Game Report - Wolves v. Grizzlies

[Lipoli390]

A surprisingly large number of empty seats tonight. And then a putrid start by the Wolves in the first quarter that led to a cascade of boos from the still sizable crowd. The entire first quarter was an embarrassment. The second quarter was only slightly better. Thankfully, the Wolves got it going in the second half and pulled away from the B-squad of one of the bottom 5 teams in the League. The win was crucial and I'm happy we got this one. But if we play this way against the Nuggets Wednesday night we will definitely lose.

Teague was terrific tonight with 24 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. And he was almost as good on the defensive end in the second half. He gave great effort the full 33:20 he was on the court; and he was the first guy up cheering on the bench when he wasn't on the court. Teague, Towns, Butler and Rose were the reasons we won tonight. All three came through - especially Teague, Towns and Rose in the second half. Towns got off to a slow start like the rest of the team, but he played with great heart the second half - fighting for rebounds, chasing down loose balls and putting the ball in the hoop. His effort resulted in a stat line of 24 points on 11-14 shooting to go with 18 rebounds. At one point in the 4th quarter, KAT ripped the ball away on a rebound as he was getting hacked with no call. Watching him fight and the fierce look on his face revealed the heart of a great competitor -- which is why he'll be great. Someone near me in the stands tonight noted that if Wiggins ever exhibited what we saw from Towns on the that play, he might actually be worth a max contract. Meanwhile, Butler was Butler. The guy gets after it defensively every single play. I love the way he plays on that side of the ball.

But my game ball goes to Derrick Rose. More than any other Wolves player, even more than Jimmy or KAT, his energy and effort changed the tone of the game and got the Wolves back on track. As I've mentioned before, he's looked good every game he's been out there since his first game when he was clearly shaking the rust off. And as I noted in the Houston game, he looked like the old Derrick Rose before he went down with the bad ankle. I still wish we had filled the 15th roster spot with a defender or 3-point shooter, but you can't argue with signing Rose as a replacement for Bazz.

Gorgui and Tyus played pretty well off the bench. I loved Gorgui's two corner threes. I really would like to see him take more of those. Seriously, we need to run more plays for him from the corner. He had some defensive lapses, but he gave good effort in the second half. I like the way Tyus plays -- smart, intense and tough. I do think he'll end up a pretty good 3-point shooter. I loved his pesky defense. He reminds me a bit of JJ Barea, getting under the skin of the guy he's guarding. At one point, the guy he was guarding (can't remember who) got so annoyed he shoved Tyus, knocking him down and drawing the offensive foul.

Now the bad news. Wiggins, Belly and Crawford were horrible. There's no sugar-coating or explaining away how pathetic they were. All you need to know about Wiggins is that he was 3-12 from the field, 0-3 from behind the arc and had one trip to the line. His on-ball defensive was mediocre and his off-ball defensive was bad. Interestingly, Wiggins' 35 minutes were more minutes than any of his teammates. Meanwhile Crawford couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and was throwing the ball away. His defense was worse than Wiggins' or Belly, but what else is new. Yet, Thibs kept him in there for 23 minutes. I would have put MGH in there or given Tyus more minutes. But that's Thibs.

A couple of interesting tidbits. At one point in the second quarter, glancing at the bench as I do from time to time, I noticed that Wolves assistant Andy Greer seemed agitated, almost jumping out of his seat then sitting back down several times. Then he finally jumped up and ran over to Thibs who was standing near Center court howling at the Wolves who were on the defensive end at the other end of the court. I've never seen Andy or any other assistant do that this season. My wife and I then noticed that Thibs became noticeably quieter. I asked a friend of mine sitting down lower near the area if he could hear what Andy said. He said that he thought he heard Andy tell Thibs to "let them play." In other words, he was telling Thibs to shut the f up. Then, the same thing appeared to happen later in the game, but this time, Thibs seemed irritated and pretty much motioned him to get back to the bench. Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting. At another point in the game, Thibs Gorgui failed to rotate defensively (like every other Wolves player the first quarter). In the following time-out, This was screaming at Gorgui. Then in the huddle, Gorgui was standing and staring out onto the court rather than sitting on the bench listening to Thibs. Andy Greer got up, went over to Gorgui, patted him on the back and then proceeded talk calmly with Gorgui in a supportive, teaching sort of manner. I've never noticed this before from Andy, although maybe it's been more subtle. But he was very active tonight and seemed eager to counteract some of Thibs excesses. Then again, maybe it was nothing.

Looking ahead, with New Orleans, OKC, San Antonio and Denver all winning tonight, the Wolves' playoff hope will come down to Wednesday night's game against the Nuggets. The Wolves have to win that one to make the playoffs. If the Spurs beat the Pelicans at New Orleans on Wednesday, the Wolves would end up the 7th seed with a win over the Nuggets. Otherwise, beating the Nuggets would result in an 8th seed - my nightmare scenario. With Butler back, the Wolves obviously have the talent to beat the Nuggets and should beat them playing at home. But I don't like the way we're playing lately and the Nuggets are rolling. So we'll see. It should be a lot of fun at Target Center. Yes, I'll be rooting for the Wolves. I just can't help myself. If we lose, I'll be pissed, but I'll find solace in the hope that a loss provides the final impetus for Glen to fire Thibs.

[WildWolf2813]

Lip- Glen's not firing Thibodeau this season. Don't even get your hopes up.


If they win, the culture of garbage that permeates this franchise temporarily goes away.

If they lose, Wolves will pick Gary Trent with the 14th pick because they're super hokey.

[Lipoli390]

Lip- Glen's not firing Thibodeau this season. Don't even get your hopes up.


If they win, the culture of garbage that permeates this franchise temporarily goes away.

If they lose, Wolves will pick Gary Trent with the 14th pick because they're super hokey.

Wildwolf -- You're such a dream-killer!! :)

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

So thibs is micro managing and the players are tuning him out or are unsure what to do unless given directions?

It would not surprise me if every wolf player who leaves goes on to play better than they did for thibs.

[Lipoli390]

So thibs is micro managing and the players are tuning him out or are unsure what to do unless given directions?

It would not surprise me if every wolf player who leaves goes on to play better than they did for thibs.

That was the issue with Thibs in Chicago. My friend and Bulls' season ticket holder warned me about it. He sat right behind the Bulls bench and told me when the Wolves hired Thibs that he would micro-manage the players on every play in every game. I've observed the same, listening to Thibs tell players where to go on the court during play and watching players slow down to listen to him rather than focus on the flow of the game. My friend also warned me that the players (except for Butler) were fed up with Thibs and had tuned him out by the time he was fired.

I honestly don't believe the Wolves players have all tuned him out yet, although perhaps some have. I'm more concerned with his schemes and micro-managing as head coach and his failures as PBO, although he's made some good moves as PBO as well. Being one of the worst defensive teams in the League, being a League leader in taking contested shots, and being last in made three-pointers -- those are the things that concern me the most.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Here's a thought. Just do what the guy F'ing says and you'll stop getting yelled at. It's not hard. He has a lot of yelling to do because this team continues to play like garbage for long stretches of the game. How many dumb F'ing plays has G made this year? A ton. How many dumb plays have seemingly everyone but Taj and Jimmy made this year? A ton. You watch them play in this system and they're just playing a different game than everyone else. If you want Thibs to stop yelling then do something about it that's productive on the court. There's a big problem if his micro-managing yells are something that you aren't already thinking in the course of the play/game. That means you don't know what you are doing out there relative to what he wants you to be doing and you should know where you need to be/go by this point in the year.

[Brooklyn_Wolves [enjin:14608167]]

Here's a thought. Just do what the guy F'ing says and you'll stop getting yelled at. It's not hard. He has a lot of yelling to do because this team continues to play like garbage for long stretches of the game. How many dumb F'ing plays has G made this year? A ton. How many dumb plays have seemingly everyone but Taj and Jimmy made this year? A ton. You watch them play in this system and they're just playing a different game than everyone else. If you want Thibs to stop yelling then do something about it that's productive on the court. There's a big problem if his micro-managing yells are something that you aren't already thinking in the course of the play/game. That means you don't know what you are doing out there relative to what he wants you to be doing and you should know where you need to be/go by this point in the year.

looks like Tom's balls obstruct your vision. Wolves underachieve because of Thibs and his shortcomings at both jobs he holds.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Didn't bother watching this one, but the fact the starters even had to play into the 4th quarter is pathetic.

Does anyone really think we have much of a chance against Denver? These guys are all healthy now and clearly the better team IMO.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Didn't bother watching this one, but the fact the starters even had to play into the 4th quarter is pathetic.

Does anyone really think we have much of a chance against Denver? These guys are all healthy now and clearly the better team IMO.

What's with Gibson?

Only 8 minutes. Injured neck? I assume he plays... but has anybody heard?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Didn't bother watching this one, but the fact the starters even had to play into the 4th quarter is pathetic.

Does anyone really think we have much of a chance against Denver? These guys are all healthy now and clearly the better team IMO.

What's with Gibson?

Only 8 minutes. Injured neck? I assume he plays... but has anybody heard?

Hurt it in the Laker game, day to day I believe.