Wolves vs. Clips GDT

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Ok, finally. Should have called a timeout and sat him as soon as those FTs were done.

[kekgeek]

Come on wolves back door cover for me

[kekgeek]

Within 7 for my backdoor cover with 4:30 to play. Let's go wolves!!

[kekgeek]

Couldn't get my back door cover (only thing what made this game any interesting for me)

[kekgeek]

Terrible game. Really worried that Ant can't stop complaining its really hurting the team

[AbeVigodaLive]

Terrible game. Really worried that Ant can't stop complaining its really hurting the team

There are simply too many cases where we've seen whining works for me to care too much about that. If he's as good offensively as we think he can be... it'll pay off.

That defense though. WOW. He's either entirely clueless or just doesn't care. Maybe a bit of both.

[FNG]

Can anyone properly close out on a shooter?

Nope

Still the biggest problem with this team. Yes, there are a few guys on this team who can properly close out, but we will always have 2 or 3 on the court who can't...and that's enough to ensure there will always be an open 3-point shooter. Defensively, the Clippers have enough elite defenders in their starting lineup that they can cover for the absurdly bad defender Marcus Morris (especially when Beverly is healthy), and he has carved out a role with the Clips as yet another competent 3-point shooter without killing them on defense.

It was a terrible night for the KAT/DLo Experiment...a team worst -29 and -20, respectively. But to Kek's point, we are still a .500 team with the two of them playing, and there has been some evidence that they can be a potent force on the offensive end. We know who DLO is on defense...he is the worst perimeter defender on a team with several poor perimeter defenders. But one thing I've noticed that Finch is doing is trying to hide DLO on the defensive end. Coming off the bench, Finch can match him up with Terrence Mann or Luke Kennard. Mann and Kennard are still going to light up DLO, but it's better than having to put him on George or Leonard. Most likely Finch is having DLO come off the bench because of his minutes limitation, but maybe he also is seeing that DLO is less a liability defensively against reserves than starters. I'm not looking forward to watching DLO and Ant trying to defend the perimeter if DLO goes back to starting.

Very few bright spots in what was really a 30+ point loss, but I will at least point out Okogie and Vando's energy again. Vando is so limited on offense though that he is only effective if our PGs are spoon feeding him and he is getting layups. It wasn't happening last night, and I didn't watch closely enough to know if that was on Vando for not getting open underneath or on our PGs. Josh continues to largely play within himself on offense and has shown he may be able to hit the open corner three...he's made 48% of his threes in the last 10 games.

We match up with a healthy Clippers team perhaps worse than any other team, so I'm happy to turn the page on this disaster. I'm looking for much better games this week against the Kings.

[Lipoli390]

Can anyone properly close out on a shooter?

Nope

Still the biggest problem with this team. Yes, there are a few guys on this team who can properly close out, but we will always have 2 or 3 on the court who can't...and that's enough to ensure there will always be an open 3-point shooter. Defensively, the Clippers have enough elite defenders in their starting lineup that they can cover for the absurdly bad defender Marcus Morris (especially when Beverly is healthy), and he has carved out a role with the Clips as yet another competent 3-point shooter without killing them on defense.

It was a terrible night for the KAT/DLo Experiment...a team worst -29 and -20, respectively. But to Kek's point, we are still a .500 team with the two of them playing, and there has been some evidence that they can be a potent force on the offensive end. We know who DLO is on defense...he is the worst perimeter defender on a team with several poor perimeter defenders. But one thing I've noticed that Finch is doing is trying to hide DLO on the defensive end. Coming off the bench, Finch can match him up with Terrence Mann or Luke Kennard. Mann and Kennard are still going to light up DLO, but it's better than having to put him on George or Leonard. Most likely Finch is having DLO come off the bench because of his minutes limitation, but maybe he also is seeing that DLO is less a liability defensively against reserves than starters. I'm not looking forward to watching DLO and Ant trying to defend the perimeter if DLO goes back to starting.

Very few bright spots in what was really a 30+ point loss, but I will at least point out Okogie and Vando's energy again. Vando is so limited on offense though that he is only effective if our PGs are spoon feeding him and he is getting layups. It wasn't happening last night, and I didn't watch closely enough to know if that was on Vando for not getting open underneath or on our PGs. Josh continues to largely play within himself on offense and has shown he may be able to hit the open corner three...he's made 48% of his threes in the last 10 games.

We match up with a healthy Clippers team perhaps worse than any other team, so I'm happy to turn the page on this disaster. I'm looking for much better games this week against the Kings.

I agree with your observations, FNG. I'd add Naz to the short list of bright spots alongside Okogie and Vando. I'm understanding why Finch seems to have liked Okogie from the beginning. The Wolves get consistent defensive effort and results from Okogie. Unfortunately, McDaniels and maybe Vando are the only others players on this roster who show any signs of doing the same - although KAT has definitely improved defensively this season.

Our two max players were terrible last night. KAT talked tough after last night's game, but his game didn't live up to his post-game rhetoric. He was horrible defensively against Zubac and his shooting was terrible.

I thought last night's game was another illustration of why this team won't become a contender with DLO. In addition to his typically poor defense, he was too casual with the ball, resulting in 6 turnovers. He also missed all but one of his five three-point attempts. His 1 rebound in 23 minutes tells you something about his effort or lack thereof. In addition, as Jon K notes in excerpt I've provided below, you rarely see DLO step up and carry this team when KAT falters. Your second max player has to step up and fill that void, but so far DLO hasn't. I think you're right that Finch is trying to hide DLO's defense, but obviously Finch can't continue using DLO as a reserve. Moreover, he can't hide DLO's defense playing with Beasley in the backcourt. And although Edwards has the potential to be a very good defender, from what I've seen we'll be lucky if he becomes a decent defender. Meanwhile, although KAT has improved defensively, he's not close to being a defensive stalwart.

Here are some interesting observations on DLO and Naz from Jon K:

In his short time in Minnesota, there have been precious few games where Russell has galvanized the Wolves when things are going poorly. He did play a role in jumpstarting the team on Friday against the Heat and came up huge late in a game last season in Miami to seal a win there. But the majority of Russell's best games have come when the entire team is playing well.

Russell seems to feed off the rhythm of his teammates, riding the wave of good tidings to strong performances that help to put a nail in a coffin. But when the team is struggling to get anything going or playing short-handed, the Wolves' second max player has rarely grabbed a game by the throat and made it his. He did that in his final season in Brooklyn, but we're still waiting to see that element of his game in Minnesota.

In just 9:35 of playing time in the second half against the Clippers, Russell was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting with five turnovers. On a night when Towns was struggling with his shot, Edwards was being stifled at the rim and Malik Beasley was sidelined by a bad hamstring, the Wolves could have used a more dynamic performance from their max contract player.

There is plenty of blame to go around for this one, including Zubac having his way inside against Towns. A team that has often lacked intensity after a win needs its stars to set the tone going forward. Both of them.
Naz gets up

One of the few bright spots was another aggressive, athletic performance from Reid, who had 13 points and a team-leading seven rebounds in 21 minutes. Reid continued a trend in recent weeks of showcasing more explosiveness on the offensive end, including an ability to play above the rim that wasn't there in his early days in the NBA.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The Timberwolves skyrocketed down the charts last week for worst three point defense... moving down from 4th worst to WORST with a bullet. Teams are now shooting 39.5% on three pointers vs. the Timberwolves.

21 - 42
14 - 34
19 - 40
15 - 36
15 - 38
19 - 42
14 - 28

Teams are shooting 45% on three pointers vs. the Wolves since April 5.

[Lipoli390]

The Timberwolves skyrocketed down the charts last week for worst three point defense... moving down from 4th worst to WORST with a bullet. Teams are now shooting 39.5% on three pointers vs. the Timberwolves.

21 - 42
14 - 34
19 - 40
15 - 36
15 - 38
19 - 42
14 - 28

Teams are shooting 45% on three pointers vs. the Wolves since April 5.

With the exception of Okogie, the Wolves have the worst defensive guards in the League. They are uniquely bad at both stopping dribble penetration and guarding the three.