Game Report - Wolves v. Sixers

[Lipoli390]

Abe -- I said that Covington is "arguably" the Sixers best player. You might say the point is not even arguable and that's fair. He's clearly not their most talented and I actually think Embiid is their best player right now with Covington and Simmons in close competition for the 2nd best. But Covington is clearly one of their top three. He's leading the team in 3-point shooting at 42.7% on nearly 8 attempts per game. He's averaging 6.7 rebounds per game is playing tremendous defense. So my overall point is that the Sixers were missing a key starter and still won without him on our home court. Just another aggravating angle to a frustrating result.

[AbeVigodaLive]

We both agree Covington is good and it was an advantage for the Wolves. Let's just leave it at that. (I think Simmons had an especially bad game yesterday which might mask just how good he's been.)

But I didn't see it in the GDT... why did the 76ers shoot a technical free throw to start the 4th quarter? On air, Jim Pete said it was assigned to KAT. You see/know anything about this?

[Coolbreeze44]

I want to blame Wig for standing in the corner 75% of the time on offense, but when I noticed that the high-energy Jamal Crawford was doing the same thing when he was in for Wig, I realized that this is Thibs' coaching approach. Rather than coaching a modern motion offense with players moving without the ball and moving the ball around, he wants to reduce the offense to a 3 on 3 ISO game...the difference between Browns' offensive philosophy and Thibs' was on display last night, and quite sad to see.

.

This. You get it LST. That's exactly what his approach his. Nobody good enough to play in the NBA voluntarily stands in the corner and watches the 3 on 3 game being played in front of him. That's totally the plan.

[Lipoli390]

We both agree Covington is good and it was an advantage for the Wolves. That's just leave it at that. (I think Simmons had an especially bad game yesterday which might mask just how good he's been.)

But I didn't see it in the GDT... why did the 76ers shoot a technical free throw to start the 4th quarter? On air, Jim Pete said it was assigned to KAT. You see/know anything about this?

I've watched a lot of Sixers games this season. You're absolutely right that Simmons had an unusually bad game last night. I think most of that was attributable to Jimmy's tremendous defense. Simmons is shooting 50% from the field in spite of a terrible jump shot. He doesn't had the "freak" label because it wouldn't rhyme, but he's definitely a freaky combination of size and skills. He's going to be a great player -- how great depends on whether he develops a perimeter shot.

I have no idea what KAT did to get that call. After it was announced, a bunch of us in my section were talking about it and no one else had any idea either. I'm guessing that KAT said something to an official as he was walking off the court. But that's just a guess. KAT really does get screwed by the officials, but he's not helping himself by constantly complaining to them.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

[

My comments

1. If Jimmy hadn't tripped or slipped on that last play in regulation he likely scored and the game is over. Saric hadn't been able to guard him for the whole quarter. I liked they didn't call a timeout.

2. So someone standing in the corner for one of the most efficient shots in basketball a corner 3 is bad now? Sometimes just being in a spot waiting for a shot is just what you need to do to create spacing.

3. No love for Jeff Teague?

My thoughts on your points, monster.

1) We always seem to have an "if" at the end of games that Thibs blows. If the opponent hadnt gotten hot and made 15 of their last 17 shots. If we could have made just one three in the last 5 minutes. If we had just had a little more ball movement at the end of the game. Etc, etc, etc. So last night's "if" was Butler tripping. If I'm coaching, I'm using my last time out.

2) No, I love the corner 3. It's just that the plays that start out with the SG in the corner almost never seem to result in that ending. When you watch Thibs coaching in person, you realize that is not what he is directing. He's trying to reduce the game to 3 on 3 by taking 2 defenders out of the game and setting up an ISO, and it just doesn't seem to work very often. We have some of the most elite offensive performers in the league...Thibs needs to get out of the way (except when we are dead tired at the end of the game, and he has the opportunity to prove he is a decent NBA coach by designing a play).

3) Teague scored well last night, but he was clearly our second best defending PG last night...Tyus' instincts and quick hands are fun to watch, and he should have played more than 15 minutes in a 53 minute game. I like Teague's ability to score the ball, but I don't know whom to blame for his paltry 3 assists in 38 minutes...Thibs or him. I tend to think this is on Thibs.

[AbeVigodaLive]

We both agree Covington is good and it was an advantage for the Wolves. That's just leave it at that. (I think Simmons had an especially bad game yesterday which might mask just how good he's been.)

But I didn't see it in the GDT... why did the 76ers shoot a technical free throw to start the 4th quarter? On air, Jim Pete said it was assigned to KAT. You see/know anything about this?

I've watched a lot of Sixers games this season. You're absolutely right that Simmons had an unusually bad game last night. I think most of that was attributable to Jimmy's tremendous defense. Simmons is shooting 50% from the field in spite of a terrible jump shot. He doesn't had the "freak" label because it wouldn't rhyme, but he's definitely a freaky combination of size and skills. He's going to be a great player -- how great depends on whether he develops a perimeter shot.

I have no idea what KAT did to get that call. After it was announced, a bunch of us in my section were talking about it and no one else had any idea either. I'm guessing that KAT said something to an official as he was walking off the court. But that's just a guess. KAT really does get screwed by the officials, but he's not helping himself by constantly complaining to them.

Agreed about KAT. And I don't want to make this yet another "let's rip on Thibs" thread... but is his act wearing on officials, too?

There was a play late when the Wolves were in foul mode and Thibs got super upset seemingly about the 76ers player stepping out of bounds before the foul. I don't believe he did... and it would have been reviewable if he had. But does his histrionics on even obvious calls like that end up hurting him when he has a more legit beef?

I'm pretty certain Thibs isn't the only coach who does this.

[Lipoli390]

I want to blame Wig for standing in the corner 75% of the time on offense, but when I noticed that the high-energy Jamal Crawford was doing the same thing when he was in for Wig, I realized that this is Thibs' coaching approach. Rather than coaching a modern motion offense with players moving without the ball and moving the ball around, he wants to reduce the offense to a 3 on 3 ISO game...the difference between Browns' offensive philosophy and Thibs' was on display last night, and quite sad to see.

.

This. You get it LST. That's exactly what his approach his. Nobody good enough to play in the NBA voluntarily stands in the corner and watches the 3 on 3 game being played in front of him. That's totally the plan.

Yes. Note also my point about Thibs directing players on the floor. He's constantly screaming at players about where they should be. If Wiggins wasn't supposed to be there I have no doubt Thibs would have been screaming at him to move. But I can assure you, Thibs was not telling him to move. Wiggins was exactly where Thibs wanted him to be in his prehistoric offense.

That leads to my next point. While I'm among many who have criticized Wiggins, it's hard to fully and accurately assess Wiggins because of his horribly Thibs misuses him. It's also clear that Wiggins has lost his confidence as a shooter. I saw Jimmy trying to buck him up on the court. But being around Thibs would sap anyone's confidence. I mentioned in a thread a week or so ago that I don't want the Wolves to trade anyone until Thibs is gone. My point is that I don't think we're seeing the best in the players we have because of how the team is being coached.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I want to blame Wig for standing in the corner 75% of the time on offense, but when I noticed that the high-energy Jamal Crawford was doing the same thing when he was in for Wig, I realized that this is Thibs' coaching approach. Rather than coaching a modern motion offense with players moving without the ball and moving the ball around, he wants to reduce the offense to a 3 on 3 ISO game...the difference between Browns' offensive philosophy and Thibs' was on display last night, and quite sad to see.

.

This. You get it LST. That's exactly what his approach his. Nobody good enough to play in the NBA voluntarily stands in the corner and watches the 3 on 3 game being played in front of him. That's totally the plan.

I'm a little embarrassed I hadn't noticed this until last night...I guess it's not quite as apparent on TV when the camera mostly follows the ball and you don't always see how Thibs has the 2 guard positioned, regardless of who it is. It's baffling to me. And teams like Philly, the Spurs, GS, or just about anyone are so much more fun to watch than us.

[Lipoli390]

We both agree Covington is good and it was an advantage for the Wolves. That's just leave it at that. (I think Simmons had an especially bad game yesterday which might mask just how good he's been.)

But I didn't see it in the GDT... why did the 76ers shoot a technical free throw to start the 4th quarter? On air, Jim Pete said it was assigned to KAT. You see/know anything about this?

I've watched a lot of Sixers games this season. You're absolutely right that Simmons had an unusually bad game last night. I think most of that was attributable to Jimmy's tremendous defense. Simmons is shooting 50% from the field in spite of a terrible jump shot. He doesn't had the "freak" label because it wouldn't rhyme, but he's definitely a freaky combination of size and skills. He's going to be a great player -- how great depends on whether he develops a perimeter shot.

I have no idea what KAT did to get that call. After it was announced, a bunch of us in my section were talking about it and no one else had any idea either. I'm guessing that KAT said something to an official as he was walking off the court. But that's just a guess. KAT really does get screwed by the officials, but he's not helping himself by constantly complaining to them.

Agreed about KAT. And I don't want to make this yet another "let's rip on Thibs" thread... but is his act wearing on officials, too?

There was a play late when the Wolves were in foul mode and Thibs got super upset seemingly about the 76ers player stepping out of bounds before the foul. I don't believe he did... and it would have been reviewable if he had. But does his histrionics on even obvious calls like that end up hurting him when he has a more legit beef?
I'm pretty certain Thibs isn't the only coach who does this.

Thibs isn't the only one, but he does it far more than any other head coach from what I've seen. It has to wear on the officials. They're only human. I've thought for some time that part of KAT's problem is that he's on the receiving end of the officials frustration with Thibs. The officials can't do much to Thibs directly, but they can respond or vent indirectly by skewing their calls against Wolves players. Obviously, that's speculative, but it's within the realm of possibility.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I want to blame Wig for standing in the corner 75% of the time on offense, but when I noticed that the high-energy Jamal Crawford was doing the same thing when he was in for Wig, I realized that this is Thibs' coaching approach. Rather than coaching a modern motion offense with players moving without the ball and moving the ball around, he wants to reduce the offense to a 3 on 3 ISO game...the difference between Browns' offensive philosophy and Thibs' was on display last night, and quite sad to see.

.

This. You get it LST. That's exactly what his approach his. Nobody good enough to play in the NBA voluntarily stands in the corner and watches the 3 on 3 game being played in front of him. That's totally the plan.

Yes. Note also my point about Thibs directing players on the floor. He's constantly screaming at players about where they should be. If Wiggins wasn't supposed to be there I have no doubt Thibs would have been screaming at him to move. But I can assure you, Thibs was not telling him to move. Wiggins was exactly where Thibs wanted him to be in his prehistoric offense.

That leads to my next point. While I'm among many who have criticized Wiggins, it's hard to fully and accurately assess Wiggins because of his horribly Thibs misuses him. It's also clear that Wiggins has lost his confidence as a shooter. I saw Jimmy trying to buck him up on the court. But being around Thibs would sap anyone's confidence. I mentioned in a thread a week or so ago that I don't want the Wolves to trade anyone until Thibs is gone. My point is that I don't think we're seeing the best in the players we have because of how the team is being coached.

I'm cool with people ripping coaches. It's part of what we do. And it's justified at times.

But blaming Thibs for Wiggins shooting 63% from the line and 30% on three pointers?

That's when I revert to "it's a players league" mode and they are the overwhelming deciding factor in their own growth and development. If he's struggling with his shot... that's on him. It's like Thibs is fucking with his minutes or anything. If Wiggins is struggling to fit in with more talented teammates... that's on him. It's not like they aren't still getting him good looks. It's not like his teammates or coaches have any impact in how he shoots a free throw.