GDT - Wolves in Memphis 0-0

[Monster]

Veteran team playing like it, young team playing like crap.

Yeah something like that

[Monster]

Not going to read into this result much. Grizzlies are a vet team and got a lot of home town calls.

I thought it was pretty evenly called. They seemed to really let both teams get after it near the end too.

That one perimeter foul on Lavine was weird though.

[Monster]

Looking at the game stats, it just looks like the Griz shot the ball better. We were even on the boards and actually had two fewer turnovers than Memphis. We got to the line more and missed 9 compared to them missing 8. We also scored more points in the paint. But the Griz shot significantly better than we did. The Griz shot 45% compared to our 42% from the field. Moreover, they took 6 more three-pointers than we did and hit a much higher percentage from behind the arc. In addition, our bench seemed to contribute almost nothing. Belly looks like he didn't produce and Rush didn't hit any of the few threes he took. In fact, the game stats from tonight's game look a lot like last season -- less accurate shooting overall, taking significantly fewer threes, hitting a much lower percentage of threes and poor bench play.

Am I missing something?

Not really. The only bench players who did anything were dunn and Aldrich. Dunn made a few bonehead plays, but I thought he showed some good things. Shabazz was invisible. Rush and Bjelicia the same.

Bjelica played pretty well actually. He didn't hit his outside shots late but he drove to the basket a couple times.

[Monster]

It was, however, good to see Wiggins pull down 6 rebounds. I noticed Zach had 5 boards and seemed to shoot well from behind the arc. Gorgui's rebounding stats were impressive. I'm surprised we scored more points in the paint than the Griz and we did get to the line more than they did. So it looks like there were some positives.

Dunn made some nice slashing plays in the paint. And after he takes a few laps around the league, he will be an absolute beast defensively. He might already be our best perimeter player at fighting over screens, something a lot of our guys seem to struggle with (including Rubio at times).

Rubio really struggled at that tonight, and unlike Dunn, he doesn't have the athleticism to recover.

I wouldn't say Rubio played bad but he was a bit off his game. He got a bit rattled and he should be doing that. He is the vet of this team he needs to be a bit more under control.

[TheFuture]

It was, however, good to see Wiggins pull down 6 rebounds. I noticed Zach had 5 boards and seemed to shoot well from behind the arc. Gorgui's rebounding stats were impressive. I'm surprised we scored more points in the paint than the Griz and we did get to the line more than they did. So it looks like there were some positives.

Dunn made some nice slashing plays in the paint. And after he takes a few laps around the league, he will be an absolute beast defensively. He might already be our best perimeter player at fighting over screens, something a lot of our guys seem to struggle with (including Rubio at times).

Rubio really struggled at that tonight, and unlike Dunn, he doesn't have the athleticism to recover.

I wouldn't say Rubio played bad but he was a bit off his game. He got a bit rattled and he should be doing that. He is the vet of this team he needs to be a bit more under control.

I was just commenting on the fighting screens part. He even struggled a lot keeping Conley in front of him at all. There were a couple times where I thought Ricky mauled him and was lucky not to get called for it.

[Monster]

The problem offensively was the lack of passing, absolutely zero ball movement most of the night. Mainly 1:1 basketball. We have players capable of making tough shots but not the way to play. Wig and KAT were guilty of this all night. I don't think its selfishness but more lack of experience. They rarely moved the ball from on side of the court to the other. No point in having shooters like Rush or Belly if the offense, meaning the players don't create shots for them. Aldridge is the one guy tonight who made a couple nice passes to open shooters, he's actually very good at that. I think the assist totals were the same for similar but that doesn't tell the story.

The Grizzlies had something to do with that but yes they weren't moving the ball. They weren't trusting that. They played young. They had too many stretches where they really didn't get good shots and a few times when they did they didn't go in which happens.

[Monster]

It was, however, good to see Wiggins pull down 6 rebounds. I noticed Zach had 5 boards and seemed to shoot well from behind the arc. Gorgui's rebounding stats were impressive. I'm surprised we scored more points in the paint than the Griz and we did get to the line more than they did. So it looks like there were some positives.

Dunn made some nice slashing plays in the paint. And after he takes a few laps around the league, he will be an absolute beast defensively. He might already be our best perimeter player at fighting over screens, something a lot of our guys seem to struggle with (including Rubio at times).

Rubio really struggled at that tonight, and unlike Dunn, he doesn't have the athleticism to recover.

I wouldn't say Rubio played bad but he was a bit off his game. He got a bit rattled and he should be doing that. He is the vet of this team he needs to be a bit more under control.

I was just commenting on the fighting screens part. He even struggled a lot keeping Conley in front of him at all. There were a couple times where I thought Ricky mauled him and was lucky not to get called for it.

I was more talking about his play in general. There were also a few times his bigs didn't help him out but yeah Conley got the best of him. Like someone said maybe Conley is another guy that could be on that ball handler list.

[Monster]

Nights like tonight make me not wanna buy into the hype with this team.


I thought LaVine was severely underutilized and I don't care how wily a vet Vince Carter is, Andrew Wiggins needs to hang his head given how easily Vince Carter handled him defensively.


Mike Conley has always had Ricky's number. One of the bad matchups Ricky gets every year.

On a night for knee jerk assessments, this one takes the cake for worst take.

I agree. I thought wiggins was one of our better players this year. Got a feeling he is going to be the guy everyone going to hate this year because he isn't going to take that next step but they will forget how good he is

I can already see that he has taken the next step. He's more aggressive, he's bought in defensively, his handle is better, and his shot looks better. Just needs to get stronger.

Wiggins will be fine and much improve. Remember he miss the last 2 pre season games due to illness. He seems to be trying to pick his spots tonight. Give him a few more games and once he settles in and get comfortable on offense, things will look really good. On d and on the boards, he looks to be giving more effort and focus. i would like to see him shoot more 3's going forward.

Wiggins was certainly not the reason we lost the game tonight even if you include the missed FTs. He played well did all the stuff people have been asking him to do. Maybe he will end up winning the Luke Ridour award this year. Geez

[Monster]

Nothing about Zach Randolph?

That guy is still a beast. He set the tone down the stretch tonight.

As noted, Memphis is a vet team. Minnesota is young. Minnesota is going to have to learn how to win grind-it-out games like this yet.

Yeah and remember how Gasol was too slow to keep up with Towns and all that in preseason? Yeah dude was a beast. Green was terrific and they ALL hit a 3 right?

[worldK]

Nothing about Zach Randolph?

That guy is still a beast. He set the tone down the stretch tonight.

As noted, Memphis is a vet team. Minnesota is young. Minnesota is going to have to learn how to win grind-it-out games like this yet.

Yeah and remember how Gasol was too slow to keep up with Towns and all that in preseason? Yeah dude was a beast. Green was terrific and they ALL hit a 3 right?

Yeah. Gasol and randolph were the two best bigs in the game. Towns had an exceptional start but played badly after. Dieng was solid all game but still got schooled by marc and zach.

You can tell that experience was really a factor. Gasol-randolph knew how to get easy baskets when needed. While towns and dieng typically hang around the mid range tonight.