Game Report - Wolves v. Nets

[Lipoli390]

I'm late with this one and it will be short. But I'm trying to be consistent as someone who gets on Wiggins sometimes for inconsistency. :).

A smaller and much quieter less energetic crowed than the crowds we've been getting lately. But it was still a decent size crowd and fun place to be. A better team would have beaten us last night given the way we played, but presumably or hopefully we would have played better against a superior team. In any event, it was a nice win as this team continues to establish a clear home-court advantage.

I'll start with the obvious. Jimmy Butler's presence on the court makes a huge difference for this team, especially on the defensive end. It's not just what he brings individually. It's also the impact his has on his teammates in the way the play defensively. He didn't shoot well, but he got to the line a lot and hit all but two of his 14 free throws. Continuing with the obvious, you can't say enough about the way KAT dominated the boards, especially on the offensive end. 10 offensive rebounds! He was the difference between winning with room to spare and winning a nail-biter or possibly losing. But he wasn't the only difference. Continuing with the obvious, Wiggins was terrific on both ends and hit some big shots when needed (especially in the 3rd), ending up with a nice 21 points, 5 rebounds a steal and a block. Wiggins 5 rebounds don't tell the whole tale of his work on the boards. He got his hands on a number of balls off the rim, enabling his teammates to rebound the ball. Finally, to finish the obvious I'll just note that Jamaal was Jamaal with his shot-making while Taj was Taj as he provided his typical steady play with solid defense and timely, efficient scoring.

I didn't like the way Teague played, but thankfully Tyus had a terrific game with 13 points, 5 assists and some really good defense in his 23 minutes. We were wondering why Teague didn't return to the floor in the 4th. We could tell he wasn't hurt. We thought that maybe it was because Tyus was playing better, but Thibs is typically a slave to his regular rotations regardless of how particular players are performing. Then we heard Thibs' press conference after the game and he said that when he told Teague to go back in, Teague told Thibs to leave Tyus in based on how well he was doing. Thibs then cited that in praising Teague's unselfish "team-first" attitude. He went on to prais Tyus for his team-first attitude, noting that both Teague and Tyus are the biggest cheerleaders for their teammates from the bench.

This all leads to what might not be quite as obvious as we focus on scores and stats. I'm talking about what Thibs referred to and praised as the "team-first" attitude he sees on this team. You can see it in the way they guys talk to each other on the court and during timeouts. You can see it in the way they help each other up when guys hit the floor and in the way they interact on the bench. And it was what Teague showed when, knowing Tyus was playing better than him, he told Thibs to leave Tyus in the game. What a contrast with a team like the Cavs.

So we didn't play our best game last night against a bad team missing its best players, but we played well enough to win and eventually closed out the game for a double-digit win. And we continue to show mental toughness and a selfless attitude that you love to see.

[benthewolf [enjin:19020845]]

Good to hear that the chemistry looks good. I remember early in the season there was speculation that the locker room was a bit out of sorts. Personally, I think Jimmy Butler is a good influence. And now Teague. I would think that it means the world to Tyus to have his fellow guard show that amount of respect and selflessness.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Finally watched this one.....

God, we're an ugly team to watch. I completely get that Thibs is making the best use of the talent he has and we can't argue with the result on offense (#3 in the league). But damn, it is not very entertaining to watch. Lots of drives into a crowded paint and tons of mid-range jumpers. But it is what it is....

- MGH....the trial period is almost over. Not impressed.Solid defense with literally nothing else will only get you so far unless you are the very best in the league at it (ala Andre Roberson). But if you aren't in the top 5%, then you have to be able to do other things. So far he hasn't proven that he can do other things.....

- Didn't like Wiggins' shot selection (as usual), but they went in enough to help win the game for us. Can't argue with that.

- We have encountered a number of young-ish teams in rebuilding mode that are really well coached. Brooklyn is one of them.

- As I've said before, I think it's only a matter of time before Tyus Jones is our starting PG. It won't happen this year and it may not happen next year. But it's going to happen. Flip got that one right.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

When does Tyus go on the market? Do you think our front office is seeing this transition and budgeting for it?

[Lipoli390]

Finally watched this one.....

God, we're an ugly team to watch. I completely get that Thibs is making the best use of the talent he has and we can't argue with the result on offense (#3 in the league). But damn, it is not very entertaining to watch. Lots of drives into a crowded paint and tons of mid-range jumpers. But it is what it is....

- MGH....the trial period is almost over. Not impressed.Solid defense with literally nothing else will only get you so far unless you are the very best in the league at it (ala Andre Roberson). But if you aren't in the top 5%, then you have to be able to do other things. So far he hasn't proven that he can do other things.....

- Didn't like Wiggins' shot selection (as usual), but they went in enough to help win the game for us. Can't argue with that.

- We have encountered a number of young-ish teams in rebuilding mode that are really well coached. Brooklyn is one of them.

- As I've said before, I think it's only a matter of time before Tyus Jones is our starting PG. It won't happen this year and it may not happen next year. But it's going to happen. Flip got that one right.

I agree we're an ugly team to watch It's proven effective with the talent we have, but I still think we'd be even better offensively with more movement off the ball, more cutting and more quick, crisp passing. That just now how Thibs runs his offense. And the flip side is that Thibs' approach limits our turnovers, puts points on the board and wins games. I continue to believe we'd win even more if Thibs would adapt his offense a bit, but I don't expect that to happen. I do think Thibs would incorporate more 3-point shooting into the offense if we had better three-point shooters.

I agree that Wiggins typically takes way too many contested long twos. But I thought his selection was generally better last night with more short twos around the painted area like what appears to be a bit of a jump hook. I like the way he got his hands on loose balls and went to the floor after a loose ball in the 3rd quarter.

A also agree with you about Tyus. He's a natural PG who plays both sides of the ball. He's a much better defender than most of us thought he'd be to the point where he's proven so far this season to be a good defender. When Tyus is in the game you can see that the ugliness of our offense isn't all Thibs. The ball movement is much better with Tyus than it is with Teague. I'm not down on the Rubio deal. It got us a 1st round pick for next season and Ricky seems to have plateaued as a shooter. And I do like Teague overall as as player and person. But I've never liked locking up $19 million per year for 3 years on him given that he's not a good defender and not a very good distributor or floor general on a team with 3 other 20+ point scorers in the starting lineup.

I might feel differently about Teague if he were a really good 3-point shooter, but he's not. Darren Collision would have been my choice as a better 3-point shooter at $10 million per year. Then we would have had the cap room to sign CJ Miles or someone comparable. On the other hand, Jeff appears to be a great teammate and he's helped us win a number of games with his scoring. I can see Tyus taking over as starter in the 2019-20 season after Teague's contract expires. (I'm assuming Teague exercises his player option). I don't see any team giving us anything we'd want in return for Teague until perhaps before or midway through his last season as an expiring contract.

In any event, we'll be fine with Teague at the point, given how Tyus has developed. I think the keys for the Wolves over the next couple seasons will be the development of Wiggins and the addition of a really good 3-point shooting rotation player to our roster via the MLE or a Gorgui trade. If Wiggins becomes anything close to the player he has the potential to be, the Wolves will be right there with Houston and the Celtics, knocking on the Warriors door until Klay Thompson signs elsewhere, leaving them with 3 allstars instead of 4. :)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

When does Tyus go on the market? Do you think our front office is seeing this transition and budgeting for it?

We have him on his rookie deal through next season, so it's starting in '19-20 that a new contract will hit the books. Jeff Teague has a player option that same year for $19M. Oops.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Lip, Glad to hear Teague is a good team mate. May be he sees part of his role as passing the torch to Tyus (?), I know that sounds idealistic given the egos of these players, but his actions seem to indicate a genuine unselfishness in that regard. But ugh....not sure how he walks away from that big player option, as that really constrains us along with the other guys we already have signed that year and beyond (e.g. Dieng).

It would be really nice if this club could actually DEVELOP an elite 3-point shooter for once. Never seems to happen with us.

[Lipoli390]

Lip, Glad to hear Teague is a good team mate. May be he sees part of his role as passing the torch to Tyus (?), I know that sounds idealistic given the egos of these players, but his actions seem to indicate a genuine unselfishness in that regard. But ugh....not sure how he walks away from that big player option, as that really constrains us along with the other guys we already have signed that year and beyond (e.g. Dieng).

It would be really nice if this club could actually DEVELOP an elite 3-point shooter for once. Never seems to happen with us.

Yes, it would be great to develop our own elite 3-point shooter. I just don't see anyone on our current NBA or G-League roster who has any chance of becoming that guy except maybe Anthony Brown or maybe even Tyus Jones.

Speaking of Tyus, I wish Teague didn't have the option for what would be the first season of Tyus's next contract. Like you, I'm certain Teague will exercise his option because I don't see any other team out there who would offer him anything close to $19 million per year then at age 31. Heck, I don't see any team out there now other than the Wolves who would pay him that now at age 29.

[Coolbreeze44]

Thanks for the report Lip, but I'm surprised you didn't mention the two huge buckets Wig made in the paint at the end of the game when we were really struggling to score. They finally got the ball to Andrew and he just abused his opponent for two straight baskets that essentially wrapped up the game.

[Monster]

"- MGH....the trial period is almost over. Not impressed.Solid defense with literally nothing else will only get you so far unless you are the very best in the league at it (ala Andre Roberson). But if you aren't in the top 5%, then you have to be able to do other things. So far he hasn't proven that he can do other things....."

Ok this guy is an undrafted guy that's less than 2 years removed from college and the trial period is almost over? You say he isn't doing much else. This team doesn't ask him to do so much else at least offensively. He is basically option 7 (hyperbole font) on the floor in the meaningful minutes. Maybe he can't do anything else but it's not like he gets many chances. Heck Tyus has a low usage when he plays backup minutes MGH is even less. He might have more than he gets to show in pretty limited opportunities.