Clips v Wolves

[Leado01]

Another team win.  The team didn't have to play as well as it did against Toronto . . .And they didn't, but again they got the win and you have to love it. Teague sucked in the first half but ...gave us enough to win. Another decent Bazz outing btw

[Lipoli390]

I'm gonna crush the positivity a bit. Teague finished well, but through 3 quarters I thought he play was pretty bad despite what his stat line said. Over dribbling, and then picking up his dribble, hesitating on wide open shots only to get a terrible shot. He played well down the stretch though.

I didn't watch the game, so I was just going off the box score. Your description of Teague for 3 quarters is an all-too familiar sight. At least he picked it up in the 4th to get 30, but box scores can be misleading.

Belly's numbers were terrific. How did he look watching him play? He's been getting his rhythm back the past several games. He's a really good player when he's in rhythm and playing with confidence. I agree Belly should be getting more PT -- at least 20 MPG.

[AbeVigodaLive]

[twitch]Twitch username...[/twitch]Late summary:

- Wolves centers go 1 - 9 fg... Towns makes only 1 shot... and the team wins.

- Another excellent (and energetic!) performance from Wiggins. It's what every Wolves fan wants and it's fun when he starts going downhill to the rim. Maybe this stretch can be used as a springboard. Looking good.

- Teague was also critical. With 17 free throws... obviously he was more aggressive. There was still at least one possession where he dribbled it for 23.7 of the shot clock... but not too much to complain about. I thought he was much better. The Wolves needed Teague tonight and ultimately he delivered. It's one of the perks of having a good team with a former All Star, 23 ppg+ scorer and others...

- Blake Griffin is super good. And now that he can even stretch defenses beyond the three point line... damn. 32 / 12 / 12.

- Blake Griffin had two TERRIBLE TOs late. Hasn't that always been the case with the Clippers though... Paul and Griffin always posted stats, but just did enough to lose at times anyway. For example, Griffin had 12 assists and only 2 TOs until the final 20 seconds when he fell apart.

- Add Griffin to the mix of really talented players who constantly whine about a lack of calls while mugging people and generally acting like a dick out there (see my mentions lately for Cousins and Jokic). On a late inbounds play, he was literally hugging Tyus Jones. The official said something and Griffin looked all nonplussed... then did it again... then grabbed/held Jones by the waist while he was trying to set the pick... then held Teague on the switch... then knocked Teague down... then went over and finally fouled KAT. I'm almost sure that all happened in about 5 seconds.

- There were a couple of And-1 calls Griffin didn't get. But beyond that, I didn't see THAT much for all the complaining and Ts.

- Thibs seems to be curbing KAT's minutes a bit. No foul trouble tonight and still only 33 minutes. Saw him call a trainer over at one TO to have his knee worked on. Something there?

- Good teams find a way to win games. The Wolves are finding ways to win games. It's fun.

[thedoper]

I wish Lavine could have lost us that game

[thedoper]

I'm gonna crush the positivity a bit. Teague finished well, but through 3 quarters I thought he play was pretty bad despite what his stat line said. Over dribbling, and then picking up his dribble, hesitating on wide open shots only to get a terrible shot. He played well down the stretch though.

I didn't watch the game, so I was just going off the box score. Your description of Teague for 3 quarters is an all-too familiar sight. At least he picked it up in the 4th to get 30, but box scores can be misleading.

Belly's numbers were terrific. How did he look watching him play? He's been getting his rhythm back the past several games. He's a really good player when he's in rhythm and playing with confidence. I agree Belly should be getting more PT -- at least 20 MPG.

I don't know how you can even go there honestly. Teague was great in the 1st half and 4th quarter. Was there a dip a points in the game? Maybe. But him and Wiggins saved our asses tonight. Any win on the road is good, but this one was a couple of studs who are the whipping boys of this board stepping up huge for us.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Duke, you and I both watched the game but saw different things, or at least saw similar things in different ways. Teague was consistently picking his spots to be aggressive, penetrating and finishing with floaters and at the rim or hitting the open guy off the dribble all night. I think what you describe as negatives last night--(over)dribbling, hesitating on shots--are symptoms of his positives. He's a control pitcher. He doesn't play reckless. And while I wish he pushed the pace more in general, he gives our team a steadiness at the point. I'm ok with him dribbling a bit more because he doesn't turn the ball over that much. The overdribbling thing is a problem for Butler, Wiggins, and Towns too--we have an unimaginative offense. The couple cases where he picked up his dribble were where it was obvious he picked up his dribble to pass to a teammate he expected to cut but didn't. Again, we need way more off-the ball movement as well as ball-movement offensively. That's not totally on Teague.

Side note: at one point Thibs had Wiggins coming out to the backcourt to take a handoff from Teague and that was a disaster. Wiggins was hot, but that just invited the Clippers to trap him in the backcourt and dare him to pass it out or dribble through the double. That resulted in a couple turnovers in a short period of time. Not a good offensive strategy. That's not so much on Wiggins but on Thibs not playing to his players' strengths and avoiding their weaknesses.

Hats off to Wiggins the last couple games though (from a frequent critic). He needs to go to the basket more like he has the last couple games, and he did so tonight while still making some good defensive plays. I still don't like so many long 2s, but the guy was hot last night, so I was ok with it.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Thibs called KAT a stupid mother fucker

You heard him say that?? That's bad if you he did. Ugh. I blame Teague actually more then Kat, he's gotta go definitely to get that ball, he's so damn tentative

This is one play I saw totally differently. Towns just threw the ball backwards straight out of bounds without even looking. Teague had no chance to catch that even if he had been looking. The pass was clearly way off. Both guys should have been making more eye contact and communicating, but Towns just took the decision to throw the ball backwards without even seeing if anyone was there to catch it. That's totally on him. Big mistake at a crucial moment.

[Big O [enjin:13874644]]

I wish Lavine could have lost us that game

Yes his 19, 5, 2 in 24 minutes last night would have been terrible. (That's 32, 9, 4 if you extend to Wiggins 41 minutes compared with 40, 6, 1)

[Duke13]

I'm gonna crush the positivity a bit. Teague finished well, but through 3 quarters I thought he play was pretty bad despite what his stat line said. Over dribbling, and then picking up his dribble, hesitating on wide open shots only to get a terrible shot. He played well down the stretch though.

I didn't watch the game, so I was just going off the box score. Your description of Teague for 3 quarters is an all-too familiar sight. At least he picked it up in the 4th to get 30, but box scores can be misleading.

Belly's numbers were terrific. How did he look watching him play? He's been getting his rhythm back the past several games. He's a really good player when he's in rhythm and playing with confidence. I agree Belly should be getting more PT -- at least 20 MPG.

I thought Belly was very good. Playing the 3, it's going to be a challenge defensively for him but he held his own. He gives this team something them need, shooting and he increases the pace of play when he's in there. I loved when we went to Belly in the post a couple times in the 4 when Lou was guarding him. They were reacting and doubling quick, good recognition by the team. I just hope Tibs continues giving him minutes. He needs it for his confidence.

[TAFKASP]

- Good teams find a way to win games. The Wolves are finding ways to win games. It's fun.

They were winning early in the season, but it wasn't fun. This past month or so it has been increasingly more fun to watch, it's been a long time since we could say that!

Great job by Wiggins again tonight, sure hope he continues this level of effort once Jimmy gets back!