of these late game stat hunting adventures, whether it's getting to 60 points or some other in-game milestone that he becomes enamored with.
All and all, the good outweighs the bad and I definitely love the chemistry of this team. But there is a limit to the indulgence. We each have our own opinion as to when that limit has been reached.
We'll see how cocksure these guys are after the next set of games against better competition because I have to believe other teams are starting to take us seriously.
Camden wrote:I'm not even sure the Lakers will make the play-in tournament let alone have a real chance of beating the Wolves. The latter has looked like the far superior team even when Anthony Davis was healthy. I think Minnesota heard enough trash talk over the years, especially from Russell Westbrook and his rock the baby taunts, that they can dish it out to them now. They earned it with the beat downs they unleashed this season.
I'd also say it's better to play with an edge than without one. Keeps the motivation high and the juices flowing. Patrick Beverley has always been able to ramp it up and stay engaged in the game. Maybe he's rubbing off on the rest of the team in that regard.
I get it and I'm not expecting these guys to go all Kawhi on us and become stoics.
It just felt a little much - almost a bit amateurish IMO. KAT also seems like a guy that is just a little too giddy with himself with some of these late game stat hunting adventures, whether it's getting to 60 points or some other in-game milestone that he becomes enamored with.
All and all, the good outweighs the bad and I definitely love the chemistry of this team. But there is a limit to the indulgence. We each have our own opinion as to when that limit has been reached.
We'll see how cocksure these guys are after the next set of games against better competition because I have to believe other teams are starting to take us seriously.
I want two things from my basketball team: I want my team to win, and I want to respect them. To paraphrase the late Meatloaf, I guess one out of two ain't bad.
41-30 record through 71 games
- 25-11 since January 1st
- 16-5 record since February 1st
- 10-2 record in their last 12 games
- 1.5 games back of sixth seed; 3.0 games back of the fourth and fifth seeds
- One game remaining against Denver; two games against Dallas
- Potential playoff matchup Golden State listed Steph Curry out indefinitely with foot ligament sprain
