Q12543 wrote:Yup, great effort by a number of guys. Bazz has really come on of late. That 3-ball is so huge for him. And Rush filled in great too.
This was a true signature win. Gordon and LaVine cancelled each other out, so to me there is no asterisk on this win!
Well, they were missing Capella, too. But still, solid win!
Pek is still on our injury report, so there!
Yes, Pek would snap that flopper Harden in half.
God, how I dislike Harden. He's a terrific player, but he draws so many cheap little fouls. Teams have caught on to his arm bar trick when driving the lane where he throws his arms into the defender in an unnatural motion - I've seen a little less of that this season. But that god damned sweep-thru move he uses anytime a defender puts his arm out when guarding out on the perimeter....UGGHH!
One other thing. There were a couple times he pushed off on Wiggins on inbounds plays and they didn't call it. Frustrating.
I'll just add my game report to this thread. First of all, I share Q's disdain for Harden. Yes, he's a great player. But I hate the way he plays and I can't stand the way NBA officials have enabled his foul-drawing tactics. He's really the only elite player in the League I don't like. Enough about Harden.
Same formula for success on display tonight. First, Ricky runs the offense, getting lots of assists (17 tonight), drawing some fouls and hitting his fouls shots while playing tenaciously on the defensive end. Second, we get terrific performances from at least one of our big three (tonight both Towns and Wiggins) without the third one stinking the place up. Tonight Zach was out and Rush was terrific filling in. Third, we got solid bench play. Bazz was terrific as he has been for the last couple weeks. Belly's shooting was off, but he played hard, was terrific defensively and rebounded really well -- testament to Thibs' principle that you don't have to shoot well to help the team. And Dunn was solid as well off the bench. The good bench play helped keep our starters fresh in the 4th to help avoid another collapse.
Can't say enough about Rush. He hit threes as we expected him to when we signed him, but I was even more impressed by his defense, which included 2 blocked shots. I hope Zach was watching him because he gave a nice lesson tonight in playing within the team concept, making the right reads, spacing the floor, avoiding dumb mistakes and being in the right place at the right time as the offensive or defensive scheme requires. I think you would have all been even more impressed by him if you saw him in person tonight at Target Center.
Also can't say enough about Bazz and Belly. The last couple weeks, especially tonight, we've seen the Bazz who Flip aggressively defended to my face when I challenged him on taking him in the draft. Flip said to me, "mark my words, Bazz is going to become a really good player." I responded, "can be a starter." Flip's respond, "absolutely." Take it for what it's worth, but those were Flip's thoughts. As I've mentioned before, Bazz has been very solid defensively so far this season. And the team seems to feed off his energy.
You can see the team coming together -- playing better together as a unit on both ends although they still have a long way to go in my view. One thing I noticed is that the tension I used to see between players and Thibs has eased. I've been meaning to say, but held off for a while, that Thibs isn't nearly as crazy on the sidelines. But more importantly, as my wife noted tonight, KAT doesn't seem bothered any more when Thibs yells at him. He used to be obviously rattled and totally unsettled by it. Now he seems to take it in stride as he did tonight when Thibs really blasted him for failing to rotate on defense. We all saw the noticeable change overall in this team dating back to the second half of that Bulls game several weeks ago. Yes, we've laid some eggs since then, but this team does seem to have really turned a corner. There are certainly more corners to turn, but I see the players and head coach adjusting to one another. And I see the players, in particular, starting to toughen up and reflect better on the court what he's been trying to instill.
We're approaching the half-way point in the season and I like that we appear to be finishing the first half on a high note. We're well within striking distance of the 8th playoff seed and have a chance to get things rolling the last 41 games of the season. I'm not pollyanish, but I am somewhat optimistic.
Wow finally I missed a game and actually feel bad about it, looking forward to the replay. Looks like Friday night is again another chance to win 3 in a row and take a legit step forward in an otherwise backwards season. If the pattern continues, they will be in position to win the game and then blow it. Hope to be wrong.
Hmm.. For anyone tracking this kind of thing, the Wolves are now ahead of last years pace in the win-loss column. They were 12-27 after 39 games last year, 13-26 now.
Things are looking up! LST is gonna have a tough time embracing this... ;-)
The Wolves are 7-1 this season when Ricky Rubio has 10-or-more assists. I'm not saying there's a direct correlation there, but it's an interesting stat nonetheless.
I maintain that he's not the most important player we have, but he has to bring SOMETHING to the table, and when he does, we're obviously a much better team. Normally, it's been facilitating, defense, and rebounding for position. This year has been up and down for him.
Camden wrote:The Wolves are 7-1 this season when Ricky Rubio has 10-or-more assists. I'm not saying there's a direct correlation there, but it's an interesting stat nonetheless.
I maintain that he's not the most important player we have, but he has to bring SOMETHING to the table, and when he does, we're obviously a much better team. Normally, it's been facilitating, defense, and rebounding for position. This year has been up and down for him.
There probably is a direct correlation. I think he needs that many to make up for what we lose with his shooting woes. I think the problem is that it hasn't been easy for him to get there. I have found that he has been much more aggressive. Whether that is all gameplan or his own play is a bit more of a mystery. I don't see why he can't average over 10 assists with the talent that is around him. But maybe the last two games is an indication of what he can still do on this squad.
Q12543 wrote:Yup, great effort by a number of guys. Bazz has really come on of late. That 3-ball is so huge for him. And Rush filled in great too.
This was a true signature win. Gordon and LaVine cancelled each other out, so to me there is no asterisk on this win!
Well, they were missing Capella, too. But still, solid win!
Pek is still on our injury report, so there!
Yes, Pek would snap that flopper Harden in half.
God, how I dislike Harden. He's a terrific player, but he draws so many cheap little fouls. Teams have caught on to his arm bar trick when driving the lane where he throws his arms into the defender in an unnatural motion - I've seen a little less of that this season. But that god damned sweep-thru move he uses anytime a defender puts his arm out when guarding out on the perimeter....UGGHH!
One other thing. There were a couple times he pushed off on Wiggins on inbounds plays and they didn't call it. Frustrating.
This always bugged me about the NBA. Every year, they have a pet officiating gimmick that suddenly appears... and then disappears just as quickly.
That play was not supposed to result in free throws as recently as two years ago, right?
Ugh.
[Note: I think the defenders sneaking in for charges on drives is gonna be the next one on the list.]
Camden wrote:The Wolves are 7-1 this season when Ricky Rubio has 10-or-more assists. I'm not saying there's a direct correlation there, but it's an interesting stat nonetheless.
I maintain that he's not the most important player we have, but he has to bring SOMETHING to the table, and when he does, we're obviously a much better team. Normally, it's been facilitating, defense, and rebounding for position. This year has been up and down for him.
There probably is a direct correlation. I think he needs that many to make up for what we lose with his shooting woes. I think the problem is that it hasn't been easy for him to get there. I have found that he has been much more aggressive. Whether that is all gameplan or his own play is a bit more of a mystery. I don't see why he can't average over 10 assists with the talent that is around him. But maybe the last two games is an indication of what he can still do on this squad.
He made some really great passes yesterday. Wow.
The rub is that people have to hit shots too. That's not blame everybody but Ricky take... at all. But if Rush didn't get hot. And if Wiggins and Towns didn't both shoot above .500... the assists would be down.
We'd need more advanced stats/cameras/assessments to know if he's truly making better passes for easier buckets at a significantly higher rate or not.
worldK wrote:Wow. Belly actually rolled to the hoop for once!
Actually ther have been plenty of times in his NBA career he finds great spots rolling to the rim and has been wide open, but he is playing with nobody that will find him. I think its actually something he is good at he just needs to have people get him the ball. He doesn't always have the best hands though.
