And It Begins -- Wolves at Lakers GDT

[Coolbreeze44]

Proud of Bazz - he was a big get for us late in the offseason.

[Squishypoo [enjin:6648839]]

I Would like to see Aaron Brooks in the 2nd half.

[Squishypoo [enjin:6648839]]

Proud of Bazz - he was a big get for us late in the offseason.

Agreed

[Squishypoo [enjin:6648839]]

WOW

[Coolbreeze44]

These Laker fans really think they have the next big thing. Annoying as hell.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

These Laker fans really think they have the next big thing. Annoying as hell.

Yeah, they've only been bad for a few years. Give them a 13 year playoff drought and watch them get cynical like us.

That said, Lonzo looks like a great passer and Kuzma is showing more than just hitting threes tonight. Even Ingram has had a couple nice drives. That team is gonna be way overmatched this year though, that's for sure.

[Lipoli390]

I watched the whole game tonight. Here are my bright spots and dark spots:

BRIGHT SPOTS

1. Bazz. 22 points, 6 boards and a steal in 30 minutes. He showed the scoring, hustle, toughness and rebounding I anticipated we'd see from him this season. But playing with heart, hustle and toughness is nothing new for Shabazz. Still waiting for a consistent 3-point shot, but that would be gravy. He continued to give it his all on the defensive end and played well on that end.

2. Taj Gibson. I liked the fact that we signed him, but not the amount we paid him. But tonight he showed just how much he can help this team with his intelligent and steady game. His two corner threes were icing on the cake, but I don't think we've seen the last of that from him. Drew mentioned that he hopes he and Gorgui are working on that shot. Well, in his post-game interview Taj said that he and Gorgui have been staying late after practice and working on that shot with Thibs. Gorgui already showed he can be good from that spot last season. Taj gave us a glimpse of what he might be able to do from that spot.

3. Gorgui. He started slow, but then found his game and was his typical steady intense performer, especially in the 4th quarter when he was clearly our best player. He finished with 14 points and 12 boards.

4. Towns. In his limited minutes he had 15 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Beyond the stats I loved what I saw from him on the defensive end. He was stepping in and defending the paint much better than he was last season. He looked tonight like he's our best 3-point shooter. That's probably the case.

5. Teague. I was a big Rubio fan, but Teague showed us tonight why Thibs wanted him. It's nice to have a quick PG who can penetrate and finish effectively. He made some nice buckets but also made some nice passes. His defense was spotty, but I liked that he ended up with 2 steals.

6. Crawford. He didn't give us any scoring punch tonight, but I liked his ballhandling, passing and overall decision-making. He's a nice addition.

7. Thibs. I liked that he had Taj taking corner threes. And he seemed to be enjoying himself more than usual.

8. Second Unit. I liked the second unit overall. It's one preseason game, but you could see that this team has a MUCH better bench than last season. Bazz, Crawford, Tyus and either Taj or Gorgui comprised a pretty good second unity. Tyus started out shaky tonight, but got better after a while.

DARK SPOTS

1. Wiggins. Drew commented that Wiggins looked slow tonight. Interestingly, that was what my wife said tonight watching the game with me. She said that Wiggins looked a lot bigger, maybe even taller, but slower. Maybe he'll need more time to get used to his added weight. What troubled me was that shaky handle and to many moments of lethargic, low energy play from him -- although I thought he showed more energy defensively than we typically saw from him last season. Thankfully it's just one preseason game, so I'm not alarmed. But I was disappointed.

2. Aaron Brooks. I think he showed us tonight why he was available for a minimum contract just a week or so before preseason. Wow he looked horrible. And he confirmed for me that Tyus will be our #2 PG.

3. Belly. Missing shots he should make and slow reaction characterized his play tonight. But to be fair, he's coming back from a long layoff following foot surgery, so he'll need time to get his legs and his timing back.

[KiwiMatt]

Didn't get to watch the game but saw the highlights on ESPN. Don't know why I bothered. The first highlight was of the Wolves then the next and last six were all Lakers plays. Makes me sick.

[thedoper]

Teague had PG play tonight that would have had us all convinced that he finally turned the corner if he were a floppy haired Spaniard. Bazz and Teague are going to be the pieces to give us that extra juice when one of our big three is off. Nice to see Gibson getting some offense in too. Loving this roster after one preseason game. Go Wolves.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

DARK SPOTS

1. Wiggins. Drew commented that Wiggins looked slow tonight. Interestingly, that was what my wife said tonight watching the game with me. She said that Wiggins looked a lot bigger, maybe even taller, but slower. Maybe he'll need more time to get used to his added weight. What troubled me was that shaky handle and to many moments of lethargic, low energy play from him -- although I thought he showed more energy defensively than we typically saw from him last season. Thankfully it's just one preseason game, so I'm not alarmed. But I was disappointed.

Your wife sounds pretty perceptive! It's true, that sort of loping jog thing he does looks like it was on full display and there were a lot of moments where he just looked like he's either lazy or his brain is moving slower than everyone else's. The contrast to the other guys couldn't have been more stark. Teague and Bazz in particular, but also Crawford and Taj, just looked so much more plugged in and energetic. You could tell they were taking the game seriously. Wiggins did make a couple nice defensive plays, which is good. But yeah, he looked a bit like Gorgui or Derrick Williams out there in terms of his speed.

I also thought Gorgui, by the way, looked good, especially in the second half. One moment in particular stood out. In the first half, G got called for a foul that Thibs disagreed with, yelling at the ref that he'd gone straight up to defend a drive to the basket. I could actually see why they called the foul because he did step forward a bit into the contact and his arms came down somewhat when the contact occurred. But then in the second half, an almost identical situation happened where some random Laker was driving the basket right at Gorgui and he just put his hands absolutely straight up and jumped right when the shooter when into his shooting motion and he ate up so much daylight the shooter was forced to adjust the shot and missed wildly. That was a nice play to see. I hope Thibs highlights that for praise in a video session and that it's the first of many similar plays from Towns and Gorgui.