I got this III - Hornets at Wolves GDT

[60WinTim]

I am leaving nothing to chance and claiming my 3rd straight GDT right now!

While we received terrific contributions from a lot of players to beat the Bulls and Hawks, how refreshing was it our two featured kiddies are the ones that carried the team home in both games?!? KAT really stepped up against the Bulls, and it was Wiggins who kept putting the nails in the coffin against the Hawks.

I am still surprised at how much flack Sam receives. He is the one who has created this vision and identity for the team. One that plays defense, and one whose future lies in the hands of Rubio, Wiggins and KAT. And the players have embraced and responded to it. To see the vets being so supportive and excited for the players on the court is really a cool thing.

Now lets go get that first home win!

[TAFKASP]

Mamma says go Wolves!

[thedoper]

Go Wolves!! I'm with you on Sam, we have overachieved by almost all expectations and yet the coach is still a moron with bad rotations.

[m4gor [enjin:6667447]]

i would still say development/health > results, if we win games because Wig/KAT dominates in their minutes so be it, but we should not go crazy and play them 40 minutes a game just to get few more Ws, my only problem with Sam actually at this point is that i think he should put starters back 8-9 minutes before end so they can get going, he tends to plug them back with like 6 minutes and that is too late imo

[Carlos Danger]

Thread started by 60WinTim. The Real SP posting a pic of a transvestite Mr. Bean. It's all here. I'm feeling the good Karma. Nice win last night guys and I appreciate you keeping the good vibe going for tonight. There is no question in my mind you both contributed to last night's victory. Believe it!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Go Wolves!! I'm with you on Sam, we have overachieved by almost all expectations and yet the coach is still a moron with bad rotations.

Yeah, I'm with Tim and doper on Sam...he has a lot to do with the overachieving this team has accomplished so far. He clearly has established a defensive identity we haven't seen here in a long time, and reinforced it by putting 2 defensive veterans in the starting lineup. And I love how he has used his bench. Some here have complained that he is leaving reserves in too long, but I think he is accomplishing two things by doing this. First, our starters are well rested at the end of games and seem much fresher than our opponents...we have seen this in spades in the last two road upsets. Second, we are going to need production from our reserves if we are going to challenge for a playoff spot this year, and Sam is giving them every opportunity to grow...even when it seems to be putting the game at risk like last night. Having said that, I thought Sam putting Andre in for Zach last night was brilliant. Even though Andre did nothing brilliant, he seemed to steady the ship in the middle of a torrential storm, and his zero plus minus for a few minutes was huge.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Go Wolves!! I'm with you on Sam, we have overachieved by almost all expectations and yet the coach is still a moron with bad rotations.

Yeah, I'm with Tim and doper on Sam...he has a lot to do with the overachieving this team has accomplished so far. He clearly has established a defensive identity we haven't seen here in a long time, and reinforced it by putting 2 defensive veterans in the starting lineup. And I love how he has used his bench. Some here have complained that he is leaving reserves in too long, but I think he is accomplishing two things by doing this. First, our starters are well rested at the end of games and seem much fresher than our opponents...we have seen this in spades in the last two road upsets. Second, we are going to need production from our reserves if we are going to challenge for a playoff spot this year, and Sam is giving them every opportunity to grow...even when it seems to be putting the game at risk like last night. Having said that, I thought Sam putting Andre in for Zach last night was brilliant. Even though Andre did nothing brilliant, he seemed to steady the ship in the middle of a torrential storm, and his zero plus minus for a few minutes was huge.

Yeah, I've reserved judgment on Mitchell, but with the exception of a few head-scratching moves, the results speak for themselves.

The one nit I have with your Andre Miller take is that Smitch could have easily put Rubio in the game instead. Rubio played less than 30 minutes last night, so it wasn't like he was out of gas or anything. Miller did not look good out there, despite the 0 +/-.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Go Wolves!! I'm with you on Sam, we have overachieved by almost all expectations and yet the coach is still a moron with bad rotations.

Yeah, I'm with Tim and doper on Sam...he has a lot to do with the overachieving this team has accomplished so far. He clearly has established a defensive identity we haven't seen here in a long time, and reinforced it by putting 2 defensive veterans in the starting lineup. And I love how he has used his bench. Some here have complained that he is leaving reserves in too long, but I think he is accomplishing two things by doing this. First, our starters are well rested at the end of games and seem much fresher than our opponents...we have seen this in spades in the last two road upsets. Second, we are going to need production from our reserves if we are going to challenge for a playoff spot this year, and Sam is giving them every opportunity to grow...even when it seems to be putting the game at risk like last night. Having said that, I thought Sam putting Andre in for Zach last night was brilliant. Even though Andre did nothing brilliant, he seemed to steady the ship in the middle of a torrential storm, and his zero plus minus for a few minutes was huge.

Yeah, I've reserved judgment on Mitchell, but with the exception of a few head-scratching moves, the results speak for themselves.

The one nit I have with your Andre Miller take is that Smitch could have easily put Rubio in the game instead. Rubio played less than 30 minutes last night, so it wasn't like he was out of gas or anything. Miller did not look good out there, despite the 0 +/-.

Yeah, I agree that Andre didn't look that great out there, but somehow I felt comforted when Sam put him in...and the 0 +/- was a dramatic improvement over the previous 5 minutes. Sam seems to be committed to keeping his stars fresh for the last 5 minutes of the game, and putting Rubio back in earlier would have been a strategy departure. Sam reminds me of a patient jockey that knows he has a lot of horse under him, and patiently waits until the right moment to crack the whip. His patience is going to frustrate us fans from time to time, but it sure worked in the Bulls and Hawks' games. In both games we seemed to have a lot more in the tank the last few minutes (especially KAT, Wig and Ricky), and maybe limiting their minutes has something to do with that. Who knows? All we do know is that we have now been more resilient at crunch time than two very good playoff teams on their home courts, and that is very un-wolves like.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

The Dutchman Todd Gak reporting for game thread duty....Sammich is 4-2 with 4 road wins to start the season. I wanna scrutinize his moves too, but he has a method to his madness, and so far it's working.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Tim, great work getting this GDT up early...your 2-0 record against two good teams is impressive, and we have to keep riding it!

Anyone else surprised that Charlotte is favored tonight on our court? it's an outrage! But maybe we should be grateful to the bookies, because they have been wrong about every Wolves game this year except the Heat game. Personally, I have missed predicting the last 4 games, so it's a bad sign that I like the Wolves tonight. Yes, it's our first back to back, but I think we are deep enough to weather BTBs this year, and that Sam's minutes spreading is going to pay off in games like this. Only Wiggins played over 35 minutes last night, and he's young enough that maybe BTBs don't bother him that much. We don't know if KG will start in his first back half, but my guess is that he will and play 15 minutes...and that formula is working well. And young guys like Zach, Bazz and Gorgui should be fresh after playing minimal minutes last night.

When Charlotte has been good this year, it is because they are making threes. They're making almost 10 a game, and Walker, Lamb and Lin are shooting well over their career averages. Mitchell's Wolves guard the perimeter better than previous Wolves' teams have, so I think Charlotte comes back to earth tonight beyond the arc. The Hornets are a lottery team from the east, and you can't lose to Eastern lottery teams at home. The Wolves depth helps them overcome the BTB, and they win 102-97.