Wolves VS Bullets - A Rose by any other name GDT

[Leado01]

I thought Wig defended pretty well throughout the game. Beal is the guy that will beat you and he bodied him up all 4 quarters.

[Lipoli390]

I can objectively say that no one on this board is really objective. No one thinks entirely mechanically. We're all emotionally invested in the team and in particular players and staff and we have our opinions on things and have our various confirmation biases.

But gee, that was a great win tonight. We're are starting to see a lot of the things we'd hoped to see from Wiggins. Lip, you've talked for some time that our future is dependant upon the development of Wiggins and KAT. True to form as Wolves fan, I'm prepared to grab onto any little ray of hope for the future.

I agree with you on all points, Shumway. My post simply commented that I wasn't as impressed by Wiggins in the 4th as others. But I still praised his defense and my post was clearly positive overall. Cool just seems a bit hypersensitive about any criticism of Wiggins as we all know. And clearly I don't have an agenda. Heck, I even praised Thibs tonight. :)

[worldK]

I can objectively say that no one on this board is really objective. No one thinks entirely mechanically. We're all emotionally invested in the team and in particular players and staff and we have our opinions on things and have our various confirmation biases.

But gee, that was a great win tonight. We're are starting to see a lot of the things we'd hoped to see from Wiggins. Lip, you've talked for some time that our future is dependant upon the development of Wiggins and KAT. True to form as Wolves fan, I'm prepared to grab onto any little ray of hope for the future.

Most objective post on this thread.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Man, we needed that win in a bad way. Nice to see us hang on down the stretch.

We're only a game and a half above the cutoff for the playoffs, and there are four teams right there behind us. This is coming down to the wire.

Next up, we've GOT to beat the Spurs. They are one of the four teams behind us, so a win or a loss will essentially have a double effect.

Feels like the playoffs have already started for us.

[Duke13]

I can objectively say that no one on this board is really objective. No one thinks entirely mechanically. We're all emotionally invested in the team and in particular players and staff and we have our opinions on things and have our various confirmation biases.

But gee, that was a great win tonight. We're are starting to see a lot of the things we'd hoped to see from Wiggins. Lip, you've talked for some time that our future is dependant upon the development of Wiggins and KAT. True to form as Wolves fan, I'm prepared to grab onto any little ray of hope for the future.

I agree with you on all points, Shumway. My post simply commented that I wasn't as impressed by Wiggins in the 4th as others. But I still praised his defense and my post was clearly positive overall. Cool just seems a bit hypersensitive about any criticism of Wiggins as we all know. And clearly I don't have an agenda. Heck, I even praised Thibs tonight. :)

I agree with you Lip regarding Wigs' D in the 4th, didn't think it was anything especially. I also watched the game on record. A buddy of mine was txting me saying how Wiggins had a great 4th quarter, specifically defensively, and he's not scare to shred Wig, so it wasn't just the board who thought that.

[Duke13]

Just finished watching the replay. I'll offer my thoughts. KAT was great all game and his clutch 3 down the stretch was huge. But a number of guys stepped up. Teague and Tyus were terrific all game. Belly was cold shooting until the 4th, but he did other things all 4 quarter to help us win. Taj was solid all game and Jamaal hit some big shots.

The big turning point in my view was the run we had early in the 4th when we came back from 10 down to take the lead. It was Tyus and Belly who led us in that stretch. They were both terrific on both ends and what can about Belly's three 3-pointers in a row during athat stretch.

I wasn't as impressed as some by Wiggins' play in the 4th. Don't get me wrong, he played some terrific defense in the final quarter. He was also more aggressive and efficient offensively than he had been earlier. But he almost cost us the game when he dribbled the ball into a trap and picked up his dribble rather than taking it to the center of the court. Thankfully, Thibs had the presence of mind to immediately call a time out. If not, I'm sure Wiggins would have turned the ball over. But he did come through for the most part in the 4th, although I wouldn't call him K. Leonard on steroids.

So I'll give my main game ball to KAT. But honorable mention game balls go to Teague, Tyus and Belly. Those three were great and keys to our win tonight. And credit Thibs for some excellent coaching, including that timeout he called before Wiggins turned it over. I also liked the way he used Tyus and Teague -- alternating them at the right times. A great win tonight.

Belly wasn't great, he finished well but he was brutal for most of the game. In fact he was the worst player on the floor in the first half. And you're overly dramatic about Wiggins dribbling into the double team. You make some good points too, but your agenda is showing.

Lol, cool if you think Belly was terrible the first half, what can you possibly think watching Wiggins play 90% of the time. He missed shots, had a couple bad plays, but the eye test says he was doing other things out there. It's not hard to see.

[Monster]

Just finished watching and reading the game thread. Heck of a win especially when they had that horrific stretch at the end of the 3rdd quarter where they pissed away the ball and had it bounce the wrong way.

Personally I think belly was contributing all night. There was one rebound Mahimmi got he rail tossed Belly and had his hand on his back the whole time and pushed Belly down. If Belly keeps playing like this...ok maybe there is worry about losing him or at least Thibs having a real talk with glen and ownership about luxury tax.

I didn't think Wiggins D in the first half on Beal was very good. As good as he was on both ends against the Warriors he was nearly worthless in that first half. It was pretty disappointing. He started coming on as the game went on and other than that weak play on the inbounds he had some seriously clutch plays on the defensive end.

Man Dieng...he was nearly worthless. I honestly think Rose gave us more because his D chasing his man around was actually pretty good. Dieng has struggled the last couple games for sure.

Thibs lineup down the stretch was interesting. He hid Crawford and had him play Porter and that doesn't reflect too well on Porter.

Man there was some serious tell at the TV defensive stretches. Penetrate over help easy bucket over and over and over. I'm not sure who the lineups were but I wasn't happy. Towns had some nice moments on that end though which is encouraging.

Speaking of Towns what a game from him.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I was sick in bed... so I actually watched this one live WITH COMMERCIALS! Ugh.

- Towns. Repeat what everybody else said. He's so special offensively. Ride him. More... and more... and more.

- Wiggins had some solid moments defensively throughout... and some exceptional ones late. And a few missed assignments. Overall though, I was impressed with his defense. Offensively, he came to the party late... but at least he showed up. He has to be in attack mode. Earlier in the game, he was in an iso and took two dribbles before settling for a contested 21 foot jumper. This happens far too often. There is not a more inefficient shot in basketball. Why is this allowed to happen for 4 seasons now?

- Belly does a bit of everything. I dig that. But what we saw the difference he can make when his shot is falling. The Wolves are a different team with better spacing when he's hitting those threes. Glad he also showed up late.

- Tyus Jones played a heady, chippy game. He was fouling on almost every play. But if they're not gonna call it... keep doing it. It was good to see Thibodeau be cool with riding the hot hand... and with Teague being cool with it, too. One nice thing is that even though Crawford was out there with him for a spell, Jones was still the primary ball handler. YES. This should be the case with them. Good to see the change.

- Taj Gibson did Taj Gibson stuff.

- The Rose + Crawford combo scares me. That's a bad mix any way you slice it. Rose looks even worse than advertised. And he seems to be Wiggins' sub, so at least he's not the primary ball-handler. How much longer can this experiment last? Meanwhile, another thought-to-be-washed up PG, Brandon Jennings, nearly got a triple double in his first game back in the NBA.

- Very good win. The West is so much fun right now. Even as so many national pundits (and fans) are clamoring for a 1-16 tournament. Don't they realize we'd be missing out on ALL of this drama?

[Monster]

I was sick in bed... so I actually watched this one live WITH COMMERCIALS! Ugh.

- Towns. Repeat what everybody else said. He's so special offensively. Ride him. More... and more... and more.

- Wiggins had some solid moments defensively throughout... and some exceptional ones late. And a few missed assignments. Overall though, I was impressed with his defense. Offensively, he came to the party late... but at least he showed up. He has to be in attack mode. Earlier in the game, he was in an iso and took two dribbles before settling for a contested 21 foot jumper. This happens far too often. There is not a more inefficient shot in basketball. Why is this allowed to happen for 4 seasons now?

- Belly does a bit of everything. I dig that. But what we saw the difference he can make when his shot is falling. The Wolves are a different team with better spacing when he's hitting those threes. Glad he also showed up late.

- Tyus Jones played a heady, chippy game. He was fouling on almost every play. But if they're not gonna call it... keep doing it. It was good to see Thibodeau be cool with riding the hot hand... and with Teague being cool with it, too. One nice thing is that even though Crawford was out there with him for a spell, Jones was still the primary ball handler. YES. This should be the case with them. Good to see the change.

- Taj Gibson did Taj Gibson stuff.

- The Rose + Crawford combo scares me. That's a bad mix any way you slice it. Rose looks even worse than advertised. And he seems to be Wiggins' sub, so at least he's not the primary ball-handler. How much longer can this experiment last? Meanwhile, another thought-to-be-washed up PG, Brandon Jennings, nearly got a triple double in his first game back in the NBA.

- Very good win. The West is so much fun right now. Even as so many national pundits (and fans) are clamoring for a 1-16 tournament. Don't they realize we'd be missing out on ALL of this drama?

Good stuff Abe. I'm with you on the playoff run excitement.

I thought there was a real chance Brandon Jennings still had some game left but a near triple double? Nifty.

[Coolbreeze44]

Just finished watching the replay. I'll offer my thoughts. KAT was great all game and his clutch 3 down the stretch was huge. But a number of guys stepped up. Teague and Tyus were terrific all game. Belly was cold shooting until the 4th, but he did other things all 4 quarter to help us win. Taj was solid all game and Jamaal hit some big shots.

The big turning point in my view was the run we had early in the 4th when we came back from 10 down to take the lead. It was Tyus and Belly who led us in that stretch. They were both terrific on both ends and what can about Belly's three 3-pointers in a row during athat stretch.

I wasn't as impressed as some by Wiggins' play in the 4th. Don't get me wrong, he played some terrific defense in the final quarter. He was also more aggressive and efficient offensively than he had been earlier. But he almost cost us the game when he dribbled the ball into a trap and picked up his dribble rather than taking it to the center of the court. Thankfully, Thibs had the presence of mind to immediately call a time out. If not, I'm sure Wiggins would have turned the ball over. But he did come through for the most part in the 4th, although I wouldn't call him K. Leonard on steroids.

So I'll give my main game ball to KAT. But honorable mention game balls go to Teague, Tyus and Belly. Those three were great and keys to our win tonight. And credit Thibs for some excellent coaching, including that timeout he called before Wiggins turned it over. I also liked the way he used Tyus and Teague -- alternating them at the right times. A great win tonight.

Belly wasn't great, he finished well but he was brutal for most of the game. In fact he was the worst player on the floor in the first half. And you're overly dramatic about Wiggins dribbling into the double team. You make some good points too, but your agenda is showing.

Lol, cool if you think Belly was terrible the first half, what can you possibly think watching Wiggins play 90% of the time. He missed shots, had a couple bad plays, but the eye test says he was doing other things out there. It's not hard to see.

Again, I'm the one who commented on how lazy Wig was for 3 quarters. I don't know how i can be more objective than that. He gets routinely criticized by the same posters after every game, win or lose. I come on here once in three weeks and make some balanced comments on the guy, and I'm called hypersensitive.

And yes, Belly was the biggest reason we trailed going into halftime.