Game Report - Wolves v Bucks

[Lipoli390]

Sorry for the delayed report. Not a lot to say. A good crowd, but there were more empty seats than I expected. Otherwise, a fun night a good win. And I just want to note how great it is to finally have a home court advantage. This is not the same team at home that we saw earlier this season lose to the Suns, Sixers and Heat. Now if only we could see more of Target Center Wolves in other arenas.

While the win was good, we need to keep in mind that we were playing at home against a middle-of-the-pack team without its starting PG and ultimately without one of it's key players, Brogdon, who left early with an quad injury. Nevertheless, we didn't just squeak by. We dominated and that's what make this win a good one.

The Wolves were particularly good defensively last night and that was key. But not that the Wolves scored 108 points, which is the minimum point threshold I've referred to before as the key measure of whether we win or lose games. Not only do we often need to score than much to win, but scoring and doing so efficiently also facilitates better defensive play from the Wolves. Interestingly, we were outrebounded last night. We typically lose when we're outrebounded. But we had 8 more assists than the Bucks, we got good looks and hit our shots. At the same time, we defended well while the Bucks missed open shots they probably make most games. I still think we would have won if the Bucks had shot better and had Bledsoe or Brogdon playing all game, but it the score would have been much closer.

There is no question who led the Wolves to this win -- KAT and Jimmy. Jimmy had 28 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds while KAT had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists, shooting 79% from the field, 100% from the line and 50% from behind the arc. But those primarily offensive numbers don't tell the the full story of what these two guys did last night. Jimmy's defense on Giannis was spectaclular, holding this nearly 30-point per game scorer to 17 points. It was a joy watching Jimmy smother and even out-muscle the much bigger Giannis. Then there was KAT's defense. Although you won't see any blocks or steals in his box score, KAT's defense was terrific all night.

Another key to the game last night was our bench, which played really well. Belly was terrific with 8 points in only 14 minutes, hitting 60% of his field goal attempts and 2 of 4 from behind the arc. But what was most impressive about Belly was his rebounding and defense. He's really is a good rebounder. A funny moment last night was when Belly took a rebound away from KAT. It's usually the other way around. Jamaal did his usual thing, jacking up and hitting shots off the bench. He can be frustrating to watch at times, but he brings great energy along with his shot-making to the game. Tyus was very solid with 4 points, 3 rebounds 4 assists and 1 steal in only 17 minutes. Not only does Tyus do a better job than Teague of running the offense, he's also really active defensively and on the boards. Last night was no exception. Gorgui also played fairly well last night with 8 points in 13 minutes. He did a nice job drawing a charge last night, illustrating one of the many "little things" he does off the bench for this team on a regular basis.

As for the other starters, it was a mixed bag. Andrew didn't shoot well and his poor ball-handling was on full display several times. But I loved his defense, hustle and activity on the boards, which translated into 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. I think those stats actually understate the impact he had defensively. Teague played better than he has recently, but that's not saying much. He had a couple good passes as part of his 8 assists and he shot well. And he didn't over-dribble as much as he typically does. But it was still frustrating to watch him dribble the air out of the ball way too often and miss open teammates -- either not seeing them when they were open or making poor passes when he did see them. He also struggled to stay in front of his man defensively. Nevertheless, he didn't hurt us last night. Taj had another solid night, schooling Giannis a couple times taking him to the paint.

Again, a nice win at home. Now let's keep the streak going against the newly refortified Pelicans on Saturday.

[Monster]

Thanks for the report Lip.

How did you like the jerseys in person. They really grew on me as I watched them just the gray and White just was nice.

One thing I think we forget about Belly is just how big he is. He is at least 6'10" and he isn't a skinny guy either and obviously has a not short wingspan although we don't have the numbers. I forgot to mention the other night against Atlanta he made John Collins look undersized. They need to get Belly more looks at the 3 he clearly has his confidence back.

Good win lots of good plays and Taj's defense on guys is just terrific. He was guarding Middleton a bunch in the 2nd half and you didn't notice Middleton doing much of anything.

[Lipoli390]

Thanks for the report Lip.

How did you like the jerseys in person. They really grew on me as I watched them just the gray and White just was nice.

One thing I think we forget about Belly is just how big he is. He is at least 6'10" and he isn't a skinny guy either and obviously has a not short wingspan although we don't have the numbers. I forgot to mention the other night against Atlanta he made John Collins look undersized. They need to get Belly more looks at the 3 he clearly has his confidence back.

Good win lots of good plays and Taj's defense on guys is just terrific. He was guarding Middleton a bunch in the 2nd half and you didn't notice Middleton doing much of anything.

I prefer the green jerseys, which I though I'd hate. The grey jerseys just looked blah in person.

I want to see Belly get more court time. You're right that we sometimes forget how big he is. And sometimes we also forgot how skilled he is. He's a terrific passer and ball-handler and has a nice spot-up three.