Game Report - Wolves v Lakers

[Lipoli390]

A nice tribute to Flip before the game. It was great to see Sam Cassell, Spree, Tucker and Billups there. I enjoyed Sam's remarks. You can tell he has a lot of affection for Flip and really appreciates what Flip did to prepare him for his coaching career. KG's absence was disappointing and petty in my view.

The game was infuriating for 3 quarters. There's no excuse for the lack of energy we showed out of the gate. The Wolves almost gave this one away.

Thankfully, Jamaal Crawford saved the day. It wasn't just his 15 points and 3 assists off the bench. It was the energy and leadership be brought to the floor. You could see him revving up his teammates, talking to them and smacking them on the back. No one brings more energy to the court than Jamaal and his energy filled the arena tonight. He's such a great teammate the way him pumps up his teammates while also explaining and teaching.

Taj was also tremendous tonight with a career-high 28 points along with 7 boards.

Teague came through with 20 efficient points along with 6 assists and 3 rebounds. He was aggressive going to the basket and didn't hesitate on his shots. He really needs to be aggressive scoring the ball to maximize his value on the court. He did just that tonight and it paid off. Tyus was also tremendous. He had 8 points and 2 assists in only 13 minutes off the bench. Most impressive from Tyus was his defense. He completely dominated I. Thomas defensively. His 2 steals were just a fraction of his overall defensive contribution. I can't fathom why we would add Derrick Rose to our roster. Butler didn't shoot well, but he hit big shots when we needed them.

KAT didn't shoot well from the field, but he got to the line 6 times and made them all plus a field goal for 10 points. Meanwhile he grabbed 19 rebounds to go with 4 assists and 2 blocks. His assists were all nice passes and he could have a couple more assists if not for missed shots by his teammates. Not his best game of the season, but very solid after the 1st quarter.

Wiggins should audition for a role in a zombie movie. 8 points, all in the first quarter, to go with 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steel and 0 blocks.

[kekgeek]

Once again thanks for the report.

From the tv side it was cool to have Kevin Harlen, call the game.

Also from one of the biggest wiggins supporters these last 2 wiggins games annoyed me. I have felt all year even if wiggins shot wasn't falling he was trying on defense, last 2 games he looks like he was ready for the all star break. Who knows maybe he is tired but I liked the decision to keep him on the bench last night

[Lipoli390]

Once again thanks for the report.

From the tv side it was cool to have Kevin Harlen, call the game.

Also from one of the biggest wiggins supporters these last 2 wiggins games annoyed me. I have felt all year even if wiggins shot wasn't falling he was trying on defense, last 2 games he looks like he was ready for the all star break. Who knows maybe he is tired but I liked the decision to keep him on the bench last night

Yep, maybe he's tired. But I'm done making excuses for Wiggins. And I'm done going out of my way to see what appear to be improvements that hardly show up in his stats. A bad game now and then is part of basketball. But it's the severity and frequency of his bad games that has pushed me over the edge. He simply has way too many really bad games. Bazz could have easily scored 8 points and 0 assists last night in 30+ minutes. But Bazz would have pulled down more than 3 rebounds and would have left it all out on the court.

When you're there live it's even worse because you see Andrew just standing and ball watching over and over again. Now in the home stretch of his 4th season, Wiggins has shown no significant statistical improvement compared to his career averages and, in fact, he's regressed on some measures. The effort continues to come and go and his ballhandling hasn't improved at all. This is indeed troubling as he heads into the first of five max contract years next season.

[Big O [enjin:13874644]]

I can't understand how Wiggins can play with his lack of intensity and look at himself in the mirror, his teammates in the eye or read the fan and analyst criticism in the media. He apparently has no pride...

[AbeVigodaLive]

I can't understand how Wiggins can play with his lack of intensity and look at himself in the mirror, his teammates in the eye or read the fan and analyst criticism in the media. He apparently has no pride...

But he has $146.5M in his eyesight...

AGAIN... what did we expect here? The Wolves rewarded a 22-year-old guy with the best possible outcome for not putting forward the best possible effort... HOPING he'd start showing effort.

That's not human nature.



[Note: This is just the 2018 version of the big contracts handed out to guys like Glenn Robinson two decades ago before they really accomplished anything. Look at that guy's career. Look at his stats. He never improved... because he didn't need to. Whether we like it or not as fans... pro players are motivated by money. For many of those players... money is THE motivator.]

[Big O [enjin:13874644]]

I can't understand how Wiggins can play with his lack of intensity and look at himself in the mirror, his teammates in the eye or read the fan and analyst criticism in the media. He apparently has no pride...

But he has $146.5M in his eyesight...

AGAIN... what did we expect here? The Wolves rewarded a 22-year-old guy with the best possible outcome for not putting forward the best possible effort... HOPING he'd start showing effort.

That's not human nature.



[Note: This is just the 2018 version of the big contracts handed out to guys like Glenn Robinson two decades ago before they really accomplished anything. Look at that guy's career. Look at his stats. He never improved... because he didn't need to. Whether we like it or not as fans... pro players are motivated by money. For many of those players... money is THE motivator.]

This may be true of some (most?) but there are guys who want the money and RESPECT. it may take a trade of Wiggins with sweeteners to embarrass him before he ever fully realizes his potential.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I can't understand how Wiggins can play with his lack of intensity and look at himself in the mirror, his teammates in the eye or read the fan and analyst criticism in the media. He apparently has no pride...

But he has $146.5M in his eyesight...

AGAIN... what did we expect here? The Wolves rewarded a 22-year-old guy with the best possible outcome for not putting forward the best possible effort... HOPING he'd start showing effort.

That's not human nature.



[Note: This is just the 2018 version of the big contracts handed out to guys like Glenn Robinson two decades ago before they really accomplished anything. Look at that guy's career. Look at his stats. He never improved... because he didn't need to. Whether we like it or not as fans... pro players are motivated by money. For many of those players... money is THE motivator.]

This may be true of some (most?) but there are guys who want the money and RESPECT. it may take a trade of Wiggins with sweeteners to embarrass him before he ever fully realizes his potential.

Sure. It's possible. Maybe.

I'm just going by what we've seen with Wiggins... and with other players. Either you play for the love of the game or for respect or for winning or for your teammates or you don't.

It's hard to switch AFTER making nearly $200M doing it YOUR way. Honestly, I'm not even blaming Wiggins as much as the situation here. Imagine yourself (at age 22) if you were handed $200M doing things the easier way. What consequences would there be? What motivation?

[Big O [enjin:13874644]]

No argument Abe - I've just raised my kids who are just a couple years older to have pride in how they do their jobs and I don't get the idea of not living up to your potential - never have, never will.

[Monster]

I didn't watch the game but I watched the Flip ceremony this morning. Man I don't really understand fully why his passing gets me emotionally like it does but it does. I enjoyed Kevin Harlen being the MC and I was pleased that Debbie Saunders spoke. It both seems like a long time ago and a short time since Flip passed. It feels that way for some other losses in the past 3 years for me too.

I can't help but mention it's so weird KG wasn't a part of this. It's just sad.

[Papalrep]

"Wiggins should audition for a role in a zombie movie. 8 points, all in the first quarter, to go with 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steel and 0 blocks."

Lip's finest hour. Succinct, spot on analysis. Well done sir.