kekgeek1 wrote:After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.
He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.
Per Dane Moore
This is just my opinion, and I'm sure I'll be alone on this, but this comes off as cool for Edwards and embarrassing for Rubio. Most of us have already experienced Edwards having a good energy and personality to him through interviews so it's not surprising to see a teammate talking about it. Edwards always seems upbeat. But why is a nine-year veteran point guard who was arguably acquired for leadership reasons dealing with a down "spirit" early in the season? Isn't he supposed to help set the tone? Why did it take a 19-year old rookie to help him bounce back or "shift" as Moore put it? Jeez. Where's the mental toughness? Hopefully this was more so just Rubio hyping up the young fella and not anything more.
kekgeek1 wrote:After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.
He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.
Per Dane Moore
Any wrestling fans here? This is the equivalent of Shawn Michaels losing his smile.
kekgeek1 wrote:After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.
He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.
Per Dane Moore
Any wrestling fans here? This is the equivalent of Shawn Michaels losing his smile.
Oh yes, He didnt want to job to bret hart and lose his championship. Like rubio losing his starting spot to dlo.
kekgeek1 wrote:After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.
He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.
Per Dane Moore
Any wrestling fans here? This is the equivalent of Shawn Michaels losing his smile.
Oh yes, He didnt want to job to bret hart and lose his championship. Like rubio losing his starting spot to dlo.
Btw fun fact listening to Keller from
The torch while I work. He did his history segment and The smile promo 24 year anniversary was actually yesterday. What are the odds?
They also thought he had knee injury that would end his career. He was back in 3 months. Must've just been bilateral leg weakness.
I don't know about you guys, but I thoroughly enjoyed this win tonight. Toronto has been playing well after a slow start and was at full strength, and our two max players were either out (DLO) or clearly still not 100% after his bout with Covid (KAT), and addition to missing a rotation guy in Culver. This was a great win by any measure (and again a shout out to Future for giving my cheap ass a free way to watch replays on the internet while I'm out of town!), Let me start out with what wasn't good last night:
Okogie: I'm with the choir here who just doesn't see Josh as adding much value at either end of the court, and he was awful again last night. I've ripped Saunders for playing and even starting him this season, but I'll offer that Ryan's decision to limit Josh to 7 minutes last night was a key to the victory.
Naz Reid: I love this guy's game, but he just wasn't himself last night. I think it was an aberration and we'll see the usual Naz return next game.
Transition defense: WTF? We gotta be better than this.
But there were far more positives, so let's go there.
McDaniels: Is there a player on our roster that outperforms his box score night in and night out more than Jaden? I thought he was extraordinary tonight. I have to admit I was quite cautious about drafting a skinny foul-prone PF who didn't exactly excel in college, but now I can't come up with a T-Wolf draftee who has surprised me more than this guy. His game is remarkably mature...seldom seems to do the wrong thing out there. His defense was so terrific last night that I expected to see 3-4 blocks in the box score. Only 1...really?
I love Vando too, but Jaden is destined to be our starting PF soon.
Point guards: What a joy to watch ball movement like we saw last night...not quite Jazz-like yet, but better than we have seen from a Wolves team in a long time! J-Mac struggled a little trying to defend the bullying Lowry, but his quick hands often make up for his lack of size (yes, Lip has turned me around on J-Mac's defense!). Rubio didn't continue his 8 APG pace he has been on, but he faced a different defense last night. Toronto clearly was set up to stop KAT, and Ricky was left with a lot of open looks. I thought he did a good job of taking what the defense gave him, and saw him as instrumental in a great win. I also loved the ZERO turnovers, and found him quite effective on Lowry.
Beasley: His corner three's are becoming automatic...what a blessing to have a true knock -down 3-point shooter on the roster. VanVleet took advantage of his poor defense as many of us suspected, but Beas isn't the first guy Fred has laid 20+ on this year. Beasley is so effective at reading the defense and getting himself to the right spot where our PGs, KAT and the emerging playmaker Ant can find him. And when they get him the ball, you know it's going in.
Ant: He just keeps getting better and better, doesn't he? 18-7-3 last night despite a poor 1-7 from three (after several games in which he has been above the league average). I love his PnR chemistry with KAT...it's a thing of beauty when he draws two defenders and then finds an open KAT at the top of the key. More of that, please!
Nowell: Another young kid who plays like a veteran in my eyes...he's got a bright future as a 2-way player.
I'm a little excited about this team right now after a horrible start, and can't wait for KAT to be 100%. Little chance against the Lakers in the next game, but I think wins are going to be a little more frequent.
Good stuff FNG. I'm the founding member of the Vando fan club, but even I have to admit that McDaniels plays a more refined game. Vando is the superior box score player, but McDaniels just seems to be less error-prone and more intuitive in the way he plays. These guys are still both very young with runway to improve, but I'd put my money on the guy that has the higher b-ball IQ. Both are nice pickups by Rosas.
kekgeek1 wrote:After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.
He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.
Per Dane Moore
This is just my opinion, and I'm sure I'll be alone on this, but this comes off as cool for Edwards and embarrassing for Rubio. Most of us have already experienced Edwards having a good energy and personality to him through interviews so it's not surprising to see a teammate talking about it. Edwards always seems upbeat. But why is a nine-year veteran point guard who was arguably acquired for leadership reasons dealing with a down "spirit" early in the season? Isn't he supposed to help set the tone? Why did it take a 19-year old rookie to help him bounce back or "shift" as Moore put it? Jeez. Where's the mental toughness? Hopefully this was more so just Rubio hyping up the young fella and not anything more.
You won't be alone, cam...porkchop will chime in soon!
As for me, I think it's cool. Ricky has always worn his emotions on his sleeve...it's part of his appeal to the fans...and he has to be down about his dreadful start this season. I think it's fun to see a veteran credit an ebullient (I'm expecting some envy from Cool for inserting "ebullient" into this forum) 19-year-old for propping him up during some dark days.
15 ppg / 6 reb / 49% fg / 43% 3fg ... and arguably Toronto's best defender... didn't play.
Regardless, almost every team has guys out. A win is a win. A win over Toronto (even in a down year) should be celebrated.
Pretty much echo the McDaniels comments from most here. It's looking like I was wrong ripping the pick draft night. That makes me happy.
Edwards still has the stench of the early season terrible-ness... but he's been so much better as a starter. I don't really know about defense where mistakes are more hidden, but he's progressing on offense. There are more "damn he's good" plays and fewer "WTF is he doing" plays. That's progress. As projected, there's no reason to think he won't be a 20+ ppg scorer. Now, it's up to him and Wolves to build up all the other things that go with it. Can he be a plus (willing) passer consistently. Can he improve defensively? Can he be a good teammate long term? All those things that separate good young promising players from potential star players. As we've seen previously, there's a fine line sometimes.
Towns has looked poor (relatively speaking) in post ups the past two games. It's almost surely rust. I look forward to him getting back to full speed. His defense by the eye test looks better.
Rubio hit shots. It's a make-or-miss league. Beasley makes a lot of three pointers. Rare for a Timberwolves guy!
_________
Why bad teams lose.
There was one play that was startling bad. At the end of the 3rd quarter, McLaughlin drove and turned the ball over with 7 seconds left. WHY?
The shot clock was essentially off. There was no reason to drive at that point and I'm 99.9% convinced (you can never be 100% convinced with Wolves coaches) that the plan was to hold for the final shot. Toronto didn't score on the subsequent possession... but the Wolves do those types of dumb things more often than their opponents so far this season. And they add up... over a game... over a season.
FNG wrote:I don't know about you guys, but I thoroughly enjoyed this win tonight. Toronto has been playing well after a slow start and was at full strength, and our two max players were either out (DLO) or clearly still not 100% after his bout with Covid (KAT), and addition to missing a rotation guy in Culver. This was a great win by any measure (and again a shout out to Future for giving my cheap ass a free way to watch replays on the internet while I'm out of town!), Let me start out with what wasn't good last night:
Okogie: I'm with the choir here who just doesn't see Josh as adding much value at either end of the court, and he was awful again last night. I've ripped Saunders for playing and even starting him this season, but I'll offer that Ryan's decision to limit Josh to 7 minutes last night was a key to the victory.
Naz Reid: I love this guy's game, but he just wasn't himself last night. I think it was an aberration and we'll see the usual Naz return next game.
Transition defense: WTF? We gotta be better than this.
But there were far more positives, so let's go there.
McDaniels: Is there a player on our roster that outperforms his box score night in and night out more than Jaden? I thought he was extraordinary tonight. I have to admit I was quite cautious about drafting a skinny foul-prone PF who didn't exactly excel in college, but now I can't come up with a T-Wolf draftee who has surprised me more than this guy. His game is remarkably mature...seldom seems to do the wrong thing out there. His defense was so terrific last night that I expected to see 3-4 blocks in the box score. Only 1...really?
I love Vando too, but Jaden is destined to be our starting PF soon.
Point guards: What a joy to watch ball movement like we saw last night...not quite Jazz-like yet, but better than we have seen from a Wolves team in a long time! J-Mac struggled a little trying to defend the bullying Lowry, but his quick hands often make up for his lack of size (yes, Lip has turned me around on J-Mac's defense!). Rubio didn't continue his 8 APG pace he has been on, but he faced a different defense last night. Toronto clearly was set up to stop KAT, and Ricky was left with a lot of open looks. I thought he did a good job of taking what the defense gave him, and saw him as instrumental in a great win. I also loved the ZERO turnovers, and found him quite effective on Lowry.
Beasley: His corner three's are becoming automatic...what a blessing to have a true knock -down 3-point shooter on the roster. VanVleet took advantage of his poor defense as many of us suspected, but Beas isn't the first guy Fred has laid 20+ on this year. Beasley is so effective at reading the defense and getting himself to the right spot where our PGs, KAT and the emerging playmaker Ant can find him. And when they get him the ball, you know it's going in.
Ant: He just keeps getting better and better, doesn't he? 18-7-3 last night despite a poor 1-7 from three (after several games in which he has been above the league average). I love his PnR chemistry with KAT...it's a thing of beauty when he draws two defenders and then finds an open KAT at the top of the key. More of that, please!
Nowell: Another young kid who plays like a veteran in my eyes...he's got a bright future as a 2-way player.
I'm a little excited about this team right now after a horrible start, and can't wait for KAT to be 100%. Little chance against the Lakers in the next game, but I think wins are going to be a little more frequent.
Great post-game assessment, FNG. I felt the same way about the game overall and totally agree with your take-aways on individual players.
kekgeek1 wrote:After tonight's game, arguably Ricky Rubio's best of the season, Rubio spoke postgame about how his "spirit" was really down at the beginning of the season.
He credited one teammate for the shift in his spirit over the past few weeks... Anthony Edwards.
Per Dane Moore
This is just my opinion, and I'm sure I'll be alone on this, but this comes off as cool for Edwards and embarrassing for Rubio. Most of us have already experienced Edwards having a good energy and personality to him through interviews so it's not surprising to see a teammate talking about it. Edwards always seems upbeat. But why is a nine-year veteran point guard who was arguably acquired for leadership reasons dealing with a down "spirit" early in the season? Isn't he supposed to help set the tone? Why did it take a 19-year old rookie to help him bounce back or "shift" as Moore put it? Jeez. Where's the mental toughness? Hopefully this was more so just Rubio hyping up the young fella and not anything more.
You won't be alone, cam...porkchop will chime in soon!
As for me, I think it's cool. Ricky has always worn his emotions on his sleeve...it's part of his appeal to the fans...and he has to be down about his dreadful start this season. I think it's fun to see a veteran credit an ebullient (I'm expecting some envy from Cool for inserting "ebullient" into this forum) 19-year-old for propping him up during some dark days.
Oh yes, major props for the efficient usage of the term. And let me point out, you are doing a great of ingratiating yourself with members of the forum.
